Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #483 issued July 25, 2008

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This electronic newsletter is registered – ISSN 1441-6840
Welcome to the CFS Weekly Newsletter.
The programs listed here are completely free for non-commercial use, even though some may be shareware or commercial products. None are time-limited and all are fully functional. If you know any that aren't exactly as specified, please let us know and they will be removed immediately.
If the link below does not work (does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid. Please use the CFS Site Search facility (above) to locate the program.
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE

Sauerbraten – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Sauerbraten is a 3D first person shooter that allows map/geometry editing to be done dynamically in-game. It features single & multi-player modes (inc teamplay), choice of 7 weapons, choice of 110 maps (or create your own), intense gameplay (similar to Doom 2 & Quake 1), and more. This is an awesome, and massive, game that is really many games in one. Sauerbraten is really the next stage in the CUBE game engine (aka CUBE 2). It takes you into various worlds where you can employ your skills as a weapons master. You travel through buildings, through tunnels, under water, across numerous landscapes, and more as you collect armor, ammunition, health, etc so you can keep going. The game engine is smooth and precise with the arrow keys providing movement, the mouse direction (horizontally and vertically), the scroll button your choice of weapon and both the Spacebar and the right mouse button for jumping. The left mouse button is for firing your active weapon. A massive game in all aspects, Sauerbraten is a must have for gamers of all types. We loved! Access this 291MB download (yes, you read correctly!) from: Win95 General Game

Free Error Cleaner v2.35 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Free Error Cleaner is a tool that identifies missing and invalid references in the Windows Registry. It features automatic backup every time the program is used, optional Registry restore of deleted items, scans 13 sections for errors, built-in scheduler, and more. This is an excellent system cleaner that scans the Windows Registry and reports problems. If you have a registered copy it will then clean or repair these problems – the problem being that it requires registration (albeit free) but the author's site does not work properly and registration failed to work on two out of three times we tried. It took some perseverance to get the key which then unlocked the program so that the restore and repair section would work. Free Error Cleaner identified 455 problems with our Registry and, after we finally were able to unlock the program, it successfully removed all those problems. However, even this didn't go smoothly and it took three scan/repair cycles before it reported a clean Registry. Those little problems aside, Free Error Cleaner worked really well and did a great job of identifying and (finally) repairing our Registry. We liked! Access this 926kB download from: Win95 Windows Enhancement

Zulu DJ v1.10 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Zulu DJ is an audio DJ program for mixing live music and effects. It crossfades between two tracks, has automatic beat detection, synchronizes between decks, supports most audio file formats (WAV, MP3, VOX, GSM, RA, AU, AIF, FLAC, OGG, etc), changes the pitch of each track in real time, adds cue pointers, loops sections within a track, offers special effects (Distortion, High Pass Filter, Reverb, Phaser, Flanger & Delay), applies effects in real-time, separate output for headphones, and more. This is a professional-quality DJ mixer which is simple enough for novices to use. You can create effects and mix music from two decks in real time, fading between the decks, creating loops, etc. Even if you are not a professional DJ you will love playing with the effects you can create in Zulu DJ. However, the one thing that it cannot do is to save your newly created audio clips, though you could use one of many free programs that will record what is played through your sound card. Zulu DJ is a fun tool with a professional aspect. A "must have" for audiophiles and DJs alike. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 267kB download from: Win98 Multimedia Program

