CutePDF Writer
CutePDF Writer is a very nice light weight app for creating PDF documents. CutePDF Writer is less an application that you interact with and more like a shim that is installed between your PC and printer.
Once CutePDF Writer is installed it displays as a printer destination. Simply print the document or file you want to convert. Select CutePDF Writer as your printer. Select where to save the output file. You now have your document saved as in PDF format.
CutePDF Writer
15 July 2013
14 July 2013
Libre Office
Libre Office
Libre Office, think MS Office but free.
It does all the same stuff, I can open most if not all documents created with MS Office.
If you really need more portability between devices and programs, just convert your final doc into a .pdf.
This is actually preferable anyways as the end users ability to make further changes to the doc is very limited if not completely removed.
Libre Office
Libre Office, think MS Office but free.
It does all the same stuff, I can open most if not all documents created with MS Office.
If you really need more portability between devices and programs, just convert your final doc into a .pdf.
This is actually preferable anyways as the end users ability to make further changes to the doc is very limited if not completely removed.
Libre Office
13 July 2013
Greenshot
Greenshot
Greenshot is an awesome little tool if you do lots of screen shots. Especially handy for creating detailed instructions and how to guides.
Greenshot will drop an icon in the task bar for easy activation, or you can use a number of keyboard shortcuts to activate the app.
Once a region of the screen has been marked and captured, you can re-capture the same region at a later time. This feature is exceptionally handy when doing screen shots of an install process where the same window is updating through various steps and options.
Once a region is captured you can send to to a number of outputs from the system 'clipboard' to your email client, to a word processor, to an image manipulator, etc.
There are other similar tools but of those I have used I prefer Greenshot.
Greenshot
Greenshot is an awesome little tool if you do lots of screen shots. Especially handy for creating detailed instructions and how to guides.
Greenshot will drop an icon in the task bar for easy activation, or you can use a number of keyboard shortcuts to activate the app.
Once a region of the screen has been marked and captured, you can re-capture the same region at a later time. This feature is exceptionally handy when doing screen shots of an install process where the same window is updating through various steps and options.
Once a region is captured you can send to to a number of outputs from the system 'clipboard' to your email client, to a word processor, to an image manipulator, etc.
There are other similar tools but of those I have used I prefer Greenshot.
Greenshot
11 July 2013
GIMP
GIMP
GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program. Think free photoshop. MS Paint is okay if all you want to do is shrink the resolution of a photo or for making some quick screen shots. However, when you really want to play with pictures GIMP is the tool of choice. It rivals any features and function of multi-hundred dollar applications.
"bring out the gimp"
GIMP
GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program. Think free photoshop. MS Paint is okay if all you want to do is shrink the resolution of a photo or for making some quick screen shots. However, when you really want to play with pictures GIMP is the tool of choice. It rivals any features and function of multi-hundred dollar applications.
"bring out the gimp"
GIMP
Pidgin
Pidgin
So we got some security patch monitoring, we have anti-malware installed, we have test driven some alternate browsers and a few privacy extensions.
Now you want to start replacing the daily use tools for something free, and more robust.
Enter Pidgin, the universal chat client.
Pidgin supports virtually all the protocols,
AIM, Bonjour, Facebook, GoogleTalk, IRC, MSN, XMPP. Yahoo, SILC and more. If you need to send a message Pidgin can probably do it. Pidgin is also available for Windows, Linux, Mac. On of the major benefits to Pidgin is its native support for SILC. What is SILC you say? Think encrypted IRC. Pidgin also has numerous add-ons such as OTR, off the record, to reduce the logs that are retained from conversations. It is the best of both worlds providing flexibility and optional privacy/security.
Pidgin also has a good language support and spell check capability.
My only real complaint with Pidgin is that on the Windows client the user data is directly tied to the logged on account of the windows host. This is not the case on the *nix clients. So if you want to use an alias on Windows you have to also have an alias Windows account from which to run the app.
Keep in mind also that if you want to be secret squirrel and keep your communications private you can only control what is on your local client. Familiarize yourself with the practice and policies of the server and/or service to which you are connecting. If you user server werecordeverything.com just because you clear the logs on your client does not mean that there is not a copy being saved on the server.
But if you don't want to install multiple service specific clients or if you want a common look and feel across multiple systems, give Pidgin a try.
Pidgin
So we got some security patch monitoring, we have anti-malware installed, we have test driven some alternate browsers and a few privacy extensions.
Now you want to start replacing the daily use tools for something free, and more robust.
Enter Pidgin, the universal chat client.
Pidgin supports virtually all the protocols,
AIM, Bonjour, Facebook, GoogleTalk, IRC, MSN, XMPP. Yahoo, SILC and more. If you need to send a message Pidgin can probably do it. Pidgin is also available for Windows, Linux, Mac. On of the major benefits to Pidgin is its native support for SILC. What is SILC you say? Think encrypted IRC. Pidgin also has numerous add-ons such as OTR, off the record, to reduce the logs that are retained from conversations. It is the best of both worlds providing flexibility and optional privacy/security.
Pidgin also has a good language support and spell check capability.
My only real complaint with Pidgin is that on the Windows client the user data is directly tied to the logged on account of the windows host. This is not the case on the *nix clients. So if you want to use an alias on Windows you have to also have an alias Windows account from which to run the app.
