The Mesmerising Blob of Infinity

Quite frankly, these days’ screensavers are a waste of time. LCD monitors do not suffer from the ‘screen burn’ effect that affected old style CRT monitors when left to display the same image for hours on end. That said, a blank or simple floating logo screensaver on a black background can provide a small power saving when a PC is left idle (though there are much better ways to achieve it). On the other hand password protecting a screensaver is a handy way of keeping prying eyes off your PC when it is left unattended for any length of time. Well, that’s my excuse for mentioning Zoom Mania. It’s a wacky, trance-inducing fractal blob thingy that floats around the screen giving off streams of smaller blobs that appear to disappear into infinity. You can move it around, zoom in and out and do all kinds of weird and wonderful things to the image. Try it after a couple of pints and I guarantee you won’t get any work done. It’s freeware but when you install it watch out for very kind offers to load browser toolbars and change your home page, unless of course you want it to…

Make Your Mouse Work Harder

Computer mice are pretty versatile these days but here’s a very neat little freeware program that adds even more functionality to your favourite rodent. It’s called AltMove and once it’s running you can quickly move, resize and hide windows with a simple keyboard and mousse key combination, and it even works on windows that do not normally support move and resize. If you have a centre mouse button, or clickwheel, pressing it opens a magnifier screen, and there are three simple ‘gestures’ with the right mouse button. Click and hold the right button and move the mouse down and the open window minimises, click right, hold and drag upward to maximise and click right, hold and drag right lets you change the windows transparency. Read more

How to shop for a laptop

Are you looking for a new laptop computer to run Windows? You’re probably among the millions of people wondering where to begin. Laptops (also called notebook computers) come in many shapes, designs, and sizes, with a bewildering array of prices and technical specifications. If you aren’t sure how to choose the best laptop for your needs, here’s some information to help you make the right purchase.

Start by taking a close look at how you’ll use your laptop. Don’t focus on technical specifications before you’ve asked yourself some basic questions: Read more

Jing’s The Thing…

You probably can’t see it in the photograph but at the top of the screen there’s a yellow dot. That’s Jing, an ingenious ‘always-on’ capture program that does just that. Click the dot and Jing starts to record anything you can see on the screen, be it a still image or a video, and if there is any sound that goes with it, it’ll capture that as well. It’s optimised for uploading to the web but you decide where your capture files go and the options include a local folder on your hard drive, a network folder, the clipboard or sharing sites such as Screencast.com and Flikr. Images are stored in .png format whilst videos are .swf files. Read more

Sony Ericsson W350i

The new Sony Ericsson W350i is a mid-level ranged mobile phone that adds to the Walkman series portfolio. As it has been a long time since a famous handset manufacturer launched a flip phone, W350i brings back the Sony Ericsson’s T series feeling. Revamped and improved, W350i’s design has that special retro look that will certainly make it as an ‘eye-catcher’ device. The public targeted is definitely going to love it, while those that are looking for a camera-phone or business-oriented device will probably hate it. In the end, it’s all about personal preferences.

Announced in January 2008, Sony Ericsson W350i was launched on the market in May 2008. The flip phone is available in four different color versions: Graphic white, Ice blue, Electric black and Hypnotic black. Those interested in a good-looking mid-level handset can acquire it for around $230 USD. Read more