Fine, Free Stuff

It’s all happening at the new Orion Spur: orionspur.za.net

This is a site by someone who believes in restricting his freeware finds to applications of real quality. Highly recommended. Visit Freeware Genius.

Having tried a raft of different personal-organiser-type text editors (the kind that let you set up a hierarchy of topics and sub-topics in the left-hand pane), I can honestly say there is no better *free* option than NeoMem. It’s great for keeping various lists and tasks, and as an information organiser, it is simple and reliable while still having a lot of nice features. NeoMem.org.

It’s hard to understand why something can be called “Free Efficient WMA MP3 Converter” when it can also take Apple Lossless M4As or FLACs or APEs and output them as OGG or MP3, etc. This thing can seriously do everything I want, and it’s freeware. Get it here.

Everything below is good enough to pay for, but it’s all free.

Information

South African daily TV schedule
Thutong South African Education Portal
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Physics Org (nanotechnology, space, etc.)
Spaceflight Now
The Skeptical Inquirer: articles
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Bartleby.com (premier English language & literature reference)
Online Etymology Dictionary
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Brain SPECT Imaging
Recording Industry vs The People

Free Online Tools

Shields UP! (checks for open ports on your router)
Google Translate
PC Names (instantly see if a domain name is available as you type)
Media-Convert (image/audio/video file converter - up to 50 MB)
Bloglines (read your RSS feeds from any computer, using any browser)
Windows Game Advisor (remote scan; checks to see if your rig can handle specific games)
ThinkFree Office Online (online office apps)
Vyew (collaboration & conferencing)
OrbitFiles (1 GB free file storage)
Tiny URL
ZoneEdit (DNS service for domains, mail forwarding, etc.)
International Dialling Codes
Currency Converter
World Times (1) | World Times (2) and Qlock (sun map)
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BitDefender Online Scanner
YouSendIt (upload files for people to download; a link is mailed to them. Recommend to people who want to send mails bigger than 10 MB.)
DNS Stuff (networking tools)
InfoSysSec tools (networking tools)
NetCraft (what is that site running?)

Lookup

InFact Book Search (polished search engine for Project Gutenberg ebooks)
The Free Dictionary

Free Web-dev Resources

SafariTest (Mac browser compatibility tester)
XHTML Characters
Interactive Colour Wheel
HTML Colour Codes
Interactive colour scheme generator
CSS1 Properties
Web Developer’s Cheat Sheet List
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DynamicDrive CSS Library
CSS Rounded Box Generator
Open Source Web Design (templates)
Site/logo/banner templates
icons
Lightbox script (for graphics)
Hover + Lightbox script (for graphics)
BoxOver script (for text; like QTip)
Web Form Factory (helps you server-side)

Web How-to

Dynamic Directory Indexing
Create your own RSS feeds with PHP
Streaming MP3 from your site
Printing a Book with CSS
Choosing an Open-source CMS

Free Stock Photos

EveryStockPhoto
Stock.XCHNG
Yotophoto
MorgueFile
Image After
FreePhotosBank
OpenPhoto

PC How To

Autorun.inf guidelines
How to reinstall Windows XP without activation
Windows XP Remote Desktop Tips | Remote Restarting

Cool Hacks

How to upgrade your wireless router (for free)
Adding ‘copy to’ and ‘move to’ to Explorer context menu
Pavement (sidewalk) Hacks (with chalk & artistry)

Freeware & Open Source Sites

Freewaregenius
NeoWin Freeware Alternative List
osalt.com (open-source alternatives to commercial software)
NONAGS
A+ Freeware
Snapfiles (freeware section)
Open-source software for Macs

Windows Freeware & Open Source Apps

Free Download Manager
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Copernic Desktop Search (outstanding desktop-search app)
CCleaner (system cleaner)
Eusing Free Registry Cleaner
CPU-Z (identify exactly which cpu, motherboard, memory you have)
WinDirStat (see where all the disk storage went)
Sandboxie (surf safely, do safe test installs)
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MouseAway (mouse and keyboard cursors never overlap)
BK ReplacEm (powerful search/replace tool)
Clipboard Recorder (multi-clipboard tool)
DateInTray (adds current date to Windows system tray)
Alt-Tab Replacement
Icon Tweaker (change system icons)
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Microsoft Virtual PC 2004
nLite (Windows installation customiser)
7-Zip (unzip, unrar, un-etc.)
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Open Workbench (free alternative to MS Project)
Whisper 32 (good username/password storage tool)
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Wink or CamStudio (create animated software walkthroughs)
Screenshot Captor (screengrabber w. arrows/boxes & text annot.) | WinSnap (slick screengrabber)
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OpenOffice.org (best free office suite)
TopStyle Lite (CSS editor)
RJ TextEd (beautiful text/code editor, incl. CSS & much more)
Foxit PDF Reader (opens PDFs almost as quickly as Notepad opens text files)
PDFCreator
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Inkscape (vector-graphics editor; SVG native format but exports to others)
Scribus (DTP software)
Paint.NET (image and photo manipulation app)
Eyedropper - colour picker
JR Screen Ruler
IrfanView (fast graphics viewer & converter)
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Audacity (sound editor)
1by1 (audio player that plays directories, not playlists; small footprint, good sound, has keyboard shortcuts)
K-Lite Codec Pack (most of the codecs you’ll ever need)
Switch (converts m4a to mp3 and more)
RipIt4Me (back up your DVDs) - must read the manual
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Express Talk (VoiP / SIP Softphone)
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Money Manager (.NET) (personal finance software)
TurboCash (accounting software, South African version available)
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DotNetNuke (create Web applications)

