tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50060137257983543712013-01-10T06:29:57.487-05:00Trust me to lead you to the best solutions for the little problems in your computing life! In this blog, I'll explore handy little utilities that have won my heart. I'll focus on useful free and cheap software tools and Web sites that can save you time, boost your productivity, improve your computing environment, do some vital task you otherwise couldn't easily do — or are just too much fun to ignore.Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-4739598513069310002013-01-06T13:14:00.003-05:002013-01-06T13:14:43.959-05:00

Welcome back, diners. I'm sure you'll be as delighted as I was to get the new version of Anvir Task Manager at giveawayoftheday.com (today only). I have previously praised Anvir in post 57. Anvir makes it easy to control which programs start up with your computer, and can even delay program start-ups. It also alerts you when a program tries to insert itself into the startup process. It gives

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-76663886380831175802011-08-30T17:05:00.001-04:002011-09-02T12:57:32.554-04:00

Dear readers, I feel obligated to rouse myself to warn you of a dangerous and deceptive Web service, Uploadingit.com. It provides massive cloud storage for your files (10 GB for a free account, and even more for competitively-priced paid accounts). It shows a reasonably friendly interface and offers a good range of services. There are many other Web services that are similar, and I suggest you

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-13112538922684173382008-10-04T14:00:00.001-04:002008-10-05T07:55:38.655-04:00

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Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-73922861486485689022008-06-17T16:46:00.012-04:002008-11-13T15:56:24.065-05:00

Note to Readers23 June 2008Jonathan's Tool Bar & Grill is going on temporary hiatus. Due to backlogged commitments in the real world, Mark and I will not be able to post on our regular schedule for a while. Please bear with us, and remember to check back here from time to time, because we will provide you helpful new software and Web site reviews and tips whenever we can. Meanwhile, be sure to

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-23234426328495959472008-06-09T14:21:00.011-04:002008-11-13T15:56:24.640-05:00

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Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-49717071163862962892008-06-03T16:33:00.030-04:002009-06-06T11:16:37.691-04:00

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Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-18183170255284641712008-05-27T16:19:00.013-04:002008-12-14T06:30:42.540-05:00

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Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-82138299980011759682008-05-21T08:51:00.006-04:002008-11-13T15:56:26.386-05:00

Welcome back to the Tool Bar & Grill. I wish I could stay – but I just saw Mark Lautman heading into the Linux Lounge with a gas can, some rags, and a lighter. So I decided to evacuate the Tool Bar & Grill and leave the place entirely to Mark today. Playing with Fire by Mark Lautman There is something a little disturbing about names of computer products. We have “firewalls” and CD “burners.”

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-51951990275458481322008-05-11T00:00:00.012-04:002008-11-13T15:56:27.127-05:00

This week at the Tool Bar & Grill, we want to tell you everything about everything you need to know. Unfortunately, we don’t know much… but we do know where to look!How To Find a How-ToThe Internet is full of great information. You can learn how to do just about anything on line – build a deck, play the guitar, arrange flowers, make origami flowers, or even make love – if you can just find the

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-6102704473251959562008-05-04T00:00:00.004-04:002008-11-13T15:56:28.107-05:00

I know, the Tool Bar & Grill isn’t well known as a pickup joint, but you will find valuable tips on getting and keeping dates right here. But first, a little music to set the mood.Just Music, Just RightSometimes you just want to play some music on your computer. You don’t want to futz with playlists or assemble libraries. You don’t want to look at album covers or get dizzy watching swirling

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-59138370576473067132008-04-27T11:54:00.015-04:002008-11-13T15:56:30.537-05:00

A great film is just the ticket after a great dinner at the Tool Bar & Grill. So today, your movie-buff chef will help you decide what to see. Meanwhile, back in the Linux Room, Mark is hunched over his drawing tablet… Film Review Aggregators Now and then I manage to find time to watch a good movie. But which one? With my blog taking so much of my time, I can’t afford to waste a couple of hours

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-56808554420196441272008-04-20T00:00:00.003-04:002008-11-13T15:56:31.599-05:00

Howdy from the Tool Bar & Grill, and welcome to the many new readers who have joined us in the past few weeks. Your chef is glad to be back behind the counter again, with some fresh new software recommendations. And assistant chef Mark Lautman continues his thesis on Perl scripting.Stick With Me, Kid, and You’ll Go FarI remember when the invention of Post-It® Notes revolutionized office work. Now

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-67776912394915681282008-04-13T17:04:00.008-04:002008-11-13T15:56:32.797-05:00

Welcome back, dear readers. This week your chef had to take his act out on the road again, despite his notable lack of wanderlust. Thus your chef was faced today with the choice of strolling around his hotel’s serene Japanese garden and exploring the surroundings in a new city, or spending many hours evaluating new utility software and writing his recommendations. Maybe this will give you a clue

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-35756378110562860742008-04-06T09:59:00.013-04:002008-11-13T15:56:33.964-05:00

It must be time to redecorate the tawdry old Tool Bar & Grill, because I’m in a graphical mood this week. So let’s break out the paint brushes and buckets, and find the best free image editing software.Give Your Pictures the Royal TreatmentImage software has come a long way in recent years, keeping up with the dizzying advances in digital photography. If you are still using the Paint program that

