Allway Sync Allway-Sync allway-sync.gif http://www.allwaysync.com/index.html www.allwaysync.com yes no no This is not open-source, but it is multi-lingual and FREE. Whenever you are using mutliple computers or flash drives it can be a confusing job to keep all of your data synchronized across all of them. This software can check folders and files for you and make sure that you are always in sync. I have tried many similar ones before, but Allway Sync has the best mix of advanced features, powerful tools, and ease of use of any that I have encountered. It is even compatible with WebDAV and FTP accounts. Amaya Amaya amaya.gif http://www.w3.org/Amaya/Overview.html www.w3.org/Amaya yes no yes This open-source webpage creator is put out by the folks at W3C - the World Wide Web Consortium (those are the guys who basically set the rules when it comes to how a browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari interprets and displays the a webpage. It can function as a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) meaning you can use it like a word processor or graphics editor and it will write the markup code for you, or let you edit code directly. Amaya can use HTML, CSS, XML, XHTML, and even SVG. Audacity Audacity audacity.gif http://audacity.sourceforge.net http://audacity.sourceforge.net yes yes yes Audacity is a free, open-source, multi-platform sound editor and converter that is available in a variety of different languages. Besides just having a great name, the application also has tons of different effects that can be applied to a sound file that you either import or record yourself. You can do things such as normalize volume, reduce background noise, play backwards, clip, and layer audio tracks. They can then be exported into a variety of formats. Audacity is catching on for podcasters as an easy way for them to record and then clean-up their posts. Bluefish Bluefish bluefish.gif http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/ http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/ no yes yes Bluefish is a fully-featured web editor. It has support for all of most common web markup languages (HTML, CSS, XML, etc.), and it can also do some programming in languages such as Python, PHP and PASCAL. While it can be used for editing webpages the same way that Amaya can, it really seems more geared towards heavy programming - so if putting up a simple personal website is what you want to do then stick with Amaya, but if you want to work with developing web-based applications, then Bluefish is the way to go. Translations are available in Brasilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Tamil. Firefox Firefox firefox.gif http://www.getfirefox.com www.getfirefox.com yes yes yes Firefox is part of the Mozilla project. It is an open-source browser that, unlike Microsoft's Internet Explorer, fully conforms to the W3C standards of how to process webpages, meaning it has support for the latest in web technologies as well as working on virtually any operating system. I prefer Firefox to any other browser and I use a number of different add-ons to expand its functionality even further, to do things like keep track of all the blog posts, newspaper stories and journal articles that I read using Zotero, a reference database manager; the Web Developer Toolbar which shows me advanced information about a webpage while I am designing it; or my favorite, Adblock Plus which does more than just block pop-ups, it removes all ads on every website leaving you with just the content you want. FreeMind FreeMind freemind.gif http://freemind.sourceforge.net/ http://freemind.sourceforge.net/ yes yes yes FreeMind is a mind-mapping tool that allows for the free flow of ideas to be graphically represented. Similar to Inspiration and Kidspiration, the program can be used for forming outlines, and brainstorming. Another function is to create diagrams of how information is related. I frequently use it as a tool during pre-writing and even created the sitemaps for the website in Freemind. Because it is a Java based application it looks and works the same on Windows, Mac and Linux. FreeMind also allows for the exporting of files into a variety of formats, and can create web pages that use Javascript. Gantt Project Gantt-Project gantt.gif http://www.ganttproject.biz/ www.ganttproject.biz yes yes yes Gantt charts can help you to keep track of projects that need to completed, the resources that you have available and the costs associated with the project. This free application is designed to create Gantt charts and to assist in all areas of project management just as smoothly as its big-budget counterpart, Microsoft Project. This free application can even import/export files from MS Project. GCompris GCompris gcompris.gif http://www.gcompris.net/ www.gcompris.net yes no yes This is a very fun and easy to use educational suite for kids aged 2-10. Over 100 small activities grouped into categories serve the purpose of having kids practice with some basic skills in reading, math, spatial reasoning and even just in following directions. By using the computer they will also get used to using a keyboard and mouse. The suite is good for practice of skills, but it is not a tutor, not does it serve an instructional purpose. The Linux version is easy to install, though there is a charge for the Windows version (but you can download a limited demo for free). The developers have not just the source code available, but even presentations to assist developers so fledgling programmers can add their own modules to the software in C or Python. GIMP GIMP gimp.gif http://www.gimp.org/ www.gimp.org yes yes yes The GNU Image Manipulation Program is a free, open-source, multi-platform alternative to some of the larger digital photography suites such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks. There are also a variety of plug-ins that you can download for it to add to its functionality. GIMP can open and save in a wide range of file formats. It is also customziable so you can create a working environment that is comfortable for you. NOTE: For doing basic touchups to everyday snapshots, I recommend Picasa. GIMP is for more serious digital manipulation. Glary Utilities Glary-Utilities glary.gif http://www.glaryutilities.com/ www.glaryutilities.com yes no no Glary Utilities is a compilation of various modules to help you keep your computer running smoothly. I have used many such programs over the years - always