DUTraffic Dial-Up Monitor/Statistics

I finally changed my Internet connection from dial-up to ADSL. Not that dial-up was slow for me: I didn’t download music/video/software at home. But the amount included into my plan was too small for me and I had to pay extra every time my 200 MB ran dry. Plus I had to check if there is anything left there. And here I found a great helper in DUTraffic.

DUTraffic is a dial-up Internet connection monitor/statistics application that is perfect. It is a small program that shows statistics for current connection on pointing your mouse cursor at the program’s icon in the system tray. There is also a graph window (transparent and can be always on top or always under all other windows), that I didn’t use. Plus DUTraffic keeps records of all your connection statistics (dates, times, download/upload traffic) for any past period. So I could check how many hours I spent online last August or how much I downloaded last May. The program never crashed and never caused any problem for my computer. Also, in case you installed Windows anew, you could save the backup history files and paste it again after you install Windows (in case you format your hard drive and all programs were lost). Thus, you never lose the records, no matter how many times you lose Internet connection, switch off your computer or refresh the system altogether.

You can get it from here: .

Now that I am on ADSL I wanted the same, but there is no broadband version of DUTraffic. And three other monitors I tried were no good. Netgraph was the best in that it (apparently) showed the right download traffic. Bandwidth monitor crashed on first and subsequent runs. BitMeter showed twice the size traffic in comparison with standard Windows statistics. Besides, neither seemed to provide back history.

So it looks like dial-up users lose in speed and download freedom, but gain a lot in terms of correct and overall statistics/monitoring.

Software Changes

There are some changes in the software section of my computer. They are not quite ordinary changes in application version, or new software installation. The changes are in browser and anti-virus sections.

Firstly, I switched from Maxthon 1 browser (the latest build in version 1) to Maxthon 2 when the browser left the Beta stage of its second version. I hadn’t done it before because it was in Beta and many user reviews said that the Beta wasn’t stable or didn’t work as well as the first version.

I still have to get used to Maxthon2. Firstly I imported plugins from the old Maxthon (and downloaded some newer versions of them). The installation file of Maxthon2 comes without any plugins and with only one default skin. There is no Combo version like it was with older Maxthon (with more skins and plugins already there). So, on the one hand, it is kept to a minimum, and on the other, you can add whatever. But it is not so convenient for novices and those without ability or desire to browse the add-ons site.

As for the plugins I’d recommend Weather, ieSpell, EditPage, enablerightclick, flashsavewithconfig, LookUpWord, o-devart, Policy Manager, View Sourse. There are also Hotmail Tools, Yahoo!Mail, Technorati sidebar, Bloglines, CoComment, Del.icio.us Sidebar, Digg Sidebar, Float Bar, Technorati Sidebar. But to tell you the truth I don’t use any plugins. So maybe the clean version without them is all right for those who just browse the Internet.

As for the skins, I downloaded and installed Safari skin (had it in Maxthon1). It is the best skin of all that are found on Maxthon add-ons site. Though Safari for Maxthon1 is different from Safari to Maxthon2 (in the new version menu buttons are highlighted in blue when you point your mouse at them  like in Apple Mac OS) and I have to get used to wide tabs (at default, but could be altered through Settings), I quite like it.

What I don’t like is that History opens in a new tab, rather than in a Side Panel (as in Maxthon1). In the same way Maxthon Settings menu opens in a separate tab instead of a pop-up window.

As for menus and settings they are done in much the same way as in Maxthon1, except for some, like AdHunter. In the new version AdHunter settings are grouped into several lines in the Settings menu insted of being grouped in one “AdHunter” block. One thing that doesn’t work is RoboForm Bar. I managed RoboForm to work and it displays windows with login info when a site with stored login information is opened, so that you can autofill the login forms. But there is no RoboForm Bar (you can only open it at the bottom of the browser window). Well, maybe I need to get used to more space in my upper bars section.

The rest needs testing, but I don’t think I’ll have to go back to Maxthon1. Maxthon is still the best IE based browser (and for me, simply the best) out there. With Safari skin it is better-looking than Safari browser (and doesn’t have Safari Beta problems in Windows). It is more vivid and less crowded than Opera. It is not as orange and fuzzy as Firefox. It is certainly much nicer and more customisable than Internet Explorer. And remember, it had a working tab interface when IE didn’t even think of having one.

Secondly, I uninstalled Kaspersky anti-virus and switched to Avast.

