Being a dark fiction author has its drawbacks: food, clothing and shelter, to name a few. So by day, I have a paying job as a mild-mannered IT guy. This exposes me to lots of different software. Some are free. Some are useful. Some are both.

People ask me all the time what software I use, and what FREE alternatives are out there that actually work. So with the help of my fellow IT guru Saveau, I’ve put together a Free-And-Useful Software list that I update around Christmas each year as a gift to friends, fans, and readers of conradzero.com.  Here are links to previous year’s lists:

• Merry Christmas 2008 Free Software!
• Your 2009 I.T. Christmas Gift – Free Software!
• Free Software For Christmas 2010!

Some of this list will be the same as previous years, but there are several new additions that I’ve updated for Christmas 2011. This year, I’ve added apps for android smartphones. Everything referenced here has been IT tested and approved by myself. The programs are divided into 3 sections:

• APPS – for use on mobile devices. I use an Android smartphone myself, but other formats might be available for i-os, blackberry, windows etc.
• SOFTWARE – that you download and install on your computer. Mostly Windows based, but other versions might be available.
• SERVICES – that you log into on the internet to use through a web browser interface. These should work on any device that can browse the internet.

THE CHRISTMAS 2011 LIST OF AWESOME, FREE MOBILE APPS

Aldiko Ebook Reader

Why bother buying another device to read e-books when you can install Aldiko and read e-books on your phone? Aldiko is worth loading even if you have another e-book reader, since it allows you to “sideload” e-book formats or sources that your current bookreader might not handle.

Amazon

Manage your wishlist on Amazon.com year round with the Amazon App. Add items by picture, description or by zapping a product bar code.

Astrid Tasks

I tried over a dozen task-manager apps before I found Astrid. Now, I use it every day at work for keeping track of deferred tasks, long-term tasks and large IT projects. It syncs up with Google Tasks quite nicely.

Evernote

I’ve raved about Evernote before, and its value just goes up when you can add to, edit and access your own personal information database from your smartphone. I call my phone “my second brain” because of this app. Read more about Evernote below in the “Software” section of this blog post for more great reasons to use this app.

Hi-Q MP3 Recorder

This little app was difficult to find. Audio Recorder Apps abound, but ones which record directly to MP3 format are rare. Even the Hi-Q MP3 Recorder app will only record 10 min at a time unless you pay for the non-light version. But with a dead-simple interface and 44K 128 bit recording, the free “light” version works great.

Lookout Mobile Security

The Lookout App draws a lot of system resources, but it’s worth it. Three things make Lookout a must-have app for your smartphone.

• Security – Lookout provides anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-spyware on your phone, preventing bad apps from doing bad things.
• Find Lost Phone – Ever lose your cell phone then call it with another phone and wander the house, listening for the ring? Doesn’t help much if your ringer is off or the battery is dead. And did you actually bring it home, or is it still at work? Or the gym? Or the bar? Go online to the Lookout website and SEE exactly where and when your phone last “checked in” with a signal. Make your phone “scream” an alarm even if you left the ringer off!
• Backup – Lookout backs up your Contacts to the cloud, and lets you restore them back to your phone if they ever get lost or deleted.
  

The Premium version adds Remote Lockout/Wipe so if your cell phone gets stolen, lock it down or wipe it out from the lookout website.

Google Music

Since the world is about to end, there’s no point lying to yourself anymore. You know I-tunes sucks donkey balls. For those who want access to free music and drm-free music, there’s Google Music. The only bad thing about Google Music is that you still have a bunch of songs and credits at the I-suck store. Too bad. When you’re ready to ditch the shiny plastic i-thing and play any music on your phone or computer, try out the Google Music app.

Overdrive Media Console

Tie your library account to the Overdrive app, and check out e-books from the Library! Nuff said.

Paypal and Square

Mobile electronic transactions are here. Both Paypal and Square let you accept credit-card payments, but Square actually gives you a free credit card scanner and the app allows for signatures.

QR Droid

Decode QR codes from the real world (via your smartphone’s built-in camera) or from pictures or websites. Encode your own QR codes for sharing information. This is a great way to get information from one phone to another.

SugarSync

Remember what it was like to hook up a cable to download pix or music files off your smartphone to your desktop computer? That’s a thing of the past with SugarSync. Once you set it up, SugarSync simply syncs your cell phone data to the cloud and out to any of your computers with SugarSync installed.

WiFi Analyzer

If your smartphone has wi-fi capability, you’ll want to install WiFi Analyzer, which shows signal strength and names of all available hotspots.

Zippo Virtual Lighter

Ever held your cell phone up at a concert because you didn’t have a lighter? Install the Zippo Virtual Lighter app, and you’ve got a lighter that’s good for anything except lighting cigarettes or starting fires.

THE CHRISTMAS 2011 LIST OF AWESOME FREE ONLINE SERVICES

These items are not “software” in the traditional sense, because you don’t download them onto your computer (Although there are hybrid exceptions that allow you to load an app or software client.) You access most of these services by logging into a website with a username and password. They should work for any computer that can access the internet with a web browser.

Evernote Personal Information Database

More than just a picture/text/file storage site, Evernote is an upgrade for your brain. Here are just a few uses:

• Home Organization – Go paperless at home and move that entire cabinet of receipts and monthly statements up to the cloud.
• Engineers and Project Managers – Store and organize project data, task lists, website contents, pdfs and more.
• Writers – Save story ideas, plot outlines, characters, locations and more. Read more about why Evernote is great for writers.
• Students – Store and organize class notes, lecture audio files, online research and more.
• Save all your paid software install codes, CD keys, website passwords, etc.

Finding info in evernote is easy. Notes can be tagged, and searched in a miriad of ways. Evernote even has text recognition in uploaded pictures, so if you take a picture of something that has text in it (a road sign, wine label, paper document, etc.) you can search for the text within the picture!

The paid version lets you upload up to 1GB per month, but most people will be just fine with the free version which caps uploads at 60Mb per month. The mobile app has turned my android phone into my “second brain.” See the SOFTWARE section for more coolness about Evernote.

Shields Up at GRC.com Internet Security Testing

For techies only. Shields UP! tests your computer, router and firewall for vulnerabilities. No login necessary. Very useful when setting up your new router/internet service.

Gantter Online Project Management Software

Microsoft makes great products, but I have a hard time justifying a list price of $600 for Microsoft Project 2010. Especially when gantter.com is free. You don’t even make an account on Gantter, you simply use it. You either create a new project from scratch, or upload your own Microsoft Project file or access a project that you’ve previously saved in google docs.  When you’re done editing, simply download your project as XML, or as a Microsoft Project File (!!!) or stash it in Google Docs.

Gmail E-mail

Best. E-mail. Ever. Free. ‘Nuff said.

Google Docs Office Application Suite

If you’re looking for a FREE alternative to Microsoft Office, you could go with OpenOffice or IBM’s Symphony, but I don’t know why you would, since you already have access to Google Docs through your free gmail account.

Picassa and Flickr Picture-Sharing

These are becoming less relevant as more people move to the social media sites like Facebook for their filesharing, but Google’s Picassa and Yahoo’s Flickr websites still get the job done. They offer lots of free space, and make photo and graphics sharing a snap. If you already have a Google or Yahoo account, I’d recommend you stick with them just to reduce the number of username/passwords you have to remember. Otherwise, picking between them is a matter of taste. Try them both and see which seems more user-friendly to you.

Speedtest.net

Wanna know how fast/slow your internet connection really is? Go to speedtest.net (NOT DOT COM!!!) and click “Begin Test” (Watch out for other cleverly-named buttons on the site that are for other things) . In a few seconds you’ll have your real upload/download speed.

WordPress.org Free Website/Blog Development

It’s hard to believe WordPress software is free. WordPress lets users setup and customize a website without touching a single nybble of code. Setup is the hardest part, but the beauty of the plugins, themes, posting, widgets and website components makes WordPress worth paying for – only you don’t have to.  Add in the free website hosting on WordPress.com and there’s no reason someone with something to say or something to sell can’t have their own blog.

THE CHRISTMAS 2011 LIST OF AWESOME FREE SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS

These programs are software you download and install on your computer. Make sure you are downloading from a valid source and I recommend scanning any installers with the latest virus/spyware scanners before running them on your system.

BEWARE! – Many of the following softwares have both a free version and a paid version. Sometimes the paid version offers more functionality which you may not want or need. Make sure you are downloading the right version.

SugarSync Automatic File Backup, Sync and Sharing software

When I take a picture with my groovy Android phone, moments later it auto-magically appears on my desktop computer and laptop computers. How is this possible? Through the magical SugarSync program that runs in the background, monitoring folders on each computer and keeping them not only backed up to the cloud, but synchronized so that changes in files on one computer percolate over to other computers.

Dropbox is another popular auto-backup and sync software, but Sugarsync is better. I gave a detailed comparison of the two programs here: Great Software For Great Authors – Sugarsync vs Dropbox.

Steam Gaming Software

Originally created by Valve as an online security/license checking software for use with the Half Life 2 series of games, Steam is becoming the security method of choice for third party games, and the distribution method for smaller game studios around the world. Many games (like the latest kick-ass-RPG Skyrim) requires Steam in order to play on PC, even if you bought the product off the shelf. While some might find this a bit pushy, the benefits of Steam are too good to pass up.

