Sometime back Facebook decided to give an all-new look to the chat area. After the sudden layout redesign, many of Facebook users were not that happy about the change, many wishing they could bring the old set up back.

Now, the Sidebard Disabler browser plug-in can revert all the changes and bring back the good old Facebook layout back on your screen.

The problem the the ever-changing FB layouts is that you simply can not retrograde the changes itself and your only solution is to be happy and live with the "upgrades"; even when you feel they are confusing, lack-luster, or simply quite annoying to use.

Sidebar Disabler was put together to solve one of such changes by allowing users to revert to the old layout. This is a really cool browser extension, that just needs an installation and Voila! - you are back to the good-old chat box. Bringing back all the personalized and customized lists back-in-action, direct profile-link access via the chat box itself, and idle mode notifier against your name.

The Fb Chat Sidebar Disabler is developed by VittGam and available on various browsers: Google Chrome, Opera, and Firefox. After the installation only a page refresh is needed to kick-in the changes. It's that easy!

Related Links:
VittGam's Official Website
Sidebar Disabler's Official Website

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Angry Birds by Rovio is undoubtedly the most popular game out there with smartphone downloads hitting the billion mark. And now the whole magic crashes on the Google Chrome web-browser. No need for an iOS, as Android device's most enchanting casual game experience is now right on your desktop PC; so use all those angry birds to crash and destroy the green pigs who stole their eggs.

There are currently two versions available of the game; SD Version (Standard) and HD Version (High-Definition) depending on the graphic card, RAM and other resources available on your PC.

Playing the game on a LCD monitor on full-screen mode really heightens the game experience, making you want more of the Angry Birds with special powers, those which explode, zoom-faster, multiply, or who drop off exploding eggs. This is not all, however, as after completing all the 3 stages of the game with 20 levels per stage, Rovio decided to unlock an entire new level exclusive to the Google Chrome user.

The gameplay is slick and very cool, just so are it's graphics. There is nothing better to have on your desktop every time you find yourself in need for some quality distraction and the best news about the entre deal is that the game comes for free. The only thing needed to play is a Google Chrome browser (which incidentally is also Free). So gear up and start firing those real Angry Birds and catapult them to get their revenge.

Related Links:
Angry Birds on Facebook
Angry Birds on Wikipedia
Angry Birds Official Website

Ever wonder who's tracking your move everytime you press a button or visit a website online? Ghostery is a cool free program for Mac, Linux and Windows that'll help you find out who's keeping an eye on you.

The program is designed to track down anybody or mostly companies, that track down our every movement on the web. From the type of websites we visit or maybe the kind of books we buy at Amazon, most of these companies collect our data for marketing purposes.

You can easily install this simple software for either Firefox, Chrome, Safari or IE. Grab the download and find out who's been following your every move.
One of the nicest things about this little software is that you won't even know it's there. It's unobtrusive and pretty much stays out of your way. Once it's enabled, Ghostery shows up as a tiny little window on the upper right-hand corner or simply as an icon in your taskbar. Everytime you open up a site that is advertising supported or ones that automatically track your every move, the program instantly lists them out.

Of course, this can become a bit tiring since most websites today do support advertisers. Nevertheless, it's a great way of knowing who's following you while checking out websites online.

The nice thing though is that if you spot a tracker that you don't like or simply cautious, you can instantly block them with just one click. This will prevent them from harvesting your information.

Overall, the program is certainly helpful especially if you are worried about online safety. It's unobtrusive most of the time so it's the perfect solution if you're looking for something to keep these trackers at bay.

Related Links:
Ghostery Official Website
Ghostery on Lifehacker
Ghostery on CNET

If you love Japanese scenery, then you'll enjoy this Free 3D Japanese Screensaver. The next best thing about experiencing the beauty and Zen like mood Japan has to offer is to have images of the place plastered on your computer.

This free screensaver features some of the most iconic and relaxing images from Japan. It is rendered in full 3D to give it a realistic feel. Every portion of your computer screen will come to life as it breathes Old World Japan with its stunning red pagodas, or maybe give you that modern, ethereal feel of the country with beautiful cherry blossom trees.

Click on the download link or the image to get this free screensaver today.

Just like there are plenty of great places to enjoy in Japan, you get several options as well when it comes to the theme of the screensavers. Some of the themes include Spirit, which is pictured above and Cherry, featuring wonderful Japanese cherry blossoms. There's also the Garden, Bloom and Harmony.

Some of the cool features you can expect include gorgeous realistic rendering of the various sceneries of Japan. The screensaver is also animated so you can get a feel of the various places. To add to the mood, it also comes with beautiful sound effects that will provide you with an even better sense of the Japanese landscape.

