Fresh WebSuction – Free Offline Browser

Offline browsers are pretty cool applications – they can give you just a little more control over the Internet.

With an offline browser you can download websites ,or parts of a website, store locally, and then view the saved site at your convenience, while offline. If you’re on a dial-up Internet connection, you can add cost saving to the convenience factor – once the site is downloaded, you can disconnect.

Fresh WebMaster, the developers of the highly recommended Fresh UI Windows tweaking application, have just released Fresh WebSuction, a free offline browser application that’s worth considering if offline browsing is your thing.

The user interface is simply, and straightforward, as the screen capture illustrates:

Create a new project by clicking the “New” button on tool bar or choose “File |New Project” from the main menu.

Enter the URL in the address field and change the Project Name and Level setting if necessary, all other Properties information will be set by default.

Click the Run Now button, to start the download.

That’s it!

To view the downloaded files offline:

Open the application.

From the Project Content tree select the file that you want to view and double-click it, or right-click then select “Open”.

Or, from Download List tab right-click on any file then select “Open”.

The screen capture below, shows the results of opening “Test 2”, for offline viewing.

Fast facts:

Download and save an entire Website.

Download and save particular sections of a Website.

Download up to 50 files simultaneously, thus large amounts of information can be retrieved in very little time.

View saved web content offline.

File types: HTML, Images,Audio,Video,Documents,Archived,User-defined and others.

File extensions : htm, html, shtm, shtml, htms, htmlx, asp, pl, stm, stml,idc, htx, xsp, xml, cfm, cgi, htmp, php, php3, nsf, jsp, aspx.

System requirements: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, Me

Download at: Fresh WebMaster (registration required).

Are you into Linux? If you are, then checkout Webhttrack, a free (GPL), easy-to-use offline browser utility.

Note: You can of course, save individual web pages for offline viewing, by using the File – Save Page As function, in your Browser.

As an alternative, if you’re a Firefox user, you might consider ScrapBook, a Firefox addon which is designed to save both web pages, and sites.

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I’m InTouch Online Meeting – A Cost Effective Online Collaborative Solution

In the early 1990s, I was involved (as a partner), with an organization that both developed, and provided, training programs to the Insurance industry (I won’t bore you my personal opinions of the Insurance industry, except to say – they’re not positive).

Through this exposure, I became well aware of both the hard costs, and the soft costs, involved in hosting “in the flesh”, training seminars, meetings, round table discussions, and so on. Not surprisingly, the costs could be, and often were, prohibitive. The development and broad scale distribution of Online meeting software  has essentially changed all that.

An overriding hallmark of Online meeting software is its cost effectiveness, since the need for companies to absorb travel and accommodation costs, employee downtime costs, etc,. no longer exists.

Despite the fact, that this type of application has been available for years, I have not taken an opportunity to review an Online meeting application – until now. I was recently invited to participate in a Beta Online meeting application developed by 01 Communique, a Toronto based technology company, and I’m glad I did.

I’m InTouch Meeting is an Online meeting solution which is notable for its cost effectiveness, highly intuitive user interface, and a simple three stage process that allows a user to host meetings for up to 15  attendees – directly from their computer’s desktop.

Since I’m InTouch Meeting is a Windows driven system, Online meetings and participant collaboration, can easily be achieved without the need for a heavy backend IT infrastructure – and, it’s easy. How easy? Take a look at the following surprisingly easy 3 step process.

The three step I’m InTouch process:

1. The Moderator logs in at www.imintouchmeeting.com

Alternatively, you may select “Host an instant meeting” from http://www.imintouchmeeting.com to quickly start hosting a meeting.

2. The moderator creates and starts a new meeting

A Meeting ID will be provided. Simply use the provided tool to send invitation emails to your attendees.

3. Attendees click the link on the invitation email to join

All the attendees are now sharing the screen of the moderator in real time. To join the meeting, attendees do not need to subscribe to I’m InTouch Meeting; however, the moderator can require a password to join the meeting.

How easy is that!

Fast facts:

Unlimited usage

Shareable licenses

Real-time screen sharing

Enhanced File Transfer – Instantly send a copy of your presentation or report during the meeting to all participants using I’m InTouch Meeting’s File Transfer capability. Perfect for securely sending files too large for email.

Remote printing

Text and audio chat (VoIP)

Whiteboard (drawing tools)

Attendees’ access rights control

Support up to 15 attendees

Administrative/Statistics tools

The one thing we know about the Internet is – from a security perspective, we need to be proactive on a continuous basis. I’m InTouch Meeting addresses security issues, straight out of the gate.

Security fast facts:

256-Bit SSL Data Encryption – Ensures your transmitted data stays private with end to end encryption and authentication.

No Ports Opened – No new ports are opened on your firewall or router ensuring your current security measures are not compromised at all.

Dual Login Passwords – Passwords are required to from the moderator and attendees to initiate and join an online meeting respectively.

Account Protection – Multiple failed login attempts will result in your account being temporarily locked out to protect against unauthorized access.

Security Settings Maintained – I’m InTouch retains your OS-level access controls already in place on the PC.

Session Time-Out – Your remote access session will automatically terminate after a period of inactivity you define.

No Session Data Kept – None of your remote session data is kept on our servers ensuring your work stays private.

The I’m InTouch Meeting “how it works” video – click on the graphic.

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7

To signup for the free beta: go to the developer’s site. There is no obligation to subscribe during the Beta period.

About 01 Communique:

Established in 1992, 01 Communique is an innovative force in the development
and delivery of remote access, online meeting, support products and
integrated communications software.

We develop and market a suite of remote access services designed for small-medium sized business, mobile professionals and IT service providers.

Our software as a service offerings are deployed on-demand and include functionality enabling on-line meetings, remote computing and IT support.

All offerings are developed using our patented remote access technology and marketed under our I’m InTouch.

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