Over on the left pane of my blog, underneath “How to contact me” and “Help keep Downtown safe,” I’ve added a “Free software” section. These software packs contain programs I’ve recommended in my blog over the past year.
Google Picasa is a program that will search your hard drive for photos and images, and will allow you to organize them however you choose. It also offers numerous options for retouching photos – there have been several photos over the past year that I thought have been unsalvageable, yet using Picasa’s editing options I was able to turn them into blog-worthy (there’s that word again) images. Picasa also allows you to upload your photos to the Web to share with friends, and provides free space for you to do so. My two most recent photo albums, my birthday album and Rapscallion Party II, were created with Picasa. To get it, click the button that reads, “Organize and share photos with friends. Google’s photo organizer.” Again, it’s on the left menu pane of this blog, under the “Free software” section.
Google Pack is an entire package of programs that will make your PC more useful. In addition to Picasa, it comes with a screen saver to display your photos, a tool to organize your desktop and the documents on your computer, and a tool that adds the Google search bar to your browser. Best of all, it comes with the incredible Google Earth application, which lets you browse and zoom in on satellite images all over the world (try “Manhattan” as a search term to get you started and see what it can do… or enter your own address and see what happens). You also get anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and more. You have the option to remove any program you don’t want, and there are optional programs you can add – including Skype, which lets you make free phone calls anywhere in the world. To get it, click the “Make your PC more useful. Get the free Google Pack” button. The pack includes Picasa, so if you download the Pack, you don’t need to download Picasa.
Mozilla Firefox is a better browser than Internet Explorer. Plain and simple. It’s more secure, more sophisticated, and numerous add-ons allow you to extend your browsing experience. If you haven’t tried Firefox yet, what are you waiting for? It won’t harm your computer to have both Firefox and Internet Explorer installed at the same time, so if you don’t like Firefox it’s painless to switch back. Click the “Get Firefox with Google Toolbar for more secure browsing” button to get it.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll mention that these buttons are referral links – I get paid when you download these programs through my site. But these are all programs I personally use and enjoy, and if they weren’t I wouldn’t mention ’em here.
(Dammit… now blog reader “Stan” will probably be e-mailing me accusing Google of paying me off. This time, he’ll be right, though)
Coming this week to my blog: I have a challenge for Rhodes College, my alma mater; a significant upgrade at the downtown Flying Saucer; and who knows what else I’ll find to talk about. Check back often.