Why not imbue your day with the beautiful and relaxing scenery of Japan by downloading and installing these beautiful free screensavers.

Related Links:
Free 3D Japan Screensaver on 3D Savers
Free 3D Japan Screensaver on FreeWareFiles
Free 3D Japan Screensaver on Brothersoft

Kid Key Lock is a freeware which allows you to disable keyboard and/or mouse functions. You can choose to disable all keys, or choose only specific system commands. You can also disable different mouse keys, as well as the usage of all mouse & keyboard inputs.

Its primary purpose is to let toddlers or kids play around your computer without pressing unwanted programs and commands. Of course, this can also be useful for your pets who love to sit on your keyboard or who like to play with the mouse when you aren't there.

Kid Key Lock is, of course, made for kids. Letting kids use your computer or laptop may mean interference with different system commands which can be quite a hassle. This lock is perfect for them. You can easily let them draw around paint while keeping the alphabet on the keyboard functional, but the system commands off. Goodbye, accidental presses for the Windows key, or perhaps even the CTRL+ALT+DEL function.

This lightweight program runs quietly from your taskbar, and the setup can easily be accessed from there. You can also access the setup dialog by typing a certain keystring (the default is kklsetup) which automatically pops it up. From there, you can choose which keys or which commands would be blocked.

If you go out of your room or your workplace  for some time and you need to block all possible accesses to your computer, you can also type in a different text string which would outrightly quit the program. The default string is kklquit, so don't worry if you've locked all access to your keyboard and to your mouse.

Features

• It is simple to setup and... even simpler to run
• Easy access to program options via an icon in the system tray
• Mouse Lock options:
  • Disable Left mouse button
  • Disable Middle mouse button
  • Disable Right mouse button
  • Disable Double click
  • Disable Mouse wheel
• Keyboard lock options:
  • Disable Standard character keys (letters, numbers, signs, etc)
  • Disable Additional keys (Navigation keys, function keys, ins/del, home/end, etc)
  • Disable Windows system shortcuts(e.g. alt-tab, win-key, etc)

Related Links:
Kid Key Lock

PicPick is an all-in-one free software for capturing, editing and managing your screenshots. It keeps its dock in the taskbar so you can easily select handy tools to capture, edit images, measure pixels, and even use your desktop as a whiteboard.

Unlike your usual print screen, it allows you to choose a certain region and size of your screenshot. PicPick also has a portable version so you can bring it with you and use it anywhere using your USB flash drive or external hard drive without installations.

PicPick does away from your usual print screen method of taking a screen shot, pasting in Paint, and saving as BMP or JPG. It lets you directly take shots of your desktop, and even allows you to choose a particular part of your screen to be shot. In addition, it also has got powerful whiteboard tools which turns your desktop into a virtual board. This makes it easy for online collaborations and web conferences.

This freeware also features support for dual monitors, so don't worry about taking screenshots of your whole workspace. It also features a built-in image editor, similar to MS Paint, but has tools such as blur, adjust brightness, hue, contrast & saturation, sharpen and many more.

PicPick features Twitter and Facebook connect (both in beta stages) and an email output via Microsoft Outlook. These functions make it easy for you to share your screenshots over the Internet. It also has Google Chrome's Autoscroll capture.

With a lot of helpful tools to measure your desktop, pick colors, and even magnify your desktop, this is one powerful freeware which can easily be a staple in your computer.

Related Links:
PicPick Home Page

Krento is a free 3D application launcher for Windows. It features a three-dimensional circular dock where you can access your applications, customize your dock sets, drag & drop your files, and make your own shortcuts.

It makes it easy for you to organize your desktop and access your favorite programs in a flash. Krento is available for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems.

Krento enables Windows users to be more productive since it easily fixes those messy icons and shortcuts on your desktop. Documents, files and folders can quickly be stored in those Krento 'stones' where you can access them faster. Drag and drop your files, folders and application shortcuts on the stones, or organize different dock sets which house different stones.

Besides your files and folders, Krento can also organize your Internet bookmarks. When you want to access a favorite page, all you have to do is click on a Krento stone and you are good to go.

The Krento Stones Circle can be accessed by pressing the Windows + C keys simultaneously, or by pressing your mouse wheel. Alternatively, you can also double click on the Krento Pulsar. After which, you can drag and drop just about any file or bookmark from the Windows Explorer or browser to the stones.

To launch your favorite stones, a single click would do the trick, or a single Enter press and it's open. You may also choose to press CTRL + F1 to F12 (depending on the number of the stone) and you would access that particular stone without having to bring the Stones Circle up.

