I just spent the weekend re-formatting my computer to install a clean version of Windows 7 (as opposed to me quick an dirty upgrade a few weeks back). I love re-formatting my computer, because it organises the harddisk, cleans out the registry and gives me a chance to download and reinstall the latest version of all my software. I must admit that it was more fun when I was a college student with 100 Mbps compared to the measly 1 Mbps I am surviving on now.
Over the years, I've amassed a collection of what I call my software essentials - the free software that I will reinstall first after each time I wipe the slate clean. I thought it would be useful to list them out here, maybe some of you will find them useful, or even better maybe you will have other software to suggest to me!
Startup Essentials
Things to install before anything else ... essential for surviving in a wired world
Avast Antivirus - Always the first thing to install, even before connecting back to the internet. I switched to Avast early this year because it was one of the only AV at that time that supported Windows 7 RC, and it's so good I've never looked back.
Google Pack - This is a collection of starter software endorsed by Google, and it is definitely a great way to get started. The system also automatically updates all the components. Google Pack includes Google Chrome, Spyware Doctor, Picasa, Firefox, Google Desktop, Adobe Reader, Skype, Google Apps, Realplayer, Google Earth and Google Talk. Talk about value for effort, a few clicks and they are all automatically installed. The ones in bold are the ones I always install.
While I love all Google stuff, the ones I use most extensively are Chrome and Picasa. Chrome is lightning fast and is my main browser. Picasa is a superb photo/video viewer and organiser, and also automates all my photo uploads to Facebook and Smugmug. (One thing I'm puzzled is why it comes with Picasa 3.1 rather than 3.6)
Windows Live Essentials - Microsoft now also has it's own collection of starter software. Theirs includes Messenger, Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker and Family Safety. I don't use quite as many as I do with Google, but this is a nice collection nonetheless. The Windows Movie Maker is probably one of the easiest to use, although I personally find this Live version a bit more confusing than it's predecessors.
Java - You can't do without the Java Runtime Environment if you want to run any of the multitude of applets that keep the web going.
Adobe Flash - Similarly, you can't surf half the websites out there if you don't have Flash.
Media Players
For watching all kinds of media
VLC Player - This is by far the most powerful media player out there, although it may not be the prettiest. If VLC can't play your movie, there's probably something wrong with it.
iTunes + Quicktime - You'll need this if you have an iPod, and many cameras take videos in either MOV or MP4 quicktime formats. Some websites embed quicktime videos too. Personally I have always preferred Winamp, but since I became an iPod owner it kind of limited my choices.
Youtube Downloader - For saving your favourite Youtube videos, Youtube Downloader can save them to your hard disk and convert them to a variety of common useful video formats.
Mobility Aids
Useful software for road warriors
Windows Mobile Device Centre - I really loved Windows 7 RC when it was launched, but had to switch back to Vista because my Windows Mobile PDA didn't work. I'm glad they finally fixed this problem with the new WMDC.
Nokia PC Suite - This allows me to back up my phone book and send sms from the PC, if I am so lazy. There is a new Ovi Suite but this still seems the more practical option.
Keepass Password Safe - The modern world requires us to remember a thousand and one different passwords. I encrypt mine on the PDA using Keepass, which also allows me to access it from the PC by synchronizing. This has saved me many times when I visit obscure sites.
Dropbox - Allows me to synchronize selected folders across different computers, as well as make them available online via web access. Great for mobile people who use multiple machines.
Free Trials
Software that isn't exactly free, but provides free trial versions with good functionality, mostly full functionality for a trial period that should be enough to accomplish a one-off project.
WinRAR Archiver - Compression tool for ZIP, RAR and any other format you are likely to come across. Supposed to be a limited time trial but seems to last forever.
Magic DVD Ripper - For converting those DVDs to DivX for easier storage.
dBpoweramp - For ripping audio CDs to mp3 or a variety of other formats.
Corel Video Studio Pro X2 - A superb video editing tool that works with multiple video formats and gives you a 30-day free trial that should be enough to complete any small project.
Sothink Movie DVD Maker - Puts all you videos onto a DVD complete with menu systems and choice of background pictures and music. The free trials has a green screen before each video, but much more tolerable than the watermarks imposed by other similar software.
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wedding Tips
It's wedding season. When you have one wedding(or more) each week for the month, you know it's definitely wedding season. So here are some of the most useful cost-saving tips, not for the guests (too bad) but for the wedding couple.
