I searched and found out that I wasn’t alone either. It seems that VLC Player has a tendency to be unstable on Mac for sometimes rather mysterious reasons. One problem concerns failure to play video due to errors in the preferences file as outlined by The Racing Geek. The solution:

1) Quit the application if it is running
2) Delete the VLC folder in /Users/USERNAME/Library/Preferences
3) Delete org.videolan.vlc.plist in /Users/USERNAME/Library/Preferences
4) Delete org.videolan.vlc.plist in /DRIVENAME/Library/Preferences

However, the main problem I’ve been experiencing is adding music. Since I wanted something simpler than iTunes, I decided to try using VLC as my default media player (big mistake) but adding huge amounts of music to it, simply causes it to hang and stop responding. Oh, how I miss simple apps like Winamp sometimes.

The solution I’ve found is simply to add music in smaller chunks. Album by album seems to work better although this is obviously painfully slow and inconvenient. Users on the Videolan forum are at a loss to explain why this happens – it seems that for all its simplicity, VLC cannot handle a basic operation like adding a large directory of music to it. The most likely explanation is that it can’t handle either metadata or album art, although if this is the case there should be a simple way to deactivate reading these.

So come on Videolan, when are you going to fix this simple bug that will enable Mac users to enjoy VLC Player as a lightweight alternative to iTunes?

Manage and cleanup the applications starting up with Windows.

You can add new items to the startup or edit the settings of the ones already there.

Add a program to the Black List and forget about it. InControl will make sure this application never bothers you again.

Don’t worry about mistakes. The History Viewer remembers all the changes you make and you can go back to any of the previous states of the list at any time.

Heal the wounds your Windows got fighting evil programs with the Heal My PC feature.

The last time it happened to me, a chat box simply popped-up from a supposedly female contact called “-sex”. The spam message was quite simply a smiley emoticon with a party hat on.

While this type of spam is fairly harmless, other types are more sinister, such as the one received by a user on the Skype forums who reports:

At 08.00 today I had a skype call from ” his lordship”. (lordship.pua) skype user, He claimed to work for my bank and they were doing some work on my account !! Could i please confirm my sort code and account number.

Other users report spam messages that claim their PC has a virus, content that includes crude pictures and sexually explicit messages aimed at female users. The problem is due to the fact that Skype simply aren’t filtering spam as they should be, which I find inexcusable. I have no spam problems when using an IM client such as online” and “Display notifications in the Windows tray when someone requests my contact details”

On Mac:

1. Select “Skype” and then “Preferences”
2. Select the “Privacy” tab
3. Follow the same steps as for Windows above

Doing this obviously limits your availability on Skype and will cause problems if someone is trying to call you for the first time and you haven’t added them to your contacts. However, until Skype starts blocking spam itself, this is the most effective way to protect yourself from uninvited guests. For a more in depth look at Skype spam, check out this interesting article at VoIP News which dates the problem back to early 2008. If after reading that you’ve really had enough, then take a look at the post I wrote a while back about 5 alternatives to Skype.

If you’re a fan of puzzle games and are bored of the same old formats then Hexxagon Labs may make for a refreshing change.

Kind-of an Othello with hexagons, Hexxagon Labs sees you tackle a series of mind-boggling quests over a series of complex levels. The aim of the game is to fill as many of the spaces on the board as possible by moving around strategically and capturing enemy pieces.

It’s pretty straightforward to get a grasp of the rules of Hexxagon Labs if you’ve played Othello before, but if you haven’t then there are a few tutorial levels to help you on your way. It’s all great fun, and the inclusion of scientific facts along the way helps add to the enjoyment factor.

Hexxagon Labs is well presented – the graphics are nice and colorful and the sounds are chirpy if not a little annoying. The only real problem with the game is that there just aren’t enough levels, and the control system is slightly fiddly.

On the whole though, Hexxagon Labs provides a fun way to kill some time.

{t}Download{/t} Hexxagon Labs 1.2 in Softonic

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Returnil virtualization technology clones a computers System Partition and boots the PC into this system rather than native Windows, allowing you run your applications in a completely isolated environment. If the PC is attacked or gets infected, all you need to do is to simply reboot the PC to erase all changes. After reboot, the system will be restored to its original state, as if nothing ever happened.

I don’t like IM clients that much myself, but I know people who are technically addicted to them. If you fall on this category, you need an app like Palringo.

Palringo is a handy instant messaging thanks to which you’ll be permanently connected to your friends wherever you are. Also, as it’s a cross-platform client, Palringo lets you log on to different networks at the same time (Live Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk and more) and chat with all your contacts, no matter what network they belong to.

The good thing about Palringo is that it’s not limited to text messages. You can also send pictures and recorded messages to your contacts, thus enriching your chats with multimedia elements. The only drawback is that they’re not really sent to the device, but uploaded to the Palringo website, where you can check them out via the link you receive.

Generally speaking, Palringo is a bit short of options. It features just the necessary tools to add new networks and contacts, set your status and chat with friends, nothing else. In any case it’s a handy tool to keep in touch with friends from any place in the world, as long as there’s 3G coverage or a Wifi spot available nearby.

If you can’t stand being without your IM buddies for more than a few hours, install Palringo on your phone and you’ll be able to chat with them anywhere.

{t}Download{/t} Palringo 1.1 in Softonic

{t}Download{/t} Resco Radio 1.90 in Softonic

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