As I was working on a pile of paperwork, I realized that I need to convert a pdf document into a MS-word document format for some extensive editing. Previously, I was able to retrieve the documents in pdf and MS-word format. However, recently the document creator decided to stick with publishing the documents in pdf and sdif format. (What in the world is sdif format anyway? Who uses it?)

At about the same time as I was pulling my hair over the issue above, my colleague had a requirement to convert a pdf document to Excel format and he asked me for some help. Great!

I googled around and found a pretty cool software which could handle the document conversions from PDF to Excel/Word and more! Able2Extract 5.0

It is relatively simple to get the hang of using the software, and you can select portions of the document for conversion into the desired format.

If you are not convinced, download the 7-Day Trial copy and try it out for yourself. And in case you are wondering about the difference between the Able2Extract 5.0 and the Able2Extract 5.0 Professional, you can check out the product comparison here.

Hope you find this recommendation beneficial!

It does get a little annoying when this happens:

You sit down and psyche yourself up to concentrate on an online training video. You click on the video (created using Flash), it plays for a short couple of seconds, pauses to load more content, plays, pauses, plays, pauses ... (and this goes on forever).

You grumble about the speed of the broadband to anyone who is unlucky enough to be within hearing distance from you. Then you resigned yourself to the predicament you are in. Give up watching and never came back to finish up the training video again.

With this little tip that I'm going to share with you, you will be able to save that training video offline and watch it in your leisure time. No more frustrations!

First, you need to get the Orbit Downloader software. Download here and install it.

Second, run the program. In the Menu bar, choose Tools -> Grab++ . A "Grab++" dialog window will pop-up. We will refer to this window again in step four.


Third, go to your favorite internet browser and load the url of the training video. (e.g. http://www.becomeablogger.com/video-1.html). When you can see the "play" button on the video, click on it.

Fourth, at the Grab++ window, you will see that it has grabbed the filename of the video. Look for those with the flv extention (FLV are known as Flash Video Files). Click on the "Download.." button in the Grab++ window and you will be prompted to the location to save the downloaded video file. Choose the appropriate storage location, then click on the "OK" button.

Fifth, you will see the progress of the file being downloaded. When the download is complete, go to the directory and double-click on the newly downloaded file. If you have the right player program, the FLV file will play immediately from your local disk.

Examples of compatible player programs are:
- Media Player Classic
- VideoLAN VLC media player

Customer: "You want me to back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse gear?"
IT support: "... ..." (speechless)

Nope, this is not a post about driving, though if someone really asks me the question above, this person needs to stand 10 meters away from my computer!

Knowing how to back up your important data files, documents, and photographs, etc is essential. I would recommend to try out the SyncBack Freeware software for this purpose. It has 2 main features, Backup and Synchronisation. After installing the software, you will need to create a profile.

The fine tuning of the backup/synchronisation profile can be done in the Profile Setup dialog screen (as seen below). You can use the default settings for a start and customise it to your preference as you go along. When you are satisfied with your configuration, highlight on your newly created profile and click on the "Run" button. A log report will be generated at the end of the backup process. This software also allows you to perform the backup manually or configure the backup to run at a scheduled timing.


I have used this software to back up my data, as well as program and system settings from my computer to my portable hard disk. Works well for me. If you are not sure which directory to backup, you could choose to backup the entire local hard disk. For me, the Source directory is set to "C:\Users\<login-name>\".

I would also recommend that you remove temporary and cached files before performing the backup. You can read more about the software which I use to perform the cleanup here.

So, cleanup then backup, piece of cake...

To learn more about SyncBack Freeware, click here.
If you need a backup software with more advanced features, you can explore SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro.

If you find that your computer is running out of disk space or crawling like a snail whenever it starts up or launches a program, then you can try the software Crap Cleaner.

This is what it can do:
1. Help you to remove temporary and cached files which are stored by browsers and some utilities application
2. Empty your waste basket (not the physical one, the computer recycle-bin ;) )
3. Help you clean up your pet's poop (ok, I was only kidding about this one).

For those of you who are a little more savvy and not paranoid about system crashes, Crap Cleaner does a good job in cleaning up the obsoletes in your computer registry.

Best thing about this software? It's free and hugely popular!

If you like the software and would like to support the developers, don't forget to donate!
Click on the icon below to go to the web site.