The library function of Steam saves your game install software and license keys in the cloud. No need for the install media anymore. If you replace your computer, or you’re visiting a friend’s house and feel like playing, just install the steam client, (which runs on MAC or PC by the way) login and download/install/play. Not all games can be registered through Steam, but after using it, you’ll wish they could be. Game patches and updates are delivered seamlessly in the background. I only wish it could keep your saved games synced up to the cloud as well.

The community features let you friend up your posse and see when/what they are playing online. Voice chat or message your buddies through Steam and set up teams to play Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2, then voice chat in-game with Steam running in the background. Press F12 to grab screenshots of your game. These functions work even if you aren’t playing a steam-registered game!

The online store is evil genius. I’ve bought and downloaded more games through the Steam client in 2011 than I bought off the shelf. If you keep an eye out, you’ll be astonished by the prices. Oblivion was listed for $4.99 for one day only. I just picked up Portal 2 for $7.50. There are many free games and demos that you can get through Steam, including Alien Swarm. And purchasing games as gifts for friends is slick and easy.

Steam works on Windows or Mac. Make sure to friend me up on Steam, my user name is Conrad Zero.

Delicious Website Bookmarking

If you bounce between different computers, or different browsers on the same computer, you’ll quickly turn the word “Bookmarks” into a curse word. But Delicious.com‘s lovely online bookmarking service is an elegant solution. Install the delicious toolbar and your bookmarks are saved/synced to the cloud and all your computers/browsers .

FREE Antivirus Software from your Internet Service Provider

Many people are missing out on a free antivirus option. Comcast, Qwest, and other internet service providers (ISPs) offer you free antivirus software along with your internet service. Check your ISP’s website and see if they have a free antivirus program available. Usually, you will have to log in to the ISP website with your account info (username and password) and look in the support section, or search the site for antivirus download.

Avast FREE Antivirus Virus Protection

Avast works great, it’s low profile and QUIET, something I cannot say for other antivirus programs, even ones you have to pay for.

CCleaner Hard Drive Cleaner (older versions only)

Formerly “Crap Cleaner” and formerly free, I’m told the latest version is a 30 day trial, then you must pay to continue using it. But FileHippo has older versions of CCleaner which are still free to use and do the job.  (I’m not sure exactly where the versions change to trial versions, but I’m currently running version 3.03 which should never time out if you don’t update it.)

CCleaner does exactly what you think it does: it cleans crap off your hard drive. Temp files, browsing history, cookies, recycle bin… It’s a great way to tune up your slow computer and recover some hard drive space. I always run CCleaner before scanning for viruses/spyware and defragmenting hard disks.

Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Spybot Search and Destroy Malware Removal

Antivirus software is not enough. Malware is not the same as a virus, and virus scanners won’t find it. The horribly named programs  Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Spybot Search and Destroy will.  Update and scan with BOTH of these programs AND your antivirus software anytime you have odd or slow computer problems. Do this BEFORE you call your techie friend for help. Please.

Malwarebytes now has a paid version that runs in the background and provides continuous updated protection like your antivirus program, but most people can get by with the free version that must be updated and run manually. (Make sure to Decline the real-time version when you install, or you’ll end up with a 30-day trial of the paid version.)

Ashampoo Burning Studio Free CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Burning

Ashampoo is easy to use,  burns anything to anything, and it isn’t a background hog or “notice whore” like Nero and Roxio. Make sure you download the FREE version, and don’t upgrade this program. The updated version only works for a limited time unless you pay. The free version works great.

K-Lite Codec Mega-Pack Audio/Video Codecs

Saveau sez: K-Lite allows your computer to play back every form of non-mechanical media known to have been in use in this sector of the galaxy.  Ever.  It will integrate with Windows Media Player, or use the included Media Player Classic, or both, and runs without issue on XP, Vista, and Windows 7.  It can even allow older, slower computers to play back some modern HD content. If you run into a media file that Windows won’t play or you get a “missing codec” error, you need this program.

Imgburn The Ultimate Image Burner

Exactly what it says it is, imgburn does two things well: Creates ISO files from CD/DVD and creates CD/DVD from ISO files.

Virtual Clone Drive Virtual Drive Utility

Ever since discovering Virtual Clone Drive, I use it all the time instead of CD/DVD media. From the website:

Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Image files generated with CloneDVD or CloneCD can be mounted onto a virtual drive from your hard-disk or from a network drive and used in the same manner as inserting them into a normal CD/DVD drive.

The upshot is you can right-click ISO images and ‘mount’ them, then they become a drive in your computer just like you had put the CD/DVD in a drive. With Virtual Clone Drive you can move your entire catalog of games, movies and other optical media onto your hard drive! And accessing the virtual drives makes games load faster than from the CD/DVD drive.

Winimage Floppy Disk Imaging

In case you didn’t know, floppy disk technology is pretty much obsolete. But what if you still have a drawerful of recovery boot floppies, diagnostic programs and archaic hardware install floppies?

You need winimage. Winimage creates an executable image of many disk formats, including floppy disks. Running the executable file will ask for a target blank disk, which will be written with an exact duplicate of the original. This means you can now e-mail a bootable floppy disk, archive bootable floppy disks on your hard drive, and upload bootable floppy disks to the internet. Convert all those floppies to .exe files and store them on a USB drive or upload them to the cloud. Then, simply run the .exe and create clone floppies as you need them.

Winimage is trialware, meaning it is free for 30 days of use, but generally that’s all the time you need to archive that drawer full of floppy disks.

7Zip File Compression Utility

Saveau sez: Windows handles .zip files natively and WinZip and WinRAR can be used free with nag screens, but 7zip has the advantage of not merely being freeware, it is also a better program than either of those venerable commercial stalwarts. It is heavily multi-threaded to take advantage of multiple processor cores and can handle just about every compression scheme in existence.  I can’t imagine a computer without it as part of a standard build.

Evernote

Yes, I know I’ve already pointed Evernote out in the Apps and Services sections, but the Evernote software client is a must-have.  Install the local client on your computer and it runs in the system tray, ready to grab screenshots, selected text, or clipboard contents with a click. The browser plugin lets you grab full webpages, which makes it great for storing online purchase receipts, confirmations, website layout ideas… the uses are endless.

TeamViewer Remote Control and “MSTSC”

Teamviewer lets you remote control a computer across the internet with ease, even through firewalled network connections. The target user runs a small app which generates a session ID and password. You (the remote support person) type in the ID/Password of the target and whammo, you’re connected, controlling and viewing the target user’s computer, and showing grandma how to attach her cellphone camera pix to an e-mail. Again.

MSTSC stands for MicroSoft Terminal Server Connection, and it’s built into most Windows operating systems. If you Run this acronym a box will pop up saying “Remote Desktop Connection” and prompting you for a computer name to connect with. (Note: Remote Desktop must be enabled on the target PC.) This little tool is indispensable for accessing computers with video/keyboard problems or accessing virtual machines running somewhere on your network. Once you start using this handy built-in windows utility, you won’t soon forget how to spell it.

Clonezilla and MiniTool Disk Partition/Cloning Utilities

Clonezilla is a Linux-based Live CD that implements a command line interface for backing up and restoring a full image of your hard drive. If you didn’t understand that last sentence, you shouldn’t be using it. Clonezilla is not terribly user-friendly, but a workable free alternative to Symantec’s Ghost or Acronis Backup and Recovery software. Full Disclosure – I actually quit using Clonezilla once I purchased Acronis Backup and Recovery. Acronis is weapons-grade backup software, but it is not free, not even cheap. For those with more time and techieness than budget, Clonezilla works well.

Saveau recommends Minitool Partition Wizard and after a quick look, I will have to give it a try. Minitool Disk imaging is a marvelous suite of disk partition/backup/recovery tools that is  fully compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows even in the free version.  MiniTool also offers a free hard drive cloning utility that Saveau reports is a breeze to use.

SpaceMonger Hard Drive Graphical Representation

SpaceMonger shows you a visual representation of the files on your hard drive. File sizes are represented graphically instead of numerically. Larger files take up more space on the screen. This top-down view of your hard drive is far more intuitive than a listing of programs. Right away you can see where space is being wasted. SpaceMonger is a must for network admins running file servers.

Note that SpaceMonger was updated to a new version 2.1 that only works for a 30-day trial period, then you have to pay to continue using the software. You want the old-and-still-free version 1 which works just fine.

XBox Media Center Media PC Operating System

No, really. A fully free operating system for media PCs. Referred to me years ago on lifehacker.com, Saveau tells me the latest build of Xbox Media Center is absolutely phenomenal. If you have a spare box laying around, install XBox Media Center and throw it behind the TV in the living room, and enjoy photos, music and movies via a slick interface. Run it off the Live CD for a painless test-drive.

Virtual Box Virtualization Software

Saveau recommends Virtual Box software from Oracle that allows you to create virtual machines in your computer onto which you can install any compatible operating system you wish (provided you have the install disks for that OS).  Why would you want to do this?  Well, first of all it’s just plain cool   Secondly, Virtual Box differs from other similar packages in that it is much easier to install and configure, and it also gives your virtual machine low-level hardware access – meaning that you can install drivers for your graphics card and actually use them at a decent level of performance, something most virtualization software doesn’t even attempt.  Older programs which simply won’t run on Windows 7 can be installed on a virtual instance of Windows XP on your same machine and still use your existing hardware. Virtual Box is free, well documented, runs on Windows, OS X, Linux and Solaris, and loves multiple processor cores.

