Easy Alternatives For Adobe Reader

 

 

  Chrome

Google Chrome also has an integrated PDF viewer, which it’s had since 2010. Unlike Firefox’s PDF viewer, Chrome’s PDF viewer is actually a plug-in bundled with Chrome. Google handles updates for the plug-in, just as it handles updates for Chrome itself and Chrome’s bundled Flash plug-in.

You can use your browser’s built-in PDF viewer to view local PDF files, too. You can even make Firefox or Chrome your default PDF viewer by right-clicking a PDF file on your computer, selecting the Open With option, and selecting Firefox or Chrome. Your browser will open and display the PDF whenever you double-click a PDF file on your computer.

Firefox

Mozilla introduced an integrated PDF viewer, known as PDF.js, in Firefox 19.Firefox’s PDF viewer actually isn’t a browser plug-in at all. It’s written in JavaScript, the same scripting language used by web pages in your  browser. This means that Firefox’s PDF viewer is fully sandboxed the same way web pages are, which gives you additional security benefits. When you use a plug-in like Adobe Reader, your browser’s built-in security doesn’t necessarily apply – you’re relying on the plug-in’s developers instead.

Foxit Reader

 Foxit may be one of the first names that comes to mind when people think about alternative PDF readers, as it was one of the first alternative PDF readers to gain steam – and it’s still a great option today. Unfortunately, it does try to install a toolbar and change your web browser’s home page during installation. Unlike some of the more lightweight option, Foxit has built-in support for annotations, highlights and other PDF-editing features – it’s a more full-featured alternative to Adobe Reader. 

Sumatra PDF

Sumatra PDF stands out as the most lightweight PDF reader available. It’s very lightweight, has a simple interface, and is also available as a portable app that you can take with you anywhere. It doesn’t have any editing options or other advanced features – it’s just a window that loads extremely quickly and displays PDFs. It’s also packed with keyboard shortcuts, making it even more ideal for quickly reading PDFs. Sumatra also supports other types of files, including eBooks in ePub and Mobi format and comic books in CBZ and CBR formats.

PDF-XChange Viewer

PDF-XChange Viewer is a fast application, although it isn’t as lightweight as some of the other available PDF readers. It’s got good support for editing and annotations, although more complex edits will require a more full-featured, paid application like Adobe Acrobat.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

it's always a good idea to find a better, light weight alternative, for those feature rich applications which consume memory and processor power, and if you know other alternative apps for Adobe reader share.

 

 VLC STREAMING


Many people these days have the free VLC media player on their computers, because it’s so versatile and good at what it does. But most of us probably only use it to play DVDs and home movies. I doubt many people realise the power of VLC when it comes to streaming media. This is because it used to be difficult and hacky. Nowadays it’s as easy as changing channels on your TV.




VLC has integrated with several online services to make it easy for you to start watching streamed media. In a couple of clicks, you can listen to online radio, preview the best free tracks available to download online and even watch TV. Now that’s powerful!

 

Access VLC's Preset Streaming Services

go to View > Playlist (Ctrl+L) then look at the bottom of the list for “Internet“. When you click on it, you’ll see all the options below.

Stations and Channels

1. IceCast 

 if you want to listen to radio stations that stream over the Web, you can use an open source station called, IceCast on VLC.

2.  Jamendo selections!

 7 Top 100 by genre

- rock

- jazz

- dance electronic

- pop

- hip hop

- world reggae

- lounge ambient

Charts

- Top 100 tracks of the week

- Top 20 albums of the week

Downloading Youtube Videos
1. open one of your favorite youtube channel.
2. Copy the address for the current playing video from the address bar.
3. open VLC, goto media, select the open the network stream... option.
4. paste the address, you copied from youtube, in the url box and click the down arrow 
next to the play button and select stream option.

  



5. you will see, the stream output window.

 

6. after clicking the next button, another window will appear, on that window, you need to find an add button  and select the place where you need to put the file and give it a file name. from the same window you can also select the file format, under the Transcoding Options.

 



7. hit next and wait until, VLC finish downloading the file.

 
Finally, i want to point out that VLC player is not what you might think it is which is a simple video player, it's rather ultra sophisticated application that does so many neat things, i would like you to explore more, share and comment.

Block IE From Accessing Internet

1. Modify Internet Explorer To Use A Proxy Server 
 
The first step in this two step process is to trick Internet Explorer into accessing the Internet using a dummy proxy server. By default your LAN settings in IE are usually set up to automatically detect your Internet connection settings. We’re going to change that.
First, go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings.

First, uncheck “Automatically detect settings” and select the option to use a proxy server.  Set the address to some dummy IP followed by port 80. It doesn’t matter what you use, just make sure it isn’t a real server.
Nice! Mission accomplished right? Wrong! All one has to do is open up the Internet Options, click on “Automatically detect settings” and he/she’s back in business. So the next step is to disable every user’s ability to tweak the IE Internet options settings.

2. Disable Internet Options In The Control Panel

To do this, click Start -> Run and type “Regedit.exe“.

Go to My Computer/HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Policies/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Restrictions. You may have to create the Internet Explorer and Restrictions keys if they aren’t already there. Then, create a new DWORD called “NoBrowserOptions” and set it equal to 1. Now, restart Internet Explorer.
You still won’t be able to browse anywhere, because it’s defaulting to the proxy server. So, go ahead and try to access Tools -> Internet Options. Your little ones will be faced with the following warning.

This effectively blocks most normal users from accessing the Internet through IE. An especially clever user will just go to the Control Panel and enable the Internet Options that way, so you’ll also need to disable those control panel settings in the registry as well.

 Go to My Computer/HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Policies/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Control Panel (or create the key if you have to). I’ve added several policy restrictions to the control panel, but the important one here is the DWORD ConnectionsTab. Setting this to 1 will disable the Connections tab in the control panel, so the user can’t change the Internet settings from the proxy you set up.

You’ve completely blocked IE from accessing the Internet, and the only thing that a clever user could do to fix it is to find the right registry keys and fix them. So, this won’t block a seasoned geek, but it’ll at least keep people from opening up the wrong browser! Be warned that there are some Internet applications that make use of the connection settings in your Internet Options. Most applications allow you to configure proxy settings from within the app itself, but not all – so if any of your Internet apps don’t work after you lock down IE, this is probably why.

Have you ever had the need to block IE from accessing the Internet? Does this technique work for your application? Share your own experiences and how you have blocked your own Windows Internet Explorer access to the Internet.