Archive for the ‘Tools & Programs for PC’ Category

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KMPlayer Offers a Practical, Down-to-Earth Perspective on Media

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

If you’re like most PC users, you probably hate quicktime movies, and hate the quicktime program even more.  Quicktime takes a long time to load, and it has almost none of the features the widely used Windows Media Player has.  The only hitch with Windows Media Player has is it’s feud with any and all file formats associated with Apple such as .MOV.  Fortunately, a method to skirt this unfortunate blockage of multimedia called quicktime has surfaced - it’s name is the KM Player.  It plays Apple’s Quicktime videos faster and smoother than Apple’s Quicktime player can, it has a simple, no-frills interface and it takes up only a modest amount of hard drive space, and plays virtually any audio or video files including the elusive .flv flash videos.  The KM Player even has transparency and playlist features and can float on top of other windows.  The best part about the KM Player is that it’s, like all other PC-Mole recommendations to date, totally free.  Works with XP or Vista.  Try out the KM Player at the links below:

Cnet Download:  http://download.cnet.com/The-KMPlayer/3000-13632_4-10659939.html

PC-Mole Download:  http://www.pcmole.com/uploads/The_KMPlayer_1434.exe

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Free Tool to Convert iTunes Music to More Compatible MP3

Friday, July 10th, 2009
Magic M4a to Mp3 Converters simple interface allows for a quick transition from m4a to mp3

Magic M4a to Mp3 Converter's simple interface allows for a quick transition from m4a to mp3

Apple’s program ‘iTunes’ is a tool for managing music on your computer.  Every day, thousands of people download songs and podcasts from the iTunes Music Store, available only from the iTunes Program.  iTunes is provided free with iPods and is also freely available on Apple’s website.  There is only one hitch to the low-priced variety of music on iTunes, and that is compatibility.  When you download a music file on iTunes, it downloads in the Mpeg-4 (.m4a) format.  This poses a problem to everyone who wants to use iTunes music on a non-Apple mp3 player.  However, thanks to the ‘Magic M4a to Mp3 Converter’ you can now easily make an mp3 copy of all of your iTunes music in one fell swoop.  To convert all of your iTunes files:  First, download and install the converter using the link at the end of the article.  Second, run the program and click on the ‘add folder’ button and choose your ‘My Music/iTunes/iTunes Music’ folder, and then it will find all of your iTunes music automatically from there.  Third, select the ‘Mp3′ option near the ‘Convert’ button.  Fourth, in the ‘Save target as’ field, click ‘Change’ and choose a folder to put all of the new mp3 files in (remember, you get to keep your old music, the converter will make a new mp3 file for every m4a file you add).  It’s a good idea to keep all of your music folders under the ‘My Music’ folder (or just ‘Music’ if you have Windows Vista), that way, Windows Media Player will be able to find your music.  Fifth, click that big ‘Convert’ button and watch the fun.  Depending on the size of your music collection, the conversion process may take a while.  After it’s done, you can put the new mp3 files on any mp3 player (including iPods), and run them in any music program.

If you want to add your new music to Windows Media Player, then open it and click on the ‘Library’ button near the top, and click ‘Add to Library’ and then click ‘Ok’.

You can download iTunes here

You can download the ‘Magic M4a to Mp3 Converter’ here or you can download it from Cnet

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Rocket Dock’s Popular Competitor: Object Dock

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Rocket Dock has a popular adversary called ‘Object Dock’.  Object Dock does the same thing, but has a slightly different look.

Object Dock feels similar to rival Rocket Dock

Object Dock feels similar to rival Rocket Dock

Object Dock’s differences with Rocket Dock are mainly visual ones, different themes, different icons, etc.  However, Object Dock does have more docklets (add ins such as clock and calander) readily available than Rocket Dock and you can also access an icon’s right-click menu by right clicking while that feature is limited to select icons in Rocket Dock.  However, Rocket Dock’s default is closer to the Windows look, so if you are a user interface revolutionary, then you’ll most likely pick Object Dock, while if you are just looking for something simple and farmiliar, then you’ll most likely go with Rocket Dock.

Object Dock is Free to download:

PC Mole Download

Cnet Download

Posted in Tools & Programs for PC | 11 Comments »

Rocket Dock Makes the Best of Mac and Windows Available In One Small Download

Friday, June 19th, 2009
Rocket Dock Expands Icon on Mouse Over for closer look

Rocket Dock Expands Icon on Mouse Over for closer look

Whether you’re a mac lover forced to use windows, or you just want a quick way to access your applications, you’ll most likely want to add ‘Rocket Dock’ to your PC.  Rocket Dock is a free and small application that works on XP or Vista and will even allow Vista Aero (Home Premium or Ultimate) users to minimize windows to the dock with a rendered preview visible on the dock.  Icons can be dragged onto and off of the dock; items dragged onto the dock immediately appear there while items dragged off of the dock dissapear in a puff of smoke.  The dock can be customized to fit on the bottom, left, right or top side of your screen.  It can also be customized to appear only on the desktop, always on top, or pop up on mouseover.  Whenever you mouse over an icon on the dock, the icon and the ones next to it expand and the name of the icon appears (shown in picture).  This feature, as well as many others, can be turned on or off, or can be edited.

You may also change the look of the dock by choosing from a long list of included themes (Vista Black shown in picture).  The Icons can be customized from a list of included icon pictures or you can add your own.

Get Rocket Dock here:

PCmole Download

Cnet Download

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Microsoft Paint. Where the arts go to die

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

We all have used Microsoft Paint, at the office, at school, at home, trying futility to edit something, be it a photo or something that one of the seventeen people who are skilled with Microsoft Paint made. We also all know how well this works, you end up with artwork that looks like a drawing done by a 3 year old chimp. Now we must ask ourselves “Why do we even use this?”

People use Microsoft Paint for only one reason, it is easy. It comes with any and all Microsoft Windows operating systems so you don’t have to download or install anything, you just click start, go to the accessories folder, open paint and go.

But what can paint really do? Can it crop my photos? Can it remove red eye? Can I draw stuff AND erase it easily? The answer is no, at least not very easily. It can crop photos, but it takes a long time to do it and it can be tedious. I would not suggest using Microsoft paint at all. If you have to do this kind of thing use paint.net.

~Riptide

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