Note: Infanview 4.2 is now out with a few more features.
The best new feature is the built in image editor.
I think having a good fast image viewer is a must. Some people like and recommend XnView for this, but I've been using IrfanView since the days of Windows 95. I have even used IrfanView to listen to MP3s or to view Flash movies. It can also create screen savers from your images if you want it to.
Quote from the website
IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista.
Some IrfanView features:
• Many supported file formats (click here the list of formats)
• Multi language support
• Thumbnail/preview option
• Toolbar skins option
• Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)
• Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.
It's really nice to see an occasional new freebie pop up. I use screen capture tools almost every day and a good one is important to me. I tried Bug Shooter and I'm impressed with it so far. Perhaps the best feature is the ability to assign upload servers so that when you grab a clipping, you can send it quickly into the net. I can't say that the image editing tools built in are anything special, but they work well enough.
Be aware that it requires .NET 2.0 or better to run. That means it'll never be a portable app.
Bug Shooting is a free screenshot utility that was developed for software testers who use bug tracking systems including FogBugz, Gemini, Ontime and BugTracker.NET. Screenshots can also be sent to Skype or a default E-Mail application (e.g., Outlook).
Since screenshots are frequently used to show system bugs or to reproduce the steps for a failed test, it is often very helpful to highlight, notate and/or crop areas of the screenshot. With Bug Shooting this can be done in a matter of seconds.
Sunbird is my pick for the most feature rich calendar. It's an open source project from Mozilla.org, which is also the place that made Firefox and Thunderbird. This calendar program will continue to be supported and improved as time goes on. It's already being recommended as an alternative to the scheduling built into MS Outlook email when you add the Sunbird Lightning extension to it's sister email program ThunderBird. Lightning supports Exchange servers so that you can use Thunderbird and still keep all of your appointments.
Mozilla Sunbird™ is a cross-platform calendar application, built upon Mozilla Toolkit. Our goal is to bring Mozilla-style ease-of-use to your calendar, without tying you to a particular storage solution.
How can I make a recurring event on, say, the first Monday every August?
Set the event to repeat every 12 months: In the new event dialog, set the start date to the first Monday of August of the first year, say 2000-08-07. Click the recurrence tab, check "Repeat every", set interval to 12, set unit to "Months", then click "First Monday of the month".
How can I publish my events on a remote server?
You can publish events from the calendar to an FTP server (Sunbird only) or a webDAV enabled web server. You can also use the calendar to subscribe to these events as well.
How can I serve my shared calendars?
To share your calendars, you need access to a webDAV server. If you run your own web server, you can install mod_dav, a free Apache module that will turn your web server into a webDAV server. Instructions on how to set it up are on their website. Once you set up your webDAV server, you can publish your calendar to the site, then subscribe to it from any other Calendar. Automatically updating the calendar will give you a poor man's calendar server.
Can Sunbird/Lightning remind me when closed? Can Sunbird start minimized?
No, Sunbird and Lightning can't give pop-up messages or send e-mails when they are not running. There is a 'trick' for this problem. You can hide Sunbird in the tray. This can be done with Suntray or Minimize to Tray for Windows and Kdocker for Linux.
If you want a great online calendar, you'll find it hard to beat Google Calendars. GCal is well integrated into the famous online Gmail online email service and you can set up and manage multiple GCals all on the same page. You can even view and interact with other people's calendars. It's especially useful as a free calendar for groups, companies, and organizations, since everyone can see the same calendar.
Here's an old quote from April of 2006 when GCal first came out:
From Sarah in Tampa: Google Calendar is finally here! It's really easy to use, especially with the "natural language processing" technology of the "quick add" feature that allows you to enter events like "dinner Saturday with Joel at 8 pm." Each event can be edited with details about when, where, time, etc., but you can also make the event public or private and invite guests (bye-bye, Evite?) You can let the guests view the guest list or view the guest list and invite others to attend. Of course you can also configure reminders, which can come via email, SMS, and/or pop-ups. Outlook (.csv) and iCal calendars can be imported into Google Calendar and you can share your calendar with others. I signed up right away, now I just need events to enter!
