Farewell, readers. It’s been a lovely two years (almost) and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I won’t bore you with the reasons for my departure. Instead, I’m here to tell you that TheDailyBuggle will be under new management. So stay. Watch what happens. Please support the new site owner, I’m sure he’ll do better than I ever did.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading our articles just as much as we’ve enjoyed writing them. I hope you enjoyed our giveaways, our crazy giveaways. I hope you enjoyed our freebies. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.

Goodbye, TheDailyBuggle and readers. You’ll be missed.

Regards,
Jackson Chung, M.D.

There could be any number of reasons why someone would want to be an anonymous web browser while surfing the web. Perhaps you don’t want anyone snooping into your private life by knowing what sites you visit. Perhaps you’re up to no good and you want to keep the authorities off your trail (we hope that’s not the case). The most obvious reason for wanting to browse anonymously is for security reasons. You don’t want anyone stealing your bank information or even your identity, right? Neither do we. That’s why we’d like to share how easy it is be an anonymous web browser and browse the web privately.

Anonymous Web Browser: Method #1. Free Web Proxies

Web proxies, simply put, are servers (computers) that act as a third party in between the website’s server you are trying to access allowing you to browse anonymously without relaying any information to the target server. In other words, if you don’t want someone to know you’ve been to a site, visit this server instead (called a proxy), which in turn visits the site for you and then relays the information back to you. It’s kind of like sending a friend to convey a message for you and bring back a reply so the other person doesn’t know who you are. Here’s a diagram that helps explain it a bit better (found on the Wikipedia page for “Proxy server”):

There are several other uses for proxy servers but they happen to be an awesome tool to help Internet users browse anonymously. Simply put, there are two different types of web proxies: one replaces the way your browser connects to the internet so that all of the information is routed through the proxy and allows it to be an anonymous web browser; the other is a web site which you visit when you want to browse anonymously.

Proxy servers tend to come and go, so find a website listing that tries to keep up with working proxies. For instance, check out proxy4free.com for quite the extensive list of web proxies and you’ll be sure to find one that works. TryCatchMe.com worked fine for this test. Once you’ve found one that loads, you’ll find a box someplace on the site where you can enter a website you want to visit and browse anonymously.

The request for the site will then go through the third party site (the proxy) and allow you to view the site anonymously.

While you surf anonymously via a web proxy, you’ll notice that the URL in your browser’s address bar is another site that doesn’t even come close to resembling the site you’re viewing. You can also see the URL of the site that you’re browsing anonymously somewhere in the browser window. Most web proxy sites have some variation of this which shows you exactly what’s going on. Be happy that the middle-man server is disguising who you really are.

There are also several other sites that provide quick and reliable proxy server connections:

Vtunnel.com

KProxy.com

Anonymous Web Browser: Method #2. Use VPNs

Another way to surf anonymously is to use a VPN. You can either set up your own VPN server or use a commercial one like HideMyAss or BTGuard. While a proxy will allow you to surf the web anonymously, a VPN will connect all of your applications (instant messenger, email client) securely through the VPN service. As a result, all of your data is routed through a secure server and the target host will know nothing about you; thereby making you an anonymous web browser.

Anonymous Web Browser: Method #3. Incognito/Private Browsing

Every web browser has a special anonymous browsing mode that will prevent it from storing browsing history or cache on the computer. This method of anonymous browsing allows you to browse privately without leaving any trace of your activity on the local computer and is generally used to “cover your tracks”.

On Google Chrome, it’s called Incognito mode and can be activated by going to the File menu and selecting New Incognito Window. The browsing window then turns blue.

On Firefox, it’s known as Private Browsing and can be activated by going to the Tools menu and selecting Start Private Browsing. You’ll then notice that Private Browsing remains in the title bar.

On Safari, go to the Safari menu on a Mac (the Gear icon in Windows) and select Private Browsing. There will be a Private Browsing label in the address bar indicating that you are now browsing anonymously.

