Once installed and run, a notification icon appears in your taskbar. Just double-click it to open the main interface. For the first time usage, it will ask you to create a new database. Once you’ve created a new database, the window will shift into view mode. Henceforth, every time you run the software, the previously opened database will automatically load. By default, the application will automatically run at startup, but you can disable this from application’s Settings.

You can choose to immediately add new project, contact or event (which will be displayed in their respective Work Areas, except for events, which will be shown in the Agenda Work Area). Alternatively, you can click the tabs on the bottom-left to navigate to their respective Work Areas and create/view/edit/delete their records. All Work Areas follow the same outlook template. The Menu sidebar on the left displays common tools and actions, which you will definitely find useful. For example:

• The Projects Work Area Menu holds links that Highlight the projects with their respective status colors or Expands or contracts the projects in order to display more or less information.
• The Contacts Work Area Menu holds links to a tool that is used to show the contact address on a map and an option to display only a certain type or contact.
• The Agenda Work Area Menu displays event type display options and filters options for the events.
• The Reports Work Area Menu has an option to switch between summary display and data warning display mode.
• The Reports Work Area Menu has an option to switch between viewing the common cash flow records and the movement of money to internal teams.
• The Tools Work Area Menu has links to navigate between a Document, Sites & Passwords as well as the Notes Manager.

After opening a Work Area, clicking the Add or edit buttons will open windows similar to the one below. Here you can add new records or edit an existing record’s information. Different tabs hold different parts of the record. Using them to their utmost capacity will enable you to keep track of all projects, contacts, agendas, etc. Records from different Work Areas can be linked together to create an interrelated database that would be of even more use to a professional. Once the data has been entered to your satisfaction. Click OK and the changes will be committed.

Even though ContLab has all these functionalities, it is still in its beta phase. One of the biggest problems seen is the mix-up of the English and Italian languages. In the Tools menu (the top-menu bar one this time, not the sidebar one) you will find additional settings that will allow you to choose to change the behavior of ContLab; like changing the language, user accounts’ settings, as well as other advanced application settings.

Note: Closing the application window does not end its execution. Thus all events will be notified when their time of execution comes. In order to properly close ContLab, you must select Close in the right-click menu of the application’s notification icon. However doing this will stop ContLab’s event scheduler and you won’t be able to check your agenda for notifications.

Once all the problems have been solved, it is anticipated that this software will become a must-have tool for businessmen everywhere. Currently, you are required to register in order to download from the author’s website. It supports Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

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The Safe files group includes those files that have been judged by the community to be safe from all viruses. The Threat files group holds files with known threats, while Unknown files group includes files whose status is currently unknown to the community (they may have been released recently and thus not reviewed yet). Finally, the Suspicious files group contains files that are found to commit actions that are considered suspicious by the community, but not necessarily a threat. The community here refers to the community of people who actively publish reviews on program files to System Explorer’s website. They actively scan these files using many different antivirus software like Microsoft Security Essentials, Norton Internet Security, AVG, Kaspersky and more. In addition, they monitor the activity of files and search for any suspicious behavior. If such a behavior is found, they analyze and send all their findings and results to the site. All the data from many contributors is compiled and the results published for all to see.

Once installed, System Security Guard begins scanning your computer for files and checks them against its online database. You can also run a manual scan of the currently running processes. Once the scan completes, a link to the results of your scan is generated. Clicking the link opens the results in your default web browser.

Here, the details of the scans are shown. You can check the results of the scan as well as the state of each scanned file. The Scanned files section shows the directory of the file, its name, file’s rating and links to details on the files (the links lead to file details stored on System Explorer’s website which is free for all to view and use).

Details of the file include:

• Information used to check whether the file is authentic.
• Antivirus reports from multiple antivirus softwares.
• Compilation of users’ opinions as to whether the file is safe or a threat.
• User-submitted text-reviews on the file.

You can quickly check a summarized current report or change settings using the application’s notification icon. Hovering the mouse pointer will display a summarized report and right-clicking its system tray icon allows you to deactivate the scanning, change the application language, change alert settings etc.

