Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #469 issued April 4, 2008

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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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Metroid Redemption – WinXP/Vista
Metroid Redemption is a classic platform shooter set in the universe of Metroid (based on Nintendo's popular series) starring the female bounty hunter, Samus Aran. It is a sequel to Game Boy's Metroid Fusion. It features fun retro gameplay, good challenges, you can fire in 8 directions, duck to avoid obstacles, roll into a ball to get to different areas, upgrade the suit & weapons, explore with the map, and more. This is an excellent platform game that offers good challenges and fun gameplay. The storyline follows on from Metroid Fusion and you, as Samus Aran, must clear your name. There is a very basic README file with the game which gives you the controls, but little else. If you want a fun game that offers some challenge (specially when fighting the Bosses) then grab a copy of Metroid Redemption from CFS. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Get this 1.39MB download from: WinXP General Games

Xedant Keyword Harvester v2.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Xedant Keyword Harvester is a tool that extracts keywords from meta keyword tags, HTML tags and Website content. It can grab keyword data from the top 10 Web pages listed in Google (also from Yahoo!, MSN, Rambler or Yandex) or from an individual Webpage, it can get keywords from HTML and/or from tags, extract keywords with a specified number of words (1-word, 2-words, etc), and more. Improving a site's Google ranking is very important if you want more hits on your site, and there is no doubt that having good meta data, specially keyword meta data, is important. Xedant Keyword Harvester allows you to get the keywords from the top listed sites through Google (and some other major search engines) or by nominating an individual page. You can specify where the keyword data comes from (just the keyword metatag, etc) and then copy the resultant list directly into the Windows Clipboard or directly into a text file. Keywords are presented in a list, one under the other, but we would have liked to have the option of it being presented in a comma-delimited format. Individual keywords can be individually unchecked so that they are not saved in the list of copied to the Clipboard. We would also have liked to have seen results harvested from Google presented in order of popularity (the same keywords from the various sites being presented first) and not just alphabetically. That aside, Xedant Keyword Harvester is a "must have" for anyone running a Website. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.17MB download from: Win98 Internet Related

Extra DVD Ripper v5.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Extra DVD Ripper is a fast ripper that converts DVDs to AVI files. It features highly customizable settings (bitrate, aspect ratio, kbps, stereo/mono sound, etc), supports Dolby Digital, variable video size, ripping preview, supports both NTSC & PAL, and more. This is an excellent DVD converter/ripper that turns your DVD movies into AVI files. It offers an enormous selection of settings to ensure that you are getting the best quality possible from the movie, though we did notice that if we used the default settings, it saved 16:9 movies into a squashed 4:3 format. Fortunately, you can changed that and have it create a 16:9 widescreen format (though you may have to increase the bitrate settings to maintain quality). The more you want from the final movie the slower the ripping with be and a 2 hour movie may take 2 hours to rip if you select the highest settings. Extra DVD Ripper does have one major drawback – you must get a license key every time you open the program. While this is a simple procedure (click on the button that appears and copy/paste the code from the author's Website), it is annoying and means that you must have an active Internet connection to get the key (the "pass code"). Even with that annoyance, Extra DVD Ripper is an impressive program. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. WARNING: ripping commercial DVDs may be illegal! Access this 4.26MB download from: Win98 General Programs

Mofiki's Autoclicker Premium v1.0.0.3 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Mofiki's Autoclicker Premium is a small tool that automates mouse clicks anywhere on the viewable screen. It features the ability to single click, double click, click where your mouse is, or even detect a location on the screen with the built in location finder. This is a handy utility for anyone who needs to be able to automate a mouse click (or even a double click) after a specific delay. You can specify the number of times that it clicks, and the duration between clicks. If you use the location finder facility it will even auto-click that location while you are using the mouse to click on another location. Mofiki's Autoclicker Premium is an ex-shareware program (now free) but it still contains some of the shareware comments (which can be ignored). The only negatives we found with this program are that (a) while it adds an icon to the desktray (next to the clock), it does not minimize there when not in use, and (b) it does not offer any install routine or even offer to place itself in the Windows startup folder so it can be available all the time. Those two minor points aside, Mofiki's Autoclicker Premium is a great program for anyone looking to automate mouse clicks. Worth a look! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 196kB download from: Win98 Desktop Utilities

