Have you ever thought about starting a blog about a subject that interests you? A lot of people like the idea in theory, but writing posts regularly is not easy to keep up. What if instead you could write the occasional opinion piece and simply add related articles from other sites and blogs to your site as you go? That, in a nutshell, is what Scoop.it allows you to do.

Scoop.it is a cross between a blogging platform and a web clipping application. It is a powerful tool that allows you to create a site consisting of selected articles on any subject, in the same way that you might curate a group show of paintings where only some (or none) of the works are your own. The free version, moreover, is ad-free.

First off let’s get one thing straight about Scoop.it: we are NOT talking about plagiarizing content. While the illustrative thumbnail and excerpt may be copied verbatim, Scoop.it will link and send readers to the actual article or blog, such that content creators will be grateful for the publicity. (It was that, in fact, which lead me to discover this service in the first place, as some users where linking to Freewaregenius articles).

To test this service I created my own Scoop.It site; you can check it out here (warning: political content).

PROS: 6 things I like about this service:

1. So easy to add content: via the use of a bookmarklet placed on your browser toolbar, you can be reading or browsing an article and quickly add it to your site in a single click (see screenshot below).

There’s even an iPhone app that you can use to add articles on the go.

2. So easy to edit your site: and is in fact performed straight on the site itself, not in an admin/dashboard/backend section. If you’re logged in you can change the text, the thumbnail, tags, location on page, etc. straight away via drag and drop.

The screenshot below, for example, shows how changing the size and location of the thumbnail image is done, completely via pointing and clicking. The buttons towards the bottom enable you to perform various other editing functions.

3. No ads in the free version: at least not at the time this review is being written. Their monetization strategy seems to involve charging for ‘premium’ subscriptions, more advanced analytics, and the ability to add your own brand and/or custom URL to the site (see differences between free and paid plans here).

4. Users can suggest content: that they feel might fit with your site, which you as the ‘curator’ can choose to accept or not.

5. Broadcastable: via RSS (find the tiny green RSS icon to the right of your site’s slogan), or via widgets that you could add to other sites.

6. It looks pretty darn good: and in fact is customizable to a good extent, although less so in the free version than the paid versions.

Wish list: two features that would make the FREE version of this service even better:

1. A better looking URL address: as things are, Scoop.It provides a URL that looks like this (scoop.it/t/site-name-here). It would be better if (scoop.it/site-name) was possible, or a subdomain such as (site-name.scoop.it). I know that part of the attraction of paid plans is control over the URL, but I would consider paying a one time fee to get a scoop.it subdomain. In the meanwhile, TinyURL allows you to get a redirectable URL that looks like this (Tinyurl.com/site-name) provided it is available, and that might be easier to distribute and for people to memorize.

2. The ability to restrict access via a password: such that your site might serve as a private space for you or a tight knit group of people, without being broadcast to the world at large.

The verdict: an excellent service. So polished and well constructed, so easy to start, and thereafter easy to maintain and keep going. It has an addictive quality to it and for those who are interested in any topic, can be an extremely useful tool.

Go here to sign p.

Berta is a great, open source web building application, also called a CMS (Content Management System). It costs nothing, is loaded with features and options, and is very user friendly. The pages you build with Berta can be used on pretty much any domain, and unlike some other ‘free’ CMS apps, they do not require you to sign up for hosting or domain services through them (although it does offer these services as options).

Berta is noteworthy in that designing and editing is largely based on dragging and dropping and clicking elements to edit them. Moreover, it is CMS without the need to run a database; all data is stored in files .

There’s a ton of decent programs out there for building and managing websites, but Berta manages to make a run for the winner’s circle by offering simplicity, power, and customization. All of this, and at no cost, makes Berta  a great choice for both experienced and beginner website builders. When you first go to the Berta site, you’ll be offered the choice of either signing up to create your site online, or to download the Berta application and create your site locally on your computer, for use on your own domain. Both of these options have their pros and cons, but for the sake of this article, I went with the sign up option.

The big difference between the two options is what you intend to do with your site once it is built. If you do not own a domain name and/or you are not familiar with manually setting up websites on specific domains, you may want to go with the sign up option. The download option is recommended (both by Berta and myself) for those who are more experienced with the whole process of building a site, maintaining it, etc. Both options will have you up and running, creating your new site in minutes (although, if you’re anything like me, you’ll need at least a day or two to fiddle with options and customization) and be ready to have it published to the net. If you chose the download option, publishing is up to you. If you chose the sign up option, your site will be published as a Beta test site, with full functionality, and will stay up in that manner for 30 days. During that period, you can explore all the different ways that Berta offers to make creation and maintenance of your site easy and fast. Once that period is over, you can publish the saved site on your own if you like or you can choose to sign up for hosting and domain services, or even turn your page into an online store, through Berta. These services have a cost, but they are not required to use Berta for creation and maintenance. They are a great way to help new site owners and builders get things going quickly and easily.

Once you’ve decided which way you plan to go with your site, you can jump in and start creating, editing, tweaking and customizing you site to your heart’s content. Berta is not only a CMS but it is also, in a way, a tutorial (they call it a tour) in and of itself, as it leads you step by step through the process of creation. Unlike other CMS programs, Berta offers you the option to align your content on a grid, which will make everything nice and neat with squared-off edges and corners, or you can just place anything haphazardly anywhere you like on the page and keep it there. This is an ideal feature for artists and those who want to build a site showcasing their portfolios and talents. You can move anything on any page anywhere any time. This kind of freedom is less than common in most CMS programs I have used so I was personally impressed with the concept as well as how easy it was to actually use. Also, Berta does not require SQL or any other database program because all the data it needs is stored dynamically in the files it uses to build and publish the site.

In addition to the features mentioned already, Berta also offers pretty much all the same ‘standard’ options and features of a decent CMS like being able to use multiple fonts per page, having many different templates and pre-made styles available, as well as a fairly robust help system in case you get stuck or need help. When I had a question that I wasn’t able to find an answer for in the help pages, I got an email response in less than 4 hours to my question, which answered it quite well and politely. This kind of ‘customer service’ is also less than common with most freeware programs, and really shows the dedication of the developers and support staff to making this a great program. Combine all of this with the fact that Berta is an open-source program, which means that the savvy coder can make his or her own changes to the actual ‘source code’ (basic programming) of Berta, and this is one of the most powerful CMS programs I have seen with a zero price tag.

It’s worth noting as well, that the online version of Berta, which allows you to create and host the 30 day ‘beta’ or ‘test’ version of your site will run on nearly any browser. The downloadable version, however, has some limitations on what it will run on. According to their website: “BERTA is a free content management system (CMS) created for anybody who wants to show their work online. BERTA is perfectly suited for portfolios of visual content (images and videos). The public part of BERTA works in all major browsers and does not require flash. The private part, where the content editing takes place, should be used with Safari 3+ or Mozilla Firefox 3+, as it hasn’t been tested in other browsers. A flash player 9+ ir necessary for advanced file uploading features. Server requirements: PHP 5 with GD (for image resizing) and multibyte (unicode strings) support Preferably Apache webserver, but any other will do BERTA does NOT require a database. All data are stored in files on the server.”

You will notice from the screenshots here that the interface for Berta is smooth and clean, without a lot of fancy un-needed graphics and menu bars to add flashiness to it. This is a great thing, in my opinion as it allows you to concentrate on the design of your site itself, rather than being distracted or confused by the interface. In conclusion, I found Berta to be a great, free content management system as well as a good place to start for beginners who want to build their own site. Until next time, my friends!

[Thanks to reader Panzer for the tip about this software]

Check out Berta here. (We’ve noticed the site behaving strangely lately, and perhaps more strangely outside of the US; hopefully things have been sorted out as you read this).

