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Want to maintain strict control over what’s running on your computer, keeping an eye on the use of your resources and restricting the operations of any process all the way to the farthest depths of your system?

WinPatrol Plus is a popular and extremely powerful tool that allows Windows users to monitor every aspect of their system, taking the core features of your Task Manager and amplifying them considerably. From controlling what launches at your startup to alerting you of any sudden change in your system, this is for the you users who always exercise vigilance when operating your system.

Normally retailing for $40, the developers of WinPatrol Plus have announced a special promotional offer, making it available for just 99 cents!

Good for ONLY today, this is an offer you might find difficult to ignore.

You can read about what this tool does at the developer’s site.

If you’re interested in owning this, visit either their site or purchase it off the Yahoo! Store.

Well, here I am with another Firefox extension.

Like the one I touched upon earlier today, this is an add-on that will greatly enhance how you use the internet with this popular browser. Looking for a simple means of customizing how your tabs appear and function in Firefox?

This is the extension you’ve been searching for.

Called Tabberwocky, this extension builds upon the functionality of your tabs to an impressive degree, altering everything from their appearance to how you navigate between each one.

Installation is just as easy as it’s been for every other extension you’ve put to use. Once that’s complete, your first order of business  is looking at the available options : Tabs – Menus – Advanced.

These options afford you an opportunity to tailor the extension to your liking. For example, looking at the Tabs option, you’re able to adjust how your tabs behave and how they respond when clicked upon or closed.

With the Menus options, you can assign keyboard shortcuts, adjust your context menu, and determine where you want new links to open.

Lastly, using Advanced options, you can configure it so that the “progress bar” appears  on your tabs instead of in the Status bar. Advanced options will also allow you have multiple rows in one tab.

Not everyone will want to put this to use, finding that the default functionality of Firefox’ tabs suits them just fine, but this might pique the interest of you Firefox geeks that love to tweak this brilliantly customizable internet browser.

You can grab Tabberwocky here.

When using an internet browser, be it Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Mozilla’s Firefox, you’ve probably used the full screen option that’s available when pressing F11. This is great for those of you who want a bit more breathing room while viewing the content.

Yet, in spite of how liberating that option can be, there are those times when you’d like to have some your browsing features available – such as the status bar or the address field. As in the past, I’ve happened upon a neat Firefox extension that introduces a new way of browsing, just one of a myriad of add-ons that significantly augments your browsing experience.

It’s called Hide GUI Bars, and it allows users to select which elements they’d like to remove from the browser, ultimately freeing up the viewing area on Firefox.  Those segments that you can specify the removal of include the navigation bar, the tab bar, the menu bar, the status bar, and the bookmark bar. Multiple combinations – if you, for instance, only want the bookmark bar visible — are available when using this extension.

There is a default hot key (CTRL-SHIFT-A), but it can be changed to suit your preference by using any other combination of keys.  Absolutely free, this is yet another example of the ingenuity that has propelled Firefox to the head of the browsing class.

You can grab Hide GUI Bars here.

When navigating through your Windows file menus, you often find yourself performing a number of tasks, from altering the timestamp to creating new folders. In the Geek Choice office, one of my jobs entails the management of certain directories, which means the creation of multiple folders and management of the files contained therein are routine tasks.

Aiding in this process is an extremely helpful utility called JDContextMenu, a utility that updates your right-click Windows context menu with a number of helpful additions. This application bundles various features that you’d otherwise have to perform multiple clicks to use, including them all in your right-click context menu.

Some of those features include altering the time and date of a file, creating new folders (where you can, in fact, generate multiple new folders at once), copying the full filename to your clipboard, and running an MD5 checksum to assess the integrity of a file.

These are all tasks that you can perform right now, but JDContextMenu consolidates them in one convenient menu, sparing you those extra clicks executing them would normally require. If you’re someone who spends a considerable amount of time managing the folders on your computer, this might be something to look into.

You can grab JDContextMenu here.

