Yet Another Youtube Video Downloader

It's been a while since my last post, but here's one tool I would like to remember its usefulness to download Youtube videos. It even allows multiple downloads at the same time among the numerous features it possesses.

I mentioned about web browser extensions or plugins, but this time, this tool did not fail to do its intended job.

The screen capture above shows a sample session of Freemake Video Downloader in action. You can download the installer from its website.

That's it for now ;)

IPv6 Readiness

June 8th, 2011 is World IPv6 Day. This is the day when major websites such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo and many others switch to IPv6 from the usual IPv4 to offer their content to internet users for a 24-hour "test flight".

You may test your ipv6 readiness by browsing to this site: http://test-ipv6.com/.

Accessing IPv6 websites does not come without some tinkering from the users' end. There are references as to how this is done and I have chosen to use tunnelbroker.net (HE.NET) with the help of some video here. 

As a result, my laptop is ready for the World IPv6 Day and I can browse IPv6 websites although I am behind IPv4 routers doing NAT to SmartBro, our ISP.

It is also interesting to find out that NAT seems to have been bypassed and I can access my laptop from the internet using the assigned IPv6 address--- something impossible with IPv4 with SmartBro's assignment of private IP addresses (such as 192.168.x.x).

I can access Google's IPv6 server from my laptop:

I can ping6 my laptop from the internet:

I can browse my laptop's IIS7 web server from the internet:

Of course, I don't want to be vulnerable from out there and I have to rely more on the firewall. Windows 7 has the Firewall Turned On by default and could be secure enough for most users.

Happy and safe surfing!

P.S. Unless your ISP and your router is IPv6 capable and offers DHCPv6 ip addresses to your PCs, you'll have to use IPv6 tunnels for this service.

InSSIDer Wi-Fi Network Scanner

I used to have NetStumbler for Wi-Fi network scanning but it doesn't run on Windows 7 OS. Its development seems to have stalled. The newer InSSIDer network scanner runs natively on this new OS. It's interface shows the detected Access Points' signal strength graph in two panes. Aside from 2.4 GHz , it is also able to scan the 5 GHz spectrum.

Overall, the software is very good and it's FREE. It is downloadable from http://www.metageek.net/.

Happy scanning!

Efficient Replacement to Windows Copy or XCopy

Frustrated with Microsoft Windows’ Copy or XCopy command-line tools? Even with Windows Explorer, you seldom succeed in copying multiple files--- it just stops when an error is encountered leaving you clueless as to why and where it stopped. Your instinct would then be retry and fail again.

You might think of using XCopy from the command line. Of course, it’s better than the Copy command giving you a bit of control of multiple file copies but aside from the difficult-to-use syntax, you also get misleading error messages that are hard to troubleshoot. It still eats up your valuable amount of time trying to get it right.

But thanks to Microsoft RichCopy, copying multiple files and directories in the thousands is now a breeze. This is a Windows GUI tool to let you copy multiple files and directories with so many options available in XCopy. It is fast, simple to use and most of all, it’s free!

Please note that this utility is provided as-is, and it's not supported by Microsoft (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.04.utilityspotlight.aspx?pr=blog)

Cool Free Software for Offline E-Mail

Another great application that I used and still using is Zimbra Desktop, the FREE desktop software for full email, contact, calendar, document management and offline access features.

I have used a few email clients in the past like Sea Monkey, ThunderBird, MS Outlook, the GMail plugin to receive and store my emails locally on my PC to make them available even without internet, but Zimbra Desktop has the features of consolidating my different email accounts--- GMail and Yahoo.

Installation is straight-forward. After installation, add your email accounts and sync. The syncing process could take a few minutes, so be patient.

My Favorite Blog Editors

I have narrowed down my preferences to using these two blog editors.

First is with Microsoft’s Windows Live Writer where you can have editing done with your blog site’s template. It has preview and html source editing.

Second is Zoundry Raven. This has also the features that I need but most importantly, it is free!

Happy blogging!

Malusay WiFi: Node 3 is up!

The Malusay community wireless network's Node 3 located in the Bato area is now up and running.

The last node in the network is using a NanoStation 2 with an external home-made antenna in WDS/AP mode. With this milestone, we are nearing the 100% completion of the project with only a few finishing touches to make.

Thanks to all those who volunteered their time. Happy surfing!

 The 70-foot tower.

Deploying the NanoStation

Terminating the PoE.