BS Player is not your average media playback program. The name might not sound impressive, but this is one impressive free video player for Windows. BS Player doesn’t require any add-ins, codecs, player scripts or any additional downloads to function. When you get a weird digital file type from a friend and you have no idea how to play it, download and install BS Player. It will play just about every form of media file ever invented for a Windows computer. Speaking of Windows and media, Microsoft includes Windows Media Player for free with every copy of the Windows operating system. Even though BS Player and Windows Media Player are both free, they couldn’t be more different.

Windows Media Player is probably the weakest and lamest media player ever created. It won’t even play a standard DVD movie that you buy from the store. Once you try to play the movie, you’ll get prompted to find, buy, download and install special codecs that are configured for Windows Media Player. So, to play a basic movie, you need to upgrade the core Windows Media Player to a new professional version that supports DVD playback. Say what? That doesn’t sound free any more. Why would Microsoft include a Media Player that doesn’t playback 90% of the media content on the Internet or what’s found in most homes? We don’t even need to answer that question because skip Windows Media Player and download BS Player. You will save hours of endless headaches and you’ll be amazed at how BS Player supports just about every electronic media file invented. The program may be free, but it is packed with value added features and precision DVD quality playback. Once you run it with your favorite content, you will never need to use Windows Media Player ever again.

Many corporations and enterprises are limiting the size and types of email attachments allowed to process through their systems. This is due to the ever increasing amount of spyware, grayware, malware and viruses that have plagued the Internet. Also, as companies get bigger and demands on systems grow, they need to limit the amount of time individual email messages take to get processed through the system. Most email servers are multi-threaded, meaning that they can accept and send several messages at the same time. But, if all the threads are busy sending and receiving large attachment files, everyone’s email processing will be slow and users might start seeing delays and queuing of message on the server.

A great solution that many companies have implemented is the use of free, Open Source, FTP programs like FileZilla. FTP stands for File-Transfer-Protocol and it is a widely used standard on the Internet for moving files from one source to another destination. FTP has been around for a long while, but given the proliferation of the Internet Web Browser and Email, it has fallen out of favor. But, now that Web and Email traffic is reaching its limits, people are finding a newfound love for FileZilla. The program has a really sleek and easy to understand interface. FileZilla also has a great memory feature in that it can store all of your frequent sites and connection login information. So, once an IT Administrator sets up and configures to FileZilla servers, non-technical end users can send and receive files with ease. In the past, non-technical users would never be able to transfer files using the command line based FTP programs. It was simply too difficult and cumbersome. With great Open Source projects like FileZilla, command line FTP is a thing of the past. It is really great when an old technology protocol like FTP and a great program like FileZilla can solve modern day problems like large attachment transfers and busy Internet websites.

Anyone that has tried to touchup a digital photo knows how frustrating the process can be when you don’t have the right software tools. Adobe makes some really powerful editing tools like Photoshop and Illustrator. But, most home users and even some corporate users don’t have the budget to buy any software, let alone the top-shelf tools that cost thousands of dollars. On the flip-side, most free image editing tools are very limited in the features they offer and some don’t even have the most basic filters that one needs to create a professional result. But, there is one really amazing program that is part of a free, Open Source effort called GIMP.

GIMP is short for GNU Image Manipulation Program and it is a powerful imaging editing tool that is supported on Windows and Linux operating systems. The GIMP program has all of the image editing filters, brushes, erasers and utilities that are part of commercially available programs. The development support surrounding GIMP is impressive. The program has been ported to many different languages and locales and they have been adding new components on a regular basis. It is really unnecessary to buy Adobe’s expensive editing products when there is such a strong and useful alternative that is also free. Many users have commented that the GIMP utility takes just minutes to use whereas the Adobe suites can take years to master even the most basic functions. So, why spend the time, effort and money to learn a complex and expensive program when GIMP is simple to use and it is free. Unlike other ‘free’ image editing programs, there is absolutely no spyware or adware imbedded in GIMP. Check it out today and see why millions of people stopped paying the crazy licensing fees for Adobe’s image editing programs.