Anonymous Web Browser: Method #4. Secure Browsers

In addition to the methods stated above, there’s one more way to make you an anonymous web browser; that is to use a secure web browser that you can carry around. Both of the followings secure and anonymous web browsers are cross platform, so they will operate on Windows, Mac and Linux. Plus, they are portable, which means you can load them on your thumbdrive and use them anywhere.

SRWare Iron

SRWare Iron (Iron, for short) is a free, open-source, secure and anonymous web browser based on Chromium so it offers exactly the same features as Google Chrome. It comes with a built-in ad-blocker and more importantly, does not provide reporting, information-gathering and tracking capabilities so that you can web surf anonymously without being tracked.

Tor Browser Bundle

The Tor Browser Bundle utilises the Tor network coupled with a pre-configured browser called Aurora (based on Firefox) to allow you to browse anonymously. By sending your requests and data through the Tor network, you are camouflaging critical information about yourself: IP address, location, browser, etc. and will allow you to access sites which are blocked.

The Tor Browser Bundle is cross-platform and portable, so you can run it off a thumbdrive without installing any software.

Web browsing anonymously not only protects your privacy, it is good practice to maintain security of your sensitive information. You can never be too careful when browsing the web, especially in public places. If you have any suggestions on how to browse the web anonymously, please feel free to tell us in the comments.

If you’re thinking of starting your own WordPress site, then you’re in luck because bundleytic’s Getting Started with WordPress charity bundle has just been released. It features some really awesome stuff and best of all, LOADS of savings!

Not only will it save you heaps of money, it will raise heaps for charity as well. bundlelytic will be donating all of the proceeds to from the bundle to UNICEF’s Silent Emergencies Appeal — which is UNICEF’s emergency reserve of money which is used during emergencies around the world that doesn’t make the headlines but is still urgent and requires immediate support; providing emergency health services, and access to food and clean drinking water when they are needed the most.

So what exactly is in the Getting Started with WordPress bundle, you ask?

A 6-month Site5 hostBasic account worth up to $69

The first thing you’ll need in order to start a WordPress site is hosting, obviously (and a domain name, purchased separately). Site5 is a great web hosting company that’s dedicated to customer satisfaction. They’re responsive and friendly, and their servers are super stable — just about everything you need in a hosting company.

With every purchase of the bundlelytic Getting Started with WordPress charity bundle, you’ll receive a 6-month hostBasic account (worth up to $69), regardless of which server you pick. The hostBasic plan entitles you to unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, one website, and free assisted migration to Site5.

New customers only.

2 WordPress themes from Themify worth $118

Once you have a WordPress site started, you’ll need to dress it up with a beautiful theme — and that’s what you’ll get from Themify. Themify designs and creates beautifully elegant WordPress themes that support Google Font, CSS3, Javascript and HTML5. They’re known for their awesome responsive themes (that sport fluid layout that never break and work on desktops as well as mobile devices).

With every purchase of the Getting Started with WordPress bundle, you’ll have the freedom to select 2 developer themes ($118 value) for your brand new WordPress blog. Each theme comes with free lifetime updates, forum access and support, and unlimited use on any number of domains. Plus, you’ll also receive the Photoshop PSD files in case you decide to customise your theme later on.

3-month Hello Bar Pro plan with 2,500 monthly click-throughs worth $90

What’s the point of starting a WordPress site and publishing great articles if you can’t promote them? The Hello Bar is one of the most essential tools that should ideally be implemented on every website. It’s the Swiss-Army knife of web promotion — the Hello Bar allows you to promote your most interesting blog posts, encourage readers to join you on social sites, drive higher subscription rates and much more.

With your Hello Bar Pro plan included in the Getting Started with WordPress bundle, you’ll get a few additional benefits over the free plan i.e. 2,475 more click-throughs, unlimited and unbranded bars, the ability to import from RSS, SSL compatibility and the ability to save customised themes.

