Free Download A Day

Did you ever want to text yourself? You're headed out the door to some place you've never been before, so you dutifully looked-up the address and driving directions on Google Maps. It would be handy to send yourself a text message with that info in it, so that you don't have to drag along that printout of the directions.

Google Send To Phone is a Firefox extension that allows you to send SMS messages (text messages) to your mobile phone from within your web browser. Copy and paste whatever content you want from your page into the "text to send" field. If you're going long, the tool will automatically split your text into multiple messages.

Not only is this useful for texting yourself, but if you need to dash off a quick note to somebody else, you can do so as well. All you need is the phone number and carrier for your recipient.

Google Send To Phone is compatible with any system running Firefox version 1 or later. Sending messages through this extension is free, but charges may apply to receiving them; check with your carrier for details. Most major carriers are included in the list for sending.

Download Google Send To Phone

How many different IM accounts do you have? AIM, ICQ, MSN–the list does go on. Each of these has their own proprietary client, so keeping track of all of them can become a real nightmare. It'd be nice if one size would fit all.

Enter Pidgin, the free, multi-protocol instant messaging client that allows you to access all of your accounts at once. Chat with all your buddies at once, without having to run half a dozen apps on your desktop at a time. Along with allowing you to exchange garden variety instant messages, Pidgin also supports file transfer, away messages, and many other features of their respective networks.

Pidgin runs on Linux (and other *NIX systems), as well as Windows. Mac users will want to check out Adium for similar functionality for their OS X machines.

Download Pidgin

Who can live without email? We all use it multiple times a day. If you're looking for something beyond what you're currently using, you may want to give i.Scribe a spin.

i.Scribe is a lightweight email client that combines email functionality with an integrated contact database, as well as a calendar. It doesn't require an installer (one is included for user convenience), so it can be dropped wherever you want it to live, including USB drives, making it super easy to bring along with you.

It starts up fast, requiring only a second or two to get up to speed. It may be one of the safer email clients out there, since it supports HTML email but not embedded scripts, so you won't have to dread opening emails like in Outlook. It features a Bayesean spam filter, so it will learn what you consider spam and react accordingly, getting smarter and more efficient over time.

i.Scribe supports only a single account (they have a paid version that supports multiple accounts), so it may not be the most flexible tool you own, but you can't beat the price.

i.Scribe is available as a free download. It runs under Windows (most features run under 98/ME, more under 2k/XP), Linux, and a beta-level version for Mac OS X.

Download i.Scribe

RSS has made everybody's life easier. Rather than having to run around the Web to see what's going on out there in the world, you can let the world come to you. Whether it's news and politics, social networking, or the musings in the blogosphere, the world literally beats a path to your door through RSS syndication of content.

RSSOwl is a free newsreader that lets you read news the way you want to. Along with the expected subscribe and read functionality, there are extras that deserve a good look. Enhanced search capability allows you to find just the posts you are interested in.

You can also search for newsfeeds you haven't discovered yet, helping you to cover your interests even better. Once you find a site you like, RSSOwl will scour the site, looking for every feed that they feature.

There's an internal browser, so HTML content will be rendered correctly for your viewing pleasure.

You can minimize the app to the System Tray, keeping it out of the way until it detects new unread items. It lets you new when you have new stories to look at, keeping you right on top of things.

A new Version 2 is currently under development. It promises to add Usenet capability, allowing you to go old school and keep track of Newsgroups as well.

RSSOwl is a Java application, and is available for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows systems.

Download RSSOwl

VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) is one of the bigger deals out there for taking advantage of the Internet. Instead of using the phone company and its network of wires and switches, you use the Internet as the conduit for your phone calls to travel from here to there. Commercial services like Vonage allow you to make calls this way, although you still get to pay for the privilege. Free providers like Skype are out there, allowing you to call other members for free, while paying to call numbers that aren't part of the network.

The Gizmo Project is another free VoIP service. Like Skype, you can call other members for free, or for an additional fee you can call and receive calls from phones that aren't part of their network. There are differences, however, between Gizmo and Skype.

Based on the open SIP standard, Gizmo allows you to also talk with Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, and Windows Live users, as well as IM your AIM and MSN buddies. file sharing is available through the IM window. Free voicemail and conference calling further enhance your options.

If it's time to tell the telco to take a hike, you may want to hike over to Gizmo and take it for a spin.

Gizmo is available for Linux, OS X, and Windows, so just about everybody can use it.

Download Gizmo

Valentine's Day is coming soon. Remember gradeschool, when you got to make Valentine's cards for everyone in your class (and even had to give one to the kid that you really didn't like?) Giving Valentine's cards isn't just for kids — just about everyone appreciates getting a silly, cute, fun card on Valentine's Day.

FreePrintableValentines.net makes giving Valentines easy. The site offers 50 Valentine's Day card designs in PDF format, which you can download and print for free. The site includes cards for sweethearts, friends, children, and even (who knew there was a need for this?) Valentines for robots.

So you can print out 40 copies of your favorite card and give one to everyone in your workplace. Even the folks that you don't like that much.

Get Free Printable Valentines

The paper that comes out of your printer is one relentless white sheet after another, which makes your correspondence oh-so-boring. A new site called Free Printable Stationery offers more than 150 stationery designs that you can download, personalize, and print. The selections include business letterhead, informal personal stationery, plus party invitations, animal-themed pages, and more. You can download lined or unlined versions, then use Microsoft Word (or your favorite free word processor that uses the .DOC format) to customize and print the stationery. And in case you forgot the spelling rule like we did: stationary means standing still; stationery is paper you write on. As far as we know, the stationery is stationary.

Get Free Printable Stationery

Today only, Opera Software is celebrating its 10th anniversary by giving away registration codes for its Opera web browser. (This deal has expired.) (It's normally $39.) Opera's a fantabulous web browser: features include a pop-up blocker, RSS newsreader, e-mail client with spam filter, a notes feature, and much more.

Have patience when you go to the site: understandably, the Opera site is heavily loaded — and therefore slow — today. The offer is valid until 12 a.m. Wednesday, August 31 2005 (PDT).

First, get your free registration code
Then, download Opera

Spice up your office communications with a great-looking fax cover page. Today's featured download isn't a single program, but an entire site where you can download and print more than 100 fax cover pages. All of the cover sheets are available in .doc format (for Microsoft Word and compatible word processors): you can customize these before printing them, if desired. In addition, dozens of cover pages are ready-to-go: just download and print the PDF version for instant gratification. Cover sheets are available in 10 categories, including nature, job-related, funny, and color.

Go to Free Fax Cover Sheets.net

If you're looking for an easy way to set up a WiFi network, perhaps for your business, check out this open-source application. WiFi networks are the hottest thing around, and you may be wondering how to set up your own. The PublicIP ZoneCD takes the guesswork out of setting up a network. You provide the necessary equipment: WiFi router, old PC, and broadband Internet connection — and the software takes care of the rest. All you have to do is put a CD in the CD-ROM drive. The software turns that PC into a WiFi gateway for home or business use. Best of all, the software, which runs from the CD, doesn’t use up any hard drive space. PublicIP is built on Linux, so it's stable and secure.

Get PublicIP