Believe me, Kaspesky worked fine, had a good Russian interface, short and up to the point pop-up menu when clicked on its icon in the quick launch bar next to the system clock. What I didn’t like were its irritating habits. Namely, 10-12 days prior to licence expiration it annoyed me with its pop-ups on every startup reminding me about “x” days till it expires. Also, it is not a free program. I got my licence key every month from computer magazines. But it takes looking for those magazines and buying them every month, or you could buy a box version with a year-long key but paying a lot at once. One more thing that bothered me was that Kaspersky was the only software that had 50-100 undeletable registry items that were identified by my RegCleaner (4.3 by Jouni Vuorio) as old/obsolete/unnecessary. Every time I ran RegCleaner they were there and didn’t disappear. And Kaspersky was always the most fragmented chunk as shown by PerfectDisk.

Now I am with Avast but cannot yet say if it is as good as Kaspersky. Well, I have the Russian-language version with Mac Lover skin (as the default skin is really ugly, though there is a nice KDE skin included in the default set). BUT, there are som many items in the pop-up menu (when I click on the Avast icon in the quick launch bar). Kaspersky had a better menu. There were fewer items and I could open it by clicking the icon. In Avast clicking that icon opens the settings window, not the application itself. And though Avast has the update option there, it is divided into two parts, updating the base and updating the program. Kaspersky had it all together.

If I become irritated by Avast, then this rather fucked-up quick launch menu may become a serious argument in favour of returning to Kaspersky even at a cost of buying magazines every month.

Windows Live Writer 2 (Beta)

Windows Live Writer has been upgraded to Version 2, though still in Beta. If you know what WLW is, you won’t wait and download it from here, or directly from here. If you are a novice to this free software gem, then you should give it a definite try.

WLW is an application that lets you write posts, save drafts, edit drafts, publish posts and drafts in many blog clients (WordPress, Live Journal, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces and many others). You can inserts links, pictures, tags. You can even add new categories without any need to log into your blog dashboard (administrative regime). You can prepare posts, then log on the Internet (if you don’t have a permanent connection) to just click the “Publish” button, wait a few seconds/minutes and have your new posts published online.

The .exe file is 5.4 MB. It is practically ideal and it is FREE.

I’ve just installed it and it says that it is version 1 (but still a much newer version than the one I’ve had). The design though is less appealing with darker blue background of the menu that looks threatening and … dark. Also, it still takes it some 2-5 seconds to open. But the design doesn’t make this application worse. The menu looks twice as big and varied as it used to be. There are other features that I haven’t tried yet. And they say you can configure it further using third-party plugins. One more thing is that it takes more space (more than 8 MB) on my harddrive and installs another, Winows Live folder (1+ MB) for no reason (I’ve disabled all Windows Live options on installation, but … ). Again, all these “buts” don’t even come close to make me think of dropping WLW. I’ll keep on relying on it in my blogging and advise you to join in.

My Screenshot

This is a screenshot of my computer monitor. I’ve had it stylised for Apple Mac computer monitor for more than a year. Only recently I’ve changed the screensaver from traditional blue Mac one to this picture of a corn ear.

The computer is run by Windows XP SP2. The Windows taskbar is not fixed, therefore it is not seen in the screenshot. The taskbar at the bottom of the screen is freeware ObjectDock with icons I found on the net, mostly from Deviant Art. From left to right the icons represent the following applications that go under my personalised [names]: My Computer [iMach], Control Panel [iCon] (Mac dashboard icon), My Documents [iDoc], Picasa [iMage] (variation of iPhoto), Orange CD Player [iMuse] (Mac iTunes icon), Windows Media Player [iMovie] (Mac icon), Maxthon web browser [iSurf] (Mac Safari icon), QIP instant messenger [iChat] (variation of Mac icon), Address Book [iDress] (Mac icon), Recycle Bin (Mac icon), CCleaner [iSweep], ObjectDock clock. The iNet icon (variation of some Mac icon) is clicked to connect to the Internet.

The calendar (with Events and To Do Sections) is freeware Rainlendar 2.

Windows Live Writer (Beta)

I am writing this post using Windows Live Writer (Beta), a freeware offer from Microsoft. It looks nice and seems to be handy. At least I didn’t have that notorious message that I am attempting to do something harmful to my computer by opening my WordPress account. I hope this also works faster than WordPress site. Anyway, I am giving it a try and spreading the word about the program.

It allows you to write posts in WYSIWYG mode, change fonts (if you don’t like the standard font), do lots of other things through a menu, which seems to be richer in options than the standard website menu. It also has a spell checker.