Tate Create & T2 Creative Media » free

freecreditreport.com – It’s really free… really.

thomastate — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:13:50 +0000

This is simple. If you want to live credit free you basically have to walk around with a gigantic bag of cash 24/7 no ifs ands or butts.
But if you want to lease a car, house, phone or buy a plane ticket. You’re gonna need a credit card. And you’re gonna need a credit score. And a good one.
But what is your credit score? Well it’s a number in the range of 0 – 800 that tells the creditors what kind of a “risk you are. A score of 700 – 800 is considered “low risk. A score of 0 – 500 is all in the “high risk” area and you can pretty much kiss any chance of purchasing using credit goodbye.

But how do you find out what your credit score is?
There are three major services that collect and provide this information based on your total financial profile. Generally mapped through your Social Security Number. They are Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
But to retrieve your score from any of their websites costs money. So what do you do if you want it for free?

Go to freecreditreport.com. You know the commercial. The long haired loser friends singing stories of how their credit got screwed up so they went to freecreditreport.com to find out what their score was?

So I signed up today, and within 10 minutes had a beautifully layed out presentation of all my credit history, accounts, lease holdings and investments. Pretty scary but there I was, ink on paper.

Yes you have to give them your credit card, but here’s the trick. You call them immediately (within 7-9 days) and tell the CS Rep you want to cancel your membership. Yes you want to cancel. No you don’t want the extra service or discounted rate, you just want to cancel. They put you on hold for 2 minutes and then come back with those lovely words, “you are all set Mr. Schweinhowzer. Your membership has been cancelled. You are free to go.”

Nice.

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Top 11 Free Web-Based Email Providers

thomastate — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:40:18 +0000

Free email is AWESOME. no fees, no maintenance, built in junk mail filtering and you can dump the address whenever you want. I’ve brought together my faves in a kick ass list. Gmail, Yahoo, AIM, Hotmail, Inbox.com and friends. Let me know of any others you think are worth including…

1. Gmail – Free Email Service – http://www.gmail.com

Gmail is the Google approach to email and chat. Practically unlimited free online storage allows you to collect all your messages, and Gmail’s simple but very smart interface lets you find them precisely and see them in context without effort. Unfortunately, Gmail does not offer IMAP, only POP access. Gmail also puts contextual advertising next to the emails you read.
Gmail Review | Gmail Resources | Gmail Screenshots | Gmail Tips

2. AIM Mail – Free Email Service – http://www.aol.com

AIM Mail, AOL’s free web-based email service, shines with unlimited online storage, very good spam protection and a rich, easy to use interface.
Unfortunately, AIM Mail lacks a bit in productivity (no labels, smart folders and message threading), but makes up for some of that with very functional IMAP (as well as POP) access.
AIM Mail Review | AIM Mail Tips

3. Yahoo! Mail – Free Email Service – http://www.yahoo.com/

Yahoo! Mail is your ubiquitous email program on the web with unlimited storage and RSS news feeds, SMS texting and instant messaging to boot.
While Yahoo! Mail is generally a joy to use, free-form labelling and smart folders would be nice, and the spam filter could catch junk even more effectively.
Yahoo! Mail Review | Yahoo! Mail Resources | Yahoo! Mail Tips

4. Inbox.com – Free Email Service – http://www.inbox.com

Inbox.com not only gives you 5 GB to store your mail online but also a highly polished, fast and functional way to access it via either the web (including speedy search, free-form labels and reading mail by conversation) or through POP in your email program.
Unfortunately, IMAP access is not supported by Inbox.com, and its tools for organizing mail could be improved with smart or self-teaching folders.
Inbox.com Review | Inbox.com Tips

5. FastMail Guest Account – Free Email Service – http://www.fastmail.com

FastMail is a great free email service with IMAP access, useful features, one of the best web-based email interfaces and few ads.
FastMail Review | FastMail Resources | FastMail Tips

6. Windows Live Hotmail – Free Email Service – http://www.hotmail.com

Windows Live Hotmail is a free email service that gives you a 5 GB of online storage, fast search, solid security and an interface easy as a desktop email program.
When it comes to organizing mail, Windows Live Hotmail does not go beyond folders (to saved searches and tags, for example), its spam filter could be more effective, and POP or IMAP access are missing.
Windows Live Hotmail Review | Windows Live Hotmail Resources | Windows Live Hotmail Tips

7. Bluebottle – Free Email Service – http://www.bluebottle.com

Bluebottle offers email accounts that are practically free of spam (using challenge/response filtering) and can be accessed on the web or using POP with any email program.
Bluebottle could offer more tools for efficiently handling mail, though, online storage is in a somewhat short supply, and challenge/response filtering comes with its own share of problems, too.
Bluebottle Review

8. BigString.com – Free Email Service – http://www.bigstring.com

BigString.com is a free 2 GB email service that includes rich secure and certified mail services and lets you password-protect, expire or edit sent messages, for example.
Unfortunately, BigString.com is not equally well equipped for handling incoming mail and lacks organizing tools.
BigString.com Review

9. HotPOP – Free Email Service – http://www.hotpop.com

HotPOP offers free, reliable email accounts you can use with any email program using POP3 and SMTP. In addition, HotPOP lets you forward incoming messages to multiple other addresses.
Unfortunately, HotPOP lacks IMAP access and a web-based email interface and is a bit short on storage space.
HotPOP Review

10. goowy mail – Free Email Service – http://www.goowy.com

goowy mail is your rich desktop email program on the web with a fast interface that lets you drag and drop, use context menus and enjoy lots of pleasant eye candy. In addition to email, goowy offers a calendar, an RSS feed reader and games.
More features are needed.

