Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Trendmicro.com (spyware removal site)

I run a scan every week, and it always seems to find something. When used in conjunction with Ad-Aware and Spy Bot, they form the holy trinity of free spyware removal.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Macro Express - Automate tasks, etc. This one actually works, enough for me to buy it.

Hypersnap Dx - screen capture app

Rarslave - freeware to automate extracting .rar's / checking par2 sets

Newsbin Pro - For binary newsgroups

Portable Firefox

Ultramon


http://www.shellcity.net/
This is a good site, I am not associated with them or anything.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

I absolutely love goldwave. Its free (trial version) audio software that will let you open and edit any file with tons of effects, EQ, etc. I use it mainly to slow down solos to half speed so that I can transcribe them.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

For Mac Kids:
CrossOver
If you have an Intel mac, this is a great, seamless Wine loader, and works with most Windows software.

Quicksilver
A very nice launcher app, built around applescript, with a ton of built in functionality.

Genius
A nice program for when you need to memorize a lot of information. Works kinda like flash cards.

Little Snitch
Catches any outbound network traffic, and allows you to control access, for various applications. Great security tool.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

For PC Kids:
Process Guard
Stops programs from opening up without your permission. Can be a tad annoying at times, but it has saved me on numerous occasions.

Pretty much everything else coming to mind for PC is already on here.

BeamYourScreen is great, btw.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
I absolutely love goldwave. Its free (trial version) audio software that will let you open and edit any file with tons of effects, EQ, etc. I use it mainly to slow down solos to half speed so that I can transcribe them.

[/ QUOTE ]

I kinda like Audacity for being a truly free thing. It's showing a lot of promise, and does what I need it to do.

I installed Notepad++ as per this thread's recommendation, and I'm liking it a whole lot.

I also ended up looking up a way to kill that "delete" option from the Recycle Bin's contextual menu (in Vista, I forget if it's there in XP), and instead ran into RecycleNOW, which promises to be very useful and less annoying than the recycle bin.

Oh, and I don't see how there's no love for the "Express" editions of visual studio. Yes, it's very gay that they won't just install together and work like visual studio, but studio's a pretty fast code editor. They are too, and they're free.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Where to start?

UltraEdit
I use it all the time for all my scripting/PHP-design and what-not.

AutoHotKey
Why hasn't this been mentioned yet? Don't only use it for my pokerplaying needs, but for all sorts of tasks.

FireFox
Is there another browser?

This is from the top of my head (I have these programs opened right now).

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Great thread idea Boris.

Opera (http://www.opera.com) : Simply the best browser for me. I've been a fan for 10 years now, they already had tabbed browsing at that time and countless other innovative ideas. I could expand on this subject, but to make it short I love the way it behaves and all the power-user-friendly options and tools available (though I also like Firefox).

Trillian (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/) : already mentioned in the thread

Mathematica : great for quick and easy symbolic calculations. I mostly use my own programs for numeric simulations (I must admit I never really bothered to learn Matlab but I've noticed it's powerful at the hands of others).

PCalc (http://www.analogx.com/contents/down...gram/pcalc.htm) : a good calculator, I use it all the time.

UltraEdit (http://www.ultraedit.com/) : powerful editor, mostly for programming. I use an older version than the most recent one.

SysInternals (http://www.sysinternals.com/) : Advanced system tools by Mark Russinovich, recently bought by Microsoft.

CommView (http://www.tamos.com/) : Network sniffer. I use it for network programming or when I need to know what data a program is sending/receiving from my computer.

Proxomitron (http://www.proxomitron.info/) : Local http proxy. For when you want to easily change some of the page elements you receive (for ad blocking purposes for example) or http headers you receive or send (for deception/security circumvention purposes maybe). Very powerful. Unmaintained for several years now


I must have forgotten several other excellent programs but, not having used them recently, I cannot think of any more now.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Google Calendar.

I put in obscure future events and set up reminders for them. Then it text messages my phone however far in advance I specify. Works great for birthdays and other things you won't remember.

Plus if your friends are using it too, you can overlay their calendars onto yours which is helpful for planning events.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
vi

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[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

http://joshmadison.net/software/convert/

Convert is a freeware program that does unit conversion for a ton of different units. Feet to inches, ounces to kilograms, etc.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Datebk - replacement calendar for Palm devices. This app. has kept me from straying from the Palm universe for 5 or 6 years. It supports (customizable) icons, a broad array of recurrence options, integrated todos with calendar (not offered by the original Palm calendar app), templates for appointments, links between appointments, todos, addressbook entries, and notes, purging/archiving of old appointments, snoozing alarms, time zones, hiding appointment categories by day/time, floating appointments (move from day to day until checked off), a slew of data entry short-cuts.

