Free useful Windows Applications [list]

DESKTOP/PANEL APPS
- CSoftLab - Interactive Calendar
- Desktop Earth
- Deskware - Desktop iCalendar
- Living Earth Desktop
- Rainlendar 
- Stardock Fences
- LCARS

GRAPHICS TOOLS
- AMD - Catalyst
- Greenshot / TechSmith - Jing
- DH Mobility Modder.net (Useful for mobile computers with ATI that only provide limited access drivers)
- EnTech Taiwan - PowerStrip (Useful for using HDTVs whose resolution isn't standard to computers)

PRODUCTIVITY
- 4t Tray Minimizer / SysTrayX
- Asus - Ai Charger
- BetterDesktopTool / PowerResizer
- DisplayFusion
- e-sushi - MiniBin (Especially useful if you decide to hide all desktop icons)
- GreenPrint
- iShadow - Virtual Display Manager
- Launchy / PhraseExpress
- jZip
- Multi Monitor Mouse
- PowerMenu
- Quick And Easy Software - USB Disk Ejector / IconRemover / Desk Drive
- SmartClose
- EnhanceMyVista Free / Ultimate Windows Tweaker
- VirtualScreenMax
- Volumouse
- WizMouse

SYSTEM MAINTENANCE
- Anvisoft - Anvi Startup Booster / Soluto
- Auslogics - Disk Defrag / Defraggler
- CCleaner / Glary Utilities / Yet Another Cleaner / WinASO RegDefrag
- DriverBackup! / DriverMax
- Driver Detective (Shareware)
- Eraser
- InstallPad / Ninite
- IObit Uninstaller
- JavaRa
- Recuva
- ShellExView
- Single Click Restore Point (SCRP)
- Unlocker

COMMUNICATION
- Pidgin / Facebook Chat for Pidgin
- Skype / Call Graph / Subscription Monitor For Skype

CONNECTIVITY
- Connectify
- Devicescape
- iPass
- WeFi
- Whisher

GRAPHICS / WORD PROCESSING
- Apache OpenOffice / LibreOffice / SoftMaker FreeOffice / Kingsoft Office Suite Free
- Blender / DAZ Studio / DAZ Bryce
- GIMP
- Google - Picasa / IrfanView
- Gravit
- Foxit Reader / Nitro PDF Reader / Tracker Software - PDF-XChange Viewer
- Inkscape
- PrimoPDF
- Scribus

WORD-PROCESSOR ADD-ONS
- BrightFort - Doc Scrubber
- Microsoft - Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats
- Fotolia
- OfficeTab
- OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs
- RepairMyWord

PROGRAMMING
- Intype
- KompoZer
- Sublime Text

EMULATORS / COMPATIBILITY LAYERS
- andLinux
- Android
- BlueStacks 
- LinuxLive USB / Ubuntu

VIRTUALIZATION
- Cameyo
- Spoon.net
- WorldDesk

INTERNET
- Adobe - Flash
- Adobe - Shockwave
- Adobe - AIR
- Google - Chrome
- Microsoft - Internet Explorer / Maxthon / Visual Explorer
- Microsoft - Silverlight
- Mozilla - Firefox
- Opera
- Sandboxie

FILE TRANSFER
- doubleTwist
- Free Download Manager / Orbit
- samepage
- WeTransfer

ONLINE BACKUPS
- Ditto
- Dropbox
- Soonr
- Syncplicity

SECURITY
- AVG - Anti-Virus Free Edition
- Doc Scrubber / BrightFort - MRU-Blaster
- InterGuard - Laptop Cop (30 day trial)
- Secunia PSI
- Smart UAC Replacement
- Spyware Terminator / Lavasoft - Ad-Aware

LIVE TELEVISION
- FilmOn Player

MUSIC
- Qtrax
- Spotify

ENTERTAINMENT
- Miro
- MoviePanda
- PopcornTime
- VideoLAN - VLC Media Player
- Vuze

GAMING
- AMD - RAMDisk / Game Booster / GMABooster
- GameFly Downloader
- GameStop PC Downloads App
- GameTap
- Second Life
- ScummVM
- Steam
- vSide

Google Docs Add-ons

For those you who use Google Docs on a regular basis, you might find the task of uploading and downloading annoying. So here are a couple applications that make the task easier.

TOOLS:
- DocSyncer
- OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs
- DocList Uploader
- Google Docs Bar

Wire Reduction Technologies

When wireless technologies aren't an option new technologies that reduce the number of wires needed are the only option. Most electronics need a constant supply of electricity so adding more features to power lines is pretty logical. The unfortunate thing about doing that is it usually requires conversion boxes. This can complicate things but for older homes it's usually a much more attractive option than blowing holes in the wall.

NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES
Ethernet over Power
Ethernet over USB
HDMI over Coaxial

POWER TECHNOLOGIES
Power over Ethernet
Powered USB
Power over eSATA

Web2.0 in Need of Guidelines?

I'm not sure why but many new Web2.0 companies all still lack a lot of basic necessities. The best way to explain this is by reading through the following list.

FEATURES:
- Account deletion options
- Import/export options
- Synchronization options
- Data duplication options
- Advanced data manipulation options (live reorganization and bulk editing options)
- Drag and drop options (if applicable)
- Tags (no folders)
- Widgets, RSS feeds
- Vector based graphics/logos (scalable images)
- AJAX (careful with the Flash usage)
- Standards based (DataPortability)
- Platform-independent
- Search (using tag combinations and/or meta-data)
- Support for complicated long passwords (or OpenID support)
- User profile (with the option to go private)
- Favorites (for keeping track of cool content)

Streaming and Online Gaming

Streaming games across the internet has had a lot of rough starts. There are two important trends to take note of here. One trend is the idea of gaming as a subscription based service where you get unlimited access to any number of games. The other trend here is that games will no longer require you to buy special hardware in order to play them.

The benefits of a subscription-based gaming service with off-site rendering are:

FOR USERS
- No physical disks to organize and keep clean
- No expensive hardware needed
- Unlimited access to the latest games
- Don't have to worry about updates

FOR DEVELOPERS
- Don't have to worry about compatibility issues
- Don't have to worry about games being ripped off
- Access to a much wider audience

G-cluster
Subsciption: N/A
Off-site rendering: YES
B2B: YES
One of the first companies to offer this type of gaming service. Unfortunately years later this company still seems to be struggling.

Stream My Games
Subsciption: NO
Off-site rendering: YES (you still have to own the hardware doing the processing)
B2B: N/A
Here is yet one of the most promising solutions. However, unlike the rest of the services you still have to own a physical copy of the games you are playing.

GameTap
Subsciption: YES
Off-site rendering: NO
B2B: NO
Turner was smart to create this service and even though it doesn't off-load the processing power needed to render games it does offer them.

OTOY
Subscription: N/A (depends on who's using their technology)
Off-site rendering: YES
B2B: YES
Don't know anything about this service yet.

GameStreamer / GameStreamer Store
Subscription: N/A
Off-site rendering: N/A
B2B: YES
Don't know anything about this service yet.

GameTree TV
Subscription: YES
Off-site rendering: YES
B2B: YES

OnLive
Subscription: N/A
Off-site rendering: YES
B2B: N/A
Service handles all rendering of games on off-site servers and seems to be making far more progress than the others in this industry.

Gaikai
Subscription: N/A
Off-site rendering: YES
B2B: N/A
Service handles all rendering of games on off-site servers and runs through the web-browser using Flash.

Playcast
Subscription: YES
Off-site rendering: YES
B2B: YES

Spawn Labs
Subscription: N/A
Off-site rendering: YES
B2B: N/A

Out-of Business

InstantAction
Subsciption: NO
Off-site rendering: NO
B2B: NO

Pelican Crossing - inDuality
Subscription: N/A (only if the MMORPG requires it)
Off-site rendering: NO
B2B: N/A
This seems pretty cool but some people have been dismissing this based on privacy concerns. For those who don't spend money on MMORPGs, you should be fine. For those who do spend lots of money, be a bit cautious with this one.

RELATED LINKS:
- Cloud Gaming USA

OpenMoko, UMCs and Android what will the market look like

It seems the OpenMoko is actually getting a production date set for Spring. One has to wonder what kind of future this platform has since the only manufacturer is First International Computer (FIC). Another thing to consider is how an ultra mobile computer (UMC) can be had for the same price now, check out the Asus Eee PC. Sure I know ultra mobiles don't come close in mobility. However, for the price and with the use of a Bluetooth headset I think there are people willing to overlook that. That was likely the strategy Palm had with the Foleo and is now the current strategy of a company called Celio. Unfortunately those two companies made, or are making, the mistake of putting more brains in the so-called smartphone rather than in the computer. If these companies would have pursued their strategy from the opposite angle they could have caught on to a real market.

A somewhat poor example/implementation of what I'm talking about would be Microsoft's SideShow, which as the website says "allows a wide range of compatible devices to communicate with computers running Windows Vista." If one of those compatible devices were a cellphone connected to a UMC then you'd have your winning combination. Yet this winning combination would have been great like a year ago. Now companies like VIA and Intel are showing off motherboards the size of cellphones, granted still beefy ones. These developments may very well make that joint UMC/phone combination still happen but one has to ask if a Bluetooth headset is enough or if people still really want to see the screen of a cellphone (which would be a Microsoft SideShow device).

