Software Toolbox

Introduction

Until I compiled this list I couldn't see where all my hard disc space had gone!

Most of this software is free to use, with a couple that have some restrictions to their functionality unless a payment is made.

But it shows that there is no real barrier for people to experiment with technology, you just need the will to try. Also no reason to pirate software.

Music, audio and video
Video editor, as used by the professionals.
Mesh processing system. Ideal for cleaning up your 3D scans and file conversion to your favourite editor format.
Create your own 2D or 3D animations. It can be used to create models for 3D printers. It supports 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.
Tools for debugging your UPnP environment and components. Doesn't seem to support FLAC format.
Media center running on the Raspberry Pi hardware. Soon to be superseded by OSMC. Based on Kodi, used to be called XBMC.

I use it to get a better UPnP server for my MSS server. Though I'm currently running ReadyMedia (used to be MiniDLNA) in parallel on the Pi. HTPC Guides has the best instructions to get the latest version of ReadMedia on the Raspberry Pi.

On large music collections finding the best UPnP server is a lot harder than I first thought. To be honest the best I have found so far is MediaMonkey UPnP server. If only I could run it on a Pi with ARM x86 emulation and WINE I would. Yes I have gone a long way down this path, I'm not sure that is healthy!
Video converter, GUI version. See Zeranoe FFmpeg for a command line version. Based on .
Video converter, command line version. See WinFF for a GUI version. Based on . Don't be intimidated by the help. Easiest way to use it is to invoke the ff-prompt.bat then change directory (cd) in the command window to where your videos are and then enter ffmpeg -i InputFilename.Extension OutputFilename.ExtensionYouWant

Example > ffmpeg -i "The Vote_150509.rec" "The Vote_150509.mp4" converts .rec to .mp4. Note the use of "" because the file name has a space.
Exact Audio Copy. Tool to accurately put your CD collection on your hard disc. Uses the AccurateRip database to indicate the rip accuracy.
FLAC in EAC Here are the instructions to use FLAC in EAC.
Database to check how accurately you have ripped your CD
Universal ASIO Driver for WDM audio. Gets the audio out of the PC as fast as possible with the least manipulation.
Windows audio player with a small footprint, that plays gapless. Most don't you know. Works fine in Ubuntu with WINE. Ideal for standalone operation on a USB memory stick. The convert function is great for taking FLAC files and converting to mp3 for your phone.
HDCD decoder Decodes HDCD recordings. Leave the console open to see when it finds an HDCD recording.
iPod/Phone/Touch manager Lets you put audio outside an iTunes environment on your iDevice. Includes useful iDevice file explorer.
Nero AAC Codec AAC Codec for on the fly conversion used in the iDevice manager
File Integrity Verify Checks files for decoding errors. Also checks files against the AccurateRip database.
Windows audio player if you like it feature rich. Runs in Ubuntu with WINE (later than V1) but takes a very long time to load.
Similar Artists script Seed it with a track from your collection and it then generates a playlist based on similar artists by querying Last.Fm. Easier to setup than MusicIP Mixer.
MediaMonkey Web Interface By far the best remote control for MediaMonkey I have tried so far. Works fine with my LG P500 Android phone.
MusicMagicDJ script Music Magic DJ script to run in MediaMonkey with MusicIP mixer
ASIO output plug-in Used in conjunction with ASIO4ALL gives ASIO output in MediaMonkey. The download is the link in section 4.
MusicIP mixer (under downloads) access your music grouped by how it sounds. The company is now called Amplified Music Services. They say they have no plans to support but I don't remember much before anyway.
My preferred Linux music player for use with a DAAP server.
Drum machine software. Features include: auto-composition, polyrythmes, unusual arpeggiator, automatic sounds/track matching , custom softsynths, lowfi rendering...
Use this to identify your raw digital music files and tag them based on their music fingerprint from the MusicBrainz database.
If you have a bit of time on your hands then download this and see just how keen your audio listening skills are.
Lossless music encoder
Music tag editor, not just for mp3. It can take your whole library and then you can use the powerful filters to find the holes in the tags.
Audio file editor. Ideal for transferring your vinyl LPs to your media library.
VLC media player of nearly everything. Especially good if you drag the video files off a DVD onto your hard disc or if you have files in obscure formats like .REC.
Firefly music server. In this case for the MSS paperback server
Java client for Firefly or any DAAP server such as iTunes
PVR software for PC based TV receivers

