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Newsletter Archive Reviews Archive 
Welcome to Clif Notes Newsletter
January 14, 2007
REVIEWS
PricelessWare 2007 - the best of 2006's freeware
reviewed by ClifNotes, Jan 2007 - _ Software Collections
Notes from Clif
The beginning of a new year is always a good time to check out the Pricelessware list of the year's best freeware. It's difficult to find a better place to load up on great freeware that has been tried and reviewed. The Pricelessware list is the best of the best in Freeware that has been selected by the participants in the alt.comp.freeware Usenet news group.
If you ever have a question about any freeware application, or are looking for freeware for a specific job, go to ACF (news://alt.comp.freeware). You will rarely find this group at a loss for words of advice. One easy way to join the discussions at ACF, is to join them at the Google Groups site. Most of the people at ACF use a news reader application to access the group.
Quote from pricelesswarehome.org
The Pricelessware slogan is "the best of the best in Freeware". Freeware is: Legally obtainable software that you may use at no cost, monetary or otherwise, for as long as you wish. All the programs listed are free but some are not Freeware. Freeware is noted as such. Other "ware" types are also noted. See alt.comp.freeware's Ware Glossary for definitions of the "wares" shown in program descriptions. There are NO Adware/Spyware programs on the Pricelessware List.
Go to PricelessWare2007
Amp Tile Viewer - viewing tiled backgrounds
review from ClifNotes, Jan 2007, permalink _ Image Viewers
from CherokeeCandy
I was opening a program, inserting a background, click a view button to see it tiled, click the off view button to click to insert another background and yep you guessed it to see this one I had to click the preview button to see it tiled... and the scenario continues on and on and alot of times I would forget what the previous one looked like so would have to get it again. Many of us were plagued with this setup to view our backgrounds.
I wrote to Clif knowing that if anyone would know some program to suit my needs he would be the wisest and once again Clif came through for me. I found several other programs that are quite similar to this one, and I did download 3 and they all pretty much do the same thing... This one was my pick... Thanks Again Clif... Your Friend... CherokeeCandy
Thanks for the great review. If you ever need help with Paint Shop Pro, be sure to visit Candy's PSP page.
http://www.cherokeecandy.com/PSP/
Quote from the website
This program is an image viewer that display the images as a mosaic, using the image like a tile texture. Some of its features are:
http://www.ampsoft.net/utilities/TileViewer.php
PC Decrapifier - cleans out the stupid free programs you don't want
review from Tiffany, Jan 2007, permalink _ System Maintenance
PC Crapifier looks like a most welcome and much needed program, and received rave reviews everywhere from Chris Pirillo to Major Geeks, who rates it "Geek-o-licious"! I know that you understandably like us to try out these programs before recommending them, so I downloaded this one but apparently my computer is so clean already, there was only one program listed (MusicMatch Jukebox). I decided to keep that one, so I end up not removing anything! I do, however, think that a lot of your readers will appreciate this program. Think of "PC Decrapifier" as an automatic garbage cleaner for that brand new computer with the numerous pre-installed "helpful' software programs. You know the ones... like all those "free gifts" that come with a new Dell; AOHell and such. They'll slow your new computer down to a crawl. Even if your computer isn't brand new, but still has some pre-installed garbage on it, you can use it to get rid of some of those difficult to remove, factory-installed applications.
Tiffany
********************************************
http://tiffanycartier.stumbleupon.com/
http://hello-kitty.group.stumbleupon.com/ =^..^=
********************************************
Quote from the website The PC Decrapifier, for Windows XP only, is designed to remove a specific list of unwanted software in an unattended fashion. Before running, the user may select exactly what software should be removed.
Simply download the file, open the zip file and run the EXE. There is no installer necessary. If you have anti-virus software installed, it may complain about this program because it is written with a scripting language. These warnings can be safely ignored. When it runs, it looks for any software that it knows how to remove and presents you with a dialog box:
You may then pick and choose what you want to remove.
It will not begin removing anything without prompting you first! Hit the “Process” button and it will begin cleaning your PC. If it does not find anything a pop-up box will notify you of this and the program will exit and not modify your PC.
http://www.yorkspace.com/pc-de-crapifier/
PDFCreator - Print to create PDF copies of almost anything
review from ClifNotes, Jan 2007, permalink _ PDF Tools
I used to recommend a free program called CutePdf, which allows you to print from any application and create a PDF file. I'm trying out PDF Creator now and it's every bit as easy to use. It's also simpler to install and Open Source software.
