Links
Click here for a basic guide on keeping your Windows computer secure and infection free
Free software
All links provided are to great, free pieces of software that I use on my own computer and have done for years. None of them include any junk or spyware, and all of them can be easily removed if you don't like them (although I'm sure you will!).
www.skype.com – Skype instant messenger, excellent free messenger software, communicate using either text or voice chat. Free voice calls from Skype to Skype, and if you wish you can buy credit to call landlines and mobiles at far better rates than BT. Loads of additional services and features available, an absolute must-have.
www.tugzip.com – Fantastic free archiving tool that will create and extract virtually any format including RAR files. Easily as good as WinZip, if not better, and totally free.
www.spotify.com – Great new internet based music player with literally hundreds of thousands of songs available to play, free, whenever you want! Streams straight from the internet to your PC, and you can save/share your playlists. Works well even on slower connections. You can’t download and keep the songs, but you can play them as much as you like, the only downside to the free version is that you’re meant to hear the odd advert between songs, but I’ve never heard one yet, great software that’s set to take the world by storm.
www.google.co.uk/chrome - My favourite browser, closely followed by Firefox. Personally I prefer the clean and easy to use interface of Chrome, and I find it loads considerably faster than any other browser too. If you’re still using Internet Explorer 6 or even 7 to an extent then you’re risking severe security threats, like spyware.
www.getfirefox.com – Another great browser with a long heritage and a reputation as being Internet Explorer’s closest rival. Personally I prefer Chrome, but if you’re into gadgets and tinkering then Firefox is the best option for you. It has literally thousands of ‘extensions’ which add functionality to the already great browser.
www.irfanview.com – Irfanview is a free image viewer that doubles as a powerful editor. It supports possibly every picture format known to man, and includes some extremely handy tools like batch resizing and renaming options, a must for anyone that works with a lot of photos.
www.superantispyware.com – As you’d imagine, I’ve used hundreds of different spyware removal tools over the years, some good, and some bad. Superantispyware is by far the best to date, and I use it on a daily basis. I literally have 3 tools in particular that I carry around on a USB stick and they have coped with any infection that I’ve come across, Superantispyware is one of them. It looks a little cheap and nasty but trust me, it’s second to none. Don’t bother with the pro version, you don’t need it.
www.videolan.org – The only video player that you will ever need. Clean, simple to use, and will play absolutely any format you can throw at it. Works with subtitles files too. I’ve been using this for as long as I can remember, and it’s never failed me. Will also play audio too of course, although it’s geared up for video really.
www.openoffice.org – A powerful, fully featured, and free alternative to Microsoft Office. Personally I use MS Office as I’m a heavy Outlook user, and that’s the one thing that Open Office is missing. Other than that it’s great and supports pretty much everything that MS Office does, including being able to open MS files like .DOC, and .XLS. Don’t mistake this for a poor alternative, it really does do the job nicely, and has a truly massive user base.
www.utorrent.com – If you don’t know what a ‘torrent’ is then skip this paragraph. If you do then this is the client that you should be using. Extremely well developed, tiny in size, and super efficient. I’ve tried almost every client there is, and this is by far the most superior.
Sites & Services worth checking out
This is a list of sites that I think are either useful or interesting. I will update the list each month. All sites are 100% safe to visit.
www.warwicka.co.uk - A close personal friend and an excellent designer that has a list of famous clients as long as your arm, including Sony, Levis, Channel 4, Jaguar, and hundreds more.
www.wufoo.com - If you have anything to do with building or maintaining websites then this is an essential resource. Build online forms and objects using the WYSIWYG interface, then just copy and paste the code into your site. Too many features to list, but well worth a look. Choice of account levels including a free option.
www.flickr.com - A great online photo album that offers a basic free account for storing your pictures. Very widely used, and a personal favourite of mine.
www.engadget.com - Probably the best techology news site there is, find out the scoop on all the latest gadgets here.
www.digg.com - Another great news site, although not just limited to technology and includes a lot of political and social news, and the option to submit your own stories.
www.reddit.com - Very similar to Digg, but with a more interactive feel and added humour!
www.gmail.com - Without a doubt the best webmail/email provider there is. It's a Google service so you can guarantee reliability. Totally free and near enough unlimited storage. Also works with POP3 collection if you so wish. If you don't already have a Google account then get one, as you can use them all over the place.
Personal Links
www.villagephotography.org.uk - Under construction at present, but 'VP' will be a site offering 'low cost high quality' product photography services for small businesses and eBay sellers etc. The site will also feature any legacy lenses or equipment that I'm currently selling.
www.phuketapartment.co.uk - Affordable apartment for rent in the Kamala Beach area, Phuket, Thailand. Owned and rented by some good friends of mine. Contact details are listed on the site. If you're thinking of jetting off to Thailand then it's definitely worth checking their apartment out ; )
Jon Turner
