dBpoweramp for music file format conversion

I had a problem. Years ago, I bought Microsoft’s now-discontinued Digital Media Plus Pack for converting my LP records into digital files. Because it’s a Microsoft product from back in the day when Microsoft was gung-ho about Windows Media, it only rips to Windows Media Audio. And of course, it’s Windows only. (Other than that, it’s a great tool–very easy to use, never messes up line leveling, and has a good algorithm for removing pops and scratches.)

Back when I used iTunes and my iPod exclusively, I’d simply rip the album into WMA, then import the folder from MyMusic into iTunes. It would ask me if I wanted to convert to AAC (the default–it can also convert to MP3), I’d accept, then delete the WMAs so as not to clutter my hard drive with duplicates.

dBpoweramp lets you convert just about any audio file format to any other.

(Credit: Screenshot)

But since 2006, I’ve been using a Zune (review unit) as my primary music player. Zune plays both AAC and WMA files, and it automatically reads your iTunes library. I got lazy and stopped converting my vinyl from WMA to AAC.

Now I’ve got a Shuffle. And a library full of WMA files that it can’t play. Of course, I could do what I used to do–import the folders from My Music into iTunes, convert to AAC, then delete the originals. But what if I want to convert those WMAs into MP3s to make sure they can play on any device with any software app? OK, I guess I could change the default on iTunes. But what happens when you add a bunch of downloaded FLAC files into the mix? Or Ogg files? What about converting AAC back to WMA–I can’t see any reason why I’d want to do that today, but who knows where Microsoft and Apple are heading with their file format support?

I needed to future-proof my music collection, while still maintaining the best quality-to-size ratio possible. (MP3 is one of the lossiest formats.)

dBpoweramp Music Converter is the solution. $18 for the regular edition. (The $28 reference edition has features for professionals and more serious amateurs.) You can download just about any imaginable codec from the associated Web site. By default it performs file conversion within the same folder as the original files, so you can easily keep track of what’s where. (Not like iTunes, which moves every converted file into the iTunes library by default.) Or, if you want to export directly to an iTunes folder, it can do that. It even adds a feature to the Windows Explorer so when you hover over a file, it’ll display full ID3 tag information for that file–useful for changing mysterious file names to match song titles.

Highly recommended.

dBpoweramp shows ID3 tags within Windows Explorer. So you can find out the real title of that Track 4.WMA file you've been carrying around..

(Credit: Screenshot)

Source: www.download.com

Killer Download: My must-have free downloads

(Credit: CNET Networks)

I download and review a lot of great software, but obviously I don’t keep everything. Some programs don’t make the cut simply because I have a better option on my computer already or I have no use for them at work. But other applications I’ve downloaded have withstood the test of time and remain useful on a day-to-day basis. I’m talking about my must-have applications.

I’ve already given you my Big Three free security applications which should be the first programs you download when setting up a computer. Clearly if you haven’t downloaded software to cover each of those security areas, you should do so right away. But today’s post is about the applications I can’t live without–the ones I download after I feel like my computer is reasonably secure.

Today’s programs are the workhorses behind the scenes in my everyday work life. One is a text editor that’s perfect for quick word processing and looking through HTML code. Another is a multipurpose screenshot and image editor that’s great for most basic graphics needs. The last is a Firefox extension which is great for a pro downloader like me, but I think it will be useful for you as well. The best thing about all three of these applications is that they’re completely free.

Syntax coloring makes working with confusing code much easier.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

NotePad++ is a HTML and text editor with several excellent features for writing HTML code, but is also perfect for jotting down or pasting text you’re going to use later. I really like the tabbed interface because NotePad++ automatically saves every tab until you close it–even when you quit the program. This makes getting back to a project the following work day extremely easy. When dealing with HTML code for Web pages or newsletters for Download.com, NotePad++ offers syntax coloring so sifting through code (something I would rather not do) becomes a lot easier.

Windows Explorer navigation on the left and thumbs on the right help you find the right image.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

FastStone Image Viewer is a solid free image-editing application that’s great for resizing, cropping, and converting images to different formats. An intuitive interface makes it easy to browse through folders of images using thumbnails, so getting the image you want is a snap. If your chosen image needs some editing, simply double-click the image to go full-screen and move your mouse to the sides of the screen to bring up pop-up toolbars for quick editing, cropping, resizing, and image conversion tools. I use this one often for editing and resizing screenshots for software (including the shots you see in this post). This one is so useful, you won’t believe it’s free.

