Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #550 issued June 18, 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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Anti Terrorism Department v1.0 – WinXP/Vista/Win7
Anti Terrorism Department is an action shooter where you play an FBI agent fighting terrorists. It features 4 missions (Tunnels of Terror, Desert Storm, The Rock & The Pentagon), there are weapons to collect & terrorists to kill, it has good gameplay, and more. It seems like Anti Terrorism Department has a combination of games within each mission, there are different scenarios and different gameplay. Generally, you use the arrow keys for movement, the Spacebar to shoot, the PageUp and PageDown keys to scroll through your weapons, and the End key to pick up a weapon dropped by a terrorist. This is an enjoyable game that has simple, cartoon-style graphics, and cartoon-style blood. Unfortunately it had two aspects which we did not like. The first was that there was no option on where the program is installed on your hard drive – it is placed in the C:\Program Files folder. This we consider very bad manners as it does not give the user the option on where to install the game. The second aspect was the advertising. While it does not draw ads from the Internet, the ad displayed was for a European gambling site – a site we consider should be accessed with caution. That aside, Anti Terrorism Department is a fun little game that should provide a pleasant diversion from the real world. We liked. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 3.44MB download from: WinXP General Games

Clipboard Agent v0.85 – Win9x/ME/WinXP
Clipboard Agent is an MSAgent text to speech utility that reads Clipboard text aloud. It can read aloud & auto increment verses of the Bible (included with download), it is multi-lingual, and more. This is a neat tool if you wish to have the contents of your Windows Clipboard text read out to you. Text can be copied into the Clipboard and Clipboard Agent will read it to you. It also includes a copy of the American Standard Version (ASV) Bible which it can read for you. We had some trouble with Clipboard Agent as it would not work with our Windows 7 operating system, even after we set the compatibility to XP. We were able to review the program by running our computer in Virtual XP mode and installing the program through that. Clipboard Agent performed well in all tasks we gave it – except its inability to run under Windows 7. Worth checking out. Note: this program is not suitable for Vista, Win7, or later. Access this 9.14MB download from: Win95 Desktop Utilities

VOB Converter v1.0 – WinXP/Vista/Win7
VOB Converter is a tool that converts videos to the VOB video format. It supports all popular video formats (WMV, MP4, VOB, MKV, FLV, VOB, MPG, AVI, MOV, etc), offers variable output settings (bitrate, frame rate & frame size), and more. This is one of the simplest ways of converting your videos to the VOB format. Simply select a suitable video, select the output quality you desire, and click on the Convert button. Easy. We tested VOB Converter on one of our videos and the result was exactly as described. However, it should be noted that this does not create the file structure suitable for burning to a movie DVD, for that you need a program like DVD Flick (also listed with CFS). If you are looking an easy way to convert your videos to the VOB format then try VOB Converter. It could be exactly what you require. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 2.66MB download from: WinXP Multimedia Programs

CSS3Menu v1.2 – Win98/ME/WinXP/Vista/Win7
CSS3Menu is a program that creates great looking menus for HTML pages using CSS3. It features 26 templates, support for non-Javascript browsers (or browsers with Javascript turned off), it is highly configurable using CSS3 attributes (you can change the border-radius, box-shadow, text-shadow, opacity, background & font colors, linear & radial gradients, etc), it is SEO friendly, it has an easy-to-use GUI interface, it supports all modern browsers (except IE6), and more. If you have created your own Website and are looking for a cool menuing system, then check out CSS3Menu. The templates provides are in two categories, Android and Mac, and most of the variations are color changes. However, you can manually alter colors, styles, etc through the GUI interface. For example, the menu blocks normally have rounded corners, but they can be changed from squared boxes to almost a circle. Fly your cursor over most template models and the menu box changes color. While we liked both the main categories of templates, we would have liked to have seen a wider variation in styles. CSS3Menu also requires that you are comfortable inserting code into HTML pages. While this is not hard to do, many people are confused by HTML tags, specially if they have previously tried to work with the raw code from a WYSIWYG site builder. We liked CSS3Menu. It is simple to use yet produces a nice looking site menu. Worth checking out. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 9.02MB download from: Win98 Internet Related

