Search Engines

Google has become the standard search engine of virtually every web-goer on the internet today. In fact “to Google” is pretty much synonymous with “to search”. But that certainly doesn’t mean that other search engines can’t do a decent, if not better, job and this list has been compiled for just this reason.

Music and Video

MP3REALM:
If you’re one of the countless people today who gets their music digitally, then MP3Realm is for you. The site features a basic search for MP3’s as well as song lyrics. MP3s can be streamed, added to playlists and of course downloaded. The advanced search option also lets users browse

MP3’s by genre (a ton to choose from) or by artist.


TUNE FIND:
I’m sure that some part of all of our lives has been spent in front of the television and I always manage to find a song that catches my fancy no matter what I’m watching. That’s where TuneFind comes in; the site is dedicated to providing users with the names of artists/song titles that have appeared on their favorite television shows, and even movies. You can even reverse look up artists, to see which films and shows their music has been featured on.


Muvibee:
A site dedicated to the best of both worlds, MuviBee lets users search for music and music videos (via YouTube) that might be associated with the song. The site proves to be versatile and certainly unique, providing users with Top 10 Charts from iTunes, the US, UK and Germany as well as direct links to Amazon and iTunes if you should decide to purchase music you like.


Blinkx:
Blinkx is another quality video search engine that collects results from hundreds of video/television providers and incorporates them into your search. The site also lets you browse videos from a myriad of topics.


ClipBlast:
ClipBlast features short videos from a variety of mainstream sources, including TBS, BBC etc. The site is easy to use and loaded with enough content to keep you busy for hours.


Files and Others

Rapidshare1:
Rapidshare has become a premium site for uploading and serving content for hungry web users. It’s natural then to expect a site devoted to searching for files on Rapidshare, and Rapidshare1 is it. The site is dead simple and all you need to get going is something to look for.


FilesTube:
Filestube takes Rapidshare1 to another level by aggregating its searches to include several other networks including MegaUpload, YouSendIt, Filefront etc. Searches can also be filtered by file type which adds more convenience to the engine.


FineSnatcher:
Another good site, FileSnatcher lets you look for files on a few different file sharing networks, including Badongo, Mediafire and 4shared.

Recipies and Cooking

Cookstr:
As the name implies, Cookstr is for the wannabe-chef in all of us. The site is clean and intuitive and searching is simple. What I like best about Cookstr is the wide range of search filters that they offer, some of which include searching for recipes based on chef, author, skill level, holiday, course, cost and much more.


RecipeZaar:
RecipeZaar is another excellent website for searching up quality recipes for your next meal. Users can also search for ‘cookbooks’ which are a collection of another user’s recipes. Also, recipe results feature ratings and nutritional information.

Fun

Tickex:
Trying to buy tickets online? Well then check out Tickex, the site that collects search results from multiple ticket providers for concerts, sporting events and theatre. Searches can be made by venue, country, event, city etc. The site also provides direct links to retailers to simplify your experience even further.


Quotiki:
Looking for something clever to say in your next argument? Try out Quotiki, a quotation search engine that has collected some of the wisest and shrewd idioms the world over.


WhatsOpen:
WhatsOpen is a young site, but its concept is awesome. They let users see what stores, malls and shops are currently open in their neighborhood and how long they’ll be open. As I’ve mentioned, the site is rather new and the working locations are still limited to a few key cities in the US of A, but rest assured new locations are being added as the site grows.

Team Viewer

Have you ever wanted help for some issues on your computer from someone who can not physically come and help you ?

Team Viewer is a remote desktop tool which allows you to easily share desktop and transfer files over the Internet, make a presentation of products,services and solutions. You can remote control partners desktop to give online assistance, or you can show your screen to a customer; all with no concerns about firewalls, IP addresses and NAT.

It is not even compulsory to install. When you run the setup and accept their terms and conditions they give you the choice to either install or run the software. All you have to do is run the program on the two different computers you want to connect and you can use it as you wish, be it a presentation,remote help or transferring files. Team Viewer offers a free version for non-commercial use too.

I suggest you also try it, this tool is worth a try. You can find it at www.teamviewer.com.

IP Spammer

In my last post (and also my first since I started writing this blog) I mentioned about IPMSG. Since I started using this very useful chat client for LANs, I decided to make some programs that let you do more with it.

The first being a Spammer, I like to call it "IP Spammer".

I started off by making use of the command-line support IPMSG has and using batch files to send continuous messages, thus making a spammer.

The command-line arguments for IPMSG are
"ipmsg [/msg] [/seal] ip_address message"
note:-[/seal] is not necessary.

Now use a for loop in a batch file to continuously send messages to any Ip Address in your LAN.

I am giving the coding I wrote to make this Spammer.

Start of code:

1. @echo off
2. SET /P ipaddr=IP Address:
3. SET /P messge=Message:
4. SET /P no=Number of messages:
5. echo Transmitting messages...
6. if "%ipaddr%" == "10.10.18.24" goto :warn
7. for /l %%X in (1,1,%no%) do (ipmsg.exe /MSG /SEAL %ipaddr% %messge% ----- Spammer made by prixti)& echo %%X
8. goto :end
9. :warn
10. for /l %%X in (1,1,1) do (ipmsg.exe /MSG /SEAL %ipaddr% Spam Detected) & echo %%X
11. :end

End of Code

In this I have also made it in such a way that no one can spam my own IP address. This can be modified by you in line 6. When someone tries to spam you, you will simply get a warning message stating "Spam Detected".

(It may be possible, that the same code or program may be found anywhere on the Internet.)

IPMSG

Many of us have LAN's at home, some even have LANs covering a very large area in which a lot of machines are covered. Now when you may want to communicate with your friends on LAN or transfer some files here and there or just chat to throw that boredom away, what software do you use ?

I've got many answers from friends when I asked them the same question. The answers varied from Windows Netmeeting, some server based chat tools & some talked about a messenger called IPMSG (http://www.ipmsg.org/index.html.en). You would be surprised by the features of this program made by H.Shirouzu

• Does not require a server machine.
• Simple, lightweight and compact size.
• Based on TCP/IP(UDP).
• Pop-up style messenger for multiple platforms.
• Very fast file folder transfer.
• RSA / Blowfish encryption of communicating data.
• Host name support on broadcast setup.
• Specifying NIC extension.
• Absence message support.
• Multicast support.
• Command line message supprt.
  

Even if a newbie uses this, it won't take him / her long to get use to this messenger. My first day of using this was superb, then I decided to switch to IP messenger from Windows Netmeeting. The best feature I found in IP Messenger is that, if you are busy with some work and you don't want any kind of disturbance, you can turn on the absence feature and put any message for any one who might message you. When this is active, and if anyone messages you they will get the message that you had set before, and you will also not be disturbed by getting a pop-up. Instead if will remain in your taskbar till you click on the IPMSG icon. The best part is that you get all this in just 103kb (ipmsg version 2.06).Moreover the commandline support allows you to send messages via a batch file.

You might also want to try this software. Just go to IPMSG.org and download yourself a copy of this tool now, latest stable version as of now for Windows is version 2.06 and a beta version 2.50 is out now.


Command-line examples:
C:\>ipmsg.exe /SEAL /MSG 192.168.1.156 Hey ... ssup ??
C:\>ipmsg.exe /SEAL /LOG 192.168.1.156 goin to gamedrome today ??