Charge the Banquet to a Good Credit Card
If your hotel/restaurant allows, it is always better to charge to a card than pay in cash. This allows you to get the points, and it means you don't have to rush to count the gifts to pay the bills. Obviously this will exceed your credit limit, so you can either ask the bank for a temporary increase, or pre-pay the cost of dinner so you don't exceed the limit, or you can do a combination of both.
But if you are going to all this effort, you should definitely use a good card to maximise the points on tens of thousands of dollars. The obvious choice would seem to be a rebate card like Citibank's Dividend Card, which gives you 2% cash back on spending on F&B. Unfortunately a check with the bank revealed that they do not consider hotel weddings to be F&B, so they would only give the 0.5% general rebate. Since it was just a week before my wedding, I was limited to the cards I have on hand, and eventually chose the DBS Amex Black card which gives double points. For those with the luxury of time, it is worthwhile to explore the whole gamut of options, I suspect that the real American Express charge card (which charges an annual fee of $200+) may actually give the best deal on rewards.
Minimising Losses on No-Shows
Every couple's nightmare is to see a room of half-empty tables, with each seat costing more than $100 per head. Some people have the nasty habit of telling you the day before, the day of, or not at all, that they cannot make it. It is ridiculous to rearrange tables at this point, so what can you do about it?
Firstly, check if your venue allows you to seat more than 10 per table. Planning an extra person or two per table is useful, since last-minute withdrawals are inevitable. (As a courtesy to guests, it is preferable that they actual serve extra portions too, rather than just serving smaller portions.) Even better, some hotels like Shangri-La allow you to take portions from a table of 9 and give it to a table of 11. All this helps create substantial savings.
The second way is a little more brawny than brainy. You just have to shamelessly remind your guests that you are getting married about a week beforehand (find some polite excuse, maybe by re-sending the details since many people misplace the cards too), so that they will also be prompted to inform you if they cannot make it. It is amazing how many people forget about weddings, especially wedding lunches.
Well after getting marries and helping and several weddings over the past year, these are the best tips that I hope will be useful for other wedding planners.
Charge the Banquet to a Good Credit Card
If your hotel/restaurant allows, it is always better to charge to a card than pay in cash. This allows you to get the points, and it means you don't have to rush to count the gifts to pay the bills. Obviously this will exceed your credit limit, so you can either ask the bank for a temporary increase, or pre-pay the cost of dinner so you don't exceed the limit, or you can do a combination of both.
But if you are going to all this effort, you should definitely use a good card to maximise the points on tens of thousands of dollars. The obvious choice would seem to be a rebate card like Citibank's Dividend Card, which gives you 2% cash back on spending on F&B. Unfortunately a check with the bank revealed that they do not consider hotel weddings to be F&B, so they would only give the 0.5% general rebate. Since it was just a week before my wedding, I was limited to the cards I have on hand, and eventually chose the DBS Amex Black card which gives double points. For those with the luxury of time, it is worthwhile to explore the whole gamut of options, I suspect that the real American Express charge card (which charges an annual fee of $200+) may actually give the best deal on rewards.
Minimising Losses on No-Shows
Every couple's nightmare is to see a room of half-empty tables, with each seat costing more than $100 per head. Some people have the nasty habit of telling you the day before, the day of, or not at all, that they cannot make it. It is ridiculous to rearrange tables at this point, so what can you do about it?
Firstly, check if your venue allows you to seat more than 10 per table. Planning an extra person or two per table is useful, since last-minute withdrawals are inevitable. (As a courtesy to guests, it is preferable that they actual serve extra portions too, rather than just serving smaller portions.) Even better, some hotels like Shangri-La allow you to take portions from a table of 9 and give it to a table of 11. All this helps create substantial savings.
The second way is a little more brawny than brainy. You just have to shamelessly remind your guests that you are getting married about a week beforehand (find some polite excuse, maybe by re-sending the details since many people misplace the cards too), so that they will also be prompted to inform you if they cannot make it. It is amazing how many people forget about weddings, especially wedding lunches.
Well after getting marries and helping and several weddings over the past year, these are the best tips that I hope will be useful for other wedding planners.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
weekend in hanoi part i
The weekend in Hanoi was filled with memorable food ventures, although other explorations were slightly dampened by the city sauna. To pre-empt the inevitable "how was Hanoi" questions, as well as "what is good in Hanoi", I am putting down all my travel tips and recommendations here for posterity.
