I tried these four calendar programs. Each of them do some basic things for you. They allow you to see the current month and add future events or appointments to keep you on your own schedule.
RainLender
This one is an old favorite of mine. The feature I like best is that it sits on your desktop at all times, floating transparently over it. There are also skins available. It comes in three flavors now. The liteware version may have some features disabled that are available in the Pro (pay) version.
Rainlendar is a feature rich calendar application that is easy to use and doesn't take much space on your desktop. The application is platform independent so you can run it both on Windows and on Linux. The appearance can be customized with skins and you can even mix different skins together.
Standards Compatible
Rainlendar uses standard iCalendar format for it events and tasks to maximize the compatibility with other calendar applications. You can easily transfer the events from the calendar you are currently using to Rainlendar.
Look'n'feel
The appearance of the calendar can be changed with skins. The skins can be of any shape and size and they can also contain buttons for additional functionality. It's also possible to combine different skins by using e.g. the calendar from one skin and event and to do list from another. The events can have different appearance depending on their category.
Highly Customizable
It is possible to have multiple months visible at the same time. The months can be laid out the way you want and they can even have different sizes.
Multiple Calendars
You can have any number of calendars show at the same time. Different calendars can show e.g. holidays, tv programs, your personal events or what ever you like.
Import & Export
Events and tasks can be transferred to and from other calendar applications. You can also import the data from the old version of Rainlendar.
To do list
In addition to normal events Rainlendar includes a separate to do list where you can store your ongoing tasks.
Alarms
Get notified in advance before the event is due so that you don't forget any important events. The alarm works with tasks too.
Recurrence
The events and tasks can be made to repeat automatically so you don't have to enter them multiple times. It's also possible to have exceptions in case the event doesn't happen on one particular day.
Sunbird
Sunbird is my pick for the most feature rich calendar. It's an open source project from Mozilla.org, which is also the place that made Firefox and Thunderbird. This calendar program will continue to be supported and improved as time goes on. It's already being recommended as an alternative to the scheduling built into MS Outlook email when you add the Sunbird Lightning extension to it's sister email program ThunderBird.
Mozilla Sunbird™ is a cross-platform calendar application, built upon Mozilla Toolkit. Our goal is to bring Mozilla-style ease-of-use to your calendar, without tying you to a particular storage solution.
How can I make a recurring event on, say, the first Monday every August?
Set the event to repeat every 12 months: In the new event dialog, set the start date to the first Monday of August of the first year, say 2000-08-07. Click the recurrence tab, check "Repeat every", set interval to 12, set unit to "Months", then click "First Monday of the month".
How can I publish my events on a remote server?
You can publish events from the calendar to an FTP server (Sunbird only) or a webDAV enabled web server. You can also use the calendar to subscribe to these events as well.
How can I serve my shared calendars?
To share your calendars, you need access to a webDAV server. If you run your own web server, you can install mod_dav, a free Apache module that will turn your web server into a webDAV server. Instructions on how to set it up are on their website. Once you set up your webDAV server, you can publish your calendar to the site, then subscribe to it from any other Calendar. Automatically updating the calendar will give you a poor man's calendar server.
Can Sunbird/Lightning remind me when closed? Can Sunbird start minimized?
No, Sunbird and Lightning can't give pop-up messages or send e-mails when they are not running. There is a 'trick' for this problem. You can hide Sunbird in the tray. This can be done with Suntray or Minimize to Tray for Windows and Kdocker for Linux.
UKs Kalendar
This calendar program is my pick for the lightest load on your system. It's perfect for older PCs, yet it's very feature rich. It will place an icon in your system tray when minimized. A few months ago, Darrel in Canada dropped by for awhile to chat here at FreewareWiki Chat. He told me lots of nice things about the area he lives in and he also mentioned a reminder program he likes.
Any changes to the database are automatically and immediately saved to disk. On every program start, a backup copy of your data file is created.
Unlimited Undo and Redo
Most changes can be undone and also repeated.
Minimize to the system tray
"UK's Kalender" minimizes into the system tray (the area next to the system clock).
Network support
"UK's Kalender" supports a shared event file, where every user can enter events that'll show up in each other user's calendar. For using the network functions it is neither required to install special server software nor to keep the computer with the shared event file permanently running. "UK's Kalender" will synchronize the local event file as soon as the shared event file is accessible.
