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Freeware Reviews - Sept. 1999 |
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Screen Measure v1.1R2 [452k] W9x/NT FREE http://huizen.dds.nl/~oguz/download/files/SMSetup.exe Inches, centimeters... who needs 'em? I talk in the universal language of pixels. Like, it's 490 billion pixels between here and the nearest burger joint. Well, at least on your screen, the pixel matters most. All graphic dimensions on the Web are described in pixels, so Screen Measure should be welcomed by anybody who designs Web pages. It uses pixels only (oriented vertically or horizontally), and its automatic zoom function will allow you to see the every grainy detail. It rules! RealProducer G2 v6.1.0.153 [5.25M] W9x/NT FREE http://205.158.7.34/2975c4415cc3144dbe05/encoder/g2_kit.zip After playing with my new Desktop video cam for a little while, I wanted to upload videos for the world to watch. However, a minute-long segment turned out to be a few megabytes in size. Ugh! If I wanted to produce a longer, "normal" quality segment, I needed to find a better compression technique. That's when a few Lockergnomies (one of whom called himself a Lockergnomaniac) told me about the RealProducer. You can convert existing audio/video files or record new ones on-the-fly. EasyZip 2000 v4.0 [1.7M] W9x/NT FREE http://members.xoom.com/ipsoft/ezip40.exe The question I'm most often asked: "What's a ZIP file?" Well, when a user has to transfer two or more files to someone (or someplace) else, s/he usually puts them all together in one 'package.' Essentially, these files ZIPped up, and often compressed to save space. "So how can you I a ZIP file?" You can't. Just kidding! EasyZip 2000 is feature rich, and integrates nicely with Explorer. It has a familiar interface; you may wish to replace your existing ZIP archive manager with this one. Zip Express v1.3 [1.4M] W9x/NT FREE ftp://ftp.wintools.com/zpx95.zip My last name can be spelled a million different ways... except the correct way. People usually get the first (or last) part right, but they totally foul up what's in the middle. Ever run into that kind of problem? You need info about a US city, but you only know the last part of that city's name. Or, you only know the first half of it's zip code -- how will you ever find the other data? Pick up Zip Express; search with partial or full data: zip code, city, state, county, or area code. mp3Trim v1.39 [178k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.jps.net/kyunghi/mp3Trim.zip My neighbor (Mike) from across the street just purchased a new computer for his family. He upgraded from an 286 machine, and had never really been on the Internet before... talk about a major technological leap! Even before he got online with his new PC, he asked me what the 'MP3' craze was all about. This audio format has captured the world's attention. But sometimes there are 'flaws' at the beginning or end of MP3 songs. mp3Trim is a pair of digital scissors; shave those seconds. Free-Plan v1.2 [105k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.planware.org/freepln7.zip Lockergnome started three years ago... without a traditional business plan underfoot. Back then, mailing lists were seen as a solid communications medium, but few saw them as financially viable. To this day, I know what I'd like to accomplish with this newsletter, but I haven't been too keen on formally organizing those thoughts. Here's a business plan guide & template; it was designed for Word 97/2000, but a Word 6.0/95 DOC is also available. You may edit it after registering (free). ZoomOpen v2.2 [78k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.barefootinc.com/files/zoomopen.zip I don't need much animation on my Desktop; I enjoy a Spartan lifestyle. Nevertheless, I realize that some of you enjoy eye candy. When you minimize (or maximize) windows, they fly to (or from) the Taskbar. That's pretty slick, but did you know that you could also have a zooming effect when you launch or close programs? You can -- with ZoomOpen. This new version allows you to tweak the zoom position, speed, trails, line thickness, and effects. It's definitely nifty; make room for zoom! LapLink FTP v1.0.22 [2.6M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.laplinkftp.com/download/llftpr1.exe I was an odd child. When I sat on Santa's lap, I asked for an easy way to transfer documents from one network to another. He looked at me funny and asked if I'd rather have a football. I've been in search of the killer FTP client since I was in diapers, and I should have been looking for LapLink FTP all along. It's Explorer-like interface makes file transfers between my computer and a remote site a snap, and its 'Favorites' feature comes in handy. New to FTP? You should love LapLink. Codec Commander v1.1 [5.9M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.mimarsinan.com/mComm.exe "A new standard in data compression. Codec Commander is powered by its plugins, and at present has support for MP3 (compression only), ACE, BH, CAB, GZIP, JAR, LHA, RAR, TAR, ZIP (compression and decompression, along with file type specific tools such as self extracting exe creation), ARJ, ARC, LZH, PAK, PKG, HA, ZOO, GZIP, TGZ, and Z (decompression only) file formats. We are presently working on plugins that will add support for PGP and ARJ formats." CPU Puzzles v1.0 [2.0M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.lbfmi.com/cpu/download/cpu-inst.zip There's a new 'word' game variation in the newspaper every day, but it's starting to get old. Need a new mental challenge that doesn't involve lifting a pencil? Play the CPU Puzzles with your... CPU! My favorite one is Word Bowling -- but that's just one of many! You can save each game for later play (in case you get stuck). I guess I'm not as smart as I originally thought I was. Should you get tired of these enigmatic diversions, you can order more. Time to turn on your brain! Keep-It v1.0 [250k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.keep-it.com/download/keep-it.exe Wise men say that only fools forget to archive documents. You never know when you'll make a mistake and need a backup copy post haste. And, even if you do remember to save incremental revisions of your data now and again, how will you keep them organized? How do you know that they can't be changed? Keep-It carves your stuff in stone; you can go back and extract any stored document, but you can't remove or edit it inside the 'kept' crypt. It's like having a personal elephant on call. Kaufman Mail Warrior v3.01 [480k]
W9x/NT FREE http://pages.infinit.net/kaufman/Beta/MailWarrior3.exe Before you head off to battle the fire-breathing e-mail beast, be sure you've got a strong shield and a sharp sword in hand. Not willing to waste your disk space on bloated e-mail clients? Looking for a software author who's hell-bent on developing a killer e-mail client? The Kaufman Mail Warrior has a few scars, but the king is still proud of him. With an Outlook-like interface, this soldier is very user friendly. He weighs under 500k, and new features are being added with every revision. Lettris v1.0 [5.1M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.iox.co.za/lettris/lettris.zip You blockhead! You put a 'Z' piece where an 'L' piece should have gone. Don't you know how to play Tetris? Well, let's step it up a notch and challenge your spelling skills. Was that your worst subject in school? You won't have time to consult your dictionary for this fast paced game! It's time to make words out of thin air. And this time, you can put the 'Z' piece anywhere you want... as long as you can use the letter in a word. 'Zoo,' 'Zap,' 'Zit,' 'Zero,' and 'Zany' may work. NT Remote Controller v1.2 RC1 [1.0M] W9x/NT FREE http://studenti.csr.unibo.it/~borgogel/tit/NTRC2000v1.2.exe I read articles which claim that "America" is getting fat because of the remote control. Oh yeah, as if potato chips and 64oz 'Bladder Busters' have nothing to do with it? SysAdmins will definitely want to have the NT Remote Controller in hand. It's a remote administration tool for your Windows NT Servers, and may be operated over any TCP/IP network (including the Internet). You won't have to be there to reboot the computer, take a snapshot of the Desktop, or start and stop services. BigFix v1.0.45.1 [2.1M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.bigfix.com/update/bigfixwin1045.exe http://www.bigfix.com/ "BigFix is a free utility which fixes bugs and viruses BEFORE they hit. This technology spots potential problems in your PC, then provides automated solutions (from computer experts) without compromising your privacy. It's a fast & reliable way to shield your computer from the latest bugs, viruses, and security loopholes." Marble Crazy v1.01 [1.1M] W9x FREE http://millstone.homepage.com/marblezip/marble10.exe I don't know if I could play a game where the opponent had the opportunity to walk away with one of my possessions. That's probably why I didn't play with Pogs or get into customizable card games. Well, before discs dominated our pockets, spheres rolled across sidewalks. This digital version puts a different spin on the classic game. You'll need to master a different 'marble' skill before you can win this one; the idea is to lose your marbles. Er, that is to say, go marble crazy. DMEXMenu v3.12 [405k] W9x/NT FREE ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/desktop/dmex312.zip Cut, copy, paste... you've mastered rudimentary file manipulation. But even novices need a little 'power tool' every once in a while. What if you needed to rename or change the date on multiple Files at once? Or, what if you wanted to select files in Explorer using masks or wildcards? If only creating