Posts filed under 'computers & tech'
Oh, I just love free things, don’t you? So why waste time jabbering… on to the list of fantastic free software!
Free Operating System: Ubuntu (ubuntu.com)
Tired of messing around trying to get your copy of Vista to work right? If you’re ready for a change, you might want to try the free operating system, Ubuntu-it has several editions, frequent updates, and free tech support. It also has its own web browser, word processor, instant messenger, and other free software.
Free Office Software: OpenOffice (openoffice.org)
Need a word processor, spreadsheet software, or a way to build databases–without handing over the hard-earned cash from your last paycheck? OpenOffice is your new (FREE!) best friend. With familiar formatting to other (pricier!) office productivity software, it can usually read any files you may have created/saved in that other office suite. Did I mention it’s free?
Free Sound/Music Editor: Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net)
Audacity lets you record and edit music or other sound, and supports Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV, and AIFF sound files. You can cut, copy, splice, mix, change speed, add effects, and much more, and… yep, it’s free.
Free Multi-Platform Chat Software: Trillian (download here)
Need any easy way to be able to talk to friends using AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, MSN and IRC all in one place? Trillian–a free, skinnable software that supports all of the above–may be the perfect solution to your problem.
Free YouTube Downloader: YouTube Downloader (download here)
A basic interface that lets you download YouTube files and convert them to other files that you can play on your computer, iPod, phone, etc., so you can take them anywhere. (Just keep it legal.)
Free Spyware/Adware Remover: Ad-Aware (lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php)
One of download.com’s top downloads, Ad-Aware is a great addition to your computer-safety campaign. The free home edition (here) helps keep your computer free of ads and spyware.
Free Photo-Editing/Organizing Software: Picasa (picasa.google.com)
Google’s done it again–for free of course–with this handy photo editor & organizer. Even the most disorganized student should be able to find photos now: Picasa combs your computer for image files & helps you decide where they belong, plus offers the capability to edit and add effects to photos or share them online.
Free PDF-Maker: PrimoPDF (promopdf.com)
Super-easy free software that creates PDFs out of hundreds of file types from images to web pages to office software documents.
Free HTML Editor: HTML-Kit (htmlkit.com)
Whether you dabble in web design or are learning HTML for a course, HTML-Kit is a great free tool–bunches of helpful features, hundreds of free plugins, and even tech support if you need it. I’ve been using it for years and am a big fan (plus it sure beats Notepad!).
Free Budgeting Software: Mint.com (mint.com)
Still trying to figure out how to budget? Mint has been a big hit with financial bloggers and magazines alike: it helps track your spending, shows detailed graphs of where the money goes, and helps you learn how you can save. It can even remind you when bills are due!
What are your favorite software freebies?!?
photo: Free Running by nookiez
June 19th, 2008
I was out sick last week, which meant a whole day on the couch resting & drinking OJ. Since we don’t have cable, I tried to get creative with keeping myself entertained and ended up finding a bunch of places to watch good TV online, for free:
Network Sites
The first place I always look is the network websites of shows I like to watch. The following all have full episodes, but if I’ve missed a channel you watch a lot, make sure you check their site!
- ABC (abc.go.com) Features episodes of shows like Dancing With the Stars, Pushing Daisies, Grey’s Anatomy, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Lost. Some are in HD!
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- NBC (nbc.com) Shows like The Biggest Loser, Law & Order, Heroes, and The Office.
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- Fox (fox.com/FOD) Episodes of Bones, Cops, House, The Simpsons, and many more.
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- ABC Family (abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Videos/page_Video) Lots of free episodes here, including shows like Kyle XY, Grounded for Life, and one of my dad’s favorites, Eek the Cat.
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- Discover (video.discovery.com) Features shows from three different channels (Discovery, Animal Planet, & TLC). Currently they have shows like What Not to Wear and The Alaska Experiment. They usually offer episodes of only 4 shows at a time, and rotate which shows are offered every couple of months.
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- Bravo (video.bravotv.com/player/?id=0 ) Bravo only occasionally offers a free full episode of shows like Top Chef or Project Runway, but if you’re a true fan its worth a look.
Other Sites
For a more eclectic mix of shows-especially older ones-check out other video sites like these:
- AOL’s In2TV (television.aol.com/in2tv) AOL’s free full episode player has a plethora of shows: from classic cartoons like The Jetsons, The Flintstones, and Bugs Bunny to old-school faves like Gilligan’s Island and Growing Pains. No new shows here, but lots of fun nostalgia to catch up on.
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- Hulu (hulu.com) Hulu offers a long list of free TV shows AND movies with minimal commercial breaks (seriously, only about 30 seconds!). Shows range from old-school favorites like The Addams Family, Mary Tyler Moore, and Doogie Howser, M.D. to more current shows like Scrubs, Hell’s Kitchen, and Prison Break. They also have lots of movies like Dude, Where’s My Car, Sideways, Weekend at Bernie’s, and Meet Joe Black.
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- TV.com (tv.com) Here you can find bunches of full episodes of shows like Bionic Woman and 30 Rock, plus other TV show clips.
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photo: Green Retro TV Isolated with Clipping Paths by CraigPJ
June 12th, 2008
You take your iPod with you everywhere anyway-why not put it to work? The Online Education Database has compiled a list of 100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn. Though it gets a little repetitive (there is some overlap between the categories) there are still a surprising number of resources I was completely unaware of-it’s worth a look. Here are some of my favorites from their list:
1. Spark Notes. I don’t know how I would have made it through school without Spark Notes or Pink Monkey. Now you can download Spark Notes text & audio for your iPod, so you can listen & study anywhere. Titles cost about $3.95 apiece-not bad if you’re in a fix!
