Broke Box

Open Source PDF Authering in Windows Vista

2007-08-06T08:35:00.000-05:00

PDF Creator 0.9.4 RC1 overcomes enough Vista compatibility issues to start working.

PDF creator has been my favorite PDF converter for about 2 years now and I was disappointed when I found it didn't work on Windows Vista. Of course there are retail solutions and online converters which have helped me limp along but in the office I need a solution that works on a barrage of operating systems and can be deployed without breaking the bank. I was happy when I found a release candidate for PDF creator that fixes the major Vista issues.

The development team is stressing that this update is for testing only so you should only consider trying this out on Vista machines.

http://www.pdfforge.org/node/837

Free Office Software

2007-06-22T16:27:00.000-05:00

No one has as tight of a grip on business software as Microsoft, which is raking in nearly $2.4 billion a year from its Office line of software. Who would expect less when their most popular package will set you back $500 for a single user. But Microsoft's greediness has created an opportunity for competition from the open source world. Lets take a look at some of the best alternatives to MS Office, most of which are platform independent.

Open Office http://www.openoffice.org

Open Office, originally Star Office, is probably the most well known and highest quality free MS Office replacement available. It is broken into 6 components:

Writer: Very similar to Word 2000. By default writer saves your work in an open document format, but can be set to be 100% compatible with Word, Works, Work Perfect, and many other word processors.
Impress: Almost a replica of Power Point, can open and save in a Microsoft compatible format.
Math: Allows you to create sophisticated mathematical formulas. I don't think MS Office has anything like this.
Draw: Create drafts and diagrams similar to 'insert chart' in MS Office but has more options.
Calc: An Excel clone. Files can be saved in many different formats just like Writer.
Base: A database manipulation tool like Access but not as powerful.

With Open Office you should be able to forget about Microsoft Office all together. Best of all it works on Linux, Mac, and Windows. Although there are a few dark spots in this picture. The main things I've run into are lack of visual basic compatibility and Base is just a few key features away from really standing up to MS Access.

Scribus http://www.scribus.net/

Scribus is an excellent open source publishing program that is an easy replacement for Microsoft Publisher.

"Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows desktops with a combination of "press-ready" output and new approaches to page layout.
Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation."

With Scribus you can easily generate all kinds of publications like pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, e-zines, cards, and more. A testament to this is the new E-zine, Full Circle, which is produced with Scribus.

Another interesting use for Scibus that I have discovered is PDF creation. There is not much more that you can do with Acrobat Professional that can't be done with this software and other free tools. Like Open Office Scribus works with Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets http://docs.google.com/

Although it's not as feature loaded as MS Office, Google Docs is an excellent online document and spreadsheet builder. The biggest difference between this and the other products listed is that Google Docs is completly online and runs within your web browser. This has fantastic implications like being able to access your work from any internet connected device with a compliant browser. Other great things about Docs include:

Direct compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats.
Able to open documents for editing from anywhere online without downloading.
PDF exporting
Easy collaboration with fiends and colleges.
Automatic revision tracking and recovery.
Nice integration with Google's ever-improving web platform.

Google Gmail and Calender http://www.google.com

Combined, Google Gmail and Calander match most of Outlooks features. Along with all the online advantagesof docs and spreadsheets, these applications offer:

Easily share your calendar online and control who can view and edit it.
Built in chat features lets you IM your gmail buddies when they are reading their mail.
Send offline IM messages as an email.
Setup SMS phone notifications.
Practically unlimited storage space for email.
Extended attachment features like being able to stream music and videos without downloading.
Cross over features with other Google web applications.

Google is really moving forward with their web platform and many big companies are copying them. I'm glad to see such innovation in this sector.

With free options like the ones we have gone over I hope you see that you can save a ton of money without giving much up. Combine this with other open source and free software packages and you can do anything you want on your computer for the price of learning some new layouts and commands.

Linux commercial

2007-06-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

Ubuntu News and Goodies

2007-06-08T13:34:00.000-05:00

Some news out today on my Linux distribution of choice, Ubuntu

-Gutsy Gibbon public testing commences. I'll take a look at some of the new features and discus porting them to the version your running
-Ubuntu E-Magazine 'Full Circle' Issue 1 released. Read on for my brief review and links.

Public testing begins for Gutsy Gibbon

The newest edition of Ubuntu, Gutsy Gibbon, has opened up for public test. Where do they get these names? In case you wondering, thats a Gibbon to the right.

