February, 2008 - Softonic English

Copy text to clipboard just by selecting it

Copy text to Clipboard automatically Copying and pasting are probably the two most frequently used key combinations during anyone’s time in front of a computer. Just think about it: how many times do you press the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V shortcuts in order to move text between applications, send a link to a friend or save yourself a few keystrokes?

Useful as it is, this copy-and-paste ability can still be improved with software apps. One of them is Auto Copy, a Firefox add-on that enables you to copy and paste elements in your favorite web browser. It works not only with the text published on the webpage body itself, but also with text boxes such as search fields, web forms, blog comments and forums.

But if you want to take advantage of a more advanced copying and pasting utility outside Firefox, you can also use Xpad. This tool turns the Windows clipboard into a basic text editor with support for multiple text snippets, which you can automatically paste into any application just by selecting them with your mouse.

Mac tip: Get file info in Quick Look mode

I quite the like the Quick Look mode in Mac OS X 10.5, which lets you preview all your files without opening them up. You can flip through the pages of a document, skim through a movie or watch the different slides of a Keynote presentation in seconds. Quick Look is a great way to save time when you’re looking for something but don’t want to open up files one by one. Quick Look works with virtually any document and previews in a sufficient size so that you can actually see the contents, not like the mini preview where you almost have to squint to try and understand what document you’re looking at. If you’re a big fan of Time Machine, you can also use Quick Look mode to peek at past versions of documents quickly.

One of the main limitations of Quick Look mode is that it doesn’t show file information. That can be a bit of a pain, if you’re interested in looking at things like permissions, user, file size or, especially if you’re working with pictures taken with a camera, EXIF data. There is a way to reveal all that extra information (and more) in Quick Look mode. Open an Inspector window by clicking File>Show Inspector (or Command-Option-I), then open the folder of documents you want to look at and press space bar to launch Quick Look mode. Position both the Inspector window and the Quick Look window alongside each other. The information that you see in the Inspector window will change every time you switch to another document in Quick Look. Easy as that!

[Via: Macworld]

Take control of your web stats

If you’ve got a website or blog, then do you know who is visiting your site? If you’re serious about developing your site and attracting more readers, then a decent stats analysis tool is essential. If you don’t, then it’s still interesting to see how many people are reading your site, where they are coming from and what they’re interested in.

Sometimes these apps throw up the most amusing stats too like the time I found the most popular search term for my site was “dog diapers”. Mostly though, I use my web stats tool to work out the sort of things I should be writing more about (not necessarily dog diapers as popular a theme as it may be!). If you want a detailed breakdown of every aspect of your site’s traffic, then AlterWind Log Analyzer is very comprehensive. This highly advanced logging tool gives you full control over how your stats are logged (such as by instructing it to ignore certain visits) and also allows you to log traffic on multiple webpages, or mirrors of your website. Even more detailed is Advanced Log Analyzer which allows logs of more than 1GB in size but is very light on your CPU.

If, however, you can’t be bothered going through the minutiae of your web stats but are just curious as to who is visiting your site, then you’re better off with WhosOn. Although it’s by no means simple, it’s easy to use, well presented and even allows you to chat in real time with your visitors. The most simple logger out there is Homelog which is a no thrills analyzer but it does do everything in real-time so you can have fun watching your site in action. Finally, if you want more control over your stats for promotion purposes, then AddWeb Website Promoter doesn’t require much work on your part as it automatically optimises your site in search engines. It also provides limited stats although they don’t go much further than showing you the most popular search terms.

Safari unsafe for PayPal

Safari and PayPal “I’d love to say that Safari was a safer browser, but at this point it isn’t.” That’s what PayPal’s Chief Information Security Officer, Michael Barrett, had to say in an interview reported by Macworld. Apple’s Safari browser, which runs on Macs, PCs and iPhones, was heavily criticized by Barrett for lacking many security features which other browsers like Firefox, IE7 or Opera already include.

For one, Barrett states, Safari lacks a proper in-built anti-phishing feature to detect online scams. This sort of malicious behavior has quickly become one of the most common and effective ways of stealing private information from users. Phishing scams usually lead you to a fake website, which looks like the one you want to access. It’s commonly used on banking sites, in an attempt to get you to reveal your account information

Another security point where Safari lags, according to Barrett, is certificates. Safari does handle and read certificates, which guarantee the authenticity of a website. However you have to click on the discreet little lock at the top right of the browser to view them. One thing pointed out by Barrett is that Safari doesn’t yet include Extended Validation (EV), which requires more extensive investigation to prove that the website you are visiting is authentic. EV is known to turn the address bar green when the site is proven to be genuine.

PayPal’s security doubts on Safari are illustrated in their Security Center FAQ, where they omit Safari in their list of safe browsers.

Microsoft WorldWide Telescope site powered by… Adobe Flash (not Silverlight)

Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope (you know, the one that brought tears to Scoble’s eyes) has been semi-unveiled today and the TED Talk video is included on the new website for the project. Yes, it looks quite nice (though the fact that Robert Scoble and a bunch of kids are ‘really impressed’ isn’t really enough to convince me).

What I did like was the website for the product itself. Has Microsoft given up on Silverlight? Did the design team prefer to work with Flash because it’s so much more popular (and easier to use)? Don’t Microsoft have policies on using in-house software as opposed to competing products? It’s a mystery…. Oh and WWTelescope doesn’t use Silverlight either. Hmmm.

