Friday, October 28, 2005

'Tis a Gift to be Simple, Tis a Gift to be Free

Ok, today’s entry is decidedly different than the previous entries, but it may yet prove helpful for a few people.

Over time I have developed something of a reputation for free software acquisition. I don’t like paying money for things, and, thanks to the internet, many times I don’t need to. Here is a collection of several programs which are both free and useful/cool. Enjoy.

Don’t like how windows looks? Here are a few options to spice things up a bit.

Stardock
This site features a number of programs, most of which have a free version, which can transform your desktop.
Objectdock – a mac-like dock for the bottom of your screen. (Very cool)
Window Blinds – Changes the look and feel of your windows environment
Desktop X – Completely changes the user interface of windows
Icon Packager – New icons
Bootskin – Want a different picture when your computer boots up?
Blog Navigator – An easy way to keep track of all those blogs (like mine) that you are following.

OSX-E
This site features a number of free programs that will make the everyday desktop of a windows machine look and feel like a Mac. For one program that does almost everything for you, try using Flyakite OSX 2.0.

Artrage
Artrage is a fun paining program that has to be experienced to be appreciated

Opensong
Anyone who works with chord sheets and/or worship song projection needs to take a look at this excellent open source project.

Audacity
Audacity is a nice audio editing program with an open source community working hard to improve it.

Kristal Audio Engine
This is an audio editing program that isn’t open source, so it can’t be universally developed, but it is still good.

Photo Story 3
Want to make good looking, simple slide shows of pictures with music? Check this out.

Gimp
A great program that offers an alternative to Paintship or Photoshop – and it is free!

Trillian
Don’t like having Yahoo, MSN, and AOL all open on your desktop at the same time? Try Trillian which lets you use all three within one interface.

Picasa
This is a terrific photo organizer!

Hello
Hello is a great instant messenger designed primarily to send pictures back and forth. It is integrated with Picasa.

Grouper
File too big to email? Start a private fire-sharing group with your friend and send it with this handy program.

Rainlender
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a program that puts your calendar on your desktop in a small and unobtrusive way and links with Outlook or iCalendar? Look no longer!

Microsoft Reader
In conjunction with the next link, Microsoft Reader will put thousands of books (many, many classics) at your fingertips – for free!

Massive e-text library
Those books I talked about, a bunch of them are here.

Online Bible
Need to study the Bible on a budget, try this program or the easier to use (but slightly less functional program below) one below. I use both of these in seminary. 

E-Sword
Nicely laid out Bible software. They also have a version for the Pocket PC!

Evernote
This cool program imitates OneNote for Microsoft and provides a virtual notepad that instantly saves, catalogues, and chronologically organizes any comments, lists, pictures, or anything else you can copy and paste.

OpenOffice
Tired of using Microsoft Office? Want to try something different – for free? Give OpenOffice a try and enjoy the recent benefits of the just-released version 2.0.

Spybot
This spyware program is still on of the strongest on the web. Use this tool to clean the sneaky web critters from your computer.

Antispyware
What does Microsoft do when people complain about too many viruses? Well, for one thing they buy an anti-spyware company, work the program code over to work well with windows, and then release it for free. This is perhaps the best spyware program I have used so far.

Wax, Winmorph, Wink and Frameserver
If you enjoy tinkering with images (like blending them with other pictures, animating them, etc.) then you need to check out these programs.

3Planesoft
Awesome screensavers. Seriously. (They have a nag screen after about a minute, but they are still cool anyway.)

Starsiege Tribes
Ok, two entries for all you gamers out there. (Note: I play these very little, so I don’t know what potentially objectionable material may be in them.)
This is a little online game that is pretty simple. Strap jet packs to the backs of robot-alien people things, give them guns and turn them loose.

America's Army
If you have a high end machine with good graphics capabilities, give this free game from our very own U.S. government a try. You even get to go through a version of boot camp.

Mario 3 - Mario Forever and Bod Blob
Mario – plumbing at its finest.

Genesis IV and Landscape Explorer
Want to generate 3D landscapes or integrate geographical data with maps? This is your cup of tea.

Konfabulator
Everybody loves widgets, here’s a whole bunch.

Now3D
3D modeling at its cheapest.

PearPC
With this program you can actually install MacOSX on a PC. True, it comes with limited functionality, but hey, it’s still kinda cool.

Google Earth
For those who have yet to check this software out, its time you took a look. VERY COOL!

Firefox and Thunderbird
Lastly, here is a link to Mozilla’s very famous web browser and mail utility.

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