Lee Mathews
The Pas, MB, Canada - http://
Filed under: Utilities, Windows
MouseFIGHTER lets you navigate your desktop with your keyboard instead
by Lee Mathews Jul 29th 2010
Like to spend as little time as possible mousing around your desktop? Windows has a built-in feature called Mouse Keys which lets you move your pointer by using the numeric keypad, but not every keyboard has one.If you're using a netbook or laptop without a number pad and you like the sound of Mouse Keys, check out MouseFIGHTER. It's a free program which lets you use the arrow keys to navigate -- I've never seen a keyboard without them, but I'm sure one of our loyal readers can probably tell us about an exception.
Even still, MouseFIGHTER lets you customize keys for directional control and button emulation -- so it can work on ANY keyboard. Acceleration, brake, and jump distance (as a percentage of your screen resolution) can also be tweaked to your preference.
MouseFIGHTER uses the caps lock key to activate keyboard control - either by pressing and holding it or using it as a toggle (again, your choice). When activated, the app changes your pointer's appearance to let you know it's working.
Know another app which you prefer? Share it with us in the comments!
Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters
Crush the Castle 2 is even more trebuchet-powered mayhem - Time Waster
by Lee Mathews Jul 29th 2010
There are plenty of instances where a follow-up isn't as good as the original. This, however, isn't one of them. Crush the Castle 2 is, in fact, every bit as awesome as its predecessor.
As before, you're in charge of a trebuchet and tasked with destroying structure after structure using a variety of projectiles. They range from logs to iron balls to bombs, and they're all loads of fun to chuck at unsuspecting targets. As you lay waste to the countryside, you'll also accumulated achievements.
If you have a soft spot for trajectory games, Crush the Castle 2 won't disappoint. Share your accomplishments in the comments!
Filed under: Security
Report: Google leads Bing, Yahoo!, and Twitter -- in malware distribution
When you're the big dog, evildoers are more likely to target you with their nefarious schemes. That's certainly the case with desktop malware and Windows -- it's the most popular computing platform by a wide margin, so it gets the most attention from malware developers.
The same is apparently true for Google when it comes to distributing malware. In a recent report, Barracuda Labs found that Google (unwittingly, of course) passes out more malware than Bing, Yahoo, and Twitter combined -- about twice as much as all three put together.
Since Google dominates search, it only makes sense that malware distributors would do their best to invade its results. Interestingly, Barracuda's report states that only 2% of the malware they collected was 0-day -- the other 98% was previously identified. If that's the case, perhaps Google could (and should) be doing more to ensure known malicious links are uprooted more quickly.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
[via Help Net]
The same is apparently true for Google when it comes to distributing malware. In a recent report, Barracuda Labs found that Google (unwittingly, of course) passes out more malware than Bing, Yahoo, and Twitter combined -- about twice as much as all three put together.
Since Google dominates search, it only makes sense that malware distributors would do their best to invade its results. Interestingly, Barracuda's report states that only 2% of the malware they collected was 0-day -- the other 98% was previously identified. If that's the case, perhaps Google could (and should) be doing more to ensure known malicious links are uprooted more quickly.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
[via Help Net]
Filed under: Internet
Net Index lets you see how your local ISP stacks up against the competition
Curious about how your current Internet provider compares to other local options? Take a look at Ookla's Net Index, which has compiled user test results from around the world into easy-to-understand rankings.
Data is gathered from both speedtest.net and pingtest.net, and covers the entire globe. In total, Net Index has sifted through more than 1.5 billion tests, and there have probably been several hundred thousand (if not millions) performed in your area. Those results lead to a pretty good understanding of how a particular ISP has been performing over the test period -- which covers Jan 2008 until now.
I can't say I'm surprised about the results I see for my home province. Good ol' Manitoba Telephone (the only DSL provider in my town) comes up 7th for uploads and 5th for downloads. Ah, the beauty of choice!