Some of the key improvements coming to Ubuntu are:

Upgraded Linux Kernel to 2.6.22-6.13. This brings better power management (especial for laptops), better performance for native virtualization(yawn), and more native driver support.
User friendly failure management. Failure to boot up properly now starts a helper program which collects some information from the user and attempts to fix the problem. This is a big improvement for casual users who , in the past, where just dropped down to a command prompt.
Better automatic handling of various audio and video formats. Ubuntu should now be able to install the needed components on its own.
A new interface for managing desktop video card settings. Looks like this
Finally, more customization of booting and login screens (yawn)

My computer has serious heat problems so I'm looking forward to the Kernel upgrade. I'm also hoping for more wireless network options like connect on boot. Check out the full announcement and details here: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe1

Usually these improvements can be installed in your current Ubuntu release with just a few steps. The forums are a great place to look for help: http://ubuntuforums.org/

Full Circle, the Ubuntu E Magazine Issue 1 Released
On the 7th the first issue of Full Circle was released. For being openly developed and free I was impressed by its polished look and in-depth content. Here are some of the highlights of this issue:

New Ubuntu branch aimed at mobile phones in development.
Detailed guide on installing Feisty Fawn.
Explanation of the Linux file system.
Tutorials, Reviews, Interviews, and more.

Full circle has allot of great information presented in an easy to read format. I'll be reading their releases and tracking their progress in the future on this blog . Check it out here http://fullcirclemagazine.org

Open Source Projects: 15 To Watch

2007-05-18T10:13:00.000-05:00

Open Source Projects: 15 To Watch

Datamation just posted an excellent article looking at some up-and-coming open source projects. I was particularly interested in:

Ardour: A full featured music composition and mixing studio
Virtual Box: Virtual server host simial to VMware.
Refrencer: A meta tag composer/manager

Spring Cleaning - Windows Edition - Part 2

2007-04-06T15:26:00.000-05:00

In the first part of this series we cleaned out the garbage that windows hides from the casual user. Now we are going to scour your drive for forgotten programs, archives, and large folders. We will finish up with a proper defragmenting of the windows partition for a speed boost.

Find large files and folders with J Disk Report
J Disk Report is a great tool for finding out how the your storage space is being allocated.

Get J Disk Report: http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/
Install it with its default options and start it up.
At the first screen you will choose to 'Scan a file tree'
With JDiskReport you can scan any directory tree that you have access to including network locations. For this post we are mainly concerned with local windows partitions, particularly with the drive that windows is installed on.
After JDiskReport scans your file tree you are presented with the following report. From this screen you can see which directories are taking up the most space.

From here you can drill down into large folders by clicking on slices of the pie chart or on the folder list to the left. If a directory seems bigger than it should you can right click on it for more options.
There are a few tabs across the top of the screen. The TOP-50 tab shows you the 50 largest files within your file tree. This could help you find large archives or image files you forgot about.
You can also view this report by the number of files in a folder. This is useful for finding folders with many temporary files that previous cleanup steps may have missed.

Manual Cleanup
When you uninstall programs for windows there is almost always files and folders that get left behind.

Program files - C:\Program Files\
Check this folder for programs that you have removed from your computer. Usually there are only a few small files in these folders but if there was a problem during the removal process there could be gigabytes of files.

My Documents
Many programs like to put saved data in 'My Documents' by default, especially games.

Application Data
C:\documents and settings\%user_name%\application data\
AND
C:\documents and settings\%user_name%\local settings\application data\
Programs that make or download allot of data usually dumb it in this directory. Google and Microsoft are big hitters in that regard. This is a good folder to analyze with JDiskReports.

Root of the windows drive - C:\
Error reports, memory dumps, and logs files are usually abandoned here

A Proper Defrag
Now that you have stripped your system of all that unwanted junk you should defragment your hard drive to close up the holes, this will speed up your hard drive access time. There are many programs that, while active, will lock down files on your system and stop the defragment process from optimizing them. To avoid this I recommend defraging from Safe Mode.

Enter safe mode:

Restart your computer
Hold down the F8 button before the Windows loading screen appears.
A list of boot options should appear, if not and windows starts to load then you probably didn't press the F8 key at the right time. You can try restarting and tapping the F8 key. If you still don't get a menu and you're using an USB keyboard you'll need to repeat this process with a old-style PS2 keyboard.
At the menu choose 'Start Windows in safe mode'
When windows starts you will get a warning about being in safe mode, just click OK.

