The following software is available for download and is supplied without charge. This software is covered by copyright and all rights are retained by:
I hope you find some of these programs useful. They were all created to solve specific problems I've encountered. I have tried to make the user interface reasonably self-evident, since I don't like having to refer to help files to discover how a piece of software is supposed to work. (Since some of the tasks are very occasional, having created the software is no guarantee that even I'll remember how to use it.) That being said, most applications do include help files that explain the operation and features of the software.
I'm always interested in feedback. Please drop me an e-mail note if you have suggestions or comments. To this point, I've decided not to require registration as part of using the software here. However, if you send me an e-mail indicating you're using one of my programs, I will send you notification of updates as I post them to this site.
All my software is designed to run with Windows XP or Windows Vista. It has not been tested on earlier versions of Windows.
Note: Possible Installation Woes
I have noticed some problems with some installer programs and I'm experimenting to find the one that can properly grab the necessary DLL and manifest support files. If you discover a program that will not install on your system, please contact me and I will attempt to remedy the situation. Currently I am using Inno Setup Compiler (Inno homepage) and it appears to be working correctly. Some of the older programs have not used this compiler and there may be some glitches.
I have also been including an update module in all of the programs I have been working on recently. In most cases, there is an option to have the program check for a newer version automatically. The check may also be done manually from the About dialog box or Help menu.
PicMailer Updated
Email clients allow pictures to be attached so we can send them to family, friends and colleagues. Some email clients do make it easy and straight-forward to adjust the size of the pictures being sent so they don't use too much bandwhidth or exceed the recipients' mailbox limits. However, some email clients make this process much more convoluted than necessary. Similarly, image editors offer to save images in an email friendly format, but that is also overkill just to send pictures. PicMailer simply sends smaller formats of selected images to one or more email recipients allowing for a variety of image sizes. Download PicMailerSetup (Version 1.500 November 2009)
OnTime
OnTime is a utility for accurately setting the computer`s system clock with an international time server. The set of 116 time servers listed with Microsoft are polled to determine which are available and if so, the delay associated with communicating with each of them. The time server with fastest connection is used to set the system clock. The clock can be set automatically when Windows starts, at predefined intervals and/or manually. A simple reminder can also be set. You can download OnTimeSetup (Version 1.015 June 2009)
PostIt Updated
PostIt is a utility for maintaining a website. Files that are usually posted together as a set to a website are selected and the set is given a name. The FTP information of the receiving website is associated with this set of files and whenever there is a change, the full set can be posted to the website. All sensitive FTP account information is encrypted for security when it is saved to disk and access to the information can be set to require password authentication. You can download PostItSetup (Version 2.040 October 2009)
ISee
This is an effort to create a relatively lightweight utility to view images. Run the program to initially create a "SendTo" link. Subsequently, right-clicking an image file will open ISee to view the image. Download ISeeSetup (Version 1.0 June 2008)
ColourGrabber
There have been quite a few occasions in which I needed the numerical value of a colour beyond the simple standard colours of Black, White, Red, Orange, Green, Olive, Navy and Blue (etc.). To obtain just the right shade of colour it's often not a named colour at all. One of the best ways to get the colour required is to find it somewhere on the screen, often in use by some other program.
While I know there are many colour-picker programs available, I thought it would be more interesting to create my own. One of the unique aspects of ColourGrabber is that it will export the numeric colour value in a variety of program-friendly formats. Download ColourGrabberSetup (Version 1.0, August 2008)
Password Management: Updated June 2009
PList (Version 2.6) is a utility that helps to maintain the plethora of passwords many of us have. The information is strongly encrypted using Huffman compression, sufficient to thwart anything but serious, professional attempts to decipher. While the RCMP and chartered banks should probably look elsewhere most of the rest of us will find it extremely secure. The software includes a password generator with options to allow or require upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers or punctuation. Passwords can be generated based on the words in a sentence. Password management is essential with any more than a couple of passwords and/or accounts to maintain. Encrypted password files can be posted and retrieved from remote site, facilitating password maintenance on multiple machines. A text file of passwords can be imported to facilitate efficient data entry.
Version 2.6 adds the ability to email the information about an item and the ability to copy all an item's information to the clipboard (rather than only the password and the ability to copy just the password still remains).
