The Smiling Pirate

VLC Media Player is a free open-source media player. The list of compatible formats and codecs it supports is a long one but it includes MPEG (1, 2, DVD, VCD, SVCD etc.) Audio CD, AVI, ASF, WMV, WMA, MP3, MP4, MOV, 3GP, OGG, WAV, FLAC, FLV, DivX, XviD, Cinepac, MJPEG, Indeo, Real Audio (partial), and more.

Download VideoLAN Media Player here

Convert video files between various formats, with fast converting speed and excellent video quality.

Input formats:

avi, asf, mov, rm, rmvb, flv, mkv, mpg, 3gp, m4v, vob, YouTube videos and more.

Output formats:

avi, mp4, wmv, flv, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, mpg (PAL or NTSC), mp3, wma, ogg, aac
Download Any Video Converter here

This handy web application is available here.

Nothing to install here. Just download the player and run the program.

Download Wimpy Desktop FLV Player here

Pencil is an animation/drawing software that lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics (GPL). Available for for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.

Download Pencil here

With Orbit Downloader you can download video/music/streaming media from Myspace, YouTube, Imeem, Pandora, and Rapidshare to name a few and save it to your PC.

Download Orbit Downloader here

I decided to put this link up because when I was first looking for it, the software was almost impossible to find. I don’t know how many people still have this phone but this application is very handy. Once installed, you can modify the contacts on your phone, copy pictures from your phone, and sync with the contacts on your PC.

When you are on the download site, scroll down to the section titled NEW. You will see a link that says “Motorola Phonetools Installer Only”.  It is a 76Mb download. Install it, follow the prompts and your phone will be recognized in minutes.

Download Motorola Mobile Phone Tools here

Download a great open-source PDF creator here

The Smiling Pirate has compiled a list of FREE software applications that you can use to build a PC using freeware or open-source applications. What you need to get started is a Windows operating system of your choice. These applications will work on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. They may work on Vista as well but as you know here at The Smiling Pirate we like KISS (Keep It Simple Software). Vista is far from that. So grab yourself a Windows 2000 or XP machine and remove all of the bloated applications and configure it your way with no money out-of-pocket using the software we’ve listed below. Enjoy!

OpenOffice (Office Apps)

MoonSecure (Anti Virus)

PDFforge (PDF Creator)

CDBurnerXP (CD Burner)

Comodo Firewall Pro (Firewall)

Foxit PDF Viewer (PDF Viewer)

7Zip Archiver (Zip Archiver)

KeePass (Password Manager)

Firefox (Web Browser)

Media Player Classic (Multi-Format Video Player)

Paint.net (Photo Editor)

Thunderbird (Email Client)

NVu (Web Authoring)

Spybot (Spyware Remover)

Comodo BackUp (Backup Utility)

YamiPod is a freeware application to efficiently manage your iPod. Although we concentrate on free Windows applications,  if you know someone who is running Mac OS X or Linux, it will work on those as well. This app runs directly from your iPod. You do not need to install anything. Your PC will recognize your iPod and you can start copying mp3 and AAC files from your iPod onto you computer. This program is not just for copying files, it has dozens of other features that you might find very useful.

Download YamiPod here.