11. My Way Mail – Free Email Service – http://www.myway.com

My Way Mail is a clean, fast and fun (though not particularly advanced) free email service.
It lacks secure messaging and other advanced, non-essential features, though.
My Way Mail Review | My Way Mail Tips

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Free, Open-Source software for Mac OS X

thomastate — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:04:42 +0000

Free and open-source software is good for you and good for the world. I have scoured the inter-web and of all the amazing stuff out there, this is the cream of the crop. Everything from Browsers, Video Players, IM, Email, RSS, P2P, Podcasting, Graphics, Computer Support… Wow the list is long. Very long.

Enjoy. This is the best Mac software out there. Big thanks to opensourcemac.org for the research.

Web Browsing

Mozilla Firefox
The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world’s best browser.
Download Page

Camino
Based on the same Mozilla foundation as Firefox, Camino is a more native OS X app. Fast and simple.
Download Page

Video Player / Video Podcasting

Miro
Beautiful interface. Plays any video type (much more than quicktime). Subscribe to video RSS, download, and watch all in one. Torrent support. Search and download from YouTube and others.
Download Page

IM – Instant Messaging

Adium
Connect to multiple IM accounts simultaneously in a single app, including: AOL IM, MSN, and Jabber. Beautiful, themable interface.
Download Page

Email

Mozilla Thunderbird
Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need.
Download Page

RSS

Vienna
Very nice, native RSS client.
Download Page

RSSOwl
Solid cross-platform RSS client.
Download Page

Peer-to-Peer Filesharing

Cabos
A simple, easy to use filesharing program. Gnutella network.
Download Page

Transmission
Very nice torrent downloader.
Download Page

Running Windows Software on Macs

Q Emulator
Run Windows programs on your Intel Mac at near native speed. Works on G4 / G5 Macs too, but much slower.
Download Page

Podcasting

Juice
Solid podcasting client.
Download Page

Video Playback

VLC
Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Pretty good interface.
Download Page

MPlayer
The interface and buttons are not as nice or as Mac-like in feel, but it may play even more video files than VLC.
Download Page

Perian
A plugin that allows quicktime to play additional video formats. (Included in Democracy Player.)
Download Page

iPod Ripping

Senuti
Get music off of your iPod onto any computer.
Download Page

iPodDisk
Copy music off your iPod in the finder, like a regular disk drive.
Download Page

DVD Ripping

Handbrake
DVD ripper and MPEG-4 / H.264 encoding. Very simple to use.
Download Page

CD / DVD Burning

Burn
CD and DVD Burner.
Download Page

Privacy

Vidalia
This TOR frontend keeps you anonymous on the web using military-grade techniques. For use with Firefox see: TorButton.
Download Page

Word Processing / Office Suites

Bean
Very fast and easy to use word processor. Live word count, autosaving, more.
Download Page

NeoOffice
Built on OpenOffice.org. Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.
Download Page

AbiWord
A word processor. Leaner and quicker than OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.
Download Page

Wifi Scanning

KisMac
The best wireless scanner for Mac. Find wireless access when you’re on the go.
Download Page

Sound Recording

Audacity
Simple sound recording tool.
Download Page

Graphics, Photo, Publishing

Seashore
Based on Gimp, but doesn’t require X11.
Download Page

Xee
Fast image viewer and image browser.
Download Page

Gimp.app
Photo editing application that rivals Photoshop in features (requires X11).
Download Page

Inkscape
Vector graphics application (requires X11).
Download Page

Scribus
Desktop publishing. Complicated install, but a nice app.
Download Page

FTP / SFTP

Cyberduck
Very good all-around ftp program.
Download Page

OneButton FTP
Simple, fast FTP, with a focus on "advanced queuing".
Download Page

Fugu
Not as polished as Cyberduck, but has a side by side interface showing your files and the remote files.
Download Page

HTML / Text Editing

Smultron
Text / html editor. Integrates with Cyberduck for editing websites.
Download Page

Nvu
Visual tool for making websites (WYSIWYG html editor), comparable to Dreamweaver.
Download Page

IRC

Colloquy
Great IRC client.
Download Page Some more specialized free and open-source Mac apps. If you want too see proprietary apps too, check out BestMacSoftware.org

Media Center

Centerstage
Full-screen interface for playing audio, video, and photos. Connect it to your TV.
Download Page

Note Taking

Freemind
An innovative application for note taking and outlining. Takes time to get used to, but some people swear by it.
Download Page

