Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #359 issued July 22, 2005

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This electronic newsletter is registered – ISSN 1441-6840
Welcome to the CFS Weekly Newsletter.
The programs listed here are completely free for non-commercial use, even though some may be shareware or commercial products. None are time-limited and all are fully functional. If you know any that aren't exactly as specified, please let us know and they will be removed immediately.
If the link below does not work (does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid. Please use the CFS Site Search facility (above) to locate the program.
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE

Battle of Yavin v1.1 – Win98/ME/XP
Battle of Yavin is a StarWar's Death Star battle sim (from the StarWars movie "A New Hope") played in full 3D. It features 6 stages that play continuously, 3 laser modes, 12 enemies, original music, mouse-controlled action, and more. This game rocks! A sequel to the equally fabulous "Battle of Endor", it has the same high quality graphics, excellent sound effects (including the original music) and great 3D effects. You must battle to destroy the first Death Star, shooting down TIE fighters and other enemies while protecting your wingmen (as they are protecting you). There are on-screen instructions, radar (a HUD), and other relevant information to help you destroy the Empire's ships. Battle of Yavin is fast and furious, and it has excellent ray-traced graphics to really put you in the middle of the action. Overall, this is a sensational game. Not just for lovers of the StarWars movies, like its sister game "Battle of Endor", Battle of Yavin is one of the best free, 3D space shooters we have seen. Grab a copy now! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 14.3MB download from: Win98 General Games

Drive Mounter v0.1 – Win9x/ME/XP
Drive Mounter is a tool that mounts any folder as a virtual drive, either permanently or until the next Windows' re-boot. It features easy removal of a mounted drive, it is simple to use, does not need to be running to maintain the virtual drive, and more. This is a great little Windows' enhancement. If you are constantly working between two folders, specially ones that are buried down in the Explorer tree, you can designate them as virtual drives (allocate a spare drive letter to them) so that you can quickly access them without squirreling down through the layers of folders to find them. These can be either permanent virtual drives, or temporary ones (until the next Windows' re-boot) but in neither case do you need to have Drive Mounter running to maintain the new drive. Perfect for people who want to quickly access particular folders, Drive Mounter does have some very practical uses. We found it easy to use, though the extensive use of Belgian (Dutch) text makes it harder for an English-speaking user, though all you really need to know is that "Beschikbaar" means "Free". We assume that "Harde Schijf" means "Hard Drive" and that "Verwijderbaar" refers to a floppy or removable drive. Drive Mounter is a fabulous little program that many people will find of great value. Access this 1.72MB download from: Win95 Windows Enhancements

Google Earth v3.0 – WinXP
Google Earth is a 3D satellite view of the world that can be zoomed & rotated to display a full 3D representation of the landscape. It features overlays for cities, boundaries, city search, city features (parks, roads, restaurants, etc), and more. Ostensively the same as NASA's World Wind (cf) but only 10% of the size, Google Earth offers most of the same features and is, in some ways, a little easier to use. However, it lacks many of the high definition maps, specially for locations outside of the US, and the overall map quality in some areas is very crude. Even within the same city you have a mix of high and low resolution maps and it is frustrating to have the hi res map "run out" just when you need it most. Like NASA's World Wind, Google Earth allows you to tilt the map and look at the topography from almost a horizontal plane, making images of areas like the Grand Canyon spectacular. When hovering over a city you can often have local features – even ATMs and banks – highlighted but, again, this is not consistent and quite frustrating when the city that you want to examine lacks this detail. Google Earth can zoom in to under 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) above the ground and still get good clear images if hi res is available. Otherwise you will find that anything less than 30,000 feet (10 kilometres) above the ground will render the images blurry. If axis tilting is used, image quality generally deteriorates slightly. You will need a reasonably modern computer and video card to view the images, and a broadband (128 kbps or faster) Internet connection to download the hi res images (downloaded automatically as you zoom in). Your computer will have to be at least a Pentium III 500MHz (a 2.4GHz CPU is recommended) and your screen resolution should be, according to Google, 1280x1024 (32-bit true color). However, the program's window can be reduced to 800x430 pixels, so an 800x600 screen resolution will probably work OK. Your 3D graphics card should have at least 16MB of VRAM. Google reports that the following ATI cards are currently not supported: ATI Rage Mobility; ATI Xpert; & ATI 3D Rage. Like NASA's World Wind, this is an impressive program but, in view of its much smaller size, we consider Google Earth to be the better value for your download dollar, specially if you are based in the US and tend to mainly view US images. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 10.3MB download from: WinXP General Programs