Neverball is a simple free game that puts you in the driver’s seat of a large sphere, with the aim of getting it into a bull’s-eye target. But there’s a twist — instead of having control of your sphere, you actually control the environment. By tilting the world one way or another, you’ll roll your Neverball around, collecting coins and hitting targets to progress, and learning advanced techniques for things like jumping and banking.

Remember the old labyrinth games where you had a tiny ball bearing in a plastic maze and you had to tilt the maze this way and that in your hands to get the ball to roll through the maze to some ambiguous target? Well, like all good things from play time in our childhoods, that has been digitized as well. Loosely based on the underground hit “Monkey Ball,” Neverball brings you that same type of game, but on your PC and in the form of freeware. Neverball is a very small program to install, and takes up hardly any resources while it is running so it’s an excellent choice for budget gamers both because of the zero price tag and the low gpu requirements. I tested it on a midrange office laptop and had no trouble getting a solid 30-40 frames per second in the highest resolutions.

The aim of Neverball is simple, and so are the controls, but what you can do with them is far more impressive. As you progress through the seemingly endless list of levels, you’ll eventually begin to learn advanced techniques like jumping the sphere over small areas or more sophisticated banking methods to gain greater speed. Each level will present a unique challenge in the form of obstacles you will need to roll over, around, through, and under to reach your eventual goal. While rolling around, you’ll pick up coins by touching them and you can use those coins later in the game to unlock new levels and other goodies.

There is also a level editor available for Neverball, which will let you design and compile your own levels but it can be an involved and time consuming process so don’t plan on making a new world overnight. For those with the dedication and desire, however, the editor and the community of creators will offer even more in the way of longevity enjoying this game. I thought, at first, that it might be nice to see a multiplayer mode, but the developers have pointed out that they haven’t been able to work out how to do so, with two people controlling the floor it would be stalemate or chaos every time. One wonders if they have seen Futurama’s solution to this issue (one player controls the x axis and the other the y axis) but even with this small disappointment, Neverball is a superb freeware game and will offer you many wasted hours of your life rolling that thing around.

Neverputt

Packaged as a bonus with Neverball is Neverputt. This is a simple mini golf game based on the code for Neverball. Instead of tilting the floor, however, you’re in direct control of an invisible putter, controlled by the mouse. This bonus game seemed less than exciting at first but after playing two holes I was hooked. Neverball and Neverputt do not allow you any real camera control, so the added challenge of being forced into one view makes the game more exciting than it should be. This decision was a bit gutsy on the part of the developers, as it could have turned out to just be a frustration, but it is implemented well enough that it adds to the challenge and enjoyment, rather than being a hindrance. What would a mini golf game be without multiplayer? Not much. Fortunately, Neverputt has a hot seat multiplayer option so you can play with up to three friends. Hot seat multiplayer games are a great way to interact with those real life friends that come over to take your last soda from the fridge without asking.

Casual games like Neverball are becoming all the rage among PC gamers, and are quickly gaining a major following in the world of Freeware in general. Personally, I feel that games like this can really have an impact in making sure that, rather than dying, PC gaming evolves and becomes something new and better than it was before. I have said again and again that you don’t have to spend a dime to have a good time playing a game on your PC and Neverball along with Neverputt are perfect examples of why I am right. So, I recommend you try Neverball, but I also recommend you bring some Dramamine. I haven’t been this dizzy from a game since Mirror’s Edge.

Until next time, my friends!

Compatibility: Linux, Win2K/XP, FreeBSD, and Mac OSX. Hardware accelerated OpenGL is required. A 500MHz processor is recommended.

Get Neverball and Neverputt here.

Ever wanted to create fake newspaper clippings that delivered a certain message or showcased certain points of view? I didn’t think so either; however, if you are looking for a fun, humorous way to say something, try “Newspaper Clipping Generator”, a free web app that lets you create fake newspaper clippings like the one shown here quickly and easily. (Click on the image on the right to see what your message will look like.)

“Newspaper Clipping Generator” will let you customize all the content on the page: the name of the journal, the date, the headline, and the text itself. You can download the image as a JPG for use in emails, Facebook, etc.

Check it out here.

Free screenshot capture software run the gamut from the most simple and perfunctory to sophisticated programs rich in features and functions. Screenshot Captor belongs in the latter category, and is without a doubt the most complex and advanced free program of it’s kind.

This program is not new and in fact has has been around for a long time; however, a recent update added a slew of interesting features, such as perfect capture of Windows 7 partial transparency effects and a good scrolling capture tool for capturing entire websites. Other features include a powerful editor for image annotation, watermarking as well as the application of a slew of post-capture effects, multi-monitor support, repeat last capture, uploading to file sharing services, and others.

This program has everything you would expect from an advanced screenshot program, such as grabbing active window/ selected region/ windows object, keyboard hotkeys, etc., and many things that you wouldn’t. There are some features such as uploading to file sharing services which I don’t particularly care about. Below are some PROS and CONS which will cover the most noteworthy features.

PROS: Things I like about this program:

1. The ability to repeat the last capture, because I use it frequently. Sounds like one of the simplest and most obvious functions to have, but only 2 or 3 free screenshot capture programs offer this, and Screenshot Captor is one of them.
2. The ability to delay capture by x number of seconds: another hallmark of a good screenshot program. It is also extremely useful and in many cases the only way to actually grab the screenshot you need. You can request this in Screenshot Captor’s options (in pre-capture options). You can also request timed auto-capture screengrabs if you want.
3. Capturing scrolling Windows (for example to grab entire websites or documents rather than the top visible section). A handful of freeware screenshot programs offer this, but in Windows 7 using Chrome I have found they mostly do NOT do a good job. Screenshot Captor claims to have one of the best tools around to do this. This may be the case, but I will say that it can be somewhat complicated and may require a string of experiments before you get a perfect grab. A winning feature nonetheless (for a tutorial, see this page).
4. Good capture of Windows 7 transparency: in ‘grab active window’, although by default it will strip any background from the screenshot and use a white background with a black margin around the screenshot. This can be changed in preferences/Window capturing 1 and then changing the value of the margin around the window.
5. Auto selection of foreground windows, which it does when performing a screengrab, and makes it easy to apply some of the effects nicely, such as dimming or blurring the background or highlighting the foreground, etc.
6. The editor: once you’ve snapped your image, Screenshot Captor is remarkable in terms of what you can do with it, including background blurring, quick shadows, annotation, highlighting, applying watermarks, applying clip art, etc. I am usually in favor of a having pure screenshot taking app and using an external editor to modify the output; the editor in Screenshot Captor, however, is in a league of its own.
7. The interface: given that this is a complex program with a lot of features, they generally did a good job with the  interface design (see the screenshots above). Little touches here and there enhance the user experience (see screenshot below).
8. It is constantly being improved and developed: and remains free (donationware actually).

CONS: Things I do not like about this program:

1. Missing: a zooming/magnifying glass displaythan can deliver a large pixel-sized detail of the cursor position when grabbing a selected region. This is something that I find crucial for fine ‘selected region’ screenshots, and that many good free screenshot capture programs miss. Unfortunately Screenshot Capture is one of them. Of course, you could always over-capture the screenshot area and finesse it later in the editor section, but you shouldn’t have to. A pity.
2. The user experience is a tad too complex:  which might seem like it runs contrary to my praise of the interface – #7in PROS section above (It does).  However, the editor and preferences section are a bit too cluttered and hard to navigate. This program is the best free screenshot taking program out there, and I am convinced that the interface could be better. Or I am being a picky reviewer, which is possible.
3. You have to register with DonationCoder and get a free registration key, updated every 6 months. Which is not really a big deal, since we love DonationCoder.

The verdict: there are two or three free screenshot taking apps that are the best (PicPick comes to mind); but Screenshot Captor is undoubtedly the leader of the pack.