6-month Mad Mimi Basic plan with 5,000 subscribers worth $144

Once you’ve got some great articles going, you’ll need a way to inform your readers. Get them to subscribe to your newsletter and you’ll see a lot more returning visitors — a definite good sign that your WordPress site is doing well! Mad Mimi is the perfect email marketing service to get you on your way.

With their latest redesign, Mad Mimi is even easier to use than before. You can create your own sign up forms, set up drip campaigns that roll out after set intervals to welcome new subscribers, send out your latest blog posts beautifully-designed emails, integrate Google Analytics to check on your promotional stats, and more.

New customers only.

Pippity premium WordPress plugin worth $49

How do you get more newsletter subscribers? With a tactful pop up, of course. Now, not all pop up solutions work — some tend to annoy the reader but Pippity is an awesome WordPress plugin to create beautiful and smart pop ups. Capture the lead with precision and connect seamlessly with services like Mad Mimi, MailChimp, Constant Contact, 1ShoppingCart, Get Response, Campaign Monitor, Graphic Mail and iContact.

Pippity comes bundled with 12 beautiful designs and 6 pop-up bars. You’ll also be able to customise just about every aspect of the pop-up form and how they appear to your visitor — only on pages, on specific posts, categories, after a certain number of pageviews or at the end of articles. Create as many pop-ups as you like and determine which performs better with the built-in A/B Testing feature. As a result, you’ll have pop-ups that keep on converting.

3-month Sendible Solo plan worth $29.97

You would probably know this already but a successful WordPress site needs to have a social media presence. You need to engage your readers outside of your WordPress site and Sendible is the perfect way to do just that. Sendible makes it mind-numbingly easy to establish a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, among many other supported sites.

With Sendible, you can publish updates to multiple social streams, schedule updates to be sent out at regular intervals, set autoresponders for Twitter and Facebook, automatically follow anyone on Twitter, post images to Facebook or Flickr, even update your WordPress site. Using Sendible, you can also track the performance of your social media campaigns, and monitor keywords on blogs, news, comments and social networks that are relevant to your brand.

New customers only.

6-month Basic CodeGuard plan worth $99

After you’ve started your WordPress site and managed to get things rolling, you most certainly need to look into protect your asset. Things go wrong on the Internet all the time and it’s always good practice to have a backup copy of your WordPress site and its databases. With CodeGuard, your backups will always be kept up-to-date so in case anything goes wrong with your site, you’ll be able to restore a working version in no time!

A 6-month Basic CodeGuard plan (worth $99) in the Getting Started with WordPress bundle because it’s an essential component to running a WordPress site. With CodeGuard, your site will be monitored on a weekly basis and backups are performed automatically whenever changes are detected. You’ll also get automatic monthly backups, file change details, differential version tracking, weekly malware scanning and a 2 GB storage limit.

New customers only.

Bold theme from Organic Themes worth $69

For those who enjoy modern and minimal designs, Organic Theme’s Bold theme is sure to satisfy. It has a large featured slider which is perfect for showcasing new content, a versatile home layout, customisable colors and backgrounds and is mobile friendly.

This $69 Bold theme is provided as-is without support.

5 free themes from Themes Kingdom

Themes Kingdom was kind enough to sponsor five of their themes to be included in this bundle: Appos, Hstudio, Informer, Limeni and Storyline. You will be able to download these themes along with their documentations and PSD files with every purchase of the Getting Started with WordPress bundle.

These themes are provided as-is without support.

What’s the bundle worth? A whopping $609 if purchased separately. At bundlelytic, you can get it for just $59 (that’s 90% off!) and again, everything goes to charity.

It was an interesting giveaway wasn’t it? ArcSoft Perfect365 looks like an interesting application and we’re positive that you’ll use it to its fullest potential.

And now, here are the giveaway winners. They’ve each won a full license for Perfect365 and will enable them to export their photos at full resolution.

• K R
• mishasin
• Rene Gatdula
• Asriel
• Gregory
• Joey Pilon
• Les Siewert
• Venkatesh
• Ritchelle May Sagun
• CLMoses

Congratulations, winners! Please check your email inbox for your license. Check back tomorrow for our next giveaway!

