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Some of our
Favorite Sites
We asked several
staff members to put
together a list of two or three of their favorite web sites that they
most enjoy. We invite you to Click and enjoy as well.
Hank Clemente
My favorite image site:
http://clipart.disneysites.com/
My favorite newsletter:
www.thundercloud.net/infoave/
My favorite MIDI site:
http://wilstar.com/jukebox.htm
Lois
Ferguson
My favorite photo site:
www.webshots.com
My favorite stationery site:
www.dutchconnie.com
My favorite e-music site:
www.mamarocks.com
Barbara Hogan
My favorite computer tips site:
www.worldstart.com
My favorite health site:
www.mayoclinic.com
More next month!
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DOWNLOADS
Overview
On this page you will find
links to software that are mostly free to download and use. As always, while
we offer these links in the best of faith,
Hot Springs SeniorNet cannot be held responsible for any mishaps
that may occur
while downloading or using this software.
In other words
download and use at
your own risk.
This is an "add-on"
list. The list is not in any particular order. When we find a Free
or low cost download that we think you might like we add it to the
bottom of this list. If we need to remove a download site, we just
delete it from the list.
Break Reminder:
This
Break Reminder program reminds you to take a break as well as remind
you to do eye exercises. The program runs in the background and
settings are customizable to you set times, including sensing when
you have typed long enough. Click to download
Break Reminder
Zone Alarm:
To protect yourself from
hacker attacks, you need a PC firewall. In effect, a PC firewall
shuts your computer's door to hackers, allowing only authorized
traffic to flow through. Antivirus software protects you from known
viruses and can help clean up after a virus attack. But only a PC
firewall can block unauthorized access to your Internet-connected
computer and protect against both known and unknown malicious
software and Internet threats. At the same time, a PC firewall
allows your computer complete, unrestricted access to the Internet.
Zone Alarm's free download is all the average home user needs. Download FREE ZoneAlarm®
Free Spyware programs:
No longer something that
you only see in secret agent movies, Spyware can attack anyone who
visits corrupt websites, clicks on deceptive popups or views a spam
email message–simply put, if you're online, you're at risk.
Thankfully there is protection. Here is a list of Free anti-spyware
programs that we use on our classroom computers. You can only
install one anti-virus program but you can install as many Spyware
programs as you like as they do not interfere with each other.
Here are the four we use.
Windows Defender
Spybot Search & Destroy
Ad-Aware
Spyware Blaster
Spyware Blaster works
much like an anti-virus program, it blocks spyware from downloading
on your computer. But, like any antivirus program you must update
the program on a regular schedule. There is a paid version that you
can set for auto-updates. The other three programs should be run at
least once a month, more so if you frequent the internet on a regular
basis.
Acrobat Reader: PDF files [PDF
stands for Portable Document Files, but do we really need to know
that?] are documents which may have originally been created in
programs such as Word and Publisher but, to save space [file size is
considerably reduced] and the need to have the same program to open
the file, have been converted into PDF format. Manuals provided on
CDs are often in PDF format. Download this free program, and you
will be able to open them!
Acrobat Reader
AVG AntiVirus: Firstly, you may like to read up on
some excellent information about viruses
here.
Ok, but you don't want to hand over $100 to protect your computer
against viruses? Then you may next like to check out Grisoft's free
AVG AntiVirus, good for an unlimited period of time and able to be
updated. What's really neat is that AVG will scan your computer for
viruses once a day and do it in the background so you can continue
working on another project.
AVG Download
Image Resizer:
Resize digital pictures quickly. Digital cameras can take beautiful pictures, but e-mailing large
photo files can really be a download problem for the
recipient…especially if they are using a land line ISP.
Resizing pictures before you e-mail them—or even before you burn
them to a CD—is made simpler using a free Windows XP download called
the Image Resizer which is a handy program from Microsoft PowerToys
for Windows XP.
Keep in mind, when we talk about resizing an image we are talking
kilobyte’s, not inches or pixel's.
