Bring Your Websites Alive: From Boring To Exciting!

Some have a passion for web design; others consider it a mere task! This article is for those who consider web design more than just a task, in fact, it is meant for those who always have a passion to create something new! Bringing together elements of design and technicality is an exciting task, if you love website design that speaks and conveys its message effectively.

The approach taken towards design is the key to the entire site. This is also the reason why some websites grab user-attention whereas others tend to drive users away from the page.

Few Points that should be considered:

• The design should attract attention
• A user should find the website engaging
• The content should convey the right message
• The website should be user-friendly

1. The design should attract attention

Simone Moreno

The design is what speaks more than the words when a user first looks at the site. It is therefore essential you have a creative website without all the clutter. This website example has a very attractive and well-balanced approach. Although the main image is rather heavy, it has been balanced appropriately with the colors and tones used. The site is about a musician, Simone Moreno. It gives information in a neat and clutter free way although there is plenty of creativity involved in the way the images are presented.

Bebop Jeans

In this example, the website is all about an attractive color and design form usage. The elements appear slowly on the screen as the whole design takes shape. There is an interesting balance of colors and forms used. This apparel brand ensures users are motivated to explore the site.

2. A user should find the website engaging

Monoface

This example is about a Minneapolis-based company which creates innovative communication solutions for its clients. However, instead of presenting the company information in the usual manner, it has chosen an engaging way to interact with clients. The features of the main face shown in the image above can be changed with mere clicks to reveal some truly hilarious options. This is a great way to engage users whilst conveying about the creativity of the company and the kind of portfolio it will boast of!

Tony D’Orio

It can take some time to figure out this website, yet this is the very factor that makes one stay on the page. A collection of some amazing photographs have been put together by the photographer. As a users clicks on an image, the black and white image changes into color and is further enlarged. The interaction happens in an interesting way that keeps the users engaged whilst browsing the site.

3. The content should convey the right message

EValueShop

The content in a website should target its users keeping in mind the very short attention span. The message should be such that it attracts the attention and causes a user to browse the site further. This shopping website obviously has a lot of content to be presented with regards to the product. Instead of a staid presentation which might even cause a user to go away from the page; it has made use of an interesting display through the use of interactivity.

Costa Navarino

This website has creative usage of Flash. It engages the users whilst the destinations and other related information is displayed. Although, there is a usage of Flash interactions, the main message is not lost. There is a good balance between design and the topic.

4. The website should be user-friendly

Madison Communications

A website should present all its main sections in a clear manner. This is mainly to catch the attention of the user as the time factor is very limited. A website with a boring home page or site map will definitely not hold the attention span of any user. In this example, the various media departments are shown in a creative site map for the advertising firm. As the user traverses through the different headings, the cartoon character changes according to the topic.

Hoodie Remix

A neat and simple design is what this website is all about. Yet, the users are kept engaged on the site as they can create and design their own style for the hoodie. The home, design, gallery and about us section are kept separate so that a user can navigate easily.

Final Thoughts

The common thread between all these examples:

These examples have conveyed the basics of an attractive and exciting website. Upon close observation, the common factor amongst all is Website Interactivity and Creativity.

The Basics of Website Interactivity:

Interactivity is the next step in the evolution of web interfaces. Here, we can take an example. A radio button or hyperlinks are elements of a web interface. Contrast these with a 3Dimensional Cube or a 3Dimensional Flip Book, both being examples of interactivity. They are complete experiences of doing stuff that engages users with web pages whilst the user is going through the information displayed on the website. This is what makes these examples stand out. The use of interactivities woven very creatively with website content makes them successful in capturing user-attention.

This is because, with interactivity, you can get users to stay longer, engage better and return sooner to your websites. However, some of the most commonly known ways to achieve interactivity involve programming. This can be time consuming and tedious. Interactivity thus created can be hard to maintain. On the other hand, Rapid Interactivity – a new paradigm – allows web masters to add interactivity to websites quickly and easily and also permits easy customization. This is a new phenomenon that most web designers are choosing to employ.

Interactivity can take on a number of different levels of complexity, depending on the needs of the site and the tools used to create the interactive features. These tools require programming of interactivity which is complex to code and difficult to maintain. Rapid programming is about creating interactions within minutes through customization.

Interactivity is all about keeping users on a web page!

Website interactivity is fast catching the fancy of many web designers who want to make their websites stand out! I guess it’s time to make your websites turn exciting from plain boring!

