One of the first pieces I wrote when I joined Download Squad covered Microsoft SteadyState, a free application that caches changes to your operating system and can remove all traces of them on rebooting. Now it looks as though that functionality will be part of the Windows 7 core - with one major improvement.

Whereas SteadyState will lock down your entire system, PC Safeguard can be configured on a per-user basis. Making changes under SteadyState can be a bit cumbersome and usually requires at least one reboot. With PC Safeguard, you've got two options. First, you log off the protected user and log in with your administrative account.

Second, you can simply run a command as an administrative user and the changes will persist. For example: right click the Firefox installer, run it as the administrator, enter the password, and it's there to stay.

Continue reading Windows 7's PC Safeguard sandboxes user accounts

Windows 7's PC Safeguard sandboxes user accounts originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Time-Wasters

If you want to try out shooting wolves from a helicopter the way it is purported that Sarah Palin does, check out Airmilf from Comedy Central.

You fly through the air in a Vietnam-era helicopter, shooting wolves, and trying not to shoot the elk running alongside. I had a really fun time with this one. The early levels are easy, moving relatively slowly and making it easy to get head shots (to raise more for the campaign).

As the levels progress, things move a lot faster. It started to get a bit more challenging around levels 7 and 8 and by 9 and 10 the helicopter was racing by the wolves.

If you need just a little more election fun, check out this game. The only reason I stopped playing was so I would have time to write this post. As time-wasters go, this one is pretty good. Easy, fun and increasing levels of difficulty.

AirMilf puts Palin in a helicopter - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Time-Wasters

While McCain and Obama battle it out at the polls, you can create your own election results with the Presidential Street Fight.

You can play as either McCain or Obama and shoot it out in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Each candidate comes with a basketball launching gun and a pile of boxes to use for cover. Shoot up and over the boxes to hit the other candidate or shoot straight at them to knock out the protective boxes.

Items like bags of money, Uncle Sam style hats and one ton weights will pop up occasionally, if you can hit them they will become your ammunition. I tried playing as both candidates and they seem to have equal skills and abilities.

The faces both make while aiming and shooting are great and the music is okay, though it does get a bit tedious after awhile.

Presidential Street Fight - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Time-Wasters

If you, like many Americans, shudder to think of what the world might be like with Sarah Palin as president then this time waster will confirm some of your worst fears.

A simple photo of Palin in the Oval Office with lots of interactive bits give you a taste of what that reality might be like. You can click on a variety of everyday objects and listen to Palin name them - Joe the Chair, Joe the Six-Pack, etc. Or, watch her throw a dart to choose the name of her next child.

There are numerous opportunities to hear Palin say Maverick and you can watch a car drive off her bridge to nowhere. It won't waste a lot of time but it is good for a few laughs.

Of course if you're a Palin fan, this could give you a great visual for that dream of Palin in the Oval Office you've been having.

Palin as President - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Fun, Games, Internet, Time-Wasters

If you loved the old Super Mario World, and you like Barack Obama, you'll love Super Obama World. It's exactly what it sounds like: an old-school style hop n' bop game, where you play as a Senator from the state of Ilinois. Instead of little mushrooms with fangs, you bounce on pigs (maybe they're supposed to be pigs with lipstick?). Instead of Mario's coins, there are little American flags.

Currently, you can plan an ice level with a very interesting boss (hint: she can see Russia from her house). More levels are planned after the election, "including Arizona, Illinois, and D.C. levels. Just because the campaign is over doesn't mean the excitement has to be!" Whoever you plan to vote for, or regardless of whether you're even eligible to vote, this is a fun little platformer.

Editor's note: In an effort to be as non bi omni partisan in our time waster coverage as possible, we will be bringing you several election-related time wasters over the next few hours. If you find yourself offended, annoyed, or pleased with this one, just wait.

Super Obama World - Election Day Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Security, Mozilla, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Back in September, the Mozilla wiki provided clues that private browsing was indeed back on the radar for version 3.1 of Firefox. With the release of beta 2 looming, anxious testers can preview the feature by downloading the latest nightly build.

To enable the feature, click the tools menu and then click private browsing to enable it. You'll be asked to confirm your selection and restart the browser. Eschewing any blatant notification that you've activated the feature, Minefield will simply add (Private Browsing) to the application 's title bar.

