neolics blog

Solwise 300ATA

neo — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:22:25 +0000

I recently purchased a Solwise 300 ATA to make use of my free VoIP minutes.

My first impressions can be found HERE.

Also, I have written a small utility which helps monitor the ATA which is available through the above link.

Download problems

neo — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:16:10 +0000

Recent visitors to my website may have experienced problems downloading files from my website. This seemed especially so for Internet Explorer users. The server had been recently upgraded to Apache 2.0 and it appears that this version required a slightly different format in the download script. The script has been updated so hopefully the problem has been solved.

See this for more details

Picture Resizer - First Disc Mount

neo — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:46:54 +0000

I am pleased to announce that Picture Resizer is now available on the August issue (246) of Computer Shopper

Startup Manager

neo — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:01:27 +0000

Many programs, driver tools, background processes etc are often set to run when Windows boots. These can be antivirus, firewalls, graphic / sound card control panels, printer software… the list is practically endless. The more programs that start with Windows, the longer it takes for Windows to boot and the longer you have to wait before you can start using your PC. Do you really need all those programs to start with Windows? Do you really need them ALL every time Windows boots up? Do you know what is set to start with Windows and what each program does?

Startup Manager is a free (donationware to be precise) utility which help answer all those questions. With it, you can monitor, allow/deny, enable/disable and delay any startup program. You can even ensure that the startup programs only run when the CPU is idle. Another useful feature is the ability to create different profiles for different users or different jobs.

Vista has it’s own tool for startup programs so Startup Manager will be more useful for earlier versions of Windows, like XP. Msconfig is the standard Windows tool, but it is rather limited.

More info & download

Picture Resizer - 1.04 Beta

neo — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:15:45 +0000

Picture Resizer 1.0.4 Beta is available to download!

Several things have been tweaked, but the main improvement is that it will now run in Vista!

Link to more info…

Picture Resizer 1.0.2

neo — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:23:33 +0000

I have released version 1.0.2 of the Picture Resizer HERE.

New features include:

Proper viewport with sliders.
Advanced custom crop settings: centred zoom, grid, rulers, different units & preview mask.
Extended file types (now includes bitmap: GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIF & ICO).
Transparent colour import.
Attempt at a decimal picture size bug fix.
Fewer dependencies .

I welcome any feedback on this

Thanks to “Computer Shopper” magazine for printing my response to a previous letter in their HelpFile section (page 190 of the June Issue, if anyone is interested).

FastForward 1.2.8 - Spoof email reporting

neo — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:01:05 +0000

The next version of the spam utility FastForward is now available! This version includes Postini header analysis tweaks, spoof email reporting (currently for Ebay and Paypal), progress bar and optional confirmation message.

See THIS for more details…

Plastic Bags

neo — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:48:55 +0000

As the Daily Mail launches it’s “Banish the Bags” campaign, I can’t help but feel they are going about it the wrong way.

The environmental problems caused by the plastic pest have been known for some time - long before Peter Jones or Theo Paphitis mentioned their hate of them on Dragon’s Den.

I am all in favour of reducing the number of plastic bags in the wild, but I think supermarkets etc should be promoting other bags more effectively. They should replace all their conventional bags with ones that are:

permanent (designed for long-term use), such as the cotton ones already being promoted OR
biodegradable - e.g. paper or biodegradable polythene film (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4758419.stm)

The fact is, bags are extremely useful and can be re-used in and around the home many times. If all ‘plastic’ bags in the home (bin liners, freezer bags etc) were biodegradable, there would be no need to punish people with a ‘bag tax’. It would be better for the environment and people could still carry their shopping with relative ease.

Simply banning all plastic bags is not the best solution, nor is charging people for conventional bags…

FastForward 1.2.7 - Postini Analysis

neo — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:39:06 +0000

The next version of the spam utility FastForward is now available! This version is capable of performing analysis of the Postini data held in the headers of emails that pass through the Postini system. This feature provides valuable insight in to how the emails have been classified by the system.
See THIS for more details…

Picture Resizer software

neo — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:39:15 +0000

As Digital Photo/Picture Frames are becoming more and more commonplace it seems there is consequently a bigger demand for software to make loading images on to these devices as easy as possible.

The Picture Resizer started off as a simple tool developed for just the author’s use with a Digital Picture Frame. However, it’s become apparent that others may benefit from this tool as well.

In a recent issue of Computer Shopper, a reader asked for a recommendation on what software they should use for their DPF. Computer Shopper’s response was to try some free photo editing software or resort to MS Paint. The problem with this approach is that neither are specifically made for DPFs (or any similar bit of kit that can display a picture file) and that editing more than a few files soon becomes tiresome.

This is where the Picture Resizer comes in!

The author is aware of similar tools (which have their uses) such as Multiple Image Resizer (which is handy for adding text to images) and has used such applications in the past. However, this software is different enough to warrant its use in tandem with other image editing tools. Any keen digital photographer shouldn’t have issues with having more than one implement in their toolbox