Let us know what do you think about interactivity and excitement in web design.Source

Source:http://www.1stwebdesigner.com

20 Professional Mozilla Firefox 3.5+ Ready Themes

1. Charamel Firefox Theme

Really beautifully designed theme with light brown colors. This one definitely is my favorite #1, I am currently using it.

2. Daum Blue Firefox Theme

Really elegant and clean theme using light blue and grey colors. One of my favorites.

3. Mac OS X Leopard Style Firefox Theme

If you love Macintosh, but your browser is Firefox, you definitely will enjoy this Leopard OS type theme. This theme consists of dark grey and blue color scheme.

4. Qute Firefox Theme

Simple,light and clean firefox theme with clear, colorful icons.

5. iPox Firefox Theme

iPox is an easy on the eyes, white and blue theme for Firefox.

6. Camifox Firefox Theme

Lovely colors and eye-candy shiny rounded icons used in this theme.

7. PitchDark Firefox Theme

Cool blue colored minimalistic theme.

8. Anthem Firefox Theme

Carbon like dark theme really standing out from the crowd.

9. iAqua Firefox Theme

Colors are really light and good looking, perfect for people, who enjoy clean and professional themes.

10. Past Modern Firefox Theme

Interesting theme using subtle colors and icons – such theme would be prefered by people who spend long time using browser, because it’s really easy on eyes.

11. Heaven Cube Firefox Theme

This is a dark modern theme recommended for those with a correspondingly dark OS visual style.

12. ArzoFox Firefox Theme

Light blue theme using cool icons with reflections.

13. MyFirefox Firefox Theme

This theme perfectly simulates Internet Explorer 8. Good choice if you like IE design and features, but don’t quite like it as browser. Works perefectly with Windows 7.

14. Vista Areo Firefox Theme

Similar to MyFirefox theme this theme simulates IE 8 but with Vista Aero style.

15. NASA Night Launch Theme

If you like dark colors and dark background this theme definitely will suit your needs.

16. Office 2007 Black Firefox Theme

Cool greyscale theme using really elegant colors and icons.

17. Black Stratini Firefox Theme

One more theme for people who enjoy dark colors and cool bright icons.

18. MidnightFox

Dark theme using brightly colored buttons and colors.

19. Fox World Firefox Theme

Very light theme full with glossy and shiny blue icons and colors.

20. Kempelton Firefox Theme

One more light, clean theme with really interesting 3D loading bar.

Source: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com

CSS3 Gradients: No Image Aqua Button

Boooo, Yahoo! just had the 3rd round of layoff within a little over a year period, and this time I was axed with several more fellow excellent engineers of Mobile team. So now I have free time to spend on more coding!
My job function needed full focus on products and it prevented me to have experiments and testing as I wanted to, so I always spent my own time to do. Now I can do whatever I want to while I am still on payroll. Yes! I am still paid my regular salary for a while, thanks for the new regulation 

OK, enough blah about the stupid corporate stuff.
Anyway, I played around with WebKit CSS3 gradient and created a useless but fun stuff – an Aqua button with no images!
Back in the time when Mac OS X was first announced, there’re a plenty of web tutorials that describe how to create the sexy aqua button with Photoshop, and now I can show how to create one with CSS!

Here’s a screen capture of the rendered button. You can see the actual HTML page too.

OK, let’s take a look at the code:

   
   Button Label 
  

Create a Button Base and Styling Label

.button{   width: 120px;   height: 24px;   padding: 5px 16px 3px;   -webkit-border-radius: 16px;   -moz-border-radius: 16px;   border: 2px solid #ccc;   position: relative;    /* Label */   font-family: Lucida Sans, Helvetica, sans-serif;   font-weight: 800;   color: #fff;   text-shadow: rgba(10, 10, 10, 0.5) 1px 2px 2px;   text-align: center;   vertical-align: middle;   white-space: nowrap;   text-overflow: ellipsis;   overflow: hidden; }  

The first part to render a rounded-corner rectangle. Set the position as relative to place “glare” inside of the button later.
The second part is for styling the label.
Give text-shodow with alpha-transparency. (Believe or not, Chrome and Android do not support text-shadow!)

Button Color and Shadow

.aqua{   background-color: rgba(60, 132, 198, 0.8);   background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 0%, 0% 90%, from(rgba(28, 91, 155, 0.8)), to(rgba(108, 191, 255, .9)));   border-top-color: #8ba2c1;   border-right-color: #5890bf;   border-bottom-color: #4f93ca;   border-left-color: #768fa5;   -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(66, 140, 240, 0.5) 0px 10px 16px;   -moz-box-shadow: rgba(66, 140, 240, 0.5) 0px 10px 16px; /* FF 3.5+ */ }  

Now, specify the appearance of the button and shadow at bottom.
Here. I use the -webkit-gradient to create a nice-looking aqua gradient.