Personal Finance

Cashbox
Simple, easy to use application for managing personal finances.
Download Page

Buddi
A personal finance and budgeting program, aimed at those who have little or no financial background.
Download Page

MSN Chat

AMSN Messenger

More Web Browsing

Shiira
Fast, nice web browser.
Download Page

SunriseBrowser
Good webkit-based browser created with special tools for web designers.
Download Page

Seamonkey
Full-featured Mozilla browser, used to be called ‘Mozilla Suite’.
Download Page

PDF Viewer

Skim
PDF viewer.
Download Page

Screensaver

Electric Sheep
Immersive, trippy screensaver.
Download Page

More Filesharing

Tomato Torrent
Download torrents. Nice and simple.
Download Page Also see: Poisoned – Azureus

3D Graphics and Modeling

Blender
Powerful 3D Modeling software.
Download Page Also see: Persistence of Vision Raytracer – Art of Illusion – Wings 3D – Quesa – Open Media Toolkit

MP3 Management

iEatBrainz
Fills in the correct metadata (title, artist, etc) for MP3s in your collection.
Download Page

Planetariums and Outer Space

Celestia
Open-source 3D planetarium software. Akin to traveling through space (outer space).
Download Page

Stellarium
"Renders realistic skys in realtime." See what you would see if your city wasn’t so light-polluted. Used in real planetariums.
Download Page Also see: macORSA – Orbit Reconstruction, Simulation, and Analysis

Comic Viewer

Jomic
Read digital comics.
Download Page

Dance Dance Revolution

Stepmania
Dance Dance Revolution clone. Can connect to external dance pads.
Download Page

Games

Cube
Nice first-person shooter.
Download Page

Marathon: Aleph One
Engine for Bungie’s free FPS series Marathon. Play online, solo play with rich original story, many total conversions and thousands of maps.
Download Page

Zombies
3D zombie strategy game.
Download Page

Armagetron Advanced
3D Tron game.
Download Page

BZFlag
First-person tank game.
Download Page

Battle for Wesnoth
Fantasy / Strategy Game
Download Page Also see: Snes9X (SNES emulator), Frozen Bubble, PySol for Mac (card games), PLANESHIFT (3D Fantasy MMORPG), VDrift (drift racing simulation).

del.icio.us Client

Cocoalicious
Let’s you easily post to del.icio.us.
Download Page

Free File Hosting

CC Publisher
Host Creative Commons video or audio files for free on archive.org with this easy uploader.
Download Page

Quick Links

Viewers Comic viewer: Comical
Comic viewer: FFView
OpenDocument viewing application: ODF Viewer

RSS and Usenet
RSS Reader: Feed
Cross-platform RSS reader: BlogBridge
RSS video podcast player: I/ON
Usenet Reader: OSXnews

IM, IRC, Chat
Multi-IM: Fire
Powerful IRC client: X-Chat Aqua
Videoconferencing client: XMeeting
PBX / Voip system: Asterisk

Graphics and Art
Draw on a moving canvas: Cosmic Painter
Image editor: Seashore
An artwork scaling calculator: Scaletron!
A Paint-like program designed for pixel-pushers: Pixen
A VRML/X3D Browser: FreeWRL
Video
Realtime Editing and Effects System: Jahshaka
Video transcoder: ffmpegX
MPEG convertor: MPEG Streamclip

Music and Audio
OGG Vorbis encoder (ogg is an open source audio codec): Ogg Drop
Music notation: LilyPond
Play and compose live music: Miraton
Max/MSP style realtime music and multimedia environment: Pd
Manage chords, lyrics, and projection: OpenSong

Wifi / Networking
Discover open wifi networks: iStumbler
A Prism/Prism2 driver 802.11: WirelessDriver
Fast, lightweight VNC client: Chicken of the VNC
VNC server providing remote access to the GUI, keyboard and mouse: OSXvnc

Utilities
Book management: Books
CD / DVD Burning: SimplyBurns
Disable sleep on a Mac: InsomniaX
Protect your laptop with a car-alarm style alarm: Multialarm
Remove extra languages from OSX to save disk space: Monolingual
System event notifications: Growl
System performance monitors: MenuMeters
Virtual desktop tool: Desktop Manager
Virus checker: ClamXav
Share mouse and keyboard between 2 or more computers: SynergyKM and Quick Synergy
Check available RAM: Memtest
Monitor CPU, RAM, battery, CPU temp, network, I/O, and more: X Resource Graph
Control your Mac via Bluetooth: Romeo

Writing and Typesetting
Screenplay writing and pre-production support: Celtx
Bibliography manager, BibTeX .bib format: BibDesk
Typesetting – TeX previewer for Mac OS X: TeXShop
Typesetting: iTexMac

Education
Education course management system: Moodle
Student information system: Focus / SIS
Another student information system: Centre

Programming
Development platform: Eclipse
SQL Editor: YourSQL

Math and Engineering
General purpose computer algebra system: Yacas
GNU S language: R
MATLAB style rapid engineering and scientific prototyping / data processing: FreeMat

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