NOTE: This is my 100^th blog, something of a special occasion. For those who’ve followed the Geek Choice blog from its inception, you know that I’ve tried to keep the public as informed as possible, linking you to helpful utilities and updating you on news that’s relevant to your computing experience. As long as I’m here, I will continue to contribute to this blog, keeping you informed and making your life on the PC a little bit easier.  If you ever have feedback to share, never hesitate to drop me a line.

With the internet, cooking has never been easier, the sheer number of available recipes enough to tide you over until the end of time. Simply visit your favorite search engine, type in the name of a dish, and pore over the various recipes for your culinary favorites.

If Bing is your search engine of choice, you should know that Microsoft has spiced (pun intended, of course) it up with a neat addition that makes searching for recipes easier than ever.

Just visit Bing.com, type in an ingredient, and Bing will return with results culled from recipes sites the world over. When clicking on the Recipes link, you’re brought to a list of recipes that include the ingredient you searched for. Accompanying the recipes are pictures of the dish, a nutritional description, every rating it’s received, and the name of the site from which it came. Using the sidebar, you can filter through the results down to the category of cuisine and the convenience of its preparation.

For many, cooking is therapeutic, while others simply love to eat. Whatever your reason for hitting the kitchen, this site is an excellent resource to aid you in your effort.

You can visit Bing here.

The much delayed but greatly anticipated Firefox 3.6 is finally here, introducing significant improvements in this popular browser’s performance and functionality.  From increased speed to stronger security, improved font management to one click themes, this is a considerable step up from its predecessor.

Over here at the Geek Choice office, we’ve been using the various iterations of the Firefox 3.6 beta, keeping you apprised of their release. Almost immediately, we were impressed by an observable uptick in its performance, with greater speed and decidedly impressive rendering of pages.

These are the following additions to Firefox 3.6:

• Firefox 3.6 will alert you if your plug-ins is out of date, offering you links from which to grab the most recent versions. This is of particular significance when dealing with the likes of Adobe Flash, which has come under fire for its security leaks.
• Full Screen video is available, which sees Firefox play any free streaming videos in a Full Screen format if you so choose.
• Instant Themes are made available by the Personas Gallery. When visiting the gallery, you  can select a theme and see how your browser would look if implemented. If the theme’s to your liking, apply it with just one click.
• What you’ll immediately notice is just how much faster it is. Through more efficient management of memory and better handling of Javascript, the speed of Firefox 3.6 is unmistakable, second only to Chrome.

For a more detailed explanation of just what this update introduces, Mozilla has included release notes that give a nice overview of what’s included.

Firefox 3.6 is free and available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers.

You can download it here.

E-readers are fast becoming as ubiquitous as smart phones, giving us gem of a solution that offers a veritable library of books in a handheld device. Amazon’s Kindle is one of the more popular e-readers, but you might want to try out its functionality before deciding to move forward with a purchase.

Amazon has released a free E-reader application that essentially emulates the functionality of the Kindle, giving you a chance to see if this is something you’d like to include in your arsenal of gadgets. It allows you to read books you’ve purchased from the Kindle store, along with synchronization that links your Kindle with a PC.

Installation is quick.

After that’s complete, it’ll ask you to sign in with your Amazon account, though registration isn’t necessary should you be without one.

Once signed in, its functionality will become obvious, with helpful tips included in balloon pop-ups that appear at the top.

After you’ve loaded a book, navigation is easy, the controls allowing you to bookmark a particular section or jump to one.

Font sizes are varied, with 10 different ones available.

Depending on what you prefer, navigation is available via your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Want to switch to another book? From your Windows 7 taskbar, you can access a jumplist from which a new title in your library can be selected.

On the upper-right, there exists a menu that includes various options, such as synchronization of Kindle for PC with your actual Kindle reader – which ensures that your content on Kindle for PC mirrors that on your actual reader.

Want to add a book to your collection? Just visit the Amazon bookshop by clicking on the “Shop in Kindle Store” option.