A couple of weeks ago, we ran a giveaway where we offered 20 free copies of idoo File Encryption Pro. We’ve just ran the giveaway entries through the winner selection gizmo and these were the names it returned!

Congratulations to…

• Reynaldo Fuentes
• May Thy
• Jie
• adam
• Benjamin
• K R
• Donnie
• briareoushex
• Dacko
• Jesse Niou
• Heather
• ha14
• Elmar Panzenberger
• Justin Yang
• Suresh
• John d
• shashikiran
• John McMillan
• ayman
• Lesley

Please check your emails to find redemption information. Enjoy!

We’ve covered several image editing application before, like BatchPhoto Home, Corel PaintShop Pro, Paintslate, Arcsoft PhotoStudio 6, Archipelis Designer and Pixo SE. Today, we’ll be taking a look at another one-click photo manipulation software by Arcsoft — Perfect365.

Perfect 365 is a simple-to-use application that takes regular photos of yourself and instantly transforms it into a professional makeover. If you’re a female reader, you’d want to click through to read all about it. Plus, we’re giving away 10 copies of the full version of Perfect365 worth $299 in total! But first, a walkthrough.

Simply put, Perfect365 is nothing more than a powerful photo manipulation application that takes your regular self-portraits and turn them into something impressive that’s worth sharing or posting up on your Facebook profile.

Perfect365 is commonly mistaken as a free Windows/Mac application when it fact, the free version (which is available from Arcsoft) can only save a 600×600 copy of your image. To save your image in its full, native resolution, the full version has to be unlocked by purchasing a $29.95 license. In the meantime, you can download the free version and give it a try. Or you can also the web version here. Perfect365 is also available as a $1.99 iOS application designed for the iPhone — get it here.

On initial launch, Perfect365 will prompt you to open a photo. Pick any photo that you’d like to work on and Perfect365 will identify and process the image, and finally present it in the main interface.

On the left, you’ll have a selection of one-click transformations that you can apply.

They all have very subtle differences so you’ll have to pay close attention to detail. The effect is implemented almost instantly and is non-destructive, so you’ll be able to preview it while preserving the original image.

In the panel on the right, you’re presented with a myriad of options which you can enable or disable even after you’ve selected an instant transformation in order to fine-tune your makeover. There are a couple of really useful tweaks here. For example, there are options to slim your face, lift your cheeks and enhance your nose. Remember, these are effects that are usually done by professionals in Photoshop but you can now do it with just a click of a button. It’s really that simple.

If your makeovers aren’t turning out the way you were hoping, then it would be a good idea to adjust the key points. These points identify the position of the eyes, nose, lips, chin and sides of the face. Perfect365 does a pretty good job of estimating these points but you have total control over their positions.

When you’re done, it’s time to save your makeover. As previously mentioned, the free version can only save a 600×600 copy of the image. In order to save the image in its full resolution, a license is required. If you happen to win a copy from our giveaway, here is what you’ll need to do.

Click on the Upgrade to Full Version link.

Click on the blue Upgrade button.

You’ll receive a coupon code from us — enter it in the coupon code field and click on the Apply button.

The price will be reduced to $0.00 and you’ll get it for free.

Perfect365 is really easy to use and is a great way to enhance your photos before sharing them with family and friends. Even my fiancée (the girl in the photos) saw these screenshots and said that she doesn’t remember wearing any makeup in these photos. She sure was fooled — the photos looked convincing.

This week, we’re giving away 10 copies of Arcsoft Perfect365. Here’s how you can win one.

NOTE: preference will be given to fans of our Facebook page and newsletter subscribers. So if you haven’t subscribed, do so now by clicking on this link.

STEP 1

LIKE US and join our Facebook page. If you’re already following us, you may skip this step.

STEP 2

LIKE this post and spread the love. You can also share it using any of the social media buttons under this post.

Or retweet it!

Tweet

STEP 3

Announce that you’ve done your part by entering a comment below. Please use your real email address so that we can get in touch if you win.

