Category: Geek Software of the Week

Somud is so much more than just a Bittorrent client! Check it out!

Somud – Bittorrent Client and So Much More!

Search and Download

Embedded P2P search engine support allows you to search and download anything from most popular P2P search engines
Embedded web video search engine support allows you to search, preview and download web video on the Internet
Simple click to download any file you find – zero need for any BitTorrent or P2P knowledge
Easily download web images to your gallery
Support searching via Sock5/HTTP proxy

BitTorrent Download and Share

Preview capability – allows you to play media file while it is being dowloaded
Fast resume – resume task quickly without checking file integrity from the beginning
Adjust download/upload bandwidth limit for all tasks or for individual task
Support downloading only specified files within a Torrent
Create your own Torrent for seeding – share your own files over P2P networks
Schedule tasks or shutdown computer at specified time
Look up for peer location
Block particular peer or multiple IP ranges
Support downloading via Magnet URI and Info-hash
Web brower integration for Magnet protocol
Support both HTTP and UDP trackers
Support multiple trackers
Support DHT protocol – trackerless Torrent
Support router NAT and UPnP
Support LSD (Local service discovery) – discover peers within the same local network
Support task queue management
Support super seeding – initial seeding
Support private Torrent
Support web seeding – HTTP seeding
Support Sock5/HTTP proxy for connecting trackers, DHT networks and/or peers
Support encrypting/decrypting data streams
Support disk caching management
Support user commenting and rating
Support URL clipboard monitoring
Support drag/drop

HTTP/FTP Download

Intelligent multiple splitting support greatly boosts download speed
Support downloading with multiple mirror URLs to boost download speed
Preview capability allows you to play media file while it is being dowloaded
Support looking up for URL host location
Support downloading via Sock5/HTTP proxy
Support authentication, rename and file tag/description
Failure retry mechanism
Support URL clipboard monitoring
Support user commenting and rating

Web Image Download

Extract and download all web images from web pages to your gallery
Support JPG/JPEG/GIF/PNG image formats
Support downloading images with customized sizes
Support zoom in/out preview
Support web browser integration

Desktop Audio/Video and Camera Audio/Video Recording (Windows only)

Record your desktop/screen motion and sound into video to present and to share
Support recording either full screen or selected desktop/screen areas
Support seamlessly inserting customized screen annotations while recording for better presentation
Record any sound from your PC or microphone into MP3
Capture camera video and audio
Support customized recording and capturing parameters adjustment for professional use
Support shortcut operations
Currently, these features are only supported on Windows platforms

MP4/FLV (Flash) Web Video Playback

Embedded MP4/FLV (Flash) video player allows you to play downloaded web videos
Integrated into SoMud – download, preview and play operations are streamlined
Support drag/drop

File Integrity Verification

Verify file integrity based on its hash
Generate hash for specified file
Supported hash algorithms: MD4, MD5 and SHA-1
Support drag/drop

Audio/Video Format Conversion

Plugin support for converting any audio and video format
Support for multiple files conversion
Support for customized parameters adjustment
Support drag/drop

Parental Control and Virus Scan

Support parental control to filter specified keywords and lock specified content
Support integrating third-party anti-virus software to scan downloaded files

AP Suggestor

Support search engine keywords suggestion
Support video and image suggestion
Support similar sites and answers suggestion
Support shopping comparison
Support facebook and twitter suggestion
For more information, please check here

Cross-platform Support

SoMud currently supports operating systems for both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X

For Windows:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows Server 2003
Windows XP

For Mac OS X:
Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
CPU Architecture Support: Universal Binary

They bill themselves as “The #1 Open Source Streaming Software!” I have heard a lot about it recently, but I HAVE NOT had a chance to test it yet, so don’t assume I have! I seem to have gotten some folks riled up at me recently about that! I am intrigued by it though, and plan to test it. It seems to have been written to stream video of games. I will probably try it for streaming regular video, like my show. Also, it IS still in Beta.

Open Broadcaster Software

“What is OBS?

Open Broadcaster Software is free and open source software for recording and live streaming. Source code is available to everyone to contribute and improve. Both 32 and 64 bit versions are available and it’s absolutely free!

Plugins

OBS has an API allowing developers to create their own unique plugins, giving them and others complete control of their streaming experience.

Is It Really Free?

Free! Not a dime! There are no subscriptions or anything, no payments at all. OBS is available to everyone, with all features, at absolutely no cost!”

