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The Josh.biz Blog

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SummerWinter

Inspired by

CSS Zen Garden

SagePay E-commerce PartnerUK Web Design Association MemberMember of The HTML Writers Guild

Essential Links 2009

All are highly recommended. Some are slightly geeky (if so, move straight on).

Spotlight

BBC iPlayer Broadband Speed Test

Check your connection speed at the BBC iPlayer diagnostics page.

This page provides information on your broadband connection speed, and helpful tips to optimise your enjoyment of BBC iPlayer.
Windows XP Zune theme

Still running Windows XP? - Spruce things up with a new colour theme

At last, a new (and official) Windows XP Theme called "XP Zune", created and downloadable direct from Microsoft. Windows XP users have been stuck with a paltry choice of Blue, Olive Green or Silver for years. The Zune theme features black-ish slate colour bars and menus and an orange start button. It's a great way to give your XP computer a new zing.

The theme was created by Microsoft to commemorate the launch of the Microsoft Zune (music player) but whether you like the Zune, this theme is great. The default desktop wallpaper can be customised afterwards to your own taste.

Just follow the link, download the file and run afterwards to install.

Essential

Get Adobe Reader View and print Adobe PDF files with this free software
Get Adobe Flash Player

Experience Flash content and applications across desktops and devices
Grisoft AVG Free virus protection software and version 8 with anti-spyware too

Software

CCleaner

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

NB - We recommending unticking the Yahoo toolbar installation option when installing (or upgrading) this software.
Open Office Compatible with all other major office suites, Open Office is free to download, use, and distribute. This is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. Documents can be saved to Microsoft Office and Acrobat format (pdf) when required. But we still think that Microsoft Office is preferrable, especially now that there pricing is more attractive than in the past.

Buying

eBuyer Ebuyer - Cheap Computers, Laptops, Equipment, Software, Digital Cameras, TVs & more
Rebel Office Supplies Rebel Office Supplies supposedly offer the cheapest prices available online with good quality of service.

National business advice resources

Business Link Practical advice for businesses

Norfolk business advice resources

The North Norfolk Business Forum The North Norfolk Business Forum
Broadland District Council Broadland District Council - Useful advice and business grants

Reviews and advice

Steve's Digicams Steve's Digicams - The best cameras listed and reviews on most cameras
(although the site design isn't great, the information is invaluable)

'Techy' software downloads, utilities and web links

FileZilla - The free FTP Solution ZilleZilla is an example of FTP software, used to transfer data from one computer to another through a network such as the Internet. It is commonly used in web design to update 'live' websites. FileZilla is reliable, easy to use and best of all, free.
PC Tools Secure Password Generator The PC Tools Secure Password Generator
The PC Tools Password Generator website allows you to create random passwords that are highly secure and extremely difficult to crack or guess due to an optional combination of lower and upper case letters, numbers and punctuation symbols.
Audacity - The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor Audacity® - the free, cross-platform sound editor is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
Exact Audio Copy Exact Audio Copy is a so called 'audio grabber' for audio CDs using standard CD and DVD-ROM drives. Useful for coverting CD tracks to MP3s (ripping). We recommend installing the
Lame MP3 Encoder LAME is a high quality MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) encoder licensed under the LGPL. Used in conjunction with other software such as Audacity and EAC (above). Usually, install this encoder first.

Choosing Colours

colorpicker.com We recommend colorpicker.com to clients when they wish to communicate a particular colour to us. Here you can select your colour and then specify the required colour as a 6 digit hexadecimal code.
Adobe Kuler Adobe Kuler provides an advanced facility for colour selection and is particulary geared towards colour scheming. User submitted colour schemes are provided. Or you can create your own. A great site if you love colours...

Gems

Auction Sniper

Auction Sniper - tired of losing eBay auctions?
Auction Sniper is an eBay sniper that automates the process of placing your eBay bid in the closing seconds of any eBay bidding auction, dramatically increasing your chance of winning. Just choose your maximum bid and let Auction Sniper do the rest for you.