Open 'My Computer'
Right click on the drive you want to defragment and choose properties from the list
At the properties dialog switch to the tools tab and click the defragment now button
The defragment process will take at least 20 minutes. When its done report your computer.

Viola! You now have a clean hard drive, hopefully without causing any new problems.

Spring Cleaning - Windows Edition - Part 1

2007-04-04T11:02:00.000-05:00

A windows partition collects garbage like hell gathers souls. Especially with multiple users, work, music, and gaming going on. In this post I will go over some free tools you can use to optimize your free space and system performance.

Basic cleanup with Windows tools
Remove old programs and registry entries with CCleaner
Find large files and folders with J Disk Report
Some manual cleanup
A proper defrag
Tips

Make sure you have administrative privileges on your system before preforming these steps.

Basic Cleanup
For starters we want to do a basic disk scan/cleanup.

If you're running genuine Windows XP I would recommend you use "Windows One Care Online", which is a free online tool offered by Microsoft. One Care requires Internet Explorer. If you can't use this program for any reason skip down to the next section about CCleaner which performs many of the same tasks.

Using Windows OneCare:

Use Internet Explorer to access the website: http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm
Run a 'full service scan'
You may have to agree to install the scanner on your system.
When asked what type of scan you would like to preform choose 'Complete Scan'. This will take awhile...
When it's done you'll see the results. You should have One Care correct all the problems it finds with the exception of defragmenting, which we will do later. If One Care says it can't correct a specific issue you should look it up.
Done

Remove old programs and registry entries with CCleaner
CCleaner is great tool for clearing out old windows junk from your system. It can be a bit brutal at times and break things. You should create a windows restore point before continuing.

Download the latest CCleaner from: http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
CCleaner tries to install a yahoo tool bar by default. You can avoid this by un-checking the option in the installation wizard.
Once installed start the program.
First we will run the cleaner. Be careful what you have checked! Here are my suggested settings:
Next run the 'Issues' checker. I usually keep everything checked for this section. When asked if you would like to backup your registry choose yes. You can go through each issue individually but I would recommend click the "Fix all selected issues" button.
Next lets use the uninstall tool. This is much like the built in 'Add/Remove Programs' application but it has an extra option called Remove Entry. Be careful with this option as its only made to remove items listed in the uninstaller that don't work. If an uninstaller isn't working and you have to remove a program manually then you can use 'Remove Entry' on that item in the list. You should uninstall programs/games that you haven't used in awhile. Some games in particular can take up massive amounts of storage space.
The final tool is the 'Startup' tool. Here you can see what starts automatically when you start windows. If you get a strange error when windows starts then this is the place to find the source. If you think you see an item that should be removed you should research it before doing anything. If you accidentally remove something important you'll have to reinstall/repair the application that put it there originally to correct the problem.

That takes care of the basic stuff. Check back next week for the next part where will clear out junk that most clean-up programs leave behind.

Internet as TV Replacment - Direct Downloads

2007-03-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

Internet as a TV Replacement: Streaming Video

In this post I will show you some alternative methods of getting high quality movies, shows, and other media over the internet. Unlike streaming media, that plays directly over the internet, these methods rely on client programs you must install on your computer. The client connects you to a Peer-To-Peer network where you can obtain media from thousands of other people who are using the same type of program.

A few warnings before I go further. When scanning for media you will find thousands of songs and movies that you would normally have to buy at the store. It is illegal to download copyrighted material you don't own and some files may not be what they claim. It's your responsibility to adhere to the terms of the copyright and practice good security on your computer to protect your data. You should read a previous post on Broke Box called "P2P Protection with Peer Guardian" which describes ways to secure your computer from organizations that might want to prosecute you for copyright infringement.

BitTorrent

Bittorrent is my preferred downloading method because it's the fastest way to get large files like movies and music collections. It works like this, first you need a client program like utorrent or Azureus. Once you get the software installed and run the setup wizard your ready to get your torrent files. A torrent file contains information for your client to use to connect to other people that have the file you want. Once connected you start downloading various parts of the file from different people at the same time until you have the entire file. You usually can't preview the file before its completly downloaded. You get your torrent files from various torrent sites like isoHunt

Clients

utorrent Light weight and fast. I would highly recommend you use this client.
Azureus: Many features and plugins available. Heavy on system and network resources.