Apple is likely to offer this sort of converged device I'm talking about in the coming weeks so keep an eye out for that. What's interesting about Apple's pursuit of the cellphone industry is that a lot of the Mac OS still exists within the iPhone's OS which means it probably has a lot of future scalability. Personally I don't like the iPhone since I feel it's dumbing things down too much for me, on the other hand I don't really like any currently available smartphone because they complicate things too much.

Now when it comes to Google's approach with the Android, it's obvious that the Android is no ultra mobile computer. So what's the use right? I think the Android OS will take over the low-end ultra cheap cellphone market segment. I'm pretty sure Google even mentioned at one point that cellphones should be free and money should be made off of advertising.

Facebook Apps are a disappointment, Updates are too Sloowwww

Despite the strange overly generous support (GigaOM articles Facebook OS, Who Owns the Apps) of intellectuals all across the blogosphere, I find most Facebook Apps to be very disappointing. Basically my complaint isn't that they look ugly or lack functionality (which they do), my complaint is that they operate too independently of the websites they try to emulate. Which means they take too long to update or require inputting all new information. When I make changes I expect them to be immediate instead of having to wait an hour.

Overall, I think it's a huge overstatement to say that Facebook or other social networks are an OS of sorts. I think DataPortability.org and Mozilla's Weave have a much better chance of becoming a real source of OS like power. Widgets/gadgets are neat and Facebook does a great job of trying to connect the data from varying websites, but like I'm trying to get across there are serious problems with this platform.

EXAMPLES:
Jaman - Moviematch
This application doesn't connect in real-time to the changes you make on Jaman, if it does it must be seriously delayed.

Finetune
This application doesn't do anything intelligent. I had to re-add all my favorite musicians and music. I did try directly going through the website to add one of my stations and so far have had little luck getting it to work.

Flixster
This application won't let me pick any of my movie lists, I have several. Instead the only list I can show is my favorite movies which ends up showing the same five or ten movies every time, depending on where you put it.

Trend Hunter (removed from my profile)
I swear the news on this thing takes forever to update. It's been talking about trash bags for a week, that's like week old news.

Amazing Wish List (removed from my profile)
This thing has a hard time gathering thumbnail images, and I'm sure it doesn't shuffle my content nearly enough (I set it to be random). BTW, I have a huge Amazon wish list.

What will matter in 2008?

This year will hopefully be the end of several obsolete technologies like SED, RPD, and proprietary phones. On the other hand I realize wishing for stuff like AT&T and Verizon to go out of business is asking too much, but AT&T did go out of business once or twice already. Additionally there are still some inventions from 2007 that never even got a chance, which I've included in the MIA list below. As for the businesses that went out of business during 2007 that I'm happy to see gone, no offense but I just didn't see much of a future in their business models.

Businesses I'm happy to see gone:
- SCO yes this company is still partially alive, sure I'm biased I invested in IBM (SCO bumped off NASDAQ)
- MovieBeam (reason: set-top-box, you'll never succeed by making people buy a stupid set-top-box unless you're selling a PS3, Wii, or Xbox)
- Amp'd Mobile (reason: I'd say because Helio offered something more than just marketing)
- Virgin Digital (reason: DRM)
- Sony Connect (reason: DRM)
- Robotic FX

(MIA) Where are these and do we care?:
- Phantom Lapboard
- OpenMoko (the Dash doesn't count)

Do want to hear about:
- Firefox 3.0
- Sony Playstation 3 (Home, DVR, IPTV)
- Google Android, Open Handset Alliance
- Asus Eee PC (with WiMax and 8.9in display)
- AMOLED displays, LED backlit LCD displays
- 700 MHz spectrum auction, M2Z Networks
- WiMax, LTE, Sprint Xohm
- WirelessHDMI (WHDMI), WirelessUSB (WUSB), Ultra-Wideband (UWB), but WirelessHD (WiHD) and ExtremeUSB may be a waste of time ... confusing market
- USB 3.0 (600 MB/s, questionable implementation standards), FireWire 3200 (393.216 MB/s), SAS (300-1200 MB/s)
- Vollee

Don't want to hear about:
- E3 (E For All is the new show, people need to get over E3 ... seriously it's over no more booth-babes)
- PMPs, MP3 Players, In-car GPS Navigation Consoles (single purpose devices make me sick, but sometimes they do off-set their stupidity enough to make me care)
- DRM
- RIM BlackBerry, Palm, Motorola (unless they switch to Google's Android)
- Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Symbian
- HD Radio, DAB
- DVB, DVB-H, DMB
- Blu-ray, HD-DVD
- Apple iPhone, Apple TV, Apple iPod (& iPod docks)
- Rear-Projection Displays
- Laser TV
- SED
- Plasma (except for maybe that 150in display from Panasonic)