Tuesday, October 20, 2009

WinAutomation Tasks Automator Full Version License Free Giveaway

WinAutomation is a automation tool for Windows operating system that helps users automate any repetitive task on the computer. In Mac OS X, there is a application called Automator to serve as personal robotic assistant, while in Windows there is no easily usable and customizable GUI-based (graphical user interface) actions automator app available, unless with WinAutomation installed.


WinAutomation records mouse clicks and keystrokes for replaying and executing the exact steps in exact sequence later. WinAutomation also supports advanced high-level actions or steps, which users can define each step in the tasks using graphical interface. Once an automated task is created, WinAutomation will automate and execute your tasks whenever is needed. The app can greatly increase productivity, save time, eliminate errors, and automate repetitive jobs.

Thanks to Softomotive for sponsoring, My Digital Life is giving away 5 licenses of WinAutomation Professional, which worth $199 each, at its latest version, WinAutomation 3.0, to My Digital Life readers, making the giveaway contest worth almost $1000. WinAutomation 3.0 Professional Edition comes with a Job Compiler which can compiles tasks as standalone executable.

How to Win A License of WinAutomation Professional

Note: Participants must have a Twitter account, which can sign up for free here.

  1. Follow WinAutomation tweets at http://twitter.com/winautomation (click on Follow button on the page).
  2. Tweet the following:

    @winautomation free WinAutomation giveaway (worth $199) at #mdlblog http://bit.ly/LbmYs

    Copy and paste the above to “What are you doing?” box and click “Update”.

  3. Write a comment on how you plan to use WinAutomation (need it for any specific processes to automate) or how you feel WinAutomation can benefit (e.g. in terms of time, cost, more time for more valuable tasks etc).

    Remember to include your Twitter ID in the comment too.

The giveaway contest closes on 23:59 PM on October 31st, 2009, based on server time (which is UTC+8). The winners will be selected based on five best comments on why you need WinAutomation. So wait no more, and start participating for a chance to win a license of WinAutomation.

My Digital Life’s decision is final, and My Digital Life reserves all rights to change any terms and conditions without prior notice.



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Download FILEminimizer Office (PPTminimizer) To Reduce Word, Excel and PowerPoint File Sizes

Many people may heard of PPTminimizer before, which is an optimization utility to compress and reduce the size of the Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations and Word documents file format. PPTminimizer is now been renamed and renewed as FILEminimizer Office, currently at version 5.0 with added features and functionality.

FILEminimizer Office compresses PowerPoint, Word and Excel files and reduces the file size by up to 98% using an intelligent office file compression software technique which compresses pictures and embedded objects while still preserving the original file format and quality. The advantage of FILEminimizer Office is that the much smaller optimized office files remain in the original format. Which mean a PowerPoint .PPT file remains in .PPT format. The files are not zipped or compressed as archive, which requires user to unzip or extract when opening.

FILEminimizer Office is useful to compress Office files to a smaller size in its original format so that end-users can open, view, modify, edit, or print the file directly using corresponding Office applications. The smaller file size is ideal for sharing on web or sending via email attachment too.

Features of FILEminimizer Office v5.0:

  • Office compression for PowerPoint, Word and Excel by up to 98% – a 50MB document is compressed to 1MB in size.
  • Compresses PowerPoint 2007, Word 2007, Excel 2007 files – full optimization of PPTX, DOCX, XLSX files.
  • Compresses “old” PowerPoint 97 to 2003, Word 97 to 2003, Excel 97 to 2003 files – full optimization of PPT, DOC, XLS files.
  • Compresses pictures and embedded objects and reduces the size of Office files.
  • Keeps the original file format – simply edit, view and change it without the need to unzip.
  • Compresses StarOffice and OpenOffice files provided they are saved in a Microsoft format.
  • Compact edition runs directly from CD or USB flash drive – no installation required.
  • Integrated search function finds all optimizable files on the PC.
  • “Drag & Drop” files directly into FILEminimizer to optimize several files at once (batch processing).
  • Add-ins for PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Windows Explorer.
  • Pack and Go: send optimized email attachments with one click.
  • Outlook Add-in: compress PowerPoint, Word and Excel attachments automatically before sending.
  • Fully compatible with Windows Vista.
FILEminizer Office works best on Office files which contain images, pictures, photos, and embedded objects such Excel tables, Excel charts, Word documents, Visio diagrams, CAB drawings and etc. To maximize file size reducing, FILEminimizer Office can convert these embedded objects to simple pictures (flatten the objects), significantly reduce the size of objects, though some users who require to deal directly with the objects are not advised to allow the objects been flatten. For Office documents with just text, the percentage of reduction in file size is ignorable, or there won’t be any file size reduction at all, as shown in illustration below.


One of the main compression routine of FILEminimizer Office is pictures, photos, graphics, and images in the Office documents. Similar to FILEminimizer Pictures, users can select from default strong, standard, and low compression, or define custom compress for custom image resolution, keep or adjust JPEG (.jpg) compression factor (quality) and quality for DOC and XLSX formats.

FILEminimizer Office is priced at € 34.95 per license, or bulk order discount. 12 free optimizations (registration required) and 5 free optmizations trial of FILEminimizer Office is also available from download from balesio.com. For users who yet to convince on FILEminimizer Office, and do not want to install anything on the PC, FILEminimizer Office Compact Edition (Standalone) executable, which does not have add-ins for Microsoft Office and Outlook and can run directly from a USB flash drive or CD, is also available: FILEminimizerNR.exe.

