If you work with documents, you need DocFetcher, an open source desktop search application for both Linux and Windows. Think of it as Google for your documents.

DocFetcher creates an index of your files so you can do keyword-based searches on their contents. That's not as trivial as it sounds. (If you've ever tried looking at the content of a PDF or DOC file in Notepad. you'll know what I mean!) Text isn't stored in plain text format, which can make external searches difficult. But that's okay because DocFetcher understands;

• Plain text
• AbiWord (abw, abw.gz, zabw)
• HTML (.htm, html)
• LibreOffice and OpenOffice.org Writer, Calc, Draw and Impress (odt, ods, odg, odp)
• Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (chm)
• Microsoft Office (doc, xls, ppt)
• Microsoft Office 2007 (docx, xlsx, pptx)
• Microsoft Visio (vsd)
• Portable Document Format (pdf)
• Rich Text Format (rtf)
• Scalable Vector Graphics (svg)

What's more, once you've added a folder to be indexed, the index is automatically updated when files are added to or modified so it's always up to date.

What's the difference between DocFetcher and other indexers such as Google Desktop? For a start it indexes only the files and folders you specifcy, not your entire hard drive. And it doesn't index pictures, videos, emails, etc. It's documents only - and then only the type of documents you specify - making searches faster and more precise. Add it to your toolkit!

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

I must admit I've been proactive in prompting people to secure their wireless networks, but as this piece from the Electronic Frontier Foundation points out, there really is a need for open WiFi.

"The gradual disappearance of open wireless networks is a tragedy of the commons, with a confusing twist of privacy and security debate. This essay explains why the progressive locking of wireless networks is harmful — for convenience, for privacy and for efficient use of the electromagnetic spectrum."

I'm travelling at the moment and really appreciate the kind souls (and organisations) who allow me to connect with the world. A week ago I was sitting in Bowling Green park in lower Manhattan checking my email, courtesy of New York's Downtown Alliance. (There are, incidentally, dozens of free WiFi hotspots in New York. Check 'em out.)

It's really just a technical issue:

"The best solution ... is to have WiFi routers which make it very easy to share a certain amount of bandwidth via an open network, but simultaneously provide an encrypted WPA2 network that gets priority over the open network. Some modern routers already support multiple networks like this, but we need a very simple, single-click or default setting to get the prioritization right."

Industry luminaries such as Bruce Schneier and Cory Doctrow are behind the Open Wireless Movement, and I'd be happy to share a proportion of my bandwidth too. My Telstra cable account allows me 40GB a month. I rarely use it all, and would be happy to open up 20-25% of it.

"EFF will be working with other organizations to launch an Open Wireless Movement in the near future. In the mean time, we're keen to hear from technologists with wireless expertise who would like to help us work on the protocol engineering tasks that are needed to make network sharing easier from a privacy and bandwidth-sharing perspective. You can write to us at openwireless@eff.org."

I'd be keen to get this rolling in NZ. I'll be back in mid-June. In the meantime, leave me a comment or write to me at geoff@pcworld.co.nz.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Had your camera stolen? All you need to recover it may be an old picture.

StolenCameraFinder uses the EXIF data hidden in digital camera picture files to locate the camera's serial number. Drag'n'drop a picture onto the site, the serial number's extracted and cross-checked with a database of more than a million camera "sightings" on the web.

Not all digital cameras record their serial numbers in EXIF -- there's a list of supported models here -- but it's a clever use of technology for those that do.

The site's FAQ is here.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )