Download Radio programmes from BBC iPlayer as MP3’s

If, like me, you listen to a lot of BBC radio – and are frustrated that unlike iPlayer videos – which you can download for viewing later (on a PC, iPod, iPhone, Sony Walkman, Zune etc) there is no way to download BBC radio programmes from iPlayer. All you can do is listen to them … Continue reading »

mce-media-core – the best iplayer add-on for Windows Media Centre (MCE).

The really cool thing about Windows Media Centre (to be found already installed in most versions of Vista and Windows) is that it is a central repository of all, well, your media. The problem is, that if you like using the BBC iPlayer, you effectively have to minimise the MCE interface and fire up a … Continue reading »

Welcome back!

When I started off this blog – let’s be honest, I had some time on my hands – in which to bumble around in the global super highway. Three years on – and my quest is sharper. I have had some real – and seemingly rare requirements – for which I have either had great … Continue reading »

How to make sure your Broadband/ADSL goes as fast as possible – if you live in the UK.

Doing one or more of the following could have a positive impact on your broadband speed: 1. Buy one of these for 12 quid: http://www.adslnation.com/phpapps/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=105 it just plugs in to your BT Master socket (you unscrew the old one – a 3 year old could do it) and gives you a less noisy signal along … Continue reading »

WinDirStat – a clever visual representation of the contents of your hard drive

Here’s the scenario: you have a home PC and the hard drive is running out of free space (again). You don’t know what’s on there – but you suspect that the kids have been downloading videos from their phones and YouTube etc, etc – but you can’t instantly see where all these videos are in … Continue reading »

FreeMind – free mind mapping software

I have spent ages looking for free software that would allow me to map out thoughts and ideas and the interconnections between them all – before I finally lose the plot altogether….. You could do this with Visio, but I don’t have a copy – and if I did, I am probably too lazy to … Continue reading »

Send and receive Windows Live Hotmail from within Outlook with the new Microsoft Office Outlook Connector

Trying to send and receive Windows Live (previously Hotmail) email from within Outlook used to be a confusing affair. Some said it couldn’t be done, others could sync using POP3 and some could only sync with POP3 if they had paid for the premium service. [If I have got this wrong – please don’t bother to … Continue reading »

Speed up Outlook 2007

Microsoft has released an update (KB933493) which:  ”fixes a problem in which a calendar item that is marked as private is opened if it is found by using the Search Desktop feature. The update also fixes performance issues that occur when you work with items in a large .pst file or .ost file.” I would … Continue reading »

JkDefrag – best free defrag utility I have bumped into in a while.

Having a home PC that seems to be rapidly filling up with junk – aka Dolly Parton MP3′s – I have found that defragmenting (optimally arranging the way that files take up space on the HD to enable faster access) is something that I need to do regularly. I seem to have tried them all … Continue reading »

"TheGodFather" – weird name for the best free software for organising MP3′s (and a lot more beside).

I bumped into TheGodFather because I had two specific requirements for which I could find no other free software that could satisfy.  To illustrate, I have a home PC on which four different users have their own logins running iTunes for updating their iPods. iTunes is not bad for ripping CD’s to MP3′s (because you can … Continue reading »