The world is full of feed readers. Portable FeedReader's claim to fame is its portability, obviously, but there's more to like than just being able to cram it on your USB drive with room to spare.
The program offers a standard RSS feed-reading interface with three vertical panes. One lists the feeds, the second shows the titles of the selected feeds stories, and the third serves as a viewer. Although the panes' width can be changed by clicking and dragging, the viewer pane is a bit narrow to comfortably read a typical Web page story. Portable FeedReader offers at launch selections from preloaded feeds, and adding a feed is a simple process.
Occasionally, the reader didn't respect the default browser settings and opened a new browser window instead of a new tab, but that's largely a minor quibble. Whether a novice or an expert, Portable FeedReader is worth trying out. And the price can't be beat.
Not everyone is rocking to the new iTunes 8 released Tuesday. An informal poll on ZDNet suggests that a problem with the latest edition of the Apple media player is affecting some, but not all, users of the software on Microsoft's Windows Vista. (You can download iTunes 8 for Windows from CNET Download.com.)
Users on an Apple forum reported seeing the so-called blue screen of death (BSOD) on their desktops running Windows Vista with iTunes 8 installed. The BSOD problem occurs shortly after connecting their iPods and iPhones.
A second, more subtle effect is that their CD/DVD drives "disappear."
ZDNet's Ed Bott offers a look at the upgrades or changes in iTunes 8.
Removing other USB devices, such as Webcams and printers, appears to resolve the problem, for the moment. Users on the forum speculate that there is an incompatibility between Apple and USB products from LogicTech and HP, as well as disc-burning software from Roxio.
We will update this post with further details, as they unfold.
Taking an old-school tack to an ages-old computer problem, the PortableApps Suite approach to mobile computing feels more Web 0.5 than 2.0. Instead of hosting programs online, PortableApps is a comprehensive application suite that fits onto and runs from almost any thumbdrive with at least 512MB of space, and can be shrunk down even further if need be.
The suite's flexibility is impressive. It manages some of the best freeware applications from a taskbar menu that runs instantly when clicked on. User-favorites Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are here, as well as the entire OpenOffice.org office suite, a calendar and day planner app, instant-messenger manager Pidgin, an antivirus program, and even a Sudoku game. If you want additional portable goodness, you can download even more stripped-down but fully-functional programs from the PortableApps Web site, including a media player, a Web page editor, and an FTP client. Support is also provided for all your ancillary settings, plug-ins, buddy lists, and document and media files, making this the easiest way to take your work with you, but without an Internet connection.
Many Windows users are annoyed by the Autoplay feature. But Leo Notenboom recently explained why it is dangerous, rather than annoying.
Many of us, when we run across an unknown USB flash drive (a.k.a. thumb drive, pen drive, memory stick, etc.) will stick it in a computer to see what's on the thing. It's at this point that Autoplay can screw you big time.
Unlike with CDs, Autoplay on a USB flash drive will run a program immediately, no questions asked. Quoting Leo "USB Thumbdrives or flash drives are a non-obvious but easy way to spread malware." The only thing most malicious software needs is for you to run the program. The Windows Autoplay feature, for flash drives, hands this service to the bad guys on a silver platter.
The question posed to Leo was "I found a USB thumb drive, plugged it in and now my system won't work. What happened?" His answer: the computer was probably infected with some type of malicious software.
Windows XP
To disable Autoplay totally, Leo suggests a free program from Microsoft for Windows XP called TweakUI. TweakUI is needed for Windows XP Home Edition users, but XP Professional can do this without the extra software (TweakUI will work on XP Professional).
The downloaded program, TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe, is only 146K. When you run the program it installs immediately, no questions asked, no decisions to be made. It does not create a desktop icon for itself, so you find it with Start -> All Programs -> Powertoys for Windows XP. To turn off AutoPlay system-wide, run TweakUI, start at My Computer -> Autoplay -> Types -> turn off the checkboxes.