Notice that I use -webkit-gradient as a background-image, although there’s no physical graphics are added there.
You can use gradients in background-image, border-image, list-style-image and content property.
On Firefox, this is ignored and you see only Background-color.

The syntax for linear gradient is as follows:

-webkit-gradient(lenear, left top, right bottom, from(start color/alpha), to(end color/alpha))

In this example, starts with dark blue from straight top to bottom (no angle) at 95%, not all way down, to blended into lighter blue.

Then, I specified color on each border (so the css looks pretty messy).

Finally, give a nice shadow at bottom, with -webkit-box-shadow.
Firefox 3.5+ supports it too, so duplicate it with -moz-box-shadow.

Syntax is as:

[color/alpha] [horizontal offset] [vertical offset] [blur radius]

Give it shine

.button .glare {   position: absolute;   top: 0;   left: 5px;   -webkit-border-radius: 8px;   -moz-border-radius: 8px;   height: 1px;   width: 142px;   padding: 8px 0;   background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.25);   background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 0%, 0% 95%, from(rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7)), to(rgba(255, 255, 255, 0))); }  

The class glare renders the glossy look on the button.
First, give absolute position to the parent container, button to give shine in the right position.

<;li
Again, use -webkit-gradient to create the glossy look, by playing with alpha-transparency.
Start with the white (alpha 0.7) and end with complete transparent (alpha 0).

Honestly, I do not like to have this non-semantic empty div block to only get this visual effect.
I need to figure a better way to do.

Source:http://girliemac.com

Dynamic tabs using jQuery - why and how to create it

This tutorial will show you how to use jQuery to create tabs that can be added and removed dynamically. Although the example looks bulletproof, there are some questions I will raise about how to use tabs and in which context should they be used in order to make them meaningful and usable.

View demo

When we talk about tabs on web we usually think about tabs used for navigation. However, in this case I'd like to use them in a different context. I want to use them for showing different entities on the same page. By entities I mean anything from plain text to web forms. Actually, I will try to simulate tabs as seen in browsers. Well, at least to some extent. Take Google docs for example, instead of opening each document in a new window (or browser tab), you could open them in page tabs.

Questions

What kind of information makes sense to be shown in page tabs? This is probably the most important question to ask. I would say that you should use page tabs in cases when there is a set of actions that you can perform on all tabs at the same time. For example, you can search and replace text in all tabs with a single action and then save it again with one action. Next, read only information such as text and reports can also be used in this context. But what about web forms? What if I want to create an application that will allow management of different data at the same time? In one tab, I could edit inventory data, while in other I can view related data. Sounds interesting, but seems as if implementation would be too complex. What are your thoughts on this one?

Implementation

Ok, before I raise more questions, let's see how to create tabs. In this tutorial, we will assume that we have a list of documents that can be opened in separate tabs. Tabs with their content can be removed by clicking on "x" sign located at the right side of each tab. The constraint is that one document can be opened only once.

This is the HTML structure needed for the example. We'll use rel attribute for creating ids of elements and title attribute to create content. Please note that instead of using title attribute, you can load content in other ways, using Ajax for example.

     
Documents
     
         
Document1
         
Document2
         
Document3
         
Document4
         
Document5
     
     
              
     
              
 
 

So, the usage should go like this: When I click on Document1 link, a new tab will be shown with the title "Document1" and content "This is the content of Document1". It will contain a red cross on the right side of the tab title which will remove the tab and its content.

$("#documents a").click(function() {     addTab($(this)); }); 

This code will add a click event on each document link, and will pass the link itself to addTabfunction.

function addTab(link) {     // hide other tabs     $("#tabs li").removeClass("current");     $("#content p").hide();          // add new tab and related content     $("#tabs").append("
" + $(link).html() +         "x
");     $("#content").append("
" +         $(link).attr("title") + "
");     // set the newly added tab as curren     $("#" + $(link).attr("rel") + "_content").show(); } 

The addTab function will first hide all tabs (if there are any) and remove class current from all tabs. This class sets a different color for the current tab. Then, it will create a new tab (li element) that will contain a link for tab title and another one for removing the tab. The content is added in a similar way. At the end, the code will set the new tab as current.

