High Sign: Mouse Gesture Application

Mouse gestures are something that I’ve gotten into the habit of using for years now, and giving them up would almost be like giving up the ability to use keyboard shortcuts. Some gestures have become second nature to me, and when I’m on a computer that doesn’t have that capability I get rather frustrated.

The bad news is that a lot of these apps have a tendency to not get updated very often. A good example of this is with StrokeIt… one of the most popular mouse gesture programs. The last time it was updated was over 4-years ago.

The other day I started doing some searching and found a relatively new app calledHigh Sign, and I like what it has to offer. It’s extremely simple to understand and operate, and has all the right features… like being able to record your own custom gestures.

Once you’ve recorded a gesture you can assign an action to it. This includes minimizing/maximizing a window, switching between apps, running a program or command, and simulating a hotkey combination or keystrokes. With these options you should be able to do just about anything you want, and you can even restrict a gesture to a particular application.

Once you get High Sign installed it will be in training mode so that you can create some new actions, but it does already come pre-configured with a few popular ones. To start using High Sign you’ll want to exit out of Training Mode by right-clicking on the System Tray icon, and then just hold down the right mouse button to start drawing.

High Sign is an open source and freeware application for Windows only

Ginipic: Enhanced Image Search for Your Desktop

Searching for a specific image on the Internet can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Some sites, such as Google Image search, try to make the process easier, but shuffling through one page after another of results can quickly get tedious.

That’s where the free desktop application called Ginipic comes into play. You can view hundreds of results at a time, and inserting an image into an app like PowerPoint is as easy as dragging-and-dropping it. To see how easy it really is checkout their video tour.

Here are some other features that make Ginipic worth it:

• Multiple Sources - You can choose to search your favorite search engine or photo-sharing site (Flickr, Google, Yahoo!, SmugMug, deviantArt, Picasa, Photobucket, Facebook, and more), or expand your search to unlimited results with a click of a button, with our tailored “All Sources” option.
• No Duplicates - Did you know that, on average, “big search engines not be named” give you 200 duplicates for every 1,000 results? Not with ginipic.
• Incredible Variety - Ginipic gives you the power of the web to find ANY picture in ANY category with NO restrictions.
• Advanced Search - Advanced search gives you the ability to customize your queries in each source – just as you would on their site.
• Resizing - Choose your own preview size for the best possible experience! Maximize to enjoy the picture in all its glory, work small if you’re just browsing away.
• Tagging - Tag your pictures away and see them all in a heartbeat by choosing your tag in the comfortable Favorites source. Not a tag person? Just favorite the picture and you’ll still have a super easy access to it.
• Drag & Drop - Drag & Drop functionality gives you the ability to start working immediately – you see something you like, just drag it in your work space and continue working.
• Save Images Locally - Want to backup or save it for later? No need in clumsy “right click, save as, too hard to understand what’s going on” options – just save the picture right from the preview window when you’re satisfied.
• Set as Wallpaper - Do you feel like changing your background? Just hit the “Set as wallpaper” on any picture and instantly your desktop will change and renew before your eyes.

This is definitely a slick app, and truly handy for those heavy images searchers out there. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.

Cleano cleans your temp files every time you login

Cleano is a free Windows utility that helps you keep your hard drive clean by deleting your temp files, run history, Internet explorer files, and other data. What sets Cleano apart from other utilities like CCleaner is its simple layout and a nifty little feature that lets you automatically cleanup files when you login to Windows.

Cleano also happens to be a single tiny executable file, which makes this utility a perfect candidate for installation on a USB flash drive which you can use to do some basic cleaning operatings on your work and home computers, as well as the next time you visit your friends or family members who are always complaining that they’re running out of space on their hard disk.

Automatically Install Extension Updates in Firefox

Over in our forum someone was wondering if there was a way to prevent Firefox from prompting you about updates to extensions you have installed. Th problem for some users is that Firefox will not continue to load if it is in the process of prompting you for updates. For example, let’s say you have Firefox automatically start when your computers boots up. If there’s an update available for one of your extensions the browser will not actually load until you’ve chosen whether or not you want to accept the update.

Max jumped right in with an excellent solution to the problem, and it just happens to be an extension that will take care of the updating for you. The Update Notifier extension will check for updates after the browser has launched, and you can even choose an option to install them automatically. Not only that but you can disable being notified after the updates are installed thereby making the whole process something that happens in the background.

Update Notifier Homepage