products, web sites, etc. I find interesting

What This Blog is About

2010-12-31T04:04:00.000-08:00

Effective immeadiately I am ceasing to update "products, web sites, etc. ...". I may sometimes post freeware, open source, shareware data I find interesting at:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Shareware/

There, I am known as rhoadesb2

I also recommend Gizmo's Freeware.

I hope I've helped a few people over the last few years with this. I know a great many have viewed it.

God bless. And thanks to all for visiting over the years.
----------------------------------------------------------
Minor updates were done to this text on 6/20/06, 1/19/07, 6/3/07, and 6/16/09.

This text, (the original part) was written perhaps early 2005. I post date it so that the introduction will continually be at the top.

I place this here in hopes that my hard knocks experience over the last 23+ years using computers might help others. I like helping folks. I have more experience with PC security than the average user, although I am not an expert.

Almost all of the items I recommend herein are either free to use, or low cost shareware.

Downloading freeware and installing it willy nilly is a VERY bad idea. Some is virus laden, may be a trojan horse, or perhaps unwanted spyware, etc.. However most is just junk.

Originally, I when I started testing freeware, (1983?) I did so mainly for my own benefit. When blogging became common, I thought I would pass along some of what I learned, (sometimes the hard way). I hope to lessen your travails, and maybe help you to find a few freeware "jems" as well.

Because of potential dangers you should not trust what I say, at least until you have tried a few of the programs I recommend and see that they work well, and cause no harm.

So, how can you tell that I'm steering you in good directions? I suggest doing a search on the net, see what other folks have to say about the programs I recommend.

Perhaps 1 in 20 freeware programs is decent. About one in 10 of those is very good to excellent. One such, just as an example is: Keynote 1.6.5 ( http://www.tranglos.com/free/index.html )

I do not list Keynote otherwise in this blog not because it is a bad program, (it is not), but rather because it has some minor bugs and is a little awkward to use.
( 3/3/06: It is now listed in: http://rhoadesbwebsites.blogspot.com/2006/02/tree-structured-notepim-type-programs.html )

So why try it then? Well, if you do you will begin to get a feel of how I descriminate among freeware and shareware programs. At first, you might think, "Wow, Keynote 1.6.5 is a terrific program!" Later, as you use it more, you may discover it's minor bugs. Or perhaps you will still think it is very good and want to use it regularly as many do. In this case you win too.

It is always best to download programs from the author's site when possible. This way, you are least likely to obtain an altered copy.

Most of the programs here have been tested by me on Windows XP, some on Windows 95/98, and Vista.

If you know of a good freeware program, and you let me know via email address rhoadesb@excite.com I might place it here too. Also I would appreciate any bad or good comments about this "blog" as well.

By the by, when someone tells you that free or lowcost software is all garbage, etc. do me a favor if you would, ask them to visit "products, web sites, etc. I find interesting". Thank you.

I will occasionally add items, update others, etc..

As the famous Red Green states, "Keep your stick on the ice." :)

P.S.:
If you try and like Keynote 1.6.5, but perhaps want better, try Treepad listed in my recommended products.

EccoPro

2010-10-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

What appears to be a VERY good outliner/PIM. Apparently it was top flight shareware in 1997. Now, it is free to use. I tested it on Windows Vista and it worked fine. I think it has a sizable "fan" base who have created many add ons to make it even better.

Here is the link for those interested.

WinUtilities Pro ... FREE ...for how long ... I don't know

2010-02-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

I'm breaking my own rules here so you have a chance to get a possible bargain. I don't know how long this offer will last. I have BRIEFLY checked the program, and at first blush it looks very good. It performs 20-40 very useful functions. As I said, to the best of my knowledge and belief this is legitimate, but you be the final judge.

The developer of WinUtilities, YL Software, is giving away free full version WinUtilities Pro 9.41 with legitimate license serial code, normally a shareware product. To get your copy of WinUtilities, go toWinUtils Professional Edition

Scroll down the page slightly to see details re user name and registration number etc..

SyncBack freeware version 3.2.19.0

2009-11-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

SyncBack appears to be a VERY good and versatile synchronization/backup program.

Two drawbacks I see:
1> It is not simple to use. There is a "simple" setting but even it will challenge many people. If you can get past that then see "2>".

2> It takes a little work to get it configured to your preferences, but once you do, you are set.

Aside from these two things it appears to be great.

There appears to be at least two shareware versions as well. I have not examined them.

SuDoKu - Cracker version 10.02

2009-11-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here is another fine sudoku playing/creating program.

As with the earlier mentioned
Simple Sudoku, it has lots of bells and whistles to help you if like me, you are not that good a player. It appears to also be well suited for advanced players.

The data indicates it also plays "Worduko" although I know nothing about that.

It took me a little while to decipher it's settings and get it working the way I wanted, but once I did it was great.