Creating a PDF isn't something that everyone is screaming to do, but it does have it's uses. For example, let's I'm on a trip and I want to print something from my laptop computer. I sure don't carry a printer with me but I can print any thing I can see into a PDF file. Then I can store it to look at later or send it to one of my friends by email. I also use a PDF printer at work and you'd be surprised how many times someone has seen me create a PDF and say "Wow! That's cool!".
BillWebb once wrote me about his view on PDF's and why he uses them.
... one of the biggest advantages to PDF's is that they can be opened by any machine, running any operating system -- all they need is the free Adobe Reader -- and they also prevent anyone from easily altering your work. That helps justify the size of the files, which can be huge in comparison with .rtf, or even .doc sometimes.
Quote from the website
PDFCreator is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application.
Key Features:
- Create PDFs from any program that is able to print
- Security: Encrypt PDFs and protect them from being opened, printed etc.
- Send generated files via eMail
- Create more than just PDFs: PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, EPS
- AutoSave files to folders and filenames based on Tags like Username, Computername, Date, Time etc.
- Merge multiple files into one PDF
- Easy Install: Just say what you want and everything is installed
- Terminal Server: PDFCreator also runs on Terminal Servers without problems
- And the best: PDFCreator is free, even for commercial use! It is Open Source and released under the Terms of the GNU General Public License.
EverNote - say good-bye to scraps of paper
review from Tiffany, Jan 2007, permalink _ Info Management
This one looks like a real winner. It does so much that learning to use it can seem a bit more complicated than other programs, but I think it will be worth it. I've made a few notes, and so far, everything works flawlessly. Here is my review:
Say good-bye to scraps of paper on your desk, 'post-its' stuck here and there, and Sticky Notes on your computer. This program does everything but serve you breakfast in bed! EverNote is a FREE note-taking application for users of all desktops, laptops and tablets. New features include links to notes, new clipping and drag-and-drop capabilities, spellchecker, multiple databases in separate windows, password protection of entire database, and more. EverNote includes a lot more functionality than Microsoft's OneNote, and unlike Google's Desktop Search, only finds information that you've put into it. This brilliant little application lets you search a broad array of files on your desktop: PowerPoint slides, Excel pages, Word documents, handwritten notes and even photographs. An integrated optical character recognition tool translates road signs and other words in photos for the search engine. EverNote, with its endless roll of paper, even includes handwriting recognition software.If you're the adventurous type, there is a new beta 2.0 version out, which you can try for free for 90 days. After the trial period is up, it will revert back to the FREE version, so I'm trying it out now. Since we all know a picture is worth a thousand words, this Demo has got to be worth a million. Take a look, and you'll wonder how you ever lived without this ingenious program!
Tiffany
********************************************
http://tiffanycartier.stumbleupon.com/
http://hello-kitty.group.stumbleupon.com/ =^..^=
********************************************
Quote from the website
With EverNote you can easily capture, store and quickly access typed and handwritten memos, webpage excerpts, emails, phone messages, addresses, passwords, brainstorms, sketches, documents and more!
http://www.evernote.com/en/products/evernote/features.php
ReciPC - old school recipe collecting
review from ClifNotes, Dec 2006, permalink _ Data Query & Management
From Joe F:
How about keeping your eyes open for a good kitchen recipe program that would allow a person to enter recipe ingredients and directions and then (here's the kicker) GENERATE A SHOPPING LIST once a series of recipes was selected?
Thanks
Joe
From Clif in reply:
I didn't find exactly what you are looking for, but this one's close ...
http://www.free-pc.hu/unic/applic/description/recipc.zip.html
Have fun!
Clif
After playing with it for awhile, I found a few problems. This program was written for Windows 3.1, back in the old days when file names were always no more than 8 characters long with a three letter file extension. When you unzip the program, you also might want to place it at the root directory on your C: drive.
Example: C:\ReciPC
Also, the EXE file RcpZip.exe, is a self-extracting archive. Translation: "Pain in the butt". You have to point it to the location you want to create the files it contains. Pay attention to where you tell it to unzip the files so you don't lose them. There are also DLL files in the original zip folder you will need to place in the program folder.
When it asks you to create a data folder, make sure the folder name is less than 8 characters and has no spaces or any non-alphabetical characters in it.
This program needs to be updated and repackaged to work ... if it will work at all for some people.
Sorry Joe, maybe one of the readers here will tell us about a better program in the comments section below.