It may not be everyone’s first choice, though, precisely because it is so feature rich. I have been known, for example, to recommend the last freeware version of Faststone Capture to, for example, coworkers or family members who are not very computer savvy, and who just want something simple and good.

But, like I said, if you are looking for the best in class, get ‘Screenshot Captor’.

Version tested: 3.00.01

Compatibility: Win9x/2k/XP/VISTA/Win7

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (~7.87 megs). You will have to register with DonationCoder and get a free serial number.

Do you have a lot of photographs of buildings or landscapes? If so, read on, because this program can potentially make these a lot prettier and more intuitively appealing with the click of a single button.

Converging lines in photographs, especially architectural photographs or those of vertical structures, are a common fault caused by an angled vantage point at the time of taking a picture. Repairing this glitch, for many photographers (esp. architectural photographers) involves spending hours on Photoshop trying to fix it. Alternately, this free program can apply a fix in a single click, saving hours of manual editing, and allowing for the quick processing of many images in a very short period of time.

How to use: simply load your picture and process via ‘automatic correction’, which should do it. Otherwise you could use ‘adjust correction’ to manually fiddle with the settings a little bit. As simple as that.

There is a slight price to pay, however: your resulting image will be slightly cropped, which is unavoidable. See the examples on this page.

Examples: (all processed using automatic correction)

Before	After ShiftN

The verdict: a wonderful little program, and remarkably fast (it will utilize multiple processors if present). It might have a marginally small audience, but for those of us who have a lot of architectural photography and who can use it, it is simply a gem. (See the ShiftN Flickr group here).

Version tested: 3.6

Compatibility: Windows All. Download the appropriate version for your OS.

Go to the program page to download (~approx. 5.66 megs for the Windows 7 version).

1916 is a gruesome re-imagining of the horrors of World War I, with dinosaurs! The game features some really great, moody graphics, excellent sound, exciting gameplay, and a first-person perspective. All that and the fact that it is entirely free make 1916 a definite winner.

Imagine how awful it must have been to live through World War I, how horrific it must have been to be in one of those trenches far out in the battlefield. Imagine waking up in one of those trenches with nothing other than your wits and the knowledge that somewhere around is a way out. You stumble through the wet, cold trenches, your breathing harsh and labored with fear and stress. Everything has a surreal, nightmarish cast to it as explosions and screams can be heard nearby and in the distance. You take a turn and see a trench just like the one you just came from. You’re lost and alone and dead soldiers are everywhere. Just when you start to get ahold of yourself, suddenly a big, toothy, slavering dinosaur is trying to eat you!

This is the experience of playing 1916, and it is a truly fun and refreshingly original take on an old favorite, the First Person Shooter (FPS). They call 1916 a First Person Avoider instead, and the name is appropriate, given that much of your time spent in the game will consist of running for your life from various enemies. However, 1916 is about more than just running away and trying not to be found. There will be many moments in the game where you will have to use your brains as well as your reflexes, to solve puzzles or progress beyond a specific area. Beware, though, because getting away from one threat can often lead you straight into the jaws of another! 1916 is more about fun and frenzy than it is about being historically accurate, but even so, it still manages to bring a terrible time in history to life in a unique way.

The graphics for 1916 are pretty simple, considering today’s modern gaming platforms. When compared to something like Crysis, 1916 looks like an underdone turnover that should have been left in the oven longer. But the stylized graphics in 1916 are there for a reason, and they are perfect for the mood the developers work to create. The film grain effect that pervades everything, the shaky nature of the camera, even the way the white balance of the camera are all meant to instill the sense of not just watching an old WWI film, but actually taking part in one. It’s subtle, and quite well done. Without the specific feel and mood of the graphics, with gruesome things like corpses that you can dismember, and the flash of bombs and grenades at unexpected moments, the game wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. The graphics may not have the sophistication of Crysis, but it’s got the right tone for what it is.

The sound and soundtrack are as good as the graphics, and for the same reasons. Very appropriate to the genre of the game, as well as the era it takes place in, the music in the game is subtle and doesn’t feel intrusive at all. The music changes and heightens at times, when specific things are happening in the game. The sound effects are just as haunting and well-produced, with screams and explosions in the background as well as much closer. The sounds of boots squelching in the mud, or the disgusting rip of flesh as it’s being torn from a corpse, all are done very well and pretty realistically.

The gameplay is where 1916 really shines, however.At first glance, it may seem like a simple maze game with some creepy overtones. You’ll start out as a lonely soldier in the trenches with nothing at all but your life and your hands. As you move through the game, however, you’ll discover different things and places you can interact with, like flares for dark areas or corpses to help you get past another enemy. Every challenge presented does have a solution nearby, but the catch is that sometimes the solution is to run for your life. That fact, combined with the fact that you can realistically only take a small amount of damage before ‘dying’ and being forced back to the beginning of the level, make for some pretty tense moments in this game.

Overall, 1916 is a great, polished game that looks like it came out of a big name studio, but costs nothing. It is a great example of what freeware can accomplish when the developers care about the quality and concept of the software they produce. 1916 is available to download and play on Mac and Windows, and is also available as a browser game for most popular internet browsers

Play 1916 for PC or Mac here.

Have you ever tried keeping a journal? It’s a nice idea, but most folks who give it a try usually wind up dropping it after a while. Like everything worthwhile, sticking with it is not easy, and that’s where OhLife can help. OhLife is a free online journaling program designed to motivate you and keep your journaling activity up to date and on track. It does so by sending you regular emails asking about your day, and maintains your journal or diary online, privately accessible to you anytime and anywhere.

OhLife works through email. The major problem that most people have with keeping a diary or a journal is in two basic parts. First, most people find they have trouble making entries on a regular basis, leaving large gaps in their personal history that can make the whole thread of their life story seem much thinner. This usually leads to a loss of motivation to keep the journal and it gets dropped, either on purpose or just through inaction and lack of attention.

The other big challenge most of us face when trying to keep a journal is also known as writer’s block. When you decide to keep a journal, you may go to great lengths to set up a system that makes you comfortable. Some people go out and buy a special blank book to record their thoughts in, or buy a special pen to write them with. Others may go out and spend tons of money on a fancy computer program that offers you options for making photo albums and adding captions to them. All this is great, as far as it goes, but when they sit down to actually write something in their journal, that blank page stares back at them and nothing comes to mind to put on it.

OhLife combats both of those problems, and few others as well. When you sign up for OhLife, you’ll be jumping right in and getting started with your first entry in less time than it takes to make toast. OhLife works in three basic steps. Step one, they send you an email every day asking you a topical question about your life, like “How was your day?” which helps to get your creative juices flowing. It helps to have a question to answer, an outside source for topics of your journal entries, rather than just staring at a blank page and trying to think of something profound to write.

Step two is up to you. Once you receive your email for the day with your topic or question in it, you’ll reply to that email with your journal entry. It can be as long or as short as you want, say anything or nothing, it’s up to you. You can also attach one photo file of .jpg, .gif or .png format for each journal entry. This isn’t a scrapbooking program so it limits you to one photo per entry, but it is still a great option to have for a journal in the 21st century. Once you have finished your journal entry, you simply hit send and the email is converted to OhLife’s simple journal format, and stored on their servers for you.

Step three is editing. You’ll be able to go to the website and log in, and view or edit any of your entries ever made and stored on the site. You can add or remove a photo file from each entry as well as edit the text. That’s really all there is to it! OhLife is simple in concept but powerful in implementation. I have been keeping journals on my own for more years than I can count and looking back I sure wish I had something like OhLife to guide me and keep me motivated to make more entries. Best of all, it’s totally free!