The address:

SuDoKu - Cracker

virustotal.com and virus/malware help

2009-08-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

These folks help you to be more certain if you do or do not have a Virus, Trojan, etc.. Any virus detection product will occasionally generate false positives,(say your PC is infected when it is not).

You simply upload the suspicious file to them and they analyze it with 17 different virus detection programs and issue a report. Obviously this will be much faster if you are using wireless, DSL, etc. as opposed to dial up, especially with large files.

Part of my precautions:
I run an AV and occasionally run a scan with another AV on my machine. I also have a resident protection malware program running, and another not running as back up the same as with the AV products.

If ANY two of these indicate an infection, I presume that the infestation is real and act accordingly.

If only one indicates an infection, after testing with all four engines, I upload the file to virustotal.com for analysis.

Ultimately you must be the final judge doing this. It is possible although exceedingly unlikely that even if all of the detectors at virustotal.com indicate non infection you could still have a problem. There are no foolproof safety procedures. You may, or may not decide to destroy the file as a precaution. This may mean one or more programs will or may no longer function.

The Virustotal website (copy and paste it):
http://www.virustotal.com/

stickies 6.7a

2009-06-28T04:12:00.000-07:00

originally posted 8/28/05. Updated 3/25/07, 6/3/07, and 6/16/09. Remade 6/28/09

stickies 6.7a is a reminder type on screen note program for your PC. I suppose one could even use it as a PIM depending upon their needs.

It keeps your stickies on screen, or hidden away until a time of your choosing. They then pop up to remind you of birthdays, appointments, etc.. Stickies has search capability, and I believe networking abilities as well.

Some people hate this type of program, others swear by them. The only thing I can advise is try it out and see what you think.

Of this type of program, stickies is the best I've seen.

As are most of the programs I recommend, stickies is free to use.

The address:
http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/

Clipmate and Ditto two good clipboard capture utilities

2009-06-27T02:55:00.000-07:00

created 9/25/05
updated 9/8/06, 6/20/07, minor update 9/8/07, 5/17/09, and 6/16/09
completely redone 6/27/09

My clipboard capture utility of choice is Clipmate. It is shareware and not cheap, but it works very well for my needs. I believe there is a 30 day trial period.

The website:
http://www.thornsoft.com/index.htm

If you can't afford Clipmate, I recommend giving Ditto a look see. It is open source freeware I believe, and works well.

The website:
http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net/

Weather Watcher Live v 6.01

2009-06-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

update 10/16/09...........:
At the time this data was posted, it was accurate. However now while still a great weather monitoring product, versions shortly after 6.01 became for profit. If you can find a version 6.01 or earlier it is still free, otherwise I believe a fee of $9.95 per year is imposed.
end of update..............

If you value up to date good weather data, then this free program may be for you.

I get hour by hour forecasts, daily, current conditions, maps, etc..

There are hundreds or thousands of weather stations within the US to choose from. There MAY be worldwide stations as well, I'm not sure.

http://www.singerscreations.com/Weather-Watcher-Live.asp

Neverputt and Neverball

2009-05-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Sun May 17 5:27PM
I found a fun new game, Neverputt. If you like miniature golf you may want to check it out. There is also a companion game called Neverball there as well. I don't know much about it, but I suspect it too may be fun.

They appear to be an ongoing creation of a group of programmers as a hobby.

Both are free. The download size is about 35MB.

http://neverball.org/

Simple Sudoku

2007-10-06T00:43:00.001-07:00

Would you like to learn to play Sudoku, but find the game a little confusing? This free, (for home use at least) program has many "training wheels" to make it easier to learn and play, and seems excellently programmed.

http://www.angusj.com/sudoku/

tree structured note/PIM type programs

2007-07-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

original post 2/12/06, updated 9/16/06, 6/26/07, and 7/1/07

The last year or so, I've done a lot of investigating of this type of program. I will list a few of the better ones below and relay the data I have for those interested.

The first one I came across, Treepad, (listed also seperately in it's own post) impressed me then, and still does. It has several versions, free and shareware. I own the right to use the Business Edition. It has a spellchecker, thesaurus, good encryption, ability to store photos, create agendas, todo lists, plus more. However I find myself using the free version 2.9.5 simply because almost everything I want to store is text, and that version loads much faster.

Watch out if you purchase any of the several shareware versions though. See http://rhoadesbwebsites.blogspot.com/2005/04/treepad.html as to why I say this.

http://www.treepad.com/download/

Notekeeper 1.0 to be freeware? If I understand the data at the site, yes. However it looks like not much has happened lately. I did download and test drive version 0.93. It has 128 bit encryption, spellchecker, ability to store pictures, etc.. You will or may need to download the spellchecking files separately.
http://www.tolon.co.uk/notekeeper/

Keynote version 1.65
This is a free program, likely the final version. The author indicates he lacks initiative to continue. A good program, with 128 bit encryption capability. Considering that the author created it in his spare time, without a lot of expensive tools, it is excellent. You cannot however store photos in Keynote. It is strickly for text. Keynote lacks it's own spellchecker. However if you use Tinyspell, ( see "dictionary and thesaurus") in tandem with it... .
http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html

Last but possibly not least, EssentialPIM version 1.6 free and "Pro" versions:
Recently these folks gave away free licenses on Halloween valued at up to $39.95 (pro-portable version). I gave them my email address, etc., and they held good to their word and sent me the registration key.

