Batch converting of graphics files

Open Source and Freeware mantra: If there's a need for something, there's gotta be something out there to do it, given enough time.

Enough time has passed for Easy Graphic Converter from Etrusoft.com to mature to version 1.2.0

Running on any flavor of Windows starting with Windows 95, this image converter does the job quickly and without fuss, and is completely free with no nags to buy anything else. If you have a need to convert entire directories of graphics files from one format to another, with an optional renaming and resizing, this is a free non-spyware app that will perform quickly and silently with very little learning curve.

Etrusoft is also famous for a shareware screen capture program, a screen saver maker and a Camtasia-like quick screen recorder.

I have had a four-CD collection of Science Fiction images for years, but they were all in .BMP format, which is way too bulky and not the best image format for creating icons and illustrating e-mails. I wanted them converted to JPG or some graphics format that is easier to handle.

Since Easy Graphic Converter has an option to point to an input source directory as well as individual files, I didn't even have to select the files within each subdirectory. Here's a shot of the Options screen for this excellent utility:

Easy Graphics Converter tore through this directory full of BMP files in about 6 seconds, converting them to JPG format.



All for now!

Mike Moore

Ghost-It! from Matthew T. Pandina

When is a window not a window? Or maybe I should question: When is a window really a window. Answer - when you can see through it!

Ghost-It! is a Windows 2000/XP tray application that does some very strange things to desktop windows. This is one of those applications that makes one wonder why someone didn't think of this before.

From the application's web site:

Ghost windows are very special windows. First of all, a ghost window is translucent, meaning you can see through it to whatever is underneath. Secondly, a ghost window will always appear on top of other windows. Thirdly, when a ghost window loses the input focus, it remains translucent and always on top, but all clicks will pass right through it like it wasn't even there—until it becomes the active window again.

We always talk about this window being "in front of" another, or "in the background."
Ghost-It! makes those observations relative. Simply by changing your mental focus, you can pick out information from the ghosted screen. But if you really want them out of your way, ghosted windows can be minimized just like any other window.

I absolutely cannot abide when applications steal the focus from what I am trying to accomplish on my desktop, so I really like the part about keeping the input focus where you are working. Double-clicking the ghost icon in the system tray causes the cursor itself to become a ghost, with which you can quickly change windows to ghost mode, or un-ghost them.

Who would use this? Individuals who find themselves with many windows open at once, Alt-TABbing their way between them to gather information. Bloggers and other writers, for example, often write with their material from a host of information resources embedded in sites that would normally be behind the window you were currently typing in. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do, you feel as if you've added an extra dimension to your desktop, because you can literally see behind what you are working on.

Add points for not writing anything to the registry (provided you don't change the default configuration), which means this is a portable app and can be loaded up from a keychain (USB) drive.

I am going to keep this loaded for awhile - kudos to the author for a truly innovative tool!

Note that windows that write directly to video memory, such as Windows Media Player, cannot be ghosted. This is interesting too - I tried to make a screen capture of my desktop as I write this, showing the ghosted windows, and guess what happened? PrintKey, my screen capture utility, doesn't show the Ghosted windows! So I unloaded PrintKey and just used the regular PrintScreen capture and loaded it in Paint. Here's what a ghosted window looks like:

Download Link is here.


Mike