subdirectories was one click away. If only there were a simple way to position Explorer windows alongside each other. The DMEXMenu shell extension will do all of that -- and then some. IPUpdate v2.0b [1.7M] W9x/NT FREE http://members.tripod.com/benbenben1/ipupinst.exe Not having a static IP can be a pain in the 'Net. When I want to teleconference with a friend or colleague, I either have to tell them my IP address (or wait for them to pass theirs along). Sure, I could fire up WINIPCFG.EXE and hit CTRL+C, but it'd be a heckuva lot easier to use IPUpdate. Without interference, it'll post your IP address to an FTP site or send it to any particular e-mail address. Don't wait for anybody to ask next time, just sit back and let IPUpdate do its thing. Office 2000 File & Registry Eraser [192k] W9x/NT FREE http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/Eraser2k.exe "The utility removes most of the files and Windows registry settings that remain on the computer after you remove Microsoft Office 2000. It's designed to be run after you run the Setup program for Office 2000 and click Remove Office. Although not all Office 2000 files and registry settings are removed, the settings that remain do not harm your system. It is expected that after using this utility, that you will again install Office onto your system." Transper'izer v0.4.4 [24k] W2k FREE http://samba.res.cmu.edu/win2k/0.4.4/transperizer.exe Just because you're a Windows NT user, doesn't mean you wouldn't welcome a little spice in your life. Have you hugged your network administrator today? Just remember that he usually doesn't have enough time to sneak in a game of solitaire -- he's too busy keeping things running smoothly. If he happens to be beta testing Windows 2000, he'll appreciate knowing of this Desktop toy; it'll make his windows semi-transparent! I'm sure he won't "see through" your friendly gesture. Folder Guard Jr. v1.01 [428k] W9x FREE http://www.winability.com/download/fgjr.zip Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it fails to exist. Setting the hidden attribute in either Windows (or DOS) doesn't truly hide a folder. For better security, I suggest hiring a junior guard. He'll keep 'protected' folders invisible to everyone. Plus, he won't fall asleep on the job or eat your glazed donuts. Got some secret stuff you need to keep away from curious eyes? Pick a password and the Folder Guard will do the rest; you can remove the protection at any time. ClipCache Plus v2.5 [864k] W9x/NT US$20 http://www.cix.co.uk/~x_rayz/ccsetup.exe Do me a favor and copy this sentence to your clipboard. Okay, now copy this sentence. If you weren't using a clipboard extender utility, chances are, you lost that first sentence. Had it been an important piece of information, that loss could very well have been permanent. The new version of ClipCache Plus is out, and it's got a feature that I'm sure you'll love; beyond enhancing clipboard capabilities, it'll also strip the ">" symbols out of any one of your e-mail messages! WhatCpuIs v1.01b1 [496k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.gene6.com/files/whatcpuis.zip "WhatCpuIs is a simple utility that displays the type of microprocessor you have in your PC. Forget about opening the case to find out! This version supports the latest processors (such as the AMD ATHLON, Pentium III, etc.)." The author's English may be a little sketchy, but his program isn't. You'll quickly uncover your processor's Type, Family, Model, and Stepping information (as well as a few other things). Arjan Mels' Font Viewer v1.14.0.563 [817k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.stack.nl/~arjanm/amvwr114.zip 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.' Big freakin' deal. While that sentence uses all the letters in the alphabet (except for 's'), it doesn't tell you everything there is to know about any particular font face. This is exactly why Arjan Mels created his Font Viewer; it's fast, furious, and fantastic when it comes to bringing a font's structure to the surface. Get detailed face & specific character information when you look at a font from now on. Unicode map included. Blat v1.8.4 [60k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.interlog.com/~tcharron/blat184.zip Does your e-mail come with all those fancy bells and whistles? How many buttons can you fit into that toolbar? Eh, you don't need any of that junk. It's just "window dressing" for the Internet's most simple communications medium. With Blat, you'll be able to send e-mail messages from your command prompt. No buttons to push, just switches to master. This tool should come in handy when you're working with scripts and batch files. Blat sounds weird, but it works wonderfully. iFind Graphics v1.5 [4.0M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.ifindgraphics.com/programs/gifg15s.exe I'm astounded at how