www.Rarst.net

Quick ‘n Easy FTP Server Lite

Rarst — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

I had previously covered HTTP File Server as excellent solution to share files. However, being based on HTTP protocol that was developed for web-pages transfer, it only serves files without good upload or remote file management support.

Quick ‘n Easy FTP Server Lite is similar application based on FTP .

What it does

It’s tiny single-executable application that creates FTP server. Ports and connection limits can be customized but are just as fine left to defaults.

Interface is light and provides multiply ways to do things. It’s completely impossible to get lost in it. Two setup wizards handle general settings and accounts creation.

Account support

User accounts are easy to manage.

They are password protected (except anonymous account), have separate permissions for actions and setting for home directory defines what is accessible to each account separately.

Downsides

Biggest problem is no support for virtual folders. Only real folders can be shared. It can be from hard to impossible to give single account access to folders on different hard drive partitions and such.

Approach may be easier to users looking for simplest solution possible but power users may find it very lacking. Basically access is always limited to single folder and all of sub-folders.

No filters based on file-type either. It’s all or nothing.

Overall

Application is extremely easy to setup and use but functions set is limited. It will work fine for sharing single folder or having one for uploads (which is FTP strong side) but not for complex file sharing setups. May also work fine for personal usage with whole hard drive partition shared.

App is freeware. By default it writes setting to registry but can be switched to portable mode by starting with /f./ftpserver.ini argument. User account are always saved to XML file with passwords hashed. There is shareware Pro version available.

Home&download http://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/html/quick__n_easy_ftp_server_lite.html

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NewsGator family of RSS readers

Rarst — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:00:33 +0000

I’ve been using M2 (mail and news client integrated in Opera ) for reading my feeds since I discovered RSS. I like tight integration and excellent search but it started to have performance and layout issues when number of feeds approached two hundred.

So the search was made and new solution was found. Actually bunch of solutions because NewsGator offers whole family of RSS readers.

What I was looking for

good performance;
customizable (or simply fitting my taste) layout;
some form of synchronization between:
- home desktop;
- work desktop (horror of 20Mb daily traffic limit);
- pockets (Nokia E60, Nokia N810).

Dragging OPML files around is hardly an option and few portable readers I tried (thinking about Dropbox syncing them) were sub-par. Also need to sync with my on-the-go setup called for online solution.

Luckily I’ve remembered very inspired article about complete RSS solution at MakeUseOf and it turned out to be best of both online and software worlds.

NewsGator family

Strongest point of NewsGator is that it covers a lot of platforms.

Main tools :
- FeedDemon – Windows desktop client;
- NetNewsWire – Mac desktop client;
  - NetNewsWire for iPhone ;
- NewsGator Online – online reader;
  - NewsGator Mobile - slim version of online reader;
- NewsGator Go – Java mobile reader;
- NewsGator Inbox – Microsoft Outlook plugin;
Additional tools :
- NewsFriends - for Facebook ;
- NewsGator Toolbar - for Internet Explorer and Firefox ;
- FeedStation - Windows podcast downloader;
- NewsGator Screensaver ;
- NewsGator Desktop - sync with IE7 and Vista ;
- NewsGator for Yahoo Messenger .

It simply works on everything. But amazing part is that all products in this set are tightly connected by free NewsGator account.

Synchronization

Whenever feed item is marked read in any of NewsGator products – using Internet connection and account login that information in synced to account and to any other NewsGator service or application you are using . Same with list of feeds – no need to import/export OPML files ever again.

Basically after initial setup I don’t have to deal with duplicate updates between my home, work and mobile. No matter where I read my feeds – changes are reflected everywhere.

It also gives additional advantage to applications. Instead of downloading every single feed for update (like most newsreaders do) FeedDemon requests information about updates from server . It really cuts update time.

I am obviously unable to cover every product but two I am using most are FeedDemon and Mobile.

FeedDemon

FeedDemon is desktop client for Windows. It has extensive interface with plenty of functions and too much buttons (they promise to simplify interface in upcoming update).

There are lot of things to play with:

interface is very customizable with few themes for item presentation;
there is work offline option and prefetching feeds content;
filters to catch keywords;
clippings to save items for research (can also clip non-RSS links from Toolbar);
reports that help to discover:
- most viewed feeds;
- least viewed feeds;
- feeds that hadn’t been updated for specified period of time;
- feeds that are no longer working;
I am sure I still hadn’t discovered and pressed plenty of buttons.