Do you need a bootable USB stick? Well, here’s a neat way to get one! This week’s GSotW, UnetBootin! It is awesome!

UnetBootin – Boot Creator!

“UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. You can either let UNetbootin download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you’ve already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn’t on the list.

UNetbootin can create a bootable Live USB drive, or it can make a ‘frugal install’ on your local hard disk if you don’t have a USB drive. It loads distributions either by downloading a ISO (CD image) files for you, or by using an ISO file you’ve already downloaded.

For the Live USB creation mode, UNetbootin downloads and extracts an ISO file to your USB drive, generates an appropriate syslinux config file, and makes your USB drive bootable using syslinux.

For the Hard Disk / ‘frugal install’ mode, UNetbootin uses a Windows or Linux-based installer to install a small modification to the bootloader (bootmgr and bcdedit on Vista, grldr and boot.ini for NT-based systems, grub.exe and config.sys for Win9x, or GRUB on Linux, uses the bootloader to boot the desired distribution’s installer or to load the system utility, no CD required. After the distribution has been installed, or once done using the system utility, the modification to the bootloader is then undone.”

Zabbix is an Enterprise-class system and network monitoring solution that is Open Source, and therefore, FREE! Check out the excellent features!

Zabbix – An Open Source Enterprise Monitoring Solution!

“Monitor Everything
Everything inside your network can be monitored: Performance Servers, Web Applications, Databases, Networking Equipment and more.

Enterprise Ready
Zabbix is designed to support from small to large environments with the requirements in a business of high criticality.

Proactive Monitoring
Improve the quality of their services and reduce operating costs by avoiding downtime.

Capacity Planning
Plan the growth of your business and be able to predict the future and apply the financial resources more accurately.

True Open Source
No Enterprise version, the best of Zabbix is offered for free.

Business Solutions
Rely us in our service excellence in support, Development and Planning.

Zabbix is the ultimate open source availability and performance monitoring solution. Zabbix offers advanced monitoring, alerting, and visualization features today which are missing in other monitoring systems, even some of the best commercial ones. Below is a short list of features available in Zabbix:

• auto-discovery of servers and network devices
• low-level discovery
• distributed monitoring with centralized web administration
• support for both polling and trapping mechanisms
• server software for Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS X
• nativehigh performance agents (client software for Linux, Solaris, HP-UX,AIX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS X, Tru64/OSF1, Windows NT4.0, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista)
• agent-less monitoring
• secure user authentication
• flexible user permissions
• web-based interface
• flexible e-mail notification of predefined events
• high-level (business) view of monitored resources
• auditlog

There are many reasons to choose Zabbix monitoring solution over its competitors. The best way to make sure it is the #1 choice for your organization is to give it a try. But if you have limited time, look at some of the arguments below:

• an open source solution provides freedom with no “lock in” and security through the availability of source code. This includes not only Zabbix itself, but also components required (Linux, Apache, MySQL/PostgreSQL, PHP)
• very easy setup and simple configuration process ensures low learning curve and therefore low cost of ownership
• highly efficient agents for UNIX and Windows (x32, x64,Itanium) based platforms provide wider monitoring capabilities with greater speed
• centralized monitoring system allows to store all information (configuration and performance data) in relational database for further easier processing and re-use of data
• built-in rich visualization capabilities allow to work with your data faster and smarter
• built-in housekeeping procedures allow to keep your data organized well”

Yes, I have TWO GSotW’s this week! I have replaced IZarc, my former favorite unZip utility, with 7Zip! IZarc has too much crapware in it these days, it is harder and harder to install it with avoiding the junk! And, 7Zip is Open Source, has no crapware bundled, and works great!

“LZMA compression algorithm is very suitable for embedded applications. LZMA is released under the terms of the GNU LGPL. LZMA is also available under a proprietary license for those who can not use the GNU LGPL in their code.

7-Zip also supports encryption with AES-256 algorithm. This algorithm uses a cipher key with a length of 256 bits. To create that key, 7-Zip uses derivation function based on SHA-256 hash algorithm. A key derivation function produces a derived key from text password defined by user. For increasing the cost of exhaustive search for passwords 7-Zip uses big number of iterations to produce cipher key from text password.