Software Development tools

A JavaScript library, takes out most of the pain in writing in JavaScript. Results in easier and smaller code.
Open source integrated development environment (IDE). Default environment for Android development.
Neat slideshow plugin.
Super SED (Stream Editor). A powerful command line text editor.
Gives easing choices on jQuery Cycle plugin transitions.
User Interface functions on top of jQuery.
As used on the homepage of this website. Simple to use but impressive result for a 3D image carousel for jQuery.
Present your web site logs in human form
Get you web pages checked out to see if they are valid code
Windows GUI for Git source control application. Just download this, Git and kdiff3 comes with it. Note the Visual studio plug-in doesn't work with the Studio Express version because Microsoft defeat plug-ins in Express.
To my mind a more logical source repository, particularly with the Git Extensions front end.
File/directory difference tool
Powerful editor, don't even think NotePad!
Powerful system admin scripting
Automatic language interface for testing of GUI
A less buggy version of Nvu WYSIWYG. It can slow you down if you have to correct the source code it generates
Unless you happen to being running a Microsoft server with SharePoint, this might be a bit of an over kill! But I have SharePoint Designer 2007 running on my XP laptop creating simple web sites with the WYSIWYG editor. It is a 300MB download as opposed to KompoZer 7MB. Note it has to be the 2007 version not the 2010 because that version doesn't support file based web pages i.e. it has to be on a SharePoint server.
Very new and adding all the time. But this what could replace Nvu and KompoZer
Full-featured Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for C/C++
2012 Desktop is is well worth experimenting with.
Microsoft's little secret, all the icons that make you project look like a Windows application. Includes the images from 2010 in the archive directory.
This is what you want for truly portable code
So you want a big database
Web site, intranet and document control all in one interface
Oh so easy way to setup an Apache server with MySQL, PHP and Perl. This then means you can try joomla on your laptop within minutes.

Photography

Free utility to stitch in 2D multiple pictures. Ideal for making panoramic views. Based on the technology in AutoStitch
Free utility to take your stitched picture and create a dynamic panoramic view
Batch image cropper, ideal if you own a digital picture frame
Photo Image editor
Vector graphics editor. Can also edit PDFs.
Microsoft RAW image thumbnailer and Viewer for XP. Supports Cannon and Nikon RAW formats. Use "preview" in the standard file explorer. It provides an improved slide view player as well.

Android

Firefox on your phone which you can then use sync to have your desktop bookmarks where ever you are.
The fantastic video player arrives on Android.
Adds a divide on your phone between your work and personal functions. If your work IT department enforce password protection if you access your work emails then Divide allows you to set your own level of security to access your personal stuff. Also if work decides to remotely blank your phone Divide means you don't lose your personal stuff.
Protect against bad applications like you should already be doing on your PC.
Audio signal generator, always handy to have one in your pocket.
MediaMonkey Web Interface Though not an Android app, as it is a web browser interface. By far the best remote control for music player I have tried so far. Works fine with my LG P500 Android phone.
Use to control your DLNA music server from your Android device. If you enable the media server in MediaMonkey and punch a hole in your PC firewall you can use it to remote control the player on your PC. It can take several minutes for UPnPlay to first find your server but once it has you can bookmark it. Also use it to control my Cambridge Audio NP30 in preference to the Cambridge Audio app Stream Magic, but it only controls the UPnP content.
Android application to remote control your Linux music player such as Rhythmbox. Don't forget to enable your Android device WiFi (Unless you are using Bluetooth), you will need your Linux box IP address and the port number is 34271.
Window onto the night sky labelling all the features you can see as you move the handset.
Barcode, DataMatrix, QR code scanner. Also use to share data.
Audio lossless player FLAC/APE/MPC/WV.
File manager, local and across networks.
Practice and play examples of bell ringing changes and methods.
Spiceworks on your mobile. Administrate your network on your mobile, needs Spiceworks running on your network.
SDK for Android development. The simulator is processor intensive, time for a new laptop!