Quote from the website
ReciPC is an easy-to-use recipe management program. With it you can enter your best recipes and classify them into various categories, such as Meats, Vegetables, Desserts, etc. You can search for a recipe you want to prepare based on the category of food, the preparation time, or even selected ingredients! For example, if you wanted to bake a cake, but you only had 1 egg, you could search your cookbook for all cake recipes requiring 1 egg or less.
ReciPC allows you to print a variety of items from your cookbook. You can not only print out a single recipe, you can print out several recipes at a time. You can even print an entire cookbook. A cookbook printed in ReciPC contains all of your recipes, along with a table of contents and a cross reference showing which recipes are classified under each category. The cookbook makes it easy to find recipes in a given category, by reviewing the cross-reference for each category and then referring to the recipe details. The table of contents makes it easy to find the page any recipe is printed on.
http://www.free-pc.hu/unic/applic/description/recipc.zip.html
Enigma - game from the 90's
review from TopFreeware, Jan 2007, permalink _ Games
From Tony at topfreeware.net
As you move on, it get's more advanced and other elements are introduced in order to complete the levels. While you are playing, tips are also displayed in the the bottom window to help you.
It comes with a helpful manual and you can also create your own levels if you wish.
Kind Regards
Tony
www.topfreeware.net - The best freeware downloads and tips to optimize your system
Quote from the website
Enigma is widely considered one of the most addictive, polished and free puzzle games. Don't believe us? Here's what some of our users think:
- That cunning little game seems determined to steal what sanity and free time I have left. Entirely too much fun!
- I play Enigma since few days, and I would like to thanks all the team for making such a good game, with no bug, great graphics, very tought levels ;), and incredible playability.
- These games are so good that I cannot understand why they are not sold commercially. Anyhow, I am pleased they exist.I will watch your progress on your homepage. It must be a huge challenge to create such perfect games.
- Enigma is the most fun game I have ever played.
- Thanks for writing such a fun and exciting game. I just love puzzle games, and this is one of the best I've seen.
Advanced WindowsCare Personal - malware scan, registry scan, system tweaking
review from the readers, Jan 2007, permalink _ System Maintenance
Quote from the website
Find What Others Miss
Slow down, freeze, crash and security threats are over. Advanced WindowsCare Personal is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes an one-click approach to help protect, repair and optimize your computer. Scanning and finding what other utilities miss, it can keep your PC error-free and smooth than ever. This fantastic program is available free of charge for private use.
http://www.iobit.com/AdvancedWindowsCarePersonal/index.html
Outlook Express Quick Backup - backup your Outlook Express email and settings
review from ClifNotes, Jan 2007, permalink _ E-mail Backup
A few years ago, I used to use Outlook Express exclusively for my email. Over time, I learned lots of tricks for OE and I also learned how to back up my emails. It always took me a good deal of time setting up OE after a re-install of Windows because I had to add all of my many email servers manually. Once I'd found this program, that problem was history and restoring my email from backup was a five minute process instead of hours.
There may be payware programs out there that do a better job but this one works and it's very cheap. Actually, it's free!
Quote from the website
able to backup a system's Outlook Express files and settings in case of some unfortunate accident. It is not a program for transferring OE from computer to computer unless you wish to do a bit of editing, which can easily be done if you are savvy enough. If you just need to be able to transfer the DBX files to another computer, it of course will back them up so you can IMPORT then into the second system.
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/
OutlookHelper - additonal features for Outlook Express
review from ClifNotes, Jan 2007, permalink _ Outlook Add-ons
Well folks, I've never used Outlook (payware). I've always used Outlook Express, which comes with every copy of Windows. For those of you out there who use Outlook, here's a nice looking tool from a safe website. This tool will not work on Outlook Express as far as I know.
PS: I haven't tried this one so I'd appreciate any comments from those of you have used it.
Quote from the website
OutlookHelper is a great FREE Outlook supplement,
With more than a dozen MUST- HAVE features.
With this OutlookHelper you can easily:
Upload files to your private storage at www.OutlookHelper.com.
Create your own Cool Animated mails.
Create Voice mails.
Advanced chat mail based system.
Preview images of multiple selected mails mail at once, even without opening them!
Advanced features in preview window.
Easy monitoring for each image.
Make a quick saving for selected image.
Easy saving images for selected mails.
Advanced file search in Outlook.
Automatically saving specific file types (Not only images) To a specific folder for incoming mails.
Make a smart distribution list sending, which excludes the sender and all the mail recipients.
System Tray notifier.
A virus alerter.
And much more
http://www.outlookhelper.com/olh_main.asp?
