IsoTherm News is out and ready for professional use. It is magazine styled theme with everything you need to start publishing your own web journal with all the features you will need to attract new visitors. There is a Featured posts box. It supports Video and Popular Posts Widgets as well.
With so many video formats and too little time to organize our video files, we need an easy-to-use and intuitive video converter that handles all our video files on the go. Here is a list of the best 5 freeware video converters that will help you keep your video collection organised.
Quick Media Converter is a powerful freeware video converter that handles all current formats such as FLV, AVI, DIVX, XVID, MPEG 1-4, iPod/iPhone, Real Media, and M4A. In addition, this whale of a free video converter allows you to record videos from your DV camera or webcam in the classic AVI format and convert the file to any format you need.
Quick Media Converter has two modes. The Easy Mode gives you quick access to all conversion options available in an all-in-one interface. Once you have your video file or folder loaded, just click the file that you want to convert and select the conversion format that suits you. The Expert Mode is less intuitive but it gives you full control of video conversion options like codec rendering, aspect, bitrate, FPS, audio synchronization, and recording volume.
Super fits the bill for a simple, no-frills interface that converts videos on the go. Super is actually a shell for different command line conversion scripts. Super handles a large number of video formats like 3GP and 3G2 for mobile phones, ASF, DIVX AVI, MOV, MPEG, flash video, real media, PSP video, and more. Super also handles audio conversion for those who want to extract their videos and rip the audio out for easy listening. Super handles large files quickly, and you can find the settings easily making it convenient for users to set their options and start converting.
Any Video Converter is perfect for your younger mother/ brothers/sisters who do not want to be bothered with the myriad of options and just want a fast solution that gets the job done while looking good doing it. The converter handles all popular video files with batch-convert and user-defined options. Any Video Converter also has a dumbed-down interface to make video conversion as simple as possible, although it can handle advanced video conversions if you tinker behind the interface and experiment with options.
Mediacoder is an open source video converter which works on a large variety of formats. New features, conversion options, and conversions formats are constantly being added to support newly-released devices. Mediacoder dubs itself as the “swiss army knife for media transcoding”… simple, quick, and does everything that it is asked. Mediacoder gives straightforward tools that you won’t easily find in other converters like video compression, extracting audio from video files, and repairing corrupted or partially downloaded video files.
This full-featured converter allows conversion to and from popular formats including video formats for PSP, iPhone, and other video formats. The conversion options are easy to find within the interface and you can even perform batch conversion options for mobile video, pictures, audio, DVD videos, and more.
Since January there has been a lot of buzz around Windows 7 and what is going to be added and removed. Windows 7 has had a beta program which lets anyone signup and test out the new Windows 7 before official release. I wanted to let you know how you can get a Windows 7 beta key.
Basically you have to login to your Windows Live account from the TechNet Downloads page, and then from the same window, paste in the following URL for the 64-bit key:
https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/scripts/gcs.aspx?Product=tn-win7-64-ww&LCID=1033
…and this URL for the 32-bit key:
https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/scripts/gcs.aspx?Product=tn-win7-32-ww&LCID=1033
We just tried and successfully grabbed a key. If you’ve already installed Windows 7 Beta, then you have to navigate to Control Panel > All Control Panels > System and scroll down to the Windows Activation section which should say “You have 29 days left to activate. Click here to activate now.” Click that link and you will be prompted for the code. Enter the code and then click Activate online now. The online activation failed the first few times with an error for us, but simply trying again eventually yielded a successful activation with the code provided, so don’t lose hope if it doesn’t work the first time. Hello, no expiration until August 2009! Supposedly activation will be limited to the first 2.5 million copies of Windows Beta 7, so you might want to go ahead and download your copy now and get the code. Good luck!
Our friends over at SmashingApps have put together an amazing list of the top 21 free applications for Mac OS X. Enjoy!
Name Mangler is a batch file renamer that supports all common renaming tasks: Find and Replace (including support for regular expressions); Number Sequentially; Change Case; Set Extension; Add Prefix/Suffix; Remove/Insert Characters.