Games and entertainment

Software to catalogue all your DVDs just from their barcode numbers. With V3 they now limit to 50 DVDs which can be unlocked with a payment
URU is the latest manifestation of Myst, a first-person journey through an interactive world full of puzzles. The difference being URU is a multiplayer online game. The manual is here.
Flight simulator, from UFO to Concord. Word of advice: for your first flight don't pick a helicopter at a location in the middle of the night!
Toppy UI replacement. Toppy are Satellite/FreeView TV receivers which let you put your own software in.

Firefox

Mozilla Firefox Internet browser
Firefox for mobile devices
Easy way to verify the checksum on a downloaded file
RSS reader Firefox add-on. You might want to consider this instead of Brief. My list of RSS feeds.
Gives you bookmarks etc at the side of the window
Shows a thumbnail of a tabs contents as you run the mouse across the tab bar
Finds duplicate bookmarks and checks which bookmarks are still valid
Each day another Dilbert comic strip is available. Actually can show other comic strips as well.
Don't understand a word on a page then right click it and you get the definition in a new tab.
Built in ftp client
A very good security Add-on which by default stops scripts running on sites you haven't visited before. It might worry novices at first when you see how much it blocks, but once you have allowed your trusted pages it keeps out of the way.
Quick way to view a page in Internet Explorer if the formatting is duff.
As it says on the tin
Gives more options on the save bookmark dialogue
More tab options
File downloader, particularly useful for large files. It's more determined to get files down than the native Firefox and amongst the features it offers is the ability to throttle the download rate so there is spare capacity to surf.
You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page....
Extend Firebug with reference material for HTML and CSS.
Gives an under the bonnet view of web pages, including compliance, for debug purposes.
Most applications offer Save to PDF these days. This addon supplies this functionality to Firefox. It renders the pages locally whereas some use a remote server. If you want continuous pages like a web page then delete the headers and footers.
A graphical live representation of who is tracking your web browsing.

Operating Systems and components

Linux distribution I'm running on the EeePC 4G.
Application that allows Windows applications to run on a Linux distribution. I have MediaMonkey and FooBar2000 running in Ubuntu with this.
A replacement firmware for the MSS (Maxtor Shared Storage) paperback server

General task applications

Full suite of office applications. Since V3 who needs Microsoft? A code branch of OpenOffice. Since Oracle took over OpenOffice I prefer LibreOffice.
Password safe. Now you realise that one password for all your logins is a very bad idea, you need a secure way to manage all your sites and applications passwords.
Email client. More like Outlook than Express
Having trouble with PostScript files, this is the tool for you.
GSview is a graphical interface for Ghostscript.
Calendar for Thunderbird
Project planning very much like Microsoft project, now available from itdesign.de
Tired of Adobe Reader bugs and install size? Then use Sumatra PDF reader for Windows.
PGP functionality is free again for email and files
Add-on for Outlook that lets you preview safely and report SPAM