many clip art CDs are sitting on store shelves today. If you need an image for something, it probably already exists on the Internet and is possibly free for the taking. So where do you begin looking? I've found that iFind Graphics is a nice starting point. Enter a search term and the iFind engine will scour the 'Net for related images; it'll pull them into the gallery and display their thumbnails. I'm sure that you'll find no easier way to find 'em. Kid's Typing Skills v1.0 [269k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.kidwaresoftware.com/kidtyp1a.zip I type somewhere around 100 words per minute. Had I taken a keyboarding class in grade school, I would probably be typing 50% faster. it just takes a whole lotta practice. I can't understand why so many adults haven't taken the time to learn how to type (it's never too late to learn). Don't let your child waste another moment; with this tutoring program, anybody can learn simple keyboarding skills. Throw away that old typewriter; who uses that white stuff anymore anyway? PhoneTag v1.08 [1.9M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.screenlock.com/new/phonetag.exe Life was fine in the Pirillo household until a few weeks ago. A local college published their student directory, and accidentally printed someone's number as our own. Now Gretchen & I keep getting calls for some Jason character. Life would be less confusing if we could just pick up the phone, say a person's name, and automatically be connected with them. Until then, we'll have to think of interesting "word translations" for numbers. This proggie will help you do just that. LastChance v1.03 [856k] W9x FREE http://209.95.106.186/public/lchance.exe Opportunity only knocks once, which isn't always a good thing. Sometimes I'm not home. You've probably got a few programs sitting in your Startup group, but have you thought about putting something in your Shutdown group? Of course not -- there's no such thing. Well, kinda. With LastChance in your arsenal, shutting down will never be the same. Run system diagnostics, troubleshooting utilities, or any given program automatically (and immediately) before Windows shuts down. RegCleaner 1.5 [218k] W9x FREE http://www.saunalahti.fi/jv16/RegCleaner.exe I'm learning that my definition of clean doesn't match my wife's. Whereas I'll spend hours working on one corner of a room, Gretchen is content with a single-pass, I-probably-missed-something job. Look around your house for just a second -- how much stuff do you actually use? What can you get rid of? Think of RegCleaner as a binary equivalent for your PC. It'll show you a list of program entries in your Registry, and you can easily remove the ones that you don't use anymore. IC-Crypt v1.0 [1.4M] W9x/NT FREE http://thunder.prohosting.com/~digit20/ic-crypt.zip If I wanted to, I could send an encrypted e-mail message to Gretchen. Providing she had the proper decoding tools, she would be able to read it without a hitch. Until IC-Crypt was released, there was no simple way for the world's most popular instant messaging client (ICQ) to send "secure" messages. Now you can communicate without the fear of a message being intercepted by the wrong person. I can't answer all your messages, but feel free to add me to your ICQ list (144832). MuckClient v2.09 [450k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.xcalibur.co.uk/MuckClient/mclient.exe If someone came along and recommended that you throw dirt and water into your computer case, you'd slap them around. How else are you supposed to make MUD (a Multi-User Dungeon)? I suppose you could sprinkle a little slime in there if you wanted to make it MUCK. Or, add a little more water to make it MUSH (Multi-User Shared Hallucination). Forget the natural ingredients. If you wanna connect to a MUCK (Multi-User Chat Kingdom), use this client. It'll be a true text adventure. RTL v2.05 [355k] W9x FREE http://www.frydrych.freeserve.co.uk/rtl/RTLsetup.exe Let's talk internationally for a second or two. Here's a character entry tool specifically designed for those of you who don't always use English in Windows. It'll come in handy for "languages where the shape of a particular character is context sensitive." It provides the ability for four-characters-per-key input and supports right-to-left AND left-to-right input. The interception isn't perfect at this point, but it should be a step in the right direction for some of ya. ActiveSound v1.0 [232k] W9x US$15 http://www.whiteelk.com/actsnd.zip Let's hear it for WAV files! The first time I heard my PC spewing forth audio, I was enthralled. All I needed was a wide variety of sounds bits and bytes. Years later, I have quite a collection, but not enough sound events to use all of them. If only there were more things to do! With ActiveSound active, you can assign WAV files to specific events in any given program. For