You can encrypt just a few files or your entire hard drive with the open source TruCrypt. In the file mode, TruCrypt works by creating a single file that, when unlocked with your pass phrase, mounts itself as a drive on your system. Anything going into this drive is then automatically encrypted. You can then dismount the drive at any time. You can also use it on a flash drive with their own built in utility so you can keep an encrypted file on the flash drive and open it with any computer. I use this in combination with Portable Firefox on a flash drive that I keep on my work computer. I then use it when I’m traveling and need to visit a secure site, such as my bank or credit card. This keeps all of my passwords, account info and all of that sensitive data encrypted and off of my work computer while still leaving me very safe access to it.
Category: M@’s Picks
Don’t you hate it when Windows says it can’t delete a file because it’s in use. This usually happens after an app crashes, but there are some other times I’ve seen it as well. The free utility Unlocker adds an item to your right-click menu to Unlock the file, or a group of files if you have several selected. It’s as simple clicking unlock and then going back and deleting the file.
I’m using TwitterFox within Firefox to keep track of everything on Twitter. The add-on sits in the status bar and pops up a window similar to the update available window with any new tweets. The timeline is nicely color coded so you can quickly tell apart you normal messages, @ replies and direct messages. It also handles more than one Twitter account with ease.
Skype is a communications application. You can do instant messaging, video conferencing and voice chat with it all for free. In addition you can use their Skype In and Skype Out services to make calls to and from land line phones to your computer. The rates are quite competitive too, especially internationally. I’ve used it numerous times when I travel to Canada. Pair it up with a Bluetooth headset and I was able to call home for only $0.021 a minute. Much cheaper than my cell phone would have been.
Google Traffic isn’t the official name for it, but I think it should be. Head over to Google Maps find a major city and then click the traffic button in the upper right corner. All of the major routes through the city will be color coded according to how quickly traffic is moving. You also have the option of looking at how traffic will be at a different time of the day. Click on “change” next to “Live Traffic” and adjust the slider to the time of day that you’ll be traveling. Traffic is also figured into driving directions. You’ll now see an estimated time for your directions, and a new up to … in traffic estimate. From what I can tell the real-time data seems to be rather accurate. Except that by the time your on the road for 15 minutes, everything could have changed.