Backdrop is a simple utility to fill your screen with a giant blank window. Fill the window with a solid color or a custom image, your choice.
With Service Scrubber, you can restructure the services menu, change service keyboard shortcuts, disable and re-enable services.
iClockr is focused to show you a simple way to track your time.
EverSave is a clever tool which allows you to save all of your documents – if possible – in a specific time interval or by changing the frontmost application.
SyncMate FREE Edition is a perfect solution for information management. It is easy-to-use synchronizer for Mac and Pocket PC, that will help you keep all your documents, text messages, contacts, calendar entries and events and other stuff well organized.
Paparazzi is a small utility for Mac OS X that makes screenshots of webpages. This will help you to temporary access to the WebView for username/password info, so capture of pages behind a required login is now possible.
AppFresh helps you to keep all applications, widgets, preference panes and application plugins installed on your Mac up to date. All from one place, easy to use and fully integrated into Mac OS X.
NetNewsWire has a familiar three-paned interface and can fetch and display news from thousands of different websites and weblogs.
Pref Setter is an application used to edit plist (Property LIST) files, geared towards viewing / editing Mac OS X’s preference files. Very useful for setting those “hidden” preference settings that aren’t available directly in an application.
Skim is a PDF reader and note-taker for OS X. It is designed to help you read and annotate scientific papers in PDF, but is also great for viewing any PDF file.
OnyX allows you to verify the Startup Disk and the structure of its System files, run miscellaneous tasks of system maintenance, configure some hidden parameters of the Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, Safari, Login window and some of Apple’s own applications.
Witch lets you access all of your windows by pressing a shortcut and choosing from a clearly arranged list of window titles.
Cyberduck is an open source FTP, SFTP, WebDAV and Amazon S3 browser for the Mac. It features an easy to use interface that allows to toggle between bookmarks and the browser outline view.
Syrinx is a fully customizable twitter client designed for Leopard. Syrinx is built from two ideals efficient workflow and customization.
Visual NetTools is a set of network scanning, security, and administrator tools for Apple Mac useful in diagnosing networks and monitoring your computer’s network connections.
Deeper allows you to enable and disable the hidden functions of Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, Safari, Login window and many Apple’s applications.
Namely is possibly the fastest way to open applications. And unlike some other launchers, it doesn’t require any learning.
Punakea is a little app trying to help you cope with the day-to-day struggle of managing your files. Designed to complement Spotlight, it allows you to tag your files and bookmarks.
Here at Crenk we have just added a new directory to our site. The directory is for web applications. Every few days we will be adding more and more sites to the directory. Each site in the directory has a brief description and a linkback to their site. We have broken down the directory into 19 different categories including music, photo, mobile, search, bittorrent and more.
To start the directory we have added only 13 of the most popular websites around, but stay tuned for more coming very soon.
If you have a website you would like to see added to the directory, just head over to the directory and at the bottom of every page you will see a suggest a link option, just click on that and suggest something for us to add. Help us build the best web apps directory on the web.
Preview Networks has just launched a new iPhone application that brings the newest and most popular movie trailers to your iPhone for free. Preview Networks is the company behind filmtrailer.com and supplies film trailers to the Guardian, the Times and 1000 other sites in 9 European countries for free.
The App, Trailers International, came about because they were simply tired of seing on American film trailers on iPhones. Trailers International is completely free in the App store and it includes accurate release dates and meta data for 10 European countries.
The App contains both domestically made films, independent titles from across the world, as well as US blockbusters in Spanish, French, German, Italian and even Swedish. It contains great upcoming British films like Awaydays, In The Loop, Shifty and Dead Men Walking – that have never been seen in an trailers Application before. The App is built on platform of the existing app Trailers and is the fastest movie trailers App around.
The application can be download from the App Store for free, just click here.
File hosting is a big issues these day. Files are getting larger and larger and because there is always a risk of losing or breaking your hard drive, it is a good idea to also backup your files online. Here are the top 5 file hosting sites available today.
