January, 2008 | Syntax 3.0

TrueCrypt

Published by Daniel Westerstal on January 30, 2008

Data protection is all the rage these days, and you can’t be too careful. TrueCrypt is an open source alternative to a number of encryption programs out there. Actually the program is based on E4M (Encryption for the Masses) released in 1997 and discontinued in 2000.In order to store encrypted data TrueCrypt uses system volumes, the program basically creates a password protected and encrypted volume. If you provide the right password the volume is unlocked and you can use it as any other volume on your computer.

The program has a number of encryption algorithms you can use including; AES, Serpent and Twofish. All of the encryption algorithms are standards with AES being the most widespread one. If you want an extra layer of security it’s possible to create volumes that requires two-factor authentication using a keyfile. In order to unlock the volume both a password and a special keyfile is needed. Creating a new volume is done using a simple and easy wizard, almost any user can do it. Mounting a volume (which needs to be done every time you restart the computer or dismounts the volume) is also easy. It’s a matter of choosing a volume file and clicking “mount” . It is entirely possible to have 250 GB of data or more encrypted and use it as any other normal volume, you can even install programs on your encrypted volume.

TrueCrypt has the ability to run in traveler mode, which means that the program does not have to be installed on the OS it runs. This means that it is possible to take TrueCrypt with you on trips using a USB-stick, so you can bring business secrets on the road without having to worry about the data getting into the wrong hands.

The program also comes with a number of language packs, as always with Open Source software these kind of packs differ in quality and translation. Also with a fairly straightforward program like TrueCrypt there is no need for language packs.

Undelete PLUS

Published by Daniel Westerstal on January 22, 2008

Every computer user has probably deleted a document and days later discovering that it was needed. There are several undelete applications on the market, but few are free and as uncomplicated as Undelete Plus.

According to the developers the program takes advantage of that Windows actually doesn’t delete a file until it really needs the occupied space for something. Undelete Plus lists recently deleted files after a scan of the hard drive and displays the recoverability of them. The scan is actually quite fast compared to other similar programs; it only took about six minutes to scan a 500 GB hard drive. There is filtering available, which means that you can filter out file-types and files that you don’t want in the scan.

We did some tests by “accidently” deleting an important word document, Undelete Plus managed to recover it fast and efficiently. Undelete Plus does have some limitations; larger files are harder to recover than smaller ones (since it’s a higher possibility that Windows overwrites a larger file). The program frequently displays files as having a “very good” rate of recoverability but when Undelete Plus tries to recover them it fails.

FileZilla

Published by Daniel Westerstal on January 18, 2008

FTP-programs aren’t exactly a big turn-on. There are a number of them out there on the market, all doing the same thing, managing/uploading and downloading files from FTP-servers. If you are looking for a good and free FTP-program FileZilla might be what you are after.

The interface in FileZilla is pretty much like in any other major FTP-programs, there are two columns; one for your local drive and one for the outside server. Moving files is just a matter of drag and drop. It is possible to customize the different file-views, for example you can select if file-size should be displayed or not among other things. The program can remember your column width preferences if you set it do so, which is neat.

FileZilla is packed with features, it supports FTP over SSL and SSH. It runs fine on Windows, Linux and MAC OS X. What’s even more impressing is the GSS-support, which means that it’s possible to send encrypted traffic from a client to a FTP-server. However it requires that Kerberos (a network authentication protocol) is installed on the client computer and that the server supports it.

In order to keep order of all your FTP-servers there is something called Site Manager. Except for a list of FTP-servers it’s also possible to choose the default directory of each server listed. If you are adding a new server don’t forget to click “Save and Exit”, otherwise your settings will be lost the next time you use the program. This is actually any annoying problem and is one of the things I really have against FileZilla.

FileZilla is one of the best FTP-programs out there, and it’s free. It caters to both basic users and corporations, in fact many large corporations use FileZilla as their default FTP-program.

Wakoopa

Published by Daniel Westerstal on January 15, 2008

Socializing on the Internet is all the rage these days. But we have not seen much socializing around software; Wakoopa is an effort to change that. Basically Wakoopa is a tracking program, which is installed on your desktop and tracks the different programs you are using. It doesn’t take up that much resources, installs and uninstalls easily.

The tracker then sends the information to a website profile for all your friends to look at. From the profile it’s possible to see how much you are using each program, what programs you are running in the background and so on. When you log in to wakoopa.com it’s possible to take look at the most popular programs right now and to use other social features.

Overall Wakoopa is neat, however the applications topping the lists is usually; Internet Explorer, Firefox and Microsoft Word. It’s also unclear to me what the real purpose of the application is, sure it’s possible to see what kind of software and games your friends are using, then what? The Wakoopa.com website is perhaps more interesting than the program itself. On the site it’s possible to see program usage and track their usage, but the again the points with Wakoopa remains sketchy.

Inkscape

Published by Daniel Westerstal on January 13, 2008

If you don’t want to fork out 300 bucks for Adobe Illustrator Inkscape is definitely an alternative. Inkscape is an open-source alternative to software like Illustrator, Xara and Freehand. It has most of the stuff commercial software has, but with a slightly different interface. The developers used the GNOME Human Interface guidelines when designing the program. It is pretty clear that Inkscape has a legacy from another open source illustration program, Xara Xtreme. As a matter of fact the two open-source projects are sharing some features and experiences.

If you come from an Adobe-world like me you will probably be annoyed of the different interface, but after a while one discovers that it’s pretty nice and even uses logic. Of course there is also the process of re-learning all the shortcut keys (why can’t someone standardize them).

A drawback with Inkscape is that it doesn’t handle file-formats from Adobe Illustrator and Freehand. So if you are going over to Inkscape, don’t forget to save your Adobe-files as SVG or EPS. Inkscape can save to some interesting formats, most noteworthy PDF. The PDF saving feature is fast and does the job without any problems at all.

I tested Inkscape with Windows Vista and had no stability problems whatsoever. It runs smooth, and feels a lot faster than similar Adobe products. It also takes considerably less time to load. There are also versions of Inkscape for MAC OS X and Linux. The program is considerably small; the installer is just 21 MB. It’s even possible to carry Inkscape around on a USB-stick.

There is one down-side with Inkscape, the program can’t export to Flash and it has no built in animation capability. But for pure illustration purposes Inkscape is quite competitive and is a great product for amateurs as well as pros.

Month: January 2008

TrueCrypt

Undelete PLUS

FileZilla

Wakoopa

Inkscape