Free Software/Cool Websites

[Coultgar]

From what I can gather each of us spends a bit of time on the internet now and then, so I figure each of us has some favourite links/programs they've come across in their time, so I figure... "sharing is caring". =P

I'll get the ball started with a few of my favourites. =)

Mozilla - www.mozilla.org
For all your internet needs. Firefox is a fantastic browser with more features than IE, and better security. Thunderbird is a great alternative to Outlook express with tons of features and room for expansion.

Home of the Underdogs - www.the-underdogs.org
An awesome website which catalogues tons of the best games and software you've never used, as well as letting you download many of them directly from the site. Give their archive a look-see!

Pandora - www.pandora.com
The music genome project. Type in a band and it will suggest new artists to you based on the first bands musical criteria. If you don't like what it shows you, tell it, and it will try different criteria until it finds something you like. All while streaming live audio of full versions of artists songs too you. Amazing.

Eh... I'll get down some more when I have more time. Got my Japanese written exam tonight, so I really should be off studying... =P

Hope to see some interesting stuff when I get back!

[Coultgar]

Wow, that is interesting! =P

Well, I'll just spout off some more things I found interesting for all of you, hopefully someone will find something in here useful. =^.^=

Trillian - www.ceruleanstudios.com
The basic version of this awesome instant messanger is free, and does everything you'll ever need it too. Combines MSN, AOL, ICQ, Yahoo and MiRC into one easy to use program. If you know people who use different programs, this will make your life a lot easier.

AbiWord - www.abisource.com
A free Microsoft Word quality word processing program with essentially all the same features, which uses most of the same formats, etc. (though it has it's own if you want to use it). If you don't have a WP or you lost your CD, download it. =P

Avast! AntiVirus - www.avast.com
Yarr! Here be free virus protection, updated regularly!

Soulseek - www.slsknet.org
Like electronica? Download this filesharing program now! Sample (^.^) music from thousands of different artists, most of whom you probably haven't even heard of! And best of all, a lot of people archive their music by album, so you don't have to sift through for hours to find those songs your looking for.

The Mod Database - moddb.com/
Like playing games? Wish you could get more out of the games you own? Try here! Modifications for tons of different games, from Half-Life to Homeworld (and many more).

GunBound - www.gunbound.net
Ever play Scorched Earth, Pocket Tanks or Worms? Well this is a free online version of those sorts of games. Based in Asia, so it might be hard to understand a lot of the players (though I'd argue that's a good thing), the game is in English as well, so you'll have no trouble understanding it.

Gnod - www.gnod.net
Sort of like Pandora, only it dosen't let you listen to songs by the artist. However, it also works for books and movies, and allows you to input 3 different artists/movies/books, so if you're looking for a mixture of genres, it can likely help you out.

Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%25s
Free internet encyclopedia you all have probably heard of already, but I thought I'd include it anyways, just incase. Users input their own entries for subjects, or modify/add to existing articles, which are then fact checked before inclusion. Provides for a very expansive/diverse encyclopedia that will never stop growing.

Annnnnd... that's enough for now. Hope there's something here one of you might use. =P

[Goldenloser2241]

I <3 Wiki but I've never ever used it.

[TheSensitiveNewAge]

I speak from experience when I say Mozilla rules.

[Otupia]

Mozilla is godly its what i use all the time

[Parthini]

Mozilla=pwn

Wikipedia=1337 pwn

GPP

[Sheynat]

www.abandonia.com. This game is a library of old, old computer games that are so old the copyright has been allowed to lapse, and are thus public domain. Most are mediocre games good only for an afternoon, but there is some excellent stuff here, including (last I checked) Civilization II.
www.silkroadonline.net/
flyff.gpotato.com/
secondlife.com/
These are all free MMOs. I've only played Second Life, and I can tell you it wasn't my cup of tea...but it wasn't bad, either. Silk Road comes VERY highly recommended, and Fly for Fun is supposed to be good too.
Note: While Second Life is technically free, you can also purchase a Premium account, and money. A Premium account is necessary to become a landholder, and you can't make enough money to do very much without buying some.

[Sinn Féin's Ireland]

I like Nationstates ;D aand i dont really look at other internet sites much, other than myspace occasionally to check up on my band profile, and all of them Concert ticket sellers...and ebay, and amazon.

[Sheynat]

www.harveydanger.com/downloads/
The band Harvey Danger offers an entire album for free download. Good stuff.
www.ifcomp.org/
Interactive Fiction competition. Offers free downloads of the competing games. If you don't know what interactive fiction is, think Zork. If you don't know what that is, then jihad upon you, you're fired and we can't see each other any more.
www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/downloads_games.html
If you liked Morrowind, this is the first game in the series, and the company itself offers it for free download.

[TheSensitiveNewAge]

I'm only posting to keep this thread up long enough for finals to pass through so I then have enough time to check this out.

[Coultgar]

Lets see what else I can pull out of my hat!

Daemon Tools - www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/announcements.php
Free virtual drive software, allows you to mount BIN/ISO files (virtual CDs). Combined with some good ripping software (I'd suggest Nero or Alcohol 120%) you can create "back-ups" of all your CDs. Great if you've got a lot of space and want to keep your CDs safe.

