Two Popular Text Editors

Notepad++ and Sublime Text are the text editors that I really find useful and easy to use. Both has their own special features and support many scripting languages. As you can see on the screen shots above the screen is neat and highlighted depending on the language you preferred. This way it is easier to read the codes especially if you follow the indention. They also have the features that after choosing the default language you can just click on the save button and it will save the file with an extension name for that particular language. Moreover, the source codes load almost instantly.

I find it hard comparing these two text editors because both of them has a lot of special features some of which do not exist on the other. However, there are only two differences that I would like to highlight on this post. Notepad++ is free and Sublime Text is not. Sublime text has a special feature of "auto completion" wherein upon typing the first character it can already sense of what you are about to type and it will give you some suggestions. This may vary depending on the language you setup while Notepad++ does not have that feature.

If you have a text editor that you feel more comfortable to use and offers many features then that can help you accomplish your task much earlier.

Small and Portable Web Server for Classic ASP

I am testing a web page done on classic ASP. Although I have installed the IIS on my computer but I am still looking for a light weight preferably portable web server until I found Baby Web Server. It works just fine while testing the website on my local drive. The installer is only around 90 kb as of this writing...pretty small eh.

Setting it up is very easy. Simply locate the folder where you saved the web pages. Type the default asp page. Click the "Start" button. Presto! You have a running web server in a matter of seconds.

I am assuming that you have already done the web pages otherwise you have to create a sample page for testing purposes like the infamous Hello World. To test the Baby Web Server just type http://localhost/default.asp on your browser where "default.asp" as the home page. If the web page shows up that means that you have set up Baby Web Server correctly.

Start Button for Windows 8

Windows 8 is out in the market for quite some time already. It has many significant changes than its predecessor Windows 7. One of the significant changes is the removal of the "Start" button which is replaced by the "Metro Start Screen". The Start button that we have been using for the past two decades is already gone. However, there are some third party software that came out to resurrect the most wanted "Start" button. Here they are:

1. Classic Shell (free)
2. Pokki (free)
3. Start8 (this is not free)

 This is how the Windows 8 desktop looks like without the start button.

This is how the Windows 8 desktop looks like with the "Classic Shell" start button.

This is how the Windows 8 desktop looks like with the "Pokki" start button.

This is how the Windows 8 desktop looks like with the Windows start button as part of the customization feature of "Pokki".

On the pictures above you will see there the "Classic Shell" and the "Pokki" start buttons. I have tried both but I prefer more "Pokki" than "Classic Shell" because it blends well with the Windows 8 graphical user interface. As you can see on one of the pictures above I even changed the "Pokki" start button with the Windows start button. When I am using "Classic Shell" it seems like I am still using Windows 7. I do not feel the Windows 8 environment.

The Liebster Award

One of my friends in bloggers.com, Diane, nominated my blog for the Liebster Award in which I am very grateful. In order to qualify for this award we have to follow the rules.

Here's the rules

1. Each person must list 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions that the tagger has set for you PLUS you must create 11 questions of your own for the 11 people you will nominate with this award.
3. Choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to your post.
4. Go to their page and inform them of the nomination
5. Absolutely NO tags back. Remember to ONLY tag bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Free WYSIWYG HTML Editor

There are variety of html text editors to choose from if you are planning of developing a website.Starting with the very basic Notepad (which comes with Windows) to the most sophisticated commercial WYSIWYG html editors like Dreamweaver. When you are looking for a WYSIWYG html editor you might already have come across with Kompozer.

Kompozer is an opensource Web Authoring System combining web file management and WYSIWYG html editor. It is designed to be as user friendly as possible specifically for those who do not have a knowledge on html codes. Just like the popular WYSIWYG html editors it has the split viewing of source code and design so you can switch the viewing to see the outcome while on design time. Creating stylesheets is also easy. The beginners will not have a hard time to learn it. When you are ready to upload your website you do not have leave Kompozer anymore to open a FTP client software. It has a built-in FTP site manager to help you upload your website. If you are a Windows, Linux or Mac user you do not have to worry about compatibility issue because this software will run on any platform.

These are just some of the basic features of Kompozer.If you want to find out more about it you will find it at http://kompozer.net

A Reliable Backup Software

There are dozens of free backup software that you can find out there but I guess Cobian Backup stands out from the rest. It is not because it is free but in terms of reliability and functionality. As of this writing the latest version is Version 11 (a.k.a. Gravity). This version is compatible with Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Servers 2003 and 2008. Whether 32 or 64 bit there is no issue about that.

Usually for the free edition you will find only the basic functionality of a backup software. However, on the case of Cobian Backup you will find almost all the features available only on the full version of commercial backup softwares. Unattended backup through its scheduler, encryption, compression, accessibility to backup from local or network drive and different types of backup (i.e. full, differential, incremental and dummy) to name a few of its features.

I have tried before the version 9 (a.k.a as Amanita) and currently I am using the latest version which is called Gravity. Since then and until now Cobian Backup never disappointed me and always meet my expectations. You can have a sound sleep and you can leave the backing up all by itself through the scheduler feature. Moreover, user interface is neat and simple. As a matter of fact you can set it up in no time because you can easily get familiar with the setting.

Two thumbs up for Cobian Backup.

I wish everyone a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.