Downloads show up as blue boxes across the bottom of your Firefox browser.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Download StatusBar is a Mozilla Firefox extension (apologies to non-Firefox users) which adds a bar to the bottom of your browser to let you know the progress of downloads. Mousing over a download pops up a window showing the download link, where on your hard drive the file is going, the file size, how much time is left, and the speed of the download. Once the download is finished, you can double-click the box to begin installing the file without leaving Firefox. A right-click lets you choose options like getting the source URL and the containing folder. Frankly, if you’re a downloader (and I hope you are) this Firefox extension is a must-have.

Not everyone uses the same kind of software in their profession so my workhorses might be different from yours. If you have use for any of these types of programs, I suggest you give my favorites a try. If you have other free applications that are worthy of everyday downloaders, let us know in the comments! What are your must-have applications?

Source: www.download.com

Tags: download free hack software, data, halo button cheats, mx vs atv untamed cheats, super mario galaxy cheats

VoiceCloud voice-to-text now open for beta

At the beginning of April, I met with VoiceCloud CEO Gerald Marolda to take a tour of the company’s voice mail-to-SMS service. VoiceCloud, which relies on human translators instead of software to transcribe calls, competes with Spinvox, SimulScribe, and CallWave.

A month ago at CTIA Wireless, the hatchling service was just being introduced. Now everyone is invited to try. From the Web site, enter the invite code, “cloud,” and your phone details to get started. Users will be able to test the application free of charge for about a month, Marolda says, before a pricing structure is imposed.

Related: Voice-to-text services seek a human touch.

Source: www.download.com

Killer Download: My must-have free downloads

(Credit: CNET Networks)

I download and review a lot of great software, but obviously I don’t keep everything. Some programs don’t make the cut simply because I have a better option on my computer already or I have no use for them at work. But other applications I’ve downloaded have withstood the test of time and remain useful on a day-to-day basis. I’m talking about my must-have applications.

I’ve already given you my Big Three free security applications which should be the first programs you download when setting up a computer. Clearly if you haven’t downloaded software to cover each of those security areas, you should do so right away. But today’s post is about the applications I can’t live without–the ones I download after I feel like my computer is reasonably secure.

Today’s programs are the workhorses behind the scenes in my everyday work life. One is a text editor that’s perfect for quick word processing and looking through HTML code. Another is a multipurpose screenshot and image editor that’s great for most basic graphics needs. The last is a Firefox extension which is great for a pro downloader like me, but I think it will be useful for you as well. The best thing about all three of these applications is that they’re completely free.

Syntax coloring makes working with confusing code much easier.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

NotePad++ is a HTML and text editor with several excellent features for writing HTML code, but is also perfect for jotting down or pasting text you’re going to use later. I really like the tabbed interface because NotePad++ automatically saves every tab until you close it–even when you quit the program. This makes getting back to a project the following work day extremely easy. When dealing with HTML code for Web pages or newsletters for Download.com, NotePad++ offers syntax coloring so sifting through code (something I would rather not do) becomes a lot easier.

Windows Explorer navigation on the left and thumbs on the right help you find the right image.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

FastStone Image Viewer is a solid free image-editing application that’s great for resizing, cropping, and converting images to different formats. An intuitive interface makes it easy to browse through folders of images using thumbnails, so getting the image you want is a snap. If your chosen image needs some editing, simply double-click the image to go full-screen and move your mouse to the sides of the screen to bring up pop-up toolbars for quick editing, cropping, resizing, and image conversion tools. I use this one often for editing and resizing screenshots for software (including the shots you see in this post). This one is so useful, you won’t believe it’s free.

Downloads show up as blue boxes across the bottom of your Firefox browser.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Download StatusBar is a Mozilla Firefox extension (apologies to non-Firefox users) which adds a bar to the bottom of your browser to let you know the progress of downloads. Mousing over a download pops up a window showing the download link, where on your hard drive the file is going, the file size, how much time is left, and the speed of the download. Once the download is finished, you can double-click the box to begin installing the file without leaving Firefox. A right-click lets you choose options like getting the source URL and the containing folder. Frankly, if you’re a downloader (and I hope you are) this Firefox extension is a must-have.