switching to whichever one had the most features, did the best job and was the easiest to use. Currently, it is Glary that is in my tool kit. Using modules such as Disk Cleaner, Duplicate Files Finder, Registry Cleaner, Registry Defragmenter and File Shredder will help you to keep your computer running quickly, and securely. IrfanView IrfanView irfan.gif http://www.irfanview.com/ www.irfanview.com yes no no IrfanView is an incredibly versatile free image viewer for Windows. It has support for a long list of file formats and it can even convert between them. You can use the program to open nearly any image or video file, make slideshows, crop, and even create windows icon (ICO) files with it. If you are working with a lot of files at once there are also option available for batch processing. Jing Project Jing jing.gif http://www.jingproject.com/ www.jingproject.com yes yes no The Jing Project has been put out by TechSmith as a free screen capture software. It is easy to use and allows the user to take snapshots of portions of the screen as well as video recordings, with recorded narration, of a segment or the entire screen. Captures can then be saved or uploaded to Screencast.com to share with friends. The software has some excellent potential in education to be used in demonstrations. although it is not as powerful as Camtasia or Captivate, it does not slow down the computer the way those programs can and is great for the novice user. Juice Juice juice.gif http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/ http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net yes yes yes Juice is a podcast receiver that works on all platforms becuase it was written in Python. This program is perfect to leave running in the background as you work. When new items are added to you favorite podcast feed it will automatically download them, save them into organized folders (by title and by date) and add them to the libraries and playlist of your favorite media player. MySync MySync mysync.gif http://www.freemacware.com/mysync/ www.freemacware.com/mysync no yes no When using more than one Mac this small application can keep your two machines synchronized with each other without having to pay for a .mac address. I am not a big Mac user, but I have diddled with them and I found this to be useful in keeping files in sync between a G4 Powerbook and a G5 iMac running NeoOffice NeoOffice neooffice.gif http://www.neooffice.org/ www.neooffice.org no yes no NeoOffice is a free office suite based on the OpenOffice code. It has all of the same features as OpenOffice, but it is specifically formulated to work on a Mac. It also has a few enhancements that are specific to the Macintosh operating system, such as being able to support the Aqua interface. It does not require X11 because it runs on Java. Overall, for Mac users, NeoOffice is a much better option than OpenOffice. Ocean Research Library Ocean ocean.gif http://www.bahai-education.org/ocean/ www.bahai-education.org/ocean/ yes no no The Ocean Research Library contains sacred writings from the world's major religions. The application makes it easy to search through texts from the Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Moslem, Jewish, Sikh, Taoist and Zoroastrian religions for any topic you are interested in. The current version includes 1,458 documents! You can copy and paste text out of it and it will even keep the citation for you. Translations are available in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French and Dutch. Although Ocean is only available in English, the programmers mention that it does run well under VirtualPC for the Mac and WINE for Linux. OpenOffice OpenOffice openoffice.gif http://www.openoffice.org/ www.openoffice.org yes yes yes Open Office provides an alternative to Microsoft Office. It is a completely free and open-source productivity suite that comes with a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation software, database application, and even utilities for creating mathematical formulas and custom-drawn graphics. It is supported by an open-source community so there are plenty of add-ons to allow you to increase it usability and add features (for example you will need to download a separate package of clip art images if you pan to use them). It is fully compatible with Microsoft Office (and other software) files and can even be configured to use the DOC, XLS and PPT formats as its default. Picasa Picasa picasa.gif http://picasaweb.google.com/ http://picasaweb.google.com yes yes yes Picasa is another free product from Google. It is a very easy to use picture manager that allows for a lot of basic photo-editing that most of us have to use for our snapshots, i.e. redeye removal, cropping, straightening, etc. You can upload files directly to PicasaWeb (Google's photo-sharing website) from the program and also create slideshows, screensavers, and burn to CD. The best part of Picasa is that you can always undo your changes. It saves all of your editing information in a database file and does not alter the originals. Version 3 adds many enhancements over previous versions including a Linux edition (still in beta). PrimoPDF PrimoPDF primoPDF.gif http://www.primopdf.com/ www.primopdf.com yes no no PrimoPDF is a fully funcitonal PDF writer. It installs itself as a print spooler. You can then produce a PDF from any application that has the ability to print simply selecting PrimoPDF as your printer. PDF files are near ubiquitous on the web because they cannot be edited and appear the same way on every computer and on print. This is by far the best combination of ease-of-use, features, reliability and speed that I have found in a PDF writer (including commercial versions from Adobe). Windows Live Writer Windows-Live-Writer windows-live-writer.gif http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/ http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com yes no no Windows Live Writer is a blogging application. It allows the user to write entries while offline and works with all the popular blogging platforms. The benefit of this software is being able to blog from anywhere with or without an internet connection and always having copies of posts stores on one's computer. It's WYSIWYG post editor can be more user friendly than the online versions included in your blogging platform and makes insertion of pictures, videos and other media very easy. I use this myself to write TeacherJay's EduBlog and Wanderings.