MailDominion v1.0 – WinXP/Vista
MailDominion is a program that removes unwanted junk mail from a pop3 mail server before it reaches the inbox. It uses an intelligent, fast learning, configurable filter, and features a whitelist & blacklist (words, phrases, names, addresses, etc), supports multiple accounts, optionally confirms deletions, includes a Helpfile, and more. This is an excellent way to automatically remove spam mail at the mail server before it ever gets to your computer. The program "learns" what is wanted and what isn't by what you manually delete, and the whitelist/blacklist also tells the program what is acceptable and what isn't. When it displays mail for your input you can select some e-mails and click on the "Process" button to delete them without the program "remembering" this action, or you can click on the "Process/Learn" button to kill the mail and have it remember what was done and therefore "learn". We had a few minor issues with MailDominion. First, the download is large because this is a Java-based program and it includes the full Java Redistributable, something that most users would already have on their computer. Secondly, there is no option for a periodic scan (say, every 3 or 5 minutes) so you must remember to manually start a scan. Thirdly, it does not minimize to the desktray (next to the clock) but remains in the main tray area with all your other major programs. A desktray icon with, say, a right click performing a manual scan, would be very handy. These three points are quite minor but would, if rectified, improve this program even more. We were most impressed with MailDominion. It is simple to setup, simple to use and, while it does offer the potential to delete required mail (like CFS newsletters!), you can use the whitelist to ensure that known "good" mail is not trashed. Grab a copy now! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 14.9MB download from: WinXP Internet Related

The Tetris Game v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
The Tetris Game is a standard Tetris (falling blocks) clone. It features a next piece indicator, has simple & clean graphics, there are on-line high scores, and more. This is a basic version of this popular game. The Tetris Game doesn't offer anything unique, or new, just the standard gameplay we have all come to love. It lacks any background image (possibly not a bad feature) or any background music (again, not a bad feature) but it is bland and boring unless you are a dedicated Tetris fan who is collecting games or who wants to play the most number of different Tetris games. The rest of us will probably ignore The Tetris Game in favor of one with a few more unique features in its gameplay. Yawn... Access this 547kB download from: Win95 General Game

1-abc.net Folder-To-TXT v1.01 – WinXP/Vista
1-abc.net Folder-To-TXT is a small utility that creates editable lists of all files within a folder. It features optional folder recursing (includes all the sub-folders), optionally shows full file path, optionally displays file extensions, optionally includes date & time information, and more. How many times have you wanted to share a file list with someone else, or just save a copy as part of a system backup? 1-abc.net Folder-To-TXT does exactly that. You simply point it at a folder and it will "read" all the files in that folder and place the list in its window. With the click of a button it will create a text file of that list, and that text file can be printed, e-mailed, edited or exported. We find it helpful to get lists of all the files in a "storage" folder (our software archives) prior to making changes on our computer so we can replicate the original collection of files in case they get lost or misplaced. While there are a few programs that can do this, 1-abc.net Folder-To-TXT is one of the easiest-to-use tools we have seen. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME – it also requires free on-line registration to use beyond 10 days. Access this 112kB download from: WinXP Desktop Utility

Resize My Pictures v1.0.0.2 – WinXP/Vista
Resize My Pictures is a bulk photo resizer and renamer. It features support for most major photo formats (JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG & TIF), over 40 pre-defined image sizes (or custom-size your image), ratio-based resizing, and more. If you have a lot of photos that need resizing, or renaming, then Resize My Pictures is probably for you. You can load a number of images into the program and then set the parameters to resize and/or rename those images. One good aspect is that it does not degrade the image quality, specially when saved in JPG format. We were surprised to see that it reported the open image size incorrectly – the right width was reported but the height was reported to be exactly half what it actually was. This does not seem to affect the program though it is somewhat disconcerting at first until you realize what is happening. Resize My Pictures is an easy way to work with multiple images. Awesome! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 1.39MB download from: WinXP Graphic Program

Realms – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Realms is an intense action, space-based shooter with missions, vessel upgrades, etc. It features 6 races (or realms) with missions for each race, lots of enemies to destroy (minefields, power generators, guardians & protectors), requires defense & strategy skills, and more. This is a fast action shooter, similar to Asteroids but which includes missions and vessel upgrades. Graphics are excellent, and the action smooth, though it does suffer from not being mouse-controlled. Gameplay is somewhat frenetic and there is a mastering curve before you can really start to kick the proverbial alien backside. As this is a mission-based game, you must concentrate on completing each mission so you can get upgrades for the next one. Realms is an excellent action shooter with some nice, mission-based features. We loved! Access this 6.28MB download from: Win95 General Game
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