The first time I got impressed was when MIT decided to put its courseware online for free. That was dubbed as MIT Open Course Ware, now its Popular Science that has done it. The magazine that has been publishing articles on science and technology, has partnered with Google to place there 137 years of data online for free!

Although there is no utility to browse through the issues but with the search facility one can find relevant stuff. Google ADs are included off course. Head on to the Popular Science Archive page and read to your heart’s content.

Choosing an Anti virus may not be the easiest thing to do but it certainly is inevitable. Panda’s Cloud Anti-virus is free and worth a try. Although introduced sometime back it lacked support for Windows 7 then. Now it has received the official Windows certification for both 32 as well as 64 bit versions. The Anti-virus itself is light and installs in a flash, occupying a mere 22 MB of  space.

The Cloud version of the Anti-virus is made for small and medium sized companies. This reduces their overall costs by obviating the need for expensive hardware, software and IT personnel. It is easy to use and maintain and provides good protection against viruses etc. Also included is E-mail spam filtering.

It has a very good detection rate and it uses online checks for enhanced protection. It does not use the PCs resources, but sends data about potential threats to the Panda’s servers for detailed analysis. This obviates the need for frequent threat signature updates. The app can be downloaded from the Cnet or Panda website. A must try!

A cluttered Desktop is what we usually have, in Windows I mean. Organizing it is difficult if not impossible. I can tell by experience that most of place files, folders and frequently used app shortcuts on the Desktop. It is easier this way to access them instead of looking deep in to the hard drive or even the Programs Menu. A utility called “Fences” makes it easy to organize those innumerous icons on your desktop. The idea is simple, put fences around folders, icons or whatever and organize the dreaded Desktop.

This makes it easy to access them since they are organized better, besides it gives a good look to the whole setup. The Fences can be customized and given names according to one’s choosing. The utility is free for personal use and works with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The Pro version costs $ 20.

Both 32 bit and 64 bit versions are supported on Windows 7 and Vista. The application has been developed by Stardock, a company that specializes in Windows experience software and games. The app can be downloaded from download.com. Check out the screenshot below.

A Desktop Organized with Fences

There exist many options for making a Collage of your favorite pictures but I found Shape Collage to be very easy and useful. It is a small, free application for making a Collage. All one has to do is point and click and in a few seconds a Collage can be created.

To begin with one can either add pictures by selecting the desired ones, a whole folder of them or even from the Web. After the photos have been added they will be displayed in the photos area as shown in the screenshot below.

Listening to, reading and finding translation of the Quran is a daily ritual for most Muslims. This can be done using the paper version of the Quran or using specialized software like Quran Reciter etc. Now several websites offer this facility online for free. Tanzil.info is one such website which lets users read and listen the Holy Quran. It also allows users to read translation of the Holy Book in multiple languages.

The interface is attractive and user friendly to use. First time visitors will not find themselves lost in the maze. One can browse through the entire Quran via Suran, Ayah, Juz or even page. Next comes the recitation which can be listened online as well as offline using a separate application. There are 19 Qaris to choose from and the biggest names like Al-Sudais, Abdul Basit and Al-Ghamdi etc are included in the list. A simple mouse-over provides translation in the selected language. A total of 69 types of translation options exist. For example in the English language one can read translation by about 12 people like Marmaduke Pickthall and Mahammad Asad etc.

Music is something even kids find inevitable. Play a good beat to a year old child and he/she will clap, swing and laugh. Modern mobile phones have mp3 players which good sound quality and hours of playback. They even let users set ringtones of there favorite songs, but only if users can find the desired ringtones somewhere on the web. Frankly, better options exist for making one’s own mp3 ringtones rather than finding them elsewhere and that too for free! Here’s how you can make your very own ringtones for free…

Ingredients:

• Audacity, which happens to be a free Sound Editor.
• Your favorite mp3 songs.
• A PC running Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS X or Linux.
• And finally a means of transferring the ringtones from your PC to the mobile phone using synchronizing software.

How to make an mp3 Ringtone?