There are a great number of free sources for business such as Open Office, which will provide all employees with the basic word processing needs, but what about other aspects of the business like finance and marketing. On the marketing side, those businesses with websites have access to Xvid or VLC media player that they can upload to their company website, but there can’t possibly be a free program to handle such a heft finance department. Wrong!

You want to look at GNUCash as an option to commercial packages. One of the best pros about GNUCash is its price. Because it is part of the Open Source initiative it is free. That’s right free. Who won’t love that, especially if we’re watching our budgets.

This software can perform the functions for not only personal finances, but small business accounting duties as well. It can record and track such things as income and expenses, account types, stocks and more.

It is also available on several operating systems including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, so that is just one more attractive feature. It is also available in 21 different languages and can handle multiple currency types.

This program once you’ve downloaded and installed it will walk you through the set up process in a direct and easy to understand manner. It will help you set up transactions for savings and checking accounts, income and investment accounts as well as credit cards.

You will also not have to worry about losing your financial data. GNUCash backs up your data each and every time you perform a “Save” on your files. You can have your backups saved to an external source for greater backup protection.

Check out this great financial program and you’ll find tracking your finances a breeze.

As young children, even the greatest graphic designers of our generation were intimidated and enthralled by the possibilities of creating beautiful digital artwork. There was, and still is, a learning curve for advanced graphic manipulation in programs like GIMP and Photoshop, but it’s a territory that can be conquered — and with beautiful results. Now, a new territory is opening up in much the same way: that of 3D graphic design. In addition to the introduction of new software technologies, cheaper hardware for 3D acceleration on home computers, and easy-to-use design tools, the world of 3D design has added another important element: free 3D software through Blender and other open source projects.

Blender was originally designed for a single project for a single animation studio. That group, NeoGeo, wasn’t able to weather the storm of the animation market, but they had developed a powerful tool in the process. While they shut the doors to their studio end, a new software division was formed. Thus “Blender” was first introduced, and was distributed freely by that company until 2002. Then, as the company went under, they sold the rights to the code, opening it to the open source community and, thus, everyone in the design community.

Blender is a powerful tool, offering all the features and model creation and rendering opportunities of other, high-cost software. To prove the power of the program, several small design studios have put together major projects using the Blender medium. This includes several short films, including the award-winning “Big Buck Bunny.” Fortunately, for those already familiar with the open source design software, Blender can be used in correlation with Xvid and played on VLC media player.

Those who are interested in getting started with Blender can do so through downloading the open source software and looking through the large compilation of tutorials available online. Among other sources, the Blender Wiki can help self-teaching users the ins and outs of this program.

There are dozens of advantages to using Linux on your system — ranging from the powerful command-line interface to the impressive synaptics center for application downloads and updates to the beautiful price tag of absolutely free — and essentially just one disadvantage. However, that disadvantage is certainly of note: The system is difficult for new users to learn. For those transitioning from Windows to Linux, there are a few important things to keep in mind.

First, choose your Linux distro with care. While some are designed for more advanced users, and others are designed as a slimmed-down GUI for netbooks, there are a select few that are intentionally designed with Windows users in mind. Here are three of the best GUIs to look at when making a transition from Microsoft’s OS.

-Ubuntu. Coming from a Windows background, most of the features of Windows will be fairly intuitive. This essentially feels like a highly customizable version of Windows with a faster load time and a few missing features.

-SuSE. This German distribution of Windows uses an RPM-package management system that can be a little tough for beginning users, but this familiar interface is certainly both powerful and stable.

-Xandros. If you’re coming from Windows XP, Xandros is an excellent fit. It has most of the features and a very similar interface to this middle-aged Windows OS.
You will also want to keep in mind some of the core differences, including file types that are accessible, the importance of long time open source software to the Linux community, and the command-line elements of Linux. Various user guides are available on this topic who find themselves a little lost.

Users will also want to investigate the program known as “Wine.” Wine allows users of some Linux distros, including Ubuntu, to open Windows .exe programs.

For many individuals, the decision to use free web hosting usually depends on the amount of security and dependability they want when it comes to maintaining websites. After all, if you go through the work of developing a website, you probably want to ensure the site is available 24/7. If you are leaning toward paying a company to host your website, you might want to consider an alternative: combining freeware, like PuTTY, with free web hosting.