Happy Holidays! Enjoy your Free Apps, Software, and Services!

My thanks to Saveau for his help in building this list. If you have any comments or suggestions, add them to the comments section below.

I hope you enjoy this list of free, IT-approved software. Please spread the word. Link back to this post, and check back next year for the latest free goodness!

Google prepares for world domination with new product lines.

Sure Google is Evil but so is my ex. But just because they’re evil doesn’t mean they aren’t attractive. Buzz on the web indicates Google is poised to shake some pillars just in time for the end of the world in 2012.

Project Tungsten

Mobiledia reports that Google is nearly finished with a “Smarthome” platform code-named Project Tungsten.  This is straight out of every damned future-movie we’ve ever watched. You pull up the driveway and the door unlocks, the lights turn on, (to a preset level dependent on time of day and ambient light intensity) the stereo pulls up your favorite playlist, and your android-enabled kitchen mixes you an unnecessarily strong Iron Butterfly.

Just add a holographic model in a French-maid outfit, and we’re all set. Except we will need a new vision of what the new future living quarters will look like.

Google Music Player

Finally. I’ve been waiting for someone…anyone to come out with a decent music player and online storage system  so I can tell Microsoft and Apple both to suck it.

I would have bet money on Amazon’s new cloud storage, or maybe Dropbox or Sugarsync, but I never thought our musical savior would be Google. Lifehacker.com gives a sneak peak of Google’s new cloud music player.  Store 20,000 songs in the cloud, and access them through the android smartphone app. Yet another way to suck both your phone batteries and your data plan minutes dry, but it trounces carrying two devices or suffering with I-tunes.

By invite only, so make sure to get on the list.

Google Voice

I was grandfathered into Google Voice a few years ago when they bought Grand Central, so this service isn’t very *new* and I’m surprised that Google really hasn’t bothered to promote the “One Number To Rule Them All” but I think it’s a damned miracle. One number rings all your phones at once, or you can set rules based on time of day or the incoming number. For example, if anyone from my Family group calls between 8AM and 5PM, then forward to these phones. If my student loan officer calls at any time,  dump it directly to voicemail.

Custom messages means you can leave a “Hi There! I sure am sorry I missed your call!” for your mom and your sweetie, while unlisted numbers get the generic “Leave  a message, but don’t hold your breath.”

Messages left for you get translated into text and e-mailed to you, meaning you can actually get your voicemail messages during meetings with your ringer turned off, AND messages are now stored forever in your e-mail, AND searchable via text.

I could keep going, but QED. Google Voice rocks, and the reason I add this to the list is because Microsoft just announced plans to purchase the mega-online phone mogul, Skype. This action alone will call attention to Google Voice as an option, and  so they won’t even have to promote it, and it may force Google’s hand and make them fess up as to their big plans for such an awesome and underrated service.

Regardless, I predict that you’ll be hearing more about Google Voice in the near future.

Google TV

And if that wasn’t enough, Google TV should just about clench it.

Evil is the new Good

So Google’s got your personal communication device, your entertainment center and your house in their digital pocket. Oh yes, and they are sifting through your contact list so they got all that, too.  I’m just going to send them my credit card now and get it over with. Who am I kidding? They probably already have it.

When you add it up, it really does look like Google is going to take over the world. Maybe it should. Google may not be able to run for President of the United States of America, but it could certainly take a position as a world-dominating authority. Google knows all our secrets (Well, except maybe China)  so it wouldn’t be a difficult task.

Come on Google, you’ve already botched your Don’t Be Evil slogan, and Be Evil, but just evil enough to make your online experience better isn’t going to cut it.

If you don’t step up and take over the world, I’ve got Cthulhu on speed-dial. Wait a minute, does Cthulhu own controlling stock in Google? That would explain a lot.

True, there’s nothing exciting about computer security programs, but you don’t use them because they’re exciting. You use them to PREVENT exciting. Losing your manuscripts to malware (short for ‘malicious software’) is very exciting, and it’s exactly what you’re trying to avoid by loading programs like Malwarebytes AntiMalware.

I know, the name is awful. But the program is FREE for personal use, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Malwarebytes (along with an antivirus scan) is my standard “PC Tune-up” if someone complains that their computer is Slow or exhibiting strange behavior.

What is Malware?

You might say, “But Zero, I have an awesome antivirus program! Why do I need anything else?” It’s important to understand that AntiVirus programs protect against Viruses. Malware is a larger category.

You can read the full definition of Malware on wikipedia.org. Note that Malware includes rootkits, trojan horses, worms, backdoors, and specific kinds of viruses intended to allow others to gain access to your computer. Your antivirus program isn’t looking for all these things. Some antivirus programs (McAfee, Symantec, etc.) add malware detection as an option, but MalwareBytes is still a good ‘second opinion’ for any existing security software.

How to Use Malwarebytes AntiMalware

Using Malwarebytes AntiMalware is simple.

1 – Download/install

Go to malwarebytes.org. Download the free version, and install.

2 – Update the program.

Use the “update” button, and repeat updates until you get the message that you have the latest version. Some version updates require a complete uninstall/reinstall of the program and a reboot of the computer.

Malwarebytes gets new updates often, sometimes several times a day, so if you have to re-run the scan, make sure to check for updates again.

3 – Run a full scan of the local drives.

This could take some time, especially if you have larger/multiple drives or a slower system. If you are in a hurry, close down everything else running on the system and raise the priority level of the scan using Task Manager.

The first time Malwarebytes runs it always finds something. Don’t be disturbed if you see cookies, or Potentially Unwanted Settings listed.

4 – Remove All Selected.

If you like, browse through the list of malware found during the scan. This info is saved in the Log section for future reference, so there’s no need to write it down.

Click the “Remove All Selected” button. This will delete/uninstall the listed malware programs and settings.

5 – Repeat as Necessary

This is important: If AntiMalware found anything odd, especially anything like a trojan horse, malware, rootkit or anything fishy, repeat this process from step 2 -  “update the program” and keep repeating steps 2-5 until the scan comes back clean.

Problems?

There are several problems you can run into:

• Malwarebytes AntiMalware won’t install, run or update
• It shuts down and completely disappears during a scan
• The same malware keeps showing up over and over in scans, despite being ‘removed’.

In these cases, you probably need to start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking and repeat the steps. If you don’t know how to do that, call your techy-friend. You know the one. Or call me, I have reasonable rates – you just have to come to one of my book signings, act like a deranged stalker fan, and buy at least one of my books while raving about how great it’s going to be. Not that you weren’t going to do that anyway.

Or you can check Malwarebytes awesome support forums. Check to see if someone else had a problem like yours, and what they did to solve it. Or post your issue and it won’t take long for someone to reply with steps to take to resolve your problem.

Extra Credit

If you like Malwarebytes AntiMalware, please consider purchasing the paid version from their online store. The paid version acts more like an anti-virus application. It starts up with your operating system and runs in the system tray, actively monitoring for malware, and actively updating itself in the background so you are always up to date with the latest protection. The free version only launches/updates/runs manually.

Paying for Malwarebytes AntiMalware not only supports a high-quality application, it also gives Malwarebytes programmers money so they can buy my latest novel. So you’re really helping us both out.

The Great Software For Great Authors Series

As both an I.T. guy and a writer, I get exposed to many different computer programs that are useful not only to computer users, but authors in particular.  So I created the Great Software for Great Authors series, where I discuss software that can help authors in their quest to be more organized, efficient and successful.

So here’s the disclaimer. I’ve used all the software listed in this series, and found it useful enough to give it a hearty recommendation for my fellow authors, as well as the Conrad Zero Ubercool Seal of Approval. I’m not related in any way to the software companies I endorse, and they have not paid me for my recommendation. There may be affiliate links in this blog post and website which provide a token fee to me if people buy the software after clicking through from my links, but this is my recommendation only and not an advertisement.

I love to hear from other authors. If you agree/disagree with my opinion or have an alternative recommendations, please post them in the comments section.

The Evolution of Video Games

In case you hadn’t noticed, RPG video games are evolving into movies. Check out the trailer for Blizzard’s Wrath of the Lich King – its better than most movie trailers.  People look forward to the release day of “blockbuster” RPGs like Dragon Age video game just like they did for the release of The Lord of the Rings movies. The sci-fi game Mass Effect has epic intros, finales, and cutscenes that look like they were lifted out of Battlestar Galactica.People buzz on the internet about the big names being cast as the voice talent.  The game credits scroll by and you wonder how it could possibly take that many people to make a video game.  The video game scores and soundtracks are nearly Howard Shore Awesome. In fact, many game companies are releasing the game scores and soundtracks separately from the games themselves, just like Hollywood movies do.

With this evolution, RPG’s have become more immersive than ever before. While playing Mass Effect and Dragon Age, I didn’t feel like I was playing a video game. I felt like I was the lead character in a movie. Game designers are realizing there’s a difference between people who want the experience of being the main character in an epic saga, saving the galaxy from the forces of evil while knocking boots with hot crewmates in the cargo hold of an experimental military frigate… and those who just want to kill ten-thousand zombies with a chainsaw.

There is a difference between playing a game and playing a movie. Playing a game is measured in character metrics: levels, kills, headshots, unlocks, money. Playing a movie is measured in character experience: achievements, accomplishments, alliances, romantic encounters, trusts and betrayals, watching in awe as the climactic cutscene unfolds, but most of all DECISIONS.

