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Controlling your Computer from your Windows Mobile Phone

October 8, 2008 – 2:27 am

I found some cool software that lets me control my computer from my phone!  It displays my computer’s screen on my phone’s screen.  It’s pretty simple to use and easy to setup.  Best of all… It’s free!

Here’s what you need:

  1. A Windows Mobile Phone
  2. A VNC Server on your computer.  I use Ultra VNC.
  3. Hamachi on your computer
  4. Hamachi on your phone
  5. RealVNC Viewer on your phone

Here’s how to set it up:

1.  Download and Install all of the programs.

2.  Start Hamachi on your computer.

3.  Either join an existing network or create a new one.

4.  Start Ultra VNC Server on your computer. (Choose a password.)

5.  Start Hamachi on your phone.

6.  Join the network your computer is on.

7.  Copy the IP address of the computer you are trying to connect to.

8.  Start RealVNC Viewer on your phone.

9.  Paste the IP address of the computer you are trying to connect to.

10.  Enter your password.

11.  Enjoy!

Check out the results!

I thought I’d try a real world test.  Imagine you are out when you get a call from your boss requesting a pdf file saved on your computer.  Or say you’re at a friends house and want to show off a picture you took that’s saved on your computer at home.  I’m going to attempt to connect to my home computer from my phone and send an email with an attachment.

Once connected using the steps above, I could see my computer screen from my phone:

Next I activated my Virtual Desktop (DeskSpace) to switch to an empty desktop:

I chose my Grand Canyon Desktop:

Next I zoomed-in to get a better view of the start menu:

Here I clicked on the Start Button:

After first opening Firefox, I opened Google Chrome.  (FireFox opened on another monitor.  There seems to be no multi-monitor support.)

I zoomed-in to sign in:

Here I zoomed all the way in.  It has great picture quality zoomed-in.  Now I’m adding an attachment to the email:

Lastly I’m sending the email:

I’m pretty impressed with this!  There are many good uses for this type of software.  It’s great for tech support on the go, or for getting to files when you’re away.  One thing to think about is that it was pretty slow using the edge network.  With Wi-Fi it worked at a reasonable pace and I’m assuming 3G would work fine as well.  Cool stuff!

By Kenneth | Posted in Howto & FYI | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (9)

Exposé Clones Reviewed

October 3, 2008 – 1:58 am

One of Vista’s coolest new features is the Flip 3D or Window’s Switcher.  Flip 3D allows the user to quickly scroll through their windows to locate a specific window. Flip 3D sure looks cool, but it isn’t all that useful.  When there are many windows, the windows in the back are hard to see and are very small. Also Flip 3D doesn’t use all of the extra screen real estate given with multiple monitors.

Some people think Vista’s Flip 3D was developed as a response to Mac OS X’s Exposé. Exposé shrinks all of the windows and moves them so that each window is visible. This method uses the entire screen and does not hide any windows. In my opinion this is much more useful.

After building a new computer, I was looking for programs to make the most of my new rig. I stumbled upon a YouTube video showing an Exposé clone for Windows. After researching and trying a few Exposé clones, I decided to write up a review comparing the three best. The three I’m reviewing are: TopDesk by Otaku Software, My Exposé by Simon Ferquel, and Switcher by Bao Nguyen.

Here is what these programs must sort:

TopDesk

Check it out:

TopDesk has three modes:
Grid:

Spatial:

Flip:

TopDesk can be used with any version of Windows XP or Windows Vista.  TopDesk has many options to customize.  You can change the settings to increase performance, or to conserve computer resources.     Overall the program runs smoothly on my setup even with its most demanding settings.  TopDesk has multi-monitor support, although it did have trouble drawing my background on my left monitor. This can be seen in the screen shot above.

The Good:

  1. TopDesk has three modes of operation.
  2. TopDesk is the only one of the three being reviewed that can be used on XP and Vista Basic.
  3. TopDesk has many options for customization and resource management.

The Bad:

  1. TopDesk is a resource hog!  At it’s highest setting it cruses along using 300-500MB of RAM all the time!
  2. TopDesk doesn’t run using Vista’s Aero.  This means it doesn’t have “Live Thumbnails.”
  3. TopDesk costs 20 bucks!

Final Verdict:

TopDesk’s cons out-weigh its pros.  Unless you have XP or Vista Basic, I’d pass this one up.

My Exposé

Check it out:

My Exposé has one mode of operation:

My Exposé is an open source (free) Exposé Clone.  It’s extremely simple with one mode of operation.  It is built on Vista’s Aero interface.  This means any videos will be playing even as the windows are animating.  It runs very smoothly.  My Exposé does has a couple of problems.  In fact, it wouldn’t even run on my current setup.  First it won’t run on 64-bit versions of Vista.  Second it won’t work with a multi-monitor setup that has a secondary monitor on the left of the primary monitor. It took editing of the source and recompiling before I could get it to run.  Once working it worked very satisfactory.

The Good:

  1. My Exposé runs on Vista’s Aero Interface.
  2. My Exposé is open source. (Great for developers like me!)
  3. My Exposé is extremely simple and looks great.
  4. My Exposé uses much less resources.  It runs with about 50MB of RAM.

The Bad:

  1. My Exposé has some fatal issues that need addressing.
  2. My Exposé isn’t as customizable as the others.
  3. My Exposé doesn’t run on XP or Vista Basic.

Final Verdict:

My Exposé is worth a download if you want a good simple Exposé clone.  Be warned that it won’t run if you’re using 64bit Vista or using certain multi-monitor setups.

