Utilities: Definition and additional resources from ZDNet

Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia.
Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc.
All rights reserved.

Additional Resources

Demystifying BIOS updates - The DOs and DO NOTs: Demystifying BIOS updates - The DOs and DO NOTsSome of this advice is overly-cautious ...[i]When there’s a darn good reason for doing the update (as a rule I find that if I buy a cutting-edge board then there can be a lot of BIOS updates released over a short period...; Tags: BIOS, BIOS update, motherboard; Discussion threads 2008-07-02
Mandarin Dictation Module (mod): The StudyBase Mandarin product has many utilities one of them being dictations. This module contains several dictations which can be imported into the application. Dictations facilitate listening to natural speech and documenting heard words. The dictation tool has PinYin entering IME which converts common ascii to HanZi characters. This version...; Tags: Module, Studybase, StudyBase Mandarin Product, Dictation Tool, Productivity; Software downloads 2008-07-02
COM Cleaner (exe): This utility alleviates COM Port lock-up issues caused by FTDI chips and other utilities. FTDI chips are used in hardware devices to enable serial COM port communications through a USB connection to the PC. The FTDI drivers fail to release the COM ports when the device is removed from the...; Tags: COM Port, PC, COM, Ki-Den, FTDI, FTDI Chip, ActiveX/COM/COM+/DCOM, Middleware, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Enterprise Software, Software; Software downloads 2008-07-02
Brightening outlook for solar energy?: Wanted to add another couple of links related to Harry's post yesterday about SolarCity. The actual news of the day is the company's new 8,200-square-foot facility in Phoenix, from which it will run its SolarLease program. One thing that Harry didn't mention in his post is...; Tags: Solar Energy, Investment, Utility Solar Assessment Study, Telecom & Utilities, Heather Clancy; Blog posts 2008-07-01
Mobile software Monday: Spb Backup 2.0 for Windows Mobile: Some mobile software is flashy and fun while others just get the job done. Spb Backup 2.0 is one of those software solutions that is essential to Windows Mobile and gets the job done. One of the first utilities I look for on Windows Mobile is a...; Tags: Software, Device, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Microsoft Windows, Spb Backup 2.0, Backups, Matthew Miller; Blog posts 2008-06-30

