Irfanview

One of the best graphic programs I have come across when it comes to viewing any image format is Irfanview. Not only can this program view over 60 different graphic and video formats but it can also play several audio formats such as MP3, MIDI and Wav. It can even view Photoshop’s PSD format. This tiny program has many features such as:

• Thumbnail/preview option


• Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)


• Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.


• Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters


• Fast directory view (moving through directory)


• Batch conversion (with image processing)


• Multipage TIF editing


• Email option


• Multimedia player


• Print option


• Change color depth


• Scan (batch scan) support


• Cut/crop


• Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)


• Capturing


• Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs


• Only one EXE-File, no DLLs, no Shareware messages like "I Agree" or "Evaluation expired"


• No registry changes without user action/permission!

So if you ever get a picture from a friend that’s in a format your current programs can’t open, give Irfanview a try. Not only will you be able to open it, you can resave it in a format that you can use.

SpamBayes

There are many "solutions" for dealing with spam but the one I'm going to talk about is free and works very well. If you use Outlook 2000/XP/2003 then you'll love SpamBayes. SpamBayes is a free plug-in for Outlook which reviews all incoming emails and moves known spam into the Junk Email folder and moves suspicious emails into the Junk Suspect folder. My experience has been that SpamBayes identified 90% of the junk on the first attempt. The great thing about this software is it learns from you on what it missed and what it got wrong. If an email that is not spam somehow makes into the Junk folder, just select it and click the Recover From Spam button. Now future email from that address are no longer shuffled into the Junk folder. On that same note, if some spam doesn't get filtered or has made it to the Junk Suspect folder, just click the Delete As Spam button and in the future you'll never see it again. After using this program for over 6 months the program has a 99% accuracy when it come to spotting spam. I've tried other programs and not one of them comes close this. Try SpamBayes.

Delete As Spam button


Recover From Spam button

Blogger for Word

Welcome to the first of many entries on free or shareware software you will find useful in your everyday computing. What better way to start than with a program that makes blogging easier. The program I'm talking about is Blogger for Word which allows you to write up your blog entries in Microsoft Word and upload it to Blogger.com while in Word. I actually used it to create this entry. Using it is as simple as using Word. After you install Blogger for Word, you'll see the Blogger for Word toolbar.



Type up your blog entry, even using Word formatting tools like Bold and Italics. When you're done, you can publish it to Blogger.com by simply clicking the Publish button. You are greeted with a dialog box where you log into your Blogger.com.




After you log in, you are then presented with options to name the title of your post and which Blog to post it to, if you have multiple blogs.

That's it. Your entry now appears on your Blog.


Blogger for Word is a great program if you use Blogger.com and Microsoft Word.