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Spring Design Alex Android-Based E-Book Reader With Dual Screen of 6″ E-Ink EPD And 3.5″ Color Touchscreen

The provider of innovative e-reader solutions, Spring Design has announced the first Google Android-Based e-book reader to incorporate full Internet browser capabilities (over Wi-Fi or mobile networks) and patented dual screen interaction technology (Duet Navigator) – Spring Design Alex, which features earphones, speakers, SD memory card slot, 6-inch E-Ink EPD (electronic paper display), and 3.5-inch color touchscreen display that supplements as well as enhances original text with web-based or linked multimedia content including video, audio, photos and notes, bringing readers to a whole new level of reading experience.


“This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on e-books, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia e-book publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations,” said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO at Spring Design. “This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the Web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience.”

No words on the pricing and availability date of Spring Design Alex eReader yet.

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Download YouTube Uploader To Upload Multiple Videos on YouTube

YouTube has enhanced its uploading feature to facilitate YouTube users to upload multiple video files simultaneously via its web interface. If you are an active user who does frequent uploading, perhaps uploading directly from the computer instead of using web browsers could be more convenient and easy to manage. YouTube Uploader is one way to assist YouTube enthusiasts to do simultaneous multiple video uploading from the desktop.

YouTube Uploader is a free application which can download via the link here. Once it is installed, users will be required to enter their YouTube account login and password when they run it. Once it is logged in, users can start using the program to browse and upload the video directly from the desktop. The program allows users to add in title, description, tags and categorize their video. It also allows users to use a proxy server via settings in the “Use proxy server” option. Users can change language and set “Turn off computer, if the process was finished successfully”.


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Flexible 6-inch E-Paper by AUO for A Paperless Environment

E-paper sounds like the ideal paperless alternative – it can be used again and again, is stronger and more durable than normal paper, can save more trees, and can cut costs in the long term. AUO demonstrates the flexibility of its 6-inch electronic paper recently and announces the future release of a 20-inch non-bend version. Both e-papers are expected to go into mass production and hit the market soon.


The 6-inch e-paper has a contrast ratio of 9:1, a reflectance of 33% and 16 gray levels. It consists of a plastic substrate which makes it highly flexible and can be bended again and again, much like real paper. Power supply is only needed when the image is updated; none is required for reading. It is durable and portable, making it highly ideal for almost everyone. The paper size can be tailor-made to users’ needs. The 6-inch paper is revealed following the successful launch of its 6-inch touch function e-book reader in Taiwan a few months ago. Similarly, the 20-inch EPD (electrophoretic display) has 16 gray levels and consumes less than 2W of power. The ability to eliminate backlight makes it suitable for public information display.

High flexibility, low power consumption, and perhaps low costs will make e-paper the choice of users in the 21st century as natural resources are increasingly depleted and exhausted. The most compatible and relevant EPD displays and applications will likely get the biggest chunk of the pie.

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Livescribe Upgrades Pulse Smartpen to 4GB for Notes Taking and Audio Recording Electronically

Previously we mentioned about Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen which appears to be your good companion when trying to jot down lecturer’s notes electronically, now seems that the company has continued to upgrade its product line to include a much higher memory capacity up to 4GB.


Similar to its predecessor, the new model is equipped with an ARM9 processor which can help users to recognize handwriting and able to record audio intelligently. Further enhanced with a titanium stylish outlook, the 4GB model allows a much longer audio recording time up to 400 hours, doubling what can be achieved by its previous version. To make it more powerful, it even takes into consideration so that there are plenty of leftover space for apps installed through Livescribe Application Store that will be available soon.

The new 4GB package will be retailed at $200 which is about the same price when it was launched since early last year for 2GB model and good news is, the 2GB model’s pricing has been slashed to $170 to give way to this newly released 4GB model. In conjunction with the release, Livescribe is offering its customers with a Pro-Pack package that includes a 4GB new pulse smartpen, an A5 sized notepad, leather carrying case, a charging cradle as well as the proprietary handwriting to text conversion software at an affordable price of $250.

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TI Demonstrates Coin Cell based Low Energy Bluetooth Wireless Technology

Bluetooth is one of the most common wireless technologies being deployed in mobile devices for short distance communication. While it stands a great advantage in terms of relatively low power consumption as compared to other longer distance communication protocols, but some manufacturers still see the needs to develop an even lower energy Bluetooth technology to make the technology even more popular in consumer electronics products. Just recently, TI (Texas Instruments) has planned to demonstrate its world’s first low energy Bluetooth technology that can be based on coin battery cell during a conference held in Munich, Germany.


The coin battery cell Bluetooth technology will be leveraged on TI next generation thermally efficient CC2540 SOC (System-on-chip) that can operate in both single and dual-mode, making it fully compatible with next generation low energy Bluetooth devices while still backward compatible with existing legacy Bluetooth enabled devices at the same time. Being designed in 6mm X 6mm package, it integrates all the necessary host controllers with an on-package flash memory for firmware and data storage so that the whole system design can be even shrunk down to compact foot print. Impressingly, all these can be powered purely by coin battery cells for years without the need of recharging which is particularly useful for tiny lightweight Bluetooth enabled devices in concealed casing. Besides existing mobile phones market, there are some new usage models including fitness, sports, medical that should be able to benefit from the low energy Bluetooth technology from now onwards.

No pricing information yet, CC2540 will be available by early 2010 and in order to simplify board’s design, TI has manufactured it so that the silicon will be pin-compatible with existing CC2530 ZigBee controller as a direct drop in replacement for faster TTM (Time-to-Market).


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