Flight and Lodging
We flew to Hanoi via Tiger Airways at a bargain price of about $200 per person, even though the oil price at that time was practically at its peak (Jul 08). We stayed at the Somerset Grand Hanoi, which is a serviced apartment under the Ascott group. It was an excellent apartment with three bedrooms, living room and kitchen, perfect for five people to live in luxury. The price came up to about S$60 per person per night.
Local Transport
Taxis in Hanoi are really cheap, so much so that the exact location of your hotel doesn't really matter. We could get to most places within the Old Quarter for less than 3 SGD, provided we took one important precaution. Ensure that the taxi's meter is encased by tamper-proof acrylic, otherwise a short ride that should be less than 2SGD could quickly become 6SGD. That is probably the most practical travel tip I can give anyone travelling to Hanoi, I'm surprised it wasn't stated in any of our guidebooks.
to be continued...
Flight and Lodging
We flew to Hanoi via Tiger Airways at a bargain price of about $200 per person, even though the oil price at that time was practically at its peak (Jul 08). We stayed at the Somerset Grand Hanoi, which is a serviced apartment under the Ascott group. It was an excellent apartment with three bedrooms, living room and kitchen, perfect for five people to live in luxury. The price came up to about S$60 per person per night.
Local Transport
Taxis in Hanoi are really cheap, so much so that the exact location of your hotel doesn't really matter. We could get to most places within the Old Quarter for less than 3 SGD, provided we took one important precaution. Ensure that the taxi's meter is encased by tamper-proof acrylic, otherwise a short ride that should be less than 2SGD could quickly become 6SGD. That is probably the most practical travel tip I can give anyone travelling to Hanoi, I'm surprised it wasn't stated in any of our guidebooks.
to be continued...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
malacca music
During our courtship days, my wife and I made two trips up north to eat Malacca food. This weekend, we finally fulfilled a longstanding wish and brought two other couples up with us. More people means more food!
Along the way, we also had some great conversations, as two newlywed couples and one maybe soon to be couple shared their thoughts, struggles, gripes and praise for their partners. Perhaps my new chillibuddy says it best. Anyway, we had a great time.
But one thing went wrong. Dreadfully wrong. For the drive up, I had burned a compilation CD of music to keep us awake and alive for the road. But throughout the ride, I found myself constantly having to adjust the volume control, because the songs were all playing at different levels! My mp3 collection pre-dates Napster, so there is quite a wide range of music, and consequently a great variance in how loud they play.
The solution to this problem is actually very simple, in a nifty little free software I had gotten for my wedding. Mp3Gain is a freeware that uses statistical analysis to normalise the volume on all the selected mp3s. Obviously I would't let such a problem occur at my wedding, so why should I let it bug me in the car? So even as I speak, my computer is processing my collection ... goodbye to changing the volume ever again!
Now if there was only a way to normalise my waistline after all the binging...
And just some random info ... this was supposed to be an entry on its own but like many other ideas it died along the way. Guess how many softwares I used to make one wedding slideshow?
1) Microsoft Powerpoint
2) Cool Edit 2000 (now known as Adobe Audition)
3) DVD Photo Slideshow
4) Windows Movie Maker
5) Mp3Gain
That's the problem when you're too cheap to pay for software ... you have to combine all the free features from a whole collection of sharewares.
Along the way, we also had some great conversations, as two newlywed couples and one maybe soon to be couple shared their thoughts, struggles, gripes and praise for their partners. Perhaps my new chillibuddy says it best. Anyway, we had a great time.
But one thing went wrong. Dreadfully wrong. For the drive up, I had burned a compilation CD of music to keep us awake and alive for the road. But throughout the ride, I found myself constantly having to adjust the volume control, because the songs were all playing at different levels! My mp3 collection pre-dates Napster, so there is quite a wide range of music, and consequently a great variance in how loud they play.
The solution to this problem is actually very simple, in a nifty little free software I had gotten for my wedding. Mp3Gain is a freeware that uses statistical analysis to normalise the volume on all the selected mp3s. Obviously I would't let such a problem occur at my wedding, so why should I let it bug me in the car? So even as I speak, my computer is processing my collection ... goodbye to changing the volume ever again!
Now if there was only a way to normalise my waistline after all the binging...
And just some random info ... this was supposed to be an entry on its own but like many other ideas it died along the way. Guess how many softwares I used to make one wedding slideshow?
1) Microsoft Powerpoint
2) Cool Edit 2000 (now known as Adobe Audition)
3) DVD Photo Slideshow
4) Windows Movie Maker
5) Mp3Gain
That's the problem when you're too cheap to pay for software ... you have to combine all the free features from a whole collection of sharewares.
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