[via Lifehacker]
Data is gathered from both speedtest.net and pingtest.net, and covers the entire globe. In total, Net Index has sifted through more than 1.5 billion tests, and there have probably been several hundred thousand (if not millions) performed in your area. Those results lead to a pretty good understanding of how a particular ISP has been performing over the test period -- which covers Jan 2008 until now.
I can't say I'm surprised about the results I see for my home province. Good ol' Manitoba Telephone (the only DSL provider in my town) comes up 7th for uploads and 5th for downloads. Ah, the beauty of choice!
[via Lifehacker]
Start! is a sexy, functional new tab page for Google Chrome
While the built-in default is functional, you might be looking for a way to add some sizzle to your Google Chrome new tab page. Look no further than Start!, a recent addition in the Chrome Extensions Gallery.
Your frequently used bookmarks will appear on the right-hand side of the page, while the central portion is reserved for your recent additions and those in the "other" folder. Start! also supports adding an RSS feed to your display (yes, that's ours in my screenshot!).
The background image is customizable as well, and you can either provide the URL to your favorite image or cycle through the stock options -- or clear it if you prefer a blank canvas.
Start! is a very nice extension, but there is one bug I encountered. You're able to click and drag favicons to reorganize the right-hand panel, though I frequently received an alert that the move failed (even though it didn't). Sitting on the 'esc' key eventually clears all the pop-ups, however, so after your intial setup it's not likely to cause many issues. I also suspect that developer Ilkka Huotari will fix this in short order...
Apple borrows name from Google, opens Safari Extensions Gallery
If you're using Safari 5 and have been waiting patiently for an official source for browser extensions, your prayers have been answered! Yes, the Google Chrome Safari Extensions Gallery is now online!
Right now, there are about one hundred extensions listed and they're grouped by category. Most of the big-name extensions you'd be looking for are there -- like AdBlock, LastPass, Instapaper, and ...HTML5 Canvas + color cycling = 8-bit graphical win!
While the bulk of the buzz about HTML5 still seems to be focused on the video tag, there are plenty of other awesome developments cropping up. Things like drag-and-drop attachments in GMail and all those crazy Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive samples.
Then there's the work of developer Joe Huckaby. Joe has taken images created by graphic artist Mark Ferrari to produce some incredibly cool, ...Seesmic Web gets huge update: Facebook, FourSquare, LinkedIn, desktop notifications arrive
Seesmic Web is one of my go-to web apps, and I've been waiting patiently for the development team to add support for networks other than Twitter and Google Buzz. Today, there's been a refresh and a handful of new services have arrived -- including Facebook. Foursquare, and LinkedIn.
There's also added support for desktop notifications in Google Chrome, which you can see in my screenshot. ...Google working on improved download handling in Chrome
I won't lie -- my download folder is a mess. It's packed with files that I've downloaded for testing purposes, archives that have long since been extracted, and .PDF and .DOCX files that were only required for the 45 seconds they took to open and print. I'll place a portion of the blame on Chrome -- which doesn't currently provide an option to open (rather than save) downloaded files like (gasp!) ...Windows 7 SP1 beta download goes public
by Lee Mathews Jul 27th 2010 {3 comments}
If don't have a TechNet or MSDN subscription and you've been anxious to get the Windows 7 SP1 beta installed (though I'm not sure why you would be if your system is already up to date and you're not a system admin or developer), now's your chance. Grab your Windows Live ID and head on over to the Microsoft Eval Center and download the beta right now!
One important thing to remember is that ...
Chromatic is one of the best time-wasters I've recently come across. It's all about the gameplay -- no Flash graphics here. You play a "circle" (it doesn't really have a name in the game). You move around with the arrow keys, and you change colors with Z, X, and C.
You can either be red, blue, or yellow, and you can switch at any time during the game. Each color has different capabilities -- yellow can double-jump, while red has a longer dash (which is like a forward sprint, activated by double-pressing DOWN).
Each ...
