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| Buyers' Guide to Music & Video Gadgets
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ScrabBot 5.1
Price: Free
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: scrabbot.free.fr
If you enjoy playing Scrabble, you'll like ScrabBot. ScrabBot finds all possible words, using the letters on your rack, as well as the letters on the board. In addition, it gives you word definitions, which makes it a great educational tool. You'll become a Scrabble expert in no time. Ten Amazing Fruits 2.2
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista
Site: www.fruitfrolic.com/download.html
Pre-schoolers will love the popular Ten Amazing Fruits game; they can create their own fun cartoon graphics and print them, as well as save the images. The story of the game can prompt other stories, making the game great for kindergarten teachers. Kids will love creating their own fruits and telling their own stories. Ultimate Dominoes
Licence: 60-minute trial, then $US20
Platform: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Site: www.toybox-games.com/Ultimate-Dominoes.html
Ultimate Dominoes is a fun puzzle game for the entire family. You can choose from five different domino games. Complete instructions are provided, and superior graphics and sounds enhance your games. Create a profile for each of your family and friends, and build your domino skills by challenging each other.
Real-Stock
Price: Free
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.realstockgame.com/en_jeux.html
Fascinated by the stock market? Real-Stock is an interactive, educational stock market simulation which comes in two free versions. The first version is a learning game, which uses the London and Toronto markets. You'll become familiar with stock markets, and with the game. Once you're up to speed, you can download a new free game each month, in which you play against other players. Rappelz Epic 4
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista
Site: rappelz.gpotato.com/download/index.php
Rappelz Epic is an intriguing massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with a medieval fantasy environment and many different types of characters. The graphics are wonderful, and the combat skill system is open-ended, with unusual items called Boost Chips which you buy with Laks, the points you earn in battles. Ultimate Bid Whist 1.8
Licence: Trial, some levels disabled; full $US10
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.agcrump.com/bidwhist.htm
Ultimate Bid Whist is an unusual and exciting Whist computer game in which you and a computer partner play against two computer opponents. If you're new to Whist, you'll enjoy the game, and will learn quickly. If you're an experienced player, you'll find your opponents are worthy of your skill. This is a fun game for both kids and adults.
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PixelWhimsy 1.0.5
Licence: Trial, then $US20
Platform: Windows XP/Vista
Site: www.pixelwhimsy.com/download.htmlÂ
PixelWhimsy is an animated paint program for toddlers and older children too. You can draw with your mouse, and each key does something new and interesting, from playing sounds to creating animation effects. There are many different brushes to use, with animated colours. The program is great fun, and will keep children interested for hours.
The MagicBook 6
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Site: www.nirp.co.uk/themagicbook/downloads.htm
The MagicBook is a fun online drawing and colouring program for children. With four different tools: crayon, paint brush, pencil and marker pen, kids of all ages will enjoy this program. Images can be printed, and are compressed on disk to save space.
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FileZilla 3.0.5.2
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/Vista; Mac
Site: filezilla-project.org
The free File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program FileZilla is both easy to use and reliable, and allows you to transfer large files of up to 4GB with complete Resume options. You can configure the program in various ways, including transfer speeds; transferring files is as easy as drag and drop. Ad Annihilator 2.5
Licence: 15-day trial, then $US30
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: adannihilator.com
Ad Annihilator does more than just block ads while you're surfing; it also blocks cookies, and lets you browse sites offline. When you install it the program automatically blocks malicious cookies, while accepting those from legitimate sites. It features four different browsing modes, so you can browse documents while offline, from Ad Annihilator's cache of previously downloaded documents. Rooster RSS Reader 2.5
Licence: Trial, with some features disabled; full $US14
Platform: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista
Site: e-gadgets.freehostia.com/rooster.htm
If you're a heavy reader of RSS news feeds, you'll like Rooster RSS Reader. Not only is the program fast; it's also highly configurable. It manages feeds with enclosures like podcasts, and lets you open multiple windows so you can download several feeds at a time – this is handy if you're a blogger. SuperBot Offline Browser 4.70.0072
Licence: 14-day trial, full $US32
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.sparkleware.com/superbot/index.html
If you know you'll be without an Internet connection, SuperBot Offline Browser lets you download entire Web sites so you can keep working or studying. You can save one page, or an entire site, at a single click. Your downloaded sites retain complete online functions – hyperlinks work, and you can burn sites to CD/ DVD. Multi Virus Cleaner 2008 8.0.1
Price: Free
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.viruskeeper.com/us/mvc.htm
Multi Virus Cleaner 2008 helps you to remove computer viruses. The program doesn't offer anti-virus protection, but it's an essential tool if your computer is malfunctioning and you suspect that it's infected by a virus which your AV program has missed. The program detects over 6000 common viruses, plus variants, and produces a fast scan. WebIdeaTree 5.20
Licence: 30-day trial, then $US40
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.webideatree.comÂ
WebIdeaTree 5.20 makes creating a Web site a breeze. The program does all the heavy lifting for you, creating Web sites with a few clicks. No HTML skills are required, although you can edit the code if you wish. Essentially you create your site as an outline, adding text and multimedia, and then publish the result to the Web.
