Instant Fundas

Why would you want to set up a server at your home when there are so many free web hosting services available? Simple, because it's fun! Besides, there is no better way to learn than to set up your own server. Setting up a web server is very easy, thanks to software packages like EasyPhp , Abyss Webserver, XAMPP etc. You don't need to have any knowledge about Apache, PHP or ASP to use them. Each software allows it be configured according to your needs but you can safely leave it to its default settings. I choose Abyss Webserver because it has a very user friendly GUI and is very easy to configure.

PhaseExpress is a keyboard macro utility that sits on the system tray and organizes your frequently used text snippets and allows pasting them into any application. Using user defined text strings, key combinations are a hotkey, a user can insert any pre defined text into any typing application like Word, Notepad, email etc.

Terragen is one of those unfortunate tools that get very little exposure in spite of the results it can achieve. Wikipedia describes it as being popular among "amateur artists" which is so inaccurate. Terragen is a 3D landscape generator and if used with skill can create some truly breathtaking scenes. The truth is: you need little skill to work with this program. Take for instance the following scene, which I created in 3 minutes flat. I know it isn't that great, but considering that I used most of the default settings, it isn't any bad either. Wait till you see some professional work.

Creative Docs .NET is a multifaceted application similar to Adobe Illustrator. It is a vector-based graphic design tool with support for rich text, ideal to quickly write short documents, manuals, posters, illustrations, schemas, plans, flow charts, and much more. Creative Docs. NET runs on top of the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 so you will require it in order to run this application.

If you have visited Wikipedia (I'm sure you have), you must have noticed that it is different from the websites you usually come across on the Internet. Wikipedia is a community run website and it's contents are editable by the visitors, even you. Such type of sites are called "wikis".

Organizing your movie collection is much more than making a list of it. Apart from helping you to quickly browse through your personal collection, with a movie organizer you can tag movies, add notes, browse the Internet for reviews, information, links etc, and much more. A movie organizer not only helps you to organize your movie collection on hard disk but also DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes you own.

There are plenty of guides written by various people on this subject. Here is the easiest one that I have found. Update: A better guide is available here To add subtitles to a movie, you will require: ffdshow or vobsub . TMPGEnc

Portable applications are great because they don't need to be installed, they don't mess with the registry and you can carry it along with you in a pen drive. Portable applications aren't only for using in portable devices. They can be used on a PC too and the best thing about it is, as I've mentioned, you don't need to install it. Just copy it to your hard disk and run. Several applications are already available in a portable format, but not all. So I'm going to show you how to turn any application into a portable one. Let's do it with Microsoft Office 2003.

KatMouse is a Windows freeware utility that enhances the functionality of the scroll wheel of mice by offering 'universal' scrolling: moving the mouse wheel will scroll the window directly beneath the mouse cursor (not the one with the keyboard focus, which is default on Windows OSes). This is a major increase in the usefullness of the mouse wheel. This is particularly useful when you are typing in some online text box, say for example in a forum. Here you will get two scroll bars - one for the page you are viewing and one for the text box you are typing into. KatMouse will allow you to scroll either of the two scroll bars without having to shift focus from one to the other.