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Categories:
Finance | Games - Local | Games - Online | Imaging Software | Internet Collaboration | Internet Service Providers | Misc Tools | Multimedia | Software Development
Finance:
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TaxAct (2nd Story Software)
For the past few years I have used the FREE TaxAct software to calculate and print my tax forms. (I'm not yet into that electronic filing stuff. It costs a bit more than a stamp.)
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TurboTax (Quicken)
A few years ago I downloaded a FREE Trial version of TurboTax that let you do everything but print the final completed forms. Then I transferred all the numbers by hand to my tax forms. It's really quite a nice product. This year they aren't offering a trial version; so I might try out their FREE Web-Based Version.
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Games - Local:
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Mini Golf (Flash Content)
This is a really cute mini golf game that runs in the Macromedia Flash player. It will literally keep you entertained for hours!
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Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator
Cool; cool; cool! This engine plays actual arcade ROMs on your home computer! Old historic arcade games come back to life with MAME! What a great idea!
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Games - Online:
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World Opponent Network
There are lots of fun and FREE Internet games here! Most require a small game engine to be downloaded and installed locally and then the game is played via the internet.
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Imaging Software:
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Design Workshop (Artifice)
This software is a Design-Oriented 3D Modeling package complete with Live Walkthrough; Presentation Rendering; and lots more! It's very easy to use and they even have a FREE Lite version that you can download and try out for yourself! It's great! I used it extensively to create 3D images of my shed during construction so that I could put detailed plans on the web!
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Paint Shop Pro Shareware (Ver 4.10)
I use Paint Shop Pro for all my imaging needs. It's very powerful imaging software for home use. This NON TIME-LIMITED Shareware version is not nearly as robust as the time-limited trial versions that JASC is now distributing from their Web Site. [Tricia from the UK writes: Thanks so much for providing this - a friend installed it on my computer a couple of years ago; but didn't give me the setup program. It's great to find it!]
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Internet Collaboration:
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AOL Instant Messenger (AOL - Time Warner)
AIM lets you know when friends are online and allows you to text-chat with them. Download the FREE AIM and find out why it's the No. 1 way to talk to your friends on the Internet. It's faster than e-mail; cheaper than the phone - and a lot of fun too. AIM lets you: Send instant messages to your friends; Participate in chat rooms; Get instant news and stock quotes; Find new friends online. As a new user; you'll have to come up with a username that isn't already taken.
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ICQ (Mirabilis)
ICQ (I Seek You) is similar to AIM in that it tells you when friends are online. But it also includes a powerful people-finding tool and has lots of additional features. ICQ recognizes many different modes of communication and allows you to launch peer-to-peer applications (like NetMeeting or Internet Games) and connects them to each other automatically. ICQ is a FREE program; but because it is so robust; it can tend to overwhelm beginners.
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NetMeeting (Microsoft)
NetMeeting is a easy to use little application for communicating across the Internet. All you need is a microphone and Internet connectivity and you can talk to anyone around the world. (The other user would also need NetMeeting and one of you needs to know the IP Address of the other in order to make the connection; unless you both sign on to the NetMeeting 'Phone Book' Server.) As with most streaming media; there is a small delay of a second or two; so it won't replace the telephone any time soon. But it is a FREE way to communicate across the Internet! It also supports video conferencing; whiteboard sharing; text chatting; file transfers; program sharing; and remote desktop sharing. Program and desktop sharing both allow the remote user to see and take control of programs on your computer and even your whole desktop; which is really cool! (Make sure it's someone you trust; before letting them take over your desktop!!)
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Internet Service Providers:
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NetZero - Defenders of the Free World
NetZero and Juno merged to form United Online. They provide lots of local numbers around the country. And the modem speeds are wonderful. I have no complaints. They offer a time-limited free service with a banner ad and console that runs the full width of your computer screen. Or they offer unlimited bannerless service for less than ten dollars a month. The small console is still there though. I've learned to live with it on my screen rather than to pay twice as much for another ISP.
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Misc Tools:
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AVG AntiVirus Free Edition
This is a pretty good antivirus solution for the home user. The only downside I've found is that you have to scan your computer manually.
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Convert Utility
Convert is a free units conversion tool that runs on Windows 9X/NT. Every engineer should have this tiny but useful application on his/her desktop!
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LogMeIn: Remote Computer Control
You can control your PC remotely using this free remote control software. There is a paid version with more capabilities but the free version is quite robust. The client is installed as a plugin on your web browser so you can control your PC from anywhere!