While running, the application continues to scan your computer. The results are recorded as a report for viewing. You can access it by clicking the Show File Report link in the application’s window or the More details link shown in the snapshots above. The format of displaying information is the same as the System Security Guard Scan Results shown above.

System Security Guard is compatible with most Antivirus softwares, so there is little danger of clashes. It even has a portable version available. Get it now to boost your knowledge about the files in your computer.

Download System Security Guard

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On the toolbar, you will see a variety of buttons such as Import TXT, Import PDF, Import Word, Import PPT, Import Photo, Apply Change and Convert To Flipping Book. Of these functions, the only ones the free version offers are the Import TXT, Apply Change and the Convert to Flipping Book. To activate the rest you must upgrade to the premium version, which costs $99. To begin, Click Import TXT, and the Import TXT Document window will open. First, input the file path in the text box or hit the browse button. After selecting your TXT file, you can use the rest of the options to choose which pages to import, imprint a Watermark and select the Quality of the Flip Book.

Click Import Now, and your TXT file will be displayed in the preview window. Here, you can choose to fiddle around with the design settings in the left sidebar and change the color of the text, the sound played when a page is flipped, margin spacing etc.

Clicking the Bookmark Tab in the left sidebar opens the Bookmarks’ settings window. You can create a full tree-structure of bookmarks here, re-order them as you wish via drag-and-drop, and also import/export bookmarks as you desire.

Once the settings are configured, click Apply Change and the preview will be updated. You can peruse through your document by either clicking the navigation buttons on the bottom-right corner or the arrow-bars on the left and right of the pages. Once all the changes have been applied, click Convert To Flipping Book.

Now that the Output Option window is open, select the output format. You can choose between HTML, ZIP (with an SWF file and its associated data folders within), EXE, and an APP file extension. After choosing the output file-type, specify the output folder and the output file’s name in their respective input fields. Here, you will also find option related to Burning a copy of the output file to a CD. When all the settings are complete, click Convert. The output file will display the document with page-flipping animation.

If you want, you can choose to activate the premium features and upgrade to 3D PageFlip Standard by clicking the other Import buttons. Once that is done, you will be able to convert PDF files, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and even photos to a digital flip-turning eBook. It’s worth mentioning here that closing the free version of the application will always open its product page and advertise the paid version.

Download Flip pages worker for eBook

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To begin using Metamorphose after it’s installed and running, enter the path of the folder that contains the files and folders you wish to rename. You can add files/folders by either using the Browse button or using the built-in file explorer on the left. Once files/folders have been added, you can choose whether to list folders or files or both in the right listing pane (used for selection) by using their respective checkboxes (present underneath the Browse path). You’ll also find the Walk checkbox, All and None buttons next to them. Walk means to list all files within the current folder, and their subfolders for selection.

Clicking the All button will select all listed files for renaming (the renaming list is shown in the bottom pane), while selecting the None button will select none of the listed files for renaming, leaving it all clear for your manual selection. The filter textbox is used to filter the files in the folder using a text string (it can search for both files that have the string or not). You can even enable the Regular Expressions (Reg-Expr option) to specify the types of files you want to list down.

Once the files to be renamed are selected, click on the Main tab to choose how the files will be renamed. Note that the effects take place on the filename or their extension depends on which category is selected. The Dir category will add a subfolder (or multiple nested subfolders) to the location of the file and move the file there. The Prefix will add text before the beginning of the filename, while Suffix will add text at the end of the filename.

Now we come to the search functions. There are three search functions of which only one can be used at a time:

• Text; this is the normal text search box. You can choose to search text with case sensitive enabled or disabled. Leaving it blank will remove the whole file name and replace it with specified text.
• Regular Expression; in this search box you input the search string using regular expressions.
• Position; using this search option you can state the character length you want to replace from the beginning of the filename or its end.

To replace the searched text you have three options:

• Replace with; specify the string to replace the searched string, selecting this option yet leaving the box empty will delete the searched string from the filename.
• Modify; change the case of the searched string to UPPERCASE, lowercase, SWAP case, Capitalize first, Title Style or DoRkIfY.
• Move; choose to move the searched string to a different position or before another string.

