Windows Fanatics

RSS Mixer

Brandon Watts — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:50:49 +0000

The craziness over RSS has subsided quite a bit now that it’s become something that seems to be almost everywhere now, but that doesn’t mean that it’s somehow less exciting. I’ve been using RSS for a few years now, and I still can’t get over how powerful this simple technology really is. My feed reader is one of the first things that I open when I start my day, but if you just treat your RSS feeds like individual experiences, then you’re really missing out on what else can be done. RSS Mixer encourages you to mix things up a little bit.

By mixing multiple feeds together, you’re able to have one feed that does the job of many, and this may truly be a better solution for some people. The resulting feed can be viewed as a Web page, viewed as a page that is optimized for mobile devices, and even be used as a widget. All you have to do is provide the feeds and RSS Mixer presents you with these solutions. I think it’s time for all of us to go crazy over RSS again. Is anyone with me?

Action Ball 2

Lockergnome — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:49:21 +0000

The all-new Action Ball 2 is a no-holds barred arcade game that blends the hottest brick-busting action you’ve ever seen with the thrilling battles of space shooters! As you use one of four selectable paddles to hit one or more balls toward eye-dazzling arrays of destructible objects, you’ll also have to battle four new robots that are out to foil your efforts.

Can you handle hot brick-busting action and thrilling battles in space? That’s what Action Ball 2 is all about!

[Download free trial of Action Ball 2]
[Buy Action Ball 2]

GPU-Z v0.3.0

Lockergnome — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:48:35 +0000

GPU-Z is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information you need about your video card and GPU.

Main Features:

Supports NVIDIA and ATI cards
Displays adapter, GPU, and display information
Displays overclock, default clocks, and 3D clocks (if available)
Validation of results
No installation required

Be warned that this is beta software, so please test and post feedback in the developer’s forums. [Discovered via Major Geeks]

[365K] [Win2k/XP/Vista] [FREE]

The HP Magic Computer Giveaway For Geeks

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:45:28 +0000

It’s official!

Would you like to receive the following?

HP TouchSmart IQ816 PC
HP HDX 18 series Premium Notebook PC
HP MediaSmart Connect
HP Pavilion dv4 series Entertainment Notebook PC
HP Mini 1000 (with XP)
HP Photosmart C6380 Wireless AIO
HP 564 Photo Value Pack
Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007

Follow the rules!

Be registered at Geeks.
Submit a how-to, what-is, or top-five article on ANY subject.
The article must be at least 500 words long, with proper punctuation, grammar, usage, and spelling.
Articles will not be accepted if they require editing.
Entries will be posted on my blog at chris.pirillo.com.
Whichever post gets the most comments by December 10th at 10 pm CST is the winner.
Insipid, short, pointless comments will be deleted.
Get people to comment on your article, but spamming will not be tolerated.
Your article will be cross-linked with your Geeks account.
Email the article to me: chris at pirillo.com - or http://chris.pirillo.com/contact/ works just as well.Good luck!Visit Geeks!

Edit Photos In Vista’s Photo Gallery

Diana Huggins — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:40:57 +0000

Vista includes a basic photo-editing tool called Photo Gallery. You can use the tool to:

Adjust the exposure and color
Adjust the brightness or contrast
Adjust the color
Trim unwanted portions
Fix red eyes

Photo Gallery is very simple to use so even beginners can easily make changes to their photos. To edit a photo in Photo Gallery:

Open the Windows Photo Gallery.
Click the photo you want to edit and click the Fix button.
Click Auto Adjust to correct the brightness, contrast, and color.
Click Adjust Color and use the sliders to change the Color Temperature, the Tint, and/or the Saturation.
Click the Fix Red Eye button to correct any red eyes within the image.
If you are not happy with one of your changes, click the Undo button.

ContestMachine

Brandon Watts — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:50:21 +0000

Have you ever entered a contest or giveaway? Surely you have at one time or another. We all like to win free stuff, and a lot of people have won some fantastic prizes through contests and giveaways. Even if the prize isn’t that extravagant, it’s still something, and it may actually be something that you’ve been wanting. As you know, contests can be a great way to get people’s attention, and many times you’ll see certain Web sites get involved in these promotions. They work, and even though you may think that you can’t provide anything worth winning, you’d be surprised how little it takes to make people go crazy for whatever you have. ContestMachine makes the process of setting up and managing contests and giveaways a lot less complicated.

The basic idea is that you set things up as to what the specific entry requirements, contest deadlines, and available prizes are and then ContestMachine takes care of some of the other work. The contest is presented as a customizable widget that can be placed on your site, and while your involvement will be necessary for certain things, this solution is much simpler than trying to organize and run a contest through a bog post.

Dream Car Raffles.

The Hidden Object Show Season 2

Lockergnome — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:49:02 +0000

Do you think you have what it takes to compete in this season of The Hidden Object Show? Test your skills of observation in this dizzying whirlwind tour of a wacky amusement park!

Compete for your chance to win loads of carnival prizes as well as our biggest grand prize yet.

There are 12 different game modes to keep you busy while you earn tickets that you can trade-in for cool collectible toys! So, ya think you can do it? Come for a ride today!

[Download free trial of The Hidden Object Show Season 2]
[Buy The Hidden Object Show Season 2]

Son Of Snoop On Steroids v3.1.0.6

Lockergnome — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:48:01 +0000

Son of Snoop on Steroids (SOSOS) is a computer hardware and software inventory program. It gathers over 220 pieces of information about computers and optionally stores this information in a database. It can be run locally or can be used by an administrator to scan a network.

It gathers hardware information such as CPU, memory, hard drives, video cards, and serial numbers; software information such as operating system, installed software, and software components; configuration information such as network configuration, IP address, running processes, desktop settings, and services; and security-related information such as shared resources, modems, account policies, security patches, and virus activity. [Discovered via Major Geeks]

[1.39M] [Win2k/03/XP/Vista] [FREE]

Geeks Hits 10,000 Members!

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:44:58 +0000

I’m very proud to have reached this milestone. Many communities on the Web don’t make it past a few hundred active members — so you are to be congratulated on hitting the 10,000 membership mark!

Stay tuned for the “Fly Zero G and Rule the Geekosphere!” giveaway — where one of you geeks will get the chance to do this.

Visit Geeks!

Vista’s Photo Gallery Editing Tools

Diana Huggins — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:40:43 +0000

Vista includes an application called Photo Gallery that lets you do some basic editing of your photos. For example, you can crop a photo to trim off parts that you do not need or fix red eyes. If you want to do advanced editing of your photos, Photo Gallery will not meet your needs. However, it is useful for those of us who are beginners and only want to do some simple photo editing.

If you are new to Photo Gallery, here is a quick summary of the editing tools:

Auto Adjust - Use the Auto Adjust to clean up the exposure and color of your photo.
Adjust Exposure - Use the Adjust Exposure to change your picture’s brightness or contrast. The brightness adjuster will lighten or darken your entire image. The contrast slider lets you control the difference between the lightest and darkest areas in the image.
Adjust Color - Use the Adjust Color to change the temperature (cool or warm), red-green tint, or overall saturation of color in the image.
Crop Picture - Use the Crop Picture to trim off portions of the image that you do not need.
Fix Red Eye - Use the Fix Red Eye to remove the red eyes that sometimes appear on photos.