Repeating events
There are lots of possibilities for entering repeating events, e.g. hourly, every three days, monthly, every first tuesday of the month or even every friday the 13th.
Forewarn time and snooze function
Each event can be assigned a user defined forwarn time in the range from one minute to several weeks. In the reminder dialog you can enter a time after that you'll be reminded again. Alternatively you can choose to be reminded again a certain time before the event.
Multi day events
Events can have a duration from one minute to several days (or no duration at all, but just a start date).
Event categories and templates
Events can be organized into categories, e.g. "Doctor", "Meeting", "Party" and so on. Each category is assigned a template of settings, including repetition rate and forewarn time.
Acoustic reminders
You can choose to be reminded of an event with a WAV file of your choice.
Event driven program execution and document opening
Documents or programs can be attached to an event. This is very handy for e.g. regular backup purposes.
Marking and hiding events
Special events may be either color marked or hidden.
Four event views
Events can be displayed in week-, fortnight-, month- or year-view.
Tooltips for events and todos
If you stop the mouse over a calendar date or a todo, extended info is shown for the events and todos.
Alarms can be deativated
Alarms may be deactivated all at once, so your game, film etc. won't be interrupted.
Highly configurable display for events and todos
All views can easily be configured to present the information just the way you want.
Search and filter functions
You can search for and filter out your events using keywords, categories, event states or date ranges. The filter function directly affects all output functions, so you can easily create e. g. a calendar only containing birthdays.
Clipboard support
Events and todos can be copied to the clipboard and may be pasted back to any word processor or "UK's Kalender" itself.
Export to HTML- and CSV-format
Events and todos can be exported to HTML-format in different views. With this you can easily print your dates and todos. Export to CSV-format allows the transfer of your data to a spreadsheet program. All activated filter options are applied to the output.
Holidays
Holidays for one or more countries can be displayed right in the calendar. Various holiday modules are available. If your country is missing, you can simply define a holiday module yourself.
Kalendra
I tried this one briefly and it's got some really really great features. I had some trouble getting the pages to display how I wanted them to and I also didn't like the occasional pushes from the author to buy more features. I'd call this program liteware rather than freeware because of this.
Here is another fantastic article from the cutting edge of freeware. George describes how you can completely change the look and feel of Windows XP using a neat freeware hack. He also includes two demonstration videos of how his PC looked when he was done and how he did it.
Excerpt from George's Review
When I had first gotten Windows XP, I became thrilled with desktop themes. When I found the Neowin freeware patch for Windows XP, I discovered a whole new world of totally cool ways of changing the appearance of my desktop that go far beyond desktop themes. If you like desktop themes, you will love visual styles. The Neowin patch allows you to use styles that others have created that are much like the “Windows XP Style” that is included on the “Appearance” tab of the “Display” option in the “Control Panel”. I created the video above to show you two different visual styles that I installed on my computer. read more
Recently I had some spare time so I decided to spend some time playing these games. They fall in the category of strategy.
Terragon
A great puzzle game that tests your mind and patience. Try to make each square red by moving your yellow square through each level, but don’t retrace your steps or else you have to start again. Complete each of the 50 levels before the timer runs out and if you want, submit your scores and compete against players all over the world. A simple concept that has been done really well. It's fun and frustrating at the same time.
You get a certain number of boxes to use on each level in order for you to reach your destination. You can stack or move the boxes in order to clear the obstacles around. It is just that simple.Surprisingly,the game contains 41 levels throughout 8 different worlds for all puzzle lovers to enjoy for quite some time.
This game uses passwords in order for you to load where you left off. Heres a tip, type them into a text file and save them in the folder where the game file is kept.
You don't tear newspaper into pieces to read them. Why should reading rss news articles be any different? GreatNews is optimized for full page reading, so you can scan through rss articles quickly. Combined with functions like "Open Next Unread Channel", you don't need to waste any time to find where all the unread articles are.
GreatNews is extremely fast. Even with hundreds of rss feed subscriptions, GreatNews's response is always instantaneous. You can opt to show news from all channels on the same page. And you have full control over how many articles can be displayed at once. GreatNews takes care of pagination for you.
