TechNama

Downloading pictures from Flickr has never been a problem as loads of tools are readily available on the internet. However, if you just want to download you favorite pictures from Flickr, you may not have a lot of tools to get the job done. Recently i came across a blog post that shared one such tool i.e FlickrFaves, which allow users to download items from their Flickr Favorites.

FlickrFaves may not be helpful to traditional users with just few pictures in their Flickr account. However, it will be a very useful tool for those users who have hundreds and thousands of pictures in Flickr Favorites.

How FlickrFaves Work:

Once installed, the user has to allow the app to access his flickr account by giving the relevant details.  Once the program has gained access to your account, select the folder where you want it to download all the Flickr Favourites, select the type of media you want to download, enter the minimum resolution of the downloaded photos, and select other options.  Since the software downloads the original pictures, this minimum dimension is just there to make sure that small photos are not downloaded. Not only this, the software will also download videos that are available in Flickr Favorites and hence makes it the first software of its kind to do both jobs through one platform i.e downloading photos and videos from Flickr Favorites.

Click here to Download FlickrFaves

System Requirements for FlickrFaves

It is developed on Java and works on both Windows and Mac provided you have a minimum Java Runtime Environment 5.0 installed. It works fine with the latest operating system of Microsoft Windows 7. If you have tested the software, do give us your feedback.

If you are planning to switch to the Windows 7 or have already installed it on your computer or laptop, its time you better start tweaking its settings, supplement its features or smooth the transition from the old XP to Windows 7. Below is the list of software’s that can help you with all the above and much more. Below is the brief description of the Ten Best and Essential Software’s for Windows 7. Let us know if you think we can add any other software to the list.  The list is originally compiled by PC World.

1) Microsoft Security Essentials

Like its predecessors, Windows 7 doesn’t provide built-in protection against malware such as viruses and spyware. (It does have a firewall, however.) You could pay McAfee or Symantec for this service, but why bother with their protection racket when Redmond’s service does the same thing for free? Microsoft Security Essentials provides solid protection for home PCs, and it’s gratis. If you prefer third-party security, check out AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition instead.

2) Ninite – The Windows 7 Transfer Utility

Brave souls upgrading to Windows 7 from XP must do a clean install, a tedious process that includes, among other things, reinstalling all apps. Instead, why not load most of your free and open-source programs all at once? Ninite does just that. First, go to the Ninite site and pick the programs you want (for instance, Firefox, iTunes, and Skype). Next, download Ninite, which installs the apps on your PC without introducing additional crapware. Ninite is free for personal use.

3) Windows Live Photo Gallery for Windows 7

To keep Windows 7 slim and trim–and to avoid the code bloat that slowed Vista–Microsoft left a few utilities out of its new operating system.

One such app, Photo Gallery, is a free, easy-to-use photo manager/editor that’s worth a download, particularly if you aren’t already using Google Picasa to organize your pics and videos.

4) Windows Easy Transfer for Windows 7

If you are moving to Windows 7 from XP or Vista, you should check out this free download, which helps you copy files and settings from one PC to another. (Windows 7 comes with Easy Transfer.)

The new version of Windows Easy Transfer adds a file explorer, which simplifies the task of selecting the specific files you want to copy. Easy Transfer won’t hang if it comes across a file or setting it can’t move. Rather, it will complete the transfer and then provide a report detailing everything it couldn’t copy. The bad news: Easy Transfer won’t copy your programs. For a PC-to-PC connection, you’ll need an Easy Transfer Cable (about $20). Other transfer options include a USB flash drive, an external hard disk, or a network connection.

5) Ultimate Windows Tweaker v2 for Windows 7

This free customization tool detects whether you’re running Windows 7 or Vista, and offers only the tweaks relevant to your OS. “Ultimate” is a fitting description for this mega-tweaker, which provides dozens of configuration options for UI, network, security, and system settings. If you’re all about personalizing Windows 7, this app is for you.
WinZip 14 Standard

If Windows 7 has zip compression built in, you’re undoubtedly wondering, why do I need the latest version of WinZip? Well, if you seldom use zip archives, you probably don’t. But zip fans will appreciate the improvements in WinZip 14 Standard, which has simplified the process of zipping and mailing archives in Win 7.

The latest version offers better compression ratios too. WinZip 14 Standard costs $30.

6) EnhanceMySe7en Free for Windows 7

Windows 7 may be easier to use than Vista or XP, but diagnostic and maintenance chores remain tricky. EnhanceMySe7en is a handy utility for anyone interested in doing a little system housekeeping.

This free app conveniently helps you select which programs to permit to load at startup; lets monitor your hard drive’s performance, health, and temperature; and enables you to fiddle with the Registry–if you dare.

Image Resizer Powertoy Clone for Windows 7

Need to resize pictures in Windows 7? This free utility makes it easy. Simply right-click one or more image files in Windows Explorer. You can select one of four sizes: small (640 by 480); medium (800 by 600); large (1024 by 768); or handheld PC (240 by 320). You can create your own custom sizes, too.