Advanced Lines v2.11 – Win9x/ME/XP
Advanced Lines is a color matching game played on a 9x9 board that includes three different game types (lines, squares & blocks). It features 6 levels of difficulty (from 3 to 8 object colors), a next piece indicator, user-defined background & play field, excellent animated graphics, good background music, and more. This is a terrific version of the old classic, Lines, and is one of the best we have seen. It includes funny animated characters, great presentation, terrific eye candy, and an addictive gameplay that will keep you coming back for more, and more, and more. The three games are Lines (align 5 of the same color horizontally, vertically or diagonally to have them disappear), Squares (make a square of 4 of the same color), and Blocks (align 7 of the same color in any pattern as long as they are adjoining). Every time you move a piece, 3 more pieces are added to the board unless moving that piece results in the completion of a pattern. Unfortunately Advanced Lines is advertiser supported, using the highly intrusive WhenU Save! and Searchbar ads that integrate with Internet Explorer. We strongly recommend that if you install this game you use a program like Microsoft's AntiSpyware to completely remove all traces of the WhenU advertising. Once that is done you will be left with a superb game that will give you many, many hours of enjoyment. We do not support advertisements that are not integrated with the host program. Whether or not the WhenU ads are technically "spyware", they do not integrate with their host (in this case Advanced Lines) and removing them does not affect the game. Conversely, removing the game does not remove the ads! We really did love Advanced Lines – we just hated the highly intrusive ads supplied with it. Access this 2.14MB download from: Win95 General Games

Polyglot 3000 v1.5 – Win9x/ME/XP (4 doves)
Polyglot 3000 is an automatic language identifier with Unicode support that can identify the language from a sample piece of text. It features support for over 400 languages, has a multi-language interface (15 languages), offers a choice of 12 color schemes, and more. First let us explain, this is NOT a translation device but a program to help you identify the language a sample of text was written in. This is invaluable if you need to, say, translate a Website and the translation service wishes to know from what language the text is from. We were a little disappointed that a sample of Ukrainian text (from the author's own site) reported a recognition accuracy of only 9%. If you regularly use on-line translation services, or deal with unknown foreign languages, Polyglot 3000 could be a valuable asset for you. Check it out now! Access this 1.31MB download from: Win95 Desktop Utilities

B Gone v1.2.4 – Win9x/ME/XP
B Gone is an Internet content filter for IE that can block Websites based on keywords in the browser's caption bar. It can keep children away from porn sites, or prevent porn popups appearing when entering or exiting some sites. This is a very effective content filter that can be set to prevent access to virtually any type of site. Try accessing a site that has listed content (according to the Options dialog box within the program) and your Web browser will automatically close. It's main limitation is that it only works with Internet Explorer (version 5.0 or later) so is not suitable for anyone using Firefox, Opera, or even one of the IE derivatives or shells (Avant Browser, MyIE2, etc). This severely limits the effectiveness of the program as more and more people are turning away from the security-compromised Internet Explorer and are either using one of the shell browsers, or a browser like Firefox. B Gone has one very nice feature – you cannot shutdown Windows without closing the program first, which is designed to prevent people simply re-booting the computer to bypass the program. Alas, you can always turn off the computer without powering down simply by pressing the reset button or turning the power switch off and then back on again. The main executionable file that loads with Windows is easily detected in a program like RegRun, and that entry could be removed, and the computer physically re-booted, to bypass it. B Gone is password protected but there is no default password so, on first use, you simply click on the OK button. Users should set their own password immediately – and then remember that password or they will not be able to close B Gone, and therefore not shutdown Windows! If you are using Internet Explorer, and wish to filter the content passing through your computer, then grab a copy of B Gone. It is very effective! Access this 1.18MB download from: Win95 Internet Related