All of these things are given to us with the new generation of RPGs, but something is still missing. A bit more evolution is needed.

There We Were – The Limits of Linear Gameplay

RPGs like Doom, Quake, Half Life, F.E.A.R., Dead Space and many, many others are designed around a linear gameplay system. They lead the player through an ordered series of events from start to finish.  This linear method is very efficient for game designers and programmers. It gives them control over everything including your inventory and your rate of skill/level advancement. Most importantly it gives them control over the order of events. This makes storytelling easy. The plot progresses like a book, from A to B to C to the end.

Notice the words “the plot” in that last sentence. One. Singular. This is a major limitation of linear gameplay. It can make you feel like a rat in a maze with no branches. No options. One path. One destination. Claustrophobic. Contrived. No matter what you do, the outcome will always be the same.

This might be fine for game players who just like to kill things, and they might enjoy playing the game several times, but those who want to play a story won’t have much interest in replaying the game when they already know the story and can’t do anything to change it. In the land of linear gameplay, you have no free will. Your fate is predetermined, and locked into the code of the game.

You are Here – Welcome to the Open World

Eventually game designers realized the limitations of linear gameplay. Their attempt at a solution is called Nonlinear Gameplay, more popularly known as “Open World” and a major step in the evolution of video games.  Current games like Grand Theft Auto, Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Red Dead Redemption have made the Open World catchphrase famous. Gone are the narrow, one-way corridors. With open worlds, exploration is encouraged. The world is wide open for you to explore, and you are not forced down any particular path.

Mostly.

How Open Is That World? – The Inevitable Master Plotline

Fallout3 (Bethesda Game Studios) promised to raise the bar with over thirty or so different endings, depending on decisions you made in the game. I’m here to tell you, the cake is a lie. Some say there are four endings. While Fallout 3 is a fantastic game, it only has one ending in four flavors of lame, each awesomely narrated by Ron Perlman. See for yourself.

Neverwinter Nights 2 (Atari/Obsidian) proclaimed Everything you do has Meaning but that meaning is pretty limited. The Good/Evil barometer doesn’t have much impact on the game story. Primarily, it helps determine the loyalty of your party members. Make the wrong decisions and they will leave or worse, defect and side with your enemy. And if you play the game as an Evil character, you’ll have the option of joining the dark lord at the end of the game. But these supposed ‘differences’ don’t really change the story you experience, only the ending cutscenes that play out.

After playing Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Fallout 3, I’ve found that games claiming to be Open World still have a problem that keeps them from being truly ‘open’. I call this problem The Inevitable Master Plotline.  You can branch off from it if you like – you can save every village from every dragon, and you can kill every living creature in the cosmos, but you can’t escape fate, destiny, and the power of the game designers. The inescapable master plot awaits. Check your journal, and there it is – The Single, Solitary, OverArching Plot. That “open” world suddenly doesn’t seem quite as open anymore. The game designers have simply modularized the path between the start and finish, and you’re free to knock off the pieces of the story in any order you choose.

The problem with the Inevitable Master Plotline is that it limits the ability of the player to affect the world. The story is still unchangeable. But some games are opening up the open world and letting players have an effect.

The Widened Open World

Dragon Age is the game Neverwinter Nights was trying to make. In this game, things you do DO have meaning. Your decisions have an impact on the world around you. Do you kill off or save a main character? This decision affects who becomes king. Do you stay to defend the keep, or rush off to flank invading forces? Do you help one of your classmates escape the mages’ tower?  These choices will come back to affect you later in the game. They actually change the story as it unfolds. This is the kind of interaction that makes people feel like they have an effect on the virtual world around them.

Some of the decisions in the game Mass Effect I had to pause the game and walk away from the keyboard to think about my choice. Whom will you choose to represent Humans on the Alliance Council? Which will you save from destruction, the council or the citadel? Will you kill off the last of a rogue alien species? How do you handle a fanatic fanboy? Do you fall for a hot crewmate or hold out for your true love? These decisions have major effects not just on the current game, but future game expansions.

While Bioware is clearly raising the bar for RPG interactivity, it’s just a step in the evolution. The world may be open, but we still have the Inevitable Master Plotline, which means every game will end the same way.  Nonlinear gameplay hasn’t really opened up the world, it just widened it, giving players multiple paths to the same ending.

Where The Hell Are We Going? – Beyond the Open World

Remember the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books? “If you climb into the alien spacecraft, turn to page 17. If you run away, turn to page 43.” I loved those books, and enjoyed going back and seeing how different choices changed the story. The same is true with RPG video games. For someone playing a story, replayability requires having the power to affect the story with your actions and create a different experience. This means Multiple Story Arcs, not just different cut scenes at the end.

For example, in Mass Effect an Evil character should have the option to become a rogue pirate, steal the Normandy, destroy the Citadel, and defeat the Alliance forces. Now THAT is a completely different game.

I can imagine game designers burning me alive for even suggesting such things. But I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to point out the path. And the path leads through interactive movies – where players must ride the One And Only Master Plotline – to a virtual reality with stories and worlds that really react to the player’s choices.

No doubt it would be damned expensive to create multiple story arcs for video games. However, with the new technology of DLC (DownLoadable Content) games can already be expanded. Currently, Dragon Age and Mass Effect have modules that let you expand on the game with side missions that offer you extra experience, achievements and items. There’s no reason game companies couldn’t release game expansions that add alternate plotlines, leading to alternate endings, just like television shows offer new episodes each week.

Having multiple possible story arcs would really open up the open world. Imagine the replayability of an open world crossed with infinite story arcs! Baby steps to Virtual Reality.

Bring on the Holodeck!

Outsource your memory to the cloud with Evernote

There’s a reason I’ve listed Evernote on my 2008, 2009 and 2010 Free Software Christmas Lists.  Imagine if you could hook up a hard drive to your brain to remember anything that can be put into text, picture or file formats: Drawings, screen captures, e-mails, notes, doodles, webpages, pdfs, mp3s, etc. Now imagine being able to effortlessly sort and search through that information database to find what you need when you need it. Such a thing does exist, and it’s called Evernote.

“Remember Everything” is the mantra of Evernote. You don’t have to have a poor memory to realize how useful an information database is. If you have notebooks full of ideas and sketches, or a binder full of research notes and printouts, or even your class notes from Fiction Writing 101, store them to Evernote. Then, the only thing you’ll ever need to remember is your username and password for evernote.com.

Cool Features of Evernote

You can work offline with Evernote’s local client, which automatically synchronizes itself across the internet to any of your connected devices, meaning you are always backed up. Conflicts in data syncs are marked, making conflict resolution painless.

You can access your Evernote info no matter where you are. Evernote has Mobile Apps for droid, iphone and other mobile devices, and Application Plugins for Firefox, Internet Explorer, Outlook, and even windows file explorer.  I use the Firefox plugin all the time. When I make an online purchase or a new account that gives me some kind of receipt, or account info, I don’t print it out. Press the Save To Evernote button and bam, it’s remembered.

Evernote comes with a great screen capture tool that runs in the system tray. A couple clicks, and that cryptic windows error message is saved forever instead of printing it out and losing it.

Organize your notes using folders and tags – Saving all that data up to the cloud does you no good if you can’t find anything when you need it. Evernote has nameable folders to sort your info, and tags that you can use to label and find your data in different ways, and a shiny, built-in search feature. Tags and folders automatically show up on the side of the screen for easy navigation.

Text Recognition is a cool feature.  Upload a screenshot or picture and Evernote translates any legible text in the picture so you can search for it! For example, take a picture of the ultimate White Russian recipe, upload it to Evernote, then do a search for Vodka and… whammo! There’s your picture, found in the search results!

More more more. Integrated to-do list. Sharing and collaboration. Import and Export features. I could keep going, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet:

FREE!

The very best feature of Evernote is that it’s Free. The free version limits the amount of data you can up/download in a month to 60MB, but unless you are taking lots of pix and syncing constantly to multiple devices, you won’t even have to worry about it. The free version also has a tiny ad space in the bottom left, but it isn’t the least bit obtrusive. A yearly subscription to Evernote is currently $45.

The nearest competition to Evernote is Microsoft’s OneNote which will set you back $79.99. OneNote is a great program, I used it for years before switching to Evernote. I switched because of the massive list of features above, but there are several reasons to use Evernote over OneNote:

1. Evernote saves to the cloud, meaning you’re always backed up
2. Load Evernote on multiple devices, and sync between those devices automagically.
3. Evernote is free.

The paid version of Evernote gets rid of the advertisements, ups the bandwidth to 1GB per month, and lots more. Check out the difference between the free and paid Evernote  versions here.

Why Evernote Rocks for Authors

Evernote is useful for anyone dealing with information: engineers, students, project managers, etc, but it’s absolutely essential for authors. Here’s just a handful of ways I use Evernote to keep my writing organized.

Story ideas

Ever come up with some great idea that you might work on someday? Ever wake up from a horrific nightmare and decide that it would make a bone-chilling scene in a story? I drop these thoughts into Evernote if a computer is handy, or in a notebook, and transfer them to Evernote later for safe keeping under the handy folder heading ‘Ideas/Musings’.

If I’m ever stuck for something to write,  I can look through the slew of bizarre story ideas I’ve had over the years.

