Good Free Applications and Web Services

On June 17th I came across an article in the business section of the New York Times written by Ramon Darlin, entitled, "Now, Free Ways to do Desktop Work on the Web". I'm always attracted by freebies, so I read the article and found it had some excellent suggestions. In this note I'll share some highlights of Darlin's article which covered only free web-based programs;

and then I'll add some prize finds of my own which operate from your own PC.

First of all, I should note that a fast connection to the Internet (usually cable or DSL) is necessary for using effectively the programs that Darlin mentions.

Most of you heard me singing the praises of free Google programs at the seminar at IRC that Danny Schweers taught. So does Darlin. He writes that Google has released a web-based spreadsheet program and will soon release a web-based word processor. You can get the Google spreadsheet after signing up for a Google account. An alternative to Google's spreadsheet can be found at Jotspot.

I have tried oodles of email programs and haven't found one better than Google's web-based Gmail, which is now in a Beta version that you can try if you'd like. Just email me and I'll give you an invitation to open a Gmail account. Gmail gives you a HUGE allocation of space on a Google server. Messages are automatically nested by subject matter. You can find any

message by entering a search string in a window, just as you would with Google's search engine. The search string can be anywhere in your message: subject line, body, heading--anywhere! In an instant the search results are reported and you easily find the email note you were looking for. No need to store your email in folders with Gmail. And, because your email resides on Google's server, you can access it from any computer connected to the

Internet. That's really handy if you read email both at work and at home or need to check your email on a trip. All your messages are always available. Also, no worrying about losing your email if your computer crashes. And if you're doing a system update or re-install, no hassle about exporting and then importing your email messages and addresses. My two sons

turned me on to Gmail, and they're both geeks. But the program is a cinch to use. Oh, did I mention that it's nicely integrated with a Google calendar (also free)?

Incidentally, web-based programs are handy for collaborating with other

people. If you're on a committee and need to share a calendar or

spreadsheet with a colleague, you can grant permission to him/her and easily

share the spreadsheet or calendar you have created. A start-up company

called 30 boxes also offers a free spreadsheet program.

Or, imagine collaborating with someone miles and miles away in real time on

a grant application, using a web-based word processor such as Zoho Writer's.

Do have a look at that free resource.

Darlin compliments my favorite browser, Firefox for its speed and security. He doesn't

mention the Opera browser, but that's another good free browser known for security and speed.

If you're into photography and want to avoid the hefty price for a premier

graphics editing program like Photoshop, you could use the free

cross-platform program, GIMP instead. GIMP has a

steep learning curve, but lots of good instruction material on the Web. If

you want to avoid the high cost of Microsoft Office, check out the free open

source, cross-platform office suite called OpenOffice which reads and writes to MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint and has a database and drawing program to boot.

If you're into podcasting and want to make multi-track sound files, check

out the free cross-platform sound editor, Audacity.

Need a great free photo editing and organizing program? Try Google's Picasa.

And, for a free cross-platform, What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get HTML editor, you just can't beat NVU.

You Windows users, do you need a good free FTP program for transferring your

web pages to your server? Try Core FTP. Or if you use

Mac, you might try Cyberduck. It's free software, though the author welcomes donations (shareware).

Well, there's lots more good free stuff out there, but I've told you pretty

much what I've tested. If you have a good recommendation, chime in!

This article was written by TCDavis

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