Download PListSetup (Version 2.5 - August, 2008)
Advanced Touch Program: Updated
One of the traditional utilities in the programmer's toolbox was a little program called "Touch" to change the date of a file to the current date and time. Touchie provides a Windows interface to the traditional Touch program and additionally allows the user to modify the file date and time to any valid values, change file attributes as well as renaming and deleting files. Files may be modified either individually or selected as a group. Please note that this program is a successor to the program GuiTouch. Download Touchie (Version 1.1 March 2, 2009)
Music Tablature:
Tabulature enables the user to enter musical notes by their standard names (e.g. F#) and display the music in the tablature for any fretted stringed instrument. Custom tunings can be defined and saved. The displayed tablature may also be printed. This program effectively translates any melody from sheet music to fretted instrument tablature. Download TabSetup
PictureRun - Image Slide Show Creation: Updated
There are a number of programs that will produce slideshows of images and allow them to be saved on a CD. I became frustrated, however, that I was not able to easily arrange the order in which the images were displayed. I knew I could set the order by laboriously renaming files, but that seemed extremely cumbersome. I therefore wrote PictureRun to address this problem. PictureRun allows playlists of images to be created, saved and played. It also organizes the process of collecting the files needed for an autorun CD of the desired images. PictureRun can display most image formats including many digital camera RAW images Download PictureRunSetup (Version 1.3 - January 2008)
IE Favourite Saver:
Acting as both a backup for IE favourites and as a means to passing a set of IE favourites from one computer to another, FavSave will save a copy of your favourites as a duplicate folder structure that is immediately readable by an IE-based browser or by a file management program. FavSave will also save favourites to a text file that when can be read back into FavSave and duplicate those favourites in the user's IE Favorite folder. The text file can be distributed easily.
Favourite selection for export is under the user's complete control, so only the desired links are saved, either in the complete folder structure or in the text file. Download FavSaveSetup
Posting IE Favourites to the Web:
This program, WebFavs, is designed to make your Internet favourites available from any computer connected to the Internet. Most ISPs provide web space as part of the package they provide to customers. WebFavs reads your Internet Explorer favourites (US spelling - favorites), allows you to select those you wish to have on-line and subsequently post those selected to your website through an FTP connection. By saving the page with an easy-to-remember name, there is no need to expose your privacy and have a visible link to your favourites on the page; just type the full URL in the address box of the browser or in the RUN command on the START menu. Download WebFavsSetup.exe (Version 1.5, May 2005)
Desktop Wallpaper Changer:
August 29, 2008The program name Dewacha is derived from Desktop Wallpaper Changer. Dewacha groups images by theme providing a way to select sets of desktop wallpaper to match your mood or interest. Wallpaper can be changed when the program starts, at set intervals or manually. The wallpaper image can be tiled, centred or made to fit the screen resolution. Version 1.5 adds the proper scaling of images that are taller than they are wide and allows the desktop background colour to be set. At the present time, Dewacha is only available for Windows XP with Active Desktop enabled and Windows Vista. With version 2.5 most image file formats are supported. It has been tested with JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PNG, PSD (Photoshop) and Nikon RAW (.nef) image files. Download DewachaSetup.exe (Version 2.601, August, 2008)
PicNamer: Updated
Version 2.0
June 10, 2009A significant change to the interface has been made for Version 2.0 and the two-pane format has been replaced by a three pane approach. The two panes on the left display the folder structure (top) and the files in the selected folder (bottom) while the right pane continues to display the image. The image pane now has a context menu (as do the folder and file panes on the left) that provides actions to be taken on the displayed image such as rotation or renaming. Download Version 2.0 (PicNamer2Setup.exe) (June 10, 2009)
This program is designed to facilitate renaming digital photographs. Images can be renamed individually or in sets. The new names can use a base name in conjunction with a counter and the file date, arranged in any order. The counter may be started at an arbitrary starting point and the counting symbols can be numeric (001, 002, etc.) or upper or lower case alphabetic (_a, _b, or _A, _B etc. up to a maximum of 676 {_zz}). New to version 1.6 is the ability to rotate images and simple file management. PicNamer works with most image files. Version 1.6 remains available: PicNamer16Setup.exe (Version 1.645, March 2009) and the current version (2.0): PicNamer2Setup.exe (June 10, 2009)
QuickStop Utilities:
QuickStop consists of four small separate programs:
QuickStopConfigure,
QuickStopShutDown,
QuickStopRestart and
QuickStopLogOff.
QuickStopConfigure sets up the desktop and QuickLaunch shortcuts to the
other three programs. Launching QuickStopShutDown, QuickStopRestart or
QuickStopLogOff immediately shuts down or restarts the computer or logs the
current user off the system. The QuickStop Utilities have been designed to
work with Microsoft Vista. Download QuickStopSetup
(Version 1.0 May 2007)