Story outlining and structure

I used to keep my story outlines in separate word documents, but now I keep them in Evernote. I have a main project folder for each novel, story or series I’m working on. In that master folder I put notes for characters, research, locations and outlines. For example, every story I write has a note with a full outline of the story or series.

While writing my novel in MS Word, I run Evernote in the background or on a second monitor for quick and easy info lookups. Having the outline of the story handy keeps me focused. Especially when writing a series of stories, it helps to see how the story I’m working on fits into the larger picture.

Character Development

I save a note for each major character in each of my stories. It’s like a CIA dossier on that character’s height, weight, eye color, hair color, likes and dislikes, personality, etc. I’ve even added descriptions from sources such as the Myers-Briggs personality types, astrological signs or tarot cards that remind me of the characters. I often clip pictures from the internet that remind me of a character and store them in the note.

Now I can easily look up details about any character. Check out my notes for the character Cayenne (from my upcoming novel Evil Looks Good) on my Evernote shared folder.

Writing Research

Writers often end up doing some of the strangest research. What are the benefits/drawbacks to using cold-forged steel blades? What is the layout of the ruins at Chichen Itza? What is the Sunday Mass schedule for the Minneapolis Basilica?

Finding this data isn’t always easy. Remembering it all is impossible. I save useful info in Evernote, tagged in groups like: characters, events, locations, gadgets and plotlines.

One example of my own writing research is a drug I invented for my novel, Evil Looks Good called Yellow King. I used a hybrid of online research and creativity to determine characteristics, effects, side effects, antidotes and results of overdose. Now, if I ever forget this info, I can just look it up in Evernote. You can see the results here at my shared Evernote folder.

Market Research

Do you know what market you’re writing for? Who is your competition? What books are going to be on the shelf next to yours at the library? What’s their cover price? How many copies have they sold? How many pages do they have? What trends are saturating the market? What books won the Horror Writer’s Association’s Bram Stoker Award last year?

It might seem like trivia, but if you’re a serious writer (or publisher, or both) then you need this information. You need a list of books like yours. You need to be aware of what you’re writing and how it fits into the upcoming market. Evernote is a great place to drop all this market research and sift through it later, to help you target your book with or without a publisher’s help.

Submissions and Publications

How many places did I send that manuscript? How long ago was it? When should I follow up? Dump all those names, dates and places into Evernote, and track your submissions/acceptances/rejections in one place.

Using Evernote to save this info, you’ll know when to hit up your agent for a status update, when you can resubmit your manuscript to that magazine contest, and when publication rights fall back to you.

Paper Love

I love writing on paper. And I do my most creative work writing symbols, maps, flowcharts, sketches and scribbles using pens made from dead dinosaurs on paper made from dead trees. And I can’t do that kind of creative freehand on the computer. But there’s no organization to a mountain of spiral notebooks. So while I was interested in Evernote for organizing, I had to integrate it into a useful system that included paper. Fortunately, using Evernote does not mean you need to give up on paper entirely.

Now I still keep notebooks handy in my car/pocket/bedside, and I’ll often carry paper with me to the coffee shop instead of a damned laptop. I write, draw and sketch story ideas on paper. Later, I scan or translate the info from paper into Evernote, placing it in the proper folder and adding tags for later lookup. You can file the paper copy away if you like, but I toss it once the data is safe in Evernote.

Separating the creative aspect of writing using paper and then the analytical/organizational aspect of storing the data on Evernote has made me more efficient about what I’m doing. Best of all, I’m never in fear of losing my creative moments via theft or fire or simply misplacing one of my notebooks. For me, this is the best reason for authors to use Evernote.

The Great Software For Great Authors Series

As both an I.T. guy and a writer, I get exposed to many different computer programs that are useful not only to computer users, but authors in particular.  So I created the Great Software for Great Authors series, where I discuss software that can help authors in their quest to be more organized, efficient and successful.

So here’s the disclaimer. I’ve used all the software listed in this series, and found it useful enough to give it a hearty recommendation for my fellow authors, as well as the Conrad Zero Ubercool Seal of Approval. I’m not related in any way to the software companies I endorse, and they have not paid me for my recommendation. There may be affiliate links in this blog post and website which provide a token fee to me if people buy the software after clicking through from my links, but this is my recommendation only and not an advertisement.

I love to hear from other authors. If you agree/disagree with my opinion or have an alternative recommendations, please post them in the comments section.

Working in IT gives me exposure to lots of different software. Some are free. Some are useful. Some are both.

People ask me all the time what software I use, and what Free alternatives are out there that actually work. So with a little help from my fellow IT guru Saveau, I’ve put together a Free-And-Useful  Software list that I update around Christmas each year as a gift to friends, fans, and readers of conradzero.com.  Here are links to previous year’s lists:

• Merry Christmas 2008 Free Software!
• Your 2009 I.T. Christmas Gift – Free Software!

This year, I’ve looked back at what free and helpful programs I’ve been using and updated the list for Christmas 2010. Everything referenced here has been IT tested and approved by me and/or Saveau. The programs are divided into Software (that you download and install on your computer) and Services (that you log into on the internet to use).  These programs are not in any particular order.

The Christmas 2010 list of Awesome, Free, Online Services:

These items are not truly “software” in the traditional sense, because you don’t download them onto your computer (The one exception being Evernote, which is an online service, but you can also download and install the local client if you like.) You access most of these services by logging into a website with a username and password. They should work for any computer that can access the internet with a web browser.

Evernote Personal Information Database

More than just a picture/text/file storage site, Evernote is a hard drive upgrade for your brain. Here are just a few uses:

• Home Organization – Go paperless at home and move all your receipts and monthly statements up to the cloud.
• Engineers and Project Managers – Store and organize project data, task lists, website contents, pdfs and more.
• Writers – Save story ideas, plot outlines, characters, locations and more.
• Students – Store and organize class notes, lecture audio files and more.
• Save all your paid software install codes, CD keys, website passwords, etc.

Lots of cool apps and plugins make Evernote readily available, so you can add info wherever you are with just a click or two. The paid version lets you upload up to 1GB per month, but most people will be just fine with the free version which caps uploads at 60Mb per month.

Delicious Website Bookmarking

Website bookmarks shouldn’t be a pain in the ass. I can’t tell you how many times I went to the Bookmarks on my work computer and couldn’t find what I was looking for because the Bookmark I wanted was on my home computer, or vice-versa. Same thing if you bounce between different browsers on the same computer… and exporting/importing bookmarks from your old computer to your new one…  and you can’t access your bookmarks on public computers or at your friend’s house…

All these annoyances are solved by Delicious.com‘s lovely online bookmarking service. Add the delicious plugin to all your browsers and your bookmarks are a click away, saved to the cloud, and auto-synced across all computers, all operating systems.

Shields Up at GRC.com Internet Security Testing

For techies only. Shields UP! is the mantra of Steve Gibson’s website at grc.com. Shields Up tests your computer, router and firewall for vulnerabilities. No login necessary. Very useful when setting up your new router/internet service.

WordPress.org Free Website/Blog Development

The backend of this website, Conradzero.com, is run on WordPress software. WordPress is a godsend for people who don’t have the time or patience for acronyms like HTML, CSS and PHP. WordPress lets users setup and customize a website without touching a single nybble of code. Setup is the hardest part, but the beauty of the plugins, themes, posting, widgets and website components makes WordPress worth paying for, but you don’t have to. Really really hard to believe this software is free. Add in the free website hosting on WordPress.com and there’s no reason someone with something to say or something to sell can’t have their own blog.

G-mail E-mail

I’ve said it before, but I would gladly pay for G-mail’s service over any other free e-mail client. Best e-mail ever.

Google Docs Office Application Suite

Yeah, Google is evil, but so is Flo the Insurance Girl, and I love her anyway. I guess my intolerance for evil slips in relation to coolness, and Google Docs is cool as hell. If you’re looking for a FREE alternative to Microsoft Office, you could go with OpenOffice or IBM’s Symphony, but I don’t know why you would when you could go with Free/Evil Google Docs.

Picassa and Flickr Picture-Sharing

These are becoming less relevant as more people move to the social media sites like Facebook for their filesharing, but Google’s Picassa and Yahoo’s Flickr websites still get the job done. They offer lots of free space, and make photo and graphics sharing a snap. If you already have a Google or Yahoo account, I’d recommend you stick with them just to reduce the number of username/passwords you have to remember. Otherwise, picking between them is a matter of taste. Try them both and see which seems more user-friendly to you.

Speedtest.net

Wanna know how fast/slow your internet connection really is? Go to speedtest.com and click the nearest test site. In a few seconds you’ll have your real upload/download speed. Make sure to turn off the streaming porn on the other computer first.

The Christmas 2010 list of Awesome Free Software Downloads:

These programs are software you download and install on your computer. Make sure you are downloading from a valid source and I recommend virus/spyware scanning any installers before running them on your system.

Steam Gaming Software

I can’t believe Saveau had to point this one out to me. Software that I’ve taken for granted since 4 Jan 2009, Steam has changed the way I play and purchase video games. Originally created by Valve as an online security/license checking software for use with the Half Life 2 series of games, Steam has quickly evolved into an indispensable gamer utility.

