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BOOT CAMP 213 (19/02/02)
SHAREWARE TOP TEN, part 3
In the third and final part of our brief introduction to
shareware and freeware we are looking at multimedia utilities, programs that one
way another make it easier for you to view pictures or listen to music on your
PC. Shareware and freeware are programs and utilities that you download from the
Internet or are given away on computer magazine cover-mount discs and are either
completely free or require the user to pay a modest fee after a trial period.
There’s no catch these programs are usually every bit as good as commercial
products, sometimes better, but without the frills, fancy packaging, and cost
overheads of advertising marketing and distribution.
The downloads for some of these programs are in the form of
compressed ‘Zip’ files, so you will need a decompression utility like WinZip on
your PC (download from www.winzip.com and
also the subject of next week’s Boot Camp), which will extract the files to a
folder on your PC. Most of these programs are freeware but in the case of
shareware titles, if you find them useful and want to continue using them please
pay the licence fee, it’s usually a great deal less than the cost of an
over-the-counter program.
MYALBUM, 1.7k, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT,
freeware
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/myalbum/
If you have a digital camera and unless you are very well
organised you will quickly load up your PC’s hard drive with tens of megabytes
of picture files, most of them with meaningless file names, unsorted and they
quickly become very difficult to manage. MyAlbum can easily take care of that,
it supports all common file formats and helps you to find and categorise your
photographs. MyAbum has multiple thumbnail, zoom and full screen displays, to
make image selection simple there’s a slideshow facility, you can easily rename
files, add comments or notes. In addition there’s an advanced print facility
that lets you create poster-sized pictures from multiple A4 prints.
DIGITAL CAMERA EXTENDED FILE
INFORMATION VIEWER, 240k
Windows
95/98/SE/ME/NT, freeware
http://oneilsoftware.hypermart.net/Exif/Exif.html
Most digital still cameras record a wealth of additional
information along with the image files, however this data is normally hidden
from view, and consequently few digi-cam users even know it exists. It depends
on the make and model of the camera but alongside a thumbnail sized image the
sort of information this very useful utility can reveal about a photograph
includes exposure settings, f-number, shutter speed, focal length, aperture
bias, metering mode, flash, light source, the precise time and date the picture
was taken, and a great deal more, that will be of interest to amateur and
serious photographers alike.
WINAMP, 1.83Mb, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT/2K,
freeware
http://www.winamp.com/
In spite of the many improvements made to the latest version
of the Windows Media Player (Wimp 7) many still consider Nullsoft’s WinAmp to be
the best way to hear music through your computer. WinAmp can handle virtually
all audio file formats, it has snazzy spectrum analyser and oscilloscope
displays, an advanced graphic equaliser that gives you full control over your
PC’s audio system. There’s also a sophisticated file manager and a built-in mini
browser that lets you download music, purchase CDs on-line, view pictures and
biographies of artists and download the famous ‘skins’ and ‘plug-ins that allow
you to customise the way WinAmp looks and works.
CD-DA XTRACTOR. 900k. Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT/2K,
freeware
http://xtractor.sourceforge.net/
CD-DA Xtractor is known in the trade as a ‘Ripper’. Its
purpose is simply to convert the digital audio data on an audio CD – played in
your computer’s CD-ROM drive -- into a file format that can be stored and played
on your PC. CD-DA Xtractor converts audio CDs to the two most common file MP3
and Wav formats (as well as the new and exotic Ogg Vorbis format...) The program
is fast, free and easy to use and just the job for creating your own music
library from your album collection.
MP3 CD BURNER, 1.3Mb, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT/2K,
shareware
http://www.cdburner.com/
Downloading MP3 music files from the Internet so you can play
them on your PC is all well and good but what happens if you want to listen to
those tunes on your living-room hi-fi, personal CD player, or the CD player in
the car? That’s no problem if your PC has a CD Writer, and this very easy to use
program. MP3 CD Burner converts music files on your PC – not just MP3 files by
the way – into CD-Audio data, that’s compatible with any standard audio CD
player. It works in conjunction with your CD writer, optimising the files and if
required, carrying out a ‘test and burn’ before finally creating your own
compilation albums. The shareware version has limited functionality and will
only burn up to ten discs but registration, which unlocks the full program is
fast and cheap (around £13).
Next week – file zipping
JARGON FILTER
MP3
Motion Picture Experts Group audio layer 3 -- digital audio
compression system commonly used to send files containing audio and music over
the Internet
PLUG-IN
A data file that extends the capability or adds extra
features to a program or application
SKIN
Essentially the visual appearance of a computer program – the
cosmetics, colour, shape and layout of graphical elements like buttons, menus
and dialogue boxes etc. A growing number of programs allow the skin to be
changed -- like the cover of a mobile phone -- to reflect the users mood or
personality
TOP TIP
Speaking of Plug-Ins (see Jargon Filter), here’s one for
WinAmp, and it’s also available as a stand alone program. G-Force works a bit
like the ‘Visualisations’ in Windows Media Play 7, except that the pictures and
patterns it generates, in time with the music, are about a hundred times more
dazzling and colourful
2.1Mb, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT/2K,
freeware
http://www.55ware.com/gforce/
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