Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #369 issued October 14, 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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Machines of Destruction v1.0 – Win9x.ME/XP
Machines of Destruction is a mixture of racing through a circuit, and wasting your opponents with the weapons mounted on your car, in this multi-player LAN game. It features a huge selection of cars, weapons, armor & bots, player chat, and more. Unfortunately CFS was unable to review this game due to circumstances beyond our control. The author says that by "using the Weapons Designer, you can tailor your guns exactly to your needs, but not without a price tag! Start a game and chat in the lobby with other joiners. Unlimited spectators can join also, on top of the maximum of 4 players. Choose from either a race, a deathmatch, or 'ion Soccer', in which mode the players are split into two teams and must carry and then 'kick' the metallic ball through the goals. Holding the ball for too long will make it red hot, and very dangerous!" We understand that Machines of Destruction is not an easy game to learn and you will need to play a few rounds to get the feel of it. Access this 16.1MB download from: Win95 General Games

1-2-3 Spyware Free v2.0 – Win9x/ME/XP
1-2-3 Spyware Free is a simple solution for finding & removing spyware & adware from your computer. It features an update function to ensure you have the latest version, a fast system scan (including the Registry), the location information about suspect programs, and more. This is certainly one of the fastest and easiest-to-use spyware scanners. First check for an update, and then click on the Scan button. Within a few minutes you will have a list of suspect programs (identified as "spyware") that can be deleted through the program. Unfortunately, we were not able to check to see how well it handles the really persistent adware because our system was clean when we checked, even though 1-2-3 Spyware Free reported 4 "spyware" memory processes, and 4 Registry keys containing "spyware". Fortunately for us these were quite legitimate programs, and ones likely to be found on any computer. They included software for our PalmOne PDA, our Logitech mouse driver, and the QuickTime updater. In most cases were we able to quickly identify the false-positive spyware programs, though the listing for the Logitech mouse was ambiguous and we had to double check. Once legitimate programs are identified, the remaining "spyware" listings can be checked and, if necessary, removed. While false-positive reports can be annoying, it is better to err on the side of false-positives than to ignore potentially dangerous spyware. Choice of the term "spyware" in this program can be misleading as there are many advertiser programs which, while annoying and hard to remove (like the WhenU adware) is not, to our knowledge, actually spying on the user and sending private, user-identifiable information to the adware host. Whether you call it "spyware" or simply "adware", 1-2-3 Spyware Free is an excellent solution for identifying and removing it. A "must have" for all PC users! Access this 696kB download from: Win95 Desktop Utilities

Recipe Center v5.0.4 – WinXP
Recipe Center is a recipe database that allows you to organize, e-mail and print your recipes. It features 400 built-in recipes, encoding of ingredients with IntelliSense, smart quantity conversions, shopping list, offers recipe resizing based on ingredients, includes a spell checker, you can print a recipe card, and more. This is a superb recipe program that even allows you to add your own recipes, or to download and add new recipes from the Internet. The main site, recipecenter.com, offers over 100,000 recipes – each of which can be downloaded (one at a time!) and added to the Recipe Center database. You can also import recipes from Meal Master. It has a built-in e-mail client so you can send your favorite recipes to a friend and you can even print out recipe cards in various sizes. The feature that most impressed us was the ingredient conversion where you specify the number of people to be served and the recipe is adjusted for that number. Recipe Center is advertiser supported and makes use of your Internet connection to grab new ads. We did not see any evidence of data being sent from your computer (like spyware) and believe these ads are benign. One of the best free recipe databases available, Recipe Center is suitable for both novice and experienced chefs. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 7.57MB download from: WinXP General Programs

Your Company Screensaver v1.0.0 – Win9x/ME/XP
Your Company Screensaver is a small screensaver tool that places your name (or your company name) and a Web address in white text on a black screensaver, together with an analog clock and the current date. This is a simple enhancement screensaver to provide some personalization of your desktop and, for very small businesses, to present your business name on a blanked out screen as, in the words of the author, so it "can be used as representation of your enterprise". We found Your Company Screensaver to be somewhat deficient if you have a long name and/or Web address – only a limited number of characters are allocated for these fields and any excess characters are truncated. Our site name became "Completely FREE Softwa" and our Web address became "http://www.completelyFREEsoft". Not a good representation of our "enterprise"... If you have a shorter name and/or address you may find some value in this screensaver tool. Access this 539kB download from: Win95 Windows Enhancements

