This article will introduce you to three online mind map tools that are free to use and have solid functionality.  A number of note taking tools were previously covered on Freewaregenius, and I’ve previously written about Bubbl.us, another mind map tool. This article will present three more tools: Text 2 Mind Map, Creately, and Lovely Charts, which can all help you brainstorm and diagram your thoughts.

[Editor's note: this post was written by Freewaregenius contributor Jason H. Check out his tech blog: 404techsupport.com].

PhotoJoy is a free app that uses your own photo collection to create dynamic
desktop wallpaper, screensavers, and desktop widgets.

PhotoFilmStrip is a free program that can create video from images quickly and easily, including the Ken Burns style zoom-in/zoom-out effect commonly used in documentaries. Other features include the ability to add subtitles, add a soundtrack, and use black and white/sepia versions of your images. PhotoFilmStrip is multiplatform (Windows/Linux).

COMBO (2 times loop) is a collaborative animation made by animation artists "Blu" and David Ellis. What is unique about this animation is that where animation usually takes places on paper or inside a computer screen, this animation is physically created and/or hand-drawn inside an actual physical environment, on the walls and in the spaces of an actual building (click-into this posting to watch the video).

Viewer2 is a free image viewing and tagging app that combines form and function into a powerful program that is a joy to use. It offers an innovative tagging process based on organizing image thumbnails and folders visually and grouping them in various ways that make it very easy to work with and tag them. Includes a powerful, versatile search function that indexes metadata as well as filenames and paths.

PrtScr is a free screen capturing program that combines good functionality with an excellent user experience. It offers much of what you would expect out of a screen capture program within a stylish, visually appealing user interface.

ManicTime is a free app that runs in the background, measures your computer usage, and provides detailed stats on your activity. It can report on your general computer usage, on the specific applications that you’ve been using as well as the specific web sites that you’ve visited. It allows you to “tag” chunks of time with user-defined tags in order to allocate time in a way that makes sense to you and refine the analysis.

Explore&Burn is a free app that allows you to burn to files to CD/DVD right from the Windows explorer context menu. It can burn disk image files (ISO, IMG) as well as any file type to a wide range of disc types (including Dual Layer DVD’s). Supports single-session and multi-session discs with ISO-9660, Joliet and UDF file systems.

Chalk is an original, freeware variant on the side-scrolling shoot-em genre. Make your way through enemy territory while dodging bullets, objects, and hostiles, all the while using your trusty … chalk … as a weapon. “Chalk” employs innovative game dynamics based on performing on-screen gesture drawings in order to interact with the game environment (and puts it all together brilliantly, I might add).

AuthorStream Desktop is a free PowerPoint Add-on that makes it easy to search for and insert YouTube videos as well as images from the web into your PowerPoint files. Users on other computers that you might share your PowerPoint files with will need an internet connection to view the embedded videos, but will NOT require AuthorStream Desktop installed on their computers in order to do so.

Battlefield Heroes is a third person, online only action game. It’s free-to-play, supported by optional micro transactions, and can only be launched through your web browser. It’s created by EA DICE, the developer behind the famous Battlefield series.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his freeware games blog here].

BumpTop is a cool little addition that can make your Windows desktop a little more organized and add a bit of pizazz to the experience. It adds physics and depth to your normal, boring desktop. You can slide files and icons around on the “floor” or pin them to any of the four walls that BumpTop creates. It makes for an impressive desktop and is somewhat comparable to Compiz on Linux, but is there much practical application for it?

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Jason H. Check out his tech blog: 404techsupport.com].