Rating: 5 pick

Version tested: 0.9.0 Alpha 14

Description: MusicBrainz Picard is a free MP3 file tagger that can identify track information by comparing an audio track’s “unique digital thumbprint” to the information in the MusicBrainz database. It is based on a tagging concept that is organized around album or release information for groups of tracks (and will identify individual tracks within that framework).

Imagine that you have a ripped album where the tracks are named “track1, track2, etc”, with no tags or metadata whatever. Imagine further that you do not even know the album or artist information, and do not recognize the songs. In this case it is not possible to use metadata management apps such as Mp3Tag or The Godfather or a similar program to identify the audio files; MusicBrainz Picard, however, is based on completely different technology and most likely will be able to get the information and apply a full profile of tags to your files. To test this I renamed some tracks so that the names contained no information and stripped all the tags, and, sure enough, Picard was able to identify and tag them. Here are some notes on this software:

• The technology: MusicBrainz Picard creates a patented “unique digital thumbprint” for audio files that it processes and compares it to the MusicBrainz database in order to identify it. This database is completely user generated and maintained (you can get your own account and contribute information); as of May 2007 contained information about 306,369 artists, 483,324 albums, and 5.7 million tracks.
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 0.34 beta

Description: Harmotion is a 2D top down shoot em up that is played duel-style online against human opponents. It offers a blend of colorful visuals, an excellent soundtrack, and a simple, original game design.

Let me say from the outset that this is a great game that is both exceedingly simple and well designed. However, brilliant as it may be it suffers somewhat in maintaining long term traction. It is still in beta, however, and still being developed, so I will keep my fingers crossed. Here are some notes on this one:

• Offers Co-Op, Singleplayer, and Player vs. Player Game Modes: there is something really satisfying about playing against another human player or players. For one thing, unlike the typical shoot em up action whereby your ship blasts away dozens if not hundreds of hapless opponents, fighting against one or two other ships that exhibit the same kind of agility and intelligence as your own ship makes intuitive sense and is a refreshing change of pace.
• Types of spaceship: there are a handful of different spaceships on offer (5 in total), each with its distinct weaponry and style of movement (and even visual and sound effects). You will soon find that you like to play certain ships more than others.
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Description: Introducing two tools, html2wiki is a website that can convert HTML content into WIKI Markup, while WIKI2xHTML is a program that converts WIKI files into HTML.

If you aren’t quite familiar with them, Wikis are applications for presenting and storing information that allow different people to edit and change the content (the most famous example being Wikipedia). For more definitions on the web go here.

Since starting Freewaregenius I have come across a number of freeware WIKI note-taking programs (namely WikidPad and BladeWiki) which caught my attention. These seemed like excellent tools but, although I was interested, I was not able to properly use them because I never could quite come to grips with the syntax used for noting down information in a Wiki.

I recently had to become familiar with this Wiki syntax, however, after we decided to use a Wiki at work in order to document a project that I am working on with a team. And although in most respects Wiki syntax is pretty simple, I found that transferring tables full of data from, say, Excel into the Wiki was somewhat inconvenient to say the least.
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.0

Description: Batch PSD to JPG is a freeware batch converter for Photoshop PSD images into JPG format. It can process multiple images at once, automatically flattening multiple layers in a PSD file, and allows for user-define JPG quality output.

Every once in a while you come across image files in PSD format, the proprietary file extension used by Adobe’s Photoshop program. I have found that especially if you work with designers you are likely to encounter this format frequently. Of course for 99.9% of web-related applications you would need to convert this to a format such as JPG, which would require that you install Photoshop (or a freeware equivalent such as GIMPShop), load up the PSD file, then ’flatten’ and save it or use the save for web option.

