Topic: Too Damn Late
It's Midnight CDT & it's time once again for Too Damn Late!
WARNING: Too Damn Late is not written in front of a live studio audience. Since it's written after midnight, the contents in here are uncensored by anybody as an act of first ammendment rights. Therefore, if you are easily offended by swear words or outrageous thoughts, STOP READING THIS BLOG ENTRY NOW!!! I don't want to hear any complaints from anybody because you read this with ample warning. I don't writing these warnings, but I do so to protect myself here. By reading beyond this warning, you hereby consent to such adult content. VIEWER DESCRETION IS ADVISED!
Note: This episode of Too Damn Late contains some useful material & therefore will naturally contain generally less swearing & objectionable material tha normal.
For some reason, I'm just having a streak of calmness here... but this will likely be the last one of these for a while, so DON'T get use to this. Anyways, with episode to make XP look like Vista or Windows 7 & another to tweak XP to work a bit better for you, this episode finishes up the trifecta with software you can pick up to be productive with your computer. I'm avoiding all the anti-productivity software (games) for now as there's just way too many places to find those. I'm also skipping some of the biggest name software like Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird as practically everybody have heard of them.
AVG Anti-virus
Type: Anti-virus program
free.avg.com
I know it's a bit cliche, but a good anti-virus program can keep you from pull your hair out. AVG is one of the few anti-virus programs that don't carry an annual subscription fee (which can run between $30 - $50 / year), which makes it good for freeloaders. While the makers of AVG will try & push it's fully commercial version, they offer their basic version for free.
I prefer AVG compared to other anti-virus programs like Avast or ClamWin Anti-Virus as it has the most common automated features that users of the commercial anti-virus programs depend on without all the strings. AVG is the one anti-virus programs that had plays well with others. Just as long as you make sure that you keep the program core up to date, you shouldn't have any problems.
Open Office
Type: Office Suite
www.openoffice.org
This is one of the more known free programs that some people still haven't heard of, or at least knowledge of Open Office gets drowned out by the commercial programs like Microsoft Office. In fact, most people can't describe Open Office without mentioning MS Office as they're practically the same thing. The only difference is the programming license & cost (It's FREE).
As the name states, Open Office is an open-source office suite. It contains all the major programs that you'll use in an office suite, but different (more generic) names. If you've used Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher & Access), you'll have practically no problems transition into Open Office. Even though Open Office prefers to store documents in the Open Document format, but Open Office allows you to work with Microsoft Office formats. The one big feature that Open Office has is that you can export any office document into an PDF file. You have to pay $50 to get this feature in MS Office (though an add-on).
The big reason I'm pushing Open Office is that it's a great product that many people can use WITHOUT coughing up the hundreds of dollars for it OR resort to pirating MS Office. Some of the finer features may take a little more time to locate in Open Office, but most users won't have problems switching.
GIMP
Type: Image Editor
www.GIMP.org
Another widely known program living in the shadow of another commercial program. It's also consider the "Poor Man's Photoshop" by some internet users, but it's a pretty accurate representation of GIMP. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It contains practically all the powers & features of Photoshop, but with out the cost, support or user-friendliness.
GIMP handles practically EVERY IMAGE FORMAT you can throw at it without problems.
Paint.net
Type: Image Editor
www.getpaint.net
For those who may find GIMP a bit too intimidating, Paint.net may fit you better. It's not as powerful, but it's user-friendlier by comparison. Not as many features, but it still has the ones that you'll most likely use when editing (or creating) images.
7-Zip
Type: File Archiver
www.7-zip.org
7-Zip is a relatively obscurred file archiver that gets lost amongst the commercial varieties like WinZip, WinRAR & Stuff-It. 7-Zip is a simple, but powerful file archiver that allows you to "zip" & "unzip" archived files. While it only allows you to make Zip, Tar or 7z files, it can open up nearly all formats (except Sit & Sit-X files, which is a heavily proprietary format).
One nice feature with 7-Zip that it can compress zip files a bit better than other programs (about a 7% advantage). However, it's compressing power really shines with it's own 7z format, compressing around 70% MORE than in zip format. This means that if a ZIP file takes 10 MB's with 7-Zip, the 7Z file will only take 6 MB's. The downside with 7-Zip is that it may not be as user-friendly compared to the commercial programs, but all these programs seem to work the same.
TrueCrypt
Type: File Encryption
www.truecrypt.org
Need to keep something a secret on your computer? TrueCrypt is one program to help protect those sensitive secret files. While it's not the user-friendiest program available, it's an extremely powerful program. TrueCrypt allows you to create a secret container to hide all your secrets in OR you can encrypt an entire hard drive. HOW you use it it up to you, but can be assured that your secrets will be safe with TrueCrypt... as long as you don't leak your passwords & secret container locations to others.
Notepad++
Type: Text Editor, Notepad Replacement
notepad-plus.sourceforge.net
Notepad++ is an open-source text editor that's stuffed with features & options that you'll use it instead of boring old Notepad. While it's more geared towards programmers, as it supports various programing languages, it's still a very good program for just writing text documents. The main feature is the plugin system that allows you to expand it's capabilities, like adding ASpell (spell checker).
