HashTools v1.1 Released
Posted on May 13, 2008
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Do you love hashes? I do! Well, they’re helpful when it comes to checking the integrity of a file. That’s the reason I created HashTools back in January of 2007, over 1 year ago. This latest release clears up some long-standing issues and adds some much needed features. The new feature I find most useful is the ability to drag and drop files into the HashTools interface. Another new feature that I find myself using quite frequently is the ability for HashTools to automatically load and compare a hash when checking a file. For example, if you are generating an MD5 hash for a file called “MyFile.iso”, HashTools will check for a file called “MyFile.md5″. If this file exists, it will be loaded and HashTools will compare the hash contained in this file against the generated hash. Maybe this is a feature that only I will find useful, but I hope at least one other person will too.

Check out HashTools today!
DisplayFusion in the June 2008 issue of PC Authority
Posted on May 10, 2008
Filed Under DisplayFusion | 1 Comment
Two savvy DisplayFusion users have informed me that they discovered DisplayFusion while reading the June 2008 issue of PC Authority in Australiamebeli. Both were able to send me copies of the article and both received free DisplayFusion Pro licenses. I’d like to send out a big thanks to Ian Neale and Tim Burns for making this discovery, and I hope both are enjoying their complimentary licenses. If you would like to find out how you can take advantage of this great offer, just visit the In the News page for more information.
Why Can’t I Play a Good Formula One Game?
Posted on May 9, 2008
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I never thought I’d be saying this, but the EA Sports F1 games from 1999-2002 were the best I’ve ever played. After that, Sony managed to get exclusive rights to the F1 franchise and all hope was lost for a good F1 simulator on the PC. I’m sure the games were decent enough on the PS2/PS3 but I don’t own one of those, and I’m not about to buy one just to play 1 game. But now the news has gone from bad to worse. Codemasters have secured the video game rights to make the next F1 game. Anyone remember the TOCA Race Driver series? Those games have possibly the worst driving physics I have ever played. Coming a close second is the Colin McRae Rally racing series. That series also had appalling vehicle handling. The only upside to this story is that there is a chance that I will be able to play an F1 racing game on my PC once again. Apparently Codemasters are going to use the same engine that they are using in their new game, GRID. Hopefully GRID doesn’t suck. Oh please, oh please don’t let that game suck.
Notepad2: I Love You
Posted on May 8, 2008
Filed Under General | 2 Comments
Hey, that rhymes! Seriously though, how many of you have ever had to edit a file using Notepad? You know, that tiny little featureless text editor that comes with Windows? Don’t get me wrong, it’s super-fast and sometimes I’m glad that it’s so lightweight. But what if you could replace the default Notepad application with one that is just as lightweight, but has syntax highlighting and a bucket-full of other features? Well, the future is now. Let me introduce you to Notepad2 by Florian Balmer. Notepad2 is pure gold. There is no installation - it’s just 1 executable. Just rename "Notepad2.exe" to "Notepad.exe" and copy it overtop of the built-in Windows Notepad. Voila! Now you’re rocking a slimmed down, feature rich text editing application. It handles the different line endings between Linux and Windows like a champ (unlike Notepad) and the syntax highlighting makes HTML, PHP, CSS or XML file editing seem less like work, and more like an adventure in fun-land. If you haven’t replaced Notepad with one of the many great alternatives, what are you waiting for? Get editing!
iTunes Sync in the June 2008 issue of PC Praxis
Posted on May 7, 2008
Filed Under iTunes Sync | 1 Comment
It brings me great joy to announce that for the second month in a row iTunes Sync has been bundled with a major print magazine. This month, iTunes Sync has found it’s way into the June 2008 issue of PC Praxis!
Special DisplayFusion Pro Offer
If you would like to receive a free DisplayFusion Pro license visit the In the News page to find out just how easy it is!
FileSeek v1.3 Released
Posted on May 3, 2008
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I’m happy to announce that FileSeek v1.3 was released this week. This new version adds sortable columns, the ability to copy selected results from the grid via the right-click menu and the number of characters displayed in the preview pane is now configurable in the options menu. Also, a number of bugs have been fixed as well, like the right-click “Open” command not working sometimes. This version of FileSeek and it’s installer are also fully signed for full Vista compatibility.
