Monthly Archives: October 2014

The Magic of Defrag – Magical Defrag 2

Have you ever used Windows’s built in disk deframentation tool. The typical experience is that a well intentioned user will start the process only to get an estimated time of 17 to 25 hours and said “forget it”.

Ashampoo has solved the problem with a great tool called Magical Defrag. Magical Defrag works in the background when your system isn’t too busy. It automatically pauses if you decide to use your computer for anything more than viewing webpages. The interface is easy to understand and use. This tool keeps on top of all your drives keeping them lean and clean, speeding up your entire system. More importantly, it is a continual process, so you don’t have to leave your computer on for several hours when you aren’t using it. I’ve often looked at the fragmentation map provided by windows built in defrag tool and bristled at the state of disorganization of my data. And I go through a lot of data. Magical Defrag 2 has saved the day. Now I can look at a map of my drives and smile: everything’s in order!

Shape Your Bandwidth With Netlimiter 2

Netlimiter 2 This software is not only data transmission counter but more complex application.

Netlimiter is able to monitor a “consumption” of transmitted data for all processes that are in touch with network connection. Furthermore it is possible to define the maximum transfer rate (both upload and download) for each single process. Program offers detailed statistics (plots) and a scheduler. Netlimiter can be used as a firewall as a bonus. If you are interested only in monitor function then look for the “Monitor” version which is free.

Is It Cloudy Yet?

Cloud computing technology, has made an uprising in the world of internet.

It has come out from the merge of parallel processing, grid computing technology and distributed computing. The outcome of cloud computing is a service not a product which makes it easy for the end user to handle it. Simply cloud computing means making use of a network environment of resources and applications to get our work done without worrying about the authorized persons of that network. The resources can also used anywhere at any time by any number of users rather than using for one’s own computer.

The cloud computing is cost effective and there is no need to install and run the application in the customer’s computer so it also simplifies the work and makes it easy to maintain. The individual computer in the network is called as node. In cloud computing each node are unique machine, which makes the virtualization easier for the user to work on it. It also dominates the drawback of grid computing which serves as a parent, by interconnecting the bifurcated nodes into one logical computer. This logical computer has the ability to process any number of tasks and maintain a huge amount of data. As each node is unique it is also advantageous to load software and specific operating system on each node depending on the necessity of the project.

Practically the applications of cloud computing is boundless. This could process any task from word processing software to specific programs designed for a company. In practical application, it can be used in backup and recovery systems. It is also obvious to use in payroll and customer relationship management system. Some companies rent the physical storage space for servers and databases as it is not available in their site. Cloud computing gives a best solution for these companies by storing the data in some others hardware without using the space in front end. The best innovations like cloud computing is a boon in technological development.

Acronis True Image 9.0

This software program is an image based backup solution geared towards the home user. I have personally been using this software to backup my computer for several months now and for the most part have been very happy with the software. Acronis True Image is considered to be a big competitor to Norton Ghost and can be used to either create full images of hard disks or just backup specific files. Another feature I really enjoy about this software package is the easy ability to create a bootable rescue disk which boots the computer into the application itself, with the same look and feel as the native windows app.

Also, this program can create a secure partition on your hard drive specifically for storing backup files/images. There are a couple downsides to using this program however, the main one being that once in a while when restoring an image it will show an error message saying that the image file is corrupt. This error is very rare and shouldn’t really be considered a large negative for the product, but caution should be used when using this for mission critical applications. In general, this is a recommended product especially considering it is quite a bit cheaper than Norton Ghost.

Which Linux to pick for your business servers?

Which Linux to pick for your business servers? Traditionally these have been run on UNIX machines with HP UX from HP, AIX from IBM and Solaris from Sun. Linux is less expensive as an OS and allows commodity x86 hardware to be run, providing savings in both software and hardware. However, not all Linux distributions are created equal.

The most important factors are: How secure and stable is the OS? How is it supported? Which hardware platforms will it run on? Which software will run on it?

Although there are many distributions of Linux, many are really for hobbyists on the desktop and many lack support and an ecosystem of 3rd parties that work with them. For servers, there are only two credible choices: Novel’s SUSE and Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux. SUSE has a very strong relationship with IBM and is especially good on high-end IBM machines. In the general market, Red Hat is the better overall product, out-selling SUSE ten to one. Many clients are concerned about the poor financial shape of Novel which is battling to avoid being delisted from the stock exchange and is embroiled in a stock option scandal.

Final Cut Pro From Apple

Final Cut Pro is an excellent and (relatively) user-friendly digital video editing program. It provides an easy way to cut, copy, and paste clips for beginner editors, as well as offering more advanced features for experienced editors. Some of those advanced features include color correction and image manipulation.

It’s a bit of a costly program at around $1000, though – if you’re a beginner or unsure of whether or not to commit to a project, there are programs which are nearly as good for a fraction of the price. But if you’re looking to seriously get into video editing, this is rapidly becoming the industry standard.
Final Cut Pro