Torrent Sites

isoHunt
Snarf-It
Torrent
Box
MiniNova

For a step-by-step tutorial on obtaining uTorrent and downloading a movie from
isoHunt see one of my previous posts here: 'Downloading BitTottent files with uTorrent'

Traditional Direct Connect

More people are probably familiar with these kind of P2P programs which include LimeWire, Morpheus, and Kazaa. These programs have a built in search utility that scans the shared files of all other users for what you're looking for. You don't need extra websites to find files although some clients support them. When you search for a file with these clients you will probably see many of the exact same files shared by many different people. You will also see if the user is busy and how fast their connection is. Generally your looking for the fastest user. When you start your download you will stay connected to that one user until the file is complete. Occasionally I'll download the same file from a few different people then cancel all but the fastest transfer after a few minutes of observation.

Clients

LimeWire
Morpheus
SoulSeek
Bear
Share

Security Information

There are many more clients than I have listed here. Many are known
for carrying malware that can damage your computer. The clients I have listed are known to be safe in that regard. You may want to check this wikipedia page that has more details on all the popular clients: 'Comparison of file sharing applications'. Also you should make sure your virus protection is working properly and your operating system is up to date before using this type of client.

IRC

IRC or Internet Relay Chat is an old protocol created for chatting back in the 80's. It is still widely used today for many tasks including file sharing. IRC is old-school and requires a geeky level of knowledge to work in its text based environment. But it is a great source for hard to find media and software, especially anime. To download files from IRC you just need an IRC Client and some time to learn where to go and how to download. To share files you need a program like OmenServe.

IRC Clients

mIRC is by far the most widely used and updated IRC client. I don't think you will need anything else.

IRC file sharing programs

OmenServe: the most popular program if its kind. Recommended.
Polaris
UPP

Basic How-To

Download and install mIRC
Start mIRC
At the configuration screen enter your information (name, email)
Switch to the server screen and pick an Undernet, EFnet, or IRCnet server. You will see a selection of sub-servers, pick the one closest to your location.
Go back to the connection screen and click 'Connect to server'
If you get an error here just sit tight and let mIRC retry once or twice. If it still doesn't connect then you probably need to setup port forwarding on your router for port 6667. You may also need to open that port on your firewall software. If you still get the error after that then try a different server. If nothing works check out the mIRC website for help.
If you where able to connect a list of channels (chat rooms) will appear. Just close it and click on the input line at the bottom of your session screen. Enter the command " \list "
A screen will open up and fill with available channels, sorted by most
popular. When the list is finished loading look through it for a channel that sounds like it has what you're looking for. If you want a movie that is on DVD you may want to try a channel that says something like 'DVD rips, DVD-R, ISO's...
Double click a channel to join it.
Once in the channel a bot will probably give you some basic instructions. Usually there is a find or search command you can type that will cause other users to send you a reply to your request. The request you get will likely be from an automated script and not a live person.
Once you find a user you can start a private chat with them where you 'talk' to their server program. You will run into all sorts of variations in the commands you can use, there is almost always something you can type for a bot to tell you how to use the service. Usually just 'help' or '?'. If you can't figure it out you can ask people in the channel for help.
When you request a file from a user the download may start right away or
you may join a queue and have to wait.
When you finish downloading a file check your mIRC downloads directory
to get it. It's usually \program files\mIRC\downloads.

For help sharing your files read the documentation on the server program you
choose.

Tips

The programs and methods mentioned here can quickly consume all available bandwidth on your Internet connection. You may notice that web browsing is extremely slow or people who share the same connection may complain. These issues can usually be resolved by configuring the client programs to use a limited amount of your internet connection. You can find out how much bandwidth you have by running a test from a website like Speak Easy. Be sure that no one else is using the connection when you test or the results may be inaccurate. Pay attention specifically to your upload bandwidth as its usually much slower than your download and bottlenecks your connection. Once you have the speed open the options dialog for your client and limit its speed to at least 10k under you maximum load.

That about covers the most popular downloading options for Movies and other large media files. If I get some requests I may cover the IRC side in more detail as its the most complicated method.

Downloading BitTorrent Files With uTorrent

2007-03-24T17:47:00.001-05:00

For this post I'm using uTorrent 1.6.1 on a Windows XP machine

1. Download uTorrent from http://www.utorrent.com/download.php. I prefer the standalone version, Which just gives you a single program file with no installation required.

2. Run the uTorrent program file. You will be prompted for some connection information, which is the trickiest part of this setup. I will go over these options in detail. If you are asked to associate .torrent files with uTorrent choose 'yes'.

A - Connection Type: This option is about what type of Internet connection you have. uTorrent will use this information to configure a handful of parameters listed below. You will be able to adjust these individually later if you want to.