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Video DVD Maker Free 3.5.0.9
Price: Free
Platform: Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Site: www.protectedsoft.com/download.php
If you're just getting started in video editing, Video DVD Maker Free gives you everything you need in an easy-to-use program. You can capture video from your choice of video devices, plus import all popular video formats, including DIVX, XVID, MPEG-4 and MPG. When you've captured your video, you can burn it to optical disc, whether video CD or DVD video. Sothink Movie DVD Maker 1 Build 70424
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Site: www.sothinkmedia.com/movie-dvd-maker/download.htm
Sothink Movie DVD Maker lets you convert all popular video formats to DVD: AVI, MPEG, VOB, etc. You can play your source videos while you're adding them to your project, and can cancel the conversion if necessary; you can even add subtitles. The program is easy to use, even if you're completely new to video editing. Colorful Movie Editor 4.0
Licence: Trial, then $US30
Platform: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server
Site: www.colorfulsoft.com/cme4/colorfulme.htm
Colorful Movie Editor is an easy-to-use video editing application, which requires little experience to get good results. If you can cut, copy and paste, you can put together your own movie. The program supports most popular video formats, including QuickTime, AVI, DIVX and XVID, and outputs include VCD, DVD, PAL and NTSC. Magix Movie Edit Pro 12
Licence: Trial, then $US50
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Site: www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro
Magix Movie Edit Pro helps you to turn your home movies into professional productions, with music and many special effects. If you're new to video editing, the program includes tutorials to get you started. If you're an expert, you'll appreciate the program's tools. This latest version offers support for Dolby Surround Sound, and can create DVDs in high resolution HD-DVD format. Honestech Easy Video Editor 2
Licence: 30-day trial, watermark on output; full $US30
Platform: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Site: www.honestech.com/main/easy_video_editor_20.asp?path=Graphics%20%26%20Video
If you want an ultra-simple way to edit your videos, give Honestech Easy Video Editor a try. It promises that it makes editing as simple as cut and paste, and it does. It supports most video formats, and streams output in WMV format for Internet broadcasting; you can even process multiple files in a single step. Movavi VideoSuite 4.7.1
Licence: Trial, then $US60
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Site: movavi.com/suite/download.html
Movavi VideoSuite is your complete video editing and production powerhouse. Capture video from any source, edit it with transitions and special effects, then create professional-quality DVDs with animated DVD themes and stylish menus. You can also create clones of your DVDs, and video postcards to send to friends and family. AVS Video Editor 3.5
Licence: Trial, then $US40
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Site: www.download3000.com/download-AVS_Video_Editor-count-reg-10578.html
AVS Video Editor is a powerful video editor which will give your home videos a Hollywood glow. Capture your video, enhance and edit it, and create DVDs, as well as exporting the output to most video formats. There's no time limit on the trial version, but there's a watermark on the videos. You can remove the watermark by recompiling the video once you've registered – you won't lose your work. ZS4 Video Editor 0.95
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 2000/XP
Site: www.zs4.net
ZS4 Video Editor gives you the ability to compile a variety of media types; movies, images, and sound files, into an output file. The program includes over 150 built-in video effects, and is an excellent way to get started in video editing. The developer's site includes tutorials for all users, from beginners to advanced.