I urge everyone who is running an older version of FileSeek to download the new version today, and if you haven’t tried FileSeek why not give it a try. You can either download an installer or an archive with only the .exe if you want to take it for a test drive before installing. Happy searching!
Mozy: Lessons on Posting while Drunk
Posted on May 2, 2008
Filed Under General | 8 Comments
My buddy Keith has already posted about this, but how could I not say anything about it. Last night the May 2008 Mozy newsletter was sent out to announce the release of Mozy for Mac, but it also contained some “interesting” additional content. It seems like Josh Coates, Mozy Founder, was in a drunken state when he whipped up the newsletter. I’ll let you read the article for yourself. It’s titled “My Oh Canada Trip”
One of the nice things about being an ugly American is that I make all sorts of ignorant and culturally insensitive remarks about other countries. And as luck would have it, I had that opportunity last week when I visited Montreal. (That’s in Canada.)
The first thing I noticed about Montreal is that it’s a very clean city - like Toronto in that respect. Oh wait - actually, the first thing I noticed was the streets were on fire and full of police and rioting citizens because I guess they won an O-KAY (that’s hockey) game. My flight got in late that night and the taxi driver had to change his routes because the streets were blocked off by police.
Other observations I had were related to confusing things like French-speaking people with the Queen of England on their money and the lack of $1 bills in their currency. Also, the whole “Canadians burned the White House down in 1814″ makes me sad inside, but I guess that was a long time ago.
Be Safe,
Josh Coates
Mozy Founder
What the crap? I’ve got to say that I am very confused by this “commentary”, and it makes Mozy look extremely un-professional. It sounds like he’s proud to be an ignorant and culturally insensitive person, way to go Josh. Would you trust this guy with your data? For the record, I switched from Mozy to JungleDisk a while ago and haven’t been happier. It’s been cheaper for the amount of data I need to store, and the JungleDisk client software is fantastic. Also, I can install it on as many computers as I want without having to pay any additional fees. JungleDisk 1, Mozy 0.
DisplayFusion v2.1 Released
Posted on April 27, 2008
Filed Under DisplayFusion | 4 Comments
After 2 months of coding and testing I am very pleased to announce the release of DisplayFusion v2.1! This version represents a lot of hard work by a lot of people. It has a substantial number of new features and bug fixes - more than any of the previous releases. The interface has been cleaned up in a number of key areas, it now has full Windows Vista compatibility and is fully signed for friendlier Windows Vista UAC prompts.
You can take a look at the change log for the complete list of changes, but here are some of the bigger new features:
- Pro users can now auto-update without having to visit the website - DisplayFusion will download and install the new version automatically (after prompting you)
- Pro users can now have random Flickr images set as their desktop wallpaper - just specify the search settings to use and let DisplayFusion take care of it for you
- Added the ability to “snap” windows to the edges of your monitors - it can be configured to snap windows within a 1 to 100 pixel range
- DisplayFusion and it’s installer are now fully signed using a certificate from a trusted CA - this means DisplayFusion now has full Windows Vista support and will work significantly better under Windows Vista
We can’t forget about bug fixes and little changes. There are a pile of those as well - here are some of the highlights:
- Desktop Wallpaper preview window is now much faster when previewing changes
- Flickr image search has been enhanced and the Flickr Group Finder is much improved
- The “window spanning” hotkey now works much better, especially with Microsoft Office windows
- Now has all new high-resolution icons for the Desktop, Start Menu and System Tray
- No more 1 pixel gaps when applying a custom wallpaper is rare situations
- Maximized Window Dragging now works with virtually all Windows applications and is completely seamless
I would encourage everyone to upgrade to the latest version by visiting the DisplayFusion download page. Also, for only $10 you can unlock the full set of Pro features. Visit the version comparison page for more information on included features and how to order. Help support future DisplayFusion by purchasing a Pro license today!
The beta testers and I have worked as hard as we can to ensure that this release is as polished as possible, but if you experience any issues at all please feel free to contact me by email or you can simply post in the discussion forum and someone will be happy to help.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this release the best one yet! ![]()









