Do You Use Free File Archive Programs? I.E. 7-Zip

Revisions:
12-30-12: Initial release.

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The other day I was watching a video tutorial my friend was using about how to install custom maps for Call of Duty: World at War. During the video, he was showing the user how to extract these map files from a .rar file, and I noticed that he was using an expired version of the WinRAR shareware version.

It was past the 30 days limit, and it had that annoying nagging screen that prompts you to register/buy the program, otherwise it keeps on nagging you forever.

Puzo.org – Great Forum for Knowledge

Revisions:
5-10-11: Initial release.

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Every now and then, I get a user who keeps on asking me if I know of any “great” forums for them to expand their knowledge.  Because as we all know, sometimes the best kept secret cannot be found on a regular website, but has to be found in the underground like in some discreet IRC room or perhaps a forum in which no one knows exist.

The biggest problem I see myself is how does a person even know how to find a particular forum, let alone randomly search for it?  Today I bring to you a small piece of knowledge that I gained over the years. I don’t remember how I found this forum, but it was another fellow Internet user that made me stumble across it, and this was back in 2004 era. 😛

I bring to you Puzo.org, which is a forum of miscellaneous knowledge. If you are looking for specific links to quench your need, they got it there. Any type of media you are looking for might be found at this website. Granted, I haven’t had an itch to visit a forum like this because many of the links you will find are rapidshare, mediafire, or other similar type sites. Still, I know some people are blocked from torrents, so a forum like this could be helpful in their quest.

So if you are looking for a new forum to brush up on some knowledge, or the places you are currently subscribe continue to suck, then look no further than Puzo.org. Let me know what you think about it! Thanks!

Auto Shutdown Your PC Using Freeware App AMP WinOFF

Revisions:
9-7-10: Initial release.

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I love to save power on my PC. In fact, I am probably one of those green tech users that turn off the computer when they are not in use. Therefore, it is no surprise that when I have a computer idling, I feel it is being put to waste.

I have a great application that I use for almost a 4+ years now and that is AMP WinOFF. This is a great freeware utility that you can use to shut down your PC based on specific criterion.  For example, let’s say that I am encoding a movie.  When I encode a movie, I know it takes about 99 to 100% of my CPU usage.  The sad part is once the encode is done, my computer just sits there upon hours and hours until I come back and make use of it.

[How to] Configure and Use Jing Screen Capture Software

Introduction:

If you’re making a video tutorial about a software program, you are probably going to need a screen recorder to make it professional.  What if you’re writing a text tutorial?  If it’s all text, the reader will have a hard time making sense of it, so you’ll want to include some screen capture images, right?

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A friend told me about Jing, which is a free screen capture program.  It can record videos and still images of your computer screen.  Click here to get Jing.

Nation States: A very simple but fun online political simulation game

[Note: This review was written by Adrian, the Freeware Elite. Visit his tech blog at: Freeware Elite.com]

Version Tested: 1.0 (final version)

Description: NationStates is an online political simulation game that is totally free, unlike Soccer Manager in which you can buy gold accounts. You can create different nations with strange prefixes (Republic, Dominion, People’s Republic, Most Serene Kingdom, etc.) and manage them through your browser.

There is also something called the World Assembly, which is similar to the United Nations, but has a whole lot more countries (around 11000) and different “regions” which can be freely chosen. However, the World Assembly membership is totally voluntary. Here are some more notes on this online game:

[How To] Use and Install Windows XP In VirtualBox

Revisions:
5-6-09: Initial update.

5-7-09:  Added pictures, and additional formatting to the article.

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Did you know that you can run a virtual machine, such that you can run say Windows XP inside of Windows XP? Not ready to install Linux on a separate partition and go dual boot? No problem! Install it in VirtualBox!

VirtualBox is an open source, and freeware application that lets the user to do virtual machines easily and painlessly. This is great if you are a developer and want to develop programs for other operating systems, or perhaps testing a program you are not willing to install on your main HOST operating system.

