Censored News holiday gift, best free software

ree and really cheap: Software and equipment for virus protection and online audio production

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot/

This holiday season, I'm sending all Censored News readers a special gift, a list of the best free software on the web. After crossing America on the Longest Walk and the Earthcycles radio bus headed home, I began to search out free software for audios.
Before getting started with the free audio software, I want to recommend AVG free anti-virus software. It can save you a great deal of money each year and is recommended by PC magazine. If you're not always online, you will need to make sure you regularly update it, as there are constantly new attacks and new protections released. Free AVG download: http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html
All the software tips here are for beginners, PC users.
To edit audio, I've been using the free Audacity and it is great for beginners. I use it just to pick out clips and sections of long recordings. It is also a top recommendation of PC magazine. Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
One of the great finds, thanks to radio host Robin Carneen at NAMAPAHH radio, was the free Blog Talk Radio. It takes a little practice for beginners, but the switchboard if fairly easy. You will need a talk show host and to upload your own original recordings, but it is a great free source to broadcast a radio show. (The host telephone number to call in to do the show is not an 800 number. There's no 800 number for callin guests either, so regular phone charges apply.) http://www.blogtalkradio.com/
At Earthcycles radio, produced by Govinda Dalton, we use tiny digital voice recorders for interviews, purchased at Radio Shack (Olympus brand for about $85.) The sound quality is excellent and we never ran out of space. Sony also makes a superb digital voice recorder (about $100 at Target) which produces mp3 files. It is good to get the type voice recorder that plugs right into your computer's USB port to transfer the files. You also have to save each audio file individually on most computers.
The sound quality of these tiny recorders is superior to more expensive radio equipment that we tried out during our lengthy broadcasts in 2008.
If you are using a recorder that produces a wav format, you can use Free Rip free software,
to transform the heavy wav to the lighter mp3 (necessary to upload large files at Blog Talk Radio.) http://www.freerip.com/download.php
Now for online calls, there's Skype. I downloaded this many times and removed it before I actually started using it. It was a real lifesaver this week and allowed me to record the Lipan Apache 'No Border Wall' press conference for $1.80. Skype is free for computer to computer calls, but there is a small charge when your computer dials a regular phone (2 cents a minute or unlimited US for $2.95 a month.) Skype is another recommendation of PC magazine. http://www.skype.com/ww.skype.com/
For recording the press conference, I used the 30-day free trial of Callburner, which works great and produces the much needed mp3. http://www.callburner.com/
Callburner is pricey to purchase, so now I'm now searching for a high quality free recorder for phone interviews. Any suggestions?
When I first started out, I needed a place just to "park" huge audio files, so I went to the free Driveway. I discovered it makes widgets also, so those same recordings can play on the web by placing the code on a website. Widgets are just a bunch of code you can stick in the html box of your blog. (It is best to use mp3s for the Firefox brower's playback.) http://www.driveway.com/
If you receive pdf files for your website, and you can't post those, there's free software to switch those to jpegs at Soft Interface: http://www.softinterface.com/Convert-Image-To-PDF/Convert-Tiff-To-PDF.htm
If you are new to computers, it is best to have a friend explain downloads and the danger of viruses, because not all free downloads are safe for your computer. You can open the door to viruses if you are not aware of the dangers.
Also, if you are new to computers, have a friend show you how to clean your computer, by using the delete option under tools (Tools/Internet) to remove cookies and temporary files. If you're a new user, have a friend show you how to run the virus scanner to remove viruses, cookies and spyware.
If your computer is running slow, also run the "defragmenter" on your computer which puts everything back in place. You can usually find it by searching your own computer for "defragmenter."
Finally, if you want to buy a digital camera for about $150, but don't know where to begin, the Canon digital cameras in this price range score high on all consumer reports. (I use the Canon A570, but the Canons in the 900 and 1000 series are said to be even better.) Here's more great cameras recomended at CNET: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camera-reviews/?filter=100021_10061970_&tag=centerColumnArea1.0
If you take a large number of digital photos, high quality rechargeable batteries will save you hundreds of dollars each year. To prevent hassles, get a one hour charger and a couple of sets of batteries (about $20 to $30 at discount stores.) I found the Kodak rechargeable excellent, but couldn't find those this time, so now I'm trying out Duracell rechargeables.
After Christmas the big computer chains usually run sales. I bought a great laptop computer, a Compaq Presario, the one I smashed after the Longest Walk, for $399 last December. So check the sales in the local newspaper. Here's five cheap laptops recomended by PC World:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/154358/top_5_netbooks.html
For all the best free software recommended by PC magazine, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2260070,00.aspmag.com/article2/0,2817,2260070,00.asp
Finally, if you have tips about free or really cheap software or equipment, please e-mail me, brendanorrell@gmail.com
Happy holidays! Brenda
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
PHOTO TOP: November 1940. Tehama County, California. John Frost and his daughter listening to the radio in their home. View full size. Medium format safety negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.