While this is only for Windows users, a Mac version is anticipated. Additionally, even more features are planned, including the ability to rotate images. For those of you who have a touch-enabled laptop, this takes advantage of the Windows Touch feature, effectively transforming your touch screen laptop into a Kindle.

This is an excellent way to test drive Kindle, and you can retrieve Kindle for PC here.

Looking for an easy way to convert that website you’re visiting into a PDF file? While we’ve covered software solutions in the past that do just that, this is a website that requires no software, even offering a bookmarklet that’ll allow you to convert websites to PDF files instantaneously.

PDFmyURL generates PDF files after you enter the web address of the site you’re looking to convert. If you want the ability to generate these PDF files on the fly, you can retrieve the bookmarklet from the front page, giving you the convenient ability to generate a PDF file at any time.

There are even more advanced options granting you added features that extend beyond its core functionality, including the ability to run this off your own server.

For immediate use, visit the site and enter the address you’d like to convert. For future application, you can take the bookmarklet (sitting right in the middle of the front page) and drag it to your toolbar. Once there, it’ll be available for whenever you wish to turn a website into a PDF.

This is an excellent tool for those who love to share the information we uncover during our travels on the net. I love unearthing neat tools of this sort, and will continue to keep Geek Choice readers updated whenever I happen upon one.

Visit PDFmyURL here.

As you’re probably well aware, Haiti just suffered a catastrophic earthquake, leaving their country in ruins and possibly thousands dead. Beyond extending them your thoughts of concern, you can also donate to any number of charitable organizations that are urgently addressing the need arising from this grave situation.

When dealing with charities, it’s best to pay attention to just whom you’re donating to, remaining mindful of their legitimacy. While there are a lot of charitable sources that would appreciate your help,  this tragedy has also unearthed unscrupulous sorts who would take advantage of kind hearts. Below, you’ll find sites to which your donations are welcome, and some information on possible scams you should avoid:

• The American Red Cross is a well known organization that addresses need the world over. They’re now in Haiti, assisting the victims of this devastating event. You can donate money, volunteer your time, and provide other forms of support.
• UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders are also there, lending their hand.
• If you’re looking for a comprehensive list of charities to which you can donate, The Daily Beast has compiled a list of non-governmental organizations lending a hand to the cause, with additional information about what each service provides.
• Reddit.com, that source to which you can post all kinds of news, has set up their own donation site. Every dollar you donate to Reddit will go directly to Haiti, with none of the money used for any other purpose.

If you really want to help, it’s advisable to send just money – not stuff. Right now, money is critical, with that financial assistance going towards the replenishment of much needed supplies. If you experiencing some ambivalence over donating funds to organizations you’re not sure about, these resources should allay some of your fears:

• Charity Navigator assesses organizations and rates them accordingly, listing those services that have received three or four star ratings from their studies (such ratings denote trustworthiness and competency).
• The Foundation Center is helpful resource that unveils the tax filing and non-profit status of an organization.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti. As more sites become available, we will update you on the best way to donate to the entities now addressing this tragic ordeal.

In this era of social networking, where the internet has become our main channel of communication, sharing pictures has become a routine activity.

Finding hosts for those pictures is as easy as surfing to any number of free sites that offer storage and linking of as many pictures as you would like, where the simple generation of a fresh url allows you to link your image on whichever forum you’d like to broadcast the latest exploits you’ve captured.

Zscreen is an amazingly convenient tool that not only captures screens from your computer, but it also uploads those images to you the most popular image sharing services you on the net – TinyPic, ImageShack, Flickr, TwitPic, and others.  Additionally, those urls can be minimized with url shortening services like TinyURL and bit.ly.

Supporting more than two dozen services, Zscreen captures content and shares it, sparing you the hassle of having to visit a website to upload those images. Once the image link has been generated, you can share it with as many people as you’d like.

This is an excellent tool for those of you with a penchant for sharing pictures. It’s free and easy to use, but available only for Windows users.

If you’d like to make use of Zscreen, you can get it here.