Next, we have the Insert option. Similar to Prefix and Suffix, it allows you to insert a text string into any position in the filename. It also lets you insert the text after a certain number of characters. Finally, the Modify length option allows you to cut the current length of the filename to any length you wish from either side.

Now, you must have noticed the buttons at the very top of the main tab. The sub-dir is only usable in the Dir option, it is used if one wants to create nested subdirectories. It basically adds a separator between the nested subdirectories, like the / in folder paths. The numbering button is used to insert numbers as Prefix or Suffix. Once inserted, the files will be numbered as they are renamed. The date and time buttons are used to insert date and time stamps into the filenames. Now, we come to the id3 option. Just select the id3 metadata from drop-down menu, and then click the id3 button to insert the respective string held in the id3 field into the filenames.

From Numbering tab, you can select how the list of files will be numbered. Here, you can select the type of numbering that you want to use including Numerical, Alphabetical or Roman Numeral. The Autopad means that the total length of the numbers will be automatically set to the length of the biggest number. If the biggest number is a three digit one then all the numbering will be three digits (001, 002, 003 – 057 – 110). The Fixed pad allows you to override and select a numerical length to your liking (N-digits).

You can choose to sort the files and folders that are to be renamed in ascending, descending or manual order using the Item Sorting option. Many options for how the counting will occur are also given; for example: at what number the counting will begin, by what number will it be incremented, will it be counted by directory (for walking option), at what count will the counting reset itself and will it be reset at the beginning of each directory. You can combine them to produce any Numbering effect you want.

The Date and Time tab lets you set how the date and time stamps will be inserted. You have the option of inserting the file or folder’s creation time or other specified date/time stamps ino the file name.

The original Filenames as well as previews of the renamed filenames are always displayed in the bottom panel in every tab. Any renaming conflicts are shown in red for the user to check and review. When all the conflicts are resolved, you simply have to click the Go! button, and the changes will be applied. If you feel that you made a mistake in the renaming after the renaming is over, simply use the Ctrl+Z hotkey combination to undo the previous renaming. If despite everything any errors occur in the renaming process they will be displayed in Errors/Warning tab.

If you’re looking for a batch file and folder renamer, this one’s gold. It can even save your current renaming settings and load them wherever and whenever you wish. Furthermore, Metamorphose version 2 is currently going through its beta testing phase, and it promises a lot of improvements like displaying the thumbnails of pictures, simplification of the renaming functions to make them more user-friendly, and making use of EXIF data from images in the renaming process. The application is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux OS. The Windows variant supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Download Metamorphose

Note: If you want to install on Windows 7, you might have to install the missing DLL file, named msvcp71.dll (check out our article explaining how to register it in Window 7).

Read Metamorphose: All-In-One File & Folder Renamer For Windows, Mac & Linux [Review] by Zeeshan on AddictiveTips - Tech tips to make you smarter

The sites that the items link to include:

• graphicriver.net
• videohive.net
• codecanyon.net
• themeforest.net
• activeden.net
• and more.

If you can’t find the item you want, then simply write the search terms in the search bar at the bottom of the item panel and press the search button (note: pressing enter doesn’t work). If you want to search the most popular items in the categories then click the Popular items button on the top-right. The window will show the popular items’ sub-categories on the left sidebar and their respective items will be shown in the items pane. Double-click an item to go to its website. Rather than scratching your head manually searching through various sites, this application helps artist find what they want in record time. Download it now by hitting up the link below. Download Artist Market

Read Search Code Snippets, Graphics, Website Templates & More With Artist Maker by Zeeshan on AddictiveTips - Tech tips to make you smarter

The first time you open the app, you’ll be directed to a Guide describing its working. This user-friendly guide explains all features of WikiView with clear and easy-to-understand terms. You won’t have any problems if you read through this just once. Questions like how to navigate between pages, create and manage bookmarks, go through the history, change settings, display and use the article’s table of contents and how to view the article in another language are all addressed here. To re-open this guide just tap the settings button and select User guide.

