E-Volution IT

FreeCountry.com has a great array of free software sorted into various categories. If there’s a particular application you have been looking for, the chances are you might find it here. Check it out…

thefreecountry.com: Free Programmers’ Resources, Free Webmasters’ Resources, Free Security Resources

The following two applications are free and will fulfil most people’s requirements when it comes to burning CDs and DVDs. Check them both out and see which one you find better. You may also want to compare which is most compatible with your particular CD/DVD burner.

DeepBurner (Free Edition)
DeepBurner is an advanced and extremely powerful CD and DVD burning
package. It even removes the hassle of making autoruns, creating and
printing your own labels and booklets. Burn any data, copy any disc,
make backups, create astonishing photo albums, make ISO images and
Video DVDs with this very easy to handle professional software!

Currently, there are two versions of the program: DeepBurner Pro and DeepBurner Free. The free version has the following features:

• You can easily create and burn regular data CDs/DVDs
• AudioCD recording functionality is included
• Quickly build and burn ISO Images
• Supports IDE/EIDE, USB, SCSI, and Fire Wire CD/DVD writers
• Overburn function
• Buffer underrun technology “Burn-Proof”
• DAO, SAO and TAO Writing methods support
• Support for CD-R / CD-RW / DVD-R / DVD+R / DVD-RW / DVD+RW / DVD-RAM
• Create Multi-session CDs
• Bootable CD/DVD support
• Dynamically adjustable drive buffer size
• High Performance File/Disc Caching
• Supports Long File Name (Joliet) File Systems
• Creates ISO (100% DOS/Windows) compatible data CDs/DVDs
• Supports multiple simultaneous recorders
• Easy to use wizards help you create any type of burning project
• The Autorun Wizard makes it easy to create effective autoruns for your CDs
• You can even easily make your own cover, booklet or case insert
• Multi-language interface, of course

CDBurnerXP Pro
This is a great piece of software with a wide array of features. I am sure it will do just about everything most people would require in a CD/DVD burning application.

CDBurnerXP Pro has the following features:

Create Data-CDs/DVDs

• burn any Data on CD-R/CD-RW/DVD+R/DVD-R/DVD+RW/DVD-RW
• burn mp3-CDs to store many audio files on one single disc
• create bootable discs
• verify written Data automatically after burning process
• use either the internal browser to add your files or the intuitive Drop-Box to drag and drop files directly from any Windows Explorer window
• apply file filters to see only the files you need (for example *.jpg to display only JPEG files in local browser)
• save your compilations for creation of backups
• burn on-the-fly and with buffer-underrun protections
• import previous (ISO 9660) sessions and edit existing file structure on CD/DVD
• quick- and full-erase disc
• retrieve recorder and disc information

Create Audio-CDs

• create Audio-CDs from mp3, wav, ogg and wma* files
• add single or multiple tracks from existing audio-CDs directly to your new compilation without ripping tracks before (add cda-files)
• play audio-files with integrated audio player
• gapless audio-CDs supported (disc-at-once-mode)
• import m3u-playlists

Rip Audio-CDs

• rip tracks from any audio-CD to wav, mp3, wma or ogg
• download album information from online database
• sort ripped files in subdirectory automatically (based on information you get from online database)
• supports jitter-correction ripping modes to rip tracks from scratched CDs

ISO features

• burn ISO files to CD
• create your own ISO files
• convert bin- and nrg-files to ISO

Other features

• simple cover printing feature for Data- and Audio-CDs
• Audio Editor
• MP3 Tag-Editor
• converter for audio files (wav+mp3)
• supports most IDE, USB, Firewire and SCSI drives
• ASPI not required for NT/2000/XP
• integrated option to enable access to drive for restricted users
• lots of settings to customize CDBurnerXP Pro     
• online update

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I quite often use a calculator on my computer. Until now I have put up with using the built in Microsoft Windows Calculator. It does everything I want, yet it has one important feature lacking. It does not allow me to set it to “stay on top” of the other windows. Pretty much the only time I use the PC calculator is when I need to calculate data for something else I am working on, on the computer. So not being able to set the calculator to stay on top is a real hassle.

I have taken a look around at the free alternative calculators. Here’s some info on what I found (this list will grow beyond what’s on there now):

Moffsoft Freecalc

Link: http://www.moffsoft.com/freecalc.htm
This calculator does the trick nicely. It has all the basic functions one might need from a calculator, and most importantly it has a “stay on top” mode.

Moffsoft FreeCalc is a great replacement for your existing Windows^® calculator. We took the standard Windows calculator functionality and added the following features:

• Adjustable calculator size - Make it any size you want and Moffsoft FreeCalc will remember the size and position next time you use it.
• Tape - Save, print, or clear the simulated paper history tape.
• Color schemes - Select a color combination or use your Windows color settings.
• New keys - Clear Tape {CT}, double zero {00}, triple zero {000}, and memory subtract {M-} keys have been added.
• Visible memory value - You’ll always know what’s in memory because it’s displayed on the calculator status bar.
• Option settings - Flat buttons, always on top, tray icon, run on startup, and hiding the tape are some of the calculator options.
• Digit groupings - Number groupings for easy to read numbers.
• International support - Digit grouping and decimal point characters change based on your regional settings.
• Tray icon - Turn on the tray icon for quick and easy access.
• System requirements - Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP

 I am a great advocate of mind mapping. I’ve utilising mind maps since I was a teenager at school when I was taking notes in class. If you are not sure what mind mapping is then find out more on the Wikipedia. Essentially mind mapping is a non-linear way of organising information that more closely resembles the way your brain stores data and makes associations between units of data. Working with information externally (outside your brain) in a way that is similar to how your brains works with that data internally has a lot of benefits.

For the last few years I have been using an excellent mind mapping application called MindManager. It costs a couple of hundred US$, so it ain’t cheap. It also won’t run on Linux and Mindjet (the developer of MindManager) indicated to me they have no intention of porting it over to Linux.

Now there is another option… free and with cross-platform support.

Freemind

“FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map) software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click “fold / unfold” and “follow link” operations. So you want to write a completely new metaphysics? Why don’t you use FreeMind? You have a tool at hand that remarkably resembles the tray slips of Robert Pirsig, described in his sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance called Lila. Do you want to refactor your essays in a similar way you would refactor software? Or do you want to keep personal knowledge base, which is easy to manage? Why don’t you try FreeMind? Do you want to prioritize, know where you are, where you’ve been and where you are heading, as Stephen Covey would advise you? Have you tried FreeMind to keep track of all the things that are needed for that?”

Main Page - FreeMind - free mind mapping software

Cross compatability?

MindManager is able to import mind maps made with Freemind. There is an add-on freely available here on the MindJet site.

Freemind also has some capability to import and export MindManager maps. More info can be found here.