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Keepin' Productive, the Freeware Way

David Murphy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:30:22 -0600

You're busy. We're busy. Everybody's busy. Thankfully, busy people are also creative software developers. And we've tapped into their treasures to find you five awesome, "keep your life together" applications. Forever say goodbye to the yellow sticky notes adorning your computer display. These free programs will ensure that you never miss a critical appointment, important task, or billing date. More than that, we've selected a few applications that can even sync your life essentials across every platform you use, be it a cell phone, a work computer, et cetera.

Check out our full list of powerful personal productivity tools after the jump!

The Ultimate Free Network Applications, Period

David Murphy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:44:00 -0600

With just five applications--five, free applications--you can do anything you ever wanted to do across a network connection. We're serious. Using these applications, you can bridge your computers together from anywhere in the world across a secure, hacker-proof connection. From there, you can dial into your desktop as if you were sitting right in front of it, looking at the exact screen you'd be seeing were your butt in the groove of your favorite office chair. If you're a hardcore network enthusiast, we'll even show you how to tab-browse through multiple, connected desktops as if you were pulling them up in Firefox or something.

And if you think that's crazy, these examples only reflect three of the five programs we're featuring in this week's roundup. So what are you waiting for? Click the link and let's get networked! Which, in itself, should be some kind of 80s super-dance mix: "Let's Get Networked." Eh? Ehhhh?

Hacking NetHack: The Game's Best Addons and Plugins!

David Murphy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0600

Here we go again! In honor of devnull's yearly tournament for the still-popular ASCII dungeon romp NetHack, we're taking a look at the five greatest modifications to this ancient classic. But in case you've never even heard of NetHack before, here's the deal: it started out as an ASCII-based dungeon exploration game that, in many ways, has become a precursor to all sorts of genre-busters. Even to this day, games like Fable II have borrowed from some of NetHack's better features (a travelling animal companion, in this case).

The game's dungeons are randomly generated each time you play. You can master the nuances and inventory management skills of NetHack, but there's always that little chance that the next step you take could spell you death in any number of creative ways--in fact, finding all the possible ways to die is a near-impossible task in itself, a fun little challenge for yourself in case you get tired of trying to "ascend," the term used for beating the game.

Strap on your adventuring sword and join us after the jump for the top 5 NetHack... hacks!

Automated System Utilities and More--This Week's Top Freeware Picks!

David Murphy — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:00:00 -0600

The best kinds of system applications are the ones that make your life easier without you having to lift a finger. While the freeware applications we're profiling in this weekly roundup still require you to input a few settings, they're great tools to help automate some of the critical parts of your daily computer life. From hotkey creation utilities to applications that help you conserve power by turning off your PC at specified intervals, these freeware tools are must-have additions to your computing repertoire!

Click the jump to check out this week's batch of free, awesome apps!

Nine New Tweaks for Songbird--the Best iTunes Alternative!

David Murphy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:00:11 -0500

Are you sick of using iTunes? We don't blame you. The program eats up resources and makes us scratch our heads with its "Genius" recommendations, and we're ready to throw out display through the wall every time the Apple Software Updater tells us that there's a new version of Safari out. Arrgh!

Before our inner Hulk gets both mad and strong, we've taken a look at alternatives to the popular music library software. As luck would have it, we stumbled across an open-source solution that's every bit as good (and functional!) as iTunes. Better still, it comes without all of the clutter! You might have heard of the application before--it's called Songbird, an open-source music library application straight from Mozilla itself. But what you might not be aware of is the sheer depth of functionality (and dare we say it, iTunes replication) inherent in the program itself. And we're going to show you the top nine ways to tweak this application to bits and make it do exactly what you want, including features you'll never find in iTunes!

Throw on your headphones and check our out big list behind the jump!

Top Freeware Tools to Tweak Your PC!

David Murphy — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:30:00 -0500

There's a lot of stuff that goes on underneath the hood of your operating system. For the majority of you that are running a Windows OS, trying to figure out how all the bits and pieces work together is like popping the hood and wondering how you can make your car run faster. But you don't have to be a guru just to make the most out of your everyday computing experience. A number of developers have created programs to ease, and even automate, the innermost workings of Windows.

Click the jump to check out the four (free) programs we've found that will let you take ultimate control over your operating system!

A Newbie's Guide to Open-Source Hardware!

David Murphy — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0500

Everyone's heard of Linux, right? We wouldn't be wrong in suggesting that Linux is the most well-known representation of the open-source platform. Or, at least, we're willing to bet that it's going to be on the tip of your friend's tongue the next time you sit down at bar, order up a drink, and ask, "What's an example of Open Source?"

But we think you'd spit out your drink if your friend answered "Chumby," or "RepRap." You might even try calling out your buddy because you think he's just feeding you jibber-jabber to sound smart. Well, you'd be wrong to do so. These are indeed open-source creations, but you aren't going to find these projects no matter how much you scour SourceForge. That's because they're examples of open-source hardware, not software. That's right. The concept of throwing back the curtain and revealing all the working pieces of a particular item for you to modify at your leisure isn't an act that's constrained to bits and bytes.

Click the jump, and we'll show you the Open Source hardware projects you can make right now!

The Five Free Adventure Games You Should be Playing Right Now

David Murphy — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0500

Get your fedora hat, gas up your Weird Edsel, and practice avoiding all sorts of untimely deaths, because we're about to take you on a whirlwind tour of some of the most fun freeware adventure games you can find. It feels like there's never a shortage of freeware adventure titles on the ol' Internet. But it's definitely a little tricker to dial down and find the games that are worth playing--especially in the adventure genre, where the first three to five minutes of gameplay can greatly affect your interest in going through the rest of a game's storyline.

We've hand-picked five adventure games that you need to slap on to your hard drive this instant. Check out our comprehensive list, including details and screenshots, after the jump!