* If you are using dial-up just select "Dial-Up(56K)".

* If you are using DSL, Satellite, Cable, or other higher speed connection and your not sure what your speed is you can try running the speed test. The speed test will provide you with a list of servers, choose the one closest to your location. It will detect your upload and download bandwidth, of which your mainly concerned with the download. Once you have it go back to the uTorrent setup wizard and select the speed that closest to yours. Example: if your speed was 1.2mbs then select "xx/1Mbit" from the connection type list.

B - Port Forwarding: uTorrent now wants to make sure that Bit-Torrent users can communicate with your computer. You need to get this working or your downloads will be very slow. After configuring your ports you should get an OK! when you run the test, as pictured below.

* If you have a router: You must configure your router to forward the port listed in the wizard or a custom port of your choice to your computer. I would recommend using the default port (23126). The process of doing this is differs from router to router so you'll have to check your routers manual, do an online search, or ask someone with a good knowledge of networking to get it set. Once that's done you will have to make sure your Windows Firewall or other port blocking software on you computer is letting that port through. If you're just using the windows firewall check here for information: Understanding Windows FireWall

* If your modem is connected directly to your computer: Make sure that the port uTorrent will be using is open in Windows Firewall or other port blocking software on your computer. If you're just using the windows firewall check here for information: Understanding Windows FireWall

C - Encryption: Unless you're sure you need this I would leave it off. If your downloads seem to go slow after 10 minutes you can try turning this on just to see if it helps. If it doesn't after another 10 minutes turn it off.

Done!

3. Fine tune uTorrent if you want. You may want to configure uTorrent to download files to a specific directory, schedule download times, or other more advanced options. You can do all this from the preferences dialog which you access from the options drop-down menu.

4. Find a Torrent File. We are going to find and download the movie 'Elephants Dream' from one of my favorite torrent sites, ISO-HUNT.

A - Go to the ISO-Hunt website: http://isohunt.com

B - Search for 'Elephants Dream'

C - Find a good torrent file. If you are new to torrent lists then this page may seem confusing.

* Look over the list and find one that sounds like its the file you want, in this case I see an item called "Elephants Dream HD.avi".

* Check the size of the file to make sure its what you expect. The file should be a few hundred megabytes since its a movie. This file is 814 megabytes which sounds about right.

* The file should be active, having at least a few seeds (S) and peers (L). This file has 32,337/10,972 which is very good. These numbers represent the number of people sharing the file, the higher the better.

D - Download the Torrent: For this site we click the torrents name and then 'Download Torrent'. A window might pop up asking you to confirm that you would like to open the file with uTorrent, which you will answer yes to. If your system asks you to select a program you should tell it to use the uTorrent program file you downloaded earlier.

You might want to check the details of the file for more information about it, possibly some comments from other users describing the quality of the movie.

5. Check the files progress. Go back to uTorrent to view your downloads. A blue arrow next to the item means its downloading. You can see other information like progress and ETA on that same line.

6. When it's done uTorrent will start 'seeding' the file, meaning your just sharing and no longer downloading. Since the speed and availability of a Torrent increases with the number of people seeding, you should seed the file until your 'Share Ratio' is at least 1. You don't have to do this but it is a good way of saying thanks to all the seeders that helped you get the file quickly.

Unless you changed uTorrents default settings your files will be placed in "\My Documents\Downloads". You should be able to open that folder up and just play the video as long as your software can handle it. You can copy the file anywhere you want but you need to remove it from uTorrent before moving or deleting it.

Tips

* Sometime the files you download will be compressed. If your file's name end with .zip or .rar then this is probably the case. You will need to decompress the file before you can use it. A good program for that is 7zip. More information on file compression here

* Sometimes video are in a raw CD/DVD image format. Files like this usually end with .iso or .bin. There are a few different methods for watching videos in this format, most of which are covered here

* I only covered the basics in this post, there is much more to the BitTorrent experience. you should read the uTorrent documentation and remember, Google is your friend.

Internet as a TV Replacment - Streaming Video

2007-03-16T13:36:00.000-05:00

Internet as a TV Replacement - Direct Downloads

Canceling your satellite or cable television subscription can save you allot of money each moth. A high speed Internet connection is all you need to watch most of what you can see on TV plus more that is exclusively on the web. Then theres the prolific social aspect of online media viewing that adds and extra level of interaction.

Let look at some of the popular streaming video sites.

