random thoughts about random things

Call to others for free, exceptional quality on the sound, and extremely easy to set up. Personally I had troubles with the sound, but that’s my own damned fault for not turning off certain idiotic sound settings on my own computer.

Register with your email, get a nick, and you’re off to a flying start.

If you need help with something and you can’t figure out what the idiot on the other end is saying, this software’s pretty handy because it allows him to co-control your computer with you while you’re watching. Simple as hell. Download, run, and the explanations there should be pretty straightforward. There’s the odd bug here and there, but overall this program’s so easy to use, and so damned handy I wonder at times why it’s not just default with Windows. Which it is in another form, just alot more tricky to use.

Also works for Macs

Send SMS to all of your friends, for free. It’s called ‘micro-blogging’ in some corners, you write in a small snippet about what you are doing right there and then, debate some topic, whatever. It’s really handy if your friends can be arsed to turn on the SMS function and check in every now and then if they’re not.

It’s not particularly complicated to set up either. You register like any other website, with the minor difference here that you need to activate your cellphone’s number if you wish to receive SMS-updates (receiving them is free, sending updates to Twitter is not. Therefore, updated by web/internet/browser). The activation SMS itself costs whatever an SMS costs for you, and hopefully that should be everything you need to spend on it.

Might seem to some like another MSN. Why get this if you already have MSN? Because IRC is chatting in channels with several friends at once. Contains several options for transferring files and messages, this one’s handy to atleast know about. There’s a help-channel available for everything there. You need to open ports in your router/firewall for it to work properly, among them are the most important 6667 and 1024-10** (depending on amount of concurrent transfers).

Opera supports IRC as well, albeit a less powerful client it does the basics.

Requires an open port, usually 21, and you’re normally set to go. Point it to the server, input name and password - enjoy. Sometimes you don’t even have to touch port 21.

FTP Server - Best File Serving Method (download)
Not as easy as the previous one, but definately not hard. Filezilla’s uncomplicated. Set up a user, set up a folder, start sharing through port 21. I’m telling you right now, sharing through ‘ftp://login:password@address/filename.filetype’ is far easier than trying to send stuff through MSN since it’s a direct send with little to no middle medium. Sometimes you don’t even have to touch port 21.

It’s like MSN Messenger, just without all the ads, the unnecessary clutter and the flashy graphics. It also supports AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo!, Zephyr, and it’s entirely Open Source (meaning FREE and easy to get support for (usually :P)).

Save a screenshot or a part of the screen to a file within a second. Apply text and shapes to the screenshot. Offers capture of window, region or full screenshot. Supports several image formats. Brilliant program.

Scans your machine for unnecessary clutter and crap, then gives you the option to remove it. Also scans your registry for inconsistencies, and then gives you the option to remove it. Amazing tool for an efficient machine.

You know those moments when your movie refuses to run, and you’re about to shoot someone in frustration? Then here’s probably your solution, a solid collection of uncluttered codecs in a professional package. Has been a solid package of codecs for as long as I’ve been using it. Use it with Quick Time Alternative for better streaming of quick time videos (same site).


Best used with Media Player Classic - Included in the package

Shit, where to begin? Open Source. Can edit anything. Has tons of awesome plugins. Has tons of awesome options. Supports all kinds of programming languages. The list goes on!

Powerful and free Open Source compression program in the same vein as WinRAR (.rar) and WinZip (.zip). One of the first things I install on a new machine.

There could be better alternatives for doing these jobs, but this one’s what I’ve been using for a long time, and I’m not dissatisfied with it.

Emulates CD/DVD’s so that you can use digital copies of a game or a program instead of the physical medium. Saves you alot of scratching of the buggers. Very important program.

Best used with torrent-sites

Most wide-spread and used File-Sharing technology and program (except for uTorrent, which is based on BitTorrent, which BitTorrent is based on *grins*). Awesome stuff. Requires you to open a port in your Router/Firewall.

Opera supports BitTorrent downloads as well

CDisplay was the first version, and probably the most stable one out there. Has a few flaws when reading newer files and formats, but otherwise supremo. ComicRack’s the new and hot reader because it has a library and manager. When you read as much manga as I do, it’s a pretty awesome tool.


Best used with awesome sites like StopTazmo.com (the fastest, but less organized) and MangaTraders.com (the slowest, but the best organized) - both which requires registration that takes you 2 minutes of your time, and will save you hours and hours in the future.

The best email-service in the world. Also gives you direct access to a plethora of awesome Google services. Chief among the services for me is Google Calendar.

My favoured browser. Has craptonnes of function, and can be customized to a minimum interface <3

Opera Mini - Best Phone/PocketPC Browser (download)
Contacts Opera’s servers for websites, which then compresses the websites to 30% of what they were (maybe less), saving you lots of downloading time and money. Beautiful stuff.

Free and Open Source alternative to Photoshop. Fill my needs splendidly, so why spend a buttload of cash, or torrent-time, on something more expensive that’s way beyond my needs and scope?

A simple and useful picture organizer that has an inbuilt scanner looking for new pictures where you want it to look. Also allows you to do edits to your pictures. Not a particularly powerful editor, but it covers the simple needs. Highly recommended if your picture-library is getting messy.