Edit, Convert, Organize images for free in Windows

Looking for some simple FREE applications to view, organise, edit, convert images/photos in Windows? There are literally TONS of applications for this. Although I tend to do all my media manipulation on Macs, there are times when Windows is all that is available. That said, here are my picks which are totally free & reliable for use in Windows.

First a classic, IrfanView. Irfanview supports MANY file formats. Great for batch conversions, cut/crop/resize, thumbnail preview/organization and more.

Next is XnView. A utility for viewing and converting graphic files, much like IrfanView. It supports over 400 file formats, batch resize, rotate, crop, color adjustments, batch renaming, and more.

Finally, and this one is more photography oriented. Google offers it's free software called Picasa. Organize and edit your digital photos. Additionally you can create online albums to share. If you like Picasa, you will be pleased to learn that it's also available for Mac and Linux.

• IrfanView
• XnView
• Picasa

Linux based Backup/Cloning Applications

Having already covered cloning and backup solutions for OSX and Windows, here are some Linux based solutions I use from time to time.

My favorite Open Source solution is by far Clonezilla. Clonezilla allows you to do bare metal backups/Images and restoration of partitions/volumes or whole drive duplication. It comes in 2 flavors, Clonezilla Live, and Clonezilla SE (server edition) for massive deployment supporting multicast. It supports ext2, ext3, ext4, reiserfs, xfs, jfs of GNU/Linux, FAT, NTFS of MS Windows, and HFS+ for the Mac OS. Providing maximum flexibilty for cloning GNU/Linux, MS windows and Intel-based Mac OS.

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Testing your IT Security defenses

The best way to make sure your infrastructure is secure, is to test its defenses. Just like with backups, you don't know if your system is fully functional until you've attempted a restore and succeeded. No matter how thorough you may be with your firewalls and network systems, we all make mistakes. Not only could you have missed something, but there are constant exploits & holes being released and tested on systems everywhere.

Hence, we need to try Hacking into your own system(s). This technique is commonly referred to as Pen-Testing (Penetration Testing). This is a deep field to go into, so I will just point you in a direction to start off with, by listing some of the common tools used in this field. That being said, the tools required for Pen-Testing, are the same used by hackers, so use caution.

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Virtual Desktops in Windows

If you need the ability to use virtual desktops in Windows, you may want to check out Dexpot. You can make certain applications automatically appear on a different virtual desktop such as one for web browsing, another for email and im and so on. Dexpot creates and manages virtual desktops on Windows 95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista (incl. x64). It's Free for private use.

Dexpot -  Download

Linkin Park Music Video Effects Work

I got the opportunity to work on Linkin Park's "Points of Authority" music video a while back. My job was to paint the texture maps for surfacing and UV-map the antagonist Alien/demon characters. Check them out.

Linkin Park - Gallery