7Zip Web Site

The main features of 7-Zip

• High compression ratio in 7z format with LZMA and LZMA2 compression
• Supported formats:
  • Packing / unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM
  • Unpacking only: ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DEB, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, VHD, WIM, XAR and Z.
• For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
• Strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
• Self-extracting capability for 7z format
• Integration with Windows Shell
• Powerful File Manager
• Powerful command line version
• Plugin for FAR Manager
• Localizations for 79 languages

7-Zip works in Windows 7 / Vista / XP / 2008 / 2003 / 2000 / NT / ME / 98. There is a port of the command line version to Linux/Unix.

Can I use 7-Zip in a commercial organization?

7-Zip is free software. You can use it on any computer. You don’t need to register or pay for 7-Zip.

How can I set file associations to 7-Zip in Windows 7 and Windows Vista?

You must run 7-Zip File Manager in administrator mode. Right-click the icon of 7-Zip File Manager, and then click ‘Run as administrator.’ Then you can change file associations and some other options.”

This is actually one of TWO GSotW to make up for last week! Check it out!

PDFCreator Web Site

Easy to use! Create professional PDFs with a few clicks!

PDFCreator is free. Now and forever. At home and in the office.

Security and Control using encryption, digital signatures, etc.

• Disallow printing and modifications on your documents
• Protect your documents with a password
• Encrypt your files with AES and up to 128 Bit
• Digitally sign your documents to verify you as author and protect the file against modifications

Professional Features:

Merge Documents, send emails, and much more!

Key Features:

• Create PDF files from virtually any document
• Use different profiles to quickly switch your settings
• Control the size and quality of the resulting file

Professional Features:

• Server mode provides a network PDF Server for your users
• Use the COM object to control PDFCreator from your application
• With auto save, you can create PDFs without user action

Now you can manage your Android smartphone from your PC! Check it out!

SnapPea: Android’s Best Friend!

Manage your Android from your PC
Organize your contacts, music, and pics from the comfort of your desktop. Transfer any file in the blink of an eye.

Download apps for FREE
Download thousands of apps for your Android, instant and free of charge.

Save your data plan
Apps download to the desktop, so you no longer need to worry about your mobile data plan.

Text message from your computer
Send text messages from a full-size keyboard, without touching your phone. It’s like magic.

Import your iTunes music
Importing your iTunes library to your Android is just a click away. Don’t leave home without your music ever again.

Yes! Free CAD (Computer Aided Design). Now you can create the next great cool design for a house, or anything, all for FREE!

LibreCAD – Open Source CAD Program

LibreCAD is a fully comprehensive 2D CAD application that you can download and install for free. There is a large base of satisfied LibreCAD users worldwide, and it is available in more than 20 languages and for all major operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, Suse …).

You can download, install and distribute LibreCAD freely, with no fear of copyright infringement.

Features:

LibreCAD is a feature-packed and mature 2D-CAD application with some really great advantages:

• It’s free – no worry about license costs or annual fees.
• No language barriers – it’s available in a large number of languages, with more being added continually.
• GPLv2 public license – you can use it, customize it, hack it and copy it with free user support and developer support from our active worldwide community and our experienced developer team.
• LibreCAD is an Open Source community-driven project: development is open to new talent and new ideas, and our software is tested and used daily by a large and devoted user community; you, too, can get involved and influence its future development.

So, you need to be SURE that files are COMPLETELY gone! Super secret files that NO ONE should ever see! The formula to Coca-Cola! Sure as that… now you can be sure!

Eraser – Securely Erase Files on Your Windows System

“Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. Eraser is currently supported under Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
Eraser is Free software and its source code is released under GNU General Public License.

Why Use Eraser?

Most people have some data that they would rather not share with others – passwords, personal information, classified documents from work, financial records, self-written poems, the list continues.
Perhaps you have saved some of this information on your computer where it is conveniently at your reach, but when the time comes to remove the data from your hard disk, things get a bit more complicated and maintaining your privacy is not as simple as it may have seemed at first.

Your first thought may be that when you ‘delete’ the file, the data is gone. Not quite, when you delete a file, the operating system does not really remove the file from the disk; it only removes the reference of the file from the file system table. The file remains on the disk until another file is created over it, and even after that, it might be possible to recover data by studying the magnetic fields on the disk platter surface.

Before the file is overwritten, anyone can easily retrieve it with a disk maintenance or an undelete utility.

There are several problems in secure file removal, mostly caused by the use of write cache, construction of the hard disk and the use of data encoding. These problems have been taken into consideration when Eraser was designed, and because of this intuitive design and a simple user interface, you can safely and easily erase private data from your hard drive.”