• Download Audacity and run it after installing it. From the File menu choose Open and select the mp3 song you want to convert in to a ringtone. The song will be imported to Audacity and after it has been imported you will see something like this:

Since the launch of some new Smart phones running Google’s Android OS Android applications are much in demand.  Although the list cannot match the likes of Apple’s applications running literally in the thousands but for Android it is just a start that is poised to take off. User reviews are encouraging and the availability of Android SDK free of cost has given the required impetus to the development of more applications. Enthusiasts the world over are now busy developing more and more apps for varying needs. In my previous post I had listed Top Ten Android applications now I have listed 20 free apps for Android devices that includes categories like Communication tools, Utilities, Social, Reference, Lifestyle, Finance, Entertainment, Shopping and Productivity. Read on for a brief description of these applications and do try them out, remember they are all free!

Communication.

• Opera Mini v 4.0. The well known web browser Opera Mini runs on Android devices as it has been designed for them. The browser is fast as the content is compressed before being sent to the phone, which saves more time as well as money. However, do check the version before downloading and installing on your device for compatibility issues. The browser also lets users synchronize history, notes and bookmarks between mobile phone and PC. Website: Opera.

• Twidroid. Twidroid is a creation of Marban & Zimmermann and is used for tweeting via the Android phone. It supports photo posting (Native), auto-completion, news from twitter buzz and location support. The newer version is going to have off line composing facility and YouTube posting. More info is available at Marban & Zimmermann website.

Since its announcement Google Wave has been making waves in the IT industry and elsewhere. The communications platform for the next generation which was announced somewhere in May 2009 has some very advanced features for collaboration, communication and networking. Best of all it lets users work and share stuff in real time. A preview release was given to 100,000 users somewhere in September 2009. All others were asked to register for an invite. This scribe registered for an invite and verily it was received just a few days back.

Using the wave has been one good experience and I must say it is going to be the medium of choice for most if not all in the coming years. This is something new, innovative and far ahead of the rest of pack by leaps and bounds. Imagine having the facility to work in real time on projects, share thoughts, chat,collaborate and then view the entire communication in a timeline view as if reminiscing about it. One could go on and on writing about it, but unfortunately it would make little sense for most folks out there since the public at large is devoid of a Google Wave account. This sounds familiar doesn’t it? remember the time Orkut was released to the public albeit by invites only? The public went bonkers just waiting for an invite.

 Ok now I have to break the suspense surrounding this post. We at BiggTech have decided to give away twenty, that’s right 20 invites of Google Wave to readers. All you have to do is send us an e-mail stating the reason why you want to use Google Wave, or why you want an invite. Let’s see the creative in you, the mails are to be sent at tips@biggtech.com with the words Google Wave Invite in the subject. Closing date is 25 th December 2009, hurry and get invited. Users names along with their replies will be posted on the blog.

Microsoft Office 2010 (beta)  is all set to be released soon. The company has launched a dedicated website for MS Office 2010 (Beta). The suite is set to be released in following three flavors;

• Office Home and Business 2010 Beta
• Office professional 2010 Beta
• Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta

A comparison of the three flavors is available the Office 2010 Beta website. Although no dates have been announced, but users may be able to download the Beta within a week’s time. A technical preview of the MS Office 2010 suite can be read at the MS Office 2010 website. The beta version will work till 31 October 2010, after that users will have to purchase the suite or go for a new installation of some previous MS Office version.

This may sound like good news but it is perceived that fewer people will make the switch, after all we are still not over from the MS Office 2007 hangover, or are we?

Almost all of us have played Bejeweled at one time or another, well if not played then at least we have seen people playing it. It is easy, small and addictive. Now comes Halloween Bejeweled, which features bats, bugs, pumpkins, chocolates and other Halloween stuff in place of the usual diamonds, hearts and gems.  The game can be played online as well as offline after downloading it off course. There is simple mode which has no time constraints and the Timed version is a little tough. There is a sizeable number of people playing it online always and stats are displayed on the main page, showing the population count.

In order to play the online version you need to have at least Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7 or later. For the offline version not much stringent hardware is required a Pentium, running XP and 64 MB of RAM.

The rules are simple just make a group of three or more similar shapes, horizontally or vertically in a line. You will get points for this and off course more shapes and items drop from above to fill the void created. It is as simple as clicking your mouse. Bonus points are granted for making a group of four or more shapes, besides Hints and Help is readily available. The trial version costs nothing and the full version is also available for under $10.