FileSavr.com makes file hosting easier with Web 2.0 technology and the use of Ajax and Flash. FileSavr has 10 GB upload size limit, currently the largest available on the internet. This allows users the flexibility to upload any large file of 10 GB or less.
File Dropper – Free File Hosting for MP3, Videos, Documents
FileDropper’s beauty is in its simplicity. It has one click file hosting where you simply click on the upload button and select your file. After the file is uploaded you are taken to the page where the file is hosted. If the file is an image, it shows the image directly on the page for easier sharing. Upload size is an impressive 5 GB.
File Factory – free and simple file hosting service
FileFactory lets you host files up to 300MB for free. You don’t have to register and there is nothing to download. Your files can be downloaded an unlimited number of times! One thing we found very annoying and spammy about FileFactory was the number of ads they have on the page.
FileDen – Free file hosting and online storage
With File Den’s free file hosting and online storage service it’s easy to share files across the internet with friends, family, work associates or anyone else. They allow our users to direct link to their files also giving you the oppurtunity to embed your files into your webpages, myspace or other social networking profiles.
Fileqube – Free Online Storage
Fileqube has an eye-pleasing design that shows its intentions well. When you upload a personal file it gives you a download link, a link to remove the file, and embed code to drop your file’s link on a website. The only downside is the 150MB file size, which is rather small with some of the other sites in comparison.
There has been a lot of reports this morning about the Pirate Bay and their trial. Im going to list some of the best sources at the bottom of this post if you are interested in reading. Anyways, the Pirate Bay trial was very interesting indeed. At times the trial was just a media circus and it didn’t really have much substance. However, I wanted to just write a few of my thoughts and also pose a few questions because I’m not an expert at copyright law, especially in Sweden.
The Pirate Bay trial came to a verdict stage but after watching Peter Sunde chat about the results Im really too clear on the actual verdict and what is going to happen to the site and also the people involved.
According to TorrentFreak who was the first to report on the verdict (because it was leaked from the court), all four of the guys involved has been fined and also received a jail time of a year each. However, as you can tell from the press conference Peter Sunde did, is that he is not actually in jail. Here in the UK the process is quite simple. A court case is either civil or a criminal. In Sweden it seems as though they first of all don’t define a court case, and considering that copyright law is a civil case that also means that jail time is not an option.
Peter Sunde also suggested that this was only the first verdict and implied that it was in a very low level court and the Pirate Bay is going to continue to appeal and this whole process could take between 4-5 years.
Am I right on all this information or am I missing something here?
What is the future of file sharing
Let’s say this whole thing plays out in the high court and The Pirate Bay loses. Let’s say BitTorrent completely ceases to exist as a result. (Just play along for a minute.) Would that, then, be the end of online file-sharing?
The answer: of course not. Even in that extreme (and extremely unlikely) scenario, little would be accomplished in the grand scheme of things. Technology is constantly evolving. Just as more advanced decentralized peer-to-peer networks sprung up in the wake of Napster’s shutdown, new alternatives would surface once again were a site like The Pirate Bay to lower its sails. Already, countless other methods exist for exchanging data with ease, and more will only pop up as the months wear on.
Other sources of information:
ArsTechnica, PCWorld, Mashable, PaidContent, MusicAlly and Kotaku.
Have you ever wanted to take over the world in the same way as either Microsoft or Google? Well there is a board game called Risk that used to be very popular, and I thought I would provide everyone with a couple of places to play the game for free online.
The Facebook application – At last this may truly be it… a Facebook application that is not either completely pointless or annoys the hell out of me. Attack! is similar to Risk and can be played against your friends or anyone else who has the application (2% of Facebook users apparently). Just be aware, no matter how good you think you are… everyone else is better!
Java Risk – When you visit the download site this game sure may not look pretty and you may even think it not worth downloading at all. However the actual game is fairly decent. There are a large range of options and player AI, and even a number of extra maps to download when you get bored of the original. Luckily too, Java Risk doesn’t seem to have gone the way of most small developer games and still gets the odd update. The last one was only a month or so ago and provided an installer for Vista.
