files

Digital video is a wonderful thing -- until it's not. With so many different file formats out there, you're bound to run into one that either doesn't work with your media player or is otherwise unsuitable for your purposes. Fortunately, there are plenty of programs out there that convert digital video from one format to another. Prism Video File Converter Free is an easy-to-use program that lets you convert video between a variety of popular formats. We weren't crazy about the other stuff it installed, but the program itself was a winner.

Prism Video File Converter … Read more

About the time my iTunes music library reached 5,000 tracks I knew it was time for a cleanup. While I was at it, I adjusted the volume on some tracks that I had converted from audio cassettes, made sure joined tracks play in sequence, set iTunes to fill my iPod automatically, and learned some handy playback-control keyboard shortcuts.

Now I'm spending more time listening to the tracks in my iTunes library and less time skipping, scrolling, and searching.

The semi-automatic way to remove duplicate media files iTunes provides two options for identifying duplicate files: one based on the … Read more

InSpeak - The Voice Chat Communicator is the freeware version of inSpeak's premium chat app. It's got a lot going for it, including good audio quality for voice communications, decent security, and an emphasis on customer support, even for free members. The freeware also offers other features from the paid nickname version, though with some limitations. For example, you can view up to six Webcams, use handwriting in messages, add up to 1,000 contacts, display a colorful icon, customize your space, create rooms, and more. It helps to have someone to chat with, though, and inSpeak has … Read more

Granted, e-mailing someone an attachment is not difficult. Neither is sharing files via Dropbox, Google Drive, or another online repository. If you use a Mac and are on Facebook, however, there is an easier way. Free app SendRail makes sending a file to your Facebook contacts just a right-click or keyboard shortcut away.

After installing SendRail and hooking it into Facebook, you will hardly know it's there. It adds a small icon to the menu bar, along with a line to your right-click menu. To send a file via SendRail, right-click on the file and choose "Send To … Read more

The Indian government has asked ISPs to restrict access to a number of Web sites, and has prevented bulk SMS messaging for two weeks.

Over 150 Web sites were blocked over the weekend according to official sources, PC World reports, after a large number of people received messages over SMS or online that threatened reprisals for recent violence in Assam between Muslims and indigenous communities.

In addition to the restrictions placed on text messaging services and Web sites, some people have also been charged for sending threatening messages.

According to the publication, India's Ministry of IT and Communications has … Read more

Twice in the last month I had to become reacquainted with Microsoft Office because a company I was working with required a genuine Office file. Both experiences made me appreciate Google Drive's simple, straightforward apps all over again.

Yes, there are tasks Google Drive's word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program can't handle well or at all, but for 99.9 percent of the files I work on, Google Drive fits the bill nicely. Here are five ways to use Google Drive to shave minutes off your workday.

Keyboard shortcut opens a list of keyboard shortcuts After a … Read more

Windows has to be all things to all users, which leads to enduring compromises like the built-in Search Files and Folders module. Many third-party developers offer improved search tools for Windows. NirSoft's SearchMyFiles is a portable freeware search tool that lets you scour your system with greater accuracy and specificity than the built-in Search tool. You can search by wild card and the usual attributes as well as by content (text or binary). SearchMyFiles is a compact application that is frequently updated. The latest version we saw added a new feature, a Recent Config Files menu that lets users … Read more

You probably think of your MP3s as songs, and so they are, usually. But they're also data files, and they contain a lot of information; some of it you can edit. Moo0's MP3InfoEditor lets you edit that information, including Artist, Title, Album, Year, and more, including a Comments field. It can read and write data in a huge range of text-encoding formats (the default Character Set is UTF-8; UTF-16 and UTF-16BE are available, too) and apply data to files in batches. With drag-and-drop and a Keep on Top option, it seems ideal for editing large numbers of files … Read more

When you're faced with an unfamiliar file format and just want to hear that track, watch that vid, or read that e-book now, you may have your work cut out for you. There are plenty of file converters out there, but they require download, installation, updates, and an understanding of how they work. Online Convert aims to clear away all those requirements and make it easy to shift files from one type to another. Here's how to use it: