The Smiling Pirate

AlternativeTo is a site that keeps track of free alternatives to popular licensed apps and organizes them by operating system. If you have a favorite paid app, just search for it to see what free apps might be able to replace it.

The apps are organized by operating system, so you can narrow your search by Windows, Mac, Linux, or Online apps.

Although many of the applications that are recommended on AlternativeTo have already been listed here on The Smiling Pirate, I think their concept is great and I totally support it but I still want all of you to keep coming back to The Smiling Pirate.

We’ve added a new widget to The Smiling Pirate. I came across it recently and decided to add it. The widget is provided by Giveaway of the Day. Check it out on the right sidebar.

Every day, Giveaway of the Day offers FREE licensed software you’d otherwise have to buy. The software product will be presented in its full functionality, without any limitations.

They also offer FREE game giveaways. You can check those out at Game Giveaway of the Day.

For more information about the Giveaway of the Day concept, check out their About page.

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:

• Record live audio.
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CD’s.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
• And more! See the complete list of features.

If you are just breaking into the audio editing scene, this application will get you started on the right track. Once you have a good understanding of the basics within this app, you can always move on to a more robust app if you feel the need to. Or, if this works for you then stick with it. Remember, other audio editing apps that have more bells and whistles come with a hefty price tag. This one is free.

Download Audacity here

Unlike other desktop calendars that are bulky and take forever to load, this one sits on your desktop and almost blends into your wallpaper without being an eyesore. It is easy to navigate and completely interactive.

Aside from the calendar itself, you can also have a To-Do List and Upcoming Events appear to remind you about any important dates you may have entered. All three of these can be moved anywhere on your desktop.

To add an event, double-click any day on the calendar and you can enter a title, time, description and category. Each category comes with a different icon that you can use to customize the event. There’s airplanes, stars, dollar signs, etc. When you select an icon, it appears over the designated day so you can glance at the calendar and see the type of event you have planned.

You can also set alarms for any dates that you want to be reminded about.

You can also customize the calendar with different skins. You’ll find new skins on the Rainlendar Web site. You’ll be able to match the calendar to your computer’s theme.

There are two versions available: Rainlendar Lite and Rainlendar Pro. Rainlendar Lite is 100% free and does not contain any spyware or adware. The Lite version has all the features you’ll need. The paid Pro version only adds Outlook and Google Calendar support.

Download Rainlendar here

Most people I talk to never think their hard drive is going to crash. These are the same people who have hundreds if not thousands of digital photos sitting on a drive in their computer that doesn’t get backed up. Backing up data on computers is not only meant for businesses. You have to think of it this way. If the files were to disappear, would you miss them? If the answer to this question is yes, then you need to use backup software. The average user is a computer file pack-rat. Everything gets saved and archived and sometimes can be found in multiple locations. Why not back up your sensitive files, digital photos, email archives, etc. to a CD or DVD and store it in a fire box so in the event of a system failure, you can restore all of the files that were lost. Backing up is all about being a proactive computer user.

Once of the nice backup solutions out there is from a company named Neobyte Solutions. They have a backup application called Titan Backup. Titan Backup is a commercial backup solution that can backup archives as zip files with or without encryption. The software also has an easy to use scheduler and supports a variety of backup locations. There is an option to perform incremental and differential backups, and has a restore function that enables you to restore complete archives or individual files. The one thing that this application cannot do is backup files that are open or in-use at the time of the backup.

Although Titan Backup version 2.5 is available, they are still offering a full version of Titan Backup 1.5 with a license key.

Download Titan Backup 1.5 here

Then enter the below serial to activate the full version:
000020-ACM8KK-1YXPMT-JZT49Z-05Z6JZ-7C68TR-9Y7FU9-6PD2P8

If you are satisfied with Titan Backup 1.5 but want to use the additional features available in version 2.5, you can upgrade at a discount here

Here are some of the benefits of upgrading.

With dozens of anti-spyware applications available on the Internet, how do you narrow it down to one that will work. Well that is what The Smiling Pirate is here for. We’ve tested several of the popular anti-spyware applications that are available and have collaborated with others in the industry to compare our results. We know that most people use popular spyware scans such as Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D since they have a proven track record for being able to remove nasty spyware and malware from you machine. However, both of these apps have been around since that later part of the 20th century. Technology has changed a whole lot since then and so have the malware writers. Sticking with either of these apps may leave you on the short end of the stick.

One application that has had some great results seeking out spyware on machines is SUPERAntiSpyware. Although it showed signs of greatness with its results, it is not perfect. What app is? At first, a quick scan attempt cleaned every infection it found but it did leave some behind. Scanning a second time removed all of them. A full scan takes a bit longer but removed everything that was detected.

SUPERAntiApyware has both a professional edition and a free edition. The free edition is 100% free and will detect and remove Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, KeyLoggers, Dialers, Hi-Jackers, and worms. SUPERAntiSpyware also removes many threats that other applications fail to remove.

The main feature difference between the professional edition and the free edition is that the free edition does not include real-time blocking or scheduled scanning. Download a copy of SUPERAntiSpyware and run a scan on your machine to test for yourself. Hopefully your machine does not have traces of spyware but if it does, SUPERAntiSpyware should take care of it.

Download SUPERAntiSpyware here

Have you ever had a friend or family member who has had trouble with their computer and has called you and attempted to accurately describe what was going on with their machine? Halfway into the conversation you realize that you have no idea what they are talking about and their problem is something that is going to require on-site support. With CrossLoop you can provide support to someone anywhere in the world right from your desktop. CrossLoop gives you the ability to grant access to your desktop or have others share their desktop so you can see exactly what they are having trouble with. CrossLoop is fast, easy, secure and best of all it’s free.

Download CrossLoop here