I like it very so much that it's become my standard text editor with the spell checker & have the 80-character margin (for writing guides). In fact, I'm using it to write this episode!
Stickies
Type: Digital Post-it Note Program
www.zhornsoftware.co.uk
Stickies is the digital alternative to plastering your monitor with with actual stickies. It might be an exchange from one visual problem for another, but I find it's a lot easier to keep track of all your stickies (& harder to accidently lose them) using this program as it includes an organizer.
Mozilla SeaMonkey
Type: Internet Suite
www.mozilla.com
Mozilla SeaMonkey is kind of the "Forgotten Love Child" of Firefox & Thunderbird. As the figurative imagery goes, Mozilla SeaMonkey combines the browser engine of Firefox with the e-mail capabilities of Thunderbird into an all-in-one internet suite.
While the look of SeaMonkey hasn't evolved (it has the look of Netscape Navigator 4.0 from 1999 for "Classic" & Netscape Navigator 6.0 from 2000/2001 for "Modern"), you can pick up different themes to update it's look. While I prefer to keep my browser & e-mail separate, there's likely some people who will prefer the combo. If a former Netscape user (as that browser died officially in February, 2009) will find this a fairly easy fit, but there's a niche that'll this lesser known program.
Pidgin
Type: Multi-IM Program
www.pidgin.im
Pidgin, formerly known as GAIM, is an open-source variation to some of the multi-IM program out there. While Trillian is a fair alternative, they want you to spend $20 / yr for their "Pro services" & they don't seem to update things as quickly. Pidgin supports all the major IM networks (AIM, ICQ, MSN, YIM & IRC), but it includes lesser known IM networks (including MySpace & XMPP, aka Jabber) natively. Since it's open-source, others developers can add extra networks like X-Fire, Twitter & even Facebook.
One major feature that I've come to love is the tabbed IM windows. Instead of juggling multiple IM windows, all your IM's are placed in different tabs in one IM window. The name of the person (or chat room, if you're in one) will change colors to tell you what's going on, but usually the tab in blue is the conversation that you need to pay attention to. This may take a little time to get use to, but just like tabbed browsing, you'll be surprised how you lived with out it.
Meebo
Type: Multi-IM SERVICE
www.meebo.com
NOTE: This is NOT a download!
As an alternative to Pidgin (& other IM programs), you can use a multi-IM WEB service like Meebo. Meebo allows you to connect to the major IM networks through their site & use it just like an IM program. However, all conversations are contained to that page, so tabbed browsing is a MUST here! While registration is preferred for those who'll frequently use their services (as it'll store your login information), it's completely optional as they'll allow you to connect to the IM networks you use without registering. HOWEVER, you'll have to enter your login information for each IM network.
For those who may be conserned about privacy & safety, Meebo uses a 1024-bit encryption system with critical data (like your login details) between each IM network. Since all your buddy lists are stored on the IM network's servers, you'll have access to all your friends through Meebo. It's bit a bare-bones service as you can only do IM's & Chat (no file transfers or other advanced services), but it's completely free & a great way to keep in touch without all the software.
Stellarium
Type: Star Gazing Simulator
www.stellarium.org
This is program is for the stargazers out there. This program allows you to simulate the ideal visual conditions of the night skies at any particular point in time (Yes, you could go back to the night of Jesus's birth... if you're religous Christian). You can see where the stars are going to be located when you go out. This program may be more useful on a laptop (including netbooks... their processing power can overcome their graphical shortfalls), but if you like look up from time-to-time.
MediaCoder
Type: Media Transcoding Utility
mediacoder.sourceforge.net
MediaCoder is a program that helps you convert a media file that your preferred media player may not support into a format that should work. Again, it's not a user-friendly program as it's can get highly technical. However, the program extensions make it A LOT EASIER to handle configurations & ensure that the converted format will work. Just be aware that conversions can be a processor intensive, especially with video, so make sure you give it plenty of time to process things.
While it may not be a program that you'll heavily use, but if you download videos from YouTube for offline viewing OR to place on your preferred portable media player (iPod, Zune, PSP, ect.), you'll be grateful to have such a problem on hand.
VLC Media Player
Type: Multi-media Player
www.videolan.org/vlc
The FINAL program for this episode is my preferred media player. VLC Media Player (originally called "Video LAN Client Media Player") or just "VLC", is an open-source media player giant that you've probably never heard of. You can throw practically any media format at it (including your porn collection) & VLC will play it with. VLC even contains it's own DVD codec (granted it's an open-source codec, but it works), so you can watch DVD's with it. Other media players (like Windows Media Player) usually charge you $30 for this feature, if your computer maker didn't take of this for you (& slapped the cost into the price tag).
VLC even supports streaming media & can even do some transcoding as well! While the program not perfectly user-friendly & the interface is a little bland, but you can customize the interface & even use a skin to make it look better. It's one of the most dependable media players that I've used.
That's all I have for tonight... I may write more if I feel like it.
