Links

Useful free stuff on the net

Superior non-commercial alternative to Internet Explorer (why change?):

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/ (Firefox/Thunderbird to replace IE/Outlook Express)

Open/non-commercial software - why not use a free operating system as well?

http://www.debian.org/ (quick guide)

(now just as easy to use as MS Windows, without having to be a computer programmer to get to grips with it)

Newly discovered: the "HOSTS" file: fantastic!!

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

This is simply a plaintext list of known sources of ads and other unpleasant activities on the internet. By placing it in a special directory you can tell your computer to not contact any of the sites listed. As a result, ad spaces in webpages will remain empty, i.e. the ads are not just blocked, but not downloaded in the first place.

Additionally, most sites nowadays contain hidden elements which identify and track your computer on the web. The Hosts file also contains the addresses of the commercial trackers behind this, thus preventing the buildup and exploitation of your personal internet profile. Strong stuff!

Anonymous Google Web search:

http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm

Your computer is uniquely identified by its IP address and the cookies stored on it. Google and the other major search engines not only give search results, but also keep a database on each of their users and what they searched for. Together with hidden tracking elements on other websites (provided e.g. by "googleanalytics", "doubleclick" etc.) they get a comprehensive personal profile. The information is gathered with implicit consent. The above link prevents this by not passing on identfying data while searching.

Webpage Editor (to complement Firefox):

http://www.nvu.com/

Freeware version of Microsoft Office:

http://www.openoffice.org/

Text search in large files:

http://www.examine32.com/

Bulk file renaming freeware:

http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/english/FlexRena/

CAD software for electronics:

http://www.cadsoft.de/freeware.htm

Dictionary between European languages:

http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/login.jsp