OhLife’s web page, once you have signed up and logged in, will allow you to change the setting for when you get emailed, as well. Normally, they send the emails to you in the evening, but you can change the time to anything from 7am to 11pm in whatever time zone you like. Also, the settings page will allow you to check or uncheck the option to have a random entry of your journal included as part of your daily emails. If selected, this means that when OhLife sends you your daily email to write an entry, they will also include the text and photo of a randomly chosen entry that you have previously written. This can be a great motivator as well as a good jump-start to your creative process as well. You can also change the frequency that emails are sent to you, from daily, weekly, or never(for some reason).

OhLife is a journal’s best friend. There’s tons of potential here and I am very excited to see where the developers ultimately decide to go with this program. I would like to see some connections and options for social networking like being able to share entries on Facebook if you like. Currently, the only real way to share your entries is via screenshot or copy/paste, excluding forwarding emails. You could always give your password to someone you want to share your entries with, but I would never recommend it. Another nice idea would be a mobile app, since everything that’s worth anything has one these days, but since OhLife works through email, it is already technically accessible via Android or iPhone.

Even if nothing changes about OhLife in the future, however, I will be using it for a long time to come. Until next time my friends!

[Thanks go to reader Panzer for the tip about this service].

Sign up for OhLife here.

Air Playit is a handy little free program that allows you to stream videos and music from your home computer to your Android or iOS mobile device. It features such smart options as on-the-fly conversion, support for multiple file formats, and built-in HTTP support, along with support for Apple’s proprietary TV-Out system. As it progresses beyond the Beta testing phase and continues to develop further, we can expect Air Playit to turn into a really solid and easy solution for mobile streaming of your media collection.

Today’s watchword is mobile. Everything is mobile, from collapsible drinking cups to tablet PCs the size of a paperback novel. The electronics industry, in particular, has always had a predilection for making things more mobile, smaller, easier to carry around. We carry our entire lives in our cell phones, it seems, and everything is so free and unattached now that it’s a wonder we ever go home at all! Air Playit takes that evolution of mobility right where you’d hope, by bringing your home collection of media to your mobile device, for free!

Air Playit is made up of two parts: The server program, which runs on your PC or Mac at home, and the mobile application (guess where that runs). The idea is the have your media collection easy to access and stream it to your phone. While the idea and the actual usage are very simple, the program is actually a wealth of options. This is not the only solution out there for streaming home media to your mobile, by any means, but it does stand out as one of the better ones, in my opinion. The main reason for that is because of the aforementioned options, and I will touch on just a few of the most notable ones in this article.

First off, Air Playit has a built-in system of conversion for your streaming needs. Let’s say you want to watch a scene from your favorite movie, and you own a digital copy of it on your home PC, but you’re out and about with nothing but your Android or iPhone. With the Airplayit server installed on the PC (or Mac) at home, and the app on your mobile, Airplayit will let you select that movie, and immediately begin converting it to mobile format and subsequently begin streaming it live to your mobile. This is an option not found in all the other programs of this type. With many of them (most, really) you have to convert the video (or audio) files yourself ahead of time. This can be done either manually with a third party program, or automatically within the program of your choice, but to have it done on the fly, while actually streaming the video to your mobile, is a rare and long-overdue feature that cuts out that extra prep-time.

Secondly, you’ll find that Air Playit supports multiple different file formats for on-the-fly conversion. In addition to the older, most common formats like .avi, .mp4 or .wmv, Airplayit supports many of the less common but up-and-coming file formats that are beginning to be far more common, like AIFF or MKV (very popular now) and others. Additionally, with Airplayit’s Offline Manager, you can have these files converted to use on your mobile while you’re asleep or at work, and when they are done you can transfer them via USB cable (or your favorite method) to your mobile and watch them whenever you want where ever you may be, without using wi-fi or 3g/4g or any other ‘data minutes’ on the mobile.  This means that with Air Playit you are covered whether you want to convert and stream on the spur of the moment, or if you want to convert them ahead of time and keep them on your mobile. The only disadvantage to keeping them on your mobile would be storage space. If your mobile hasn’t got the available empty storage space either on it’s SDmicro card or within the internal memory, then streaming will be your only option.

Lastly, Air Playit has a couple of great functions built-in that make the whole process a snap. At the time of this posting, Airplayit has two extra options for your server side needs beyond just simply offering a passive host. The first is the proprietary technology known simply as “Apple TV-Out” which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s Apple’s attempt at making a version of USB that works only with and for Apple products. If your mobile device and your television have the technology, you can stream video from your PC to your mobile, and then from the mobile it will show up on the television. This means you basically have your entire collection of media, both video and audio, available to watch anytime on the go, as long as the Apple TV-Out is available for your devices. For those without, however, you still have the option to stream from your PC to your mobile and watch that way, using the built-in HTTP Server program within Airplayit.

Overall, I found the current Beta of Air Playit to be quite functional, easy to use, and effective. The only real downside to the Android version was that it is available as an .apk file which means you’ll need to download it and an external installation program, if you’re not already familiar with installing .apk files. The good news is that they will have an installation link in the Android Market soon so you won’t need to install the .apk file manually after that. I used Easy Installer for it, which works great and can be removed from your Android after using it to install any .apk files you may have, and it’s free.

The quality of the streaming itself was outstanding. Out of about 40 different files I tried streaming, I found less than a handful that gave me any trouble, and most of those could be chalked up to errors in the original conversion of the files, rather than anything to do with Air Playit specifically. Air Playit also has tons of other features, like parental controls, hardware encoding with CUDA support, automatic library creation and management, and even an option to power off your home computer via the mobile app. So, bearing in mind that we have looked at just a few of the great features offered in Air Playit , I think this is going to turn into a major contender for the title of ‘best video utility’ in the realm of mobile streaming, so give it a look and tell me what you think!

Until next time, my friends.

Air Playit home page; Windows version here; Mac version here. iPhone & iPod app here; iPad app here;  Android app here. Get Easy Installer (to install the .apk for Air Playit onto your Android) here.

 ooVoo is an instant messaging, chat, and video conferencing solution with a ton of great features, at no cost.  While there are lots of messaging programs out there, and no shortage of new contenders for the heavyweight title of ‘Best Multi-Messaging Program”, ooVoo wants to be the ultimate comprehensive package to stay in touch with friends, family, and business contacts. Packed with features, and a fast growing user base, ooVoo is getting full points in the preliminary rounds. Compared to other programs like it, ooVoo stands up and gives as well as it gets, offering mobile video calls and remote desktop sharing as well.

ooVoo is a program that advertises itself as the ultimate in multi-platform messaging services, and like the rest of them, offers plenty of premium services and packages along with their basic free service. I have been hearing a lot about ooVoo just lately so I decided to try it out for myself and see what all the fuss is about. I was not disappointed. ooVoo, overall, seemed to me to have more options, fewer limitations, and higher overall quality than the other programs I have tried like it.

There’s never been any shortage of messaging and social networking programs for free on the internet. Since the first bits and bytes did their digital duet and tango across phone lines people have been chatting and have, consequently, demanded more and more from their messaging client programs over the years. ooVoo is a free messaging service that provides the standard instant messaging fare but adds high quality video chat with multiple users as it’s big selling point. The version I am reviewing here is the 100% free edition of ooVoo, and it’s developers seem to have really listened to the general public and tried hard to turn their feedback into fact.

ooVoo is more than just an instant messenger, it connects to popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter, has an award winning Android app, and will even help you find like-minded people to make new friends with if you’re stumped. These are all pretty standard fare for instant messaging programs, and ooVoo does them quite well, but the thing that really makes ooVoo shine, in my opinion, is their video options. So much is video oriented these days, so free programs for anything video are becoming not only more numerous but there’s starting to be a pretty wide spread push and rise in quality as well. This is good news for the average user, and even better news for the freeware fans.

ooVoo offers the option to have a high-quality video conference with up to 6 other users, for free. Now, if you think that doesn’t sound like a big deal, I suggest you go out and try to find another program that does it as well as ooVoo and doesn’t charge anything for it. To be sure, there are other programs that let you have video conferencing, and some of them are even free. However, most (if not all) of those other solutions are lacking in some area that ooVoo is not. Paltalk, for example, is a free messaging program that does have some video options, but on a limited basis if you don’t purchase the upgraded membership. ooVoo does not suffer from that particular limitation.