Old Newsletter
I like to look back and see what I was thinking about. Here's another letter from the wayback machine.
http://freewarewiki.pbwiki.com/ClifNotesNewsletter050116
TIPS AND FEEDBACK
What's new with John Hood?
From John:
Tue, Jan/09/2007
I've added a couple of programs, iDailyDiary was added to Calendars. and Scribus was added to graphics page as a Quark Express/Pagemaker replacement.Also, I got a tip from Ken at Telus.nat that Nvu web page designer has almost stopped development. I check it out and it sure looks like it - the latest release was June of 2005. Ken says there is a development fork called Kompozer. I'm going to do some testing and see if it's the replacement. Thanks to Ken!
John Hood's - The Best of Free Software for Business and Productivity
http://www.jhoodsoft.org/
TOP 300 Freeware software
Tip from CC, Jan 8 2007
CC wrote in with this link to 300 or so freeware applications that are well organized by category and a brief description. Super!
http://www.winaddons.com/top-300-freeware-software/
Office, Archive managers, Internet, P2P, Chat, Security, Network, Servers, Audio, Video, Image, 3D, Developers, CD/DVD, Codecs, System Ulilities, UI Enhancements, Hardware monitoring/Benchmarking, Games, Education, Miscellaneous, Wallpapers
Links from Giorgos in Greece
Jan 2007, permalink
Back in November, Giorgos wrote me with a set of links that he'd written down while resting from an illness. I'm happy to report he's feeling better now.
From Giorgos
Hi Clif! :-)As the weird named virus caught me by surprise, I went to my bed without any books for reading. So, I ordered a couple of PC magazines, for spending some otherwise harrowing hours. :-)
Maybe you can find an interesting link there, (I wasn't able to test them, sorry!)
Giorgos.
from PC Magazine (GREEK edition: www.e-pcmag.gr
http://biggerboat.com (search page for multimedia)
http://www.widgipedia.com (widgets for every use)
http://yotophoto.com (icons (pictures? its the same word in Greek) royalty free, search by color)
http://tinyurl.com/sw65p (tools for YouTube)
http://www.faketown.com (chat at a virtual world)
http://www.songtapper.com (hitting spacebar for rythm)
http://www.idiomag.com (rss organising)
http://www.spotdj.com (commenting iTunes,)
http://useamap.com (for Google Maps)
http://tinyurl.com/y8bshv (for Google Gdrive)
http://tinyurl.com/yxe368 (for Google Reader and Gmail)
http://tinyurl.com/yx4udg (for Firefox 3 suggestions).
http://tripconnect.com (for travelling informations).
http://myheritage.com (for genealogy) with face recognition you can find who famous person is like you.
http://blufr.com (online trivia game).
http://gabbly.com (a little chatroom).
http://www.searchvideo.com (from AOL. mainly for developers).
http://go2web20.net (all the Web v2 services).
from PC World (Greek magazine): www.pcw.gr
http://www.computerhistory.org
http://www.desklock.com (free for home users, Liteware?)
http://www.ntwind.com/software/winsnap.html (yet another capture utility)
Wikibooks - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
Wikinews - http://www.wikinews.org
Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Wiktionary - http://www.wiktionary.org
Wikispecies (biology) - http://species.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Wikisource (history) - http://wikisource.org/wiki
Wikiquote - http://en.wikiquote.org
WikiTravel - http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page
World66 - http://www.world66.com
Wookieepedia (StarWars fans) - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Memory Alpha (Star Trek fans) - http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Main_Page
fanstuff Wiki (for games, stories, cartoons) - http://fanstuff.hrwiki.org
Uncyclopedia (totally fake informations) - http://uncyclopedia.org
TV IV (TV related) - http://tviv.org
Lyriki (lyrics?) - http://lyriki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Linux Questions - http://linuxquestions.org
Encyclopedia Gamia (for games) - http://egamia.com/wiki/Main_Page
CookBook - http://www.cookbookwiki.com
Chainki (links?) - http://en.chainki.org
WikiIndex (Wikis catalog?) - http://wikiindex.com/WikiIndex
h2g2 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2
WikiHow (various thematology) - http://wikihow.com
JotSpot (online notes, project cooperation) - http://www.jotspot.com
Community Wiki (online wiki) - http://www.communitywiki.org/odd/HomePage
SeedWiki (wiki hosting) - http://www.seedwiki.com
WetPaint (WYSIWYG wiki) - http://www.wetpaint.com
wiki.com (WYSIWYG wiki) - http://www.wiki.com
Wikispaces (strange lic) - http://www.wikispaces.com
WikiLog - http://www.wikilogs.com/FrontPage
Socialtext Workspace - http://www.socialtext.com
Cardboard - http://sourceforge.net/projects/cardboard
Fromage - http://fromage.sourceforge.net/
Connected Text - http://www.connectedtext.com
Tiddly Wiki - http://www.tiddlywiki.com
Web editor NVU - http://www.nvu.com
Blogger - http://www.blogger.com
WordPress - http://www.wordpress.com
MSN Spaces - spaces.msn.com
http://www.savetheinternet.com
Comments last week
Thanks to everyone who commented on the articles last week. You gave me more ideas and some good advice. If you see comments on an article, you will be missing out if you don't click on them to take a look.