Ed: The version hosted here is the no-setup package. Meaning it can simply be unzipped and run.
This is a nice attempt at bringing 3D to an old classic 2D game. I'm not crazy about the look and feel and I hope the author works on this one to keep improving it.
Quote from the website
If you love Mario games, then you have to try this superb 3D platform game. A game in 3 worlds with 8 stages total.
Controls:
Enter = start game
Arrows = move and jump
W, A, S, D = move camera
R, F = zoom
F4 = Windows task bar on/off
Esc = exit game
The author's home page is missing, but you can get it here.
YouTube, Google Video ... use Flash to display all those cool videos that people upload. Now we can do it too with this free tool.
Quote from the website
Transcode your existing videofiles to the advanced Flash Video (FLV) format with this free Riva FLV Encoder.
After selecting a source-file you can easily transcode it into Flash Video using one of the presets or your custom settings.
To view the result Riva FLV Encoder comes with the free Riva FLV Player. At present you can transcode the following formats: AVI, MPEG, Quicktime, WMV.
Those videos at YouTube and Google Video are pretty cool. What do you do if you want to keep a copy of them in some format other than FLV? Go here and find out ...
Quote from the website
This service converts a Flash Video / FLV file (Youtube's movie,etc) to MPEG4 (AVI/MOV/MP4/MP3/3GP) file. The service is using a compressed domain transcoder technology. Converts FLV to MPEG4 faster and losslessy than a typical transcoder.
When you submit an url, this service will download and convert to the video format. Then you can download the converted file.
There are many screensavers available that will display your JPG pictures. This one works well, is small, and has lots of transition effects. I didn't see an option for it playing sounds, but I find sound in a screensaver to be an irritation more than a feature.
Quote from the website
So what is it?
It's a big swirly thing. No, not really. It's a Windows screen saver for displaying images with a few options that make it a bit more interesting.
Which types of image can it load?
Currently it supports JPEG, PNG, JPEG 2000 .jpc and .jp2 files and some types of BMP file. If you want support for other formats, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
How many images can it handle?
JPEG Saver has been successfully tested with over 68000 files in more than 700 directories, which used around 16Mb of memory. I really don't know how many it can actually cope with - and I haven't imposed any limit in the software.
Why did you write it?
Originally I wrote JPEG Saver because I couldn't find a screen saver on the web that would display a bunch of JPEGs. After Windows XP came out with the "My Pictures Slideshow" screen saver I thought JPEG Saver would be obsolete. But "My Pictures Slideshow" has some limitations that I didn't like, so this year* I dug out the source code and started work again.
What does JPEG Saver do that My Pictures Slideshow can't?
Well, the most obvious difference is that JPEG Saver supports multiple directories. There are also options for setting where the image will appear on the screen, and the order in which the images will be displayed. And you can turn individual transitions on or off. And there is more control over the resizing of images. And you can change the background.
My opinion is no. I'd give you a lengthy explanation but my friend Terry has already done so. I typically agree with his security philosophies except I use all freeware in the places he uses payware.
Here's what Terry says about NoScript ...
Script Blockers and Ad Blockers
... the number of web sites that use scripts legitimately far, far outweigh the number that seek to damage your systems.
By the same logic, we would block email programs and web browsers from accessing the Internet because they could allow attacks. Or, block Windows from being installed on PCs. Or block Windows PCs from being able to access the Internet because so many have been subverted and used for attacks and to send spam.
Sure, you can do it, but it's a draconian solution to a small problem. ...
Extra protection for your Firefox: NoScript allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content only for trusted domains of your choice, e.g. your home-banking web site.
This whitelist based preemptive blocking approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities (known and even unknown!) with no loss of functionality...
Experts do agree: Firefox is really safer with NoScript ;-)
While discovering the delights of Firefox add-ons, I came accross this interresting web research tool. There are a dozen of sites like this one but what attracted me was its integration into Firefox, enabbling me to instantly copy, store and retrieve information from the web (pix, text, html) from the browser...lovely stuff!
Quote from the website
How is Clipmarks different from other social media sites?
What makes the content on Clipmarks unique is that instead of posting links to entire web pages, our clipping tool lets users extract pieces of compelling content from within pages and post those select pieces for everyone to see. Only clips that are under 2,000 characters can get on the Clipmarks homepage.