Windows XP Professional can disable Autoplay using the built-in Group Policy feature (see above). To invoke the Group Policy Editor, click the Start button, then Run and enter "gpedit.msc" without the quotes. Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System. Scroll down to "Turn off Autoplay" and double click on it. It starts out in a "Not Configured" state. Click on the "Enabled" radio button, then for "Turn off Autoplay on" select "All drives".
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 does not, by default, Autoplay on USB flash drives. Nonetheless, it supports Group Policies that can be used to disable Autoplay system-wide. Quoting the operating system itself:
"By default, Autoplay is disabled on removable drives, such as the floppy disk drive (but not the CD-ROM drive), and on network drives. If you enable this policy, you can also disable Autoplay on CD-ROM drives, or disable Autoplay on all drives."
The procedure to disable Autoplay system-wide is very much like that in XP Professional. Click the Start button, then Run, and enter "gpedit.msc" without the quotes. Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System. Scroll down to "Disable Autoplay" and double-click on it.
At this point, the terminology couldn't be any worse. What does it mean to disable the policy that disables Autoplay? Do two wrongs make a right? As shown above, enable the policy and then "Disable Autoplay on All drives."
Windows Vista
As with Windows XP, the expensive versions of Vista (Business and Ultimate) include a Group Policy editor. To run it, click the Start button and in the search box type "gpedit.msc" without the quotes. Browse to Windows Components, then to AutoPlay Policies. Change the value of "Turn off Autoplay" to enabled.
The cheap versions of Vista, such as Home Premium, can do this in the Control Panel. Under Hardware and Sound, click on "Play CDs or other media automatically." Then uncheck the checkbox for "Use AutoPlay for all media and devices."
Is This Enough?
I have seen reports online that the above measures are not sufficient to fully protect you from autorun/autoplay in all instances. I can't evaluate these claims for myself, but even if they are true, there is no doubt that you are safer disabling autorun as described above than you are not disabling it.
Update: March 16, 2008: Just for good luck, make a Restore Point before changing the Autoplay default. See Four tips to using System Restore on Windows XP.
Update: March 17, 2008: Added section on Windows 2000.
Update: August 27, 2008: Added section on Windows Vista.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Most Webware.com readers who use Windows are familiar with two kinds of software: applications that run within the Windows framework, and Web-based applications. Using the former requires access to your own computer; using the latter requires password management and an Internet connection.
Now, the growing availability of software that runs off portable devices makes schlepping your laptop home for the holidays less of a necessity. PortableApps Standard Suite turns your memory device--iPod, Darth Vader Flash drive or even your digital camera's memory card--into a software and personal file manager.
Here's how to get started: Grab the PortableApps suite and run the installation file. Be sure to point the installation to your portable device, otherwise you'll have the suite on your hard drive, which is impractical for carrying to Grandma's house. The device should have at least 512 MB free for the Standard Edition, or 128 MB available for the Lite Edition. Then run the executable, which will load the red panel in the screenshot.
From there, it takes only one click to run any of the programs listed on the left, or to manage your files from the column on the right. There's a useful backup feature, so you can make temporary copies to the hard drive you're working with. The Standard Edition of Portable Apps comes with the OpenOffice.org office management suite, which includes a word processor, spreadsheet, drawing app and calculator, among others. There's also a Sudoku game, an instant-message manager, a virus scanner, and three programs from Mozilla--the Sunbird calendar, Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail client. The Lite Edition substitutes the AbiWord Portable word processor for OpenOffice.org.
Both suites include a link to the PortableApps Web site that lists the software that can work within the framework, so you can add or drop programs as you need them. The bottom of the panel has a memory bar that keeps you informed of how much room is left on your device.
The installation process takes a long time, but since you're getting a veritable plethora of applications, it's more than worth the wait. In the future, it'd be nice if there was a feature that allowed one-click synchronization between your home hard drive and your Portable Apps files and configurations, but I can forgive that for the flexibility and versatility that the suite provides.
What I can't guarantee is that Grandma will be as forgiving for spending your entire holiday on her computer.
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