Switcher

Check it out:

Switcher has three modes:
Tile:

Dock:

Grid:

Switcher is an awesome freeware program.  It has three modes of operation.  The one mode that might need a bit of explaining is Dock view.  Dock view throws all of the windows to the top of the screen.  As you hover over each window, the window expands and fills the main area.  Like My Exposé, Switcher uses Vista’s Aero interface giving live thumbnails to each window.  Switcher is the only one of the three that works well with multi-monitors.  Like TopDesk there are many settings to play around with. One great feature is the ability to search for windows.  Once Switcher is activated, you can just start typing.  As you type, windows that do not match fade and shrink, while windows that do match grow.

The Good:

  1. Switcher uses Vista’s Aero Interface
  2. Switcher uses the least resources.  Only 10MB of RAM!
  3. Switcher has a search feature.
  4. Switcher has many options to play with.
  5. Switcher has Multi-Monitor support.
  6. Switcher’s Dock view is a nice addition.
  7. Switcher is free!

The Bad:

  1. None of Switcher’s modes layout the windows as well as My Exposé
  2. Switcher doesn’t run on XP or Vista Basic.

Final Verdict:

Switcher uses the least resources while having the most features and coolest modes.  It’s definitely my pick for best Exposé clone.

By Kenneth | Posted in Howto & FYI | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (7)

Making a VS Project Work in Vista 64

September 30, 2008 – 2:06 pm

Recently I came across an awesome open source application called My Exposé by Simon Ferquel.  It uses Window’s Vista’s api to give Vista the same Exposé feature that you would find on a Mac.  Using Vista’s api, it creates live thumbnails of your running applications. Pretty Nifty!  The only problem was it didn’t work in 64bit versions of Vista!  :(   So I set out on finding a solution.

(**Edit** If you are looking for a good Exposé clone, check out my article: Exposé Clones Reviewed)

After downloading the source and getting it to build in Visual Studio 2008, I was greeted with a BadImageFormatException.

The fix was extremely easy.  It took 3 steps:

1.  Go to “Build->Configuration Manager.”

2.  Change the project’s platform from “Any CPU” to “x86.”  Because x86 isn’t listed you first must click “<New…>.”

3.  Add x86.  If you chose x64 it would work on 64bit Vista, but not on 32bit Vista.  x86 should work on both versions.

That’s it! After clicking “OK” and rebuilding the project, It should work!  At least it did for me!

By Kenneth | Posted in .Net Tips, Howto & FYI | Tagged , , , | Comments (13)

Top Ten FireFox Addons.

September 26, 2008 – 2:34 am

FireFox rocks! One of the coolest features of FireFox is its customization. By adding addons you can easily enhance your online experience. Here are my top ten FireFox addons!


10. Facebook Toolbar

Facebook Toolbar integrates your Facebook life into your browser. You can set your status right in the toolbar. It also gives notifications about your friends. This is a must have for Facebook junkies.


9. GooglePreview

GooglePreview is a simple addon that enhances your Google searches. It adds a thumbnail picture next to each search result. This gives you a clue about the website you are clicking on.


8. Hyperwords(tm)

Hyperwords let’s you select any text on any webpage and quickly choose from a few powerful commands. You can do a Google search, wiki search, or even translate the word into a number of languages. This is a great addon for college students, or anyone who does a lot of online research. I did have to change it’s annoying auto pop-up feature. It would automatically pop-up its context menu every time I selected text. Instead, I preferred to get to the context menu by right clicking on the selection.


7. Web Developer

Web Developer is a great addon for anyone doing web development. It gives tools to edit css, quickly re-size your browser to a set size, view information on just about any element, and much more. One of my favorite tools is a ruler that will measure pixel distances on a webpage. This is an extremely useful addon. Web Developer does add a toolbar that I quickly removed. You can still get to all of the functionality of the toolbar by right clicking on the page.


6. DownloadHelper

DownloadHelper is a great tool to get media content that is already downloading in the background. It can be used to download videos from just about any YouTube like site. It now comes with file conversion! Great for getting music videos off of YouTube and onto your iPod.


5. IE Tab

IE tab is another very useful addon for developers. With a single click, you can view your current page in Internet Explorer. The great thing is that it opens Internet Explorer within a FireFox tab. This is great to see how a page looks in both IE and FireFox. You could also use it to have two Gmail accounts open at the same time.


4. Cooliris

Cooliris is a very cool addon that transforms just about any webpage with photos or videos on it, into a beautiful full-screen 3D wall. Cooliris is integrated with many big-name sites like Facebook, Flicker, GoogleImages, and even YouTube. This is how surfing the Internet should be!


3. FireGestures

FireGestures allows you to execute many commands with mouse gestures. You can open tabs, close tabs, reload pages, and much more all by right-clicking and preforming a simple mouse gesture. With a little practice you will wish this functionality was built into your operating system. I now find myself trying to close non-FireFox windows with mouse gestures. This addon has quickly ran up my list of favorites!


2. Firebug

Web development is impossible without Firebug! Easily inspect the source of any webpage, change it, and see your results. View any element’s css, then change it right there. Amazingly useful. You can even use it to step through your javascript code. I would refuse to do web development without it!


1. Adblock Plus

I can’t stress enough how great Adblock Plus is. I haven’t seen an Internet ad in three years thanks to Adblock Plus! If you don’t have it yet, go get it! Be sure to subscribe to a filter subscription. I subscribe to “Easy Element+Easy List.” This is a must have addon. Definitely my #1.



There you have my top ten FireFox addons. What do you think? Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments.

By Kenneth | Posted in Howto & FYI | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)