I installed Media Monkey last nite and worked on it till 4 am. It's without a doubt the best program of its type I've seen, but I honestly feel it's a little too advanced for me. You can do so many things with it that I'm just not into, but as it tells you in the beginning, it's for "serious music collectors". I'm definitely a collector, but apparently I haven't reached the level of serious yet! LOL. But I can still use it, even if I don't use all of its many features.
Quote from the website
MediaMonkey is a music manager and jukebox for serious music collectors and iPod users. It catalogs your CDs, OGG, WMA, MPC, FLAC, APE, WAV and MP3 audio files. It offers an intelligent tag editor which looks up missing Album Art and track information via Freedb and the web, and an automated file and directory renamer to organize your music library. It includes a CD ripper, CD/DVD Burner, and audio converter for saving music, and manual or automated playlist editors for creating music mixes. It's player automatically adjusts volume levels so that you don't have continually fiddle with the volume control and supports hundreds of Winamp plug-ins and visualizations; or if you prefer, it can use Winamp as the default player. It also includes portable audio device synchronization that allows you to quickly synch tracks and playlists with iPods and other portable audio devices.
Just before Christmas, Andy Goh, the author of 8Start Launcher wrote to tell us that he's updated his program. He says ...
With a lot of my hardwork spent, now 8start Launcher 1.4 is portable and with beautiful transparancy skin supported, and a lot of new features have been add in.
I've gotten lots of comments about this program. Here's what RonR said about it.
This does exactly what it offers, keeps the desktop clean and shortens the desktop toolbar. Figuring it out is not that difficult and just needs a little patience to achieve a desired result.
Quote from the website:
8start Launcher is a free portable application launcher, I created 8start Launcher because I believe there should be a convenient way to access application than using windows start menu, quick launch and desktop. Windows desktop look messy if too many shortcuts in the desktop, windows start menu become hard to access if too many applications installed in the computer, windows quick launch not suitable to handle too many shortcuts.
I went looking for clipboard keepers, which are helpful when you are pasting more than one thing to the clipboard. I went around and around and finally came back to my personal favorite, Arsclip. No install, you just run it.
Another nice application is Kana Reminder. This is a terrific replacement for the Windows Task Scheduler, which has an annoying knack of not running your scheduled tasks if you look at it wrong. Kana let's you do far more stuff than just run programs at a set time.
I used to be a big Yahoo buff (see below). I am rapidly switching to Google for free email, calendar, todo, and contacts. Why? It's a lot faster, the personalized home feature lets me display it all, and even better, I can send reminders and notes to my cell phone without lugging a PDA around. The downside, I tried Goosync, which syncs the phone calender to the Google one, but alas my carrier doesn't allow that kind of traffic (Warning, Cingular users! ...and Gcalsync doesn't work either!). Google Docs and Spreadsheets has improved the interface and I am a (grudging) user.
I'm adding OpenOffice Premium to the OpenOffice entry. Premium is an OpenOffice install that has all the bells, whistles and extras that you'd have to grab individually otherwise. It's pretty impressive.
John Hood's - The Best of Free Software for Business and Productivity
Mike at Carputers.net is in the business of helping people. He often writes in with a tip or two, so I decided to collect some of his wisdom on a page here. I'll continue adding to it as long as he keeps writing ...
VCW VicMan's Photo Editor is a versatile image editor with an intuitive interface and a wide variety of features. This powerful application is user friendly, offering simple image editing, high productivity and easy customization.
Tiffany writes me occasionally to tell me about her favorite websites and new freebies she tries out. Tiffany's comments are in brown.
Rabbit versus Snake
From Tiffany:
Jan 6, 2007
A Surprise Video You Will LOVE!
I almost didn't watch this video, as I was afraid the little bunny would be killed by the snake, and I refuse to watch any type of animal cruelty or suffering. But am I ever glad I decided to see "just a little more", as this turns out to be one of the best videos I've ever seen. I know you'll enjoy it and please share with your friends who love animals.
Free Games ! Free good games .NET gives you the chance of playing online flash games with no cost at all. All our arcade games are totally free and we won't charge you anything at all. To play free arcade games, just click on the picture of the arcade and wait the game to load.