Some folks may say this is far and away the best of the lot, even without a spellchecker. However there is no easy way to transfer my files from EssentialPIM back to Treepad or Keynote. I can transfer my text files back and forth between Keynote and Treepad as I please. Additionally, I found the EssentialPIM "Pro" version 2.0 to use way too much random access memory for my taste.

All that being said, EssentalPim Pro Portable does several things the others don't. Just bare in mind that once you have extensive data in EssentialPim, should you for any reason decide to use other programs to perform EssentialPim's functions, you may have a lot of work transferring out.
http://www.essentialpim.com/

JustBasic and FreeBasic

2007-06-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

updated 3/20/05, 4/23/05, and 6/25/07

Remember basic programming? GW-basic, Qbasic, Quickbasic, etc.?

JustBasic:
JustBasic is a TOTALLY free version of basic which can even be used for light commercial programming. Because of lessening support for MS-DOS in Windows XP, and because it is designed for Windows, it works better in a Windows environment than Qbasic, etc.. There are many similarities between the two languages. I believe it will run under win95 or win98 also.

It is an offshoot of a shareware basic program called Liberty Basic, which by the way the author states that the difference between JustBasic and Liberty Basic is, paraphrasing, "just horsepower".

Anyway, if you like, or liked basic programming, you may want to give it a look see.

Here is a VERY simple example of what one can do with JustBasic. You should note that it can do MUCH more, and BETTER as well. But I happen to know the author of this code personally. :)
( You need the program to run the code )

' **************start of code**************
[setup.main.Window]

nomainwin
WindowWidth = 340
WindowHeight = 150
UpperLeftX=int((DisplayWidth-WindowWidth)/2)
UpperLeftY=int((DisplayHeight-WindowHeight)/2)

TextboxColor$ = "white"
textbox #main.pretax, 25, 32, 100, 25
statictext #main.tax, "0.00",175, 32, 100, 25
statictext #main.total, "0.00",255, 32, 100, 25
statictext #main.statictext2, "pre tax amount", 30, 12, 142, 20
statictext #main.statictext4, "tax", 175, 12, 17, 20
statictext #main.statictext5, "total", 255, 12, 70, 20
button #main.calculate,"calculate",[calculate], UR, 200, 72, 84, 25

open " Pennsylvania 6% sales tax calculator" for window as #main
print #main, "font times_new_roman 12"
print #main.tax, "!font times_new_roman 12 bold"
print #main.total, "!font times_new_roman 12 bold"
print #main, "trapclose [quit.main]"

[main.inputLoop]
wait

[calculate]
print #main.pretax, "!contents? preTax$";
ta$=preTax$
gosub [formatFigureTwoDecimalPlaces]
preTax$=ta$
gosub [calculateTax]
ta$=tax$
gosub [formatFigureTwoDecimalPlaces]
tax$=ta$
total=val(preTax$)+val(tax$)
total$=str$(total)
ta$=total$
gosub [formatFigureTwoDecimalPlaces]
total$=ta$
print #main.pretax, preTax$
print #main.tax, tax$
print #main.total, total$
wait

[quit.main]
close #main
end

[formatFigureTwoDecimalPlaces]
ta=val(ta$)
for t=1 to len(ta$)
if mid$(ta$,t,1)="." then gosub [hasDecimal]
next t
if decimalCount=1 then ta$=ta$+"00" else ta$=ta$+".00"
for t=1 to len(ta$)
if mid$(ta$,t,1)="." then gosub [haveDecimalLocation]
next t
ta$=mid$(ta$,1,decimalMark+2)
decimalMark=0:decimalCount=0:return
[haveDecimalLocation]
decimalMark=t:return
[hasDecimal]
decimalCount=1:return

[calculateTax]
for t=1 to len(preTax$)
if mid$(preTax$,t,1)="." then gosub [haveDollarsPennies]
next t
return
[haveDollarsPennies]
dollar=val(mid$(preTax$,1,t-1))
cents=val(mid$(preTax$,t+1,len(preTax$)-t))
dollar=dollar*.06
if cents>10 then penny=.01
if cents>17 then penny=.02
if cents>34 then penny=.03
if cents>50 then penny=.04
if cents>67 then penny=.05
if cents>84 then penny=.06
tax=dollar+penny:tax$=str$(tax)
penny=0
return

'************************end of code **************************
http://www.justbasic.com/

FreeBasic:
I've found another good possibility for basic programmers. FreeBasic is open source I believe, and still in beta. They are trying to keep it as close to Quickbasic as they can while also improving upon that so that more modern capabilities can be used. Definitely worth a look see. Because there are language differences, it cannot run the program listed in the Justbasic section. Perhaps I'll make a simple example program for FreeBasic to place here if I have time.
http://www.freebasic.net/
I also found the editor program JellyFish Pro works well with FreeBasic.
http://www.freebasic.net/index.php/download
Both FreeBasic and JellyFish Pro are free to use.