WikiView incorporates three methods of searching articles. To search by Article Title, just tap on the search bar at the top of the app, and type while making sure that the Title button in the dropdown suggestions menu is tapped/selected. As you type along, article suggestions are automatically listed in the menu shown. The Language button allows you to search for articles in your desired language.

The second method of searching is Content searching. With the Content option selected, the dropdown menu lists suggestions by searching for the entered query through the content of articles rather than through article titles.

The final and, in my opinion, the most interesting method of searching is the Nearby Articles option in the Bookmarks menu. Tapping this will open a new window with your current position on a map. The articles with their associated locations nearest to you will be shown as red placemarkers. You can navigate to any location in the world to view the articles in or around it. The app will search and show articles on the map whenever you stop for a little while. Tapping a pin once will reveal the corresponding article’s name and selecting the blue arrow beside the name will open the article itself. You can even switch between map view and satellite view if you want.

Even though you can’t edit the articles with WikiView, searching for articles has never been more fun. If you have an iPad, then grab the app from the link below. It’s only free for a limited time, so hurry!

Download WikiView

Read WikiView For iPad: Elegant Wikipedia Reader With Map View & Real-Time Search by Zeeshan on AddictiveTips - Tech tips to make you smarter

After installation, you can open the app and sign up for a new account for free, or log in if you already have one.

Once the signup or login is done, simply enter your partner’s email address to invite them. You can even choose to send an introductory video if you want when you tap Send invite.

Tapping the ‘+’ button in the bottom-left corner will open the options bar (the button will transform into an ‘x’ and a bar will appear above the textbox). Here you can choose to send a photo, a video, paint a pic (also for handwritten messages), send an emoticon, send a thumbkiss, send your location and finally, draw with your partner on a shared canvas (you can also play tic-tac-toe in real-time with this).

Note: When you receive an image or video, open it by double-tapping and close the opened file by triple-tapping it. The Thumbkiss is a gesture of love exclusive to Pair users. Love and feel loved by using it without others noticing. For all these options, see left to right across the two pictures above, you’ll have to slide the bar to see the second portion.

Tap the more/menu icon at the top-left of the screen to open the settings menu. Here you can set important dates (like anniversaries, birthdays, etc), schedule shared tasks and even go over all the previous files shared in Moments. You can also change your settings, get help for the app, suggest the app to other couples and finally, logout.

In the iOS version, if your email address is the same as the one you use for FaceTime, then you can tap the circle at the top-right to place a video call. Unfortunately, If you register with an address different from your FaceTime one, then this feature will not work.

In the settings tab, you can change your profile, security and notification settings. Finally, you can choose to unpair your devices in case of a breakup, in order to make sure your ex doesn’t keep bothering you.

Pair is available for free on both the Google Play Store and iOS App Store. Grab it from the links provided below.

Download Pair for iPhone, iPad & iPod touch

Download Pair for Android

Read Pair For iPhone & Android: Chat & Share Privately With Your Loved One by Zeeshan on AddictiveTips - Tech tips to make you smarter

Back in 2009, we featured WirelessKeyView, an application with the purpose of recovering Wireless Network Keys from Windows or from the data left behind after Windows is uninstalled. Since our last review, WirelessKeyView had many of its minor bugs fixed. The method of displaying data has also been improved to incorporate grid view and to mark odd and even rows in order to make it easier to keep track of the fields. However the most important update added recently was the Import and Export of Wireless Keys. So now, you can backup and migrate your wireless keys anywhere you want.

Once WirelessKeyView is up and running, you will find Import and Export functions in FIle menu.

You can choose to export selected keys to a TXT file to any local location. Once transferred, simply transfer the file to another computer and then import the keys there by using the Import keys From Export File option, accessible from File menu.

Thus, if you have multiple computers that need to be configured, use this application to export the keys and then import them to all the PCs. By doing so, the amount of work needed to be done is extremely reduced. However, the application lacks the ability to automatically encrypt exported TXT file. This creates a vulnerability in the system which malicious people can take advantage of. Encryption of the exported file is a much needed improvement required in this application. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows.

