Desktop Search: Google vs Yahoo X1 vs Copernic

I never did use any desktop search programs until recently, when I discovered that I was searching through my files the old-and-slow way.

For instance, if I needed to look for a string of text such as “John was a boy”, my old method was to open up Dreamweaver and have it search for source code in the folder that I specified. Pretty neat, but there’s an easier and faster way - desktop search engines.

What’s Desktop Search For?

You know how web search engines work? Well imagine being able to search your own computer like how you search the Internet - that’s the kind of power desktop search programs give you.

Choosing the right desktop search engine was a 3-way dilemma: There was Google Desktop Search, the new Yahoo! and x1 partnership, and of course Copernic’s long-standing desktop search program.

The most famous of desktop search programs is seemingly Google Desktop Search - but I don’t like it. It’s clunky, and comes with extra stuff, like widgets (which I don’t need). It shows results in a Google search page, with some relevance ranking based on modified dates. That’s nice and all, but it’s not what I’m looking for.

Comparing Desktop Search Programs

Enter the next two players - Yahoo! Desktop Search, which is actually’s x1’s Enterprise Search application; and Copernic Desktop Search

Copernic Desktop Search

Versus

Yahoo! X1 Desktop Search

Well. I couldn’t decide on which to choose, so I tried both of these great software out for a week before deciding. And the winner’s clear - Copernic Desktop Search wins hands down.

Initially, Copernic was unimpressive - the installation screwed up, with the program crashing whenever I performed an index update. But after I restarted my computer, Copernic behaved, and all was okay.

The Yahoo!-x1 offering installed much more hassle-free. I was up and searching way faster. But as time went by, I discovered that x1 wasn’t really what I wanted. One thing was that the previewing of files made my searches very slow, especially for large and media files.

The Best Desktop Search Program

Soon I just began to use Copernic almost all of the time - and before I knew it, I decided to uninstall the Yahoo!-x1 offering. I’m now pretty dang content with my new desktop search capabilities. And I’m suffering no decrease in performance or speed whatsoever, so I guess Copernic Desktop Search’s going to stay on my computer for a long time.

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Hot Singapore Tranny Girl

Don’t ask me, I’m still trying to figure this out too.

This man (Singaporean?) is all dressed up as a lady. His “words” are in Hokkien (What is Hokkien?), and rougly translated, say:

“What are you staring at? Haven’t you seen a beautiful lady before?”

Sadly the translation has lost most of the essence of the original Hokkien words.

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Understanding What Paper Quality Means

I know that I’ve been using “80 grams” paper, but I didn’t really understand why it was called “80 grams” until today.

What does gsm mean?

GSM is an abbreviation for grammage, or grams per square metre. It indicates the weight of a square metre of paper. Standard copy paper in Singapore is approximately 80 gsm, which means that a standard A4 sheet weighs 5 grams, and a 500 sheet ream weighs 2.5 kg.

Is gsm the same as thickness?

Not exactly. Thickness is measured in microns (millionths of a metre, or thousandths of
a millimetre). Standard copy paper typically has a thickness of about 100 microns, so
a 500 sheet ream is about 5cm thick. If two sheets have the same density, then their
thicknesses will be directly proportional to their grammage.

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Remove the QuickTime Annoyance (Internet Explorer IE Firefox)

Did you install QuickTime or iTunes, and then realised that your browser, be it Internet Explorer (IE) or Mozilla Firefox, now automatically launches QuickTime as the default plugin player whenever you try to play mp3s or video files?

Well, for iTunes lovers, it all started with iTunes 6. From that version onwards, we were also forced into an Apple QuickTime installation as well.

The problem is that the QuickTime Player is really annoying! Once installed, your system is immediately hijacked by QuickTime! QuickTime associates itself with mp3 files, becoming the default player and browser plugin. Most of you know - even editing the preferences in QuickTime itself doesn’t change anything.

So now whenever you come across a sound file online, QuickTime grabs control of your browser and stops you from downloading the sound file (sure, there’s an option to download it - after paying for the premium version of QuickTime, that is!).

Well, if you ever wondered how to remove QuickTime or disable QuickTime in your browser, here’s the solution!

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Set Your Default Player/Plugin Back To Windows Media Player

To set your default player/plugin back to Windows Media Player, run Windows Media Player first. Next, from the Windows Media Player menu, select Tools > Options > “File Types” tab. Look for the box labelled “MP3 Audio File.”

If it is unchecked, check it.

If it is checked, uncheck it and then check it again.

Now click “Apply.”

Note: You can open Windows Media Player by clicking Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Windows Media Player.

In the future if QuickTime prompts you with the message: “Some of the MIME types previously associated with the QuickTime plugin are currently associated with other applications. Should I restore these MIME type associations to QuickTime?”

Choose “No”, and check the “Do not prompt in the future” box, so that QuickTime doesn’t ask you this anymore.

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Disable QuickTime in Mozilla Firefox

Great news to Mozilla Firefox users too! It is possible to disable QuickTime and still keep iTunes - so here’s how to disable QuickTime in your Mozilla Firefox browser!

Simply go to Tools > Options > “Content” tab and click on the “Manage” button under the “File Types” category. Look around the list for “mp3″ and then click on “Change Action”. From the list provided, you can change the default action (which is QuickTime) to whatever you want! For me, I chose to have Firefox download the file.

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Installing and Running IIS on Windows Vista

Internet Information Services, or IIS, is Microsoft’s suite of Internet-related software included with the Windows 2000 and above operating system software. IIS provides both FTP server and web server capability. With IIS, you can run FTP, ASP.Net pages, etc, on your Windows computer.

On Windows Vista, IIS is included, but is not installed by default. Once IIS is installed, your Windows Vista computer will be able to function as a web server.

However, there is a limit on the maximum number of concurrent connections that Windows Vista can accept. Vista Home Editions support a maximum of 5 connections, while all other editions support a maximum of 10 connections.

You can install IIS on Vista using the following steps:

1. Open the Programs option by clicking Start > Control Panel > Programs
2. Under Programs and Features, click Turn Windows features on or off (left-hand menu)
3. Click Internet Information Services
4. Click OK

Do note that running IIS puts an extra load on your computer’s resources, so a decrease in overall performance (boot-up time, RAM and CPU usage, etc) should be expected. Therefore, try to turn off all IIS-related services whenever you’re not using IIS.

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