PhotoRec:Recover deleted files

PhotoRec is free software for recovering deleted files from your computer. Yes, even if you’ve emptied your recycle bin! This works because the files still exist on your computer,it’s just that all links to them are gone. It can recover lost files including video,documents and archives. It works with hard disks and removable media such as digital camera memory cards. It can even recover data from scratched cds in some cases! It recognizes more than 80 file types, the whole list is available here.

I know from experience that there’s nothing more annoying than losing photos from a digital camera memory card or from your hard drive, because they’re pretty much irreplacable! So if something like that happens to you its well worth checking this out! It’s freeware, so you have nothin’ to lose (and hopefully your files to gain), by going here for more info and the download!

YamiPod: Yet another iPod manager

YamiPod is a freeware standalone iPod manager which allows you to manage the content of your iPod without the need to have iTunes installed. It needs no installation and can be run directly from your iPod. So,for example, it doesn’t matter if it is not your computer where you want to run it, you still can!

It comes with many useful features such as iPod ‘notes’ editing features, exporting your song list to HTML, management for duplicate files, the ability to locate lost music files, AAC file support and of course PC to iPod synchronization! It can automatically download the latest version and includes a built in music player.

This is a worthwhile alternative to the official iPod client which many people think is bloated and overrated. Personally i think iPods are overrated anyway as mp3 players existed long before they claimed the market, but if you have an iPod, this alternative is definitely worth checking out!

It’s freeware and you can get more info and download it from here.

Pandora: Internet Radio to suit your tastes!

Pandora is an internet radio station site, but with a twist! It knows what you might like, before you’ve even heard it! You simply type in the name of a song or artist, and it generates a playlist of similiar sounding songs and artists! It bases its findings on musical similiarity, not popularity, only the music counts!

It’s part of the ‘Music Genome Project’ an attempt to group thousands of songs by musical similarity. Everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It’s not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it’s about what each individual song sounds like. You can even give a “Thumbs Up”, which makes that song and songs that sound like that song play more often or “Thumbs Down” bans that song from that station, and makes songs that sound like that song play less often.

It’s a great way to discover new music based on what you already know you like. I like how they even provide links to more info on each band or artist, so if you find something you like you can easily learn more info!

Start listening right now by going here!