So far so good, but this will be pretty much static - we have to add functionality to tabs. When tab header is clicked related content should be shown. Also, when red cross is clicked tab with its content should be removed. For these two scenarios, we will use live method that will bind events to existing elements, but also to all elements that will be added later to HTML dom.

$('#tabs a.tab').live('click', function() {     // Get the tab name     var contentname = $(this).attr("id") + "_content";     // hide all other tabs     $("#content p").hide();     $("#tabs li").removeClass("current");     // show current tab     $("#" + contentname).show();     $(this).parent().addClass("current"); }); $('#tabs a.remove').live('click', function() {     // Get the tab name     var tabid = $(this).parent().find(".tab").attr("id");     // remove tab and related content     var contentname = tabid + "_content";     $("#" + contentname).remove();     $(this).parent().remove(); }); 

The first function will add the content while the second will remove tab content. Now, there are a few more things to do. First, we need to implement a constraint which says that one document can only be opened once. To do so, we will extend addTab function with this code:

// If tab already exist in the list, return if ($("#" + $(link).attr("rel")).length != 0)     return; 

The last thing we need to handle is the case when a tab is removed. With the current code, no tab will be the current one, and no content will be displayed. What should be done next? In this case I will assume that it will be the best to set the first tab as the current one, although we could also set next or previous one from the one removed.

We need to extend the function that removes the tab with this code (put it at the end of the function):

// if there is no current tab and if there are still tabs left, show the first one if ($("#tabs li.current").length == 0 && $("#tabs li").length > 0) {     // find the first tab     var firsttab = $("#tabs li:first-child");     firsttab.addClass("current");     // get its link name and show related content     var firsttabid = $(firsttab).find("a.tab").attr("id");     $("#" + firsttabid + "_content").show(); }  

Conclusion 

Although the technical implementation is fine, the main thing you should think about is context. Used in wrong context this can add unnecessary complexity and usability problems. There are also several other things that need to be considered. What if we have large number of tabs? How should this be handled? The way Firefox handles it or some other way? Then, should one tab always be visible (same as Firefox, again)? Then, what about adding new tabs? Should they be added to the end or next to currently shown tab?

source:http://www.jankoatwarpspeed.com

300 FREE Softwares

Office

OpenOffice - office suite
PC Suite 602 - office suite
AbiWord - text editor
Atlantis Nova - text editor
Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer - power point files viewer
Adobe Reader - pdf reader
Foxit PDF Reader - pdf reader
PDFCreator - create pdf documents
Doc Convertor - document convertor
Convert - unit convertor
Converber - unit convertor
Sunbird - calendar/organizer
EssentialPIM Free - calendar/organizer
PhraseExpress - speed up your writing
ATnotes - create notes on the desktop

Archive managers

7-Zip - compression program
IZArc - compression program
TugZIP - compression program
CabPack - compression program
Universal Extractor - extract files from any type of archive

Internet

Firefox - web browser
Internet Explorer- web browser
Maxthon - web browser
Opera - web browser
Avant Browser - web browser
Thunderbird - email client
PopTray - check for emails
Free Download Manager - download manager
FlashGet - download manager
WellGet - download manager
Download Master - download manager
WGET - commandline download manager
HTTrack - offline browser
WebReaper - offline browser
Yeah Reader - RSS reader
GreatNews - RSS reader
RSSOwl - RSS reader

P2P

µTorrent - torrent client
Azureus - torrent client
BitComet - torrent client
ABC - torrent client
BitTornado - torrent client
eMule - p2p client
SoulSeek - p2p client
Shareaza - p2p client
DC++ - Direct Connect network client
PeerGuardian - IP blocker

Chat

Miranda - chat client
MSN Messenger - chat client
Yahoo Messenger - chat client
QIP - chat client
Gaim - chat client
JAJC - chat client
HydraIRC - IRC client
Talkative IRC - IRC client
IceChat - IRC client
Skype - VOIP client
Google Talk - VOIP client
VoipStunt - VOIP client
Gizmo - VOIP client
Wengo - VOIP client

Security

AVG Free - antivirus
Avast Home Free - antivirus
AntiVir PersonalEdition - antivirus
BitDefender Free - antivirus
ClamWin - antivirus
CyberDifender - Internet Security Suite
Ad-aware - anti-spyware
Spybot: Search & Destroy - anti-spyware
Windows Defender - anti-spyware
SpywareBlaster - anti-spyware
Spyware Terminator - anti-spyware
Tootkit Reveaker - rootkit detection utility
Winpooch - system protection
HiJack Free - system protection
HighJackThis - hijackers detector and remover
Kerio Personal Firewall - firewall
Sygate Personal Firewall - firewall
ZoneAlarm - firewall
AxCrypt - file encryption
Simple File Shredder - securely delete files
PuTTy - SSH client
KeePass - password manager
LockNote - password manager
nPassword - password manager
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer - identify security misconfigurations

