"The Digital Dozen" - Powerful, Easy & Mostly Free Programs

1. Thunderbird
   (by Mozilla.org) - this is an email program that not only lets you do the
   html emails (ones that are like web pages) it also is smart enough to send
   html email to those who can receive it and normal text email to those who
   can't (compuserve, etc...). Plus it works on all major operating systems:
   Mac, PC, Linux... And it is 100% free.


2. GIMP - this graphics powerhouse is like a modified Photoshop that's free and
   works on most computers: GIMP
   for UNIX (including Linux), GIMP
   for Windows & GIMP for MacOSX.


3. OpenOffice - Need to use word, power point, excel or other Microsoft
   Office documents? If you want to do that with out paying tribute to the
   "empire" of Microsoft, download Open Office (once again--free for Mac 10.3+,
   XP and all major OS's). The large download does require high-speed internet,
   though. http://download.openoffice.org/index.html


4. Keyworx
   - This program is the "mother load" of online interactivity and live media
   performances. Only for the Mac OS, Keyworx lets you connect online and have
   complex multi-media events or simple collaboration live using these powerful
   features: video streaming, instant messaging/SMS, illustration (wacom tablets),
   audio & midi based music or percussion, text display (aka Power Point type
   stuff), virtual reality (QTVR) and much more. It works with both high-speed
   and slow internet. Incredibly, it is also free and only requires you to
   apply as a "tester" of the program. http://www.keyworx.org/cgi-bin/ftptohtml/keystroke_download.cgi
   


5. iTunes
   - This is the coolest and easiest way to do MP3, AAC or normal CDs on your
   computer, office network or on burned MP3 cds. iTunes was named the best
   program of 2003 for the PC. It is free for Mac OS X and Windows XP. _{(OK...
   this has little to do with missions or the web. But it's fun.)}
   


6. iPass - This is the best way to connect to the net while traveling in 150+ countries.
   There are no monthly fees. Just pay the time you use. It works for Mac &
   PC.


7. Adium
   & Trillian
   - What's faster than email? Instant messaging. Annoyed or confused by needing
   three programs to chat with everyone? These two will let you IM people on
   all the major IM networks (AOL, MSN, IRC, Yahoo, Jabber, etc...). However,
   keep up to date on the new releases (the programs notify you). Or else,
   they can get buggy. P.S. -- also free. Adium is for Mac; Trillian for PC.


8. Firefox
   (by Mozilla.org) - a free fast web browser with tabbed browsing for Mac,
   PC, Linux... It's one of the best programs for surfing the web and testing
   websites.


9. Graphic
   Converter - This is the Swiss army knife of graphics programs. It'll
   convert one graphic or a thousand of them. And it can compress them to be
   ready to upload to your site. It's $35 US for the rest of us and $30 US
   for the europeans. (!?!) Only for Mac OS X.


10. Quicktime
    Pro - for $30 US you can convert most video files, audio files and
    graphics (for web and many other purposes). For Mac and PC.


11. Palm
    Desktop - a free planner / calendar / to do list program for Mac
    and PC. Of course it is used for synchronizing with Palm PDAs too. A better
    option for Macs is iCal--also free.


12. Address
    Magic - And one for the "Classic" crowd... Want to move to a new
    email program like Gmail or Yahoo!
    Mail with your old Compuserve email address book? Try Address Magic
    for PC. Also, try the other programs at the link below to get your email
    folders and other stuff from Compuserve. Compuserve
    FAQ

posted by Jeff @ 2:04 PM