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Cool and simple: these two attributes aptly describe the latest version of Amabilis Software’s 3D modeling and animation tool, 3D Canvas. The shareware enables you to create professional quality images for your desktop, or construct Pixar-like introductions for your home video in a flash.

3D Canvas offers some powerful features and a few modeling tools to deform, sculpt and paint 3D objects. You can create complex models from simple 3D primitives, or construct a model from scratch using the Object Building Tools. Or, if you want to make your 3D images lively with some animation, simply position the object within a scene for each point in time in the animation and 3D Canvas will ensure that the resulting animation runs smoothly. The animation can be stepped through a frame at a time, viewed in real-time, and exported to an AVI file.

3D Canvas’ tool roll-up groups provide a clutter-free working environment by allowing the user to customize the program interface so that only the most frequently used items are visible.

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Even if Playstation and Xbox are the rage, there are still some old-style games that can keep the game adventurer in you more than interested. Scorched3D, a turn-based strategy game based on the DOS game Scorched Earth, is a perfect example.

The objective is the same: blow up the other players who are equally armed. However, this modern day battle takes place in a 3D environment and probably as a sign of the times, a trove of weapons are available at your disposal (after you earn them). While you still can't actually move your tank (a holdover from the game’s DOS origin), Scorched 3D allows some room for strategy. After each successful round, you can purchase new missiles and weaponry with money earned from your battles. To give you a semblance of real battle, you will have to deal with a variety of changing environmental conditions and terrains. Best of all, you have an option of playing the game over a local area network or on the Internet with up to twenty-four other players.

This classic “blast-‘em-up” game is available for both Microsoft Windows and Unix (Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Solaris etc.) operating systems, giving you no excuse for not downloading it.

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One of the consequences of the tendency of computer “power users” to open up multiple applications and browser windows simultaneously is the ‘unoptimized’ use of computer memory that often goes unnoticed (even after the applications are closed, some of the memory still remains “in use”). While the resultant slowing down of the machine is usually taken for granted, the problem can be easily solved (and for free, in fact!)

This is where an effective memory optimizer like FreeRAM XP Pro provides its value: by unclogging the RAM bottleneck for faster computing. Its distinctive AutoFree feature enables the software to clear out data that is no longer useful from the RAM without affecting memory still used by applications. It shows current records of your system’s RAM usage, and reports on previous optimizations performed. Both manual and auto-mode optimization settings are available.

While the user interface looks incongruent with the times, FreeRAM XP Pro is still highly recommended for home and professional users, as well as advanced gamers who are always lusting for some extra horsepower for their systems.

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FolderShare is a part desktop-based and part web-based program that facilitates file movements between PCs connected to the web.

To use the service, you will have to install the freeware onto the primary PC and create an account. In addition, a small client must be installed to other PCs that will link to the primary PC. Moreover, all arrangement, sharing and synchronizing of files require a visit to the FolderShare website. While all this may seem quite cumbersome, file transfers are quite easy. The FolderShare website has intuitive functionality, and unlike other similar applications, it gives a bit more leeway in terms of which files and folders will be shared and synchronized.

Rest assured on the security front since data is authenticated and encrypted, whether you're sharing, synchronizing or downloading files.

The free version is quite useful, but small and medium-sized businesses might want to upgrade to paid versions that offer advanced capabilities (such as snapshots) and huge file transfers.

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If you are the kind with more than a passing interest in creating your own brand of music fusion, consider the Linux MultiMedia Studio (LMMS) mixing software. Install this on your machine and you would have almost converted your room into a mini-recording studio.

Like any good mixing software, LMMS allows you to create cool loops, synthesize and mix sounds and arrange the tracks. LMMS integrates the features of a tracker/sequencer-program (pattern/channel/ sample/song/effect-management) with those of powerful synthesizers and samplers on a sleek yet easy-to-use GUI. Beginners may want to go through the demo projects for some useful tips.

LMMS is still a work in progress and users are likely to find an occasional bug. Moreover, hardcore audiophiles will most likely contend that remixes using real hardware synthesizers will sound better than software-generated ones. Nonetheless, you can definitely impress your friends with your very own home-made electronica, without spending a dime on the hardware.

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Get ready to give your printer a workout: Free Printable Gift Tags provides more than 80 printable gift tags you can download, customize, and print. They're available in both .DOC and .PDF formats: you'll find designs for Christmas and Hanukkah, birthdays, weddings, valentine's day, Guy Fawkes Day…well, not that one, but there are tags for plenty of gift-givin' occasions, and lots of all-occasion tags, too.

Go to Free Printable Gift Tags

Skype might legitimately stake a claim to be the VOIP leader, but don’t ignore the dark horses. VOIPBuster is one such new VOIP application that offers stripped down, barebone calls to any phone in 21 countries for as long as you want to talk, practically free. We're talking about calling actual phone lines (not just other people with Net-connected computers) for a low one-time free.

Setup is a no brainer; simply download and install the application, sign up for an account, buy ten Euros worth of credit (about $11.74, using your credit card or PayPal) and you’re done. As long as you stick to calling the countries in the free list (which includes the United States, Canada, UK, and Germany), your credit won't dwindle, so you can talk all you want. Though Skype features such as conference calling, instant messaging and presence information are not available, with the excellent voice call quality that VOIPBuster offers at incredibly low rates, it pays to overlook some of these nice-to-haves.

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