Download Files; some Best places

Softpedia
http://www.softpedia.com
This is a download site… but what a site! They offer everything from software for Windows, Linux, Mac, handheld devices and even mobiles, to the latest drivers as well as the latest gaming files, so that you stay in pace with your clan, if not be the geek yourself! It is really well categorised. They even have a section for iPod tools… now can you beat that! And mind you… all these are updated regularly.

Softpedia also reviews a lot of stuff. There is nothing like having a trusted review to tell you whether a download is worth it. We went through quite a few reviews and they are all very thorough and comprehensive. In spite of the fact that there is no editor’s review, Softpedia enjoys huge fan following that would ensure you know about any software you care to name. They even showcase the latest in handheld devices.

With frequent updates, Softpedia offers the latest in news. This is value addition in case you get tired of downloading or if your PC gets tired of you downloading!

Download.com
http://www.download.com
Download.com offers a wide range of Windows, Mac and Mobile Software, as well as the latest drivers and utilities and of course the latest game demos and patches. If you haven’t noticed, this list is shockingly short as compared to the earlier Softpedia, with the exclusion of Linux software. To add to the injury, the number of drivers available was very short as well, with less than a thousand overall. This is not all that great. What we did like is that they offer a large selection of Web ware as well, which is Software you can run on your Internet browser. Download.com also offers free music downloads. Don’t worry it’s completely legal and at the time of reviewing they had over 1,00,000 free songs for download. The best part is that all the software on the site is very well categorised into several logical categories. This makes it very easy to browse for the software relevant to what you are looking for. Also, the editors pick out what they think are the best of the best and display them under the editor’s picks section for your convenience.

Download.com also offers several reviews and these are found on the download page itself. Sadly, the reviews were nowhere as comprehensive as we would have liked. It lacked screenshots and were more descriptive than anything else. Luckily, the pros and cons in any software you care to name are brought out by the user base at Download.com. The user reviews are also found on the download page. Though we would have preferred a longer review, it does make sense to have a short review as people really don’t consider downloading a rather risky thing. But in case what you are downloading is a 2+ GB mammoth, a full review would surely be appreciated.

The editors of Download.com actually maintain a download blog simply called, “The Download Blog”. This is an absolutely fantastic
addition as it tells you the latest tech secrets that you need to know. Even if you don’t end up visiting Download.com a lot, the Blog is worth visiting.

Google Documents - A review

http://docs.google.com
As most of you probably know, one needs a universal Google account that can be used across all Google services. This means that in case you use Gmail then you already possess the requirements. To start off with the Google Documents, start of by visiting the URL http://docs.google.com, and enter your user ID and password. A new rival to the Microsoft Office.

Just below the logo on the top left of the screen that says Google Docs Beta, you can see a drop down menu which says New. Once you click on New, you are given either of four options; namely, a new Document (Word), Spreadsheet (Excel), Presentation (PowerPoint) or Folder. Here we will know about the Document Function— go to New > Document.

If you have ever used Microsoft Word, you would be able to navigate through easily. As you would have figured out by now, the blank page with the cursor is the beginning of your document. You could continue typing in your leisure as much as you require. Similar to Gmail, Google Docs periodically saves the changes made, which comes in quite handy. In fact, keyboard shortcuts are similar to Microsoft Word, thereby giving you a feel of working on Word itself. You can adjust font sizes with the button marked “T”. Most of the functionalities here are similar to MS Word. Once your document is complete, the next step is saving.

Now consider this— you get a word processor, with password protection, data storage, and to top it all, an option to save it either in .rtf, open office, .zip, Word, and even .pdf formats. Another important function here is that these documents can be shared online. Data could be added by your chosen users— all you need to do is invite them to use this document. You can set their privileges similar to the way you do for a shared folder in Windows— for example, deciding on who gets permission to read and who gets permission to write. This speeds up the process of data compilation from multiple sources, yet maintaining security. The Insert tab lets you insert objects to make your document more lively.

The Revisions tab keeps a track of every change made to your  document— both by you and those who you have shared your document with. That’s the best part, because as the owner of this document, you can then track any error that may have crept in and isolateit, without having to correct other areas of the document.For example, if you first typed a word, a friend deleted it andthen a second friend added it again. You may have been (verbally) informed of the deletion,but not of the re-addition. You would get all the relevant information from the revisions tab along with a time stamp. To the right hand side of the page, are two vital tabs, namely, Share and Publish. Click on the Share tab to share our document.

As you would see, from the window, there are two options: “as collaborators” and “as viewers”. Collaborators are those with special privileges to change the data just like you, while viewers are those who have no permission to write, but rather just read. Let us consider an example: the principal of an institute wants to release the results of a recently conducted test, and fast— everything’s already overdue. There is a tremendous amount of data to be compiled. Conventional office suites would require one person like a data entry operator to key in the marks of each student for each subject— this can be time consuming. It is in situations such as these that online office suites come in handy. They can be time-saving in data segregation from multiple sources. The easiest way would be to start a Google Document session. She could then invite the teachers as collaborators, who would enter the marks in the respective fields. At the end she could invite all the students as viewers.

The next important function on Google Docs is Publish. Clicking on this gives the document a unique URL, whereby anyone can view it. Google Docs also empowers you with the option of publishing your document right away as a blog! This gives a reasonably brief idea of using Google documents, the first alternative to the typical MS Word processor. One must note that this is in fact just the tip of the iceberg.

Overall, Google Documents may not give you everthing MS Word gives, but it is one of the best you can get free.

Showcase you image gallery through Lightbox JS v2.04

http://www.lokeshdhakar.com/projects/lightbox2/

The Lightbox JS v2.04 gives you the coolest way of presenting your images. This freeware use javascript, and is a very efficient way to present your images through. Just go to the link above and download the freeware. You get there an easy guide, for how to setup.

Here is a simple use of it.
http://coolworks.clanteam.com/lightbox/seethis.htm

The new openWYSIWYG 1.4.7

http://www.openwebware.com/
See this updated openWYSIWYG 1.4.7, with some cool new features. Click here for information ver 1.0

• 3 types of editor.
• Full Screen mode.
• openImageLibrary addon to upload images and insert images from server.
• Tag place viewer on the bottom of the editor.
• Addons enabled.
• Easy customization

See these pictures of different forms of the editor.