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SynWrite carries a remarkable number of search functions, which include support for regular expressions (regex) as well as extracting text from files using regex. There is also a small quick search toolbar at the bottom-left corner of the application that can be used to quickly search for a term in the currently opened file.

It also supports a large variety of language encoding. You can even convert the current language encoding to the one you wish to.

You can also set bookmarks on specific lines in your file and create macros for the file by using the options in their relative menus. Furthermore, you can select the text you want and change its case to UPPER CASE, lower case, Title Case, Sentence case and iNVERT cASE by using the right most button on the second toolbar. It even has a built-in spellchecker.

SynWrite can also allow you to make changes in how it displays data by editing the settings via the Customize… button in the Options Menu. Clicking on this will open the Options window in which you can navigate to any of the relative tabs and change the options for the editor. For example, it allows you to change the way the text is highlighted, make the application portable, change the history settings and more.

Furthermore, if you were to compare SynWrite with its counterparts, Editra and InType, you would find that the main important differences are:

• Unlike both InType and Editra, it currently boasts a stable release, thus occasions where the application crashes are almost non-existent.
• Like InType and unlike Editra, SynWrite is a Microsoft Windows only application.
• SynWrite has a portable option, which Editra doesn’t.
• And unlike Editra, SynWrite has no additional plugins although it can connect with and use Total Commander file manager.

All in all, if you’re using Microsoft Windows, then SynWrite is a better choice than Editra and InType.

Download SynWrite

If you liked this application, you might want to take a look at our showcase of text editing applications.

Read SynWrite Is A Portable Syntax Editor With Tree Structure View For Code by Zeeshan on AddictiveTips - Tech tips to make you smarter

What I found most appealing was it’s capability of displaying animated GIF files without any problems since most other image viewers and editors always have difficulty in this area. They either do not support animated GIFs, or if they do, the file is displayed with slower progress and bugs in regards to looping. FreeVimager has no problems whatsoever in these regards and seamlessly plays the animated file without breaking at the loop point.

For image viewing, it can directly open an image file or a folder with image files in it (in the latter case, it opens the first picture in the folder). Once opened, users can go through all the images in the current image’s folder by pressing the left and right keys both onscreen and on the keyboard. Its image editing capabilities include: Rotating, Flipping, Cropping (both lossy and lossless for JPG files), Grayscaling, Inverting Colors, Adjustment of Brightness and Contrast, Red Eye Removal, as well as Softening and Sharpening of the images and the capability of creating both soft and hard borders of any color around the picture.

It also supports image conversion to other file extensions along with compilation into TIFF, ZIP and PDF files. It can create slideshows and can even display as well as edit EXIF data on the images. While it does not provide editing tools like paint brush, users can create collages using the copy/paste features, as well as optimize images for sending over e-mail.

It cannot edit audio files but it can play and convert them to other supported formats, as well as add them to slideshows.

It can display videos, fix the audio video synchronization, change its bitrate and resize the borders of the video, and finally, save the edited video file. Unfortunately, it only supports video files with AVI extensions. The supported codecs are Integrated MPEG4 (DivX), MJPEG, Theora, Vorbis and ADPCM.

What really makes this application different from others are the user friendly tutorials that come with it. These easy to use and understand, visually stimulating tutorials easily explain how you can use the program to achieve your desired target.

You can set and revert file association for the program using the global settings option in the File menu. Selecting the desired file extensions will set FreeVimager as their default program and deselecting the ones you don’t want associated will revert them back to their original programs. The Global Settings dialogue also holds other options that may be of interest to advanced users.

And best of all, FreeVimager works for all versions of Windows, from Windows 95 to Windows 8. All in all, despite the lack of style, FreeVimager holds its own against other Image Viewers and Editors with sheer capability alone. If you’re looking for a freeware picture editor then this is a must.

Download FreeVimager

Read FreeVimager: View, Edit & Convert Images, Audio & Video, All In One Place by Zeeshan on AddictiveTips - Tech tips to make you smarter