It is simple and enjoying. Give our free games a try and dont forget to bookmark our page freegoodgames.net. Enjoy your stay and play the games. Thanks.
PlateWire, a public repository and electronic forum of drivers by drivers is finally here: http://www.platewire.com/ This new site is indeed one to rave about, and has already been heralded on FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS and many other news channels nationwide.
How many times have you had a "close call" due to another driver's carelessness? We've all seen instances where we wished a police car were right behind us; a road rage crazy? Someone in a hurry, cutting people off? Kids jumping around in the car with no seat belts on? A car weaving all over the road, the driver obviously under the influence? But all too often the offender drives off, never to be punished and most likely to repeat the same behavior over again, until someone gets hurt. Or killed. Now you can do something about it, and help to make our roads safer to drive on. Take down the license plate and report him/her to PlateWire. Ahhhh.... revenge is sweet!
PlateWire is a unique concept, and a much needed one at that. Thanks to TV coverage from all our major news channels, this long overdue site is already on it's way to becoming well known all over the country. I hope it will soon be famous world wide. What a great idea!
Here's a great program for sending email with the sound of your own voice, and you can do it even if you don't know how to type. I often put off sending email to friends because I have a lot to say, but not enough time to write a long letter. JDVoiceMail is a wonderful little program that will save you time and add a personal touch to all your email. You can even sing a Christmas carol to someone! I've tried TalkSender and other voice mail programs in the past, but in my opinion, JDVoiceMail beats them all. It's easy enough for a 5 year old to use, so check it out. SnapFiles gives it a 5 star rating (Excellent), and so will you, once you try it!
CC writes in so often that he deserves an entire website for all of his tips. Here is a small portion of the programs he has tried. CC's comments are in brown font.
2000+ FREEWARE LINKS
Tip from CC, January 5, 2007
CC wrote me with only this single link and the subject line was "good for at least a year". With 2385 freeware links to look through, this site will keep anyone busy for at least a year. Good call CC.
Welcome to Dubber's Computer Resources. Here you will find links in Computer Categories below that I think will be useful to you, especially if you are not too experienced with computers. Look around a little bit. You may find something that you didn't even know you were looking for.
CC wrote me with a link to this site. Not much explanation needed. Want to write your own newsletter? They sure try to make it look easy ... and sometimes it really is.
Quote from the website:
You can make Beautifully Creative Newsletters in minutes.
Quote from the website: Freeware tool Hitman Pro combines the best of both worlds to fight spyware.
Hitman Pro is a freeware tool that combines a number of powerful anti-spyware programs in one integrated solution. In nearly all anti-spyware reviews, the conclusion is that none of the anti-spyware programs removes all spyware. A combination of two programs is recommended.
This is exactly what Hitman Pro does: it combines Ad-Aware SE, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Spy Sweeper, Spyware Doctor, CWShredder, Spyware Blaster, NOD32, Sysclean package. Most of the included programs are freeware. Some of these programs are limited trial editions of commercial programs, and the user can decide to switch these off after the trial period.
Thanks to everyone who commented on the articles last week. You gave me more ideas and some good advice. If you see comments on an article, you will be missing out if you don't click on them to take a look.
If you commented last week, check to see who commented on your comment!
You need a free 2.7 GB Gmail account to access many of the cool features at Google. I'll send you an invitation right away if you write me and say I WANT GMAIL.
I think Gmail works best in the awesome Firefox browser. It's free, easy to use, and it's way more secure than Internet Explorer. My favorite thing to do is to customize Firefox so that it does much more than IE ever could. You can select new button controls for your toolbars, install extensions to add new features, or change the look of your browser with themes - the way Firefox looks and works is under your control.
Wow! Over 400 people and still growing! I invite all of you to record your locations on this map. You can include as little or as much information as you wish. I think you'll enjoy seeing yourself there.
Here's a small look at my frapper map.
Write your own review
I get many of the reviews in the newsletter from the readers. You don't have to be a genius or computer guru. Just answer a few questions and send me a review. I'll probably put you in the newsletter.
What do you have to say?
Just tell me what article you are talking about and leave me your comment.
UKs Kalendar
Quote from the website:
PlateWire, a public repository and electronic forum of drivers by drivers is finally here: 
Hi Clif,
From Clif:
Source - 