This is where a program such as "Batch PSD to JPG" can come in very handy. It will (a) relieve you from having to install a large Photoshop equivalent or bitmap editor to convert your PSD’s, and (b) allow you to quickly perform batch conversions of entire folders of PSD’s to JPG’s. Here are some notes on this program:
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Relequestual from Appaholic has just published an interview with me on his blog entitled Samer, THE Freewaregenius, reveals all his secrets (surely I have some secrets left!). Check it out (and let me have your comments).

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Rating: 5 pick

Version tested: 4.0.013

Description: CDBurnerXP 4 is a complete CD/DVD burning solution for the creation of data CDs and DVDs, audio CDs and Video DVDs. It offers full set of features including on-the-fly disc copying, copying to and burning from ISO images, and ISO image conversion. Supports new DVD formats such as Double layer DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs.

This program is the mother of all freeware CD burning solutions. The strength of this program is that it is comprehensive in scope, meaning that it allows you to do pretty much everything you need to do when it comes to burning CDs/DVDs. One of the things I didn’t like about the older version I used (3.0.116) of this program was that it looked and felt junky like the various features were added on as afterthoughts; CDBurnerXP 4 on the other hand is very well designed both in terms of how it looks visually as well as the user experience it provides. Here are some notes on this program

• Copy audio and data CD’s on the fly: (swap source and destination media within the same or alternate drives). Copy to ISO file supported
• Burn Audio CDs: with or without gaps. Supports MP3, WAV, OGG, WMA, and FLAC files. Allows for adding tracks from audio CDs without ripping them first (cda-files). Does not rip audio cds (use the free BonkEnc or Exact Audio Copy for this).
• Burns Video DVDs: in UDF file format; i.e. they will play on your DVD player.
• Saves and burns ISO files: Converts .BIN and .NRG images to ISO format.
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.35

Description: Shock Aero delivers to Windows XP, 2000, and 2003 the ability to emulate the 3D program selection (Alt+Tab) style employed by Vista Aero or the Macintosh grid/tile program selection screen.

I remember when Vista was first launched so many people in so many forums and freeware groups wanted a utility that does the 3D Aero Alt+Tab program selection for Windwos XP, 2000, and 2003. Shock Aero does exactly this and delivers this function quite competently. Here are some notes on this one.

• Uses Windows+Tab as hotkey, or you can launch by left-clicking on the system tray icon to. Press the hotkey multiple times or use the mousewheel to scroll through the multiple programs/selections.
• Your system’s Alt+Tab behavior remains unchanged.
• Does a really good job with its 3D screen output.
• Uses 15 megs in memory, which although isn’t quite lightweight isn’t a lot, especially considering the 3D functionality that this program provides.
• Select Vista Aero or Mac style from the options in the system tray (where you can also set it to start with Windows).

Does it contain malware?:
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Rating: 4.5

Version tested: 1.0

Description: CachePal is an Internet Explorer extension that provides single-click deletion of your internet browsing history, temporary internet files, and cookies straight from the Internet Explorer toolbar.

We were recently using a website optimization tool at work that required all cookies to be deleted every time we wanted to make a change to the page or to refresh the website we were working on. We were using Internet Explorer, and typically, to delete cookies I use CCleaner, but in this case it was not practical to keep jumping to another program (much less wait for it to do its entire system cleaning thing or fiddle with its setting to only clean the cache). The easiest way to do it was to go into Tools > Internet options and hunt for the clear cache command there.

I had long ago come across a plugin for Firefox which cleared the cache, temp files and browsing history straight from the browser toolbar (whose name I forget - please remind us the comments). I began searching for an extension for Internet Explorer that does that when I found CachePal. With CachePal, all you have to do to clear your browsing history, temporary internet files, and cookies is click a button one time, straight from the browser.

Needless to say this can be much more practical than using a system and/or drive cleaning software, since (a) you are more likely to remember to and actually do it, and (b) if you are a website developer you might need to clear the cache over and over when working on a project, and it’s so much easier to just have that functionality in the toolbar.
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3 Questions on my mind:

• Is there such a thing as doing the wrong thing for the right reason?
• Are humans the only species that can sense or appreciate beauty and the aesthetic?
• Do the best free shoot em ups come from Japan?