First off, the library function of Steam is genius.  Steam saves your game install software and license keys in the cloud. No need for the install media anymore. If you replace your computer, or you’re visiting a friend’s house and feel like playing, just install the steam client, login, and download your game installer software. Not all games can be registered through Steam, but after using it, you’ll wish they could be. Game patches and updates are delivered seamlessly in the background.

The community features let you friend up your posse and see when/what they are playing online. Voice chat or message your buddies through Steam and set up teams to play Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2, then voice chat in-game with Steam running in the background.

The online store is evil genius. I’ve bought and downloaded more games through the Steam client in 2010 than I bought off the shelf. If you keep even half an eye on the sales, you’ll be astonished by the prices. Right now, I could buy every game Valve has ever released (all 22 of them) for $49.99. There are many free games and demos that you can get through Steam, including Alien Swarm. And purchasing games as gifts for friends is slick and easy.

Steam works on Windows or Mac. Make sure to friend me up on Steam, my user name is Conrad Zero.

Free Antivirus Software from your Internet Service Provider

Many people are missing out on a free antivirus option. Comcast, Qwest, and other internet service providers (ISPs) offer you free antivirus software along with your internet service. Your ISP knows that if you get a virus, you’ll have a bad internet experience and you’ll choke their bandwidth with a bunch of bad traffic. Check your ISP’s website and see if they have a free antivirus program available. Usually, you will have to log in to the ISP website with your account info (username and password) and look in the support section, or search the site for antivirus download.

Avast FREE Antivirus Virus Protection

On last year’s free software list, I recommended AVG free antivirus software, and Saveau recommended Avast. I chose… poorly.

When AVG updated to a new version it bogged my computer down notably, and it became very noisy and annoying, with constant status popups, so I dropped AVG for Avast, and I can now tell you I agree with Saveau. Avast works great, it’s low profile and QUIET, something I cannot say for other antivirus programs, even ones you have to pay for.

Avira Antivir Rescue System and Trinity Repair Kit System Recovery

Saveau reports that Avira Antivir, one of the well-regarded free antivirus suites, offers a free standalone rescue system that can be downloaded as an .ISO image for CD or for a USB stick to create a bootable device for cleaning up a system that either won’t boot into Windows or is unusable once you’re there.  It’s updated several times a day.

I’ve used Trinity Repair Kit to bring more than one computer back from the grave. Useful for sweeping viruses out of an unbootable drive and accessing windows machines when the Administrator’s password is not available. I recommend both of these programs should be a part of every IT hacker/fixer’s bag of tricks.

CCleaner Hard Drive Cleaner

CCleaner stands for “Crap Cleaner” but they had to change the name to something more politically correct when the program got popular. CCleaner does exactly what you think it does: it cleans crap off your hard drive. Temp files, browsing history, cookies, recycle bin… It’s a great way to tune up your slow computer and recover some hard drive space. I always run CCleaner before scanning for viruses/spyware and defragmenting hard disks.

Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Spybot Search and Destroy Malware Removal

Nowadays, antivirus software is not enough. Malware is not the same as a virus, and virus scanners won’t find it. The horribly named programs  Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Spybot Search and Destroy will.  Malwarebytes has a paid version that runs in the background and provides continuous updated protection like your antivirus program, but most people can get by with the free version that must be updated and run manually. Update and run a scan with both these programs and your antivirus software anytime you have odd or slow computer problems. Do this BEFORE you call your techie friend for help. Please.

Ashampoo Burning Studio Free CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Burning

Ashampoo is easy to use,  burns anything to anything, and it isn’t a background hog or “notice whore” like Nero and Roxio. Don’t upgrade this program. The updated version only works for a limited time unless you pay. The free version is what you want.

K-Lite Codec Mega-Pack Audio/Video Codecs

K-Lite allows your computer to play back every form of non-mechanical media known to have been in use in this sector of the galaxy.  Ever.  It will integrate with Windows Media Player, or use the included Media Player Classic, or both, and runs without issue on XP, Vista, and Windows 7.  It can even allow older, slower computers to play back some modern HD content. If you run into a media file that Windows won’t play or you get a “missing codec” error, you need this program.

Virtual Clone Drive Virtual Drive Utility

Ever since discovering Virtual Clone Drive, I use it all the time instead of CD/DVD media. From the website:

Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Image files generated with CloneDVD or CloneCD can be mounted onto a virtual drive from your hard-disk or from a network drive and used in the same manner as inserting them into a normal CD/DVD drive.

The upshot is you can right-click ISO images and ‘mount’ them, then they become a drive in your computer just like you had put the CD/DVD in a drive. With Virtual Clone Drive you can move your entire catalog of games, movies and other optical media onto your hard drive! And accessing the virtual drives makes games load faster than from the CD/DVD drive.

Winimage Floppy Disk Imaging

In case you didn’t know, floppy disk technology is pretty much obsolete. But you still have a drawerful of recovery boot floppies, diagnostic programs and archaic hardware install floppies that are only useful in floppy format.

You need winimage. Winimage creates an executable image of many disk formats, including floppy disks. Running the executable file will ask for a target blank disk, which will be written with an exact duplicate of the original. This means you can now e-mail a bootable floppy disk, archive bootable floppy disks on your hard drive, and upload bootable floppy disks to the internet. Convert all those floppies to .exe files and store them on a USB drive or upload them to the cloud. Then, simply run the .exe and create clones as you need them.

Winimage is trialware, meaning it is free for 30 days of use, but generally that’s all the time you need to archive that drawer full of floppy disks.

7Zip File Compression Utility

Saveau sez: Windows handles .zip files natively and WinZip and WinRAR can be used free with nag screens, but 7zip has the advantage of not merely being freeware, it is also a better program than either of those venerable commercial stalwarts. It is heavily multi-threaded to take advantage of multiple processor cores and can handle just about every compression scheme in existence.  I can’t imagine a computer without it as part of a standard build.

TeamViewer Remote Control

Teamviewer lets you remote control a computer with ease, even through firewalled network connections. This is a blessing for end users and a mixed blessing for the tech-savvy. The target user runs a small app which generates a session ID and password. The remote support types in the ID/Password and whammo, you’re connected, controlling and viewing the target user’s computer, and showing grandma how to attach her cellphone camera pix to an e-mail. Again.

Unfortunately, this means that end users have even less need to know what the hell they’re doing. Don’t know how to search for your missing documents? Just call up someone who knows how and have them do it for you by remote! I’ve joked for years that some users couldn’t do things if I held their hand on the mouse and pushed on their index finger to click on things. Now with teamviewer this is entirely possible. Sure it’s cool, but I would rather have had flying cars.

Clonezilla and MiniTool Disk Partition/Cloning Utilities

Clonezilla is a Linux-based Live CD that implements a command line interface for backing up and restoring a full image of your hard drive. If you didn’t understand that last sentence, you shouldn’t be using it. Clonezilla is not terribly user-friendly, but a workable free alternative to Symantec’s Ghost or Acronis Backup and Recovery software. Full Disclosure – I actually quit using Clonezilla once I purchased Acronis Backup and Recovery. Acronis is weapons-grade backup software, but it is not free, not even cheap. For those with more techieness than budget, Clonezilla works well.

Saveau recommends Minitool Partition Wizard and after a quick look, I will have to give it a try. Minitool Disk imaging is a marvelous suite of disk partition/backup/recovery tools that is  fully compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows even in the free version.  MiniTool also offers a free hard drive cloning utility that Saveau reports is a breeze to use.

SpaceMonger Hard Drive Graphical Representation

SpaceMonger shows you a visual representation of the files on your hard drive. File sizes are represented graphically instead of numerically. Larger files take up more space on the screen. This top-down view of your hard drive is far more intuitive than a listing of programs. Right away you can see where space is being wasted. SpaceMonger is a must for network admins running file servers.

Note that SpaceMonger was updated to a new version 2.1 that only works for a 30-day trial period, then you have to pay to continue using the software. You want the old-and-still-free version 1 which works just fine.

XBox Media Center Media PC Operating System

No, really. A fully free operating system for media PCs. Referred to me years ago on lifehacker.com, Saveau tells me the latest build of Xbox Media Center is absolutely phenomenal. If you have a spare box laying around, install XBox Media Center and throw it behind the TV in the living room, and enjoy photos, music and movies via a slick interface.

Virtual Box Virtualization Software

Saveau recommends Virtual Box software from Oracle that allows you to create virtual machines in your computer onto which you can install any compatible operating system you wish (provided you have the install disks for that OS).  Why would you want to do this?  Well, first of all it’s just plain cool   Secondly, Virtual Box differs from other similar packages in that it is much easier to install and configure, and it also gives your virtual machine low-level hardware access – meaning that you can install drivers for your graphics card and actually use them at a decent level of performance, something most virtualization software doesn’t even attempt.  Older programs which simply won’t run on Windows 7 can be installed on a virtual instance of Windows XP on your same machine and still use your existing hardware. Virtual Box is free, well documented, runs on Windows, OS X, Linux and Solaris, and loves multiple processor cores.

Happy Holidays! Enjoy your Free Software!

My thanks to Saveau for his help in building this list. If you have any comments or suggestions, add them to the comments section below.

I hope you enjoy this list of free, IT-approved software. Please spread the word. Link back to this post, and check back next year for the latest free software goodness!

Alice In Wonderland turns 60

Believe it or not, we will soon be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Disney has the combo DVD/Blu-Ray all set to launch on 11 Feb 2011.