Network

Hamachi - VPN client
RealVNC - remote control
UltraVNC - remote control
Ethereal - local area network administration
The Dude - network administration
Wireshark - network administration
Angry IP Scanner - IP scanner
IP-Tools - IP scanner
Free Port Scanner - IP scanner
NetMeter - network bandwidth monitoring

Servers

FileZilla - FTP client
FileZilla Server - FTP server
EFTP - FTP client/server
XAMPP - integrated server package of Apache, mySQL, PHP and Perl
WAMP - Apache, PHP5 and MySQL server

Audio

Foobar2000 - audio player
WinAmp - audio player
1by1 - audio player
JetAudio - audio player
XMPlay - audio player
Xion - audio player
Apollo - audio player
MediaMonkey - music organizer
The GodFather - music organizer
dBpowerAMP - audio converter
Audacity - audio converter
WavePad - audio converter
Kristal Audio Engine - audio editor
Exact Audio Copy - CD ripper
Audiograbber - CD ripper
CDex - CD ripper
Mp3 Tag Tools - tag editor
Mp3tag - tag editor
Taggin’ MP3 - tag editor
Monkey’s Audio - APE compressor/decompre ssor
mpTrim - mp3 editor
WavTrim - wave editor
EncSpot Basic - analyse mp3 files

Video

Windows Media Player - audio/video player
VLC - video player
Media Player Classic - video player
MV2Player - video player
CrystalPlayer 1.95 - video player
Zoom Player - video player
GOM Player - video player
viPlay - video player
DSPlayer - video player
VirtualDub - video editor
CamStudio - video screen recording
AviSplit - Avi splitter
Video mp3 Extractor - rip audio from video files
Free iPod Converter - convert all popular video formats to iPod video
MediaPortal - turning your PCinto a Media Center
The FilmMachine -Simple AVI, MP4, HD-MOV, RMVB, MKV to DVD conversion

Image

Gimp - image editor
PhotoFiltre - image editor
Paint.net - image editor
ArtRage - image editor
Artweaver - image editor
IrfanView - image viewer
Picasa - image viewer
XnView - image viewer
FastStone Image Viewer - image viewer
FuturixImager - image viewer
Easy Thumbnails - create thumbnails from images
JoJoThumb - create thumbnails from images
iWebAlbum - create web photo albums
JAlbum - create web photo albums
3D Box Shot Maker - design quality box shot
FastStone Capture - screen capture
WinSnap - screen capture

3D

Blender3D - 3D renderer
3Delight Free - 3D renderer
SketchUp - 3D modeling
Maya Learning Edition - 3D modeling

Developers

AutoIt - task automation
SciTE4AutoIt3 - text editor for AutoIt
AutoHotkey - task automation
PHP Designer - PHP editor
Notepad++ - text editor
ConTEXT Editor - text editor
PSPad - text editor
FoxEditor - text editor
Crimson Editor - source code editor
Elfima Notepad - text editor
Notepad2 - text editor
Nvu - HTML editor
Alleycode - HTML editor
BlockNote - web page editor
Weaverslave - web page editor

CD/DVD

DeepBurner - CD/DVD burner
CDBurner XP Pro - CD/DVD burner
BurnAtOnce - CD/DVD burner
Express Burn - CD/DVD burner
Zilla CD-DVD Rip’n’Burn - CD/DVD burner
ImgBurn - ISO, BIN burner
Daemon tools - virtual CD/DVD
DVD Decrypter - DVD ripper
DVD Shrink - DVD ripper
Nero CD-DVD Speed - CD/DVD info and quality test

Codecs

GSpot - codec information
AC3Filter - audio codec
Xvid - video codec
QuickTime Alternative - video codec
Real Alternative - video codec
K-Lite Codec Pack - all codecs

