Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #503 issued March 13, 2009

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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

A Second Face v1.3 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
A Second Face is a point 'n click adventure set on a distant planet where one group of people live in permanent light, and the other in darkness. It features parabolic content, challenging puzzles, detailed storyline, unusual graphics, save game, good Helpfile, and more. This is a superb point 'n click game with an excellent, if somewhat unusual, storyline. In this story, you are on a planet that has one face always towards the light, and one always towards darkness. Your character, from Ugeltz on the dark side, must find the mythical (to him) people who live on the light side, the Strefis. This is the story of that seeking. This non-linear game offers a good level of challenge, though the interface requires some practice if you haven't used a Verbcoin interface before. The storyline does have some adult content, but A Second Face is the type of game that a younger person would probably not find interesting. We were a little disappointed that it does not support widescreen monitors and, if played at fullscreen on a widescreen monitor, circles become ovals and the whole image is stretched sideways. Not the best display of the imagery. However, we were most impressed with A Second Face. It offers an excellent storyline combined with good puzzles. Most importantly, this is not a "two minute" game, you have to spend some real time solving it fully. If you enjoy point 'n click adventures, then A Second Face is a "must have". We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 95.9MB download from: Win98 General Games

MyInfo v1.2a – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
MyInfo is a boilerplate utility for saving up to 10 pre-prepared snippets of text. It features unlimited size of boilerplate clips, suitable for filling in forms, fast paste into Windows Clipboard, tray icon access, no frills installation, popups stay visible until manually closed, and more. This is a great little tool for anyone who needs quick access to basic information – specially name, address, e-mail address, etc. While it was originally designed to assist in filling out on-line forms, it has a much wider application and can be used for any boilerplate text which you may need to replicate. Unfortunately, MyInfo is limited to just 10 entries, and it does not offer a simple way to load automatically with Windows. The initial install requires that you create a folder for the program, download to that folder (or move it into that folder if you have a special "downloads" folder), and then run the program. MyInfo will create the necessary files within that folder for each of your entries. This is somewhat clumsy for non-computer savvy users, and it does not give an option to automatically start the program with Windows. If you wish to use this program regularly, it should be loaded with Windows. Those little criticisms aside, MyInfo is a worthwhile tool for intermediate or experienced PC users. We liked! Access this 1.16MB download from: Win95 Desktop Utilities

DeepRipper v1.1 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
DeepRipper is a fast & efficient audio CD ripper that converts audio from a CD into MP3, OGG or WAV files. It features default settings for simplified ripping, 15 MP3 quality presets, album & track information automatically added, includes all DLLs for each file format, and more. There probably isn't an easier way to convert a standard audio CD into a series of digital audio files you can play on your computer, burn to a MP3 disk (they can hold up to 10 regular CD albums on a single CD), copy to your portable music device, or share with others (copyright considerations notwithstanding). We ripped three audio CDs for our review, two we considered to be rare CDs, and one which is reasonably popular (and listed in all the on-line databases, like FreeDB). For some reason, it was able to get the album/track information about the two rarer CDs, but not for the more popular one! Most strange... It also features a small "house" ad up in the top right hand corner. This is unobtrusive and seems to be totally benign. However, we were more disappointed that it did not "remember" its last settings and we had to reset destination folders, etc every time it was opened. That aside, DeepRipper is a superb audio CD ripper, and one that most people will be happy to use. Impressive! Access this 770kB download from: Win95 Multimedia Programs

PhotoMeister v2.6 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
PhotoMeister is a Wizard-driven digital photo management tool. It features built-in slideshow & screensaver tools, offers basic image editing (rotate, crop, frame, redeye removal, optimization, etc), includes 7 filters (sharpen, blur, emboss, etc), creates HTML & Flash Web albums, includes an HTML template editor, built-in FTP client, printing Wizard, e-mail Wizard, batch Wizard, and more. This is a sensational tool to gather, edit and present your images in the best possible way. It includes the following Wizards: Photo Album Wizard; Printing Wizard; Web Album Wizard; E-Mail Wizard; Screensavers & Slideshow Wizard; Batch Wizard; Prints Ordering Wizard; and CD ROM Wizard. We found it hard to fault PhotoMeister. It does lack somewhat in the image editing department, but there is a link within the program to your favorite image editor for those occasions when you need to do more than basic editing. For the rest of the program, the screensaver and slideshows created are excellent, as is the Web album tool which can create HTML and Flash albums (you can create your own templates too!), and the whole package is easy to use and extremely powerful. If you didn't want a dozen tools to manage and display your digital photos then all you need is a good image editor and PhotoMeister. We loved! Access this 11.4MB download from: Win95 Graphic Programs