NoteFly v1.0.2 – WinXP/Vista/Win7
NoteFly is a small, notes keeper. It features an always-on-top option, you can change the note color (choice of 7 colors), roll up a note, save a note to textfile, send a note via e-mail, post a note on Twitter, copy a note to the Clipboard, and more. This is a neat little program to create and manage notes. Each note can have its own color and remembers its own location on the desktop. The notes can be "rolled up" so that only the top section is visible or some can be rolled up, others left fully visible. Notes can be hidden, or kept always on top (like a sticky note). You can also group notes by background color so they can be easily identified. Maybe our system setup was different to the author's, but only the date was visible in the top section of our notes, which makes it hard to see what the note was about when rolled up and all you have is a date. If the heading font size was slightly smaller, more information would be able to appear in this section. We also noted that if you changed the size of the text font – the font used for the text of your note – when the Settings dialog box was opened, it automatically restored the default font type and size. Most strange. That aside, we found NoteFly to be a great little notes taker. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 102kB download from: WinXP Text Programs

Start Killer v3.1 – Win9x/ME/WinXP/Vista/Win7
Start Killer is a simple tool that removes the Start button from the desktop and gives additional space on the taskbar. It optionally starts with Windows, resides as an icon in the tray, offers hotkey access to Settings, and more. Start Killer not only hides the Start button from your desktop, it also hides aftermarket Start menu replacements (like CSMenu, listed with CFS). The Start menu can be accessed by pressing the Win key, or by pressing the CTRL+ESC keys, though the button remains hidden while the program is active. Start Killer works with all versions of Windows from Win95, and we reviewed it using Windows 7. If you need more real estate on your taskbar, or if you simply don't like the look of the Start button, grab a copy of Start Killer. It really works! Access this 190kB download from: Win95 Windows Enhancements

CD-DVD Indepth v4.0.0.4 – Win9x/ME/WinXP/Vista/Win7
CD-DVD Indepth is a CD & DVD burner that creates compilations of files and/or folders. It supports both ASPI & SPTI writing modes, allows multi-session disks, has a test mode (burning simulation), erases rewritable CD/DVDs before burning, optionally creates a bootable disk, and more. CD-DVD Indepth uses a simple 10-screen Wizard interface to lead the user through the process of creating a data disk. While the publisher states that it can "burn or rip audio and data CDs and DVDs", we could find no way of ripping or burning audio CDs – this is a data burner only. However, it does a creditable job in burning data CDs and DVDs, and offers the tools so that it can be used in basically all versions of Windows from 95. Unfortunately, it contains very intrusive RelevantKnowledge advertising. We object strongly to this type of advertising because it not only runs independently of the host program, but does not automatically get removed when the host program is uninstalled. Fortunately, you can uninstall RelevantKnowledge separately and it won't prevent the host program, in this case CD-DVD Indepth, from working. If you are looking for a data burner program, and you don't want to burn multiple copies within the same session, then check out CD-DVD Indepth. It could be exactly what you want. Access this 1.52MB download from: Win95 General Programs

Arabella Gems 4 v1.0 – Win9x/ME/WinXP/Vista/Win7
Arabella Gems 4 is a hidden object game where you must find specific items within each level. It features 4 levels (bathroom, car, children's room & museum), uses photographic images, it is suitable for all ages, it has optional music & sound effects, and more. This is a fun little game that will keep the average adult entertained for about 5 minutes – young children and dementia-racked senior citizens slightly longer. Using good quality photographs, you must find the specified objects in each level – usually 10 or 11 items. When you click on them they disappear and get marked off the list. When you find all items in a level, you move to the next one. They generally are not hard to find, and most adults would be unlikely to play the game again, but children, specially girls, will enjoy playing Arabella Gems 4, either on their own or with their friends. If this is you then grab a copy of Arabella Gems 4 and enjoy yourself. Access this 3.66MB download from: Win95 General Games
UPDATE
Kigo Image Converter – an image converter that changes the format of existing image files – has been updated to version 2.1.1 with a download size of 1.13MB. The author has advised that changes in this version include the addition of the PNG output format. Access this latest version from: WinXP Graphic Programs
COMMENTS
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