PuTTY is a free and open source program that can do several things, including data encryption. If you collect sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or social security numbers, you may be liable to encrypt the data to protect it from hackers. Working with PuTTY may ensure you’re able to use a free web host while doing your due diligence to provide security features to protect your clients.

Before you pick the first free web host you find, you will need to consider a few things.

-First, you’ll want to make sure the web host allows you to use a program like PuTTY to ensure reliable, secure connections. Other open source programs that will come in handy are Filezilla for easy file transfers and Xvid codec in case you ever want to use various kinds of media on your site.

-Second, you’ll want to consider the web host’s reputation. Does it have technical support? How quickly does it respond do downed websites? Has the host been in business long enough to indicate stability in the market? What do reviews say about it?

-Third, what ways can you access the web host? You may want to use a remote computer to make changes to your website, but you won’t be able to do so if the web host prevents this type of activity.

Working with a free web host can make things easier on the pocketbook, but you have to take care of your business, too. A downed website can translate to lost sales, which can hurt you in the end if you don’t do the research it takes to find a good, free web host.

Will Apple enter the TV market? Eric Savitz at Forbes is speculating that we’ll see Apple entering the market soon.

For more than a year now, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been insisting that Apple (AAPL) is plotting a move into the television business – and soon. He thinks the company will start selling TV as soon as the end of calendar year 2012.

Munster was at it again on Thursday, asserting in a research note that Apple “will enter the TV market with a full focus, as an
all-in-one Apple television could move the needle when connected TVs proliferate.”

Munster estimates that the flat panel TV market will be 220 million units in 2012, and that 48% of those, or about 106 million, will be Internet connected. He thinks Apple could sell 1.4 million units, adding $2.5 billion in revenue, growing to $4 billion in calendar 2013, and $6 billion in 2014.

Is Twitter a good fit for you?

Some time ago, I did an article on deciding if Twitter is a good fit . While it’s a simple concept, it’s really something you should take a hard look at before you decide to jump on the social bandwagon. There is a great deal of work involved in developing a successful twitter presence, and before you dive into that amount of work, you should make sure you and twitter are a good match.

I Need to Tweet, now what?

I wrote a rather thorough article on running a successful twitter campaign, but the basic ideas are:

• Post things that are of general interest to your readership.
• Space your posts out so that you don’t fire them all off at once.
• Make your posts when the internet is most active.

  The problem is that it’s very time consuming to do the above. Luckily, there is a tool called “Pluggio” that does all of the above for you.

  Make your way to the links above for the full story on how to maximize your twitte coverage while minimizing your effort.

Many gamers cannot go long without their FPS, aka, first person shooters for those who do not know. However, many FPS games of late have been laden with simulation quest, collaboration with masses of other gamers, real or bot, and just in general more like a job than an enjoyable game.

Luckily for those gamers, there is a game called AssaultCube. Assaultcube offers a fast-paced, all out, non-stop battle for supremacy. You won’t have to hunt and search for that one elusive quest piece to end the game, and you certainly won’t be started out as a newborn player who faces quads of super troopers with Uzis just a knife to defend yourself.

An open source video game of this caliber hasn’t come along since AssaultCube came about in the first place. Although you may not spend moments gazing at the incredibly realistic surroundings, you will find yourself mesmerized by the functionality of this game, the smooth servers and the camaraderie amongst players. For the sake of other players, File zilla would be a good source to keep all codes and images for future reference. Using a reliable FTP server will ensure that your files don’t get corrupted in transmission.

AssaultCube starts you out with a bevy of highly useful weapons. Do you want to be a sniper and lurk and frag enemies that stroll by unassuming? Maybe you would rather use the shotgun that when aimed at the right place will immediately frag your enemies a foot back? Enjoy stealthy combat, break out your knife and feel free to shank the first opponent unfortunate enough to take a breather near your favorite hidey-hole.

AssaultCube doesn’t offer players the means to increase the stats of their character without manually doing so themselves. So if you prefer your FPS games to be just that, first person shooters, without all the mumbo jumbo extra side quest and sim building of your Rambo look-alike, then AssaultCube is the game for you.