MADDEN CORNER

K9 Web Protection keeps your child safe on the internet

2009-10-03T00:05:00.001-05:00

K9 Web Protection gives you peace of mind when it comes to the World Wide Web and your children. I've been using it for a while now, and I have to safe it works really well. You have options to filter the times they can surf, the level of protection, and what types of websites or specific sites you choose to block.

If you child tries to do something they shouldn't K9 stops them, and sends you an email informing you of the incident. Of course the best thing I like its free! So if your in need of internet filtering then K9 just may be for you. Also if you like what you read here feel free to sign up for the RSS feed or email list.

Privnote

2009-10-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

If you have ever watched a re-run of the original Mission Impossible, then you know in the beginning of the show after the mission was received the tape would say " This message will self destruct in 5 secs". Well Privnote gives you something similar. It allows you to send a message to someone that you may not want to pass through email, and soon as they close out the window the link is destroyed and works no more. Privnotes Privacy Policy states (Notes are stored encrypted in our database which assures that nobody (including our administrators) can read them. This implies that there is no way to recover a note if the link is lost but, at the same time, it protects our users' privacy, which is our biggest concern and main priority.)

Now it doesn't stop the recipient from copying and pasting the note, but at least your not passing something through email that your I.T guys at work could read. You can also check a box that will let you know if the note has been read or not. Have some fun and give it a try.

Your Version- information like you want it

2009-10-01T00:23:00.000-05:00

Your Version is a new search engine that tries to take all of the things you like about the web and combine them into one (searching for news, RSS feeds, web alerts, Twitter). Then it narrows down the web to the things you are most interested in. You have options for bookmarking and sharing, and connecting to some of your favorite things like Twitter and Facebook. I'm still checking it out, but if it lives up to the hype it may be another tool I use to gather information.

Your Version Demo

Electronics Search

2009-08-31T23:12:00.000-05:00

Search for your electronics directly with the Madden Corner custom search engine.

Custom Search

Google Supports the Military

2009-08-08T02:30:00.005-05:00

Google Voice has been highly anticipated for the last few months, but the only problem you had to sign up and get on a waiting list to get a number. For those of you unfamiliar with Google Voice please read my past post(Google Voice Changing the Game) Well now in an effort to support our men and women in uniform Google will give anyone a number with a .mil address. Google Voice allows you to consolidate all your phones into one number. So based on your preferences when someone calls your GV number you can set it to ring your cell,office and home all at once. Or send all calls to voice mail. You can also retrieve your voicemail messages online.

GV also gives you the ability to send and receive text messages online, and get ride of telemarketers by sending those calls to spam (or anyone else you don't want to talk to). Next time they call they will think your number is disconnected. When overseas you could dial into your GV number and check your messages. Then make multiple calls within the GV system without having to hang up. This will save you a lot of time when trying to reach out to family members while deployed. Having just returned from Iraq myself this year, I can tell you first hand the Google Voice is a great service with more improvements to come. So sign up here GVMilSignup and start enjoying Google Voice. I forgot its Free!

PSP GO

2009-05-30T16:45:00.000-05:00

This fall Sony will release the next generation of the Play Station Portable labeled the "PSP Go". The PSP go is very stylish featuring a sliding game board, a 3.8 inch screen, 16GB of flash memory, bluetooth support, and all digital content. It's also 43% lighter over the PSP 3000 according to John Koller Director of Hardware and Marketing. Just when I think I have all the electronics I need something else comes around the corner.

Google Wave

2009-05-28T23:43:00.001-05:00

Google continues to be at the front of the line when it comes to innovative technology. Google's soon to be new star "Google Wave" was demoed and released to developers today. Set to be on the streets sometime later this year Google Wave could revolutionize the way you communicate today, and be another serious blow to Microsoft Office. To keep it simple, Wave is a combination of email, chat, document and media sharing but all in real time. If you and another user are online at the same time they will be able to see what your typing letter for letter in real time.

It will be open source project, and have the ability to be used across multiple platforms through API. So basically you may never have to leave the Google Wave interface to post on blogs or other websites. Also since it's online and doesn't require any software, you will be able to use it anywhere. Wave's collaboration features will safe you lot's of time whether you're getting some office work done, communicating with friends, or just your daily web surfing. Watch the first 20 minutes of the demo to get a feel for what's to come.

Google Wave Demo.

Desktop Earth

2009-04-29T22:41:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to share this cool wall paper I found. Desktop Earth displays a satellite photo of the earth at the current time. It also updates showing you the current position of the sun, city lights and cloud coverage. A little something to mix things up if you get bored of the same thing.