Marble Lines v1.1.0 – WinXP/Vista
Marble Lines is an arcade/puzzle game where you must shoot colored marbles into an ever-increasing line of marbles to match 3 or more and make them disappear before they get to the end and disappear down a hole. This is a surprisingly good game which is very addictive. It features good graphics, multiple levels, a "next color" indicator, gets progressively harder and harder, has an on-line high score where you can pit your highest scores against others, and more. Played with Flash Player (you might have to download the latest version to get it to work), it can also be posted on a Website and made available to anyone visiting that site. Playing Marble Lines is a great way to kill half an hour or more, and it is a game that will bring you back to play again and again. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 341kB download from: WinXP General Games

LangOver v5.0.0.1 – WinXP/Vista
LangOver is a program that changes the keyboard layout from English to any language, and from any language to English. It features text reversal (abc to cba), you can change the case between upper & lower (abc to ABC to abc), it offers hotkey operation, and more. If you type in English but it is not your native language (and the language set up on your computer) you may experience trouble when you press a key and get the wrong symbol or character being displayed. For example, you may get the Euro symbol when you want the dollar symbol. With LangOver you can switch between US English and the language installed by Windows so that characters, not common to both, can be displayed. It also does neat little tricks with text, like converting text to all uppercase, or all lowercase, and by reversing text (we sure that there must be a good reason why someone would want to reverse text, but we cannot think of one!). LangOver is primarily designed for non-English users who wish to write in English but who's keyboard layout prevents easy access to common English characters. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 515kB download from: WinXP Text Programs

Pivot Stickfigure Animator v2.2.5 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Pivot Stickfigure Animator is a program that creates cartoon-style stick figure animations. It features 8 pre-made figure types (or create your own), 50 alphabet characters, a choice of background, it includes 4 sample animations, an animation can be saved as an animated GIF to use on Web pages, and more. This is a fun way to create stick figure animations. The animations can be quite detailed and the author has included some samples to get you started. The pre-made stick figures can be animated by moving limbs, re-sizing, re-positioning, and more. They can also be pushed to the back or brought forward to the front. The main thing missing from Pivot Stickfigure Animator is an undo control – you make a mistake and you start over. Fortunately you can simply delete an individual figure in a single frame so it is not hard to re-create an animation without the error. It can save an animation in GIF format but its controls are relatively limited (for example, all frames must have the same delay) and you may find that editing the final animation in a good GIF animator (many are available at CFS) will allow you to tweak the animation further. We were most impressed with Pivot Stickfigure Animator. It is clearly a fun toy for children of all ages, but it can be more than that. It can be used for illustrations and presentations, as well as on the Internet. Overall, a great little program. We loved! Access this 485kB download from: Win95 Graphic Programs

E.M. Free PowerPoint Video Converter v1.0.8.322 – WinXP/Vista
E.M. Free PowerPoint Video Converter is a program that converts PowerPoint documents (PPT & PPS) into popular movie formats (WMV, AVI & MPEG video) or individual BMP slides. It features batch conversion, support for PowerPoint 2000 to 2007, you can add audio (file or microphone), highly customizable output, 2 output modes (auto & interactive), 2 compression modes (2 compressions & single compression), 2 run modes (slide & build), and more. This is an excellent way to share PowerPoint Presentations without the recipient needing to have PowerPoint. It supports PowerPoint versions 2000, 2002, 2003 & 2007. Output is to any of the three popular movie formats, or you can just extract the audio and save it to an MP3 file. Operation is simple and, we hesitate to say it, idiot proof. As the output quality can be changed, the resultant filesize can also vary enormously. We converted a 71-slide PowerPoint Slideshow that started as a 52.9MB file and finished as a more respectable 18MB AVI file using default settings. E.M. Free PowerPoint Video Converter is one of those programs you probably didn't know you needed until you started to use it – and then wondered how you ever lived without it. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 4.63MB download from: WinXP Multimedia Programs

AGS-Invaders v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
AGS-Invaders is a Space Invaders clone using the Adventure Game Studio (AGS) engine. It features excellent graphics, retro gameplay, and more. This is a great version of a classic game where the biggest change is in the hi res graphics. Gameplay is quite traditional and you use the arrow keys to move your ship sideways, and the spacebar to fire. In most aspects, this is just a modern version of this popular game – and the biggest difference is in the graphics. We really liked AGS-Invaders. It retains the appeal of the original while giving it a more modern appearance. If you liked the original, you will love this update. Grab a copy now! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.00MB download from: Win98 General Games
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