Skype has recently released Skype version 5.5.0.119, which – finally – fixes the bug where Skype Home appears every time the program launches.
If you downloaded the KillSkypeHome applet, you’ll now need to remove that from your system after installing the update.
The update is available through Skype’s own update system, or from FileHippo.
For many months now I’ve been looking for some good value tracking software to install on my netbook and (potentially) my portable devices. As much as I hope my netbook never gets stolen – you can never be sure what might happen and it’s better to be prepared.
It was only today that I’ve finally found the answer. It’s called Prey. It’s an open-source piece of kit that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Once you’ve downloaded and installed it, that’s the last you’ll see of it. Make sure when you install it to select the option not to install start menu shorcuts as it will make the software harder to find by an thief.
From here onwards, all of your settings for the program will be managed online. Log onto your account at the program’s website, and you’ll be presented with a handful of useful properties.
For example, you can get the program to take logs of any wi-fi networks it’s connected to, together with pictures from any connected webcam and screenshots of your display. These are then summarised in reports that are emailed direct to your inbox for your viewing pleasure. Believe me – you’ll be astonished at what it’ll pick up.
I happen to think this is an essential for anybody with a laptop that they care about – the software is totally FREE and could help you (and the police) in what would otherwise be a relatively hopeless situation. The program won’t hamper your computer’s performance at all (using just 5MB of RAM in Windows) and you’ll forget you’ve even installed it.
A few weeks ago, I was offered a free one month trial of Lovefilm and a £15 Amazon voucher (I believe Amazon are still running the promotion, so check amazon.co.uk). I like free, so thought I’d give it a try. I’m pretty careful about reading the terms though – don’t want to get charged money – so I did check them over and they seemed fine. Basically, they give you one month free – during which time you can rent as many films as you like (2 at a time), and then if you don’t cancel by the end of the month you’ll be charged the recurring subscription price (£13.27 at the time of writing). You’ll be sent your Amazon voucher within 30 days after you’ve got 10 films on your rental list and the first one has been dispatched.
Anyway, conditions aside, I thought I’d sign up and see what it was like. You have to provide card details, and they’ll authorize a £1 payment from your account – but this is refunded after about a week. Got it going, added some films and waited for the packages to fall through the postbox.
I have to say – after three weeks of trying it – I really do like the service. The speed of delivery is very good – with DVD’s usually arriving next day after despatch. They are packaged well and seem to keep the DVDs in good condition while in transit.
I was somewhat disappointed with the quality of DVD in a couple of cases. A couple of the discs that I ordered (particularly with older titles) were scratched to the point of them skipping – which irritated me slightly. However, you can report a problem with any disc you’ve had out and they will check it for you.
The website is also very easy to use. You simply choose which films you’d like to rent and it adds them to your list. You can even make separate lists for friends and family and choose how many discs are dispatched from each list. That, together with the watch online feature – which allows you to watch many titles online for free, makes the website relatively enjoyable to use.
Unfortunately, the cost of the service is a slight downfall. £13.27 per month for 2 titles at a time, I would say, is quite steep unless you really are an avid film lover. It’s a shame, because with many older releases being £3 each, it does make the service look quite expensive. think the idea of it is brilliant – particularly if you watch a lot of films – but for me, I’ve managed to get through most of the films I wanted to see within the month!
However, if you are interested in renting films on a long term basis, this is well worth looking into. I’d much rather use Lovefilm than a conventional film rental service (in a shop). You’ve just got to keep on top of it (and make sure you’ve got enough films to see), otherwise it probably won’t be worth your money.
Well, now it’s official that the final few IPv4 blocks have been allocated, it poses the question are you ready for IPv6?
In a very short time, the world will be forced to move onto the new standard for IP address allocation – called IPv6. If you aren’t familiar with the IP versions, bear the following in mind.
IPv4 has the capability of issuing 4,294,967,296 addresses – which (believe it or not) has almost been exhausted. We can calculate this because IPv4 is 32-bit, meaning that we can calculate the number of IP addresses available by doing 232. The new standard, IPv6, is 128-bit. This means that IPv6 can issue approximately 3.4×1038 addresses – a very large amount of addresses.
I recently came across a very handy website that will test your connection (and your web browser) to check if you’re ready for IPv6. Some ISPs are already issuing IPv6 addresses (most aren’t, however). If you aren’t already on an IPv6 address, you probably won’t be able to connect to one as (theoretically) you can’t connect an IPv4 address to an IPv6 address.
If you want to check whether your connection is ready, try this website. It will run several tests and conclude whether you can communicate with IPv6 yet or not.
On June 8th 2011, an IPv6 world trial will run. This will mean that large websites (such as Facebook) will trial running on an IPv6 platform for 24 hours. The idea is that the world will get a general idea as to how easy the switchover will be as it becomes closer and closer.
I can’t believe I’ve only just stumbled across this, but Microsoft are now offering a whole bundle of professional software to students for free.
They call it Microsoft Dreamspark, and it’s a website ran by the company. If you’re in post-16 or university education, you can get a hefty chunk of their professional software for free. Being a student myself, this is very handy.
Amongst other things, you can get Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 Pro, Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Ultimate and Windows Server 2008 for free until you finish university.
All you have to do is prove your education. This is relatively easy – if you have an ISIS card, an .edu (or .ac.uk) email address you can activate within a few minutes. If not, you can go through the process of applying for activation from your college or uni. You have to re-activate every year to get continued use of your software, but it’s well worth it.
It’s available in multiple countries, so don’t hesitate to check if you aren’t in the US or UK.
If you are a student computer enthusiast or programmer, head over to www.dreamspark.com and claim your free software!