Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #448 issued October 5, 2007

Home > CFS Weekly Newsletter #448: issued October 5, 2007

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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Mahjongg Investigations v1 – WinXP/Vista
Mahjongg Investigations (sub-titled "Under Suspicion") is a 3D Mahjongg-based whodunit boardgame where you match the tiles to uncover clues and find the criminal. It features multiple mini-games (interrogation, DNA analysis, etc), you can progress through 10 police ranks (from Detective to Deputy Commissioner), search for suspects across more than 20 locations, it has a classic Mahjongg mode, a tutorial mode, good graphics, it supports widescreen monitors, and more. Mahjongg Investigations is a strange hybrid which is both a Mahjongg tile matching game, and a Clue-style whodunit where you must search through the suspects to find the perpetrator. As tiles are paired, occasionally a clue will pop up (hair color, size, blood type, etc) and you can use that clue to exclude suspects (if, for example, the perpetrator had blond hair, you can eliminate dark-haired and bald suspects from your list). If you complete all the tiles at one location without discovering the perpetrator, simply bring up the map, choose another location, and continue looking (with a fresh selection of tiles). The tile faces are associated with the game – footprints, magnifying glasses, cameras, phones, cigarette butts, etc – instead of the more normal Chinese characters you would expect to find in a Mahjongg game. Mahjongg Investigations takes a while before it gets difficult, and this may cause players to think that it was not very challenging. However, as you progress by winning cases and getting promoted, it becomes reasonably challenging. Unfortunately, Mahjongg Investigations is spoilt with a huge download and advertising. To download this game you must first get a small 667kB helper file that, when launched, downloads both the game browser or agent and the game. We are unsure of the size of these two programs, but the game itself claims to be 23.21MB, though we noticed over 122MB of traffic when this file was being downloaded and installed! The game browser (which you can use for other games from the same publisher) is a further 11MB. This makes Mahjongg Investigations a massive download. The game browser installs itself in the Startup folder and loads every time Windows loads. We suggest that you delete the shortcut to this game browser so that it only loads when you want to play the game. The advertising is, at the time of writing, not very invasive and you get to view some comedic television ads (which has nothing to do with this advertising – it appears to be an attention getter). At the time of doing the review, clicking on those TV ads simply tries to sell you some games (ie it is a house ad). This could change at any time. Both the agent and the game are slow loaders, even with a fast computer, and this can be most annoying. Even with all the negative aspects (including the download size and the advertising), we loved Mahjongg Investigations. It is a terrific boardgame and a "must have" for all fans of both Mahjongg and Clue-style whodunits. If you have the patience (and a fast broadband connection) try it for yourself. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 667kB download (the helper file) from: WinXP General Games

TeraCopy v1.22 – WinXP/Vista
TeraCopy is a utility to copy/move files faster and more securely than Explorer. It features broken file transfer resume, skips bad files during copy & reports, calculates files' CRC checksum on the fly, seamlessly integrates with Explorer, allows right-click context menu actions, and more. This is a terrific little tool that gives the user much more control over copying and moving files. With full integration into Windows Explorer, TeraCopy takes over the copying and moving control and handles it much better than Windows. TeraCopy is a powerful tool that is equally suitable for novice PC users and experienced users. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 732kB download from: WinXP Desktop Utilities

Audioblast v1.6.3 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Audioblast is a WAV & MP3 audio editor & recorder. It features normal editing functions (record, copy, paste, change volume, change speed, make echo), cool effects (soften, alien, satellite, shrink, creaking), converts messages to Morse, and more. This is a basic audio editor with some unique features. These include a synthesizer with 7 preset sounds (or you can create your own and save it) and a Morse code function where you type in the words you want played in Morse code and the program will create the Morse code and play it for you. Audioblast displays the separate stereo channels and allows you to edit them separately. It has most of the normal filters and effects, though we could not find fade in/fade out controls. Overall, Audioblast is a relatively basic audio editor but it should be sufficient for most home use. We liked! Access this 1.24MB download from: Win95 Multimedia Programs

SpineText v2.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
SpineText is an ASCII text editor & Notepad replacement. It features integration with third party (MS Word & WSpell) spell checkers, includes an HTML mini-app (including syntax coloring, tag insertion, convert RTF to HTML, strip HTML, etc), offers text encryption, carries out text conversions, find & replace, has multiple undo & redo, and more. This is a neat text editor with lots of high end features. It includes an HTML mini-application for creating Webpages and the ability to use third party spell checkers (specifically MS Word 95 and later, and WSpell). It can convert numbers into text using either standard format or currency format (2007 becomes Two Thousand and Seven and, in currency, 5.86 becomes "Five Dollars and Eighty Six Cents"). The more you look at SpineText the more features you find! Unfortunately it can only open one document at a time, and it has the old Notepad limitation of only 64kB (even later versions of Notepad do not have this limitation!). These two limitations (single document and filesize) spoil what was, to us, a terrific text editor. We like a multiple document interface (MDI) because we can edit across documents, specially if there is a global search & replace, and we insist on being able to load a filesize larger than 64kB because many of our documents are bigger than this. The other features are excellent, though the HTML mini-app is not as powerful or sophisticated as most dedicated HTML source-code editors. To say that SpineText was a disappointment to us would be wrong – we can see the excellence in the program, but we were not impressed with its limitations. Still, it is worth a look if you need an ASCII text editor. Note: there are two downloads for this program, one for Windows 95 and later, and one for Windows XP or later – we reviewed the Win95 version under XP. Access this 3.77MB download (the XP version is a 3.55MB download) from: Win95 Text Programs