And that’s it! You’re done!

No Facebook or Twitter?

You’re still eligible to join the giveaway provided you have a blog or website. Simply publish a post on your site/blog with a link to this giveaway and a short description. Then come back here and in the comments, tell us where you’ve published it. Easy!

This giveaway begins now and ends on Friday, Feb 17th. The winners will be selected at random and announced via email.

Spread the word to your friends and have fun!

We’ve had a few giveaways related to system security before but this is an interesting one. How much access control does an operating system really provide you with? What if you’d like to to hide, password-protect or write-protect or encrypt a particular folder on your drive? There aren’t tasks that come innately with Windows.

This week, we’re giving away 20 free copies of idoo File Encryption Pro (worth $99.98 each), a security software that allows you to hide, lock, or encrypt files, folders and drives on your computer. But first, a walkthrough.

Like all software, idoo File Encryption Pro needs to be downloaded and installed. Prior to the installation, idoo File Encryption will prompt you for a master password. This password is used to access locked folders later on so enter something memorable. You also have the option to associate an email address to retrieve your password in case you forget it.

Once idoo File Encryption Pro has been installed, it will prompt you for the master password before allowing you to access the application.

The main window is very easy to navigate. The security options are listed in the left panel — the options are: Hide Data, Deny Read, Deny Write and Encrypt. We’ll be going through all of these features.

Hide Data

This feature will enable you to hide files, folders and drives from view. Once hidden, the files, folders or drives won’t be seen from within Windows Explorer and there’s nothing that you can do from the operating system to bring them back. The list of hidden files, folders and drives can only be accessed via idoo File Encryption Pro.

Deny Read

Deny Read is, in other words, the option to password-protect files, folders and drives.

They can still be accessible from with Windows Explorer but you’ll be prompted to enter the master password.

Once Deny Read is activated, you won’t even be able to view the properties of the files, folders or drives that are being protected; which is a very nice touch.

Deny Write

Deny Write is probably the simplest function in idoo File Encryption Pro. Basically, it prevents any unauthorised changes. Once activated, files cannot be edited and folders cannot be changed. This is a simple yet valuable feature. However, I’ve found that instead of prompting for the master password, all you get is an error message. In order to make any changes to protected files and folders, you’ll need to go through idoo File Encryption Pro, remove the files or folders from the protected list, make the edits or changes, then re-add them to the list.

Encryption

Last, idoo File Encryoption Pro also enables you to encrypt files and folders and this functionality is intertwined into Windows Explorer. To encrypt any file, all you have to do is right-click on it and select “Encrypt a copy” or Encrypt to .exe”. The only difference between the two options is the ability to open the .exe file with any computer. Just by selecting “Encrypt a copy” you’ll specifically need idoo File Encryption Pro for the decryption process.

Personally, I haven’t tested this feature to see how it actually works.

Finally, we’ll go through some of the niceties found under the Settings panel. Here’s my favourite: if anyone tries to access a locked folder and incorrectly enters the password more than 5 times, you’ll receive an email about it. You can also set the program to disable y our account for 10 minutes after that.

idoo File Encryption Pro can also hide itself by entering an Invisible (Stealth) mode so no one will know that it’s running in the background.

All in all, idoo File Encyrption Pro is easy to use and comes with several highly desirable security features. There’s nothing much to complain about except the occasional grammar errors in the application. I haven’t actually tested any available support features but their email response time was acceptable.

idoo File Encryption Pro can be purchased from their online store for $99.98. The free version will allow you to only lock, hide or protect single files.

This week, we’re giving away 20 free copies of idoo File Encryption Pro worth $99.98 each!

NOTE: preference will be given to fans of our Facebook page and newsletter subscribers. So if you haven’t subscribed, do so now by clicking on this link.

STEP 1

LIKE US and join our Facebook page. If you’re already following us, you may skip this step.

STEP 2

LIKE this post and spread the love. You can also share it using any of the social media buttons under this post.

Or retweet it!

