Software thread

Posted by: Redmires on 07 February 2013

We've had recent posts about malware (keywords linking to adverts), disk clean up utilities (such as Ccleaner) and Open Office. How about a thread on the software that you would recommend. I'm thinking mainly of freeware products but doesn't have to be.

 

Here's a link to a copy of Microsoft Money. I've used it for years to keep my finances in order but it was discontinued about 5 or 6 years ago. It handles multiple accounts and helps keep track of spending with budget reports and graphs etc. There are UK, US, French and International versions available. From the website ....

 

The latest versions are free for anyone to use, but are not supported by Microsoft.



http://social.microsoft.com/Fo...ca-85f7-644fc6e1e5c3

Posted on: 07 February 2013 by Jan-Erik Nordoen

Great idea for a thread.

 

Our personal favourite for Home design, remodeling and decorating ideas is Houzz. The photography is first-rate and on an iPad it's slick, stunning and addictive. The app is free and will handily replace several subscriptions to decorating / home idea magazines (unless you want the adverts of course). You can create your own "Idea Book" and add photos to create your dream kitchen, bathroom... or man-cave. There are links to stores ; not sure if this is adapted to the country where the software is downloaded though.

 

http://www.houzz.com/

Posted on: 07 February 2013 by Jan-Erik Nordoen

Signal Scope Pro (from Faber Acoustical)

 

http://www.faberacoustical.com...pps/signalscope_pro/

 

Turns your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch into a sophisticated signal analyser. The FFT is handy for nailing down that irksome resonance in your listening room and plotting the in-room response of your speakers.

 

Not free, but very fairly priced. Also available for Mac. 

Posted on: 07 February 2013 by Jasonf
This ones for Debs and other wine drinkers out there.

ViVino, it's an app to keep track of your wine by using the camera on your phone as a scanner to scan the label on the bottle. It will find the wine and give you details on the grape, what food is recommended to drink it with, it's rank in the country where produced, other people's comments. Etc. etc. you can rank the wine from 1-5 and follow other people and friends you can also say where you drank it and purchased it and how much. So ultimately you end up with a data base of your favourite wine, how much it costs, and where the nearest location is to you to buy. It's a great app, full of excellent information and recommendations from the person in the street as opposed to the specialised mags.

You do need sufficient light to get the scan to pick up the correct wine label, but just move the bottle closer to the light ANd it will do it. And it's free.

www.vivino.com/

Jason.

Ps. My latest discover is: Meerlust. Pinot Noir 2003. South Africa. It's got a wonderful smokey flavour.
Posted on: 07 February 2013 by Jasonf
Gimp -

a free and powerfull alternative to Photoshop and IMO better as it is more intuitive to use.....except of course if you a a Photoshop maverick, then I bet you will hate it!

www.gimp.org/

Jason.
Posted on: 07 February 2013 by fatcat

http://www.nitroreader.com/

 

I've been using Nitro reader for years without a glitch. It convert most documents to PDF plus It also converts web pages or sections of web pages via the print function.

 
 
 
 
Posted on: 07 February 2013 by Redmires

One for the techies. A freeware protocol analyser that shows you the data packets & traffic that is running on a network. This is widely used in the networking world and is a superb, flexible program. When it came out it must have devastated the sales of expensive Sniffer products, which used to cost thousands.

 

www.wireshark.org

 

Posted on: 10 February 2013 by Redmires

I listen to a lot of the vintage comedies on Radio 4 Extra and this program lets you subscribe to radio shows and downloads them in the background for you.

 

http://www.nerdoftheherd.com/tools/radiodld/

 

It brings Podcast-like abilities to stream downloading, as well as handling Podcasts. This gives you the convenience of being able to subscribe to regular downloads of your favourite programmes, which you can then listen to on your pc or mp3 player.

Posted on: 10 February 2013 by Redmires

If I want to save radio shows I use this to top and tail them. Audacity - excellent free program that handles most types of audio files.

 

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/