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NetLaunch (Black Castle Software)
NetLaunch is a FREE program that sits idly in your system tray just waiting for you to make a Dial-Up Networking connection. When it senses a connect or disconnect event; it will launch or close programs that you've configured. But that only scratches the surface of this powerful program! Once you've tried it; you'll wonder how you ever got along without it!
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PDF Creator (Open Source)
This is a tool that allows you to create PDF files from any application that can print to a printer. I use it almost daily at work. And it's FREE Open Source software!
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PuTTY Telnet
PuTTY is a FREE implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 platforms along with an xterm terminal emulator. I use it for all of my telnet needs on my PC. It works great and it is small and FREE. What else could you ask for?!?
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WS_FTP (Ipswitch)
WS_FTP LE (limited edition) is a FREE standard FTP client for Winsock. It has an easy-to-use graphical interface and advanced features. It contains profiles that can be set up to toggle between commonly visited FTP sites. The FREE LE version of WS_FTP (Ver 5.06) is no longer available from Ipswitch on their Web Site (www.ipswitch.com); but you can download it from download.cnet.com under Windows - Utilities - FTP. Ipswitch also sells a Pro version for about $40.
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War FTP Daemon (Jgaa's Internet)
War FTP Daemon is a FREE FTP server that brings together Unix-style security features; a BBS-like Windows interface for the system operator; extreme flexibility; Windows 95/NT 4.0 OLE support; multithreading design; and advanced software technology and performance. It's a great little server!
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WinZip (Nico Mak Computing)
WinZip is a straightforward zipping and unzipping shareware utility that includes built-in support for popular Internet file compression and archival formats such as TAR; ZIP; UUencode; XXencode; BinHex; MIME; and Unix-compressed files. ARJ; LZH; and ARC files are supported via external programs. An optional wizard simplifies unzipping and installing software in ZIP files. The non-expiring version of WinZip (Ver 6.3) is no longer available from the manufacturer on their Web Site (www.winzip.com); but you can still download it from download.cnet.com under 'Utilities' then 'File Compression'. The version that the manufacturer distributes now is a time limited demo version that they sell for about $30.
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ZoneAlarm: Free Personal Firewall
ZoneAlarm is the most widely used and also the easiest to use free Firewall software out there! If you're on the Internet (dial up or Broadband) you need this program!
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Multimedia:
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Blender (Open Source)
This is a way cool and way powerful application for creating 3D animated graphics. It takes a while to get used to the user interface but once you do you will be creating some cool stuff! This is the only free application that I am aware of that is capable of creating broadcast quality 3d animated motion graphics.
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NERO Burning Rom (Ahead Software)
NERO is a Fast; ultra-stable; powerful; and user-friendly CD Burner application. This software is not free; although you can download a free time-limited trial download. It works so well that I went ahead and actually paid for the full licence! That tells you how great it is!!!
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PrintKey (Gigaman)
I use PrintKey 2000 which I think was free at one time. I really like it. It is low overhead. It has many many features.
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RealPlayer Basic (RealNetworks)
The RealPlayer is a bit more robust than the Media Player from Microsoft. It includes customizable Channels that allow you access to daily news; etc at the touch of a button. The Basic version is FREE; and RealNetworks also has a Plus version that they sell for about $30.
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Windows Media Player (Microsoft)
Who needs multiple players? Windows Media Player delivers the most popular streaming and local audio and video formats; including Windows Media (WMA); MP3; WAV; AVI; AU; MIDI; MPEG; Quicktime (MOV); and more! This player is FREE from Microsoft!
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Software Development:
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Eclipse (Open Source)
This is a very powerful and very robust JAVA Integrated Environment (IDE). I can also be used to work in some other programming languages. I use it almost daily at work. And it's FREE Open Source software!
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Edit Plus Text Editor (ES-Computing)
This is my favorite text editor for PCs; and it is unlimited Shareware. I use it for all of my programming needs. It has syntax highlighting and a seamless Web browser for previewing HTML pages.
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Tortoise CVS (Open Source)
This is a nice little Windows based CVS client that plugs right in to your Windows file browser application. I use it almost daily at work. And it's FREE Open Source software!
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WinMerge (Open Source)
This is an awesome file and directory comparison (& merge) utility. I use it almost daily at work. And it's FREE Open Source software!
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