software

Tutorials

• Internet Explorer 9: A getting started guide

  Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 officially launched late Monday and is ready for download here.

• Enable iTunes Home Sharing in iOS 4.3

  The next major iOS update is slated to be released this Friday, March 11, alongside the ultra-hyped iPad 2. One of the key features is a little something called iTunes Home Sharing, which allows users to stream music, podcasts, movies and more from PC to iOS device.

• Open source FreeOTFE encrypts disks handily

  FreeOTFE may sound like a political bumper sticker, but it stands for "Free On The Fly Encryption." The "Free" part is self-explanatory; "On The Fly Encryption" refers to the encrypting/decrypting of data as it is written to or read from your hard disk.

• Digitize your movies

  Analog movies can be the easiest--or the hardest--medium to digitize, depending on the format you're working with. While older camcorder and video formats such as 8mm and Hi8 or VHS and Betamax tapes are easy to transfer, digitizing film can be difficult at best.

• Prepare your PC for future data disasters

  Reformatting and restoring a PC is not fun--in the way spending 2 hours in the dentist's chair is not fun. You have to back up all your data (and pray that you haven't forgotten anything), reformat the hard drive, install Windows, track down missing drivers, find and reload all your software, restore your data, and pull out clumps of hair over the things you inevitably neglected to save. (Firefox plug-ins, anyone?)

• Stop Facebook from cluttering your inbox

  There's a fine line between awesome and annoying. Take Facebook: Most of the time, it's great, but a few things about the service drive me crazy.

• Switching to desktop Linux? 6 ways to ease the migration

  With all the many compelling reasons for a company to switch to Linux on the desktop, it's no wonder that businesses large and small are increasingly relying on the free and open source operating system.

• Upload and view videos in Google Docs

  Google Docs is becoming a more robust cloud-based productivity suite, and the addition of uploading, storing and viewing videos is a boon for sharing corporate presentations and the like. It's also a slick way to skirt your company's firewall on streaming video sites such as YouTube.

• Overclock your smartphone, if you dare

  WARNING: Overclocking is not for the faint of heart. Do not attempt to hack your phone unless you understand and accept the risks of turning it into a useless "brick."

• Quick tips for speeding up Mozilla Firefox

  Read on if you've ever been frustrated by slow performance in Firefox.

• Delete iPad documents in iTunes

  If you're an iPad user, you may have discovered a rather strange quirk in iTunes. Although the program makes it blissfully easy to add documents to certain apps by way of its File Sharing feature, there appears to be no way to delete those documents.

• Top 5 free Google Apps add-ons for business

  Google launched its Apps Marketplace back in March, effectively inviting companies to create business software for the cloud that would sit alongside the standard set of Google Apps.

• Get 5GB of free cloud-sync storage from SugarSync

  Wouldn't it be cool if you had a "magic" folder on your PC, one that automatically synced its contents with the Web, your other PCs, your cell phone, and other devices?

• Firesheep, Blacksheep, and protecting your Wi-Fi data

  Despite the convenience, free public Wi-Fi networks like those found in hotels, Starbucks, and McDonald's are also a serious risk when it comes to your data and personal information.

• Is your business compliant with open source licenses?

  There are many ways that vendors of proprietary products try to scare business customers away from open source software, and one of the more commonly heard examples involves vague fears about compliance with open source licenses. There's nothing like the specter of a good lawsuit to scare a company back into a paid vendor's welcoming arms.