9) Systerac Tools for Windows 7

This bundle of 16 tools from Systerac has everything you’ll need to keep Windows 7 running smoothly. You can tweak Windows’ performance and appearance, optimize memory, clean up the hard drive, cover your tracks by shredding files, and so on. The Systerac interface is aesthetically appealing, nicely organized, and a snap to learn. The $20 Windows 7 version runs on Vista as well.

10) Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Don’t upgrade to Windows 7 before running this free utility from Microsoft. Upgrade Advisor scans your PC to see if it’s ready for Windows 7. If it detects any potential problems–from insufficient memory to incompatible hardware to outdated software–it’ll let you know in a summary report.

We all are familiar with the Internet Movie Database since we may have used it at some point to read more about a movie. However, there aren’t many sites that offer the complete scripts of the movies to us but that is about to change with IMSDb

IMSDb is Internet Movie Script Database and offer complete scripts of the movies in a very easy format. You can read them online or download them as text files to your local computer. The search option allows you to search by either the name of the movie or through the genre. You can also give your comments on the script on the movie through the comment box at the end of the page. The script database is huge and it is continuously updated with the addition of new movies. At the time of writing of this review, the last movies whose scripts have been added to the database included, “Hackers”, “Bound” and “Eyes Wide Shut”.

My Compete toolbox shows me that the page is already very famous since it has a Google PageRank of 5 while the total daily unique visitors to the site are around 58,000 approx. The site layout is however not very professional and it is filled with too many advertisements from Google. I hope the developers of this site improve its overall design.

ViewDocsOnline is a new website that can solve your problem of carrying essential software’s with you to read different types of files. With ViewDocsOnline, you only need an active internet connection and nothing else. You can use this website to read any type of file. It supports Microsoft Office(doc, docx, ppt, pptx, pps, xls, xlsx), PDF(pdf, ps), Open Office(odt, odp, sxw, sxi, etc), or Text(txt, rtf) documents.

The website is designed to keep it simple for the users. There is a main page where you can find a link to upload the file/document that you want to read or view and there is also a separate tab in case your file lies somewhere online. You can give the link url for the file to the ViewDocsOnline and it will open them up for you without the hassle of installing all the necessary softwares.

Below is the screen shot of the file that i just opened with the ViewDocsOnline.

Ahh the world is becoming so simple now… I wonder why things were so messed up when we were young and had to install MS Office just to view a two pager document.

Trackle is the Cool, Smart and Innovative competitor of Google Alerts, Yotify and Alerts.com.  Trackle is personalized web scout that can help cull the web for any topic and bring the latest information to you. The diverse range of information that it can track makes it a very unique site. Trackle can track the crime in your neighborhood, update you on the latest price of any item on the Internet and alert you when your favourite iTune, books or movies are available. Not only this, there are few dozens of categories that you can chose and trackle for updates.

Trackle out perform its rivals in the sheer amount of categories it can track and maintain a very organized alert system. Trackle will ensure that there is no repetition of alerts and hence the precious time of its users is not wasted by duplicate alerts. The tracklets can be created by giving any keywords to a single group of tracklets.

I created my tracklet for the key word of TechNama to keep an eye on the websites and blogs that discuss us. I have been using Google Alerts but i think the Trackle interface is much friendly then the other traditional rivals. The amazing thing about Trickle is that it can give you alerts through a variety of modes including e mail and SMS. Users can enable an sms based alert to get notified while being on the go.

Now a one negative point of Trackle. The additional features will not be applicable to you if you are residing outside US. So a person like me can sit back and relax and wait for the Trackle team to provide the same services in the other regions of the world.

Trackle was founded by Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur Pavan Nigam and technology executive Naveen Saxea. Nigam was the founder of Healtheon (a health care start-up that merged with WebMD in 1999) and Cendura (a start-up that was acquired by Computer Associates in 2006). Trackle. Trackle has received seed funding by NEA (New Enterprise Associates) and other angel investors.

Trackle plans to make it the essential alert system for the web. They plan to get it sticked on all the websites and users can click it to get the alerts for the site just like the traditional RSS links. Since the alerts are in real time and offers variety of other functionalities, we see a strong potential in the idea.

What’s your take on Trackle? Do you think it can outsmart others like Google Alerts and Yotify?

How many times you have been thinking to switch from old software but you couldn’t find any alternative? Now there is an alternative to what you have been thinking. Whether you’re bored with your software or your software just sucks and you can not change it just because you don’t know its alternative or you’re just trying to get a feel for what’s out there, AlternativeTo is a handy service for finding software alternatives.

You can find a good list of options or alternatives for online web apps, windows, Mac or Linux programs. Apart from filtering down by these platforms you can always search or look for “Most Likes” to check out which alternatives are most popular and may work for you as well. If you have a good alternative for a software, you can also suggest to improve it.

Interestingly the alternativeness (or whatever you call it) is based on the likeness it ihas received from users. For example when I checked alternatives of Photoshop it was showing GIMP as the first alternative and the prime reason was people had most likes for this than any other alternative so it was placed on top. Okay – this is cool way and people can decide the alternative based on their experience so thumbs up!

Do share your experiance with us if you happen to test any alternative from alternativeto.