Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #546 issued May 7, 2010

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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

In-Poculis Mahjong v3.0 – WinXP/Vista/Win7
In-Poculis Mahjong is a 2D/3D tilegame. It features 120 levels, 6 themes (Asia, Christmas, Wonderland, Easter, Halloween & Neutral or Future), 6 tilefaces (2 are Chinese based), 2 levels of difficulty, in-game hint (there is a penalty for using it), undo last move, replay mode, on-screen timer, in-game tutorial, and more. This is a stylish version of the popular solitaire tilegame where you must match up pairs of tiles to make them disappear. It offers both 2D and 3D views, with the 3D view manipulated by moving the cursor over the tiles. However, we preferred it in 2D mode as it is annoying to have the tiles rocking about as you are moving the cursor over the game selecting tiles (it almost makes you seasick!). The themes are good, but lack a crispness in the tilefaces to assist in selecting pairs. It takes a while to get used to some of the tilefaces but, once you have played it a while, it gets easier to recognize tile matches. The hint feature is great, though you lose 10 points every time you use it. Of course, no-one admits that they ever use the hints... In-Poculis Mahjong is one of the better solitaire Mahjong games available, even though it is a huge game with a massive download. It offers lots of good animations, specially when starting a new game, and the whole package has a professional look 'n feel. If you are looking for a Mahjong game, In-Poculis Mahjong should be high on your list. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 53.7MB download from: WinXP General Games

Daniusoft Video Converter Free v2.3.1 – WinXP/Vista/Win7
Daniusoft Video Converter Free is an easy-to-use video converter. It features batch conversions (limited to 5), converts to 10 video & audio formats (AVI, WMV, MPEG, MOV, FLV, MP4, etc), video cropping, video clipping, various effects (contrast, brightness, saturation, emboss, old movie, etc), merging various videos, deinterlacing, screenshots, and more. This is an excellent video file converter that accepts most video and HD video formats (everything from 3GP to "unprotected" VOB). Conversion is to AVI, WMV, MPEG 1 & 2, MOV, FLV or MP4, and audio from video to MP3, WAV or WMA. Each format has its own settings (many of which can be adjusted). Daniusoft Video Converter Free has some built-in limitations not found on the Pro version. These include a 5-file batch conversion limit, no watermark, and no plug-in support. The Pro version also includes conversion to many more filetypes and supports multi-core CPUs for faster conversion. However, we did not find these limitations arduous and were very pleased with the features supported by the free version. Daniusoft Video Converter Free is one of the better video converters we have seen. Grab a copy and try it for yourself. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 9.39MB download from: WinXP Multimedia Programs

K-3D v0.8.0.1 – WinXP/Vista/Win7
K-3D is a 3D modeling, animation & rendering suite. It features object-oriented plugin architecture, generates motion-picture-quality animation using RenderMan-compliant render engines, interactive on-line tutorial, and more. Unfortunately, CFS was unable to review this program. The author says: "K-3D is the free-as-in-freedom 3D modeling, animation, and rendering system. K-3D features a robust, object-oriented plugin architecture, designed to scale to the needs of professional artists, and is designed from-the-ground-up to generate motion-picture-quality animation using RenderMan-compliant render engines. We strongly recommend the Aqsis render engine for use with K-3D. K-3D�s innovative interactive tutorial system will introduce you to basic use of the program. New tutorials can easily be recorded and shared with the rest of the community. K-3D allows you to create and edit documents in multiple realtime OpenGL solid, shaded, texture-mapped views. You can even model, animate, and interact with animations while they play back for maximum productivity!" Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 78.4MB download from: WinXP Graphic Programs

Extra DVD Copy Free v6.9 – Win98/ME/WinXP/Vista/Win7
Extra DVD Copy Free is a program that copies DVD movies to DVD-9 (dual layer), DVD-5 (single layer) or hard disk. It supports DVD-R(W) & DVD+R(W) disks, compresses dual layer DVDs to single layer disks, optionally copies only part of original disk, automatically prepares blank DVDs for recording, and more. This is a great little tool for anyone who wishes to copy DVDs – as long as they aren't copy protected. It is smart, and fast, producing good copies from the originals. Extra DVD Copy Free can optionally include subtitles and the DVD's menuing system plus any extras. It can even include DTS sound, though the space required is usually prohibitive and the Dolby sound found on most movies is sufficient. Extra DVD Copy Free first copies your DVD to the hard disk of your computer, and then burns the blank DVD from that. Once copied, the movie data is erased from your hard drive. However, it can also copy just to the hard drive, helpful for laptops (if you have the space) and don't want to worry about carrying around disks. Of course, Extra DVD Copy Free cannot copy movies that have been copy protected but, you guessed it, there is a "big brother" commercial version which can do this. Probably the biggest drawback is that you can only make one copy of the DVD at a time – there is no provision for burning multiple copies. It also cannot convert video files (AVI, FLV, WMV, etc) to DVD, this is a DVD to DVD copier and requires all the VOB, INF, etc files to be in situ. One of its best features is that it can compress a dual layer DVD into a single layer DVD, though we did not test this function as we did not have an unprotected dual layer DVD available. If you want to make copies of your movies then check out Extra DVD Copy Free. It could be exactly what you want. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 1.82MB download from: Win98 General Programs