Google Voice-Changing the Rules

2009-04-27T22:53:00.003-05:00

How would you like one phone number that could control all your phone calls? A number that you would never have to change regardless of how many times you moved? Or the ability to get rid of annoying telemarketers with the click of a button? Well you will get all of this and more with Google Voice. Google purchased a company called Grand Central a few years ago and didn't do much with until last month when they revamped and renamed it Google Voice.

Features you can expect with Google Voice are listed below (as per the their website)

Why use it GV? Well it's a free local number and I love free stuff. If you have a cell phone and live in an area where you have pretty good coverage then why keep a home phone and pay the extra money? Since my home coverage is pretty good I'm getting rid of my land line and I will save about $1200 dollars per year. With today's economy cutting corners are important to everyone.

Instead of giving out your cell phone number for everything give your Google Voice number. Setup is quick and easy, and this will enable you to route your to calls to any number you choose. Get a copy of your voicemails sent directly to your email. Also get a transcribed copy of what the caller has said if you don't have time to listen to the message. You can also send and receive text messages. GV also offer very low international rates, and mobile access.

As cell phones have really taken off in the last decade I think having a land line is not as important as it use to be. Most people always have their cell phone with them anyway. So why not receive calls through the medium you have most. Google Voice is still in the beta stage, but standby to see how the major players in the telecom industry react if people really take to it. I'm sure they will try to complain to congress how Google is not being fair by offering a free service (except for international calls)

Currently GV is only open to those who where Grand Central users, but if I where you I would sign up and get on the waiting list today. I've liked the features in Grand Central and I do believe Google Voice will take it to the next level.

Google number - One number for all your calls and SMS
Call screening - Announce and screen callers Listen in - Listen before taking a call Block calls - Keep unwanted callers at bay SMS - Send, receive, and store SMS Place calls - Call US numbers for free Taking calls - Answer on any of your phones Phone routing - Phones ring based on who calls Forwarding phones - Add phones and decide which ring

Google voicemail - Voicemail as easy as email, with transcripts
Voicemail transcripts - Read what your voicemail says Listen to voicemail - Check online or from your phone Notifications - Receive voicemails via email or SMS Personalize greeting - Vary greetings by caller Share voicemail - Forward or download voicemails

Voice features - More cool things you can do with Google Voice
Conference calling - Join people into a single call Call record - Record calls and store them online Call switch - Switch phones during a call Mobile site - View your inbox from your mobile GOOG-411 - Check directory assistance Manage groups - Set preferences by group

Avoid Internet Explorer for now.

2008-12-16T09:06:00.001-06:00

Searching the net as I always do I came across a BBC article that warns of a malicious script in all versions of Internet Explorer that can steal your passwords. Security experts are advising you use another browser in the mean while until Microsoft completes a patch. This is exactly why I stopped using IE over a year ago. Mostly all malicious codes are written towards this browser. I use Fire Fox and Google Chrome , so do most of my readers.

BBC Story

Lap Top Alarm

2008-11-18T02:32:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but my day job has had me out of he country, but things are slowing down some, and now I'm back to tell you about LapTop Alarm. This program allows you a little protection when your a Starbucks, and you need to grab something from the counter real quick, or when it's just another day at the library.

LapTop Alarm will unleash a loud sound when your laptop is disconnected from AC-power, if someone pulls the AC plug, or when someone removes or moves the USB. It's a simple program to use so give it a try. Until time next peace!

Recover deleted pictures

2008-09-06T02:00:00.003-05:00

One wrong click on your digital camera and all your pictures are gone. Some recovery programs will cost you as much as $50, but don't panic there is a way to retrieve them, and it's free. When you initially delete a photo is not totally gone. It's still there, but if you take new pictures it will be gone for good. So the first thing is remove the memory card from your camera. Next download this program (click high-lighted text) Restoration. It's very simple and straight forward. Install the program on your desktop(Note-this program will not be installed on your computer you will have to click the icon in the folder for each use).

Unzip Restoration and select the destination folder. Click on the Unzipped folder and select the Restoration icon. Plug up your camera, or take out the memory card if you have a slot on your computer. Now just select the drive where your memory card is located and click "Search for deleted files". After it locates your files click "Restore by copying" Then just select where you would like the files saved. That's your done and crisis averted. You can also recover deleted files with this process.Until next time peace!

Search for MP3's with Google

2008-09-02T00:36:00.007-05:00

In this day and age we Google just about everything. What has made Google so popular is it's ability to index the internet and give you relevant search terms. Google also indexes college's and universities and other sites across the internet. Site's were people upload their songs, photos for easy access. Let's say you wanted to look up a Carrie Underwood, but to specifically keep the search to MP3's you would have to type this in the search bar (-inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" "Last modified" mp3 "Carrie underwood).