It’s not surprising that this story manages to keep us entertained after 60 years.  The dark, childish flexibility of the mythos lends itself to endless disturbing and fascinating reinterpretations. Here are several that I’ve enjoyed and highly recommend:

• A fun and twisted mini-series called Alice released in 2009, in which a 21-year old Alice (now a judo instructor) finds her way back to a futuristic, industrialized wonderland. Tim Curry stars, and Kathy Bates plays a deliciously evil Red Queen.
• A long-running series of gratuitously sexy and gratuitously bloody comic books released under Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales started back in 2007 and continues to this day. It covers several generation of Alice’s family and their ties to Wonderland.
• A series of books called the Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.His retelling has a cool twist – Alice told the story of Wonderland to Lewis Carroll, not the other way around as we believed. Not only did he think it was fantasy, he also got the story wrong. Alice is actually heir to the throne in Wonderland, the place where ideas come from. The Hatter is actually her personal bodyguard,  the Cheshire Cat is an assassin with nine lives working for the evil Queen Redd.
• There’s an accompanying soundtrack to Frank Beddor’s Looking Glass Wars which is quite good.
• Of course, there’s the 2010 feature length Disney movie starring Johnny Depp. Tim Burton? Yay! Disney? Boo. Adequate, but could have been better.
• For many many more, check out the wikipedia listing for Works Based on Alice in Wonderland. Add your favorites to the comments section below.

A Dark Reimagining of a Classic

Of all the reimaginings of Alice in Wonderland, none were as entertaining to me as the video game American McGee’s Alice, an overlooked masterpiece released in 2000 that mixed interesting puzzles, weapons and baddies in a breathtaking, disturbing and cleverly-designed world (Well, breathtaking for games rendered on the Quake 3 engine back in 2000.)

American McGee’s Alice starts with a teenaged Alice institutionalized, the scars on her wrists and the hollow look in her eyes tell us that she hasn’t adjusted well to her parents dying in a house fire. You can watch the game intro (and entire game walkthru) on youtube.

A casebook packaged with the game, (handwritten by her psychologist) added a spooky level of realism. The cover of the game box got the mood right – Alice wielding a cold stare and a blood-stained butcher knife, her apron covered in blood and runes. The Cheshire Cat  is a caricature of a caricature – scrawny and hairless, sporting an earring and evil looking tattoos, and a deep rich voice in the game that I just loved.

The game was wicked fun. Disturbing and entertaining. Creepy atmosphere both visually and the audio score. Fun, problem-solving sections were buffered with cut-scenes and bosses that were problems to solve in themselves – each boss had a distinct weakness, and you’d have a hell of a time beating them unless you figured it out.

I’d give the game a 9 out of 10, and the only thing stopping it from being a ten was the lame-o ending cut scene that screamed, “OK, we’re out of time and money now, give us a quick Hollywood ending!”

Good thing that’s not where the game really ends…

A Dark Extension of A Dark Reimagining of a Classic

Soon, the mythos of Alice in Wonderland will be extended even further. The man who thought enough of himself to include his own name in the game title is back. Yes, American McGee is working with EA games to release another Alice video game called Alice: Madness Returns. This game picks up right were the original game left off. From the previews, we can expect another dark and disturbing retelling of Alice that I wished Tim Burton would have made. You probably won’t want the kids to watch this one.

IGN released a short trailer on youtube, and here is the official teaser trailer from EA games:

I can’t wait.

• Alice: Madness Returns – Official Site
• Alice: Madness Returns – Facebook
• Follow the @thewhiterabbit on Twitter

The Great Minnesota Geek Together

Yesterday I attended the Minneapolis St. Paul WordCamp 2010. A collection of people who embrace WordPress as their blog platform and/or CMS of choice came together to celebrate a fantastic open-source software package and explore its possibilities.

At the Customizing WordPress class, Josh Byers gave the audience this geek test:

• How many people know what this picture is?
• Raise your hand if you saw the movies Lord of the Rings
• Keep your hand up if you read the books.
• Keep your hand up if you bought the DVD?
• Extended Edition?
• How many of you bought the first edition and then were pissed off because you had to buy the extended edition?

He pointed at the few hands still remaining in the air. “These people,” he said, “are the real geeks. Go to them if you need help with WordPress.”

After a miserably cold slog through the heaviest snowflakes I’d ever experienced, and a Bruegger’s Bagel sandwich that was so bland it made the snowflakes seem tasty,  I arrived at the luxurious Best Buy Headquarters. After loading up on t-shirts, stickers and even a pint glass from the nice folks at iphouse, I killed off a Saturday with seminars on everything from coding plugins and themes to custom post types and e-commerce.  Lunch was catered by Buca.

Things I Learned At WordCamp 2010

Heres a list of facts I took away from a day’s worth of seminars and carousing with WordPress users.

Content Trumps Design

The truth is that all blogs look the same in Google Reader. If your blog has useful info, it doesn’t really matter if you use grey text on grey background with grey shading and grey graphics that look like they were made by your cat.

Leave WordPress.com

Your site living on WordPress.com is like you living in your mom’s basement. Its a great place to start from. It’s free, and lots of things are taken care of for you. But you can’t change anything, and the only traffic is housewives attending your mom’s Pampered Chef parties. If all you’re doing is blogging about yourself and writing snarky movie reviews, then wordpress.com is perfect for you. But you have no plugins, and no control over (or revenue from) the ads on your site.

If you’re serious, if you want people to take your website seriously, and you want to get more quality traffic, then you have to move out of mom’s basement.  Register a domain name. Get a web host provider. Install a theme that doesn’t come pre-installed with WordPress, slap a logo on it, and you’re in a suburban house with a white picket fence. Lovely.

WordPress Themes Rock

If you want the Frank Lloyd Wright of website homes, then you have do some customization, write some code yourself or pay for a premium theme.  I did all three. Vivathemes.com provided the current theme here at conradzero.com. I bought a theme with a framework I liked, and then customized it to make it my own. I won’t lie to you. It takes time and/or money to install, customize and upkeep a custom template. It’s a business expense like the sign on the front or your building that shows the world you’re not just some fanboy.

WordPress Plugins Rock

Plugins extend the functionality of the standard WordPress software. I run several plugins here at conradzero.com:

• Akismet is a necessity if you enable comments. It blocks comment spam the same way that gmail blocks e-mail spam.
• Google Analytics for WordPress is a necessity if you want to know where your traffic comes from (and you do.)
• The Sociable Plugin adds all the different social media icons to the bottom of each post.
• WP Facebook Like adds the “Like” button at the bottom of each page and post.

Themightymo.com listed several other plugins that add zing pow zam to your website. If you really want to try out some website bending plugins, try out buddypress which turns your site into a multi-user social media site, e-commerce which turns your site into a fully functional store, or RPX, which integrates Facebook, Twitter and other social media functionality to your website.

SEO = WTF

Actually that’s not entirely true. I didn’t attend any of the SEO seminars, mostly because I’ve read enough about SEO that I could give a seminar on it myself. The simple truth is that content wins, and if you have quality consistent content, and links to other quality content, you already have all the SEO you’ll ever need.

WordPress Users Use Macs

Hey don’t shoot the messenger, but the number of macs at MSP WordCamp 2010 far outnumbered Dells and HPs combined.

In Summation

MSP WordCamp 2010 was a mixed bag, but overall a big success for me. Some people are better coders than presenters, and some people are more interested in giving a sales pitch than a how-to seminar, but in the end I got way more than my $30 registration fee. There was even a tech booth with WordPress gurus who could help you with problems on your live website!

If you’re interested in learning more about WordPress, WordCamp is a great value. Keep an eye out for the next WordCamp, or follow WordCampMSP on Facebook.

Who would have thought it, but by day I’m a mild-mannered I.T. guy. As you can imagine, I get asked for software recommendations all the time. Free software on the internet is confusing for those who don’t constantly dabble, tinker, and have the occasional discovery of crapware that jacks their operating system.

The names of softwares give you no clue about their quality. Some of the best software is poorly named  (“Spybot Search And Destroy”? “Malwarebytes Anti-malware”? Seriously?)  and even the most trustworthy-sounding software can be corrupt. Anyone who shivers at the mention of “AntiVirus 2007″ knows what I’m talking about.  People need help determining which programs can be trusted.

Last year, I sent out an e-mail listing several free programs and services that I use often. Website services and software that I not only use and trust, but they are so good I’d consider buying the full version just to reward a job well-done. You can review the list from 2008 here, but I’ve revised the list and added some new items for the 2009 holiday season. I’ve also asked IT guru Saveau (Literally the guru’s guru) for his own wisdom in this area. With his help, I’ve compiled a list of software and services that have been tested and trusted by professionals… but most importantly, it’s all FREE.

The 2009 List of I.T. Approved FREE Website Services:

The following services require you to register a username/password. They should work for any computer that can browse the internet.

Gmail

Best. E-mail. Ever.

Google Docs

Free online alternative to Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint

Picassa and Flickr

Free online picture storage and sharing.

Pandora

Internet radio that tailors itself to your listening. Thumbs up/down on each song helps the radio station learn your musical taste.

Evernote

Consider Evernote a hard drive upgrade for your brain. Store notes, webpage clips, pictures and more. Tag, sort and lookup is a breeze.

Delicious

Use delicious.com to store all your bookmarks so you’ll never lose them. Tag and sort your bookmarks. Make your bookmarks public or private. Search through others public bookmarks.