Renovatio v1.31 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Renovatio is a fun, if basic, space shooter in the style of "Warning Forever". It features fast action, on-screen radar, progressively increasing attackers, good sound effects, smooth animated graphics, mouse & keyboard control, requires no installation, and more. This is a shooter designed for shooter fans. It offers just enough challenge to keep a player interested, and some unusual aspects to add that extra little bit. In Renovatio (Latin for "Rebirth") you must collect the debris from the ships you destroy and, if you collect enough within the time limit, you progress to the next level. Fortunately, your ship acts like a magnet so, if you are near enough to the debris, it will be drawn to your ship without you having to chase it. Renovatio is a fun way to kill a few minutes between board meetings, or to act as a refresher when you are slaving over a hot computer. With an addictive aspect which is somewhat surprising for such a standard shooter, Renovatio is worth grabbing. We liked! Note: we reviewed this game using Windows XP, we assume it is suitable for other Windows OS. Access this 3.77MB download from: Win95 General Games

Manuscriptor v2.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Manuscriptor is a tool for writing scientific manuscripts. It has two main sections: pre-defined (includes nested tabs for each section of the manuscript and sample text in each tab); and user-defined (15 editable sections). Unfortunately CFS was unable to review this program. The author says: "This is very simple but very complete tool for academic writers. Tool has many tabs related with parts of manuscript such as introduction, conclusion etc. Every tab has sample sentences that can be use in manuscript. This program coded for especially non-english users." About the pre-defined section he says: "You can use the buttons and related tabs for reading sentences for guide in predefined part of the Manuscriptor. In first you can not see any sentence under the related tab, if you want to see sentences, simply do mouse over the blank fields. If you want to add your sentences predefined areas, please double click on the sentences. You can see the related office documents and edit. After editing and closing the document." About the user-defined section he says: "In this area user can do every thing. For instance you can create not only your own sentences or word lists but also you can rename documents. You must use radio button for view document inside, for rename document double click to document name and for edit document click Edit file button." Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 3.02MB download from: Win98 Text Programs

IPNetInfo v1.18 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
IPNetInfo is a small tool that can find all available information about an IP address. This includes the owner of the IP address, the country/state name, IP addresses range, contact information (address, phone, fax, e-mail), and more. It also includes domain to IP conversion, can handle bulk addresses, optional load only the last address, etc. This is a great utility program for anyone who wants to know who owns an IP address (not who owns a domain name, even though you can use a domain name to find the IP address). Generally this is the owner of the server, the hosting service, which allocates that IP address to its customer. If this information is of interest to you, then grab a copy of IPNetInfo and find out the host behind the domain. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 48kB download from: Win98 Internet Related

Well Mahjong v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Well Mahjong is a solitaire Mahjong tile game using Chinese-style characters. It features 400 randomly selected levels (with different layouts), excellent animated graphics, timed gameplay, hint, fullscreen or windowed modes, play on-line against other players, and more. This is a nice Mahjong game (also spelt Mahjongg) that offers lots of different levels so that you won't get bored playing the same game time after time. While it features Chinese-style characters, each group also includes a Roman numeral so that non-Chinese speaking (or reading!) players can still quickly link up the pairs to make them disappear. You can use the hint button if you get stuck, but there is a small penalty as you lose time (and therefore some of your scoring points) every time you request a hint. Of course, if you are stuck then you are unlikely to get a great score anyway... Well Mahjong is available for playing on-line, and the download version has the same messages as the on-line version. Part of those messages is the comment "Connecting to server" whilst the program is loading, but this Flash game will still load from your computer even though you may not be on-line. We liked the variety of levels, and the hint feature, but we were less impressed with the Chinese characters (OK, the puritan Mahjong players who prefer traditional Chinese characters may not agree) as we have trouble trying to separate the similar looking symbols. If you have never played the solitaire form of Mahjong before then this is a good introduction into the game. If you collect Mahjong games then Well Mahjong is a "must have" for your collection. Worth a look! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 3.26MB download from: Win98 General Games
UPDATE
DipTrace Free – a PCB design system with a PCB layout module, an auto-router, schematic capture, etc – has been updated to version 2.0 with a new, significantly larger size of 31.7MB. The author advises that changes in this version include: design manager; 8000+ new components; hierarchical schematic; fanout; manual routing improved; arc traces; and many other new features. Get this new version from: WinXP General Programs
COMMENTS
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