That's a lot of geek talk. GMP3 has taken this form and made into something you are use to. A simple search box you can type the artist name or song in. Click on the song and see if it will automatically download as an MP3. If not then right click and select save file as MP3. Anytime you download something off the internet you should go to the file right click and hit the scan button to make sure that it is virus free. Another one you can give a try that does the same thing is at jimmyr.com Hope this helps and until next time peace.

GuerrilaMail-Helps you avoid spam

2008-08-25T06:36:00.006-05:00

Spam is one thing that everyone hates. GuerrillaMail helps you avoid it by providing you a temporary email address that last for about one hour. If an email comes it will show up right on their web site. All you have to do is keep that window open. You can also extend the time you want the temporary address to stay active. This is really great if their is something you want to checkout, but and not give up your email address. Until next time peace.

StreamFile

2008-08-21T23:42:00.016-05:00

StreamFile is a new site on the rise offering data streaming and encryption with a twist. Some of you may be using Drop.io to move your large files (earlier article), but what makes StreamFile different is the file can be simotaniously download as it is being uploaded be sending an email to the recipient, or sending the link that is provided once the upload begins.

By having the ability to download a file as it is being upload saves you a lot of time. When normally you would have to wait for the entire file to upload before you could transfer it to someone else. I gave it a few test runs and it seems to work just fine.The max file size is 2GB. Until next time peace.

How hack proof is your password?

2008-08-21T02:34:00.005-05:00

Every wonder how good is your password you that protects your email, bank account and such? Well I've come across a website that will tell you exactly that. Hackosis has a spreadsheet formula that will tell you based on the types of characters used in your password ( number of upper case, lower case, numbers, special characters etc) how long it would take to hack it from a computer trying 25,769,803,776 passwords per hour. You are not giving the site your password just the number of characters and numbers used. Give me some feedback on this on. Especially if you thought your password was soild. Mine was 34 minutes. Until next time peace!

Mygazines

2008-08-19T23:12:00.003-05:00

Want to read all your favorite magazines for free? Well that's what Mygazines brings to you. They seem to have all the latest and it's free for now so enjoy. Until next time peace.

Foxmarks, your bookmarks were you need them

2008-08-17T22:24:00.007-05:00

I think the title says it all. If you use Firefox this is a must for having all your bookmarks on different computers. If you have two computers in your home, or Firefox on a computer at work install this add-on in all of your Firefox browsers. Foxmarks syncs your bookmarks to your account on their website. After that your bookmarks will be synced with any computer you have installed Foxmarks on. Now you have an automatic backup if your computer ever crashes. It really is a know brainer. I don't know about you, but I love having the same set up regardless of what computer I'm on.

Also if you read my Cool Websites post a while back then you know that you can get that version for your thumb drive and still have the same functionality. If you are unfamiliar with Portable Apps it is basically like a mini software suite placed on your thumb drive. It allows you to have comparable programs to Microsoft Office and some other useful things as well. And as always it's free! Until next time peace!

Do you really know your Neighbor?

2008-08-10T23:22:00.002-05:00

Ever wonder if your neighbor has a dark past? Are they a little weird? Then checkout Criminal Searches. This is a new site in the beta mode and right now so it's free. Simply type in the person name and you get search results with a key that breaks down on what they were arrested for. Until next time peace.

Scour

2008-07-14T21:54:00.005-05:00

Scour is a new search engine that combines Google, Yahoo, and MSN search results. The difference is they will pay you for doing what you already do, and that is search the internet. They want to improve search engine optimizing by letting the user rate the searches they receive. So if you find what your looking for give it a thumbs up. If you don't like it give it a thumbs down its that simple. Scour also has a toolbar they you can at to your browser for easy use.

Just for signing up you get 300 points and you can gain more points for referring friends. You will get one point for every search you rate. You will also getting points based on your friends usage. The max you can earn in one year is $125. Not bad for something you do for free anyway. Once you reach 6,500 points you will earn a $25 Visa gift card. So check it out and until next time peace!

KeyScrambler

2008-06-28T23:06:00.007-05:00

KeyScrambler is a great program that scramblers your keystrokes when you log in your email and credit card accounts. This will protect you if someone ever tries to intercept your key strokes to attain your account information. KeyScrambler is free, but they have some paid versions for more protection. The free version should be enough for most of you though. This version works in Firefox and Internet Explorer. You can download it here. Also don't forget to check out the maddencorner store for discounted items powered by Amazon. Subscribe to the Madden Corner to stay up to date on technology you can use. Until next time Peace!

Free online storage

2008-06-21T01:28:00.011-05:00

I wanted to touch on this because it's something we should all be doing. Backing up your music, photo's and documents is very important in today's digital world. Sure, you can save them to a CD or an external hard drive, but in the unfortunate case your hard drive crashes or your home goes up in flames most likely your information would be lost. Most fire proof safes are made to protect your paper documents not plastic cd's so they will probably melt. Which brings me to online backup services.