Ctalk (zip): Ctalk adds object oriented programming features, like classes, methods, operator overloading, and inheritance to standard C programs. C programs can use only a few Ctalk objects, or programs can be written almost entirely in Ctalk. Ctalk classes support common C data types like integers, strings, and floating point numbers, as...; Tags: Object-oriented Programming, C, Robert Kiesling, Ctalk, C/C++, Ooa/Ood/Oop, Programming Languages, Software Development, Software/Web Development; Software downloads 2008-06-30
Time for open source to build a Code Recycling Center: Time for open source to build a Code Recycling CenterExcellent ideaExcellent idea. Often companies have utilities created for in-house use that are no longer needed. Years ago I wrote a utility to determine the answer date on lawsuits in Texas, which does not work on a "20 days...; Tags: Code Recycling Center, open source; Discussion threads 2008-06-26
WinTraceRoute (exe): This tool is designed to display the route that network packets take when travelling across global IP network. Excellent utility for network troubleshooting, this software incorporates the functionality of well known tracert and traceroute command line utilities and presents the output using a Windows based interface. You may print the...; Tags: Network, Filesland, Networking; Software downloads 2008-06-25
NVidia says no to request to release open source drivers, once again: Nvidia reiterated that it won't provide open source drivers for Linux because the company claimsÂ there is no need for it. Nvidia providesÂ binary Linux drivers and has open sourced some drivers such as the nv X driver and other utilities that work with the proprietary driver, including the...; Tags: NVidia Corp., Driver, Linux, UNIX, Open Source, Operating Systems, Software, Paula Rooney; Blog posts 2008-06-23
MIT students making solar power realistic: MIT students making solar power realisticno kiddingIn fact, the researchers believe that, because they can concentrate the heat from the sun so intensely, any water run near the focus could easily be vaporized to run a turbine and generate electricity.For crying out loud.I'm getting so tired of this.Here's all you...; Tags: Telecom & Utilities, UCSD, Peak-Power, solar energy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SolarCity; Discussion threads 2008-06-22
The harsh reality of suburban broadband: The harsh reality of suburban broadbandi live in parsippanyand my Optimum line does not go down ever! I've had it for over a year now and I have decided to not even consider switching to FIOS as I have zero issues of any kind. My speed test results are 27468...; Tags: Network technology, Broadband Internet, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, Cable, suburban broadband, harsh reality, broadband, Fios, Verizon Communications Inc.; Discussion threads 2008-06-22
Friday Rant - Why no MSI installer for Firefox?: Friday Rant - Why no MSI installer for Firefox?Do IT departments want Firefox?Firefox is all well and good and what I am using right now. But.... A lot of corporate software demands the use of IE--probably a version or two old at that. Cognos comes to mind...; Tags: Web browsers, MSI, Mozilla Firefox, installer; Discussion threads 2008-06-20
NetStat Agent (exe): A TCP/IP troubleshooting tool for monitoring your Internet connections. It displays all active TCP and UDP connections on your computer, country for all remote IP, ports on which the computer is listening, the state of that connections and the owning process. Under WinXP, you can get more information about process...; Tags: HTTP, Whois, Connection, Flexbyte Software, NetStat Agent, Productivity, Tcp/Ip, Networking; Software downloads 2008-06-20
DSH Car-PC Suite (exe): The DSH Car-PC Suite is intended for all Windows-based car computers and is optimized for touch screen usage. It includes the DSH Media Center (music, video and pictures) and the DSH Media Bandit. This suite also includes the DSH 'Open Street Navigator' GPS navigator and Map viewer, Office Utilities (Calculator,...; Tags: Touch Screen, Electronics, DSH Car-PC Suite, Keyboards, Monitors & Displays, Hardware, Peripherals, Components; Software downloads 2008-06-20
Zeno Systems Toolkit (exe): Zeno Systems Toolkit is suite of utilities spanning a wide range of uses. The kit includes, a clipboard tool to easily capture text. A units tool with conversions for metric, and US standard categories, Roman to Arabic numerals, fraction to decimal, and more. An email notification tool. A color tool...; Tags: Screen Capture, Tool, Zeno Systems, Zeno Systems Toolkit, Productivity, E-mail, Online Communications; Software downloads 2008-06-20
Pay $50 extra for XP on a PC? You've gotta be kidding me!: Pay $50 extra for XP on a PC? You've gotta be kidding me!Welcome to reality...[b]Whatever happened to the idea that computing would change the world, and that free and fair competition is the basis of a free market society? [/b]Uh... I don't know what ivory tower you grew up in,...; Tags: Recruitment & Selection, Construction, user experience, Apple Inc., Pay $50, job, window, Linux, Microsoft Windows XP, PC; Discussion threads 2008-06-19
MyCyclingJourney (zip): MyCyclingJourney is easy to use software which can help you to manage your cycling logs. Features: Bicycles management; WYSIWYG ride record editor and management; Cycling statistics; WYSIWYG maintenance record editor and management; Bicycle calculation utilities(Gear inch, unit conversion); Database backup and restore; and Export journey data as .txt, csv, html...; Tags: HTML, Management, Bicyclesoft, MyCyclingJourney; Software downloads 2008-06-19
Data Rescue II (dmg): The best data recovery software for the Mac platform has just got better with the new and improved Data Rescue II. Do you have a corrupt hard drive or one that no longer mounts. Are other tools failing to even recognize your bad drive. Data Rescue II is the best...; Tags: Hard Drive, Data Recovery, Prosoft, Data Rescue II, Storage Management, Databases, Storage, Hardware, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management; Software downloads 2008-06-17
Nokia announces the coming availability of the E71 and E66 S60 enterprise-focused devices: The Nokia E61i that I owned for a few months was one of my favorite S60 devices and I was pleased to see that the rumors were true when Nokia announced the E71 and E66 devices this morning. The Nokia E71 is the successor to the E61 and E61i and...; Tags: Device, Nokia Corp., Nokia E71, GPS, Bluetooth, Wireless LANs, Cellular Phones, Wi-Fi, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Wireless, Matthew Miller; Blog posts 2008-06-16
How to recover GPcode encrypted files?: Got backups? In response to the security community's comments on the futile attempt to directly attack the 1024 bit RSA keys using distributed computing, Kaspersky Labs are now reasonably recommending that affected end users lacking backups of their encrypted data, take advantage of data recovery tools : Currently, it's...; Tags: Data Recovery, Backup, Malware, File, GPcode, Spyware, Adware & Malware, Cyberthreats, Viruses And Worms, Security, Dancho Danchev; Blog posts 2008-06-16