DiskData version 2.1 and Scanner version 2.8

2007-06-03T04:08:00.000-07:00

updated 6/3/07.

I've used DiskData with win98, XP, and likely win95.

It's function is to show you what subdirectories and files are using the most space on your drives. It is free for home use, and works well.
There are likely updated versions, but this one does what I want it to do, so I don't need them.

The website of the author(s) indicates that the current version is 3.4.1. All users of the current version are to be registered.

I did a half hour search for version 2.1 to link to, but failed to find one.

http://www.digallery.com/diskdata/

The crc32 value of DiskData.exe version 2.1 (the installation package) is 242a26f3
( See Fsum version 2.51 for an explaination of the purpose of crc32 value testing. )

Another program which performs the same function, appearing totally free to use is Scanner version 2.8.

http://www.steffengerlach.de/freeware/

calculators

2007-03-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

created 3/3/07

I have found two decent freeware calculators, Graphcalc and ESBcalc. It took me a couple days to decide which of these two I like best, so I present them both to you here.

I prefer the free version of ESBcalc mostly because the keyboard is slightly easier to see if your eyesight is going.
There appears also to be a "pro" version of ESBcalc also which is shareware. I have no idea what you get for your ($19?) if you purchase the license beyond what the free version has to offer.

Graphcalc is also a good calculator.

You may need to tweek the options a bit to get these calculators to working the way you want, or as close as you can get for free.

FSum version 2.51 and wxchecksums version 1.20

2007-01-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

A minor update only changed this data on 11/19/05. It was updated on 1/19/07.

What Fsum does is assist one in determining if files have been tampered with.

For example, if you download the same file from two TOTALLY DIFFERENT sites, and they do not have the same crc32 checksum, it means that they are not identical, which means one or both may have a trojan horse or be virus infected, etc..

Fsum has other uses, but this is what I use it for.

The default test is MD5. I prefer crc32. You will have the option to use crc32 when you run the program.

By the by, the crc32 checksum of FSum.exe version 2.51 is 6fdd94ef. :)

http://www.slavasoft.com/fsum/

A similar, and likely better product to do the same thing is wxchecksums. In most situations at least, it is free to use. I recommend it over Fsum.
http://wxchecksums.sourceforge.net/mainpage_en.html

Stellarium

2007-01-19T15:22:00.000-08:00

This sounds interesting if you are into astronomy. Please know that I have not tried this program.

"Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go."

http://www.stellarium.org/

winter precipitation types and definitions

2007-01-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

What's the difference between snow showers and snow flurries, etc..
http://weather.about.com/od/winterweather/p/stormtypes.htm

Wikipedia

2007-01-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

Created 3/10/05, updated 4/30/05, 1/12/07

I don't know much about this, but a first blush it appears very good. Appearently a free online encyclopedia. And it appears to be a work in progress, (which any good encyclopedia will always be).

What's different about this encyclopedia besides being free? Well, it appears to be written by anyone and everyone who has expertise or understanding on any given subject, all freely given. A gift from us all, to us all?

Now I like that very much.

"I'm still absolutely stunned that something as incredible as Wikipedia actually exists. Every time I use the site I feel an irrepressible surge of wonder and gratitude. We are lucky to have Wiki!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Holy smoke! Do the same folks also run a similarly created news service?

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page

better web browser than Internet Explorer version 6

2007-01-07T02:51:00.000-08:00

In my opinion is Firefox version 2.0.0.1. It is free to use like Internet Explorer, and is open source. If used carefully, (few or no add ons, etc. ) it is likely more secure than Internet Explorer version 6.0.

If you are not highly concerned about security, try some of the many add ons for it too. If you do that I recommend Stumbleupon . It is fun and useful. There are many other useful add ons for Firefox as well.

It will take a bit of getting used to as Firefox operates a little differently than Internet Explorer. If you try it and don't like it, simply cease using it and go back to Internet Explorer or whatever browser you are using currently.

Firefox: http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Stumbleupon: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/138/

other add ons Firefox recommends, ( I have tried but a few):
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/recommended/

Products and web sites concerning PC security...

2006-10-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

Created 1/9/05.
Updated:
5/15/05
6/18/05
8/11/05
8/13/05
5/27/06
a very minor update 10/7/06

Need help keeping little nasties out of your PC? I recommend all of the below listed products and web sites.

