Running across QuickTime or Real Player content around the net is not hard to do. We all find ourselves occasionally trying to access a .mov file or any of the many Real Player file formats. Either way, you’ve usually got to end up installing QuickTime or Real Player. Here at Make Use Of, we really don’t have a problem with either of these services, they just seem a little bloated for our very limited usage of them.

In comes a great site called CodecGuide.com with two great alternatives for these two aggravating applications.

QuickTime Alternative

ooVoo is an application for Windows and Mac OS X that lets you talk to up to six friends at once via a webcam and a microphone. ooVoo is currently in beta and also allows free calls to any landline in the US and Canada up until May 13th.

For quite some time my personal browser start page has been this:

The Google / Firefox Start page in the upper and my own favorite sites mix in the lower window. I love the look, but it has become a pain to keep it updated. Links have changed, my favorite sites have changed, some don’t exist anymore, and thus the time has come to try something new.

Fortunately, there are many services out there that will do much of the work for you, and in my quest to find the best replacement I tested a few and will share my experiences with you. Let me just say that any personalized start page requires a bit of work - constantly. That’s pretty obvious.

One of the many problems trying to actually GET anything done online these days is the multitude of distractions that are available on the internet. Short of unplugging your network connection, there are a few things the undisciplined can do to minimize the sites calling your name.

Over the past few years a new breed of text editors have flourished - so called ‘minimalist’ text editors - which can be used to block out all other distractions and let you focus on the task at hand - crafting words into sentences. These “no-frills editors” don’t offer formatting or many of the other features you see in modern word processors, what they offer is the ability to concentrate solely on your writing.

If you’re spending considerable amount of time of your daily life in front of the PC then you should consider learning touch typing.

Although it may take anywhere from a couple of weeks to 2-3 month before you can master your keyboard it totally pays off in the long run. Plus there are plenty of free programs and websites that make it an easy and fun process.

Whether you’re a beginner or simply want to improve on your current typing speed, these free typing exercises can help you improve the accuracy and the overall typing speed. You will learn how to type fast, using all of your fingers, without looking at the keyboard. There is something for everyone here, from online games to excellent typing programs.

At least 112 programs are installed on my computer and for 29 of them an update is available. Looking through these 29, I would say that I use around two thirds of them on a regular basis, and I did know some of them required an update.

Frankly, when I boot a program I can’t be bothered with updates, which is why I was still running old versions of FileZilla and Winamp for quite some time.

UpdateStar provides a quick and easy way to check all installed programs on your system for updates. It covers freeware, shareware, demos, and commercial software.