Xobni

Xobni (Inbox spelled backwards) is a powerful Outlook add-on which is so great I can't believe it's free. It has several functions which makes email management as easy as point and click. After it's installed, the Xobni client becomes a sidebar in Outlook and can be closed or opened as needed. From this sidebar you can locate emails, find attachments, schedule appointments and a host of other goodies. Click the image below to get a look at the Xobni sidebar.

Xobni Sidebar

Below is a list of features like:



Lightning Fast Email Search - Type anything the search box (Name, keyword, phone number, etc) and results appear as you type.



Quick Attachment Discovery - A list of all attachment sent or received by a contact appears when you select them.


Threaded Conversations - Selecting a contact or email will display the email exchange.


Navigate Inbox By People - Quickly identify a contact's manager, business partner or assistant


Your Personal Assistant - Schedule appointments with a click of a button - Xobni automagically finds open slots in your busy schedule.


Phone Numbers Extracted From Emails - Contact details pop into the sidebar. Never search for a phone number again.


Email Analytics - Rankings, graphs and statistics detailing how you and your contacts use emails.

CCleaner

The versatile software known as CCleaner was introduced to me as a replacement for Windows Install/Uninstall component. After I got it I found it was so much more. In addition to removing stubborn programs which don't seem to uninstall using the Windows Install/Uninstall component, it is also a terrific utility for cleaning up temp files and other miscellaneous files left on your PC. It is also a pretty Registry Cleaner.

When you start the program, the initial screen is the Cleaner tab where you can search your PC for Temp files, Cookies and other files which are no longer of any use but still take up space on your hard drive. CCleaner will show you a list of these files and give you the option of deleting them.




The second tab is where you can search the Registry Integrity. While the average user will probably want to steer clear of anything that has to do with the Registry, advance users can use this to find Missing Shared DLLs, Unused File Extensions and other issues which may slow down your PC or cause errors.




On the Tools tab is the Startup and Uninstall options. The Uninstall portion allows you to remove applications which Windows Install/Uninstall seem to have trouble with. You can also remove entries still listed in the Windows Install/Uninstall component despite having already being uninstalled. The Startup portion will show you what programs start Windows boots. By highlighting and clicking Delete Entry, you can stop the program from running. It doesn't show system programs that startup but for the average user, this limitation isn't a concern.




All in all, CCleaner is a pretty good program and it doesn't cost a thing.

PortableApps Suite

In my previous post, I told you about portable applications you can use on Flash Drive. Taking it to the next level, the people of PortableApps.com has created a portable application suite called, oddly enough, PortableApps Suite. Taking several of their most useful software, they have created an easily accessible suite of programs which run from your flash drive. The suite comes in two versions, Standard and Lite. Below is a list of the programs available in each suite.

Standard
OpenOffice.org Portable – Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation & more
Firefox Portable – Web Browser
7-Zip Portable – Zip File Extractor
ClamWin Portable – Virus Scanner
FileZilla Portable – FTP Client
Gaim Portable – Instant Messenger
Thunderbird Portable –Email
Sunbird Portable – Calendar


Lite
AbiWord Portable – Word Processing
Firefox Portable – Web Browser
7-Zip Portable – Zip File Extractor
ClamWin Portable – Virus Scanner
FileZilla Portable – FTP Client
Gaim Portable – Instant Messenger
Thunderbird Portable –Email
Sunbird Portable – Calendar

All versions of the PortableApps Suite include the integrated PortableApps Menu (pictured below) and the PortableApps Backup utility along with a set of custom icons, an autoplay configuration, folders and a quick start shortcut.


If you'd like to pick and choose exactly which apps to include, you can try Portable Apps Suite (Base Edition). This is a stripped down package with just the PortableApps Menu, PortableApps Backup utility and custom folders, icons and autorun. It's less than 1MB installed, so it's a great option for smaller drives.

AI RoboForm/RoboForm2Go

If you juggle multiple usernames and passwords trying remember which one goes with which site, you might be interested in AI RoboForm & RoboForm2Go. They are actually the same product except one runs from your desktop (AI RoboForm) and the other from a USB Flash Drive (RoboForm2Go). RoboForm is a username/password manager and it does this incredibly well. I’ve been using both versions for about 3 months now. Below is a list of RoboForm features:

• Memorizes your passwords and Logs You In automatically.


• Fills long registration and checkout forms with one click.


• Encrypts your passwords to achieve complete security.


• Generates random passwords that hackers cannot guess.


• Fights Phishing by filling passwords only on matching web sites.


• Defeats Keyloggers by not using keyboard to type passwords.


• Backs up your passwords, Copies them between computers.


• Synchronizes passwords between computers using GoodSync.


• Searches for keywords in your passwords, notes and Internet.


• Portable: RoboForm2Go runs from USB key, no install needed.


• PDA-friendly: sync your passwords to Pocket PC and Palm.


• Browser Neutral: works with Internet Explorer, AOL/MSN, and Firefox.

I’ve tried other password managers in the past and RoboForm is by far the best. After you install the desktop version or launch it from your Flash Drive, it appears as a toolbar in your browser. You have to setup a master password which gives you access to your other username/password and information. Whenever you come to a web site which has the RoboForm has the login information stored it will ask you if you want to log in. If you choose yes it prompts you for your master password. It only does this if you have not put in your master password. Once you do it remain active until it Auto-Logs off if there is no activity. The default is 120 minutes. You may want to decrease that to prevent someone from have access to your information. To prevent Keyloggers from getting your master password click the little hand on the right side to pull up a mini onscreen keyboard you can click with your mouse. If you come to a web site that you haven’t store log in information, RoboForm will ask you if you want to save it. Just give it a name and RoboForm will log you in next time you visit that site.

There is also a Pro version which doesn’t have the 10 account limit.

Firefox Extensions Part 2 - Forecastfox

This next Firefox extension is for those that want to keep their eye on the weather. Forecastfox is a helpful little tool which will not only tell you the current temperature and conditions but can also be set up to show you the weather up to 8 days in advance. This program resides in the status bar of Firefox and with its easily recognizable images of different weather conditions you know whether or not you’ll need an umbrella.



If you want a little more information, hover your mouse over the day in question. Doing so brings up a small help window which tells you more about the weather conditions.



Placing your mouse over the green icon will bring up the satellite radar so you can see large weather patterns as they move across the country.



Double clicking on Forecastfox will take you to Accuweather.com where you can find even more information on weather in your area or around the world. So don’t install those other weather programs which tend to slow down your computer. Forecastfox is all you’ll need.

Firefox Extensions Part 1 - Google Send To Phone

I said in a previous post that Mozilla Firefox is one of the (If not THE) best web browsers on the market. One of the reasons for this is it's "extendibility" by adding extensions. The next couple of posts I will highlight some of the better extensions for Firefox. The first is my favorite Google Send To Phone.

If you're like me, you hate having to type a text message on your phone using the phone pad. With the small keys and having to "scroll" through the letters to get the one you want it tends to take a long time to type a short message. Using Google Send To Phone, you can send a text message from your computer quick and easy. After you install it, the icon appears on your Firefox toolbar as a little phone.



To send a message, simply click the icon and type your message. (Sometimes, you may need to highlight a bit of text to activate it). Choose the service provider of the recipient and put in their phone number.



It even breaks it up into multiple messages if you write a little more than a normal text message can hold. So stop fumbling with that phone and get Google Send To Phone.

Portable Software

If you haven’t heard, Flash Drives are not just for saving files anymore. You can also carry your useful software with you wherever you go. Below are a few Portable Apps which run directly from your Flash Drive.

Portable Firefox
For those that don’t know, Mozilla Firefox is one of the best web browsers on the market. How can you improve it? Make it portable. Mozilla Firefox is a fast, full-featured web browser that's easy to use. It has lots of great features including popup-blocking, tabbed-browsing, integrated search, improved privacy features, automatic updating and more. Plus, thanks to the PortableApps.com launcher bundled in Mozilla Firefox - Portable Edition, it leaves no personal information behind on the machine you run it on, so you can take your favorite browser along with all your favorite bookmarks and extensions with you wherever you go.

7-Zip Portable
If you ever need to open a zip file on a PC without Winzip or WinRAR, now all you have to do is pull out your Flash Drive. 7-Zip Portable is the popular 7-Zip packaged as a portable app, so you can take your file archiver with you and work with your compressed 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR files and more on the go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.

Portable OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice is the free alternative to Microsoft Office suite. It does almost everything Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint can without the bloat and expense. Making it portable only makes it that much better. Portable OpenOffice.org is the complete OpenOffice.org office suite -- including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database -- packaged as a portable app, so you can take all your documents and everything you need to work with them wherever you go.


There are many other portable applications available. Here are a list of a few of them found at PortableApps.com

GIMP Portable - Image program
ClamWin Portable - AntiVirus Program
FileZilla Portable - FTP Program
Miranda IM Portable - Instant Messenging Program
NVU Portable - Web Development Program
Sunbird Portable - Calendar/Todo
Thunderbird Portable - Email Program
Portable Gaim - Instant Messenging Program
VLC Media Player - Music/Video Player

Irfanview

One of the best graphic programs I have come across when it comes to viewing any image format is Irfanview. Not only can this program view over 60 different graphic and video formats but it can also play several audio formats such as MP3, MIDI and Wav. It can even view Photoshop’s PSD format. This tiny program has many features such as:

• Thumbnail/preview option


• Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)


• Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.


• Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters


• Fast directory view (moving through directory)


• Batch conversion (with image processing)


• Multipage TIF editing


• Email option


• Multimedia player


• Print option


• Change color depth


• Scan (batch scan) support


• Cut/crop


• Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)


• Capturing


• Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs


• Only one EXE-File, no DLLs, no Shareware messages like "I Agree" or "Evaluation expired"


• No registry changes without user action/permission!

So if you ever get a picture from a friend that’s in a format your current programs can’t open, give Irfanview a try. Not only will you be able to open it, you can resave it in a format that you can use.