LightBox Video Web Gallery Creator v2.1.4 – WinXP/Vista/Win7
LightBox Video Web Gallery Creator is a tool that creates an HTML photo & video gallery with a built-in slideshow. It supports images (JPG, GIF, PNG & BMP) & video (FLV, WMV, SWF & ASF), processes subfolders, integrates with an existing Website, uses CSS for control over the output, supports paging, and more. This program rocks! Aim it at a folder full of images and/or videos, tell it where you want the gallery and slideshow saved, and it will create a page of thumbnails. Click on the first image (top left hand corner) and it will start a popup slideshow from the first image. Click on any other image and it will display the image until you click on the "Play" button to start the slideshow. The slideshow can be paused at any time. A sample can be found at http://www.thecockatoo.com/WGC_test/. LightBox Video Web Gallery Creator offers a considerable amount of customization, and it can even be used to integrate with an existing Webpage, effectively using an existing template so that your Web gallery has the same basic look 'n feel as the rest of your site. You will need a program to upload your gallery to the Web, or you can simply display it on your computer for your friends and family to enjoy. It could even be burnt onto a CD for further distribution. One of the best gallery and slideshow creators we have seen, LightBox Video Web Gallery Creator is a "must have" for anyone wishing to post their photos on-line. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 513kB download from: WinXP Internet Related

AlarmJ v1.2 – Win9x/ME/WinXP/Vista/Win7
AlarmJ is a countdown timer with alarm, with a minimalistic interface. It features a choice of 4 included alarm sounds (or use your own WAV files), the timer can be set for up to 90 minutes, there is a countdown pause, no installation is required (just unzip & use), and more. This is a great little tool for anyone who needs a reminder within the next 90 minutes. It can be used to remind a PC user to get up and move around (always a problem when someone gets too involved in what they are doing), it can be used to remind someone that a cake is in the oven, that they need to go to an appointment, ration a child's television usage, and lots more. In fact, there is almost no limit to the uses of this great little utility. The interface is so plain it is boring, and it doesn't minimize to an icon in the tray, but these are minor points considering the potential value of AlarmJ. While it may lack some bells and whistles, AlarmJ is a handy program to have around. Worth a look! Access this 308kB download from: Win95 Desktop Utilities

Industrial Ball v1.2 – Win98/ME/WinXP/Vista/Win7
Industrial Ball is an Arkanoid brick-breaking game with an industrial theme. It features 3 levels of difficulty, 14 power-ups, 2 game modes (Campaign & Random), many levels, industrial-themed backgrounds, challenging gameplay, and more. This is an excellent, if challenging, version of the famous Arkanoid game where you use a paddle and ball to break bricks, clearing all the bricks to progress to the next level. In Industrial Ball you get a choice of Campaign mode where you progress through the levels, or Random mode where the levels are randomly selected. The animation and imagery is excellent, but the backgrounds are so full of detail (busy) that it makes it hard to follow the ball. The ball also angles from the paddle in a slightly different way to similar Arkanoid games, and it takes some adjusting to control where you want the ball to go. Added to that, the game gets faster and faster as you progress through a level and you can end up playing reactively rather than pro-actively. That said, Industrial Ball is an excellent game and one that most Arkanoid fans will love to play. If you are ready for the challenge, grab a copy of Industrial Ball. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 5.83MB download from: Win98 General Games
UPDATES
FBackup – a customizable backup tool that can backup to a ZIP file or create a mirror backup (no compression) – has been updated to version 4.4.196 with a new download size of 12.3MB. The author has advised that changes in this version include: adding silent installation parameters; adding "Show tray icon" option; adding new option to "Minimize to tray"; if errors occur it's possible to show the error message in tray; added scheduled startup option; and some bugs were fixed. Access this much updated version from: WinXP General Programs
doPDF – converts any printable document to Acrobat PDF format without requiring Ghostscript – has been updated to version 7.1.334 with a download size of 4.25MB. The author has advised that changes in this version include: adding support for Type 1 fonts as well as TrueType & OpenType fonts; now only embeds the font subsets (reduces PDF file size); adding a "Getting Started" splash page; adding option to keep "Save PDF" window on top of others when printing; minor GUI changes; and now compatible with Windows 7. This major update can be accessed from: WinXP General Programs
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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