The Doc wants to show you great windows freeware & news, tech stuff, and more!
I love a good all-in-one system tweaking & cleanup program. Glary Utilities provides just that! Packed with features, it really satisfies. Let’s take a look at the program bit-by-bit.
Continue reading ‘Freeware Prescription of the Week: January 30, 2008: Glary Utilities’
I’ve not tested this Vista installation program out yet, so I’m not sure how good it is. However, the lowdown is that it allows you to customize a Vista installation so it won’t be so dang bloated. If you’re like me, you want a slim installation of an OS with no bells and whistles. Unfortunately, Vista has way too many bells and whistles. Here’s a good screenshot of some of the things you can change.
When and if I test it I’ll post about it.
Via Hexus.
Started in 2004, The Portable Freeware Collection lists–you guessed it–the best freeware that is portable. The webmaster of the site talks in detail about what constitutes portable freeware on his “about” page. Essentially, it needs to be very compatible, very unobtrusive, and without an installation requirement. There’s a feed to subscribe to and new portable freeware is added frequently. There’s also a great “all” page where each piece of freeware is sorted by type.
With the advent of flash drives and uber-portability, this is a key resource for free software. That’s why it gets a coveted drfreeware.com blogroll spot!
Yellow folder, yellow folder, yellow folder. Dull, dull, dull.
Windows XP doesn’t really make it all that easy to change the color or icon of your explorer folders. With iColorFolder, an open source application, you can change your folders individually via the good ol’ right click contextual menu, and more importantly you can change folders globally. There are some pretty cool designs, too, and there is an extra icon pack you can download.
So, start Vista-izing or MacOS-izing your system right now!
Via Digital Lifestyles.
Some of you may want to live like Martha Stewart. Many of us, though, want to live free! We want freeware. And lots of it. And we’re ecstatic about the freeware revolution known as open source. Open source, according to Wikipedia, “…is a set of principles and practices on how to write software. Literally ‘open source’ means the source code is available to the users.” The definition goes on to say that there should also be the implication that the source code can be modified.
With that said, there is a site that I came upon called Open Source Living. It’s so good that I’m adding it to the blogroll. It has a no-nonsense, easy-to-navigate layout that lists open source software by category. It does have some Mac and Linux mixed in, but it looks like it is mostly Windows-based.
Try it on for size and you’ll likely agree.
Indiegames.com, which as you might imagine indeed does focus on independent games, has a “best games of 2007” section, which this year highlighted the best freeware adventure games, the best freeware arcade games, and then another general category for the best freeware games of 2007.
With names like Fractal Fighter, Burn the Trash, Thule Trail, Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy, Death Worm, and Cottage of Doom, these are some lists worth looking through. Each of the lists goes into detail about each game, with screenshots, so you can see what the game is about in detail before downloading it. I’ve played Thule Trail, and it’s a pretty hip remake of a classic game that anybody over 25 or so should remember.
Via the random Gnomes’ random Lair (love that name), who listed the link for the best freeware adventure games of ‘07.
From MovieScope Magazine, they remark that “…filmmaking isn’t exactly ‘cheap.’” So, they have made a great list of freeware for filmmakers. There is some shareware, too, so be careful! It is labeled as such, so make sure you look before downloading! There’s pre-production, production, and post-production, so if you’re a “starving artist” but desperately want to be the next Spielberg, this is a great list to peruse.
Click on over to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll for an apparently comprehensive (or close to it) list of freeware programs that involve music, from editing and creating to zipping up and burning. Worth a look, especially if you’re into music.
America’s Army, a commercial-quality freeware game released by the U.S. Military in order to boost recruitment, has apparently saved a life!
A 28-year-old Paxton Galvanek played AA and trained as a combat medic. On November 23, 2007, he was cruising on the freeway in North Carolina near Raleigh when he saw, in the opposite lanes, an SUV flip five times. He stopped the vehicle, his wife called 911, and he made his way over to the victims. One of the two victims has lost two fingers, so he assessed the situation and wrapped the victim’s fingers with a towel and elevated the victim’s hand. Paramedics eventually arrived and Galvanek left the scene.
That’s a pretty awesome story. So, the next time someone tells you that a game is just a game…tell him/her that it could mean someone’s LIFE!
Via Slashdot, and the original detailed post.
