Reader Paul Kru told us “BGinfo . . . is a great tool, but it’s not completely freeware.” We found this was true, but now that Sysinternals has been absorbed by Microsoft, the licensing terms have changed.
We found this was true, but now that Sysinternals has been absorbed by the borg Microsoft, the licensing terms have changed. On Microsoft’s TechNet site for Sysinternals, the FAQ says, “Companies can now install and use the software throughout their organization, as opposed to a single-user limitation.”
In addition, there is an odd restriction: You cannot load or use Sysinternals utilities freely on computers you support but do not own — for that you need to “contact Microsoft Sysinternals Licensing . . . and inquire about fee based licensing options.” These new licensing terms apparently apply to all Sysinternals utilities.
It is also worth noting that the FAQ says, “We will no longer offer the Sysinternals source code for download or license.” For a while at least, the source code is still available, but if you want to get it, move fast.
A few weeks ago we discussed RocketDock, a free tool for launching applications that is reminiscent of Apple’s OS X launcher. If you liked that, here’s some more user interface candy for you: ÜberIcon, published by Punk Software, the creators of the aforementioned (we don’t get to use that word too often) RocketDock.
You know how, when you launch an OS X program, the application’s icon zooms out in a sexy kind of way? Well, that’s what ÜberIcon does, but for Windows 2000, XP and 2003. ÜberIcon provides more than just a zoom out; it also can make the icon bounce (it expands out, then back in) and flat-out (which we won’t bother to describe, because it is kind of weird). You can control which effects it uses and unload it if need be, using its system tray icon. It needs only 1MB of RAM. Do you need ÜberIcon? No. Is it fun to have on your desktop? Yep.
Finally, we know what your life is like: You are stressed, wired, hyper and in need of some solid sleep. Or maybe you’re having a postprandial energy low and just need to hide out in the server room behind the router rack and catch a reinvigorating 20 minutes.
If your nighttime sleep seems inadequate, it turns out you are not alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average adult sleeps fewer than seven hours per night during the work week, which is at least an hour less than the average adult needs. (See “The Sleep Thieves” by Stanley Coren at; the story on that page is great!)
This week we have a wonderfully geeky solution to making sure your sleep at home or at work comes fast and gives you what you need. The product is called Pzizz.
Pzizz creates audio “naps” that last as long as 60 minutes and are designed to lull you into cutting z’s. If you select a Sleep nap, the audio will just fade out at the end, while an Energizer nap can be ended with chimes to wake you up.
Pzizz naps are generated from a library of sound effects (chimes, soft gongs, birds twittering, waves washing on a shore, the wind and so on) and music (all soothing strings in the background ), along with voice-overs that are mixed algorithmically. This means no two naps will be alike.
You can select the relative volume of the spoken component (or suppress it altogether), sound effects and music. The Pzizz application plays your naps or you can export them as .WAV or .MP3 files and burn a CD or put them on your MP3 player.
The Sleep and Energizer modules each cost $30, or you can buy both for $50. There’s also a hardware version for $147 that we haven’t tested.
You probably are wondering if it works. We think so. In fact we love it! When we put a Sleep nap on a CD, we rarely made it beyond about 10 minutes of play time before we passed out. And we just tried an Energizer nap and, well, this column got written, didn’t it?
