App Discovery: PyMacroRecord -- a completely free (no trial, no freemium, FREE!) macro recorder for Win10/11

Sometimes, you need to record a macro that will just copy data across multiple windows, move the mouse, and so on. However, when you search, you find... expensive options that has an fee... or an ANNUAL fee. 

Then you keep looking, and find PyMacroRecord. Completely free, source code in Python available on GitHub. One guy's passion project made available for all to you. 

And it works. 

I need to move some videos across my different Youtube channels. However, there is no such functionality on Youtube. The ONLY option is to re-upload. 

So I quickly whipped up a macro that copies title and description from one channel to the other. The rest, like keywords and such, can be handled by re-using an existing description. I have the videos available for re-upload (and the rest, I can download in batch). 

That's a TON of manual copy/paste saved. 30+ videos means probably closer to an hour saved. 

I am sure you have your own use case when you need such functions. Don't pay when this free tool will do. 

App Discovery: Spacedesk by Datronicsoft

As you use more and more tech, you object have extra old tech left over. If you have an old tablet left over, have you wondered what you should do with it? 

How about turn it into an extra display for your desk accesories that you don't want to take up extra desktop space? 

I have an old Nexus 7 (2nd gen) tablet, too old and too slow for 2025, but it's fast enough to act as a secondary display. I cleaned it up (removed all the old apps I don't use), uninstalled a bunch of crap, then went to 

https://www.spacedesk.net/

And downloaded the "driver" for the PC. Then went to Google Play Store (yes, my Nexus 7 can still access it) and downloaded the Spacedesk app.  I connected the USB cable between the 2, set the tablet on file transfer mode, fiddled with it a bit, the driver software saw the app, and voila, I have a 4th screen. 

This will also work in Wifi, but wired is more secure and faster. 

My triple-wide desktop, now with a small 4th display.
I stuck my desktop widgets and other stuff there.  

The software is FREE for personal use. If you have Spotify or Stock Ticker or Weather, Clock, and so on, put in on that display for extra clean look of your desktop. 

And happy "Pi" Day. 

(3/14, get it?)

App Discovery: Google NotebookLM

Recently I started seeing a lot of mention of NotebookLM, so I decided to take a look, and it surprised me. 

You can access NotebookLM at https://notebooklm.google.com/ and it's free so far. 

What does it do? It's a summarizer, but it can act across multiple types of media. 

• Google Docs
• Google Slides (with a lot of text)
• PDF, Text and Markdown files (with a lot of text)
• Web URLs (with a lot of text)
• Copy-pasted text
• Youtube URLs of public videos (with captions)
• Audio files (with speech that can be transcribed by Google)

You're probably still confused as to how do you use this. Here's one possible example:

• You are trying to cram for an exam, and the professor made all the lecture notes available as a bunch of PDFs. 
• You load all the PDFs into NotebookLM as one notebook which you call (Subject) Cram 
• You can now generate a study guide of all the notes
• You can generate, then listen to a "podcast style" audio overview where a male and female host discuss the subject in an engaging manner. 
• Use the prompt window to ask Gemini to generate a quiz to test your knowledge of the subject. 

This is a VERY powerful tool due to its "multi-modal" ingestion. Previously, you can buy access to "book summaries", and some even have audio summaries available, but this basically lets you generate summaries on ANY subject, as well as have the AI generate quizzes, study guides, cheat sheets, and more to suit YOUR study style. 

Give it a try. You may wonder how you never heard of it until now. 

App Discovery: Destiny, the secure cross-platform file transfer method

Want to transfer a file across platforms (Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, Linux) but can't find common ground? Destiny can help. Download from

https://github.com/LeastAuthority/destiny?tab=readme-ov-file#installation

There is nothing to set. If both platforms are on the same network (i.e. phone to PC, or vice versa), simply sender run the app and pick SEND, and receiver pick RECEIVE. Then sender choose the file to send, and a passphrase is generated, easy to type in English. As soon as receiver type in the same passphrase, file transfer will start, and since it's happening at local network speed, it's almost instantaneous.  

The client, using "magic-wormhole" protocol, will automatically negotiate alternative protocols if you are on different networks, through the Internet, and so on. And the traffic is encrypted. No interception. Remember, cross platform too. You can go any client to any other client. You can send the passphrase through any "normal" means: SMS, encrypted chat, email, or even call them up and tell them. 

I've tested Android to PC and vice versa on local network. It works great. Previously I had to rely on Google Drive or DropBox to sync the files, and I've also purchased a "Wifi Server" where the Android app hosts a GUI that allows a browser to access the local storage. First is slow, second is a little PITA to run. This manages to be neither. 

My only nitpick is you can only transfer ONE FILE AT A TIME. For each file, you have to initiate a send, and thus, a new passphrase. Not quite frictionless, but for the amount of security it provides, it's almost unbeatable. 

So if you need to frequently transfer single file between your devices, this is a very simple way to do it. Worth a try, at least. 