Newgrounds - www.newgrounds.com
Flash animations updated daily by a large user-base. A lot of the files are rather childish, and some are even downright scary, but you'll find some gems in there now and then.

Homestar Runner - www.homestarrunner.com
Home of Homestar Runner. If you've never seen Strong Bad or his e-mail answering flash cartoon, I'd suggest it. =P Take some time and peruse the site, you (probably) won't be dissapointed! =)

The Best Page in the Universe - maddox.xmission.com/
Oh Maddox, you angry angry man. Go here, read the articles, but keep in mind, he's not really being serious (or he is and just dosen't really care what anyone thinks), so don't get all upset about any of the silly things he says. =P Taken with a grain of salt, his humour is quite delicious.

FARK - www.fark.com
Want to keep abreast of all the important/silly/just plain cool happenings of the day without wading through tons of different news sites? Try Fark! They have a pay version that gives you a lot more (updates every few minutes even), but you'll probably find the free version of the site enough.

C'mon! Someone besides Sheynat and I has to know something cool online! Share people! =)

[Gluuland]

download.com
wincustomize.com
snapfiles.com

[Sinn Féin's Ireland]

www.nationstates.net
you should all try this one you know

[Coultgar]

har har har. =P

[Gluuland]

What can you download?

[Coultgar]

... what? o.O

I can download a lot of things, what do you mean? o.o;

[Gluuland]

Hey, all i do is download..... I have over 80 icons on my desktop... Not so good on hard drive usage... I only have 1.28 g left on my C. drive

[Coultgar]

Heh... I have a -lot- of space at the moment. Spent 5000$+ on my newest computer, and put a lot of it into hard-drive space as I'm an avid downloader. In total I have slightly over 1.2 terabytes of space. ^.^;

... oh the insanity of it all. =)

[TheSensitiveNewAge]

*salutes!

[Gluuland]

SWEET!
i have 250g
Thats seriously all you need... Even alot of videos would fill that up too fast.. I still need to get in to that... Im hoping to build a new X2 computer sometime...
Dual core 64 bit processor
Clear case w./ LED fans
NVidia 6800+ graphics card
Audigy ZS soundblaster soundcard
Lanparty motherboard (10 usb 2.0 ports, one 400mps firewire port, one 800 mps firewire port)
2 DVD players/burners
580 watt power supply with binded cables and LED fan
2 160g hitachi hard drives
RAM: 2 1g corsair memory cards- they also have 2g cards, but they're around $800 last time i looked... The corsairs have heat syncs for gaming

I think that covers it.... I may consider getting a new case... The completely clear ones are cool, but i may opt. for a solid case with a glass side panel. NO FLOPPY DRIVE. If i see a floppy, i WILL break it... Ill probably put in my old one for the heck of it... Ive never used my floppy drive, and ill never buy one again.... USB flash drives are so much better.
Comments, suggestions?

[Coultgar]

Sounds good to me. =P

Who are you getting it through?

[Gluuland]

I have connections... o.O
My school's network administrator usually gets me the parts... Mainly on ebay (jk)
I worked at a summer camp there, and helped a bunch of people build computers...

[Coultgar]

Ah, cool... a home job. =) I've seen varying success on those, so I tend to buy my computers from professionally made hands, though I've seen good work done as well, so good luck with that. =)

The latest incarnation of my computer is an Alienware... so I set myself back quite a bit for it, but it was definately worth it in my eyes.

[TheSensitiveNewAge]

Have you gents heard anything of the physics cards that are being worked on? It sounds like they will be out in a couple of years.

[Gluuland]

The network admin at my school knows everything about computers.... It was fun over the summer building brand new 64 bit computers just to overclock the processors... The AMD 64 is 2.8 ghz and i think we overclocked to 3.2...
Alienware's ok. I never much liked it.... I hate pre-built computers, esp. dells. Custom all the way!

[Coultgar]

Heh, I can understand the general sentiment, but when it comes to a nerd who's not good with hardware, you want to go for the best you can get hardware wise, and their up there when it comes to commercial companies.

[Gluuland]

No way, the network admin is a professional... He regularly builds computers and sells them on ebay... They work great.... Hes a drag racer too, so no nerd.... He spent all summer obsessed with his harley davidson motorcycle....

[Coultgar]

I was referring to myself. =D I'm a nerd who's not good with hardware.

If you trust him, great! I'm sure he'll build you a good computer. My options were limited, as I don't know many people good with hardware/software, and even the ones I do know have made stuff for other friends of mine that never really worked properly, so I decided why not just stick with a company that makes them by the thousands? They have to be doing something right. ^.^

[Gluuland]

Haha, wrong! These companys have no idea what they're doing... A computer is not complicated.... Its very customizable...
Case, motherboard, memory, processor, processor fan (comes with processor), power supply, cd/dvd player, floppy drive, hard disk... Really basic... Total cost: $1300 + 30-40 min putting togeather+ 1 hour installing OS.... (+ countless more hours tweaking and download stuff to customize software.. )
I understand hardware much better than software.... Even so, im getting better with software.... I want to learn encoding like http, perl, c++, etc, and about the rest of the stuff later....

[Estayland]

Homestar Runner 15 50 1337 17 hz