I don’t know about the first 2 questions, but I think the answer to the third one is a definite yes. Here are 3 shoot em ups that will prove this:

1- EndEffector

5

Great side scrolling shooter with excellent production qualities. Though EndEffector does not feature weapons upgrades, it employs an original element in that, aside from the main laser cannon it features a secondary, "orb of energy type" weapon. What’s interesting about this orb is that it grows larger and more supercharged the longer you press the button, but in the meantime there is a trade off in that you are unable use your main weapon. Once sufficiently charged the orb has to be aimed and hurled in the appropriate direction. All in all the system is somewhat unique and works well (and is very fun). I will also mention the end of level baddies, which are really cool and menacing.

More info: unzip and run the executable to play this game; nothing to install. Use (x) and (z) for your weapons. For more info and downloading use the links at the bottom of this page.

2- Deadline

5

Another great game, Deadline is an intense and fast paced vertical shooter. This game borrows a lot from Gradius, especially when it comes to the 4 color-coded weapons systems. Once familiarized with the levels and the different weapons upgrades you will be able to determine which weapons upgrades to go for that work best with your playing style as well as the terrain you are navigating.

The production qualities are excellent here as well, with large sprites that can at times occupy large swaths of the screen. Most importantly, the game has excellent playability that will keep you entertained for a long time.
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Rating: 5

Version tested: the site as of 9/18/2007

Description: Feng GUI Viewfinder Heatmap is a free web service that uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to emulate human eye movements and generate heatmaps for websites and images. It allows you to define a URL or upload an image and then superimposes a heatmap on it which displays the ’hot spots’ on the image or URL that the human eye will gravitate to.

This service can generate heatmaps that web designers, designers, or visual artists of all kinds can use to get an insight as to the areas and/or design elements in their images or websites that the human eye automatically gravitates to. Here are some notes on this:

• What is a heatmap: colored, semi-transparent areas superimposed on an image or snapshot of a website that identify the areas where the eyes gravitate to or tend to linger using warm/reddish colors and other areas less likely to attract attention using cooler bluish colors (with green as the middle).
• Usage: enter a URL address in the designated box or click the upload button to upload an image. After that all you have to do is click the ’Heatmap’ button to see the result.
• The Technology: the service employs the neuroscience concept of “saliency” and claims to “simulate human visual attention and create an attention heatmap”. From reading the site and blog you get the feeling that there is a high degree of confidence in the validity of generated results (i.e. that the modeling and the concepts are well established and accepted). There isn’t much information with respect to verifying the generated results or comparing with heatmaps made through actually observing the eye movements of human subjects. Face and text detection is promised but not employed yet. Read more »

Rating: 4.5

Version tested: 4.1

Description: NetDrive allows you to map a drive on a Windows, Novell, or Linux server via FTP, SFTP, WebDAV or iFolder so that it shows up as a regular drive in explorer and behaves very much as a local drive would in the Windows file system. You can map multiple servers to multiple drives and assign each one the drive letter of your choosing.

Whether you are a developer and/or work with websites or you use an FTP server to store and back up your files, using an FTP client like FileZilla is a daily routine for many of us. Imagine how cool it would be if your FTP server is mapped to a windows drive that behaved just like any other drive in the windows file system, whereby you could edit and save files just as you would on your hard drive or simply drag, drop and manage your files within explorer.

I recently came across a software called Red Drive Shell Extension which is supposed to do just that; unfortunately, although in theory it seemed to work on my system, it kept flashing constant error messages which made it impossible to use. Another program I found, FTP Drive, exhibited the exact same behavior. That is when I found and installed NetDrive and found, to my delight, that it worked perfectly. Note that this program is abandonware; it was developed by Novell and is the precursor of another very similar for-pay program that eventually superseded it.

