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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

It started as a Monty Python sketch. It ended as the scourge of the Internet. Everybody hates spam, but it's a fact of life. Anything that helps to cut down on the amount of junk clogging out inboxes is a good thing.

Junkanoo runs on your desktop and keeps the spam away, while allowing the important stuff to pass through. Using a combination of filters, content recognition (most spam has a link to a website, for example), and other techniques, the publisher claims they can keep 98% of all junk mail out of your inbox and can kill it on the server before you ever download it. You can create your own filters, as well as maintaining a whitelist, to make sure that your mom's messages always get through.

You can check any number of POP3 email accounts, so you can keep things tidy both at home and at work.

Junkanoo is a Windows application and runs on any 32-bit Windows system, from Win95 up through XP.

Download Junkanoo

Reach-a-Mail is a teeny, tiny email client. You can load it onto a USB thumb drive, and you've now got portable email. Plug it into any Internet-connected computer and you can access all your POP email without having to install anything on the host machine. It has a simple address book, or grab your contacts from Outlook Express and you've got everything you need to conduct business from your USB drive.

Easy to configure, you can choose to leave your messages on the server, so that you can grab them later with your regular email client. You have the choice of downloading message headers only, for speed, or entire messages, so that you have real email functionality. Sending and forwarding of email is also supported,

Reach-a-Mail is a free Windows program that will run on any system with Win98 or later.

Download Reach-a-Mail

Information overload. We all have so much stuff to keep track of: email, websites, newsfeeds, desktop documents. Often we have a separate application to use to interact with this information. Email client, web browser, feed reader, productivity tools. That's a lot of tools to use for a lot of information. Streamlining that process would be a good thing, right?

Noah is a tool to help with that very problem. Rather than dealing with a bunch of separate "data islands", Noah provides a way to organize and retrieve data from all these separate sources. With Noah, you can organize your life so that all information pertaining to a particular project, individual, or topic can be found easily. Noah filters in the relevant data, organized by date, while hiding the extraneous stuff, so that you can focus on what is important to you. With Noah, you won't have to dig through mountains of spam or long lists of bookmarks to find what you need for that important sales meeting–it's already there waiting for you.

An online video tutorial helps you get up and running quickly, so you won't get bogged down learning the tool that keeps you from being bogged down anyway.

Noah is a Windows app and runs on XP.

Download Noah

SightSpeed is a communications service reminiscent of Skype. The free Personal Edition allows you to make free computer-to-computer voice calls to other members anywhere in the world. With SightSpeed you can also make video calls as well–and the person you're calling doesn't even have to be a member. (Non-members must be running IE 6 or later.)

In addition to real-time communication, SightSpeed allows you to create video mail, allowing your recipient to view and hear your message when it's most convenient for them.

SightSpeed also has a built-in chat client, so you can be on a call with somebody and still IM-ing with someone else.

Sight Speed Personal Edition runs on both Windows (Win2k or better) and Mac (OS X 10.3.9 or later) systems.

Download SightSpeed Personal Edition

Google Pack is a collection of free software available from Google, featuring several of their own applications–Google Earth, Google Desktop, and an updated Google Photos Screensaver–as well as many other programs.

We originally looked at Google Pack last summer, and they have added several apps to their bundle since then. Norton Security Scan detects and removes viruses, and Spyware Doctor Starter Edition helps eliminate spyware, adware, and trojan horses. Current offerings include the latest RealPlayer for playing popular media formats, Skype for free PC-to-PC VOIP calls, Google’s instant messaging client “Google Talk”, and others.

With Google Pack, you can choose which applications to install, so you don’t run the risk of overloading your system with a bunch of things you won’t use. The Google Updater makes sure that you have the latest versions of each of the Google Pack applications. Google Pack is available for Windows XP and Vista.

Get Google Pack

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

You've got something to say, and people want to hear it, so why not start your own Podcast? It's easily done using WildVoice Podcast Studio - you can record and publish from one simple interface. While recording your Podcast with a microphone, you can use the WildVoice to add sound effects like cats, dogs, and the all-time favorite sound, farts (there are more than 100 sounds to choose from). Your recordings can be completed in multiple segments, but when you're ready to publish, WildVoice will wrap them all up in one MP3 file.

The program requires Win XP and the .NET Framework, which many people already have installed. When your Podcast is completed, you can show it to the world by uploading it to the Wild Voice website.

Get Wild Voice Podcast Studio