Keep in mind also that if you want to be secret squirrel and keep your communications private you can only control what is on your local client. Familiarize yourself with the practice and policies of the server and/or service to which you are connecting. If you user server werecordeverything.com just because you clear the logs on your client does not mean that there is not a copy being saved on the server.
But if you don't want to install multiple service specific clients or if you want a common look and feel across multiple systems, give Pidgin a try.
Pidgin
10 July 2013
Tor / Tor Browser
Tor
Tor Browser
Tor really deserves a much deeper discussion all on it's own. While this will be a brief mention of the tool, maybe I can revisit it later.
TOR, The Onion Router, is a software package that when configured properly tunnels your network traffic through an encrypted service to maintain a level of privacy and anonymity. With that said it is important to note that many security researchers argue that Tor is broken. If you control an exit node you can eventually identify a user to a given set of traffic. It is the nature of the beast and simply requires that you learn and used trusted exit nodes. In the mean time, it is good enough for what most folks are looking for.
While Tor can require some configuration on the user's part it is relatively easy to use and set up.
Part of why I mention Tor now, is because we have been talking about browsers. The folks over at the Tor Project have wonderfully bundled a FireFox browser along with Tor in an even easier to use package. Download it, uncompress it, double-click it, and you are set for any traffic initiated with that browser. This is truly the easiest way to get your feet wet with Tor and expand into a whole new knowledge set of privacy, encryption, proxies, and tunnels.
One word of note, some sites will actively block communications from Tor nodes, so you may run into issues connecting to some services like gmail. Also be aware that any extensions or add-ons that you install to your Tor-ified browser may weaken the level of privacy and anonymity provided by Tor. For example your browser is secure, and Tor is secure, but you installed Flash to play that puzzle game, and Flash has collected and shared bits of data with some other service. Or while the browser has deleted its cache, the flash install still has all of its cached data which could be used to reveal which sites you visited.
Tor like some many other applications is just a tool, a layer in your over all security posture. It by itself will not guarantee 100% privacy.
Grab Tor Browser and start experiencing a new way to visit the web.
Tor Browser
Tor
Tor Browser
Tor really deserves a much deeper discussion all on it's own. While this will be a brief mention of the tool, maybe I can revisit it later.
TOR, The Onion Router, is a software package that when configured properly tunnels your network traffic through an encrypted service to maintain a level of privacy and anonymity. With that said it is important to note that many security researchers argue that Tor is broken. If you control an exit node you can eventually identify a user to a given set of traffic. It is the nature of the beast and simply requires that you learn and used trusted exit nodes. In the mean time, it is good enough for what most folks are looking for.
While Tor can require some configuration on the user's part it is relatively easy to use and set up.
Part of why I mention Tor now, is because we have been talking about browsers. The folks over at the Tor Project have wonderfully bundled a FireFox browser along with Tor in an even easier to use package. Download it, uncompress it, double-click it, and you are set for any traffic initiated with that browser. This is truly the easiest way to get your feet wet with Tor and expand into a whole new knowledge set of privacy, encryption, proxies, and tunnels.
One word of note, some sites will actively block communications from Tor nodes, so you may run into issues connecting to some services like gmail. Also be aware that any extensions or add-ons that you install to your Tor-ified browser may weaken the level of privacy and anonymity provided by Tor. For example your browser is secure, and Tor is secure, but you installed Flash to play that puzzle game, and Flash has collected and shared bits of data with some other service. Or while the browser has deleted its cache, the flash install still has all of its cached data which could be used to reveal which sites you visited.
Tor like some many other applications is just a tool, a layer in your over all security posture. It by itself will not guarantee 100% privacy.
Grab Tor Browser and start experiencing a new way to visit the web.
Tor Browser
Tor
08 July 2013
Mozilla Collusion
Mozilla Collusion
Let us shift gears slightly and discuss where you are at, where you are going, where you think you are...
Collusion is a wonderful little add-on for your browser, available for FireFox and Chrome. It give you a visual display of what sites interact with each other. So you go to mail.yahoo.com and you think you are only sharing data with Yahoo. Think again.
While Collusion in FireFox will only show you where you are going. Collusion in Chrome will also block access to known tracking sites.
See the Ted Talk describing Collusion.
Use Collusion to get a better idea of where your information is going. Learn to control your data and opt-out of the tracking services that you can legitimately opt-out of. Learn to prevent the tracking and data sharing that you cannot opt-out of.
Another fine tracking blocker is Ghostery
Ghostery currently blocks over 1550 elements, with new elements being added frequently.
Mozilla Collusion
Let us shift gears slightly and discuss where you are at, where you are going, where you think you are...
Collusion is a wonderful little add-on for your browser, available for FireFox and Chrome. It give you a visual display of what sites interact with each other. So you go to mail.yahoo.com and you think you are only sharing data with Yahoo. Think again.
While Collusion in FireFox will only show you where you are going. Collusion in Chrome will also block access to known tracking sites.
See the Ted Talk describing Collusion.
Use Collusion to get a better idea of where your information is going. Learn to control your data and opt-out of the tracking services that you can legitimately opt-out of. Learn to prevent the tracking and data sharing that you cannot opt-out of.
Another fine tracking blocker is Ghostery
Ghostery currently blocks over 1550 elements, with new elements being added frequently.
Mozilla Collusion
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