I often find it easier to enter new appointments on my Treo (and did with my graffiti-using Palms before) than on my notebook using Outlook or Entourage.

The user support offered by the application's creator, CES Dewar, is the best that I have ever experienced.

And if all that weren't enough, all the proceeds from the purchase of the product go towards the upkeep of a gorilla habitat that Dewar (independently wealthy from selling his desktop publishing business) has established in the mountains of Northern Georgia.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
http://joshmadison.net/software/convert/

Convert is a freeware program that does unit conversion for a ton of different units. Feet to inches, ounces to kilograms, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why bother w/ this when you can use Google to do it for you?

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Is there any software that would allow me to write on my screen? eg. i press a button then i can draw or write using my mouse. basically like firefox mouse effects, but i dont want them to disappear

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

I just downloaded picasa which might outdo this, but I've always liked Irfanview for viewing/editing/resizing images.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

As far as excel goes - I work with it just about every day. I only got the job I have now because of my "excel skills" and I have to say the software is awful. For what people try to do with it - I think it's really poor. The newest version will apparently allow a much larger sheet, which I'm hoping means more memory in general. I have spent sleepless nights trying to get excel to do the things it did every day and decided to just stop doing one day.

I'd say my favorite "software" is anything from google, really. I love gmail and use the window they have over thunderbird/outlook because of the way they organize my emails for me. Google home is basically a newspaper on my desktop.

I got "gimp" - the image editing software - for free a year or so back. Not sure if it's still free but it was basically everything I wanted and cost me nothing.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
Strong preference for GAIM over Trillian.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto, Trillian is buggy.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

tweakui does not allow programs to steal focus. this is great bc it allows me to flawlessly berate donkeys while multitabling.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Strong preference for GAIM over Trillian.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto, Trillian is buggy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Additionally, I highly, highly recommend against using Trillian on shared computers (family, etc.) if you are at all concerned with security/privacy.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Beamyourscreen looks good but only 7 day trial??

Convert is very nice if you're often away from inet.

If you like rolling your sleeves up with HTML or CSS, EditPlus is a great shareware (that seems to have full functionality forever) app.

+1 for Excel - good for solving poker problems too.

If you want to record music on your pc, try n-track (more functions but can't mix down without paying up), or audacity (more basic, but free) as protools alternatives.

anyone know a user friendly stats program? By user friendly, I mean not R.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Carbonite - Great back-up service www.carbonite.com

MindJet MindManager - Excellent "mind mapping" software that allows you to easily export brain storms into word or excel as outlines www.mindjet.com

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

openoffice.org - if you don't like paying/pirating
camtasia studio - for recording your desktop + audio (poker videos)

OS X:
adium - for chat
growl - display for notifications
isquint - converts almost any video file into mp4 (compatible for video ipod)
voodoopad - wiki-style notepad (I use it for note taking in all of my classes)
terror alert - displays the current terror alert color (lol)

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
anyone know a user friendly stats program? By user friendly, I mean not R.

[/ QUOTE ]

stata.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
anyone know a user friendly stats program? By user friendly, I mean not R.

[/ QUOTE ]

stata.

[/ QUOTE ]

I should have specified that it must be free.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
El D,

I've been using AVG for about two years now, free home edition. Recently when I start up it tells me it's going to expire soon. Is this just BS? Or can I renew it? If not I'll gladly pay the $40 or whatever for their services. I've been very pleased with it.



[/ QUOTE ]

Just that version is expiring. Simply upgrade to the new free version, no need to pay.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

I really like mac osx a lot. most programs that I really need (calendar, mail client, etc) are built in, I can compile and run all manner of open source software (tomcat/apache/etc). even the common apps are really well designed and useful, for instance the calculator does currency conversion.

in addition stuff like the launchy application astro posted is built in to osx.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

For those mentioning AIM/messaging clients like

GAIM, Trillian, Meebo

which of these have logging as a feature? I still use an old AIM version with DeadAIM because the logging feature is so great. I highly recommend using logging -- it makes it so easy to go back and remember what movie you were talking about, what link you sent a few days ago, etc.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
For those mentioning AIM/messaging clients like

GAIM, Trillian, Meebo

which of these have logging as a feature? I still use an old AIM version with DeadAIM because the logging feature is so great. I highly recommend using logging -- it makes it so easy to go back and remember what movie you were talking about, what link you sent a few days ago, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

i use the exact same thing for the exact same reason and would also like an answer here.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For those mentioning AIM/messaging clients like

GAIM, Trillian, Meebo

which of these have logging as a feature? I still use an old AIM version with DeadAIM because the logging feature is so great. I highly recommend using logging -- it makes it so easy to go back and remember what movie you were talking about, what link you sent a few days ago, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

i use the exact same thing for the exact same reason and would also like an answer here.

