EssentialPIM: Personal Information Manager

EssentialPIM is another PIM program (Personal Information Manager in case you didn't know what that meant!) These things are very useful for not having to remember 100 various things such as birthdays, meetings, appointments, to-do lists etc. You can easily make a note of something you have to do in three months time that you might otherwise forget by then. It has colour coded day, week, and month schedules.

You can import (and export) from a whole bunch of other software such as Outlook, Outlook Express, and Google Calendar. You can even sync it with Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Smartphone devices, if your lucky enough to have one of those!

It’s pretty detailed and feature packed with an easy to follow layout and some useful features such as to-do list, contacts manager and more. I’d recommend checking it out to anyone who wants to be more productive or simply has a bad memory!

There’s a free version and a paid version. What’s the difference? Click here to find out or go to the main homepage here for more info.

Naomi: Free Parental Internet Filter

Naomi doesn’t rely on a list of disallowed websites like a lot of similiar software does. Instead it examines in real time, all the data being sent and received through the Internet application, such as web browsers and chat programs. Monitoring iisn't limited to web sites, but also covers the whole local Internet traffic. It also allows blocking of file-sharing programs and the entire thing can be password-protected. It’s also got some useful plugins that may be of use, such as one to block Myspace access and one to hide the tray icon. It's worth checking out if you’ve been looking for a free way of protecting your kids online life. You can read more info and the free download from here.

aMSN: Don’t shoot the messenger!

This is a free open-source MSN Messenger clone called aMSN. If for any reason you want to use MSN messenger but without using the official MSN messenger client, then maybe its time to check this out.

It does just about everything the official MSN messenger program does, plus some more, such as being able to sign into more than one account at a time. It supports display pictures, custom emoticons, file transfer, even webcam support.

When you read the list of features, you’ll see its virtually identical to the official client in every way, but one potentially useful thing is that you can download plug-ins from the site, as well as this, its also skinnable.

You can check out all the features in full and download it by going here.

Hott Notes: Make a note of it!

Sticky note paper is a popular way of taking down reminders, shopping lists, to-do lists, etc. Some people even ‘borrow’ some from work and use them for posting notes on the fridge freezer. The bright yellow pad enables us to quickly see a reminder note.

Hott Notes is a free tool that enables you to write and place sticky-type notes on your desktop (ok, not the actual top of your desk, but on your screen,that thing you’re looking at now). You can use these notes in the usual manner – reminders, lists and more. The notes can be displayed in various translucent colors, so that you can use one color for reminders, another for business notes and one for home-related reminders.

You can even draw or write freehand on them!

Unlike the ‘borrowed’ from work sticky note paper, Hott Notes really is free and you can get it here with more info and here’s some screenshots.

CDBurnerXP Pro: It’s hot!

CDBurnerXP Pro is CD/DVD burning software with quite a lot to offer, considering it’s totally free!

It supports creation of multi-session disks, which is always useful if you have disc you want to keep coming back to add data or files to. It also creates Audio-CDs from mp3, wav, ogg and wma files. In addition to CD burning, you can also rip audio CDs, normalize WAV files, encode MP3 files, and erase disks. All this and it supports use of high write speeds too.

It’s able to write CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW discs, creating either data or video discs. It can also rip audio-CDs, burn and create ISO images, convert WAV files to MP3 and vice versa, verify discs after burning, create bootable discs, print covers for your creation, convert BIN/NRG to ISO, etc. It supports Burn on the Fly and Burn-Proof hardware.

If you’ve been looking for CD/DVD burning software but don’t have money to burn, you won’t be playing with fire if you check out this freeware software right here! Some screenshots of this tool ‘in work’ can be found here.

MouseAway: Get that mouse away!

MouseAway is a simple and very small program that you may find useful. It simply moves your mouse cursor out of the way if you’re typing, so that you don’t have to manually move it yourself each time.

It’s a pretty basic program that only does exactly as it says. The upside to it being so small and basic means it takes up very little memory. So if this is an minor annoyance for you, having to move the mouse cursor out of the way every time you type, then maybe it’s worth trying out!

(If its a major one, you really need to chill out a little!)

It’s freeware and you can download it from the homepage right here!

Cloudmark: Bye bye spam!

Cloudmark is an add-on for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express to prevent spam and also prevent and report phishing attacks. It can also block email viruses before they can do any potential damage.

To give it it’s full name, Cloudmark Desktop (formerly known as Cloudmark Safetybar) installs directly inside Outlook and Outlook Express, filters through your mail as it downloads, and moves suspected junk into a folder for you to review it later. The filtering mechanism is based on the Cloudmark service, the largest community-based platform used to stop the plague of junk email and email fraud, and it doesn’t require you to create any filters or rules. You can however create a white list, to make sure certain contacts will never be filtered, and also re-classify selected messages.

This is how it works. When a user clicks the ‘Block Spam’ or ‘Block Phish’ buttons, Cloudmark compares this feedback with feedback from other users. If other users in the network also consider the message to be spam or fraud, then similar messages are automatically blocked in the future, for all users in the network.

Likewise, if a user drags a message out of the Spam folder or clicks the ‘Unblock button’, Cloudmark compares this feedback with that of other users. If they agree, the message is unblocked throughout the Cloudmark network.

Well worth checking out if you’ve had it with too much spam. You can check out more info and a free trial by going here.

IsoBuster: Recover CD/DVD data

It happens to everyone sooner or later, you try to use a CD or DVD for one reason or another and, no luck, the thing just can’t be read!Now you have two choices, either kick yourself for not having another backup, for buying “bargain” quality discs, or try recovery software such as IsoBuster.