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Revo Uninstaller 1.42
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Site: www.revouninstaller.com
Installing programs is easy; uninstalling them can be a nightmare. Revo Uninstaller to the rescue! It's better than Windows' own Add/Remove application, and it's faster too. It will even work if the Uninstall function of a program is broken. Revo Uninstaller includes a set of utilities, such as an Auto Start Manager, to help you to optimise your computer. Taskbar Shuffle 2.2
Price: Free
Platform: Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista
Site: www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.htm
If you often waste time looking for programs in your Windows task bar or system tray, you'll like Taskbar Shuffle. This little program makes it easy to organise programs in both the task bar and the system tray – just drag and drop to put icons to where you want them. The program has lots of options to help you to work the way you want – you can opt to group similar applications side by side, but never hidden, for example. Burn4Free CD and DVD 4.1
Price: Free
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.burn4free.com
Not only is Burn4Free CD and DVD completely free, it's easy to use and offers a complete optical disc solution. You can burn data and audio discs, as well as create ISO files. If you're new to disc burning, the developer's site offers a tutorial to get you started. The program installs as an Internet Explorer toolbar which you can uninstall if you wish. GreenPrint World 1
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Site: www.printgreener.com/download.html
When you print from the Web, many pages contain wasteful junk; ads and other material. GreenPrint World lets you print just what you want to print. When you're ready to print, GreenPrint highlights all the material you're unlikely to want to print, and you can eliminate the ads and images you want to remove from the printout with a click. CMenuExtender 1.2.1.2
Price: Free
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Shell-Replacements/CMenuExtender.shtml
If you want to change the Windows context (right click) menu, CmenuExtender gives you many options. You can create new menus and sub-menus, and extend existing options. Unfortunately there's little documentation, so this utility isn't suitable for novice computer users, but advanced users will appreciate it. MiniMinder 7.35
Price: Free
Platform: Windows (all)
Site: www.vellosoft.com/miniminder/index.html
MiniMinder counts down to upcoming events. It reminds you of anything you want to track: holidays, birthdays, bills to pay, and so on. Recurring events are supported, so you can enter daily, monthly and quarterly events. MiniMinder pops up once a day if you turn off your computer each day. If you leave your PC on, minimise it to the system tray and it will pop up to remind you once a day. gDocsBar
Price: Free
Platform: Windows; Mac; Firefox browser
Site: www.gdocsbar.com/download.html
gDocsBar is a Firefox browser extension which lets you view your Google Docs as a sidebar. You can search your documents, as well as drag and drop files from your desktop or the Web to Google Docs. View your documents by type, date, or author. If you're a Google Docs user, this extension is a must-have. PixClip 0.03c
Price: Free
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Site: www.pixclip.net
PixClip is a simple screen capture tool. Since it takes few system resources, you can leave it running. It saves clips in all popular image formats – PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF and TIFF to the clipboard, where you can save them to a file, or paste your captures immediately.
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TaMiGon 1.1.9
Licence: Shareware
Platform: Mac OS X 10.3 or later
Site: www.shoecakegames.com/tamigon
A unique logic puzzle game that brings together elements from the Chinese Tangram puzzles and mixes them with modern action puzzle ideas such as colour and shape matching Waterstorm 1.0
Licence: Shareware
Platform: Mac OS X 10.3 or later
Site: www.waterstorm-game.com/portal/index.php
A fast-paced multiplayer underwater action game with four modes. Featuring 12 different weapons and amazing underwater environments this tactical action game is a blast. Extreme Tux Racer
Licence: Freeware
Platform: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Site: extremetuxracer.com/?download
A cutesy downhill racing game featuring Tux, the Linux Penguin.
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AddMovie
Licence: Free
Platform: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Site: www.limit-point.com/Utilities/AddMovie.html
A versatile utility for joining several files into one single movie, batch converting movie file formats, splitting movies, extracting image frames or sound tracks. Supports all formats provided by Quicktime. EasyWMV 1.3.2
Licence: Free
Platform: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
Site: www.easywma.com/wmv
Can be used to resize or convert a huge range of commonly used video files so that they can be used with QuickTime Player, the iPod and iPhone. ScreenFlow 1.0
Licence: Demo
Platform: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Site: www.varasoftware.com/products/screenflow
A realtime video application powerful enough to capture the contents of your entire desktop at the same time as your video camera, microphone and computer’s audio. This software make it simple to create beautiful screencasts.
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