the Cool software and Websites thread..

[robot]

Lifehacker: "Tips and downloads for getting things done". It leans heavily towards tech issues, but there's a lot more to it than that.

Instructables: "The World's Biggest DIY & How To Show & Tell": Not that I ever make much, but there's some really interesting stuff to see here. If you're looking to make something or get ideas on how to make or do something, this is a great place to check out.

Digg: I'm trying to explain it and I can't do it very well. It's a news site sort of. People vote for things, popular things are probably worth seeing. I like it.

Cracked.com: Remember that horrible old Mad-magazine rip-off called Cracked? Well the magazine sucked, but they have a website now. They have some pretty funny articles.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head right now. I don't know much about software, but you should check out the Lifehacker link - they have a 2007 roundup of a lot of good software.

[buttsie]

I don't know about cool software but this site is a one stop shop for freeware

The detail in the review and the number of comparisons is
useful i think.Introduced me to software I'd never heard of

Starts with 46 categories and adds another 57 if you sign up for the newsletter

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46 ... lities.htm

Maybe useful maybe not

[buttsie]

All the recent excitement over Spammers got me wound up because I know those tossers always add extra nasties to any of their links

A couple of total Computer security tutorials

http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-sp ... rustworthy


A site that tests your computers security and tells you all about windows programs that are very bad to run and how to turn them off

http://www.grc.com/default.htm

Woodys no bull tips & news for Windows security patches etc

http://askwoody.com/

Microsoft finally have a blog detailing each patch in detail

http://blogs.technet.com/swi/

The alternative to microsoft.com as compiled by users

http://www.annoyances.org/

[buttsie]

Your welcome

To tell the truth I'm just sharing what other more technically gifted people have shared with me

As i was told get 1 firewall,1 anti-virus and as many of everything else as you like but don't think for a minute your PC is 100% secure as the bad guys are always 1 step ahead of the good

A very good reason to never do your banking online
I do mine over the phone or in person

[buttsie]

true,out of date is a sitting duck

For making your computer run a little bit better
disk defragmenting shootout...31 reviewed

http://donnedwards.openaccess.co.za/200 ... t-all.html

[bsx]

Because we all have something to hide:

TrueCrypt is a very cool encryption tool. It can encrypt complete hard disks and partitions (like an external USB drive or memory stick) or it can work with "containers" (large encrypted files that can be used like a drive in Windows/Linux).
It also comes with advanced features like "hidden volumes" where you won't even know there is encrypted data hidden somewhere unless you "say the magic word".
I've used it quite successfully on Windows and Linux for about 2 years now.

[synkronized]

User friendly website for all kinds of software: http://www.filehippo.com/

[nattiep]

http://khaaan.com/

[buttsie]

http://khaaan.com/

cool,if your a trekky

Older version software

http://www.oldversion.com/

[Snarl]

Watch Movies Online For Free Full Movie Downloads
Project - Free TV

[greash]

Legal Marijuana Shipping Website >> www.budjoint.com

[Extreme Allah]

Legal Marijuana Shipping Website >> www.budjoint.com

[buttsie]

Not sure where to ask about this, but I guess this thread is the best place. Anybody know where to get a GOOD, FREE mpeg converter? I can't find anything. :\

not sure if these are what your looking for but they are freeware

84 Best Free Audio / Video Format Conversion Program
Updated February 10, 2008

Wouldn't it be neat to be able to convert any kind of video files to a format you can use on your PSP, iPod or mobile phone? "Super" (Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer) is a free utility that allows you to do pretty much all of these things and more.

The ready availability of audio and video material in digital format has allowed all of us to have access to a huge range of content with an ease and accessibility never before possible.

This wonderful blessing has, however, been tarnished by the proliferation of different audio and digital media formats. The existence of so many formats has meant that seemingly simple tasks, such as transferring a YouTube video to your iPod or making an MP3 file from a DVD soundtrack, can end up being complex tasks; so complex that they become nearly impossible for non-technical users.

In response to this situation we have seen the market flooded by expensive commercial media conversion programs which can cost up to $199. The good news is that there are many free media conversion programs available that will do the job just as well as their commercial cousins.
My long-time favorite has been "Super" [1], even though it's really no more than a user friendly interface for a variety of command line conversion programs.
It has two great strengths: first, it's reasonably easy to use, and secondly, it handles a large number of different file formats.
For example, with video files it handles 3gp/3g2 (Nokia, Siemens, Sony, Ericsson), asf, avi (DivX, H263, H263+, H264, Xvid, MPEG4, MSmpeg4, etc), dat, fli, flc, flv (used in Flash), mkv, mpg (Mpeg I, Mpeg II), mov (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4, etc), mp4 (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4), ogg, qt, rm, ram, rmvb, str (Play Station), swf (Flash), ts (HDTV), viv, vob, and wmv. It also handles audio file format conversion including ac3, amr, mp2, mp3, mp4, ogg, ra, wav, and wma.

The download link for Super on the author's site is quite hard to find so I've listed an alternative download site [2].

An alternative to Super is MediaCoder [3]. It has the advantage of being open source and, arguably, is even easier to use. It doesn't handle some of the formats handled by Super but is being continuously expanded by its authors. iPod and PSP owners will appreciate the special features for these devices that make usage particularly straight-forward.

If you are mainly interested in just video conversion, check out "Any Video Converter" [4]. It has a better interface than either Super or MediaCoder and is very fast as well. Input formats include DivX, XviD, MOV, rm, rmvb, MPEG, VOB, DVD, WMV and AVI. Its set up to make MP4 conversion as simple as possible, but it can handle other output formats if you are prepared to delve into the options.

[1] Super (Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer)
Website: www.erightsoft.net
Download link: www.erightsoft.net/S6Kg1.html
Author: eRightSoft
Current version: v2008.build.24
Version date: January 18, 2008
License: Freeware
Download File size: 26.1MB
Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: None
Other relevant information: None
[2] Super - alternate download link:
www.afterdawn.com/software/video_softwa ... /super.cfm
[3] MediaCoder
Website: www.mediacoder.sourceforge.net/
Download link: www.mediacoder.sourceforge.net/download.htm
Author: Yi-Chun Huang
Current version: 0.6.1.4031
Version date: January 18, 2008
License: Freeware
Download File size: 17.7MB
Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

[4] Any Video Converter
Website: www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
Download link: www.download.com/Any-Video-Converter/30 ... ?tag=lst-1
Author: Any-Video-Converter.com
Current version: 2.5.3
Version date: January 9, 2008
License: Freeware
Download File size: 13.7MB
Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: NA
Other relevant information: None

[robot]

Not sure where to ask about this, but I guess this thread is the best place. Anybody know where to get a GOOD, FREE mpeg converter? I can't find anything. :\

Aside from digging deeper into Lifehacker, I have no suggestions. And that doesn't help at all if you've already given up there.

Some here might work?

[buttsie]

Good to hear

The site I cut & pasted all the details from is probably the best up to date site with regards to available freeware & comparisons with their paying cousins.A lot of software I and many other more technically proficient individuals have never heard of

For what this guy does it bizarre he doesn't charge anything


http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46 ... lities.htm

http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm
(need to subscribe(your email addy)to access these extra categories)
(its where i found the above info so well worth it)

http://www.techsupportalert.com/al_subscribe.htm