My subscribers know the MaddenCorner is all about free 99% percent of the time, and today I bring free options for backing up your media. All items listed below are free and with most you can gain more storage by recommending it to friends or upgrading to a paid account if you choose. Also, most of these have features for creating slideshows, playlists, and allow sharing files publicly or privately.

Divshare-5GBs

Esnipes-5GBs

Driveway-2GBs(Share a few friends email address and instantly get an extra 10GBs)

iDrive-2GBs (Share a few friends email address and instantly get an extra 10GBs)

Windows Skydrive-5GBs

Ghost-5GBs (Virtual Desktop previous article here)

4shared-5GBs (Must log in every 30 days to keep account)

You can also back up your sensitive data by encrypting it with TrueCrypt, and then uploading it to one of these services. Until next time, peace!

Make Gmail your email home

2008-06-13T21:19:00.038-05:00

Gmail is your one stop shop when it comes to email. With its free 6GB of storage and their excellent spam filtering, you can't go wrong. What also makes Gmail pop is the Firefox Browser. If you're not using it, you should be. It's more secure than IE and it has a ton of add-ons which is what really makes it the best browser out there. With Gmail you can receive all your other email accounts in one location. You can set up folders to distribute those emails and keep them separate from your Gmail inbox. You can also set up Gmail to send emails from all your external accounts. So if you want to send an email from your Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL account you can do all of it from Gmail by simply clicking on the from tab when composing a new message.

If you're not familiar with POP Forwarding you will have to go to the setting page of your other email account and enable it. (Instructions for Forwarding Yahoo, AOL,)

To email from another account, setup is easy (setup below). All you have to do is enter the email account you want to add and Gmail will send you a verification email to that account. Click on the link or simply enter the code to that account and you're done. Now you can control all your email in one centralized location. No more going all over the place. Another great thing is that you can set up your work account and email from it at home.

(Click for larger view)

Another advantage to Gmail is the versatility of the email address. Let's say you have a folder in your Gmail account that's labeled Work Stuff and your address is myexample@gmail.com . To make items go directly into that folder just email it to myexample+workstuff@gmail.com. Also it doesn't matter if your email address is first.last@gmail.com or firstlast@gmail.com it still will go to your account. One more tip that saves some time. If you don't have Firefox you can download it from the widget below. Until next time peace.

Scan Life

2008-06-03T21:28:00.006-05:00

Just when you thought cell gadgets had run it's course Scan Life breaths new life into your camera phone. This is accomplished by taking an image of a 2D barcode. The barcode will take you to the website or provide information to whatever it is associated with. So let's say your in the mall and you see a movie poster with the barcode. Scan it and find out show times or additional movie information. Here is a video were the Air Force used this technology to give people additional information about there exhibit.

As you can see the possibilities are limitless when it comes to uses for this commercially and privately. The Madden Corner got in the beta test and I created a barcode for this blog.

My thanks to all the new feedburner subscribes. Also new to the Madden Corner leave your feedback via voice message. Just hit the Web Call button and I will post your comments. Until next time peace.

G.ho.st

2008-05-29T22:49:00.015-05:00

I've been reviewing a few online Virtual Desktops for a while now, and I think Ghost (Global Hosted Operating SysTem) may have the most potential. Ghost gives you 5GB of free storage, and 3GB for your Ghost email account. You also can get 1 more gigabyte for inviting a friend. 9 free gigabytes is pretty impressive. With your Virtual Desktop you get all the bells and whistles.

They have integrated Zoho Docs to take care of your office needs along with just about everything you come to expect when you sit down at your computer. You can also upload files via FTP. The Ghost browser gives you the option of surfing the web directly or anonymously. What really surprised me is the speed and how smooth it is for a web based system. I tried Ulteo and it was has good qualities, but a little slow. Plus Ulteo is limited and if you want more time and storage you have to get a paid account.

Use Ghost's virtual MP3 player to listen to all your tunes. Change your desktop background with a Ghost provided image or upload your own. Ghost has also added a few widgets to use on your virtual computer with more to come.

This system is hosted on Amazon Web Services. I think right off the back this gives them credibility. Using a trusted merchant like Amazon to store your personal data is a good move. Ghost could benefit those who still can't afford a computer but have access to one. It allows you to leave your thumb drive at home, without losing the ability to access your pictures, music and video's from anywhere on the internet. I've created a short video below to give you a quick look at the Ghost Desktop. It may appear to be a little slower, but that's because of the recording program. Watch in full screen for best viewing. Give Ghost a try. Until next time peace!