Ninite: A super-cool way to download common free programs
Oh, I love free stuff, and I love people who make it easier to download free stuff.
Visit the Ninite site, and check off the free applications you want on your computer, such as Firefox, Chrome, iTunes, Audacity, Skype, AVG, Adobe Reader, Gimp… The list is fantastic! (And it reminds me of all the great tools I still need to cover here on Cheapskate Freelancer.)
Once you choose your programs, click to install, and Ninite will manage your installation. This is great when you are doing a full upgrade to Windows 7.
Ninite Easy PC Setup and Multiple App Installer – Great For Win7 Upgrades.
iSpeech: Convert text to speech
Frankly I’m one of those people who gets a little irritated when I hit a website and a movie comes up or audio starts playing. But my learning style lends itself to reading, not listening, and that’s not true for everyone.
iSpeech is an online service that instantly converts text to speech. Cut and paste up to 50 words to give it a try with their basic service without registering. You can download or embed the resulting audio, and they say you can convert web content, documents, your blog… anything to speech.
I’m a little hesitant to call this a free or low-cost tool because I couldn’t find the prices for the premium voices (which sound MUCH better than the robo-chick I started with). But it might be worth exploring.
Here’s my sample: A testimonial from a speaking gig.
iSpeech: Convert Text to Speech Free. Listen to any Document, Website or Blog.
FastStone Screen Capture: Another way to avoid the “Print Screen” Button
Sigh. I guess it was bound to happen. I found a low-cost screen capture tool that competes with Jing, which is one of my all-time favorites.
FastStone Screen Capture comes in as an unobtrusive toolbar. You can capture windows, the full screen, a scrolling screen and a video with audio (see my sample below — I don’t think the audio recording is as good as Jing). In addition, when you capture something, you get a whole host of editing options to add a little more flair and details — Jing simply lets you annotate and draw arrows. And FastStone has a couple of extra handy tools like a screen magnifier plus a color picker (similar to another Beth Favorite, Pixie).
FastStone has a number of ways to export your capture, but I still prefer Jing’s integration with Screencast.com, which allows you to simply toss your capture online into your library without having to actually upload it.
Overall, I give FastStone an A- and still give Jing an A. But they’re both pretty darn cool and are infinitely better than your “Print Screen” Button.
FastStone Screen Capture – The Best Screen Capture Software.