You'll also see a notice that private browsing is enabled and what exactly that means: browsing, search, form, and download history will not be saved, nor will cookies or temporary files. Any new downloaded files or bookmarks will be retained.

Eshan Akhgari has more information available about private browsing, and thankfully he's put forth a possible application that doesn't directly involve NSFW surfing: "an example scenario would be looking for a new employer while at work."

Interested in trying it out? Grab the latest release from Mozilla's ftp.

Firefox's private browsing feature debuts in latest Minefield build originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Time-Wasters

If you're still making up your mind about who you should vote for, maybe Election Incrimination can give you some help. You can choose to be either Obama or McCain and race against the clock to hide incriminating evidence.

It's a race against the clock to hide everything before the press arrives in the Oval Office. McCain has such secrets as Viagra, a George W. Bush dart board, and an oil contract signed in blood. Obama has Sarah Palin, Michael Jackson and hip hop clothes to hide.

The game presents a lot of stereotypes and plain ugly items (a KKK member for one) so if you're easily offended, don't try it out. But, if you aren't, enjoy hiding items for both candidates, or setting up the one you didn't vote for to be outed by the press.

Election Incrimination - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: E-mail, Productivity, Google, web 2.0, Web

Google offers a ton of web-based services that replace desktop applications. There's Google Docs for anyone who doesn't need a full fledged version of Microsoft Office. And there's Gmail and Google Calendar for folks who don't want to be tied to Microsoft Outlook. But there's one thing that Google has yet to offer: a task management application.

Now there's a way to add a task manager to Gmail. It just doesn't come from Google. It comes from online task list company Remember The Milk.

Here's how it works. First thing you have to do is check the box next to "add any gadget by URL" in Gmail labs. Then go to your Gmail settings tab and click on gadgets. Next, you enter the URL for the Remember The Milk gadget.

Once you're done, you just need to login to your Remember The Milk account and you should see a list of upcoming tasks in your Gmail sidebar. If you're new to Remember The Milk, you can create new tasks from Gmail or you can visit the Remember The Milk homepage.

Remember The Milk also has a Firefox addon that lets you schedule and check off tasks from your browser. But the Gmail gadget offers a few major advantages. First, it will work with any web browser that supports Gmail. And second, you don't need to install a utility on every browser you use. Just login to your GMail account and your task list will be available.

[via VentureBeat]

Add Remember The Milk task manager to Gmail originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Video, Yahoo!, web 2.0, Web

Yahoo! is pulling out of its quest to bring live video streams of mundane things to the masses. The company has announced that it will shut down Yahoo! Live on December 3rd. Much like startups Justin.tv and UStream, Yahoo! Live provided anyone with a webcam with the tools to stream video over the internet and interact with large groups of people.

Yahoo! Live has been around since early this year, and represented one of the first efforts from a major web company to get involved with live, social video streaming. While it's tempting to read into the company's decision to shutter the service, the truth is that Yahoo! never really promoted the service widely and it doesn't appear to have been very popular. It's quite possible that companies whose sole purpose is to make this business model work will have an easier time coming up with a way to make live video streaming profitable.

Yahoo! Live video streaming service is dead originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

I wrote before about DropUpload, a simple utility to handle your FTP uploading chores. It's a nice, lightweight alternative for users that don't need a full-blown client like Filezilla.

Rightload is another great choice. Install it, and Rightload integrates into the Windows right-click context menu. Don't fret about clutter, it only adds a single line.

Right click any file or folder, hover on upload, and your list of FTP servers will appear (SFTP is also supported). Choose the folder to send your file to, and off it goes (or you can queue it up for transfer later).

While it's good and quick, simple uploads, Rightload is not so good at downloading the folder structure from your FTP server. On my server (which hosts a few domains, three Wordpress blogs, and a CubeCart install) it took forever, and then finally timed out.

I'd strongly recommend that you skip the directory synchronize function in favor of setting up directories manually. It's not that much harder, and it's faster.

Once you've got it set up, Righload is a great tool for quickly sending files via FTP. It's freeware, Windows only.

Free Rightload does simple context menu FTP originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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