Conquest – If you want a nice simple and easy game of Risk then Conquest is a good choice. Unfortunately the AI is very predictable and can be counted on to make the exact same moves and strategies again and again. What this game is especially suited for is Pocket PC’s and you can download a version designed just for that right here.
Play online with LandGrab – This is maybe the best online Risk game I’ve seen. After registering for an account you can start playing. If you particularly like it then you can also purchase a premium account.
Have you ever wanted to watch a movie online but don’t want to have to download anything to view it? Well the answer is Watch-Movies-Online.tv. All movies on Watch Movies are full length and there is no downloading required.
The site lets you search for movies, browse them alphabetically or by genre such as action, fantasy, drama, sci-fi, horror, thriller, adventure, comedy, war and animation. You can also check out latest releases. Each movie is rated by site users so you can easily find out the movie quality before watching it.
WebInjection is an Icon Pack for webmasters and web developers. The set includes 26 stylish icons, each icon is a .png at 48×48px. It is free for use in your personal and commercial projects, and can be used without attribution. This icon set is created by Midtone Design Studio, you can view his another Icon Pack – Colorful Mania Iconset as well.
Previously on Crenk we have discussed the top 5 bit torrent trackers and the top 5 tools for multi-search for torrents, but this time I thought I would go throught the top 10 peer-2-peer clients.
1) Bittorrent :
This is one of best, fastest, safe and widely used p2p program. Performance of BitTorrent is way better then any other available P2P programs.
Supported Operating System: Windows, Linux, Mac
Download Bittorrent Client
2) Limewire:
LimeWire is clean, safe, virus and malware free p2p software.it has build in media player with optimized search result.supportes download from multiple hosts.
Supported Operating System:
Windows, Linux, Mac3) Shareaza:
This was one of early p2p program when p2p was still new concept. It supports wide variety of networks like Gnutella, Gnutella2, EDonkey Network, BitTorrent, FTP and HTTP network protocols and which can handle magnet links, ed2k links, Piolet links, and the now deprecated Gnutella links.
Shareza has billions of users and uncountable numbers of files shared across shareaza network
Supported Operating System:
Windows XP, Vista4) Kazaa:
Like Shareaza, Kaaza was one of best and most popular p2p during early days of p2p evolution. but in past few year due to many issues like virus infected files, lawsuite, spywares, Kazaa has lost its
However kazaa has been continually trying to make Kazaa network virus and spyware free with many new features like built in virus scanner, infected file blocking made available in latest Kazaa Client to protect users.
Kazaa Lite is one of best client of Kazaa P2P network for file sharing.
Supported Operating System:
5) iMesh:
iMesh another popular and
Personally I liked iMesh for downloading music and videos but haven’t found it good for downloading any freeware software or application.
Supported Operating System:
Windows XP, Vista6) Bearshare Lite:
Bearshare is pretty good
Bearshare is good for downloading music and mp3 files
Supported Operating System:
7) eMule:
eMule is one of the biggest and most reliable peer-to-peer file sharing clients around the world thanks to its open source support and based on edonkey2000 client.
eMule has Multilanguage support with ability to connect to multiple servers and intelligent file corruption detection system to help you in getting genuine files. eMule is free from
spyware, adware and its completely free.eMule is also available in portable form to run from your USB derive
Supported Operating System:
Windows XP, Vista8 ) KCeasy:
KCeasy is client based on giFT
9) Ares Galaxy:
Ares is one of my favorite p2p program and I have been using it from last 4 years, ares network is not that much big as compared to other p2p but its completely free from viruses, spywares and adwares.
I haven’t got any infected files or corrupted installer. Ares List is used more then normal Ares client because of its low size, speed and performance.
Supported Operating system:
Windows XP, Vista10) Soulseek:
Soluseek central server type of P2P file sharing application. Soluseek is good old