Free Games

Games for Windows XP
AnandTech Free Games List
Open-source Games (Wikipedia list; comprehensive)

Innovation

Moco Loco (modern contemporary design & architecture)
The Cool Hunter (gadgets, music, fashion, art, etc.)
Inhabitat (innovations in technology, design & materials)

Lookup

International Dialling Codes
Windows processes: ProcessLibrary
Windows NT/XP Command Line commands
Microsoft Support Knowledge Base
Protocol Directory
Computing Dictionary

Wireless Resources + Guides

Securing Your Home Wireless Network
WPA Wireless Security for Home Networks
IT toolbox: Wireless Standards/Technologies
How to set up a Wireless Home Network

Free Tutorials & Info Dumps

XHTML 1.1
CSS2
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Beginner Developer Learning Center (Microsoft Visual Studio Express)
MS Word Tips (recommended)
MS Word advanced (forms, mail merge, row header repeat, etc.)
Excel (business functions: tutorials & examples)
Excel (basic to advanced tutorials)
MS Office & Macromedia applications (many tutorials)
OpenOffice.org Tutorials (fancy)
W3 Schools
CorelDRAW Tutorials, Tips, Etc.
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How to repair Windows XP
How to solve Windows system crashes in minutes
Repairing Windows XP in 8 Commands
How to reinstall Windows without losing your data
Hard drive recovery
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How to find your MAC address
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PC Support Advisor (free computer guides, e.g. Understanding NAT & IPv6)
Windows Networking
Home Networking
Home & Small Office Networking with Windows XP
How to set up your Home Network
Windows Vista Home Networking
Setting up a Virtual Private Network
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Windows-to-Linux Roadmap (9-step guide)
13 things to do immediately after installing Ubuntu
The Ultimate Linux Reference Guide for Newbies
Linux Home Networking
HowtoForge (Linux tutorials)
Apache: different paths on different distros
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Mac OSX 10.4 video tutorials

Free Manuals

Getting Started With XML (full manual)
Thinking in Java (full manual)
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FreeTechBooks (dozens of full manuals)
Programming Tutorials (C#, XML, Web Services, etc.)
Free Programming Resources (you name it)
IT books, guides, everything (just scroll down)

Free Online Courses

TechTutorials
Cert21 (Free certification study guides - free registration)
Certification tutorials at Learnthat.com
MCSE/MCSA/Cisco/CompTIA training guides (free registration)
MCSE Directory (many resources)
Network+ 2005 Training

Apps
Jaxe (Java XML Editor with semi-WYSIWYG GUI)
LyX (Document Processor)
Helpmaker (Helpfile editor & compiler)
KeyTools (Decompiles and recompiles helpfiles)
Wink (Screen recorder)

Guides
DocBook: The Definitive Guide
DocBook XSL: The Complete Guide
Getting Started With XML (Full manual)

Resources
KeyContent.org
EServer Technical Communication Library
Tech Write Tips
HyperWrite (click on “Knowledge” button)
Peter Grainge’s Site

Online Technical Writing
David A. McMurrey
http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/

Technical Writing
Ronald B. Standler
http://www.rbs0.com/tw.htm

Common errors in technical writing
Docsymmetry
http://www.docsymmetry.com/mistakes-technical-writers-make.html

A short course on writing technical reports
Nancy Halligan
http://www.technical-writing-course.com/

Fat Free Writing
John L. Hoh, Jr.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/technical_writing/47968

The Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jr.
http://www.bartleby.com/141/

Writing Style Guide
Hawley & Associates
http://www.tdl.com/~thawley/wstoc.htm

Online Grammar Help
EditFast
http://www.editfast.com/english/grammar/

Grammar, Punctuation and Capitalization - A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors
Mary K. McCaskill, NASA
http://stipo.larc.nasa.gov/sp7084/

UML Tutorial (Hands-on Introduction)
Borland Developer Network
http://bdn.borland.com/article/0,1410,31863,00.html

How to Draw UML Diagrams
SmartDraw UML Center
http://www.smartdraw.com/tutorials/software-uml/uml.htm

UML Tutorial (7-day course)
http://odl-skopje.etf.ukim.edu.mk/uml-help

UML Resources
Object Management Group
http://www.uml.org/