Axcrypt version 1.6.2.3
This program uses 128 bit encryption to assist you with security matters. Say you have a text file that you want locked away from prying eyes, etc., then Axcrypt may be for you. ( By the by, notepad does not create temp files, so text, (txt) files are better as regards security.)
Anyway, it appears to be free to use. I recommend it, but be careful, if you want ( "paranoid strength" encryption :) ) , more than downloading and installing the program is required.
Hint: learning about file encryption security :)
http://axcrypt.axantum.com/

WinPatrol: Free and shareware version. The free version is good, the shareware version is better.
http://www.winpatrol.com/

Avast 4 Home antivirus: I've switched to Avast. The main Advantage over AntiVir is that Avast is password protectable, otherwise both are excellent. Avast is free for home use, however you must register your copy with them, otherwise either you will not be able to update after (59?) days, or it will cease to function.
http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html

AntiVir: Free Antivirus scanner for home use. Why it is free for home use, I have no idea. But what I do know is I appreciate the good job it does for me.
http://www.free-av.com/

SpyBot: donationware:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Sygate personal firewall: Free for home use, ( at least it was). If your operating system is Windows XP, I recommend you use the already installed firewall.
http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm

ZoneAlarm firewall/free version: Free for home use. I used to use it, but I drifted away from it. Mr. Steve Gibson, (of the Gibson research Center mentioned below) a highly recognized authority on PC security recommends ZoneAlarm.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

AdAware: Free and shareware versions for home use, I use the free version.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Oubliette:
Need a secure place to keep password data? Oubliette is the the best solution I've found.
In a nutshell, it's a cypher encrypted database to store other passwords/pass phrases, usernames, etc..
You will need one VERY GOOD cypher to secure the program. A good cypher code is something like:a67BTfwwZ902367gNy
NOT like:YourName,YourBirthday, YourSpousesBirthday, or any common facts or numbers about you. DON'T forget this ONE cypher code. If you do, you will likely NEVER reenter the database. The author states he cannot help you in such a case.

A little study about things of this nature is very helpful. Think about things like clipboard items saved to disk, are you the only user of the PC?, etc. .
After that a little common sense and adjusting of the options to your liking should get you closer to reasonable PC security, (but your PC will NEVER be totally secure. If someone tells you otherwise, I advise caution.)

The program is free to use, at least at home.

Do a little research on your own about this. I believe it is indeed a good to excellent program, but if I'm going to be wrong about any program listed in this "PC security" section, it's this program, because I am least knowledgeable about it.
http://www.tranglos.com/free/index.html

need to learn more about PC security:
http://castlecops.com/

and,
Gibson Research Center:
http://www.grc.com/

Sobering spyware/trojan horse stories:
http://www.download.com/1200-2023-5137337.html

A blog about spywear and more by the author of Winpatrol:
http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/

About time and your PC

2006-09-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

original post 6/19/05, updated 9/16/06

How to make your PC a more accurate timepiece :)

If you use Windows XP, your PC will as originally configured, set the time via a clock at Microsoft once a week by default if you are on the internet fairly frequently. I am fussy as regards knowing the correct time. With some PC's in a week the system time may be off by as much as 30 or more seconds! Here's how you can improve this dramatically if you like. You will or may need administrator rights to do the following in Windows XP. Be VERY careful. You can cause big time problems if you screw up your registry by not following these directions exactly.

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ W32Time \ TimeProviders \ NtpClient Double-click the SpecialPollInterval value, and change the Base of the Value data to Decimal. At the point it should show 604800. This is how many seconds it waits between times it resynchronizes the system time which is the week I mentioned above.

Now change the Value data to 14400.

Close the registry editor

If you've done everything as indicated above your system will attempt to resynchronize your PC's clock every 4 hours, presuming you will be on the internet enough, which should give almost any PC VERY accurate time.

Perhaps you would like an easier way to have windows let you know what date and time it is. If so, I recommend TClockEX version 1.4.2. It can be downloaded from:
http://www.rcis.co.za/dale/tclockex/index.htm

If you try this program, I like to set mine to show the time and date as:
Sun Jun 19 2005 2:06:33 AM

The configuration to get TClockEX to do this:
ddd MMM dd yyyy h:mm:ss tt

OpenOffice v2.0.3 & Free Download Manager v2.0

2006-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

original post 8/7/05, updated 1/21/06, 2/13/06, 9/16/06

Are you still paying Microsoft upgrade fees for fancy office suite software?

You might find Open Office version 2.03 interesting. You get professional level software, all you might expect, spreadsheet, wordprocessor, database, presentation, etc.. Free. That's right, free.

I have not used the database function as yet, I have no use for it. I'm told by one party that it does not function correctly, but I have not verified this. I can tell you that the spreadsheet works fine for me.

http://www.openoffice.org/

This is a very large download. You might want to use http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/
to ensure you don't get halfway through, and lose the whole kit and kabootle! :)

I have yet to find any download manager that does everything I want, but then, I ask alot. Free Download Manager is the best download manager I've yet used.

free Winrar update

2006-08-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

8/1/06

Ok folks, here is what they are saying about Sunday's fiasco:

1. PCA Special Offer Extension

More than 40,000 people were able to receive a free license key for WinRAR 3.51 non upgradeable version.