How to: Create a fading effect between two photos

Attractive Photoshop effects usually take a long time and a bunch of different tools, but sometimes you may also find quick ways around those lengthy tutorials that also do the trick and make your pics look more interesting. One of them is applying a fading effect between two pictures, combining them into an original composition you can then use on a website, a personalized greeting card or just about anywhere you want. Simply follow these simple three steps and you’ll be able you create your own fading effect in no time!

First, open the two photos you want you create the effect with. I’d recommend two pictures where the main subject is on the left and on the right respectively, so that they combine perfectly well.

Photo fading efffect in Photoshop

Continue reading “How to: Create a fading effect between two photos”

Shortcuts to launching programs

Rocket launch One of the key ways to speed up your productivity is to reduce the time it takes you to open programs. Constant use of the mouse and Start menu, and even desktop shortcuts, takes-up valuable keyboard time not to mention clutter your workspace. There’s a lot to be said to launching programs directly from your keyboard and cleaning up your desktop/Start Menu.

If you’re a Mac user, then you’re already used to this but we poor Windows users are still in the dark ages in this respect. Quite why Microsoft have never implemented a simple launcher for programs is a mystery. However, help is at hand via programs such as Launchy which is surely one of the best options out there. Launchy runs quietly in the background and as soon as you need to open something, just enter the name of the program in the field provided and off you go. If meanwhile you’ve got so many shortcuts on your desktop that it’s taking you longer and longer to open programs, then you need some way of organising them more efficiently. FSL Launcher does exactly this by filing your shortcuts under tabs although it still means you have to use the mouse to launch them. Or another nice little solution is Kana Launcher which reduces your desktop shortcuts to icons which sit in your system tray and expand when you hover the mouse over them.

Is your Start Menu cluttered as your desktop? If so, you’ll be spending more time scrolling through looking for programs than you need to. LaunchOnFly basically works as a simplified start menu allowing you to customise it only with your most important apps and programs and access them from the system tray. Finally, if you need something that you can use between machines with the same programs installed, then Remora USB Launch is a quick launcher that you can take anywhere on a USB stick. Once plugged in, you don’t need to even touch the desktop or Start Menu anymore meaning your workspace is cleaner and your programs launched more quickly.

Today’s downloads for Windows, Mac and Mobile

Aren’t you curious about your ancestors? If so, start asking your parents and grandparents for family info and build up your own personal history with Family Tree Builder. This excellent genealogy tool includes everything you need to create a complete family tree with highly detailed profiles about each family member. You can even publish your family tree to the Internet!

It seems good alternatives to Photoshop pop up everywhere these days. The latest one I came upon is called PhotoLine. It offers a similar interface and, although not as advanced, has loads of effects, filters and layers and useful functions like HDR image creation or full masking support. Defnitely an app to try out!

For all the bad press Vista gets, to its credit it is a great looking OS. It’s no surprise then that we’ve seen loads of skins and themes available as add-ons for other Windows (and Mac, for that matter) operating systems to make them look like Vista. The latest is Poorlyduck Vista Suit, which lets you transform the Windows Mobile interface on your Pocket PC with lots of Vista-style design elements.

Extract text and images from a PDF

Grab photos from PDFs with PDF Image Extraction Wizard Don’t get me wrong, the PDF format is perfect for sharing information in a well-presented manner over the Internet. The only annoying thing about the Adobe file format is that if you want to extract text or images from a PDF to be republished online, added to a word processing document, inserted into a PowerPoint presentation and such, it can be hard to know where to start. Don’t worry though, because there are a few simple ways you can extract elements in a flash.

If you have the full version of Acrobat Reader then you’re in luck, because the application provides probably the most effective way of pillaging a PDF. All you need to do is use the Select Text or Select Graphic option from the basic Acrobat toolbar (they’re both housed within the same button). If you’re selecting text, you just need to highlight it and choose Copy before pasting it into Word. If it’s images you’re after, you can right-click on it and choose Save As.

If you’re only using the free version of Acrobat then you won’t be able to do the above. Instead, you’ll probably be best off installing a third party app to do the job for you. Thankfully, there are a couple of good ones that you can pick up for free. PDF Image Extraction Wizard offers a dead simple way of sucking out bitmaps from a PDF and saving them as a single image file on your PC.

To export text from a PDF while preserving its layout and properties, try Free PDF to Word Doc Converter. It’s free and really simple. You just need to select the source PDF file and target directory and specify whether you want to convert the whole file or just a certain page range. Then you’ll be able to open and edit your document in Word just like any other DOC file.

Ultimate Pong downloads

Pong screenshot Pong is the quintessential arcade classic – simple, addictive and fun, the game was launched by Atari in 1972 and still to this day it lives on, mainly on mobile phones and via emulators. It has also been given a new lease of life by developers who have adapted it for the 21st century creating variations of the game. A while back, Cyril explained how to play Pong within Firefox using a cool extension but if you don’t use the browser or want something a bit more exciting, try one of these:

Plamsa Pong – Superb version of the game where you play within a Plasma filled environment

3D UltraPong – Take an air hockey table, make it 3D, add some colour and you get 3D UltraPong

Bank Shot – Four player Pong action with multiple paddles instead of just one

Pong Evolution – Not so much an evolution as simply a free version for phones

SimplePong Generic – Slightly more flashy Pong game for Java phones