Animal chase v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP
Animal chase is a Pacman-style game where your animal character must eat his way through each level. It features 20 levels, a choice of 3 animal & 3 opponent characters, there are 4 levels of difficulty (0, 1, 2 or 3 opponents), bonuses, powerups, and more. This highly customizable game really is suitable for all ages – very young children will love the animal characters and the food they must eat to complete a level (the mouse has cheese, the cat has fish, and the dog has bones), and older "children" will enjoy the game at the hardest level (3 opponents on screen at the one time). It has optional bonuses and powerups to enhance the gameplay, though removing the powerup (puts a shield around the animal for a short period of time) would make it slightly harder for those people who like more of a challenge. However, the AI involved in controlling the opponents is not strong and the computer-driven opponents do not aggressively chase your animal. Animal chase has a nagscreen when it closes and you have to press the backspace key to remove it. This is the only aspect of the game which we didn't like. If you enjoy Pacman style games, if you want a game to play for a few minutes between meetings, or if you are looking for a game that is suitable for very young children (who can grow into the game as they develop better motor skills), then grab a copy of Animal chase. It is a lot of fun to play! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.92MB download from: Win98 General Games

Wave Explorer v1.3 – Win9x/ME/XP
Wave Explorer is a WAV file manager & player. It features options to play/copy/move WAV sounds, opens very large WAV files, you can view all WAV files recursively or just in the main folder, slideshow (plays all open WAV files), VU meter, repeat button, volume control, and more. This is a simple tool that puts quite a lot of music-file power into your hands. Aim it at a folder or even the root of a drive, decide if you want it to list all WAV files recursively (in all sub-folders) or just the files in that folder, then click on the button of a file to hear it or conduct any of the file management functions of this program. While it may not win any awards for eye candy, Wave Explorer is a practical WAV file manager, and player that most PC users will find of value. We liked. Access this 207kB download from: Win95 Multimedia Programs

mosascii v2.0.053 – Win9x/ME/XP
mosascii is a tool that converts an image into an HTML mosaic made out of colored text (ASCII characters). It features many image actions & effects including different modes for the mosaics (custom text, numbers, letters, binary, hex & smart text), various font sizes, choice of background colors, and more. With a little experimentation, mosascii produces cool text effects based off your photos and other images. While cartoon-style images produce slightly better results than photographic images, the mosaics it creates are excellent. You will find that it takes a few attempts to get the best result from an image, and the smaller the image before you start the better. There can be some distortion of the image, and you will probably need to change some of the settings, but the mosaic looks just like the original image except it is created out of colored ASCII characters. Cool. Perfect for creating that eye catching effect on your Web pages, or just for having fun, mosascii is educational software you can experiment with. Why don't you try it for yourself? Access this 4.89MB download from: Win95 Graphic Programs

BackLinks Master v1.0.2.4 – Win9x/ME/XP
BackLinks Master is a tool that checks the sites linking back to your site (or a competitor's site) and presents that information in a flat or tree format. It features a choice of 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo or MSN), you can select the maximum number of hits (default 1,000), export results to CSV, check keywords, submit multiple URLs, and more. Knowledge about who is linking to your site (and how many) is very important to a WebMaster. BackLinks Master checks with one of the major search engines, looks to see if each link to you is still valid, and presents that information in a clear and concise format. You can instantly see the type of link, where on your site they are linking, and more. You can save this information in a project file or export it to a CSV file. Through BackLinks Master you can right-click on a link and visit that site. While seeing who is linking to your site may be seen as ego trip (or not!), it is valuable to keep track of who is linking to you because they are the ones who will help push your site further up the search engine listings (part of how most search engines rate your site is to see who is linking to you). BackLinks Master is a "must have" tool for all WebMasters. Access this 1.14MB download from: Win95 Internet Related

Styx Reloaded v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP
Styx Reloaded is a 21st Century clone of the 1980s Commodore 64 hit game, Styx. It features 1- & 2-player modes, superb ray-traced graphics, smaller "evils" to capture, 3 powerups, sound, and more. This is a much revamped version of the old Commodore 64 classic game. The author describes the game like this: "Your mission in this game is simple: Catch the Evil Monster by claiming territory. A territory is not claimed until you are finished drawing its borders. Simple and very fun!" In this game you must enclose the EM (that's Evil Monster to you) by enclosing him without the border being touched before the corral is finished. Not always so easy... In single player mode the arrows keys move the pointer and you break free from the outside boundary (where you are safe) by pressing the Spacebar. Styx Reloaded is challenging but achievable and you'll have to be quick if you are to avoid being hit by the EM. Graphics are excellent, and the whole package is professionally presented. A terrific game! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 5.67MB download from: Win98 General Games
COMMENTS
We would like to thank the regular visitors to the CFS site who have told us their favorite freeware. If you have a favorite program which isn't listed on the CFS pages we invite you to share that information with everyone through this site and this newsletter. If you are an author of a freeware app (or would just like to suggest a program) and would like it listed on these pages, please fill in the Submit Software form.
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