Since the virtual machine is independent of the HOST operating system, you will be able to transport the virtual machine easily from one PC to the next thanks to the portable hard drive system.

Installing VirtualBox

First of all, you need to download VirtualBox.  You can get it from their website at www.virtualbox.org

Once you have downloaded the appropriate version for Windows, you can install it, as shown in the following screenshots below:

Click next, and you will get to the screen as shown below:

Make sure to have both VirtualBox USB Support enabled as well as the VirtualBox Networking so you can use the usb and networking within your virtual machine.

[How To] Disable Antivir Antivirus Personal Update Pop-Up Nag Screen

Revision

5-4-09:  Initial release

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Do you like to use freeware programs? Well, I do too and lately I am using Antivir Antivirus Personal, which is a freeware antivirus program. It works great, and is low on resource usage. The only real issue I have with it so far in the free version is that if you try to update, there is a pop up window that bugs you to buy teh full version.

Well, after some research, I figured out how to do it, and its pretty easy. Here are the steps below for Windows XP.

1. Start-> Control Panel
2. Administrative tools-> Local security policy
3. Click on Software Restriction Policy-> Action (at the top)-> Create New Restriction Policies
4. Right-click additional rules (on the right side)-> New Path Rule
5. Click Browse and navigate to C:\Program Files\(Avira)\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\ and double-click
avnotify.exe
6. Set the security level to Disallowed-> Apply-> OK

That is it! If you are using any other operating system, then go to this guide here.

Or better yet, if you want a video, I have that too!

Wasn’t that easy?

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Open source, Freeware game – Warsow

Who’s a fan of free stuff? All of you? Thought so.

Recently I discovered an awesome freeware game, Warsow. This breakneck-paced game was made using heavily modified version of the Quake II engine. To me, its cel-shaded graphics and fast, smooth gameplay is PC gaming boiled down to the very basics. Warsow will run at 90 frames a second on nearly any computer worth playing games on, and look awesome.

If you decide to try out Warsow, make sure you take a look at the movement school tutorials at the top of their website. Features have been implemented into the game that allow the player to move incredibly fast by strafe jumping and bunny hopping. These features are unique to Warsow, and although I have seen the principle in other games, Warsow simplifies the process by taking out the need for precise timing.

So let’s see. It’s free, it’s cel-shaded (looks great), it’s open source, it’s fast, it’s fun, and incredibly customizable. If you’re in the mood for some new old-school fast-paced shooter action, or Quake 3 lost its appeal years ago, check out Warsow. You won’t be dissapointed.

www.Warsow.net

skitzo

Seven Free Alternatives to Nero Burning Rom

Don’t get me wrong, Nero is one of the best CD/DVD programs out there.  However, ever since 5.0, Nero has always been bloated with extra features.  Whenever I install Nero, I basically uncheck everything and only need Nero Express/Nero Burning Rom.  Everything else I can care less. 

Now there are Nero lite packages available on torrents that basically take Nero and strip it down to its bare components.  Guess how large these download packages are?  Try 80 megs.  I scoff at this file size.  Thus, here is an alternative list of CD/DVD recording programs, and the best part they are free!

1) CDBurner XP

2) InfraRecorder

3) DeepBurner

4) Ultimate CD/DVD Burner

5) Burn at Once

6) Burn Aware Free Edition

7) ImgBurn

Now I’m not a douche bag, so I am going to quote you the source of my 7 free alternatives from this other blog.  Enjoy!

Source

[Software] Spybot Search & Destroy

Are you looking for ways to clean up your computer? As you surf the Internet, you are prone to downloading Trojans, viruses, adverts, cookies, and just a bunch of other random Internet junk. Spybot helps clean your computer of spam, well at least most of it. This is what the website has to say for itself:

Spybot – Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behavior to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven’t intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been “hijacked” (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don’t see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there’s no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.

The best part about this program it is easy to use, uses minimal system resources, and its free! What more can you ask for? Check it out here.