Download.com

This site redirects you to download.cnet.com which is a great source for reliable free software, you’ll find many of the recommendations here can (and should) be downloaded from download.com

The 2009 List of I.T. Approved FREE Software:

Mesh.com

Windows only. This software/service from Microsoft creates a folder on your computer that automagically synchronizes with your account on the internet. Can you say Fully Automated Backup? Can haz 5GB of storage space? Yes, you can haz. Better yet, any other computers connected to your mesh will be auto-synchronized too. Not good enough? How about this: Your data in the mesh is available on any computer running windows – just log into your online account.  Still not enough? How about this: You can remote control any of your computers currently connected to your mesh. If that isn’t good enough for you, stop reading now.

CCleaner

Formerly known as Crap Cleaner, this program cleans junk off your hard drive that even Windows “Disk Cleanup” utility won’t. Run this before doing a virus scan or hard drive defrag.

AVG AntiVirus and Avast! AntiVirus

Saveau swears by Avast! and I’ve used and recommended AVG for people who don’t want to shell out for off-the-shelf AntiVirus. I know plenty of people who use Symantec, McAffee, or ESET NOD32 AntiVirus. I don’t think it really matters so much which anti-virus program you use, but you really should have one. Only one. Do not load more than one anti-virus program unless it’s your last resort.

Spybot Search and Destroy and Malwarebytes AntiMalware and SUPERAntiSpyware

These three poorly named anti-spyware programs are designed to get rid of things your AntiVirus program never dreamed of.  Part of my standard “tune up” is to run CCleaner then  Malwarebytes AntiMalware, then the installed AntiVirus program. For more intensive cleanup download Spybot, Malwarebytes AND SuperAntiSpyware. Install and run all of them until they all come back clean. Yes, this takes a long time. Yes, I’ll be glad to do this for you. Yes, I charge by the hour.

AShampoo CD/DVD/BluRay Burning Software

Don’t upgrade this program. The updated version only works for a limited time unless you pay. The free version is what you want. Ashampoo is easy to use,  burns anything to anything, and it isn’t a background hog or “notice whore” like Nero and Roxio.

Rocketdock

Windows XP only (Vista and Mac already have this). Rocketdock adds the lovely “dock” to your desktop that Mac made famous.

LClock

For Windows XP. Significantly improves the usefulness of the Windows XP clock. Change the color and font of the clock. Change to 24-hour time. Micro-tweak position of the digits. Add in the day of the week.  Click on the clock and a calendar pops up. Imagine that! (Microsoft didn’t.)

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack

K-Lite allows your computer to play back every form of non-mechanical media known to have been in use in this sector of the galaxy.  Ever.  It will integrate with Windows Media Player, or use the included Media Player Classic, or both, and runs without issue on XP, Vista, and Windows 7.  It can even allow older, slower computers to play back some modern HD content. If you run into a media file that Windows won’t play or you get a “missing codec” error, you need this program.

TeamViewer

I’ve never used TeamViewer but I’m going to start, because it sounds like a useful utility and Saveau gives it his blessing. TeamViewer allows you to set up a remote session on any other PC with an internet connection by simply having them read off the session ID and password when they launch TeamViewer on their end.  Makes it simple to help people with computer problems from remote.

Partition Master

Partition Master is made by  Easeus, a company which makes some fine products according to Saveau.  Partition Master stands in quite nicely for the more well-known commercial product Partition Magic.

Disc Copy and Clonezilla

Disc Copy is another Easeus product endorsed by Saveau, and I can vouch for Clonezilla. Both programs are free knockoffs of the popular Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image – They allow the user to make a complete duplicate of their hard drive. Operating system, installed programs and all. Disc Copy has a limitation of copying only to a drive of equal or greater size – but since most people will be doing precisely this, it shouldn’t pose a problem.  Clonezilla is a linux based copy program using a command line interface and is awkward to use but very flexible, allowing you to clone to and from pretty much anything. Clonezilla is the only disc cloning utility I’ve found that will clone drives with a bootable Linux OS installed.

Feel free to pass this list on to others. If I missed anything, feel free to post in the comments.

-Zero

As a Christmas present to you all, I’ve compiled this list of 10 Free Softwares and Services for your computing needs. As an IT guy, I’ve tested and trusted these programs over the last year, so I can vouch for their non-evilness. (Just make sure you’re downloading them from the right site!)

Here they are, in no particular order:

#1 – Gmail ( www.gmail.com )

Ditch Microsoft Office!  Gmail is a must-have.  The mail program alone is awesome, allowing you 7GB of mail, built-in antivirus, excellent spam filtering, tagging and searching ability, auto responder, etc…, but they keep adding features that make it an all-in-one replacement for Microsoft Office on your home computer.  Google Docs gives you the ability to create, edit and save Word Documents, PowerPoint Presentations, and Excel Spreadsheets.  Google Chat allows text, audio and now even video chats between people (much like Skype).  The Calendar function can send you SMS or e-mail notices of events. It does Contacts and Tasks too.  No software to install on your computer, all the data is kept online, so there’s no need to back-up, and it’s available from any internet-connected computer.

#2 – Evernote ( www.evernote.com )

Ditch OneNote!  Evernote is a place to create your own database of information – store text, drawings, task lists, webpage clips, recipes, meeting notes, pictures and screenshots, random thoughts and have them all tagged, labeled, and easy to search.  Those who already use Microsoft’s fabulous OneNote program will want to switch to Evernote.  Why? Because instead of a file on your computer, your data lives on Evernotes online servers, available through their website from any computer connected to the internet.  Better yet, they have a local program that you can install on any computer, mobile phone or pocket pc, and use offline, and it can SYNCRONIZE with the online data.

#3 – Delicious (www.delicious.com )

Ditch bookmarks!  Delicious allows you to save website bookmarks in an online account.  Never lose your bookmarks again, and make them available from any computer.  Share your bookmarks with others, and see how many people have bookmarked the same links.  Check out their simple-to-install buttons for Internet Explorer and Firefox which makes saving bookmarks easy. Tip: Use igoogle.com as your homepage, and add the delicious bookmark gadget, and your bookmarks are available as soon as you open your browser.

#4 – CCleaner ( www.ccleaner.com )

Windows only. Ditch your virtual garbage!  Formerly known as “Crap Cleaner” this program does what it says, it cleans up unneeded files on your hard drive.

#5 – AVG AntiVirus (http://free.grisoft.com/ )

Ditch MacAfee and Norton!  AVG is *FREE* AntiVirus Software.  Nuff said. Windows only, apparently Mac and Linux don’t get viruses.

#6 – Spybot Search and Destroy (http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html?tag=mncol )

Ditch Spyware!  A horribly named program, but it works really well.  Gets rid of all the things AntiVirus does not. It always finds things, even on brand new computers, clears out junky programs and cookies.  Takes forever to run, but can improve your computer’s performance.  Install it Before you have problems. Windows only.

#7 – Jagged Spiral: Days From Evil ( www.jaggedspiral.com/merch.html )

Ditch Metallica! Jagged Spiral is way better.   Download their debut album Days From Evil for free; just follow this link and scroll down to “Days From Evil Downloadable Tracks”

#8 – Songbird ( www.getsongbird.com )

Ditch I-tunes!  Songbird works with all operating systems, your I-pod, other audio devices, and your existing music library.  It’s a strange musicplayer/webbrowser hybrid, so it has a few tricks up its sleeve.  It can display song lyrics, artist news, flickr pictures, and even concert info auto-magically as it changes songs!  It even links to where you can purchase concert tickets.  Songbird is open source software (by the same nice people who brought you Firefox) so there’s plenty of user-generated plugins and color themes for it. All operating systems.

#9 – AShampoo CD/DVD/BluRay Burning Software (http://www.download.com/Ashampoo-Burning-Studio-Free/3000-2646_4-10776287.html )

Ditch Roxio and Sonic!  AShampoo is really easy to use, powerful, and most importantly; it’s FREE. Windows only.

#10 – Google Earth ( http://earth.google.com/ )

Ditch Google Maps!  Google Earth is an amazing program that lets you scroll around the world with a camera’s eye view that you can mark up, add pictures, notes, reviews, and share them with the world.  Download sightseeing tours, create and zoom through 3D models of cities, and make sure to Track Santa’s Progress on Christmas Eve! Note: Your computer will need some horsepower to run this application…

#11 – Rocketdock (http://rocketdock.com )

Ditch desktop shortcuts!  Windows XP users who are jealous of the cool ‘dock’ launcher on Mac and Windows Vista can have their own using Rocketdock.

#12 – LClock (http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=157465 )

It’s really simple. The Windows clock sits on the taskbar and when you put the cursor over it, you’re supposed to get the date.  Amazingly this does not always happen. Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP ALL have this problem.  The problem was solved with Windows Vista, but thankfully, a Smart person created LClock so we don’t have to upgrade to a new operating system just to get a clock that works. Run LClock and you will actually get the date when you hover your cursor over the time, click the time and a calendar of the current month pops up.  Scroll back and forth through the months.  Configure the color, font and position of your clock, switch to military time, etc.  Basically all the things Windows clock should have done 13 years ago…

So there you go, a virtual boatload of Christmas Free-Softwareness, tested and approved by yours truly. Check back next year for more. If I missed anything make sure to leave a comment below.

Merry Christmas,

-Conrad Zero