We were overwhelmed by the response and so were our servers: they had quite some trouble handling all the visitors.If you are one of the people who was not able to get his share of the pie, don't worry, we are working on another solution to extend our special offer to you and all the other people who were unable to take advantage of the offer.

We should have a solution within the next few days. If you know someone who wasn't able to download, please tell them to sign up for our newsletter, as we will be announcing it in the newsletter only.

newsletter@win-rar.com (mail)
www.win-rar.com (web)

update 8/5/06:
I hope you did sign up for the newsletter. Yesterday was the second chance to obtain Winrar for free. This time, at least for me, all went well.

dictionary and thesaurus

2006-06-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

Best offine freeware dictionary I know of is TheSage.

If you don't know how to spell leviathon, (leviathan), no problem. If you get close, TheSage will usually pop up a list of words it "thinks" you ment. It also has a wildcard feature. Say that you think leviathon is wrong, but you know a vowel goes where the letter o is. Enter leviath#n, and use the wilcard feature.

If you want to help the kids to learn spelling as well as word meanings, you could easily make a spelling game, (first one to misspell loses, etc.).
http://www.sequencepublishing.com/thesage.html

A very good freeware "on the fly" spellchecker is TinySpell. It is useful to check spelling as you type in situations where you might not have a spellchecker, ( notepad, web based email, etc..) Tinyspell does not correct spelling, it simply alerts you when a word is misspelled. It can be configured to autostart with windows, or you could just crank it up when needed.
http://www.tinyspell.m6.net/

A good online dictionary is Wiktionary
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page

another is Merriam-Webster online dictionary and thesaurus
http://www.m-w.com/

Chess related

2006-02-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

Stop the presses! I've found what may be the best commerial chess program available today. It's not cheap, ($45-50 currently) but worth every cent if you really enjoy chess.
What program is it? Hiarcs 10.0. It learns with you, plays more like a human, and has many more features.
Believe me, I've "tried em all", and this one is far superior to most, perhaps even all.

Bare in mind, this is ment for club players or better, so if you are just starting to learn chess, you may want to find something more geared to that level. Chessmaster 8000 can be purchased cheap on the internet, ($10-20). It can't hold a candle to Hiarcs, but it will keep a beginner busy for a long time.

Hiarcs is not shareware. It can be ordered online,and likely via US mail.
http://www.hiarcs.com/pc_chess_hiarcs.htm

I came across an interesting exchange regarding a new chess program called Rybka 1.2. It is in fact, an even more powerful program than Hiarcs 10.0. To my knowledge they are respectively the number 1 and number 2 most powerful commercial chess programs on the market as of 7/1/06.

Even though Rybka is more powerful, it is not as good at playing with a human like style, and is likely not as good a learning tool as Hiarcs 10.0. So, power is not everything to look for if you want to learn from a program.

Here is the link to the "conversation":
http://www.avlerchess.com/chess-computer/From_Junior_9_to_Hiarcs_10__A_big_improvement__114423.html

Helpful hint if you purchase Hiarcs 10.0:
Be sure to select the Hiarcs opening book if you are playing in "friend mode". Otherwise it plays the same dimwitted opening moves each game.
Make sure book learning is on, (tools/book...). Check it a couple times after you have played a game or two, it tends to revert back to no learning, I do not know why.

Rebel Decade 3.0:
In my opinion, this may be the best free chess playing program downloadable on the internet as of 6/2/05.

http://www.rebel.nl/decdown.htm

Shredder Classic version 1.1:
There are several versions of Shredder. This refers to Shredder Classic, downloadable on the internet.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
update 6/10/06:
I am sorry to inform folks that to upgrade from version 1.x to 2.x appears to require a full further $29.95 at this time. There appears to be no discount for registered users of version 1.x. This being the case seems to make Shredder Classic a bit too pricey for the value. At least that is the way I see it. Otherwise, the data below still holds true at this time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can you buy better? Yes. Can you buy cheaper? Yes. But for some reason I'm not quite sure of, I like this one. It is possibly the best, certainly one of the best shareware chess playing programs available. If you can't afford Hiarcs mentioned above, this one is cheaper, ($29.95 maybe). And it's a good program. As mentioned above, it's not for the beginner either.

What you can't do with Shredder:Play chess on the internet, ( at the time of this writing ). Try Winboard for internet chess playing,(See below). I recommend the site: FICS if you do this (again, see below).

