Monday, March 2, 2009

6 Useful (and Free) IT Applications

  1. Spyware Terminator is a free spyware detection and removal program that includes anti-virus and many other features. I gave it a whirl and it did find a few additional potential spyware items that my other spyware app did not catch. 
  2. EASEUS Partition Master looks and feels exactly like Partition Magic, but it's free. The server version does cost money, but if you are looking to do Windows XP/Vista (32-bit only) partitions on non-server platforms, this tool is all you need. Supports up to 1.5TB drives.
  3. Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector is a tool that shows you wireless AP signal strength and direction, graphs signals over time, and helps you find rogue APs. The directional radar was not 100% accurate when I tried it walking around, but placed on a stationary surface it eventually worked. The speed test link included takes you to Speakeasy. Overall, a pretty cool tool for free.
  4. .htaccess Editor is an online web form that helps you create an .htaccess file for your web server without being an Apache guru. It supports redirects and multiple virtual domains.
  5. Jinzora is an open source media streaming and management system. You can enjoy your media from your PC, notebook, PDA, Smart Phone, Xbox, PS3 or Wii. Use Jukebox Mode to control a hardware device like your stereo set or Squeezebox and third-party software, including MPD, VLC and Shoutcast.
  6. K9 Web Protection is a free Internet access protection tool for parents and teachers. If you run a group of computers accessed by minors, this is the best software I have found for providing blocking and access to questionable and harmful sites and protocols (e.g., chat, P2P). The best part -- after being totally free -- is that it is not overly sensitive on the default setting, which means yo udon't have to manually add in allowed web sites. I also recommend looking into OpenDNS Parental Controls to block a whole network in one shot.




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