You can Download the Free program here
Image Resizer
Scroll the list of programs in the right column and click on Image
Resizer to download it.
Share your stories with Photo Story 3 from
Microsoft
Connect with your family and friends in a whole new way!
Microsoft's Photo Story 3 is a very user friendly program that is
available for free from the Microsoft web site
http://www.microsoft.com/photostory. This program does not use a
video camera or digital video recordings. Instead Photo Story 3
creates a video from digital image stills, such as your own digital
photographs. Photo Story 3 will turn your pictures into a video and
you can add music for a really nice touch.
Browser options
If you're looking to change browsers I suggest
that you give either of these a try.
Check them out here:
Firefox or
Opera. Both are
considered more secured that Internet Explorer.
Open Office
Compatible with other major
office suites, Open Office is free to download, use, and distribute.
Download it now, and get: Writer – a word processor you can use for
anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book.
Calc – a powerful spreadsheet with all the tools you need to
calculate, analyse, and present your data in numerical reports or
sizzling graphics. Impress – the fastest, most powerful way to
create effective multimedia presentations. Draw – lets you produce
everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations. Base –
lets you manipulate databases seamlessly. Create and modify tables,
forms, queries, and reports, all from within Open Office. Math –
lets you create mathematical equations with a graphic user interface
or by directly typing your formulas into the equation editor. Get it
Free here:
http://www.OpenOffice.org
AbiWord
If you need a word processor for only basic needs (writing,
saving, cut and paste,
etc) and has most of the feature found In
Word, then AbiWord is for you. It's able to read and write most
documents in Microsoft Word's .doc format, as well as twenty others;
its authors claim it can do most of what Word can; and best of all
it's free. Our MS Word instructor worked though the MS Word student
manual using AbiWord and found that all but one lesson, mailing
labels, pass through AbiWord with minimal problems. If you're
looking to add MS Word to your computer program list but find the
coast a bit high, then try AbiWord…it's free! Download it
here:
http://www.abisource.com/download/
Auslogics Disk Defrag®
Disk fragmentation leads to system slowdowns, PC crashes, slow
startup and shutdown and sometimes to system failures. Auslogics
Disk Defrag® is designed for fast optimization of today's modern
hard disks. Get the maximum performance out of your expensive
hardware investments. And it's absolutely FREE. Get it here:
http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/
Free
Registry Defrag/Compact (Freeware) - Version 2.35
During
the normal operation of a Windows system, registry data is
constantly being written to and removed from the registry. Over time
this data becomes scattered within the registry file and when
information is deleted from the registry holes are left which
fragment the data within the registry. Registry compacting optimizes
your registry by removing gaps and wasted space, thus improves the
whole system performance. It's a freeware and completely free
to use. Just enjoy it. Download here:
http://www.registry-clean.net/free-registry-defrag.htm
cCleaner
CCleaner is a freeware system
optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your
system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard
disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as
your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally
taking less than a few seconds to run) and contains NO Spyware or
Adware! Download it here:
http://www.ccleaner.com/download
CapsUnlock
CapsUnlock supersedes the locking
mechanism of the CapsLock key and thus prevents the accidental
turning on of CapsLock. It runs as a little tray application in the
taskbar. The user can select an override option, which allows
CapsLock to be switched on and off by holding down the left Shift
key while pressing CapsLock. Furthermore CapsUnlock also disables
the Insert key.
Read more and Download here:
CapsUnlock V1.4
EZ
Backup
EZ Backup
Ultimate is an application designed to ease the task of backing up
your data from various common programs. You simply select the
programs you want to backup and EZ Backup will find and backup your
data to a self restoring executable archive. EZ Backup's wizard
interface makes backing up your data easy! Each page of the wizard
contains instructions and options which will guide you through
backing up your data. First you select the programs you would like
to backup and then EZ Backup will let you select the types of files
to backup which correspond to that program. Get it here:
http://ravib.com/ezbackup/
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