Krento also has a portable edition which can be a mainstay in your external hard drive or USB flash drive.

From Serhiy Perevoznyk on Feb 3rd, 2011:
Krento version 2.0 is released and available for download for free from http://www.krento.net

What's new in this release:

The limitation of 12 stones per application ring is gone
You can add an additional stones to the application ring
You can remove stones from the application ring
You can reorder stones on the ring
Stone icon can be an animated GIF image
New high-speed built-in web server. Krento can be controlled using web browser
Improved compatibility with Windows 7
Improved 64 bit support
Added more than 20 new built-in stones
Improved skins drawing. Most of the skins was redesigned and some new skins added.
New option IntegrateToolbar added to the Krento.ini file. When activated, Krento shows the jump list in Windows 7
Extended support for Krento Toys. Now Toys can be written in C#, VB or JavaScript and distributed as a script source files. No compilation needed. It makes possible to create new Toys without using Visual Studio.
Added the hint window with the name of the current Application Ring.
Added new buttons for more easy navigation between the rings and activating the setting dialog
Added additional high-resolution images for the most popular applications and web sites. You can extend this collection by yourself in very easy way.
The menu skin can be changed directly from the main menu.
Ctrl + Left Mouse Button Click shows the list of the available application rings
During the setup the speed optimization for your PC is performed
For better speed many functions was translated from C# to C++
Improved drag and drop support for Krento stones
Many other internal fixes...

Related Links:
Krento Home Page

Remember drawing those squiggly lines and circles on 5 lines when you were in music class? You draw them then read them afterward and realize that you do not understand anything you have drawn because they were in weird places between and after the lines. Do not be scared of making the same mistake now.
Rose Garden is ready to help you create the best music sheets and midi sequences possible, allowing you unleash the professional musician inside you.

Rose Garden is an open-source midi sequencer and music notation software for Linux. It lets you record music and edit it. When you need to remember or share your music to other musicians, the software has a score editor that lets you accurately draw notes from your midi file. Now you can be sure that other musicians have all the material necessary play your music just the way you wanted it.

Rose Garden is perfect for music enthusiasts, recording artists, home studio owners and professional studio mixers and is available free of charge for all types of uses. It can edit music, as well as create and print out music sheets. In addition to that, it also recognizes your MIDI controllers connected to your computer so you get to record MIDI files and your own songs or music in a jiffy.

Connect your Rosegarden tracks to soft-synths, connect those to a standalone effects rack or back into Rosegarden, connect Rosegarden's mixer output into a mastering application or a variety of meters, or route all the individual audio outs into a separate hard disc recorder. Nearly all serious Linux audio software supports JACK, which makes it a far more universal and effective standard than you will find on other platforms.

Rose Garden is currently available for Linux, but I am sure a Windows and a Mac version would also be highly appreciated by music enthusiasts and serious music makers.

Related Links:
Rose Garden Music's Website
Donate to Rose Garden
Rose Garden on Wikipedia

This work is licensed under a GNU General Public License.

There are some times you just need to record everything that is happening in your desktop. You may need a short video for your class presentation, a tutorial or for business demonstrations. Here's a great alternative from all the expensive commercial software which allows you to capture your desktop with ease. CamStudio lets you record all your desktop activity and export it into AVI or into SWF. Once you start using it and will have to do a software presentation, you won't have to demo everything right on site - you will play it back from CamStudio.

Aside from recording your desktop activities, CamStudio can also record audio from your sound card. Depending on your computer's settings, you can choose to capture all audio coming out of your computer's speakers or sounds picked up by the microphone (=you can record your own narration while you demo something on your screen!).

It can convert those files into AVI or streaming flash videos. With CamStudio, you can now demonstrate any software, capture a streaming video, annotate presentations and make them into flash video files, record a computer's problem to send to technical assistance team, and many more.

CamStudio is also equipped with Video Annotation feature that allows you to put screen captions right in your recordings. You can also record with a small movie of yourself with your webcam, "picture-in-picture" itover your desktop and add a personal touch when annotating those videos, making them more professional-looking than ever before.

Although AVI files might be very big in sizes, users of CamStudio don't have to worry because CamStudio also comes with its own Lossless Codec that produces crystal clear results with a much smaller filesize compared with other more popular codecs, like Microsoft Video 1.

Licensed under the GNU General Public License, CamStudio is free to use, even if you'd use it for your commercial videos and products, and very easy. Select the region of your screen you want to record, hit the record button and voila - you are recording.

Related Links:
CamStudio's Official Website
CamStudio on SourceForge
Donate to CamStudio

This work is licensed under a GNU General Public License.