Performance is excellent – both updates and actual reading process.

Link http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/FeedDemon/Default.aspx

NewsGator Mobile

Mobile is minimalistic version of online reader. If FeedDemon is simply good piece of software Mobile completely charmed me.

It only shows feeds with unread items and only action is marking feed as read. It’s one of the best and most usable mobile-optimized sites I had ever seen. It’s pleasure to use both on desktop and on my Nokia N810. It uses no complex code and works excellent with mobile browsers.

I’d use it even if it was single product stand-alone product but it’s synced to rest which makes awesome factor skyrocket.

Link http://m.newsgator.com/

Overall

NewsGator RSS reader suite which I described in this post is a lot of awesome tools. But it’s simply scratching surface and company gives similar amount of attention to enterprise solutions, widgets and who knows what else – it’s huge.

MakeUseOf review I mentioned was so positive some comments voiced suspicion if it’s paid. After using NewsGator for some time I can confidently say – it is THAT good.

Link http://www.newsgator.com/

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Improving blog design in a smart way

Rarst — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

There are numerous ways to choose blog design - based on goals, looks, functions or maybe budget. But there is only one way to improve blog design. That is to make it fit your purposes better and manage to skip ruining it in the process .

Starting point

Unless you’ve started on huge budget and custom design (and who does?) you are usually at one of two starting positions. Those are:

generic design looking like a blog;
bright impressive design that may not look like blog at all.

Common experience

I am going to need some illustrations so pardon my terrible drawing skills. Generic blog design would be something like this.

It has all common elements at common places. It is pretty good at serving content but as time passes you may realize it’s simply not on par with blogs around.

Flashy looks

Eye-candy at its best. Some designs put impressive looks before anything else.

And again after some time you may notice that stiff, colorful and slow loading looks may not be best frame for your content.

Two important things

Improving design can become constant process. It may be hard to grasp changes you need on first attempt. Your core purposes may also change and initially good design elements may expire their usefulness. There are two important concepts you should adopt to reduce risk of ruining instead of building:

modular design;
consistent looks.

Evade inspired on the fly editing

Without splitting page into modular parts and working on them one at a time you risk:

breaking semantic markup;
producing invalid and hard to edit code;
creating bottlenecks that slow down page load.

So first step is doing changes in parts. But it’s not enough because sticking to this rule only you may easily end up with something like this:

Aim for awesome and consistent image

By creating some rules you can make consistent:

fonts;
colors;
borders;
backgrounds.

and it becomes much easier to control everything and change parts with maximum speed and least trouble.

Combining modular approach with clear guidelines to overall looks you are going to slowly move from the starting point to highly effective and personalized look that will exactly fit your blog.

Good luck to everyone who find customizing their blogs as interesting as I do and if you are as bad as me… Rule three – hire real designer when situation calls for that. :)

This post was written for Blog Design group writing project/contest held by nice people from Blog Design Studio and sponsored by equally nice Daily Blog Tips and Blogging Tips blogs so I don’t even feel like ignoring contest for required links to sponsors because I am reader and subscriber to all of these.

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10 things that make tech blogs unreadable

Rarst — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Sometimes I feel like my posting is too positive (this is supposed to be cynical blog according to tagline) and bit of ranting should be added to the mix. I am not that arrogant to claim universal truth on what makes tech blogs unreadable but I have clear personal opinion formed. So I will share my list and then we shall compare notes , ok? :)

In no particular order.

1. Dark background and tiny font

It looks geek and if design is good one I might like it. It will give me that warm pleasant feeling of seeing something beautiful and after that I will close it and never return. It’s obviously not intended to be read and I won’t cheapen my impression by visiting repeatedly.

2. No/bad screenshots

It may be generalization but if something looks like crap it most probably is. I’d better get that valuable information from post rather than wasting my time downloading, installing and then seeing it.

3. Apple

Know what I think about Apple? I don’t think about Apple. Because:

I live half globe far from only country where its products sell well;
and it doesn’t produce anything I am remotely interested in.

So if over 30% of blog is about Apple all the time it should’ve saved world bunch of time by getting Apple-something.us domain.

4. All fluff, no value

There are two types of tech posts:

useful;
funny.

I know latter do really well for social traffic. If blog has only those I won’t interfere on that intimate relationship with Digg and will go look for useful ones elsewhere.