There are other programs that will allow you to have multiple user video chat at no cost, but they don’t have the social networking connections to Facebook, or they don’t have a decent amount of users, or some other lack holds them back. ooVoo not only has a pretty huge (and still growing) user base, but because it can connect with Facebook and Twitter and even many other instant messaging or video chat programs it’s available limit of people you can communicate with is pretty close to infinite. Additionally, it supports file sharing, remote desktop sharing, and other great business type tools. You can make your video calls to mobile phones, as well, if the user you’re calling has ooVoo and a mobile that supports the app.

There’s a contacts list and address book that keeps all your friends’ information in one recoverable spot in the cloud, and it will even let you record your video chats and send video greeting cards. All of this from the free edition of the program and all of it is of great quality, I had literally not one problem with ooVoo the entire time I was testing it over the course of a week or so. That’s a rare endorsement for any program, let alone a free one, especially when one considers the particular joy I take in finding ways to ‘break’ programs that the developers didn’t prepare for.

Installation, registration and setup were all pretty quick and easy. First off, I found it nice that you get to use all the premium features of ooVoo for 30 days at no cost. After that 30 days, it reverts to the free edition, which is still very powerful and a great program, to my way of thinking. So, after installation you’ll go through a pretty basic registration/sign up process and choose a username, etc. After that you get a short tutorial (you can skip it if you want), which also points you to the help pages online, and you’ll probably refer to those fairly often at first. Because ooVoo is so full of options and abilities, there’s a lot to learn, but the basics are still pretty intuitive and user-friendly, especially if you’re already familiar with this kind of program in general.

As mentioned, there is a mobile app for ooVoo as well, which costs nothing. Both the computer and the mobile versions are available for Mac as well as Windows (iOS or Android OS) and both of them offer video calling between computers and mobile phones, assuming that your phone has that tech spec. There is a list of the different mobiles it works with on the Android Market page as well as the Apple App store. Since I do not own an iPhone, I was unable to test that version, so if you have tried it, please post your comments in the comments section below.

The only real downsides I found to ooVoo were the premium features, and the adbar. The premium features themselves are not a bad thing, but the fact that some features are limited in the free version may put some people off of trying this ooVoo in the first place. That’s a terrible shame because the free edition is a great program that has a lot to offer. The other downside, and this one is minor, is an adbar/toolbar that wants to install itself to your internet browser while you’re installing ooVoo. It is completely optional, however, and simply requires you to uncheck the ‘install’ box to avoid it entirely with no penalties or problems or it is very easily uninstalled if you decide you don’t like it, without affecting the ooVoo program itself.

In the end result, I think ooVoo is a great program that has a lot of potential to be a big player in the cyber-verse. Communication between friends, business associates, and even strangers (some stranger than others) is always going to be a staple of this great, free thing we call “The Internet” and ooVoo looks to be ready to carve it’s niche.

Until next time, my friends.

Get ooVoo here; available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Andoird. Get the Mobile App for Android here and for iPhone here.

Do you frequently send yourself email reminders about things to do or want to be reminded of? Most people do, but wouldn’t be even better if these emails could be scheduled to arrive right at the moment that you need them? Or imagine how great it would be if your follow up emails would be sent to you as well as others people who may involved in a certain thread or email correspondence? This is precisely what web service FollowUpThen allows you to do, totally free.

Five great things about this service:

1. You can determine exactly when you want the follow-up email to come. This is done by customizing the email address itself, using the format xxx@folloupthen.com. Some examples:  5minutes (i.e. 5minutes@followupthen.com), 2hours, 3days, 4weeks, 5months, 6years, tomorrow, nextweek, nextmonth, mar30, 2010-05-30, 11am, 1132am, 1500, tomorrow9am 12pmAug25.
2. You can request recurring reminders: e.g. everywed@followupthen.com, everymar30,
   every1st, every15th etc.
3. You can request a followup for everyone on an email thread: having follow up emails come from an automated source can cast an aura of professionalism, and circumvent a potential ‘nagging’ factor that can be the case if you send the emails yourself. (Note: a BCC on an email thread means that only you get the follow-up).
4. It can use your company name in the follow up emails: hopefully infusing the transaction with some professionalism.
5. Easily postpone: via links in the received email (see top screenshot, in the blue-ish box on the right).

Differences between free and paid versions: the paid versions allows for SMS reminders and more customization options

The verdict: a wonderful service.

Go here to sign up.

If you’ve every had a picture in mind and wished that you could find a similar image on the web, then check out the aptly titled “unoffical Google Image Search by Drawing”. This free tool lets you simply draw a very rough picture of the visual you are looking for and performs a reverse image search on it in Google Image Search. For artists, designers, illustrators, bloggers, or anyone who needs to express an idea with a picture, it could be a great time saver indeed.

How it works: draw a rough picture. Pick your color(s), and use a slider to enlarge or decrease the size of your brush. You could use your webcam to snap a picture, and In Chrome and Firefox, you could simply drag and drop an image from your desktop for reverse search or as a background or starting point to your drawing.

Does it work?: it might work fairly well for signs or symbols or simple line-type drawings. For more complex illustrations a text search may be the better option.

Examples: see the image above on the top of the post, and the one below. In the above illustration, I dragged a black and white image of a beach and added a figure that looks like a boat, just to see what the results might look like, which actually are very neat IMHO.

In the illustration below, I thought to myself “what if I wanted to find an illustration of a hand holding a heart”, so I drew that. You can see the results for yourself (my own drawing seems like it might be a better fit than all of the images in the search result).

[Thanks to user Panzer for letting us know about this one]

Go here to test it out.

A computer’s performance can be affected severely by a hard disk with declining health.  That being the case, it is a little odd to think of a hard disk in terms of health, more so when it is “declining.”  Typically in the grand scheme of  modern transistor-based electronics, devices just simply die and do not give us much warning about how and when the untimely death will occur. Wouldn’t be great if you had a virtual doctor that could report on your hard disk’s health? Enter the free CrystalDiskInfo.

At least on the computer front, modern day hard drives have a bit of a warning system built-in which can be utilized to check the overall health of said disk.  This mechanism is called “S.M.A.R.T.” status.  “SMART” is short for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology.  SMART can tell you whether your disk is experiencing unusually high temperatures, sector read errors, vibration errors, and much much more.

Having this info is all well and good, but getting to this information is not quite so apparent.  Many of us will never see anything related to SMART status other than that menacing “Imminent Hard Disk Failure” at system boot; and, if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to log into the computer and move our data (you should be backing it up anyway!) to a new disk.

This is where a handy-dandy bit of software can help you out.

CrystalDiskInfo is a great tool to get a read on what your hard disk is doing and how good it is “feeling.”

Some nice features of CDI:

• Email alerting when a threshold is reached (it works nicely with Gmail)
• Graphing over time for the various SMART statistics
• Run as resident mode in your System Tray with temperature status
• Capability of writing SMART events to your event log
• Localization for a LOT of languages

As mentioned above, CDI does have the capability of writing SMART events to your Windows Event Log.  This means if you have other monitoring utilities that you use, you can tweak them to watch the Event log for detailed SMART events.

On a personal note, I’ve seen MANY computers that have slow performance and the user thought that their computer was dying, when instead, the hard disk was going bad.  A quick swap with a new disk brings these machines back to life every time.