Not everyone uses the same kind of software in their profession so my workhorses might be different from yours. If you have use for any of these types of programs, I suggest you give my favorites a try. If you have other free applications that are worthy of everyday downloaders, let us know in the comments! What are your must-have applications?

Source: www.download.com

Tags: freeware favorites finder, wii sports cheats, vista freeware, best freeware, ps2 cheats tips

Ad-Aware 2008 Beta released with redesigned interface, Vista compatibility

Filed under: Security, Utilities, News, Windows, Freeware, Beta

Spyware beware: Lavasoft has just announced a beta of its popular anti-spyware software Ad-Aware.

Ad-Aware remains one of the most popular free anti-spyware solutions out there, with over 280 million downloads worldwide. That a big, hard to visualize number, but we’ll put into context for you: that’s four times the downloads of any laughing baby on YouTube.

The new features of Ad-Aware 2008 include:

• New rootkit removal system
• Reduced use of computer memory
• Faster updates
• 64-bit platform support and full Vista compatibility

What’s not to love?

Actually, we don’t love the redesigned interface, which looks like it took some hints from the web 2.0 designers: lots of big round buttons, and text that reflects itself, as if it were sitting at the edge of a still summer pond. That was cool, like, five years ago.

If you want to take a closer look at Ad-Aware 2008, you’re in luck: everyone is invited to be a beta tester.

Ad-Aware 2008 is Windows only.

Read

Tags: runescape money cheat, warcraft 3 cheats, pimp cheats, free antivirus software to download, zoo tycoon cheats

Bill Gates talks about open source. He’s doin’ it wrong.

Filed under: News, Microsoft, Commercial, Open Source

We can’t deny some of us here at Download Squad love open source software. But there’s not a damn fool here that will disagree with the statement: “Bill Gates is an extremely intelligent man.” We won’t disagree that he’s done amazing things for technology as a whole. And yes, we even wish heartily we had the faith in ourselves to say if we had that much moolah, we’d be even half as charitable with it.

But right now we’re all kind of standing around scratching our heads and saying, “Wha?”

Today Techdirt points out a nice little quote by the venerable Mr. Gates in a Wired article. It seems as though Gates says that open source created a licensing situation “so that nobody can ever improve the software.” All right, now, that would be a self-defeating license, wouldn’t it? What have the brain-sucking aliens done with the Bill Gates we all know and love whose intellect we respect greatly?

Of course, we’re willing to throw poor Bill a bone. The Wired quote is not a complete quote. It very well could be out of context. They then quote him saying that pharmaceutical companies who invent drugs should be able to charge for them. Well, yeah. Duh. And people who develop open source applications can also charge for them.

Open source doesn’t necessarily mean it’s free as in beer. Conversely, just because the local brewery is giving away free lager, it doesn’t mean you’ll get anywhere asking for the recipe.

We’re wondering if Wired slipped up, or if Bill Gates is truly puzzled about the distinctions between free software and open software? Has he read the GPL? There are quick versions on their site… so even those of us who aren’t as smart as Gates can get the general idea.

[via Techdirt and Wired]

Read

Tags: saints row cheats, freeware pdf converter, zoo tycoon cheats, freeware registry cleaner, ps3 cheat codes

Facebook to settle ConnectU lawsuit

Filed under: Internet, News, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

Facebook may be synonymous with social networking these days. But just a few years ago, wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg was a student at Harvard, where the founders of ConnectU say he stole their idea for a web site where students could connect with one another. The two companies have been fighting things ou tin the courts for a while now, and today the New York Times reports that Facebook is “finalizing a settlement with the founders of ConnectU.”

Neither Facebook nor ConnectU have issued statements regarding the rumored settlement, and it’s not clear what the terms of the settlement are. But Facebook has apparently dropped its countersuit against ConnectU.

We’re fairly confident that Facebook with its pockets (and swimming pools) lined with money and its corporate lawyers could have crushed ConnectU in court. But the settlement helps keep the ordeal out of the public eye and could help protect Mark Zuckerberg’s ego. Parts of his diary have already been published as a result of the legal action.