It can recover data from a damaged or corrupt CD or DVD. It supports all optical disc formats and all common optical disc file-systems. It can use both generic and alternative ways to get to the data and the use of primary and secondary file systems to get to the data and/or make use of file system data that might be ignored or ‘forgotten’ by popular OS. At the homepage you’ll find a massive and very impressive list of the various methods it uses to attempt to recover your data.

To read much more info and download the demo at the homepage visit here. Hopefully after trying IsoBuster out you’ll have your data back and have avoided getting a self-kicking and a shiny new coaster !

Recolored: Black and white photos into color!

Got some old black and white photographs you wouldn’t mind seeing in color?
Before computers helped, it had to be done by hand, requiring great skill and patience to achieve good results.

Nowadays, it’s possible to do it yourself on your computer, not easy, but possible!

Well general purpose graphics programs are usually awkward and time consuming to use if trying to recolor an old black and white photo. Recolored is software for colorizing black and white photos.

There is a learning curve and its a little too technical to describe in a simple blog review but it doesn’t take more than a few minutes to start getting results. Overall, I say Recolored is worth the download for anyone who’s got a lot of old photos and wonder what it really looked like to be there!

You can check out more detailed info and download the demo right here.

Do you need a POP Peeper?

Pop Peeper is a small utility that runs in your task tray and allows you to keep a check on all your email accounts. It works for both POP3 mail and webmail and it supports multiple accounts, so you can check email from Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail and many others, there’s a full regularly updated list on the website, so i’ll refrain from listing them all here.It allows you to preview the headers of your email, and view the messages. There is also support for file attachments, which allows you to view the name of the files. Using POP Peeper, you can quickly scan which messages are important enough to read, and which ones can be deleted without even opening your email client. A great little tool that works fast and efficient.

Idea: When you go away on vacation, simply take a Flash drive with a copy of POP Peeper to keep a check on your email easily from any computer you use. POP Peeper is freeware too! Always an added bonus!

Pop on over here to peep at more info and download it (Sorry! Couldn’t resist)!

Civil Netizen: Secure File Delivery

Civil Netizen is a free and secure way to send a file via the internet. It involves no complicated FTP settings, shared website settings, large email attachments, etc.
You can send your file(s) through a simple drag and drop interface. Files can be up to a huge 4 GB!! Thats an awful lot of data, so now you can easily send and share your latest project you’ve been working on, etc, no matter how big (well, as long as its under 4GB obviously). It also fully preserves the folder structure if thats important to you.

You simply “parcel” your content with the online interface, and then you send a pick up slip via IM or email to your recipient. An important feature to mention is that all files are fully encrypted with 128 bit encryption from end to end, so it really is totally private.

It’s a totally free service and they say it always will be! Sounds good! Another one for the bookmarks! You can check it out or use it by going right here.

Acronis True Image: Clone an original copy!

Acronis True Image is the ideal solution for making an entire exact copy of the contents of your hard disk. This means an exact clone including the operating system, applications, user settings, and all data. This is extremely useful if you’ve just bought a new computer or drive and want to move everything from your old computer or drive to the new one.

It does exactly what it claims to, all it takes is a few hours, depending on size of course, size doesn’t matter with Acronis True Image either!

It’ll work no matter how big your hard disk is, but obviously time taken to clone is relative to size, although it worked pretty fast cloning a 20 GB drive the time i used it. It can even work in the background. The best thing is that even though you wont need to clone an entire drive for upgrade purposes often, it works good as a ‘normal’ backup program too.

Tip: Check the site for updates first before using to avoid any potential problems.

You can get a 15 day trial and more info by going here

Ultramon: Double vision

Nowadays most video cards support dual monitors and the prices of LCD displays have come down considerably so more people are using dual monitors than before. Some people find them useful if they do a lot of graphic or design work, as it allows more workspace without having to constantly maximise and minimise windows,etc. Ultramon is software to help you get the most out of a multi-monitor set-up.

It adds additional window buttons, so you can quickly move windows or stretch a window across the desktop.

It also uses a “Smart Taskbar” to manage more applications, so that you have a taskbar on each monitor and each taskbar only showing the tasks from the monitor it’s on.
Shortcut extensions make it easy to position applications on the desired monitor. The UltraMon screen saver and wallpaper manager make it possible to use a different wallpaper and screen saver on each monitor too. It also includes a flexible mirroring feature with support for mirroring one or more monitors, and use different resolutions for each monitor.Its also pretty cool to be able to move windows from one screen to the other!

You can download a fully functional trial here.

3D Driving-School: Learn to drive at your computer…well, almost!

This is a really cool program i found that gives you virtual driving lessons, complete with virtual driving instructor! It’s based on driving in Europe, so left side of car and driving on the right! At least that was the case in the version I tried although i think they have other versions, but the site is a little confusingly laid out. Don’t let that put you off though. This is a very good program and you almost feel like you’re really driving,as you have to pay attention or you’ll break the rules of the road or even cause an accident!

In the version i played around with, you can choose from 4 driving instructors,
three car cockpits, three motorbike cockpits (Hornet, Scooter and a cool Chopper). It starts at beginner level with basics such as indicating and stopping at traffic lights, giving right of way, etc, all the way up to…well almost real life conditions!

I had the pleasure (and pain) of going on a road trip across Europe not so long ago, so i can say that the scenery and experience is pretty accurate in some ways! I’d recommend this for anyone learning to drive or planning on driving in Europe. It’ll give you a good chance to become familiar with the various rules of the road! All from the safety of your chair! (Seatbelt not included)

You can find out more info here