Get CrystalDiskInfo for Windows here.

Wunderkit Beta is a free browser-baed organizational and networking tool. Otherwise known as a ‘productivity platform’ it combines organizational essentials like task lists and project management tools with networking functions to give you a well-rounded solution for your needs, whether they are business or personal.

You may have read about Wunderkit’s sister project previously on this site; Wunderlist brought us a free way of keeping our to-do lists under control, and Wunderkit promises to expand on that with added features and functions, while keeping the same high standard of quality and end-user orientation. The core experience of Wunderkit is in the three basic apps that it comes installed with, and these are the ones you’ll find yourself using more than any other. While Wunderkit is a multi-function platform for applications and networking, these three apps, “Dashboard”, “Tasks”, and “Notes” are the ones you will undoubtedly use the most. That could change, of course, based on your individual needs, but to begin with you’ll want to get to know these functions.

Workspaces, lined up on the left side of the Wunderkit screen are the most basic piece of Wunderkit and they will house your various projects. For each new project you want to manage, you’ll add a new workspace, which will contain different apps and lists, depending on the project and it’s specific needs. There are, however, three basic apps (or functions) already built in to every new workspace you create, so let’s take a closer look at them. They are the Dashboard, Tasks, and Notes functions. Each one helps to keep track of, or in some other way, manage your projects and the information associated with them.

So, the Dashboard is where you’ll find an overview of the workspace you’ve selected. The Dashboard will show you the different networking components, like Facebook friends or other social outlets, as well as an overview of the various tasks associated with the project, with a highlight on the ones marked important or most current. The Dashboard is the place you’ll go to get a look at how your project is progressing overall, as well as interact with the other people who may be working on or keeping track of it.

The Tasks section of your workspace is basically a mini version of Wunderlist. This section allows you to create, manage, and share to do lists with friends and co-workers, anyone you want to be involved in the project. You can share multiple lists between users, and it’s a handy way to make sure the right hand knows what the left one is doing. Individual items on the list can be flagged for importance, or have various notes and extra information added. When tasks are complete, they can be checked off and automatically moved into a ‘completed’ list for future reference. This is a great way to centralize the organization of work done on any project, so it’s the perfect addition to any project’s workspace.

Last but not least is the Notes app, which is where you’ll make and store all those miscellaneous bits of information that you may not have a place for elsewhere, but are still important enough to keep. As with the lists in the Tasks section, individual notes can be shared between different people involved with your project. Each note can also have tags attached for indexing and reference, making searching through them for specifics easy, even if it has been a long time since you finished a given project. This kind of project based archiving of information has become a standard in the business world as well as many other places, so it’s also an excellent choice for a default app in a new workspace.

Wish list: we at Freewaregenius are avid users of Wunderlist, and in fact use it to share tasks and coordinate our activity. Which is why we are hoping that Wunderlist eventually offer the following

• A way to import lists and shares wholesale from Wunderlist, so that we do not have to go and duplicate
• A desktop client for Wunderkit, so that we can use it even when offline.
• Apps to access Wunderkit for devices (iOS, Android), as in Wunderlist.

In Summary:

These are just the basic functions that are already there when you begin a new workspace. On the Dashboard you’ll find a ton of suggestions from Wunderkit for other functions and apps to add to your workspace, and make your project that much more fun and efficient. Wunderkit is still in Beta, as mentioned, so it’s exciting to see what will evolve from this early version. It’s already highly functional, looks great, and is very user-friendly. This one is going to be worth watching. They are not in an open Beta yet, but you can register to join the private Beta and check it out, and offer your feedback. Plus, it’s always fun to be involved in the development of such a great program. [Note Feb 01 2012, The Beta has gone public now so anyone can try it! - B.C.]

Until next time, my friends.

Register to join the Wunderkit Beta here.

In the future, your media library will reside in the cloud, and you will be able to access your videos and movies on your computer, on your smartphone or other device, anywhere you are. Qvivo is a software platform that aims to make that a reality right now, letting you upload any media file to the cloud on demand, and providing software for your PC, Mac, iPhone, a web-based app (and soon Android and iPad)  that will let you upload, download, and interact with your media files across multiple platforms and devices.

The desktop version of Qvivo is a stylish media player and organizer that can hold it’s own alongside the best in it’s genre. The Qvivo free plan comes with 10 megs of free cloud storage.

The verdict: I am going to rearrange my review to tell you my ‘verdict’ first thing. I like this software, but I do not see it getting traction, because (a) the idea of uploading massive video files first and then downloading them on my device is very time and bandwidth consuming and very unappealing to me; I’d rather simply move them straight to the iPhone, (b) it lacks a simple wireless video streaming functionality, such as provided by the (free) AirplayIt, and which most smartphone users want badly, and (c) with the need for massive cloud storage to store media files, these guys are in competition with established cloud storage services such Dropbox, Box, or Skydrive. Whether they will be able to grant the same amounts of free storage as these, or compete with them on price and service remains to be seen.

On the other hand, the apps themselves are simply terrific (I tested the PC, iPhone and Web versions). Qvivo is definitely worth using as a media player/manager even if you are uninterested in uploading your files to the cloud or watching on a device.

The desktop media player will play any media file on your hard drive. The interface is divided into different sections for movies, TV shows, music, playlists and a search function, and looks very cool. Qvivo media player scans your media libraries and downloads artwork and information off the internet, including such details as genre, running time, director, classification, release date, etc, and will let you filter and/or search using the applicable information or criteria. It even supposedly provides movie trailers and auto downloading of subtitles, but in my testing of the software I have seen neither one of these.

I’ve seen many ‘media management’ programs of this sort and they are always variable in terms of what movies/shows they identify correctly, and what they don’t. Qvivo does only an average job in identifying videos I’m afraid; it will identify some files incorrectly and others not at all, so you will need to go in and fix a lot of things manually (which, strangely, is done via the web app and therefore requires that you be online). It can also monitor user-specified folders for changes, such that your library will be automatically updated. But where it shines is in the user experience: it is stylish and snazzy and extremely visually  appealing, especially in terms of displaying a lot of visuals/backgrounds that are related to your videos. But it is somewhat buggy (e.g. it insists that there are ‘no TV shows found’ on my PC even when both the web and iPhone apps list a handful of them).

The iPhone version is quite nice, and looks great. If your PC at home is online, you could remotely request to upload selected videos to the cloud, and then stream them on the device, which (in theory) is nice.

I would have liked the ability to stream videos directly to my device from a WIFI enabled PC that is in range (for the free version), which would have made it a lot more likely that I continue using the entire software platform. If you want this sort of thing check out AirplayIt, mentioned above, though I believe there are other free options out there as well.

The web app is excellent and very well constructed. This is where a lot of the manual management of your library is done, which is not really ideal in that it unnecessarily forces you to be online to perform this task.

Social integration: lets you create a profile for each user on your computer, and connected to their Facebook and Twitter. I assume this is such that people will pivot from consuming their media to having a discussion about it online, which to me seems totally redundant but who am I to say.

The difference between free and paid versions: the free plan comes with 10 gigs of cloud storage (although they currently seem to be providing unlimited cloud uploads to new users, though I believe it is a time limited trial).

Watch the Qvivo promo trailer below:

My advice: try it out. if nothing else Qvivo deserves credit for being such an ambitious project and for the excellent user experience it provides. It is very much in it’s infancy though, and I hope that the people behind it will play their cards correctly and continue to make this software better.

[Thanks for user Panzer for the tip about Qvivo]

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, iPhone; soon to be available on iPad and Android.

Go here to get it. (~74 megs for the Windows version).

ROBLOX is described as an online virtual world and workshop, entirely created by the community of users with digital building ‘blox’ (not to be confused with Legos, which are not affiliated). It’s a site designed for kids but there are plenty of adults who get a kick out of making great stuff with blox and sharing their creations with others. There are nearly limitless worlds to explore and play in, and of course you always have the option to build something of your very own.