Read

Tags: freeware software, freeware prophecy bible kjv, psp game cheats, download free hack software, neopets money cheat

Make flawless screencasts on your Mac

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Have you ever made a screencast? A screencast is when you capture and record all the action that takes place on your desktop so you can view it as a movie. Many people use screencasts for presentations and instructional videos for software, though there are many other uses. Sometimes you probably wish you could make a screen recording for less computer-savvy friends and family so you wouldn’t have to have those exhaustive phone calls: “No grandpa, I said Save the file…no…SAVE it.”

I found a program for Mac today that makes creating screencasts easy. It’s called ScreenFlow, and though it is a little cost prohibitive for friendly tutorials ($99), if you’re going to make a presentation on a Mac, it’s definitely the software to have. Once you have everything set up, simply launch ScreenFlow, choose what you want to record (like the desktop, your Webcam, and a microphone) and ScreenFlow will start recording everything simultaneously. Once the initial recording is finished, you can have the action on screen, your smiling face, and all the narration done in one-step.

Use the time line editing tools to find the appropriate spots to call out actions.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Once the recording phase is finished, ScreenFlow really shines with excellent editing tools to refine your presentation. You can call out certain parts of the screen with graphics or you can zoom in on the windows where the action is taking place. It also has an option to blur objects in the background, so you know the viewer is paying attention to the action at hand. In addition to calling out areas of interest in your presentation, you can use panning effects, add drop shadows and reflections, and you can combine other video files into your project. It also offers audio queues for mouse clicks and other actions to keep the presentation exciting.

Call out certain parts of your presentation and adjust opacity and zoom for easier readability.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

When your project is finished, ScreenFlow supports both Keynote and PowerPoint presentation software so you know you’ll be able to use your screencast on any system in addition to your Web site or Blog. One drawback of this great software is that it only works on Leopard and certain features require a higher-end graphics card, so you’ll need to upgrade if you haven’t already. But with the right hardware, ScreenFlow makes it easy to make high quality screencasts for any project or presentation and it’s relatively low cost makes it a great option for power users.

Source: www.download.com

Tags: pokemon ruby gameshark cheats, freeware downloads, gba cheats, freeware pdf converter, sims 2 pc cheats

Use ProShutdown to Trick Your Aluminum Keyboard
KennettNet's ProShutdown has been out for quite some time now, but it was somehow skipped as a news topic here on Softpedia. Luckily, I came across this piece that weighs in on KennettNet's utility software. Mac owners using the new Apple aluminum keyboards can download the software for free and use it to make their keyboards listen to classic, opposite-corner Mac keyboard shortcuts. It even adds some. Mac OS X has a nifty shortcut - Ctrl+Eject - for shutting down your computer. Old…
Source: news.softpedia.com

Tags: freeware prophecy bible kjv, nancy drew cheats, saints row cheats, vista freeware, ocr freeware

One-Click Software Installation for Ubuntu 8.04
Linspire announced the immediate availability of their CNR (Click 'N Run) client, also known as the one-click installation software, for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS operating system. The client comes with applications such as Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Notebook, SoftMaker Office, DOSBox, ON Networks, Snipshot, Virus Total. CNR grants access to a lot of wonderful games, multimedia codecs, video and audio players, image editors/viewers and much, much more! On the 23rd of January, 2007, Linspire…
Source: news.softpedia.com

Tags: halo 3 cheat codes, freeware fonts, freeware software, ps2 cheats tips, freeware game downloads

One-Click Software Installation for Ubuntu 8.04
Linspire announced the immediate availability of their CNR (Click 'N Run) client, also known as the one-click installation software, for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS operating system. The client comes with applications such as Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Notebook, SoftMaker Office, DOSBox, ON Networks, Snipshot, Virus Total. CNR grants access to a lot of wonderful games, multimedia codecs, video and audio players, image editors/viewers and much, much more! On the 23rd of January, 2007, Linspire…
Source: news.softpedia.com

Tags: freeware card games, pocket pc freeware, windows mobile freeware, bioshock cheats, freeware cd ripper
freeware for pocket pc

Spyware Horror Story: Addicted to cracks

In which two readers were burned by high-risk computing.