App Discovery: EaseUS Todo Backup 2024

The free PC backup utility space used to be dominated by Macrium Reflect. Unfortunately, it is a bit TOO good, that most people just use the free version and not enough people pay. In 2024, Macrium phased out the free version. This lead to a hunt for a replacement. And I've found that EaseUS Todo Backup 2024 seems to fit the needs of most. 

Photo by Jandira Sonnendeck on Unsplash

EaseUS is a well-known PC utilities provider using the freemium model in the US, and offers a full range of PC utilities centered around data storage, such as partition manager, data recovery, backup and restore, disk cloning, and so on. Today we will concentrate on their Backup solution, Todo Backup Free. 

Do keep in mind that in order to "encourage" you to upgrade to Todo Backup Home, the free version's throughput is limited to 100 MB/s or so. So expect a typical backup job of 1TB to take about 2-3 hours, which means this should be scheduled for overnight. 

With that limitation in mind, this is a full-featured backup which allows full backup, incremental backup, full disk backup, partition backup, even individual files and folders backup. 

The upgrade pricing is a bit weird, as multiple options are offered: yearly plan, one-time (no upgrade), or perpetual upgrade. At this time, the yearly plan is $40, the one-time fee is $60, and perpetual upgrade license is $80. All of this is for one computer only. However, please do NOT buy from the website. Download the free version and try it first. 

If you hit upgrade from the app, the price is only $30 per year, instead of $40 on the website, and lifetime upgrade price is $59, not $80. But anyway, PCWorld has a discount code: PCWORLD25 for 25% off the $30 yearly price. 

EaseUS does offer bundle savings, but you need to check their website for details. 

Personally question the utility of cloud backup, unless you have a very wide pipe broadband (cable or fiber). I think you can do better with a local RAID setup, but that's just my opinion. You should check PCWorld's Cloud Backup survey (May 2024) for their opinions. 

But you do need a backup. Please go download the free solution and make one now. Your hardware can go down. You could be hit by malware such as ransomware. And so on. Better be safe than sorry. 

App Discovery: Ninite -- Install or Update MANY Programs at Once

Ninite, available at Ninite.com, is a tremendous timesaver for people who need to keep PCs up to date or standardized on certain number of free or freemium programs, and it has a wide selection and is extremely easy to use. 

Basically, go to Ninite.com, and select which of the programs you want the installer to download and install by ticking its checkmark. 

Ninite Installer Config (as of 2024/06/16), bottom's cut off... Ninite.com

As you can see, it will install or update ANY of the programs on this list, from security tools to web browsers, from messaging and email apps to compression utilities, from media players (video, audio, etc.) to developer / programming tools, from image editor/viewer to system utilities, PDF viewers, and other commonly installed toolsand apps. Once you chose all you wanted, click on the Ninite button to download the installer. 

Then you can run this installer on any Windows computer, and it will download and install EVERY program you chose from the list, WITHOUT ASKING you to confirm anything. EVERYTHING will be done automatically, no user prompting, no confirmation, completely automated install like systeadmin magic powers... And it's all free. 

So if you need to keep 10 computers on the latest version of various apps, just make 1 Ninite installer, and run it on all 10 computers (probably with some sort of USB drive). Run it, and walk away to do something else. It'll be done when it's done. You'll probably still have to run each app to config it, but that's easy enough, right? 

For individual users, this is easier than running X programs one at a time to engage the auto-update for each one. 

So give it a try, eh? 

App Discovery: Obsidian may be the best Evernote alternative, with MUCH MUCH MORE POWER through community plug-ins

Obsidian and rings among rocks, via Unsplash

Obsidian started out simple: a way to link and hierarchically organize a bunch Markdown (.md) files which themselves can contain links to other Markdown files, photos, videos, URLs, and much more. However, with a bit of tweaking, it became a full notetaking and note organizing app. And with additional of graph view, it became a visual tool as well, that lead many thinkers calling it "building your second brain". 

And it's free. 

There are two features that the company charge for, such as Obsidian Sync, and Obsidian Publish, but as a personal user, you don't need those features. Sync lets you clone your entire "vault" of Markdown notes and replicate it to other devices such as those of your collaboration team mates with full Git integration, while Publish turns, with a few tweaks, your vault into a public Wiki or Knowledge base, that you can edit on the fly. Personal uesrs don't need these. These are really for companies, which can also purchase at the cost of $50 per year per user, commercial license to receive priority support. But remember, personal use is free, forever. 

And it accepts "Community Plug-ins", developed by the Obsidian community that turns Obsidian into a Kanban board, adds omni-search across entire vault, enhances editing capabilities, quick citing of Wikipedia, and much much more. 

There is a way to migrate data from Evernote to Obsidian, but it's not a quick process, as you need to re-tag and re-arrange almost everything. But once you do, you'll find yourself wondering why you waited so long to do it.