When I was a kid, those little plastic building blocks were my favorite toy. Better than anything else because they allowed me to build and play with anything I could imagine, those blocks provided me with more hours of educational and inspirational fun than any other toy, so they hold a special place in my memories. I was, therefore, quite excited when I took a look at this thing called ROBLOX. Difficult to define at first, ROBLOX is, essentially, a world of digital building blocks, called ‘blox’ just like those ones we played with as kids, but virtual. The speed of cleanup after playing notwithstanding, there are several advantages to the digital ones versus the real life ones, but the real attraction of ROBLOX is the community they have built up, and they’re still technically in Beta stage!

When I first started looking at ROBLOX, not only did I find it difficult to get a clear notion of what ROBLOX actually is but I also had a tough time figuring out how to use it. You see, ROBLOX allows you to create your own worlds (or games based in those worlds) and then share them online with whomever wants to pop in and look around. This means each ‘world’ or ‘location’ has its own web page that has a “PLAY” button on it, which will dump you right into the world, with little or no instruction on how to do anything. The gamer in me automatically began experimenting with WASD keys and mouse movements and I quickly got the hang of moving around and some other basic actions like jumping but I was still at a loss about how to interact with anything or anyone in the 3D play land. This was eventually rectified by looking at the menu marked, “Instructions” and a good thing too, because I don’t think I would have figured it out on my own.

The deep end diving tutorial style and steep learning curve was really the only major downside I found for ROBLOX, however, and one hopes that the tutorial process will be enhanced as updates to the program are released. Once you learn what you’re doing, though, it’s a blast running around in a pirate ship or a blue lagoon or a space ship that someone else created. It’s just as much fun to create your own worlds and games within them, and share them with the friends you’re bound to make when you start hanging around the different worlds. As with any 3D chat program, you’ll find a wide mix of ages, creeds, etc. in the ROBLOX worlds so you’re almost certain to find someone you get along with. That begins your circle of contacts and friends and can be connected with Facebook as well. The community of creators, players, and developers for ROBLOX is highly dedicated to making it one of the best programs of its type and I would say they are well on the way.

ROBLOX costs nothing to play as a guest in any of the worlds available, or you can create a free profile and your own character. If you go as a guest, you’ll be forced to use a generic, bilboarding avatar that is either male or female. Since it costs nothing to register an account, it is worth it to do so just so you can customize your avatar, if nothing else. It is required to have an account if you want to post your own creations, as well. Like many other programs of this general type, ROBLOX does offer some premium features and functions to those who want to invest real world cash in their ROBLOX account, but these are not required in any way to enjoy everything the worlds of ROBLOX have to offer. At the front page of the website, you’ll find a listing of the different available realms you can visit. I suggest jumping into one or two of these as a guest, first, to see how your computer handles the program’s graphics, as well as get a feel for the controls and learn how to interact with blox before deciding to register an account and download the core program. There is literally so much to explore that you could never see it all, so take your time and don’t rush.

The premium accounts are called Builders Club accounts and while they are cheap, they are not freeware so I won’t be reviewing them here. Rest assured, however, that it’s not necessary to have a Builders Club card to enjoy ROBLOX. They say it’s designed for kids of 8-18 but it is open to kids of all ages. That makes good sense to me, because the kid in me was very happy to discover this new way to play with my favorite toy from my childhood.

They are also very committed to making sure that parents feel ROBLOX is a safe way for kids it explore and interact online. Their website has a whole section devoted just to parents of ROBLOX kids and has a very handy FAQ here.

Until next time, my friends!

[Thanks go to user Panzer for tipping us off about this one].

Get into ROBLOX here

TAGAP 2 is an acronym for The Apocalyptic Game About Penguins 2, and it’s the very popular sequel to an original side scroller from back in 2007. The sequel doesn’t disappoint in any area and excels in all the important ones. Everything about the game is better, including the story and the overall game immersion.

TAGAP 1 was an underground cult hit in the world of freeware games back in 2007 and it was easy to see why it was such a success. It had tons of great features, decent graphics and some interesting innovations, but what really made it a success was that it was just fun to play. TAGAP 2 makes good on the promise of a bigger and better penguin apocalypse and provides plenty of high quality gaming entertainment at no cost.

When the game first starts, you’re presented with a recap of the first game’s events, in which two penguins Pablo and Pedro are basically vying for control of the world. Good vs. evil, apocalypse now type stuff, only with penguins. At the end of the first game (Spoiler alert!) the two penguins go off as brothers and friends. Now, in the sequel, the two must team up against an all new opponent, a new penguin evil that fights only for himself and his twisted dreams of world domination. You’re thrown into the action immediately as the penguin hero, with your trusty penguin buddy on call to help where possible.

There are lots of ways that TAGAP 2 excels above most freeware games. It has pretty superior graphics for a 2d shooter, with nice clean lines, everything is easy to distinguish and identify. The animated explosions and weapon effects are top notch, flashy without ruining your ability to see what’s happening on the screen. The background music is upbeat, with just a touch of sinister overtones, perfect for the overall ambience of the game. There is even a new multiplayer mode that allows you to play split screen with a friend on one computer, if you have a USB gamepad or other similar device.

The two places where TAGAP really excels, however, are in the control scheme and the storyline. The controls are set up to have one hand on the keyboard and one on the mouse in traditional FPS style. The mouse moves the crosshairs and fires the weapons while the keyboard keys move your penguin hero around. This is a nice way to make people who are comfy with First Person Shooters easily get into this 2D Side Scrolling shooter. It was easy to get into the swing of the controls, and there are lots of great surprises. Each weapon has its own alternate fire mode, like an explosive mine from the shotgun or the really neat way you can aim your dual Uzis in two different directions by holding the right button. You also have the option to use a single key press to call in your penguin buddy to napalm the area, which is very handy for boss fights.

The storyline in TAGAP 2, from beginning to end, feels a lot like a Saturday morning cartoon. This is somewhat at odds with all the gore and somewhat more adult humor in certain parts of the game, but overall it comes off well and leaves the player feeling like they didn’t waste their time. The recap at the beginning is read by a voiceover that sounds barely literate and a bit dopey, but somehow they manage to make it work. The dialogue and the cut scenes are well produced, if not well written. The story isn’t fantastic, but somehow the elements of the entire game combined make it work. It is one of those situations where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. In conclusion, I feel that TAGAP 2 is a great game and an excellent example of what can be accomplished in the realm of free gaming. A good game doesn’t have to cost fifty bucks, folks, and this one is living proof.

Until next time, my friends.

System requirements

• Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 7; Windows 98/ME/2000 work with optional patch
• 1000+ MHz processor
• 256 Mb RAM
• 132 Mb free hard disk space
• OpenGL® compatible video card; Intel Graphics is unsupported
• Windows® compatible sound card
• Keyboard and mouse
• TAGAP also supports XInput compatible game controllers (i.e. Xbox 360 Controller and Logitech ChillStream). XInput requires at least Windows XP SP1 or Vista.

Get TAGAP 2 here (~211 megs).

Imagine that you just read something on a webpage that you like and that you would like to highlight and keep, or even share with others. With Marker.to you could simply highlight the content on the page in bright fluorescent yellow, as you would a real marker, and get a shortened URL when you are done that you could keep or share via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Opening this URL will bring back the webpage AND jump to the content you highlighted; it’s as simple as that!

Marker.to will keep all your highlights accessible online in a single place. It is available as an extension for Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

How to use: after installing the Marker.to,you will be asked to create a Marker.to account. Next …

1. Find content you like
2. Click on the Marker.to icon in the browser toolbar (see it on Chrome in the screenshot to the right).
3. Highlight text. You can highlight more than one text block in multiple colors (see screenshot, top of this article).
4. Share the URL via email or right from the marker.to widget on Facebook or Twitter.