Submitted by Peter; Tamuning, Guam

Well, to begin with, I tried to get Microsoft Office Enterprise Edition from torrents site mininova.com. There was even a whole bunch of comments saying that it worked “great.” So when it finally finished downloading, I opened it, and got it installed. It really did work “great.” But then after a few times running it, things started to go wrong. So I tried deleting, but it keeps saying that its “write-protected.” I opened the folder and deleted random files to see if that would delete the virus, but it didn’t work. However, what I did find was a Notepad document with a bunch of instructions telling the computer to change all values to 3 or something like that. Now I still have the file because of my stupidity in thinking that there wasn’t a price to pay. Any advice?

Submitted by Ivan; Rome, Italy

I’m a 12-year-old guy who I think knows way more about PCs than he should. Not long ago my friend came and installed a cracked version of an NHL hockey game. At first, I though it was cool and played it a little. However, once I restarted the computer, my CHKDSK service was running a complete hard drive scan, even though I didn’t authorize it. Since it was late, I had to go to bed. I shut down my PC–let me tell you, that was a mistake, besides the fact that I wasted my money on Windows Vista!

The next morning when I turned on my computer, I got the Blue Screen of Death. Error code: 0×00000024. This means that a very important NTFS file was removed or misplaced during a system scan. I thought it was my mistake and that my parents would kill me.

However, the next day, my friend told me that when he was installing NHL, he forgot that he misplaced the crack icon for one of the viruses that he got from the Internet. Let me tell you something, you didn’t want to be my friend then. Anyway, the solution was that I had to undergo a complete Vista reinstall, but I had to wait a whole three weeks for my father to buy the CD for me.

I did send my friend a little virus I made myself, though harmless. Now, I’m running Comodo Firewall Pro and AVG Anti-Virus 8.0.

Editor’s Response

I guess some users insist on being moths, forever attracted to the flickering flame of crack sites and peer-to-peer downloads, for the same reasons that everyone else engages in risky behavior. Free programs, music, and games are the glimmering rewards, but over the years, readers have been singed by some accompanying viruses. (Here’s another example.)

Maybe it’s that law-abiding school mom streak in me, but weren’t you guys kind of asking for it? Crack and P2P sites are absolutely notorious for ladling out code you don’t want along with the downloads you do, some of which end up jammed or have been purposely jimmied to carry malicious software. I can’t condone illegal acquisitions of any type, and I won’t tell you how to game the system, but there are applications out there anyone can–should–use to scan files before they’re downloaded and installed. If your regular antivirus software doesn’t have that feature, I’d recommend at least the light (free) version of link-scanning software for any user.

Even folks who regularly download from normally OK sites should consider bumping up to pro versions of the software, which digitally eyes instant-message links, software signatures, and the malicious software payload that could be packed in with all the good stuff. AVG Anti-Virus 8.0, which Ivan mentioned, recently padded their product with the capability to do just that when they bought the makers of LinkScanner Lite and LinkScanner Pro. AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 Free Edition, which is expected to release this Thursday, incorporates the light version of the link-scanning software.

Peter asked for advice to his dilemma, the false move that got him a bunk enterprise-edition of Microsoft Office. It’s pretty simple, actually. Don’t go for Microsoft. What you want is product, not brand. If your goal is to get a powerful office suite for free, excellent desktop and Web ware alternatives have emerged as viable contenders that also drop the cost. Try out OpenOffice.org, a multilanguage open-source productivity suite that does most of what Microsoft’s application can do with text, spreadsheets, presentations, and HTML and XML documents. It earned a 5-star editorial review.

Zoho is another credible option, and a winner of the Webware 100, an annual user award based on Webware.com, CNET’s site for Web application reviews. While Zoho’s suite isn’t quite as deep as Microsoft Office, it is broad, and offers the use of over 20 applications to engage everyday and business tasks.

Here’s my final piece of advice for you guys, and really something every user should follow. Save all your installation disks, including printer drivers, boot-up disks, whatever you’ve got, and keep them all together, for example, in a big CD case. This goes for backup disks, too. Keep the CDs well organized and clearly labeled, and put the collection somewhere uncluttered–not back in a closet somewhere or in some random box. This way, when things goes wrong, as they almost always do at some point in a computer-owner’s lifetime, the confidence you’ve built from knowing you have a reinstallation plan will offset the panic of losing months, perhaps years, worth of data.

Source: www.download.com

Tags: freeware software, psp cheat, dead rising cheats, recovery freeware, freeware prophecy bible kjv