Don't ever say I don't listen to you when you comment here. Just because I didn't reply doesn't mean I didn't hear you. This is a recommendation from my 2007 Battle of the Calendars post.
One fellow wrote in a glowing comment about the free calendar he uses.
Quote from Marty
I've used the free version of Desktop Calendar for many years and find it's just right. Completely customizable in color and features, it allows editing for all appointments and things to remember and when you boot up in the morning it presents itself onscreen with the day's messages. Allows you to maintain year to year dates such as birthdays, etc. Can be dragged anywhere on desktop and minimized to system tray. Atomic clock runs on top bar. This one has it all.
Marty Kastriner
click to expand picture
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Organize your life! Never forget a birthday or anniversary ever again! This simple, easy to use calendar sits right on your Windows Desktop for quick and direct access to your daily events. DOWNLOAD it now! You'll wonder how you ever lived without it!
I ran into this nice looking app while browsing at LifeHacker. I have not tried it yet, but I have seen it reviewed at freewaregenius.com as well.
Quote from LifeHacker:
AccelMan is a dual-pane Windows Explorer replacement with a powerful feature set. Previously a shareware application, AccelMan boasts a built-in image viewer, tabbed views, command line integration, a media player, text editor, and even file compression and extraction with support for 15 popular formats (including ZIP and RAR). It also does as-you-type search, reads PDF and Microsoft Office documents, and tons more.
AnVir Task Manager - WOW. I tried this software on the suggestion of a comment in a previous newsletter. It is now my default task manager, replacing the built-in Windows task manager. AnVir gives detailed information about every running process and startup program. It also allows you to monitor system health by displaying CPU temp, memory usage, and more! - XP/Vista
Quote from the website
Task Manager Free is freeware utility software that gives users a comprehensive set of tools to put them in full control of their computer.
It gives you detailed information about every process that is running, and about applications running automatically on Windows startup including all hidden applications.
Johnny Karp wrote me the other day. Seems he's going to re-install Windows and anything else he installs will be only freeware. He asked me to see if any of you have advice on what he should install for various tasks.
Take a look at his Freeware Mission pages and be sure to comment if you have suggestions.
from Johnny:
Well, my computer crashed tonight, leaving me cursing and smoking heavily. My desktop, with dozens of shortcuts and useful stuff now looks like hell!
Obviously now I have to reinstall all the software that I had before the crash, and only thinking about that drives me a little mad. But I thought of something that could make the whole thing worthwhile: I'll try to install only free software, freeware, open source. The only commercial software in my computer will be Windows XP and the video editing software that I use to make some cash. And that means that I'll dig for freeware stuff and, of course, I'll let you know what I find. Starting tomorrow this blog will be the scene where I'll review the free software that will outfit my system from now on. Wish me luck :) I will call this "The Freeware Mission"!
Gary at Internet Fixes continues to amaze me with hundreds and thousands of tips for your PC. Whatever your operating system, or how you use it, a visit to Gary's site will soon have you saying "So that's how you do this!".
The other day, a friend of mine at work showed me a video he received in email. It showed a horrific collision between a truck and a gas station awning. I went home used VideoFetcher to find it. By the way, I heard that the people in the truck survived with very few injuries. See the video below.
If you've seen something on TV, or on someone's computer, this search engine can very likely find it for you.
CC wrote me with a link and a single description. "9 free applications"
Thanks CC, as usual, you don't need to explain, but I will say a few words.
4 Neurons isn't about how smart these apps are. These are all small apps that seem to do a job and do it well. I only tried one of the screen savers, but I'll probably be back for more.
Quote from the website
4Neurons is a small software house based in Elbląg, Poland. 4Neurons specializes in developing core components for wide range of software applications including internal algorithms for intelligent decision supporting systems, AI modules and graphic libraries for computer games and variety of security related components.
Wow! Over 900 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.
Get Gmail! and Get Firefox!
You need a free 6 GB Gmail account to access many of the cool features at Google. After more than two years in beta testing Gmail is open to the public. Just go to http://gmail.com and sign up for an account.
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.
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.
The best new feature is the built in image editor.
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