Tips & Tools

This is a basic package for surfing the Internet safely and enjoying the multimedia and interactive functionalities. In some cases you are given more than one choice because it may happen that in your system some apps perform better than others, or you may personally prefer one app over the other. All applications on this page are freeware. Most of them, or equivalent applications, are probably already installed on your computer, so install only those you really need.

If you have any problems or doubts post them in the Helpdesk section of our Forum or email us.

Online Services

Boxnet - http://www.box.net/ - Box.net is a web-based service that lets you store files online (1 GB storage), share with other people, and collaborate on projects.

Flickr - http://www.flickr.com - Almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world, Flickr is an image/video hosting website and an online community platform. In addition to being a popular Web site for users to share personal photographs, it is also widely used as a photo repository to be used in blogs, forums, etc.

GCast - http://www.gcast.com - Record or upload your audio files and create a podcast. Get the code and embed your podcast in your post.

Google Docs - http://docs.google.com - Free web-based word processor, presentation and spreadsheet, which allow you to create or import your office documents and share and collaborate online.

Scribd - http://www.scribd.com - Upload your office or image files (docs, slideshows, spreadsheets, PDFs, images, , etc.) and embed them in your posts.

Slideshare - http://www.slideshare.net - Upload your slideshows (powerpoint) and embed them in your posts.

Youtube - http://www.youtube.com - Upload your videos and embed them in your posts.

Antispyware

Spybot Search&Destroy - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Spybot - Search & Destroy is an adware and spyware detection and removal tool. This includes removal of certain advertising components, that may gather statistics as well as detection of various keylogging and other spy utilities.

Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/#free

Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components.

Antivirus

avast! 4 Home Edition - http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus and antispyware package designed exclusively for home users, non-commercial users. Both conditions should be met! After registration you will get a free code that lasts for 14 months.

AntiVir Personal Edition - http://www.free-av.com/

The AntiVir Personal Edition offers the effective protection against computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single PC-workstation.

Graphics

IrfanView - Image Viewer and Editor - http://www.irfanview.com/

IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003.

Multimedia

Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.

VLC media player - http://www.videolan.org/

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Real Alternative - http://www.free-codecs.com/Real_Alternative_download.htm

Real Alternative allows you to play RealMedia files without the need to have RealPlayer installed. It supports all RealMedia formats (.ra .rm .rmvb .ram .rpm .rv .rp .rt .smi .smil etc.), as well as streaming content and embedded files.

Utilities

Adobe Acrobat Reader - http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Free software for viewing and printing Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
You can choose the the language and the correct version for your operating system.

UltimateZip - http://www.ultimatezip.com/download.htm

UltimateZip is an easy to use archive utilty. With it's flexible user interface, UltimateZip is easy to use for first-time users and offers many features for power users. Support for Zip, Rar and several other compression formats.

Browser add-ons

Google Toolbar - http://toolbar.google.com/

The Google Toolbar provides direct access to powerful Google searches. It includes several additional tools, a popup killer, a page ranking tool, a form filler, detailed page information and more. It can also highlight search words on a page, making it easier to find what you were looking for. A must-have for any browser. Google Toolbar works with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, MyIE2, AvantBrowser and others.

Browser Plugins

You'll need these plugins to correctly view many of the pages on the Internet, specially those which are interactive. You probably already have them installed on your computer. If you don't, you'll be promped to download and install them. It's a fairly easy and automated process. If you have any problems installing or configuring them (or if they son't work correctly, click on the names below and you'll be taken to a help page.

Java - http://www.java.com/en/download/help/win_offline.xml#enable

Macromedia Flash - http://www.macromedia.com/support/flashplayer/

Macromedia Schockwave - http://www.macromedia.com/support/shockwave/

Safe surfing

Teens' Rules for Online Safety - STAY CYBER SMART !

There's some great stuff on the Net, but some bad stuff too. It's important to be careful when using the Internet and remember these SMART rules !

Use antivirus and antispyware software and remember to keep them updated.

Keep your personal details secret. Never use your parents' credit card without their permission, and never give away your name, address, or telephone number.

Don't tell other people, except for your parents if they ask you, your passwords - it's like handing out the keys to your home!

If you are using a public computer (school, library, friends' house, etc.), don't memorize your login information in the browser.

Never meet someone you have contacted in Cyberspace without your parent's permission.

Don't accept e-mails, open attachments or download files from people or organisations you don't really know or trust - they may contain viruses or nasty messages.

Remember that someone online may not be who they say they are. If you feel uncomfortable or worried in a chat room simply get out of there!

Tell your parents right away if you come across any situation that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Look out for Internet scams. Some people use the Internet to run scams. Don’t believe things that are ‘too good to be true’. If you’re not sure, check with someone else before you act on anything.

If you need any help on this matter post your question in the
Help Desk section of our Forum or email us.

Content

Who's online

Tips & Tools

Safe surfing