example: the sounds in Netscape may be different from the sounds in Homesite. You'll burn out your speakers! GraphCalc v1.15 [538k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.graphcalc.com/download/GraphCalc.zip Math was tons of fun in high school. Can you remember plotting points on the X and Y axis? I carried three different calculators with me (each one excelled at one particular function). Much to my dismay, I never owned one of them fancy graphing calculators. I didn't really need one, I guess (and they were so darn expensive). This one, however, is completely free. Many advanced graphing functions are included, and it has a clean user interface. GraphCalc gives away the plot. GuruNet v1.0.0.33b [3.5M] W9x/NT FREE ftp://ftp.guru.net/pub/gurunet.exe You're probably not as smart as you think you is, and this hypertextual world of the Web isn't as 'user friendly' as industry leaders may believe. I already know what syzygy means, but do you? If you had GuruNet installed, you would have been able to click on that word and the definition would be on your screen in a few seconds. With a single click on a word, you'll also be able to look it up in an encyclopedia, as well as find related Web links and books. TetraSquares v2.06 [852k] W9x/NT FREE http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~bbitto/tssetup.exe Close your eyes and what do you see? Please remember that this is a family-friendly newsletter! Now, play a few games of Tetris and close your eyes again. Do you see shapes? I'm afraid you're Tetrisized, my friend. Let's put a different spin on the classic game. Take all the time you want, just get the pieces to fit together on a small grid (one at a time). When you achieve a high score, submit it to the author and it may get posted on the official Web site. NewsSeek v1a1 Beta [1.4M] W9x/NT US$10 http://209.150.142.12/sb/setup.exe With all this talk about building and joining online communities, what's the best one around? I'm not sure if there is a best, but I can point you in the direction of a few originals. The UseNet newsgroups have long been a place where people with strong opinions gather for... interesting discussions. How can you get to these groups? Through a news server, oddly enough. Here's a Java application which will help you find free news servers from around the world. Volume Keys v2.0 [758k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.web-publishing.com/ws-infotech/Vol21.zip When we were still living in the apartment, I had to constantly change Mr. Bigglesworth's volume. Gretchen's tolerance for loud, random noises isn't what it used to be. I almost developed carpal tunnel from constantly adjusting the output levels of my sound card. Volume Keys would have been very welcome on my system; keyboard volume control is quicker, slicker, and easier to manipulate than with traditional mouse movements. Crank it up and yank off the knob. EzPop v1.1 [449k] W9x/NT FREE http://www.hysope.com/en/EzPop.zip Nobody seems to like the skin they're in, so instead of firing up other programs to complete the same tasks, "skinnable" applications were developed. New look, same great tasting functionality. What's sitting on your mail server right now, waiting to be retrieved? Check your messages before downloading them -- stop those large attachment-happy friends of yours before they suck away your bandwidth. EzPop is a POP3 mailbox checker that's completely skinnable. Legacy Auction Sales Tracker v1.0 [1.6M] W9x/NT FREE http://members.xoom.com/legacyarch/programs/last.zip What'll be the hottest technology in the year 2000? I'm pushing for 'eggplants,' but I'm not holding my breath. If I had to think of THE buzzword for 1999, 'auction' would be it. You don't want something, others need that something, and it'll go to the highest bidder. This utility was "designed to help you keep and organize records of your auctions by Item, Buyer e-mail, closing price, auction service, auction (or item) number, and payment/auction status." CadStd Lite v2.6 [1.2M] W9x/NT FREE http://www.cadstd.com/cslte260.exe Everybody's drooling over 3D games; they're just starting to get exciting. Nevertheless, there's nothing wrong with the world of 2D. You may find yourself needing to draft 'wire frame' documents: when you're designing your own house, virtually arranging the furniture in a room, or trying to create your own flying bicycle. It all should start with a skeleton structure -- your blueprints, per se. This CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) package will get you started. |
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Copyright 1998 - 2002 Mark Oberg, All rights reserved. |
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Techweenies.com and Top-Techsites.com are Copyright 1998-2007 Mark Oberg All Rights Reserved |
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