Here’s a list of things I like about this program:

• Installation was a breeze; straightforward and intuitive. Click here for step by step installation instructions.
• System tray icon makes it easy to interact with NetDrive and quickly access any number of operations that you might want to perform (see screenshot).
• Provides a very reliable, seamless experience of a local hard drive. Your explorer context menu and most Explorer extensions will work within your new “drive” as normal.
• Stays connected (I am assuming that it disconnects and quickly re-connects); I have not witnessed any lockups in 3 days of almost continuous use.
• Allows you to connect to multiple servers simultaneously mapped as different drives.

Things that I do not like so much:
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Description: Use Google Toolbar to Spell check web forms and translate web pages.

Google Toolbar is one of those must-have free programs that I always have on my list to install on a new machine. I hadn’t noticed some of the language-related functions that they’ve added to it until recently, and wanted to quickly write about how you can use Google Toolbar to spellcheck forms and translate pages.

• Spellcheck: once you’ve entered some text into a form, click the spellcheck button on the toolbar for instant spell checking (note that if you use Firefox it provides its own built in spellcheck). Go to setting/options/features tab and check the spellcheck button to place it on your toolbar. (Check out IESpell for another free spell checker for Internet Explorer).
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.23.1

Description: DM2 is an open source program that adds useful enhancements to Windows (e.g. minimize a window to tray, keep on top, roll a window to the title bar, snap windows to edge, quickly resize windows, favorite folders option in save file dilaog, etc). Where it is different from most programs in its category is (a) the sheer range of different functions it provides, and (b) that it is built on a plugin architecture, which means that it is always possible to extend its functionality by installing new ones.

DM2 runs in the background and its various functions are triggered by hotkeys, right clicking on the title bar, or combination of hotkeys and clicking on the minimize/maximize/close buttons of an open window.

This program is really cool; before I talk about some of the features and functions in detail let me briefly list what I like (and don’t like) about DM2.

What I like about this program:

• The sheer range of possible enhancements and its open, plugin-based architecture. Packs the functionality provided by a number of programs previously mentioned on Freewaregenius into one (from the following postings: RadWinMan, WinSplit Revolution, and 4 Utilities that tweak Windows, and others).
• Provides a number of unique enhancement such as minimizing to floating Window and pasting a multi-segment serial code or key.
• Low on resources: takes up between 2 to 3 megs of memory on my machine with a handful of plugins installed

What I do not like about this program:
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Rating: 4

Version tested: 1.5 beta

Description: Zorro is a small freeware program that can blank out your entire screen except for a user defined rectangular area. It is useful whenever you would like to focus on one window or event taking place on your screen or if you would like to emphasize a certain window/information and de-emphasize everything else.

If you were wondering about real life scenarios when you would need to blank out parts of your screen there are 3 examples I can think of : (a) you are watching a video in part of the screen and would like to blank out everything else, (b) say you are giving a presentation and might want to emphasize a point by focusing on a part of a point/graph/illustration and eliminate everything else, and (c) you’d like to focus on the window/application you are working with and eliminate other on-screen distractions.

Here are some notes on this program:
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.10.0.2

Description: Moyea FLV Downloader is a free program that can download FLV videos from most file sharing sites. It will monitor your browser for any FLV videos and will automatically capture their URLs for downloading.

It seems like I’m posting a program to download FLV videos from video sharing sites every other day that. If I had a dollar for every time this happened, by now I would have myself a nice stash of … $5 or $6 :-).

In any case this one is rather cool. Once launched it will monitor your browser for any played FLV’s (which it terms “recording”) and, if found, will enter the video into a list and make it available for downloading. It will also place a download button that will appear on the FLV video itself that can be used for downloading (see second screenshot) - very much like the Grab++ module in Orbit Downloader.

Some notes on this program:

• Will automatically detect videos; no need to copy and paste URLs. Note that it detects URLS and downloads the videos rather than scanning the cache like Ycpod).
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