If you commented last week, check to see who commented on your comment!
Here are the comments from last week.
2007 Battle of the Calendars •
UXTheme Multi-Patcher - changing XP's Desktop Visual Styles •
Terragon and Swistakowy Klopot - strain your brain •
GreatNews - read your RSS feeds fast and easy •
Super Mario Bros. 2.5D - playing an old favorite in 3D •
Free Riva FLV Encoder 2.0 - make Flash videos for a website •
FLV Online Converter at Vixy.net •
JPEG Saver - good screensaver to view all your pics •
NoScript - Firefox addin •
ClipMarks - Firefox addin for socially ranked web clippings •
MediaMonkey - for serious music collectors •
8Start Launcher - program launcher and desktop organizer •
What's new with John Hood? •
COOL WEBSITES
Software for Starving Students - a website and CD full of good freeware
review from ClifNotes, Jan 2007, permalink _ Software Collections
Under review
Tip from Mike at Carputers.net
Quote from the website
Software for Starving Students is a free collection of programs organized for students (but available to anyone). We've gathered a list of best-in-class programs onto one CD (one disc for OS X, one for Windows), including a fully-featured office suite, a cutting-edge web browser, multi-media packages, academic tools, utilities and more.
TTCS OSSWIN CD - a collection of Free/Open Source software
review from ClifNotes, Jan 2007, permalink _ Software Collections
Here's a great tip from Mike at Carputers.net. Thanks to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. I was surprised that the folks on a small island in the Caribbean have put together such a great website. I imagine Trinidad and Tobago is a magical place full of surprises. Click the picture on the left to see where it is.
Quote from the website
The TTCS OSSWIN CD is a compilation of Free/Open Source software for the Windows platform and offers a web based interface for you to easily browse the over one hundred programs on the CD. Each program's webpage contains a short description, a screenshot, its key features, useful program related links and a link to download/install the program from the TTCS OSSWIN CD.
HOME PAGE: http://www.ttcsweb.org/
THE SOFTWARE: http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-cd/index.htm#softwareoncd
Websites I've visited recently
Have you seen any cool websites you want to share with us?
NEW NEWS
SnapFiles.com - new and updated freeware
Source - http://snapfiles.com/freeware
News from Sarah in Tampa
Security news from Malware Advisor
blog by TeMerc Internet Countermeasures, source
Infected? Go to http://temerc.com for help
OTHER STUFF
Get Gmail! and Get Firefox!
You need a free 2.7 GB Gmail account to access many of the cool features at Google. I'll send you an invitation right away if you write me and say I WANT GMAIL.
I think Gmail works best in the awesome Firefox browser. It's free, easy to use, and it's way more secure than Internet Explorer. My favorite thing to do is to customize Firefox so that it does much more than IE ever could. You can select new button controls for your toolbars, install extensions to add new features, or change the look of your browser with themes - the way Firefox looks and works is under your control.
Chatting at FreewareWiki
Now you can chat with anyone visiting a website by using Gabbly. To see who's gabbing at this website, click here.
Find out more about Gabbly.com
Frapper - you people live all over the world!
Wow! Over 400 people and still growing! I invite all of you to record your locations on this map. You can include as little or as much information as you wish. I think you'll enjoy seeing yourself there.
Here's a small look at my frapper map.
Write your own review
I get many of the reviews in the newsletter from the readers. You don't have to be a genius or computer guru. Just answer a few questions and send me a review. I'll probably put you in the newsletter.
What do you have to say?
Just tell me what article you are talking about and leave me your comment.
Have fun and surf safely.
Clif
http://clifnotes.net & http://freewarewiki.pbwiki.com
Devoted to promoting Freeware and Free Information
Please provide a link back to the webpage used if you publish any part of Clif's pages.
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