What you can do with Shredder:Play lots of fun games of chess against the program. You can adjust it's playing capability to match your's. ( Better is to try to set it SLIGHTLY stronger than you. This way you will either grow to be a better player, or lose a lot. :) ) And Shredder's "personality" is adjustable as well.
http://www.shredderchess.com/

Winboard/Xboard:
Winboard is for use with Windows 95, 98, maybe XP, etc.. Xboard is basically the same program for Unix systems I believe. See the site for more compatibility details.
Winboard takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do, it's easy. When your PC is connected to the internet, Winboard should be able to connect to FICS, barring firewall difficulties, etc.. You will have to get a free FICS membership.
http://www.tim-mann.org/xboard.html

FICS ( Free Internet Chess Server ):
FICS has it's own software you can download to play, and if I recall correctly, there may be a java board at the site you can use without having to download anything. As indicated above, I prefer Winboard, but the java board, and their downloadable software may be simpler to operate. It will likely also have fewer niceties for those who want to play alot at FICS.

Bare in mind that there may be a little salty language there, so don't take your grandma. :)
The regulars there will know you are a beginner at the site. Best is, just be up front about it, and be yourself. There are all levels of players that use FICS from beginner to and above master.
Fics has it's own set of commands, see their "help" to learn more after you are logged on.

Free chess lectures can be observed there also.

Pick your FICS "handle", (name) carefully when you register. You may have it a long time.
Play unrated games for a while until you get the feel of things. Remember to set "autoflag" ON in Winboard, or whatever the equivalent is with the program you use. That way, when you've got em in a time bind, when their flag falls you win!

Who knows, you may run into rhoadesb there, though it's been a while since I've played online.
http://www.freechess.org/

There are many more free and shareware chess programs, games, instruction, etc. to be had online, but the above will get you going.

Advice from the university of hard knocks to total beginners:
While it is true that you may be able to learn how to play in 30 minutes or so, unless you have what I and most people lack,(talent) it will take years or decades to become a master. And if you are just the average Joe like me, I advise you don't even try. I did long ago. It is a lot of WORK to become a master. I never got close, (1850 USCF(for those who understand) was when I was at my best, but I've gone to pot. :) ).Instead, just play for fun.When I first learned to play chess from a comparatively weak program back in 1982, it took me THREE MONTHS before I beat it the first time. So, if you are short on patience, chess may not be for you. :)

Peter's Ultimate Alarm Clock

2006-02-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

This is a shareware product, but relatively cheap, ($10 when I purchased it).

This is a fine alarm clock, at least version 3.30 that I'm currently using.

The author indicates that the number of alarms is unlimited. I have at least 70 reminders set currently on the PC at work.

If you tried and liked ATNotes mentioned in this blog, and you want something a little better then try this product.

http://www.puac.net/index.html

WinDates

2006-01-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Update 1/7/06:
The author od Windates has accepted a job with another calendar company. One of the stipulations is that he cease to sell Windates. Sales have already ceased.
He indicates on his website that support for Windates will continue through December 31, 2006.
I am hoping that perhaps one day if his new job falls by the wayside, that he will, or can restart developement of Windates again, however he does not indicate this at all.
end of update.

Appears to be an excellent replacement for Microsoft's anemic Works Calendar.

It appears to be more customizable, and have more capability. Version 5.1 works with Win95, 98, XP, and likely more.

Free to try for 30 days, $19.95 to buy.

http://www.rockinsoftware.com/

XBlock version 1.2: a game

2005-11-19T23:44:00.000-08:00

Another fun game to play. I could describe it, but it's likely nearly as quick to download and try it.

The author asks that if you use and like the game, please donate $10 to one of his three favorite charities SetiAtHome, the ACLU, or Longnow.

As a safety precaution I want to let you know the crc32 value of the Win95/98/NT version is 183b1a1b. If you download it, and find it has any other crc32 value, it has been altered by someone.

If you need help understanding what the crc32 value is see:
http://rhoadesbwebsites.blogspot.com/2005/08/fsum-version-251.html

XBlock 1.2:
http://www.spf-15.com/misc.html

Have fun, and God bless.

Nonsense but interesting story about murder/suicide

2005-10-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

http://darwinawards.com/legends/legends1998-16.html

Beads version 1.25

2005-09-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Beads is a free and fun game that takes a bit to catch on to, though it is simple to play. Watch out, you may start playing and not want to stop.

The crc32 value of Beads.exe ( likely within beads.zip) is 384362f9
( See Fsum version 2.51 for an explaination of the purpose of crc32 value testing. )

http://home.wanadoo.nl/jack.bakker/

Dead or Alive

2005-08-20T05:27:00.000-07:00

You know how you sometimes wonder if a celebrity is still alive, ( well we older folks do! :) )...anyway:

http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pages-nf/main

Useless Facts

2005-08-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know that they are useless, but they are interesting.

http://www.distant.ca/UselessFacts/

two file compression programs I use

2005-08-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Created 2/17/05. Updated 6/15/05 ( 7-zip section ) and 8/6/05

Are you still using Winzip? Check out Winrar. More for your money.

http://www.rarlab.com/rar_archiver.htm

SLIGHTLY less capable, but free to use is:
7-zip is VERY powerful and feature rich.

http://www.7-zip.org/

Smoke'Em Poker

2005-06-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

5 card draw, "beerware" (in other words free to use).