It works remarkably well.

The verdict: very nice. I can imagine a certain type of user loving the ability to filter the web and hone in on specific content, especially for those who share a lot of articles on Facebook and Twitter. Marker.to is also very nicely implemented; kudos to the developers for a job well done.

I have seen other extensions that do the same thing (e.g. Diigo, which actually has more options), but I like Marker.to’s sheet simplicity and ease of use. Recommended!

[Thanks to user Panzer for tipping us off about this one].

Compatibility: Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Internet Explorer support is in the pipeline.

Get it here.

The Fantastic Contraption 1 and 2 are two of the most fun ‘thinking games’ on the web today. Reminiscent of an older game called The Incredible Machine, The Fantastic Contraption will have you concentrating on puzzles of logic, physics, geometry and more. The bright colors in the interface make it feel far more like a game and much less like learning but even so, you’ll find your brain power increases as you play these games.

Years ago, when PC gaming was still wobbling like a toddler down the digital hallway toward a cookie jar full of bits and bytes, there was a great series of games that allowed the player to build and modify 2d examples of Rube Goldberg machines that couldn’t exist in real life. These games had a very brief underground success and then were replaced with The Incredible Machine series of games, which were very similar but inherently better due to the available technology upgrades. Now is the year of the Fantastic Contraption!

As updates to an already proven gaming concept, TFC1&2 are both excellent examples of how ‘casual’ or ‘web’ games can have a lot more depth and complexity than their flat, 2D graphics would perhaps indicate at first glance. The basis of the game is so simple that even a child can understand it (and, indeed, there are many children getting a massive dose of smarts from playing TFC!). In TFC2, for example, your goal is to get a pink wheel inside a pink box. How you manage to do that is up to you, based on the different tools that they give you. Each tool is logical and has something to do with basic engineering, like wheels that rotate in only one direction or ‘water lines’ that act as belts to drive those wheels.

The tools also include things like magnets at later stages but they don’t want to overwhelm you at first. So, by putting together these different tools (which remind me an awful lot of digital tinker toys) you can move the pink wheel over, around, and through different obstacles and puzzles. Simple in concept, yes, but the end result is an almost limitless open ended game that has layers of depth and complexity far beyond what you’d expect for such a pastel game.

The contraptions you’ll build in TFC are certainly more realistic than the ones you’d have seen in The Incredible Machine, so the critical thinking and problem solving skills that you will use to progress through levels in TFC will carry over into real life better. There’s not likely to be a whole lot of times in your life you will need to light a candle to burn a string and get a bowling ball to fall onto a springboard which launches a mouse into a hole (as in The Incredible Machine) but there are likely to be times in your real life that you will need to understand things like torque, leverage, work vs. power, and other basic physics concepts that you will learn, almost by accident, in TFC. That means, to me, it’s a far better choice for trying to get my kids to play an educational game. It also means that TFC is likely to keep my attention a bit longer. As you continue through levels, you’ll face new challenges and familiar ones, like only being able to work in the blue square, or having to dodge moving objects like cars. The level of difficulty rises but the basic concept and actual steps of gameplay stay the same, giving this freeware game a bit more in the way of stability than most of the other ‘quirk’ games of this type.

Overall, The Fantastic Contraption 1 and 2 are both great games, though my favorite would be the second one. They help you learn without seeming to help you learn, and the bottom line is they are just fun to play. Each challenge presented to you can be solved in tons of different ways so each level has a much higher replayability than other games that aren’t so open ended with their solutions. Fun, educational, and totally free, makes a happy gamer out of me. Both of them are part of the Kongregate gaming site, which will allow you to sign up for a free account that will track your efforts and let you interact with other community members but membership is in no way required to play the games, as of the time of this article’s posting. It’s a nice option, but not demanded. Both of the games are worth checking out if you like puzzles of any kind, or if you’re looking for something a bit more analytical than the latest penguin massacre game.

Until next time, my friends.

[Thanks to reader Panzer for the tip about these games].

Play The Fantastic Contraption 1 here and 2 here

Construct 2 is a great freeware program that lets you create and distribute your very own casual games, based on a programming language called HTML5. Construct 2 makes it easy, however, so you don’t really need to know much of anything about programming or coding. Once you create your games you can send them out to places like Facebook and watch them become viral, as all your friends marvel at what an awesome game creator you are. Well, maybe not, but they might at least stop hitting you in the back of the head with corn chips while you’re trying to kill the Lich King.

A little while back I reviewed a program that allowed you to indulge your creative muse by creating your own point and click adventure games, called Adventure Game Studio. That was one of my favorite programs to review. So, I thought, what better way to cap off my week of game reviews than to talk about Construct 2 and what it has to offer those who might not have found exactly what they were looking for in AGS.

While AGS allows you to create retro style point and click adventure games (Think Space Quest or Bard’s Quest, or any Quest from Sierra Games), Construct 2 allows you to create far snazzier games. Construct 2 (C2) is designed to help you give birth to your very own original 2D scrolling shooter. For sure, there are other things you could do with it, once you become an expert but as George Clooney once said, “Gotta run before you can crawl”. Now, as with any robust or in depth creation program, C2 has a bit of a learning curve. Do not panic, however, because C2 also has a rather robust tutorial system as well as a very friendly and helpful community of dedicated users and fellow creators. The basic tutorial on the C2 website deals with creating an example game called “Ghost Shooter” so I will use that tutorial and example game for this review, mostly.

Right from the beginning, the tutorial treats you as if you’re a dummy, even going so far as to explain how to download and install the program in minute detail. This isn’t really a bad thing, as it ensures it will reach the widest possible audience that desires to learn how to use C2, but it is a bit tongue in cheek as tutorials go, too. During installation, you’ll be asked if you have a 32 bit or a 64 bit computer and assures you that if you don’t know, it can attempt to auto-detect the answer. This is another example of how careful they are to treat their users as if they are 9 years old. For that matter, many of them may be. Using C2 is really that easy.

The tutorial leads you through creating your first game, a basic 2D scroller in which you have a character that looks toward the mouse pointer, can move using the keyboard and shoots with the mouse buttons. There will be moments of frustration, but I assure you that once you have built this first basic game you’ll be flying through your own created worlds quickly. The editor uses a powerful programming language called HTML5 and a simple drag and drop system to make creating your own games a no brainer. In fact, as I was fiddling with the available tools and options, it occurred to me that this was actually more fun than the game I created was likely to be. Game creation as a game. Recursive gaming. There’s a manifesto to be had there somewhere but I’ll leave it to more brilliant minds than my own.

One of the really great things about the C2 game editor is that, even though it will only run on Windows, the games you create with it can actually be exported and played on Mac, Linux or iOS. Given that it is a small and portable program itself, this means you can carry your projects with you on a thumb drive and work on them when and where ever you happen to be.

C2 is one of those programs that has limited use for the free version and much higher use for the paid versions. Don’t let this turn you off or away, however, as the things you can do with C2 free are totally worth the zero price tag. Unlike other supposedly free creation programs, C2 doesn’t teach you to make something for free and then demand money to use the creation. With the freeware version of C2, you can do things like export your game to the Chrome Web Store or Facebook and you don’t need to worry. The only time you really need to buy anything is if you want to try selling your creations, and even then you’re just buying a license for the commercial use of C2, not actually paying for C2 itself. I am passionate about this, because it is a great way to stimulate the software industry as well as get great software into my readers’ hands for free. I think programs like this will become much more common in 2012 and we will begin to see a new explosion of creativity in cyberspace.

Until next time, my friends.

[Thanks to reader Panzer for the tip about this great program].

Get Construct 2 and learn all about it here