[/ QUOTE ]

I dunno about the all in one clients....but the new version of AIM has logging and is quite good and removes any reason to use an old version with deadAIM (Which is what I was using before as well)

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
For those mentioning AIM/messaging clients like

GAIM, Trillian, Meebo

which of these have logging as a feature? I still use an old AIM version with DeadAIM because the logging feature is so great. I highly recommend using logging -- it makes it so easy to go back and remember what movie you were talking about, what link you sent a few days ago, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]
I use Trillian and it saves everything you typed with someone (right-click the person in your list and click 'View Contact History')

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
anyone know a user friendly stats program? By user friendly, I mean not R.

[/ QUOTE ]

stata.

[/ QUOTE ]

I should have specified that it must be free.

[/ QUOTE ]

How big of a dataset? I think you mentioned excel - if you are doing anything on your own I trust it isn't much data and can just use excel.

Pretty much everything like STATA is going to cost and arm and a leg because they're commercial products. We use SAS here at work and I think it's a LOT better than STATA, more "project friendly" but it also costs a lot.

For any gifted developers an open source stat analysis package seems like a cool idea. If anyone is interested my statistics knowledge is vast, though I can hardly say the same for my programming skills.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
anyone know a user friendly stats program? By user friendly, I mean not R.

[/ QUOTE ]

stata.

[/ QUOTE ]

I should have specified that it must be free.

[/ QUOTE ]

How big of a dataset? I think you mentioned excel - if you are doing anything on your own I trust it isn't much data and can just use excel.

Pretty much everything like STATA is going to cost and arm and a leg because they're commercial products. We use SAS here at work and I think it's a LOT better than STATA, more "project friendly" but it also costs a lot.

For any gifted developers an open source stat analysis package seems like a cool idea. If anyone is interested my statistics knowledge is vast, though I can hardly say the same for my programming skills.

[/ QUOTE ]
Stata's like a badass Origin?

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

I'm a budding ecologist. There's loads of stuff Excel doesn't do, e.g. GLMs.

I agree that Open Source stats program would be very popular, and a very worthwhile project (think of all the 3rd world countries that can't afford $100+ programs).

While we're on the subject (new thread?), I had a great idea during dinner - a poker hand analysis tool that can calculate EV of various different moves if you provide hand ranges, b/r/c/k % etc. How sweet would that be? Perhaps it could even do game theory of certain situations. I'd play $15 for it.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

My must have windows apps, most of which are free:

Firefox (drag de go and adblock are most important non-developer related extensions for me)
Thunderbird
EditPlus (very powerful text editor, also runs on Linux with wine if you aren't a VIM fan)
Gaim with the windows plugin. I use it for AIM, IRC, Google Talk, and a SILC server.
Gimp
Paint.net
Open Office
Winamp
Putty (ssh client)
CuteFTP Pro
Password Safe
Search and Destroy
AVG

And a bunch of developer tools.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For those mentioning AIM/messaging clients like

GAIM, Trillian, Meebo

which of these have logging as a feature? I still use an old AIM version with DeadAIM because the logging feature is so great. I highly recommend using logging -- it makes it so easy to go back and remember what movie you were talking about, what link you sent a few days ago, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]
I use Trillian and it saves everything you typed with someone (right-click the person in your list and click 'View Contact History')

[/ QUOTE ]

It's decently searchable, too. I'd consider switching from Trillian, but Meebo or whatever would have to have this feature.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Does anyone have any good Microsoft Word alternatives in Windows??

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone have any good Microsoft Word alternatives in Windows??

[/ QUOTE ]
http://www.openoffice.org/

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone have any good Microsoft Word alternatives in Windows??

[/ QUOTE ]
http://www.openoffice.org/

[/ QUOTE ]

Open Office is really really good, at least for a casual user.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone have any good Microsoft Word alternatives in Windows??

[/ QUOTE ]

Writer, part of open office. I've only used the Mac version, but they do have a windows version.

Edit: Beat to the punch. I lose.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

VLC media player

firefox

Mplayer (not to be confused with mediaplayer), harder to use than vlc, but for the rare occations when vlc fails mplayer can play a ham sandwich.

fulDC combined with the knowledge the begins at whyrar opens a world of possibilities.

mIRC with nn script rocks the socks off all other IM appz if you learn to use it.