System Utilities

CCleaner - system cleaner
xp-AntiSpy - OS setup
jv16 Powertools - system utilities
XP SysPad - system monitoring utility
What’s Running - process guard
Registrar Lite - registry editor
WinIPConfig - replacement for “ipconfig.exe” and “route.exe”
Unlocker - file eraser
Eraser - secure file eraser
Undelete Plus - file recovery
freeCommander - file manager
ExplorerXP - file manager
Duplicate File Finder - find all duplicate files
Ant Renamer - file renaming
ReNamer - file renaming
Icons From File - icos extractor
Chaos MD5 - MD5 generator
HashTab - MD5, SHA1 and CRC-32 file hashes
Rainlendar Lite - desktop calendar
Weather Watcher - weather firecast
Subtitle Workshop - subtitles editor
Ant Movie Catalog - movie organizer
Disclib - CD organizer
Dexpot - virtual desktops
DriveImage XML - create partition images
MozBackup - backup and restore bookmarks, etc.
SyncBack - system backup
Atomic Cock Sync - syncronize your clock
Citrus Alarm Clock - alarm clock
TaskSwitchXP - Alt-Tab replacement
Launchy - application launcher
allSnap - make all windows snap
Sysinternals Tools - various system tools
StrokeIt - mouse gestures
Net Profiles - create profiles of your network settings
ResourceHacker - view, modify, rename, add, delete
Java Runtime Environment - java for Windows

UI Enhancements

RocketDock - application launcher
AveDesk - desktop enhancer
IconPhile - customize windows’s system icons
CursorXP Free - change mouse cursors
MacSound - volume control
LClock - Windows Longhorn clock
Y’z Dock - application launcher
Y’z Shadow - shadow effect to the windows
Y’z Toolbar - change the toolbar icons in Explorer and Internet Explorer
Taskbar Shuffle - rearrange the programs on the taskbar by dragging
Visual Task Tips - thumbnail preview image for each task in the taskbar
Badges - put badges on any folder or file
Folderico - change icons of the folders
Folder Marker - mark your folders
Folder2MyPC - add favourite locations to My Computer
Microsoft TweakUI - system settings
BricoPacks - shell packs
ShellPacks - shell packs
Tango Shell Patcher - shell patcher
XPize - GUI enhancer
Vista Transformation Pack - complete visual style
Vista Sound Scheme - Windows Vista sound scheme
Royale Theme - visual style

Hardware monitoring/Benchmarking

CPU-Z - cpu information
CrystalCPUID - cpu information
Central Brain Identifier - cpu information
Everest - system information
SiSoft Sandra - system information
SpeedFan - hardware monitor
Memtest86 - memory test
PowerMax - HDD test
3Dmark 06 - 3D game performance benchmark
Aquamark - performance benchmark
rthdribl - 3D benchmark
Fraps - 3D benchmark, fps viewer and screen recorder
Prime 95 - cpu benchmarking
SuperPI - cpu benchmarking
CPU Rightmark - cpu overclock
Core Temp - cpu temperature
ATiTool - video overclock
ATI Tray Tools - Radeon tweaker
aTuner - GeForce and Radeontweaker
RivaTuner - video overclock
Nokia Monitor Test - monitor adjustmets
UDPixel - fix dead pixels

Games

123 Free Solitaire - solitaire games collection
Arcade Pack - classic arcade games
Live For Speed - online racing simulator
Enigma - puzzle game
Freeciv - multiplayer strategy game
Tux Racer - race down steep, snow-covered mountains

Education

SpeQ Mathematics - mathematics program
Dia - diagram creation program
Google Earth - explore the world
NASA World Wind - 3D virtual globe
Celestia - explore the space
Stellarium - planetarium

Miscellaneous

nLite - Build your own custom Windows disk.
VirtualPC - create virtual machines
grabMotion - webcam capture
iDailyDiary - simple page-for-a-day diary
Pivot Stickfigure Animator - create stick-figure animations
Wink - create presentations
Scribus - professional page layout
FreeMind - midn mapping software
Windows Live Writer - WYSIWYG blog authoring


”நீ வெளிநாடு போகிறாய், ஒரு மறைமுக நண்பன் உன்னோடு வருவான். அவன் நீ கற்ற வித்தை.
வீட்டிலே இருக்கிறாயா? உனக்கருகே ஒரு தோழன் அவன் தான் உன் மனைவி.
நீ வியாதியில் படுத்திருக்கிறாயா? உன் அருகில் ஒரு தோழன் இருக்கிறான். அவன் தான் வைத்தியன்.
நீ மரண படுக்கையில் இருக்கிறாயா? உன் அருகே ஒரு தோழன் காத்திருக்கிறான், யாத்திரையில் கூட வருவதற்கு.
அவன் தான் நீ செய்கிற அருள்”.

- வியாச முனிவர்.