Tweet

STEP 3

Announce that you’ve done your part by entering a comment below. Please use your real email address so that we can get in touch if you win.

And that’s it! You’re done!

No Facebook or Twitter?

You’re still eligible to join the giveaway provided you have a blog or website. Simply publish a post on your site/blog with a link to this giveaway and a short description. Then come back here and in the comments, tell us where you’ve published it. Easy!

This giveaway begins now and ends on Friday, January 27th. The winners will be selected at random and announced via email.

Spread the word to your friends and have fun!

A couple of weeks ago, we published a giveaway featuring Auslogics Registry Fixer and it turns out that the demand for a such an app was pretty significant!

So here are the winners!

• David Lutchen
• Ryan Campbell
• Elmar Panzenberger
• Lydia Graham
• joa13
• Bearhair
• Kevin Fegan
• Heather
• Carol Merten
• Jie Y

Congratulations and enjoy your free copy of Auslogics Registry Fixer!

And now, announcing the winners of the Sticky Password giveaway! This must be a long-awaited moment for most of you but the time has come to find out if you’ve won a free copy of Sticky Password Pro 5.0!

And the winners are…

• Andy
• Cool
• Jerry
• Naits
• Patrick Gorospe
• Paultx
• Peep
• Terieron
• tuiruru
• William H.

Congratulations! Instructions on how to claim your license has already been emailed to you. Please enjoy!

Also, don’t forget about our latest offer: Giveaway: 10 x Auslogics Registry Fixer

Almost everyone likes word search puzzles, right? Here’s a bit of trivia: word searches are also known as word find, word seek, word sleuth or mystery word puzzles. Basically, they’re letters arranged in a grid and your task is to find all of the hidden words. Interestingly, the first word search puzzle appears in a digest sometime in 1968!

Today, you can easily make your own word search puzzles instead of waiting for a new one to appear in your local newspaper or favourite digest. The Internet affords a simple way of creating your very own word search puzzles with your own words and clues. There are, I’m sure, many sites to choose from when it comes to making your own word puzzles but this article will focus on one, mainly because it offers a nice list of different word-related puzzles you can create.

Here’s how you can make your own word search puzzles online. Have fun!

Build your own word search with DiscoveryEducation’s puzzle maker

DiscoveryEducation.com has a free puzzlemaker page with 10 different puzzles you can create, most of them having to do with words making them nice to include on fliers and other publications. The site makes the creation of these puzzles very simple. Let’s go ahead and make a few to demonstrate how simple it is to make your own word search puzzles.

As previously mentioned, a word search is a puzzle where you are given a square made up of what looks like random letters. Here’s an example of what one would look like (in case you haven’t seen one before):

The object is to find each word on the list hidden in the box of letters. Circle each word to keep track.

Design your own word search puzzle

Making your own word search puzzle consists of three parts: the title, the size of puzzle, and the list of hidden words. The word search creator is as simple as filling out a form containing each of those parts, including a few more settings to make the puzzle perfect for you.

The process of making your own word search puzzle is broken down into six easy steps:

1. Enter a title of the word search
2. Enter the size you want your word search puzzle to be (measured by number of letters)
3. Puzzle options: Do you want to use each letter only once, share letters occasionally, or share them as much as possible?
4. Output type: You can choose from HTML (if you plan to print it directly from your browser), text (for better formatting options once pasted into a project), and lowercase text.
5. Enter the words making sure you separate them with spaces, commas, or put a new word on each line.
6. Proofread the puzzle once generated. The app has filters in place to try to weed out offensive words that may be generated by accident. If you want to regenerate the word search puzzle, just click the back button and have it regenerated.

The free puzzle maker tool gives you the ability to create 10 different types of puzzles including: word search, criss-cross, double puzzles, fallen phrases, math squares, mazes, letter tiles, cryptograms, number blocks, and hidden message. Give them each a try. The instructions for each are just as easy to follow as the word search instructions.

Now that you know how to make your own word search puzzles, what kind of creative uses can you come up with for them?