DVD Copy Machine v0.9 – Win98/ME/XP
DVD Copy Machine is a tool that rips DVDs to the hard drive & copies DVD VOB files to a DVD burner (+/-R/RW). It also converts DVD VOB files to a MPEG1, MPEG2 or AVI file. DVD Copy Machine rips even encrypted DVDs to your hard drive, and a test ripping took us about 20 minutes. The movie we ripped was viewable from the hard drive using our default DVD player. Once on the hard drive we did have some trouble getting it to copy to either MPEG or AVI formats and, for some strange reason, it would not recognize a blank 4.7GB DVD disk and thought it only had a capacity of 799MB. Therefore DVD Copy Machine refused to burn it back to a DVD disk, stating that there was insufficient space. This is only a late beta version and maybe the software isn't fully developed but we were disappointed that it did not fulfill all of its promises, promises that led us to believe that this was something very special. If you are just looking for a DVD ripper then DVD Copy Machine could be exactly what you are looking for but, if you are after a program that will then burn those DVD VOB files back to a DVD, you would be better waiting for a later version. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.15MB download from: Win98 General Programs

StarWolf – Win9x/ME/XP
StarWolf is an amusing side scrolling space shooter. It features 7 levels, fast action, bonuses, amusing alien banter, boss at the end of each level, and more. While this could be considered to be "just another" side scrolling space shooter, the amusing aspects of the game elevate its playability enormously. While the action is fast, the levels are not particularly hard and the game can be played through to its completion after a short amount of practice time. You can bypass the intro by typing in the appropriate password for each level which includes (in no particular order): ROADDOGG; CHYNA; BIEBER and XPAC. You can access the menu to activate the passwords by pressing F8. Watch out for commands during the game, to press the spacebar on level 2 and, on level 3, Wolf asks what would happen when you push a combination of buttons (if you press the fire 1 and fire 2 buttons simultaneously a portal will appear). The major annoyance for us was that StarWolf is set up for a joystick and, even if you press Ctrl-Y to change to keyboard, this must be done every time you play. Aaaarrrggghhh!!!! StarWolf is a lot of fun to play, mainly because of the alien banter during the game. Grab a copy and try it yourself! Grab this 2.03MB download from: Win95 General Games
UPDATES
StudioLine Photo Basic – professional photo-editing, management, & image sharing – has been updated to version 2.11 with an unchanged download size of 43.3MB. The author advises that this version includes many new capabilities to the "Export" function. It simplifies the workflow, if you need to distribute your images or want to use them in desktop publishing applications. Get this latest version from: Win98 Graphic Programs
Free Spider – 5 solitaire cardgames – has been updated to version 1.7 with a download size of 2.48MB. We have not been advised of the changes made to this version. Get this game from: Win95 General Games
Advanced Diary – an electronic journal – has been updated to version 1.2 with a much larger download size of 2.78MB. The author advises that changes in this version include: added a spell checking & thesaurus; the "Search" feature has been improved; the "Print" & "Export" features are improved; auto save function is added; Help system is added; and bugs have been fixed. Get this much improved electronic journal from: Win98 Text Programs
Tidy Start Menu – organize the Start menu by placing the listings into one of nine folders for easy access – has been updated to version 2.3 with a much larger download size of 897kB. The author advises that changes in this version include a Quick Uninstall feature to easily remove programs, specially when they do not have an uninstall entry in the Start Menu. Grab a copy of this new version from: Win98 Windows Enhancements
COMMENTS
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