PC protection
Use the search here find about a particular virus or spyware, not the search in the tool bar but the search a third of the page down
Free computer scan of threats from Sophos. You will have to enter email, phone, postcode to gain access. How accurately you enter these is up to you.
Free computer rootkit detection and removal tool from Sophos. You will have to enter email, phone, postcode to gain access. How accurately you enter these is up to you.
Free for personal use software to catch the spyware bad guys on your machine
Free for personal use software for personal use to catch spyware.
Free for personal use anti-virus application. See the site for limitations in comparison to the paid version.
Free CD scanner for malicious code. Boots from a CD so malicious code can't run while you are trying to get rid of it.
Free Microsoft spyware protection. On Microsoft's recommendation some anti-virus applications defeat it.
Free online scanner for malicious code. It went away and has been promised to come back for a year or so since.
Free CD scanner for malicious code. Boots from a CD so malicious code can't run while you are trying to get rid of it.
If malicious code has locked you out from your PC then instead of giving the bad guys your money or worst still your credit card details to get it back, put the numbers in here and bypass them.
Free CD scanner for malicious code. Boots from a CD so malicious code can't run while you are trying to get rid of it.
Boot CD that includes several anti-virus scanners and other tools to recover a PC with.
Free online scanner for malicious code. You can choose to download Norton Security Scan or run the online Symantec Security Check. In fact they are both online scanners as the download then downloads the definitions. What you really want is to be able to download the definitions to run offline, else your new trojan is pulling in stronger code as you are pulling in scan definitions thus making it harder to remove.
Free scanner for malicious code.
Free scanner for malicious code, clean up and tune up. Can be run separately. Don't confuse it with the Live OneCare pay product option.
Helps determine the security state of one or more PCs.
Online single file scanner for viruses and malware. It uses most of the main line antivirus companies products for the scan.
Online single file scanner for viruses and malware.

Virtual Machines

Virtual machine, very easy to use. Used to be by Sun now Oracle.
Virtual machine, I always have trouble getting the mouse to work in Ubuntu guests.
Create machine definition files for use with Vmware
Microsoft's virtual machine, not as many options as Vmware.

Assorted utilities

Automated internet speed and latency tester. Ideal to profile the service from your ISP, just make sure you don't exceed the data budget on your account.
Cleans up your PCs unused files, including the registry.
Compact standalone WiFi network viewer. Ideal for logging WiFi access points in your area to find out which channels are free. I left it running for a couple of hours and it found an Audi car parked outside that had it's own wireless access point!
Implementation of Telnet and SSH for Windows and Unix platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator. Ideal for remote command line access to your Raspberry Pi.
Have more than a few PCs networked together? Then this is the tool to keep an eye on what they are upto.
Nice simple utility to keep two locations of files in sync. Ideal for use with a USB key transfering data between home and work.
Uses the SMART interface to report the status of your hard discs. Use the -H option to get the simple PASS/FAIL result.
Remote desktop control
Backup and disaster recovery application. Very useful for cloning a hard disc to an SSD (Solid State Drive).
Disc partition utility. Actually runs Linux but works for Windows disc formats
Utility to view your disc contents ordered by size
Microsoft Windows XP supply a useful function, under disc properties, called cleanup. But they make it useless by scanning for eternity how many files it could compress to save disc space, a function no one wants. Well this describes how to defeat it and even better they now provide a "Fix it" download so you don't have to hack the registery.
A file archiver providing compression, encryption, self-extraction and compatibility with other formats.
Use this to map tHE CAPS LOCK KEY TO SOMETHING ELSE LIKE PLAIN SHIFT!
Ever had to fix a PC when Windows has died, then you need this.
Aaron Stebner's .NET Cleanup tool. When .NET loses the plot and you can't put it on and you can't get it off, this saves your life!
Aaron Stebner's .NET Setup verify tool. If in doubt run this to see if .NET is in a sane mind.
Ext2 Windows driver. Well documented and presented. V1.11a reads Ext3 if the journal is empty.
Ext2 Windows driver. Will replay Ext3 journal to make it Ext2.
Alt + Space Then M and then any arrow key fixes the current window in focus on the end of your mouse, in Windows. OK not a utility as such but daily gets me out of the doo. I run a laptop with a seperate 24" screen. When I start roaming it's frustrating how many apps open a 24" window on a 15" screen!

Electronic design tools

Linear Technology application, with schematic front end, for SPICE simulation
Texas Instruments SPICE simulation program. A cut down version of TINA by DesignSoft
Windows application to design PALs and GALs
Ideal to practice designing FPGAs in a HDL. Just beware the original download is a couple of GB and then you have to download another 2GB of service pack. You would think to save the rest of the world time, one software bod could build a new release incorporating the service pack!

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