2. Free Classic Audiobooks & Librivox. Want to get more done? How about listening to your reading assignments while you’re driving, working out, or cleaning your room. Both these sites offer free (yay!) downloads of audio books, so you can get your lit homework done without ever cracking a book.
3. Steadman’s Medical Terminology Flash Cards. If you’re prepping for med school, or even struggling through your pre-med or bio major, these could be really helpful. Learning the roots of l terms makes it so much easier to understand words you’ve never heard before; having flash cards on your iPod means no shuffling through a deck (or losing random cards!)
4. iGadget. This neat bit of software can turn your iPod into way more than a music/video player-it lets you download a list of gas prices in your area, driving directions, Outlook info like calendars and contacts, and RSS feeds. It also makes it easy to reverse sync, so you can put all the music from your iPod back onto your computer.
5. Budget Travel’s Podcasts. This won’t really help you study, but it might just help you prepare for a little Spring Break vacation-for-less. Check out their podcasts with insider tips to help you soak up the fun of Las Vegas or Miami.
For the OEDB’s complete list of iPod add-ons and downloads for students, click here.
Photo: The grass is always greener on the other side by LazySunday
March 17th, 2008
Have you ever googled yourself, just to see what would come up? Well, you might not be the only one.
A few months ago I read an article about how a LiveJournal blog kept one student from being admitted to Reed College in Portland. I looked a little further into it, and found out that over the past year articles about Facebook & MySpace affecting students’ ability to graduate and find jobs after high school have popped up in the Washington Post, U.S. News, and the New York Times. In fact, my own supervisor told me that he googles potential employees before hiring!
Protecting Yourself
With potential employers-and colleges-able to gain access to MySpace, Facebook, personal blogs, and lots of other information online, you need to rethink the “anonymity” of the internet. Here are a couple ideas that may help you protect your privacy online:
- Limit Access. Facebook and MySpace both offer options that limit who can view your profile; they also have options that allow people to view only the portions of your profile that you specify. Most blogs have this option, too.
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- Google Yourself. Seriously. Run a google search on your name, and see what comes up. Try the other popular search engines, too. If there is anything questionable-that includes inappropriate jokes or anything-try to get it taken down!
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- Guard Your Words. If you have something to say that could possibly taken the wrong way by a potential boss or admissions officer (or anything that is too personal for them to know), you’re better off NOT posting it in a public place. Instead, keep personal comments safer by writing them in more private correspondence like emails or IMs. And if someone else leaves a questionable comment on your page, better make it private or delete it-just to be safe.
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Oh, and if you don’t like your current job or boss, you might want to leave that tidbit out of your profile. Just in case.
Promoting Yourself
Facebooking college committees and employers don’t have to slow you down-in fact, if you play your cards right, it could even be a good thing. Why waste the opportunity to promote yourself if they’re looking anyway?
Think of your social networking sites as dual-purpose-not just as a place to connect with friends, but also as a sort of virtual résumé. It’s totally fine to have appropriate personal info & photos up to share with friends-your future boss will probably still hire you even if you have a penchant for action movies-but don’t neglect to point out your strong points, and even past work experience (if you feel comfortable sharing that).
You can also use sites like Facebook, MySpace, or a personal blog as a portfolio. If you’re an artist or a writer, for example, consider posting some of your pieces for viewing (unless they’re copyrighted by someone else, like work you may have done for a previous employer). It’s an easy way to offer access to your body of work.
photo: cloak 3 by vivre
February 14th, 2008
A lot of kids get pretty excited to use P2P software like LimeWire when they get to college—away from Mom and Dad’s watchful eyes. I’m sure you’re aware that sharing copyrighted music and videos is illegal, and you’ve probably heard that the RIAA
(Recording Industry Association of America) is tracking down students who pirate music. They even try to get your school to work against you by matching your name to your IP address for them.
The other issue with P2P software is that, if you aren’t careful, it can give anyone access to your personal files, which may contain credit card numbers or your Social Security number. You may not think so now, but that is a big deal. If someone gets a hold of those numbers, they can potentially use your credit card or steal your identity—and that could really mess you up, even later on in life.
Luckily, there safer options—you can often get free music and videos legally. Check out these spots to download, watch, or listen to free, legal music & video:
Ruckus.com
Ruckus is a website that offers totally free album downloads to college students. They offer music from current popular artists like Kanye West and Boys Like Girls to older hits like Bruce Springsteen. Not every school is signed up for Ruckus, but you can always petition to have it offered at your school by submitting a request on the website.
iTunes
iTunes offers free album tracks every week, both from little-known artists and from more popular artists like Colbie Callait. They also have quite a few TV shows that you can download for free—usually the pilots (first episodes) of new shows, but sometimes other episodes as well.
TV Network Sites
Networks often post full episodes of their most popular shows for free on their websites. For example, you can watch full episodes of popular shows like Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, Heroes, and more on the ABC Full Episode Player and the NBC website.
MySpace
MySpace.com is a great place to find free music. Most popular bands have music you can listen to for free in their music players, and some—from the up-and-comers to the basic garage bands—let you download and keep their songs for free.
Know of more places to get free, legal music? Email me or add a comment below!
October 11th, 2007
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