Arkan Ball v1.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Arkan Ball is a Breakout/Arkanoid clone set in outer space. It features 90 levels, 3 levels of difficulty, attacking spaceships, several types of balls & weapons, lots of powerups, moving bricks, excellent animated graphics, addictive gameplay, supports widescreen monitors, and more. This is a fantastic clone of the famous Breakout/Arkanoid game. Set in outer space, it adds attacking spaceships to the more conventional Breakout style of gameplay but still retains the usual powerups (extra lives, guns, shields, extra balls, etc) while adding rockets and other space-specific add-ons. Once a level has been completed, it is unlocked so that when the game is played again, up to that level (and the next one) can be accessed. Graphics were excellent and the game plays very smoothly using the mouse as the controller. We really enjoyed playing Arkan Ball and consider it one of the better Breakout/Arkanoid games we have played. Even if you aren't a fan of this genre, Arkan Ball will change your mind and get you playing. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 8.06MB download from: Win98 General Games

Exif Pilot Light v3.0.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Exif Pilot Light is a small program that displays the EXIF, EXIF GPS & IPTC data (information that indicates digital camera settings & picture taking conditions) from digital photos. It supports JPG, Canon raw images (CRW & THM), TIF & TIF-based RAW formats (including NEF, CR2, PEF, SR2, DNG & MRW), plus PNG images. This is a great tool for analysing digital photos, and examining the data about each photo. For example, it helps in understanding the relationship between the depth of field and the aperture of a particular lens. If you own a digital camera that embeds EXIF data into the photos then you need Exif Pilot Light. It provides a wealth of information about your photo. A "must have" for all EXIF digital camera owners. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.57MB download from: Win98 Graphic Programs

Net Tools v5.0.70 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Net Tools is a comprehensive set of network scanning & security tools for administrators. It features over 175 major tools in 6 categories, a mini admins toolkit, an ASCII text editor, live chat, bandwidth monitor, 17 external tools (audio player, CPU monitor, Tweak & Clean for WinXP, etc), and more. Unfortunately we were unable to properly review this massive collection of tools but were amazed by their depth and scope – not just for admins but for average users too. For example, the audio player is one of the simplest and best we have seen – and it even minimizes to a desktray icon so it can be playing in the background while you work! The author says: "Net Tools is a very strong combination of network scanning, security, file, system, and administrator tools useful in diagnosing networks and monitoring your PC and computer's network connections for system administrators. Next to the essential core tools it includes a lot of extra valuable features. It's a Swiss Army knife for everyone interested in a set of powerful network tools for everyday use. This all-in-one toolkit includes also a lot of handy file and system utilities next to the huge amount of network tools. The menus are fully configurable, so in this way you won't get lost in the extremely large amount of essential tools. All the additional features will make this application a must have for all system administrators. There are numerous constructive and valuable applications included in Net Tools that can be used for a great amount of purposes." An amazing collection of tools! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 25.4MB download from: Win98 Internet Related

Save Me v1.2 – WinXP/Vista
Save Me is a small utility that changes the location of "My Documents", "Desktop" ,"Favorites", "History" and "SendTo" for the current user, through a Wizard-style interface. This is a simple little program that is easy to use but still very effective. It changes the location of some important Windows locations which makes them much easier to access. Its biggest problem is that it cannot easily change those items back to their original locations (undo what it did) and it only works with the current user. That aside, if you want to quickly and easily change the location of those folders to something easier to find then this is great way to do it. With reservations, we liked. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 231kB download from: WinXP Windows Enhancements

Little Cowboy v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Little Cowboy is an amusing 3rd-person shooter where your cowboy must battle mad cows, angry braves, bad banditos, and a Boss. It features 3D graphics, powerups (energy & extra lives), 1 level, fun to play, and more. While this is a short "coffee break" game, it has character and an addictive element that defies its simplicity. You start off battling mad cows armed with shotguns and you progress through until you reach the Boss. Your enemies are more fun than threatening, and your cowboy is diminutive to the extreme. Controls are simple: use your arrow keys and mouse to move, your left mouse button to fire, and your right mouse button to jump. Little Cowboy is suitable for children of all ages (up to senility) and is fun to play. We liked! Access this 6.40MB download from: Win95 General Games
UPDATE
FotoTagger – adds tags and captions to JPG images – has been updated to version 2.5 with a download size of 2.16MB. The author advises that changes in this version include: the Organize mode that lets you browse folders and images, perform basic operations on files (including renaming, deleting & copying files), view automatically generated thumbnails, set thumbnail size, view Exif data, and view FotoTagger caption & tags displayed in a separate field. It also adds to the search index, lets you rotate images, and publish to blogs & Web (as well as send by e-mail). Grab this latest version from: WinXP Graphic Programs
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