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.
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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.
I’m going to, on a weekly basis, go in-depth with one piece of freeware and talk about why you must download it and start using it. Sometimes, using software is a pure personal preference, so you can disobey the Doc’s orders and not take these weekly pills (that don’t cost you a dime, mind you), but you do so absolutely at your own peril. Some of this software you will have heard of, some of it will be more obscure, but all of it extremely useful. I won’t highlight it here if it’s not among the best on the internet, in my humble opinion, of course.
So, without further ado!
Continue reading ‘Freeware Prescription of the Week: January 20, 2008′
Wikipedia…just an encyclopedia? No, it’s much more than that. It’s changed the internet and information distribution. But, for a free software enthusiast such as myself, I care more about the freeware. And, though you might not think so, it provides many great resources to get free software.
Since Wikipedia is open source itself, then you might imagine that they’d be pro-open source stuff. And they are! There’s a great list of it right here. Hide the “contents” box and slowly scroll down the page. Most pieces of software even have their own pages and descriptions. Pretty awesome, huh? Other lists include list of formerly proprietary software, and a list of freeware project directories, and a list of free software hosting places on the internet.
There’s also tons of game-specific freeware lists! How about a list of freeware games, an alphabetical list of freeware games, a list of commercial games released as freeware, an alphabetical list of open source games, a list of open source games by genre, and for you who love lots and lots of free gun violence, a list of free first-person shooters. It seems as if there are way too many lists, but I can’t complain much about freeware games.
Another sweet Wikipedia resource is the free software portal. It has different featured articles, free software categories, free software terminology, and topics related to free software. This page changes from time-to-time as Wikipedians update it and add content, so it’s one to keep checking.
Courtesy of Slashdot (or /. if you prefer), here’s a great list of freeware games from 1up.com. Be sure to remember to eat and go to the bathroom: this is a massive list.
And while you’re at it, 1up.com has the top freeware games from 2007 and 2006. Wow.
PC World has 14 great freeware picks from Sunday ranging from an interesting (and Al Gore-friendly) CO2 saver monitor, an Audacity-like sound program, a screen ruler, and a TVU player-like streaming TV application. They seem worthy of a look. Check them out!
There are a few must-visit freeware sites that I have on my blogroll. Now, granted, there are lots of places on the internet to find free software. Often people will have one-page lists of great freeware. That’s all fine and good. But I want a little bit of depth and perhaps a description or review, or at least freeware that is hand-picked by people who know what they’re talking about. Another problem: often a lot of regular, high-traffic websites list shareware alongside freeware (*ahem* cnet) so it gets harder to find REAL freeware. Or you’re browsing a site and it says “free download.” Yeah, free download sometimes = unfree software. I’m a freeloader, I’m sorry.
So, these sites listed stick to freeware and freeware only, and either have reviews, popularity counts, or are at least hand-picked by someone! Anyway, they’re absolute can’t-miss location.
Snapfiles Freeware: This is one of the first places (other than this blog!) that you should look for freeware. It is very well-organized, thorough, although not as thorough as some other sites. But, the best ones in each category are almost always there. Each of them has reviews by Snapfiles and users, so it’s easy to quickly gauge which ones to download. Definitely at the top of my list.
Freeware Home: Comprehensive, great freeware site. Honestly, if I wanted to find a hard-to-find piece of free software, other than Google this is the first place I’d search. Tons of listings. Well-worth the visit.
Freeware Files: A site that has been around for a long time and has a great interface and listings. Easy to find the most popular downloads so you can get exactly what you want. Worthy of frequent revisits.
Pricelessware Freeware: You certainly can’t go wrong with an uber-nerd site like this. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. The newsgroup alt.comp.freeware users come up with their picks and make a list on a yearly basis. Heck, you can go all the way back to 2000 (courtesy of the internet archive). The 2007 summary list has a ton of freeware on it, or you can see specific 2007 lists by category. Brilliant!
Game Hippo: Awesome name and awesome site. Get this: all freeware games. And lots of them. And lots of those lots are really excellent games. Some are even previous commercial software, which helps to show that it’s possible to play great games for a long time–years–and not pay a dime. In future blog posts I’ll cover some great freeware games for your enjoyment.
There you have it, so go start downloading, and you can thank me later. (And thanks to all the thousands of great freeware authors for making free software. Some of it, is, honestly, just as good as commercial software.)
Rest in peace! I used Netscape Communicator (version 4, I think) for a long time in the late 90’s while designing my website. It was about the coolest thing on the net, and I never thought about using Microsoft IE.
Look at that logo. Pure badassery. (It was hard to find.)
Since this is a freeware site, and this is the first real post, let’s define what freeware is.
Wikipedia says it is “copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of charge, for an unlimited time.”
Some NOTs:
- Shareware is NOT freeware.
- Freeware does NOT have to be open source or have the source code made available.
Some CANs:
- Freeware CAN have user-type limitations, like only free for an individual or non-profit use.
- Freeware CAN have time limitations on use, but if any pay-or-you-can’t-use enters the picture, it’s not freeware but shareware.
- Freeware CAN require registration or require you to send the author a postcard if you like it (”postcardware” is borderline freeware).
- Freeware CAN include a request for donations, as long as it is not required. A donation nag screen is borderline.
Pricelessware Freeware also has a great glossary worth looking at that distinguishes the different types of software.
To me, though, true freeware is for anyone, for any purpose and is without time limitations (as long as you don’t fool with the software or deconstruct it, of course). True freeware allows Mr. Billionaire Gates or Mr. Homeless W. Wireless to use some piece of software for world domination or to paint some pictures, or both.
It’s 2008. New year, new blog. I hope to make this into a great one. Subscribe to the feed to get daily freeware news, software picks, and more.
Viva la freeware!!