I cannot access the author's website. The program has not been updated in a long time. Maybe since he ( Dave O'brien ) is not making money on it, he just shut his website down.

http://www.free-games-net.com/games/sempoker.shtml

Wilkanoid

2005-06-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

Wilkanoid is an arcade type game. It is well made and free to use.

The link below is not the author's site only because that web site is not in english.

http://www.sharewarejunkies.com/00zwd3/wilkanoid.htm

If you are inclined to be kind

2005-06-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

US soldiers in Iraq, how you might help one, or many:

http://anysoldier.com/index.cfm

Iraqi orphans, how one might help them:

http://www.spiritofamerica.net/cgi-bin/soa/project.pl?rm=view_project&request_id=91

The free online dictionary ( and more )

2005-06-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

Looks like a good resource:

http://thefreedictionary.com/

Treepad

2005-04-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

Original post 3/5/05,updated 4/11/05, 4/30/05, 5/30/05

This product has many possibilities, and appears to work excellently.

Basically, it is a database program that, well, does a lot more.

TreePad Lite is free, at least for most purposes. It will give you a feel for some of TreePad's capabilities, and perhaps be all you need, presuming you like and use it.

The TreePad line of products Includes, but possibly is not limited to:
TreePad Lite, TreePad PLUS, TreePad SAFE, TreePad Business Edition, TreePad X Enterprise, ( at least two variations of this )

Essentially they all are the same program, each variation having some, BUT NOT ALL of the capabilities of the other versions.

In the main, it is a good product, and I would recommend checking out it's many possibilities. However, it has one vexing aspect, at least for me that I want to show you before you waste money not purchasing what you really want.

Generally, a shareware upgrade gets one all the capability of the "lesser" version, and adds more to that. TreePad DOES NOT work that way. Example:
One would think that paying for an "upgrade" from TreePad SAFE which proportedly contains encryption capability to one of the "better" TreePad X Enterprise variations would mean that the TreePad X Enterprise edition would likewise also have as good or better encryption capability. It has NO encryption capability.

Still, even with the above, I do indeed like and use Treepad. I currently am using the shareware version business edition. I'm not fully happy with it, but it is as close as I seem to be able to get to having the combination of capabilities I want from TreePad. If it were not for the aforementioned problem, I would FULLY endorse TreePad. But as it stands, I can only say it is a good product.

http://www.treepad.com/treepadfreeware/

Google advanced search

2005-04-10T02:46:00.000-07:00

If you are just off the internet banana boat and have no clue:

Google is likely the best general purpose search engine I know. I cannot recall a time when it failed to return more results than the likes of WebCrawler, AltaVista, AskJeeves, DogPile, etc..

http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

related post on other blog:
http://rhoadesbnewpuzzlepieces.blogspot.com/2006/01/experiment.html

chat room slang

2005-04-09T03:13:00.000-07:00

FYI:

So they placed a few letters, an acronym, but you have no Idea what they were talking about.

Someone pointed this site out to me. Maybe it will help. AFAIK it's good.

http://www.web-friend.com/help/lingo/chatslang.html

A Psyche View

2005-04-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

My friend Lisa calls it liberal. I just think she makes a good deal of sense.

http://liberalcommonsense.blogspot.com/

BibleGateway

2005-03-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

This appears to be a good to excellent Bible research site. Many translations with much data and reasearch tools.

http://bible.gospelcom.net/

FactCheck.org

2005-03-19T01:59:00.000-08:00

This appears to be an even handed look at the national politics and issues. But, it's early, I may find bias yet. Stay tuned.

http://factcheck.org/

Coast to Coast AM

2005-01-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

A night person's radio show.

Interested in the unusual or controversial in our world? If so I recommend giving it a try as 5 to 10 million others do if you are up late, really late that is. It starts about 1:07am eastern time and runs to 5 or 6am. It's on 500 or so stations nationwide, the internet worldwide, and XM radio.

Aside from going over the days news circa 1:08am, everything and anything may be discussed. Terrorism, UFO's, Bigfoot, EVP, ( What the movie "White Noise" is about ), weather, various conspiracy theories, new technology, you name it.

One of the hosts, ( Art Bell who generally hosts the Saturday and Sunday night shows ) was coauthor of a book that the recent movie, "The Day After Tomorrow" was based on. The book title is, "The Coming Global Superstorm".

I started listening in 1993, and I was off work with surguries in 1994,95 and listened nearly every night. They seemed to talk about things I was, and still am interested in. I've been a "Coastie" ever since.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/

Here is a site with a database of the strange and unexplained. ( You might need it to figure out what they are talking about on Coast. :) )

http://anomalyinfo.com/indexbw.htm

These folks say that most major topics on Coast To Coast AM are silly, hogwash, lies, old wives tales, etc.. ( I thought I should present all sides. ):

http://www.skeptic.com/