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-33057806368683309182008-03-30T12:17:00.003-04:002008-11-13T15:56:34.833-05:00

Managing the Tool Bar & Grill requires lots of hard work and long hours. So a lazy guy like me looks for anything that makes the work go by faster and easier. That’s how I became a utilities maven to begin with, long before there was a Tool Bar & Grill. And the wonderfully generous programmers who populate the Internet keep coming up with new ways to make our lives more pleasant. Special guest

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-24245912840321841902008-03-23T17:32:00.010-04:002008-11-13T15:56:35.751-05:00

Things keep hopping at the Tool Bar & Grill, even while I sweep Louise away for a beach resort weekend. After I describe my latest utility discoveries, Linux rabble-rouser Mark Lautman explains the wonders of window managers.Where’s a Ruler When You Need One?Sometimes the little things drive you crazy. And sometimes it’s the big things. Heaven knows that sitting at home on Saturday nights and

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-86215511242789134682008-03-15T17:49:00.012-04:002008-11-13T15:56:36.012-05:00

Welcome back to the Tool Bar & Grill, where we search through the Internet to find the best utilities and Web sites, and hand them to you on a silver platter. Today’s utility is a strong shot for weak computers, and it is chased with a rundown of the most important literature for document authors by Mark Lautman. How To Cope When Memory Fails If you search the Web, you will find dozens of free

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-50397641518396022572008-03-09T00:00:00.004-05:002008-11-13T15:56:36.879-05:00

And that day will come sooner rather than later. At the Tool Bar & Grill, we’re here to help you. Today I’ll tell you about a Web site that looks and feels bad but really is good for you, and some useful utilities for those with limited computing resources. And Linux guru Mark Lautman will help you find files you forgot you had.Make XP Think It’s VistaI admit it, my memory just isn’t what it used

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-35204176248017383652008-03-02T00:00:00.000-05:002008-11-13T15:56:38.214-05:00

Howdy once again from the Tool Bar & Grill, where the search for better utilities and Web sites never ends. We have found some great free solutions today, too. In my technical writer role, I frequently need to convert documents to PDF (Portable Document Format) (first discussed in post #54, 20 January 2008). My PDFs must include bookmarks (an outline pane with links to chapters and sections) and

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-80708772705293959702008-02-24T00:00:00.003-05:002008-11-13T15:56:39.696-05:00

Good evening, gentlemen and ladies, and welcome to Jonathan’s Bistro. I hope you can read the Specials Du Jour board clearly enough to enjoy your meal. First an hors d’oeuvre to tune up our LCD screens, and then on to sample Mark Lautman’s selection of OpenOffice extensions. No Fork Needed for This Tuner Note: I just noticed a minor omission and error in this post, and have added a couple of

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-3964113217893558342008-02-17T00:00:00.004-05:002008-11-13T15:56:40.309-05:00

Frustration has returned to the Tool Bar & Grill. A few years ago, I didn’t think about how a USB flash drive could make my life easier. Now I can’t live without at least one. But each new solution brings still newer problems, especially for someone as lazy as your Tool Bar chef. The new problem is synchronizing multiple computers through the flash drive. I have a PC in the office and one at

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-6398925732848939352008-02-10T00:00:00.000-05:002008-11-13T15:56:40.644-05:00

Welcome to the Tool Bar & Grill, friends. Please come right in and find your own seats. I’ll be back to take your order soon. Right now, though, I’m very busy getting acquainted with my new love and outfitting her just the way I like. Oh, you want to see her? Sure, she’s right over there… No, not her; that’s my devoted, long-suffering girlfriend Louise at the kitchen door. I mean the beauty

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-78824905056248833162008-02-04T15:52:00.000-05:002008-11-13T15:56:40.882-05:00

Dear readers: This week, I turn the Tool Bar & Grill spatula and spoon over to graphics whiz Mark Lautman, who promised to paint the whole place. See you next week! Scalable Vector Graphics, Part 3 by Mark Lautman Saturday nights are particularly obstreperous at the Tool Bar's Linux Room. The music is loud, the conversation effervescent, and even the police officers who are sent to quell the

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-18266366881614861702008-01-27T00:00:00.000-05:002008-11-13T15:56:41.169-05:00

Ola, amigos, from the Tool Bar & Grill, where sometimes the Special of the Day is refritos. Today I’m serving up new information on a disk reporting utility that updates my previous post on the topic. Back in November I reviewed a couple of great disk-space reporters (“What’s Eating You?”, post #46). These handy utilities analyze your hard disk and tell you what file types are occupying its

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5006013725798354371.post-25067131390326755312008-01-20T00:00:00.000-05:002008-11-13T15:56:41.845-05:00

Hello again from the Tool Bar & Grill, where the hot kitchen is a comfort on cold winter days (apologies to those of you below the equator). Then again, a hot kitchen is always comforting to a big eater like me. While stirring the linguine and listening to old Porter and Dolly duets, a few of us got to talking about the problems of editing PDF files. Portable Document Format is a nearly

Jonathan Plutchokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00611661473758716824noreply@blogger.com10