5. Hype

Information that gmail got skins for interface may be incredibly useful for someone who hadn’t seen that valuable stuff fifty times already. Sin of reposting hype can be softened with adding personal opinion. Unfortunately blogs that rely on hype don’t have personal opinions.

6. Vacations (marriages, work issues, etc)

I completely understand that blog wasn’t updated for three months because of very important issues. And sincerely thankful that I was reminded to unsubscribe.

7. Bad choice of RSS form

Cryptic title without content is not something I will click.
Twenty titles with hundred images and dozen videos on top is the other extreme case.

8. Bad comment policy

If my perfectly valid comment poofs because of crappy antispam setup - I am out. I don’t believe that tech blog failing to get antispam right can produce valuable qualified posts.

By the way If I leave fifty words comment I expect an answer. Hundred words without answer and I will make that disinterest mutual.

9. Too intrusive ads

Giant flash ad that is coded poorly enough to make my CPU load spike is not monetizing. It’s reader repellent.

10. Following the formula

Doing what all A-listers do. Hiring a team, producing average number of daily posts on average topics with average design and below average attention to readers. A-listers are better at that so I’ll just read them instead.

I feel that my cynical balance is restored. Have hate to add? :)

Chain reaction 10 more annoying aspects of tech blogs at gHacks

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WhyReboot shows pending file operations

Rarst — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Windows has mechanism that allows applications to create pending file operations. Such operations (moving or deleting file for example) are postponed and executed next time computer is rebooted . This is mostly used when files are locked and can’t be processed while Windows is running.

WhyReboot is utility that shows list of currently scheduled pending operations.

How it works

Really simple. It accesses Windows registry section where information needed is stored and displays it as text. Simple, effective and way more user-friendly than manual digging in registry.

What to do with information

satisfy curiosity;
decide if reboot is needed when something asks for one;
deal with files manually using Unlocker or FileAssassin to skip reboot.

Overall

Freeware, portable , tiny, perfectly fulfills single function. Not something needed daily but good one to have especially if (un)installing lots of software.

Home&download http://exodusdev.com/products/whyreboot

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Blogging Idol voting

Rarst — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:21:54 +0000

Blogging Idol 2 contest I am participating in is finishing soon and voting is up for bloggers who used smartest techniques for promotion of their RSS feeds.

My gain at moment is 34 subscribers up to 190 plus few more at software updates feed so I am only above middle of list. Still it was interesting experience and plenty of promotion tips flying around.

In the end I am much more suited for group writing contests. :) By the way my promotional offers still stand and I am even bit overbooked with writing all of guest posts I was asked to.

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Typealyzer.com – horoscope for web pages?

Rarst — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Martin of gHacks had recently made post titled Typealizer: What Type is That Blog . It’s about service that claims to analyze text on page and evaluate personal traits behind writing.

I’ll take as compliment being used for example near such major blogs like Lifehacker and Download Squad . :) And it’s more than fair to pass some links further. I do not like pure link posts so this is my excuse for today.

So in no particular order

Rarst is Guardian – extremely practical, efficient and stubborn.
frogstr is Mechanic – independent, problem-solving and seeking fun.
nice2all is Doer – active, playful and action-filled.
BloggingTips is Duty Fulfiller – responsible, hard working and conservative.
Freeware Genius is Duty Fulfiller.
Freeware Junkie is Guardian.
t3chnophilia is Guardian.
NiharsWorld is Doer.
Thinksynergy is Mechanic.
Blogsessive is detected as non-English blog.

Click through these so you can thoroughly compare your impressions with those of Typealyzer. :)

Overall

Mostly boring types much into logic and order around here. :) With occasional sparks of intuition. Do you take this seriously? Not sure I am, but it’s cool to let go and hear some computer generated opinion for a change – nothing personal, just mystery of secret algorithms.

Useful part

Typealyzer seems to be one of the few services based on uClassify . I’ve browsed through their blog and there are actually possibilities for useful stuff like anti-spam filtering. Time will tell if it gets anywhere.

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All in one media playback with VLC

Rarst — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

I’ve previously covered K-Lite Codec Pack as good solution for video playback and mentioned that alternative to packs are all-in-one media players.

So VLC is other side of the coin.

What it does

VLC is self-contained (no external codecs or other software required) and plays pretty much anything you throw at it . It’s well known as solution for playing incomplete or damaged files. For example you can take a look (or at least try to) at video file that is still being downloaded.

I can’t force myself to write long description – it just works and that’s the best thing about it. :)

Differences with codec packs

Codec packs deeply integrate with system . Any media player (not self-contained) can use them and sometimes other apps rely on codecs to play integrated video.

Players like VLC have everything built-in. They don’t contribute to the system and don’t share anything. Better for stability but you are stuck with their interface and they are no help if other apps are having problems with media playback.

Overall

Freeware, open source, cross-platform. Not natively portable but PortableApps have that covered with their portable build of VLC. Personally I am not using VLC daily but I launch it when other solutions have trouble playing something or if I want to stream something from web without bothering with download.

Home&download http://www.videolan.org/

PortableApps http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/vlc_portable

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Different software from same developer – trust or not?

Rarst — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

My post on Ketarin yesterday got me to revisit idea on how selection of software people are already using might influence their choice when they are looking for more.

It is natural to trust products from the same source you have good experience with. But is such trust wise?

Big developer, plenty of products

Think Microsoft . Scale and range of software products from such companies is huge. From operating systems to calculators – anything and everything. Does liking one of their products means that you won’t have to ever look elsewhere? Hardly.

Pro

big development budgets;
thorough testing.

Con

inconsistent quality because of numerous developers;
purchase and re-branding of software;
customer service may be lacking.

Big developer, few products

Think Stardock . There is line (or few) of closely related products. If you like some then others will probably deliver very close experience.

Pro

narrow focus;
high quality.

Con

none?

Small developer, plenty of products

Think Nirsoft or Roadkil . Often it’s only a single developer that produces numerous small utilities.

Pro

consistent quality;
fast implementation of suggestions;

Con

small scale;
may disappear or sell to bigger company;
often lacking in testing and interface design;
may never implement anything suggested.

Small developer, few products

Think Piriform or Canneverbe . In my opinion that’s potentially most dangerous combination. Single product can achieve amazing success. But it doesn’t instantly make developer proficient in everything.

For example most of Recuva reviews say something like “it’s from those guys who made CCleaner so it must be awesome ”. Well, when I tried it myself it was terrible experience. But I hadn’t seen a single review mention low quality because fame (well deserved) of CCleaner developers carries more weight than proper testing of software for review.

Pro

can produce excellent innovative software.

Con

limited resources;
diversifying may do more harm than good.

Overall

It’s natural to check other software from developer you know and trust. But it’s dangerous to narrow your view . If you are looking for software for specific task you may start with known developers but continue your search on software portals such as Softpedia , SnapFiles and FileHippo and blogs like gHacks , Freeware Genius and Rarst. :) That will give you more choices and improve results .

Had you ever used software just because of familiar developer? What your experience was?

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Ketarin - keeps setup packages updated

Rarst — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Keeping software updated is important for security and stability but what about keeping install files updated? Most update routines (software internal or third party) look at registry entries or executable versions to determine need for update.

I’ve encountered link to Ketarin (while updating CDBurnerXP – same developer) and it’s uncommon updater that focuses on software that is actually not installed.

Why bother

Keeping setup packages auto-updated makes sense for few reasons:

saves time spent on looking for updates and downloading them;
keeps antivirus tools with daily updates (like CureIt ) always usable;
you may not use some software but still need setups to give to clients/relatives/friends.

How it works

Ketarin has three ways of watching packages:

Watch download URL for file changes.
Watch packages at FileHippo – you only have to paste FileHippo link or name in field.
Watch web page for changes and use scraped data to construct download URL (see docs for details ).

Additionally you can choose to share any of your update settings to database and search that database for entries from other users.

Downsides

I’ve had some stability issues with links to FTP but they seem fixed in latest build.

Other than that I am not too thrilled with .NET Framework and SQLite combination. It works without installation if jobs.db file Ketarin creates in Application data folder is copied to same directory as Ketarin executable. Overall it’s not really portable but it’s not critical for such app either.

App is currently below 1.0 version so consider it beta, plenty of stuff is getting reported by users and fixed or added.

Overall

Single function, excellent integration with FileHippo, flexible settings. Must have tool if you keep setup packages for any reason . If you are often asked software questions (like me) you can combine Ketarin with some file sharing tool like HFS to create own software repository (just add some descriptions to files) and give link as answer.

Home&download http://ketarin.canneverbe.com/

Setup guide http://cdburnerxp.se/help/kb/20

Forum http://ketarin.canneverbe.com/forum/

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