Atom Films

Pros: Lots of short films and cartoons spanning popular genres like action, comedy, and extreme. The video and sound quality are very good for streaming and the load times are short. Atom offers a free membership service.

Cons: Many ads around the site and short commercials before your video starts. To watch videos in full screen you have to register with the site. The influx of new media is low compared to some other sites.

ViewMy.TV

Pros: Hundreds of streams available. Good filtering options that get you to your local channels. After filtering most streams worked for me. Full screen mode for everything. Minimal advertising. Great social aspects.

Cons: ?

Lord Of TV

Pros: Big selection of feeds. Some HD channels. Top 100 list. Minimal advertising.

Cons: Many channels don't work. Some that do work buffer every few seconds. Not recommended for USA viewers.

You Tube

Pros: Tons of interesting media added every day. Free membership. Free uploading and video sharing. Host your own videos. Play videos on any website using in-line player. Owned by Google. Light on ads.

Cons: Tons of uninteresting media added every day. Most videos are low quality.

Daily Motion

Pros: Lots of short user submitted videos similar to You Tube. Videos from all over the world. No advertisements. Excellent layout. Good social features like profiles, tagging, blogging, and recommendations.

Cons: ?

I-Am-Bored

Pros: Lots of content both locally hosted and from other sites. Links to other free media sites. Games, Jokes, and news also available. No Membership required.

Cons: Video and sound quality is usually pretty low. Some links don't work.

eBAUMS WORLD

Pros: Lots of funny videos, audio, prank calls, and other media. Good social aspects.

Cons: Video and sound quality is mediocre

CNN.com

Pros: News, documentaries, and entertainment that you would normally see on the TV channel. No registration required. Fast.

Cons: The sound is good but the video is a bit distorted when played in full screen. Lengthy advertisements before video plays.

ABC.com

Pros: View any episode from ABC's current and recent TV line up. Great interface for picking a show. Less commercials than TV. High quality (500K)

Cons: No full screen option yet.

Channel Chooser

Pros: Huge number or streams and sites laid out in categories with channel numbers. Lots of live feeds from TV networks.

Cons: Hard to find a stream that plays without having to buffer every few seconds. Many stations seemed based in Europe and don't play smoothly for USA viewers. Video quality isn't good for full screen viewing.

You TV PC

Pros: Around 100 TV series available for streaming. Has shows that no other site has.

Cons: Lots of ads around the site. There are few complete collections, only some seasons and some shows within the season are usually available. Tricky links that take you to other sites that you didn't expect.

Grouper

Mostly Short clips. Similar to YouTube

Pros: Clean interface. Minimal Ads. Webcam toys. Quick publishing to my space and blogs.

Cons: Some videos have to buffer allot, although most play fine.

MetaCafe

Pros: No buffering on fast connections. Game, ring tone, forum, and blog features. Lots of new videos every day. Users can make money from videos if they get lots of views and sign up for the program.

Cons: Some advertising on the site

Blip.TV

Pros: Users can setup a dashboard which is like a custom homepage. Videos are grouped as 'episodes' in 'shows'. Very fast servers, no buffering. Allows users to make money from there video with customizable advertising. Site claims videos may be aired on a television network.

Cons: ?

Reviews Pending

Addicting Clips
Revver
Vidilife
Broadcaster
VEOH

P2P Protection with Peer Guardian 2

2007-03-12T10:06:00.000-05:00

P2P users, programs like Peer Guardian can help protect you from prosecution by blocking the government and other organizations from viewing your shared files.

If you're downloading allot of music and files online using programs like Lime Wire and Azureus, you should already be aware of the many groups, governmental and private, that are prosecuting people for copyright infringements. The RIAA alone has already sued around 20,000 people for thousands of dollars each because they got caught sharing copyrighted material.

Organizations like the RIAA use the same programs you do to see what files you are sharing. Thats all they need to build a case against you. What Peer Guardian does is block these organizations from connecting to your computer. Peer Guardian's database of blocked addresses is open source and maintained by the community. This is not a bullet proof means of protection but it does greatly decrease the already small chance you have of being prosecuted over internet file sharing.

You can download Peer Guardian here -> Phoenix Labs » PeerGuardian 2

Here is a look at the Peer Guardian user interface:I have heard reports that Peer Guardian can slow down your internet browsing and block sites you would want access to. If you are having trouble online after installing you can remove Peer Guardian or check out their support forums for help.

Alternatives to Peer Guardian are:
ProtoWall
SafePeer plugin for Azurues