Magical Jellybean Dictionary 1.1

Operating system: Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP
Licence: Freeware
Minimum system requirements:
Web: http://www.magicaljellybean.com

Despite the frivolous name, this is a serious online dictionary. It retrieves word definitions from a database on a dictionary server and can print them, copy them to the clipboard or save them in text files. The only catch is that it won’t work through a proxy server, or behind a firewall. It does, however, allow you to search some very interesting sources including the Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary and the CIA World Factbook.

Eraser 5.3

Operating system: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Licence: Freeware
Minimum system requirements:
Web: http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser

As you may know, dragging and dropping files into your recycle bin doesn’t actually delete them; it merely marks the file for deletion at a later date. Even after you have emptied your recycle bin, files can still be recovered using certain software utilities. Enter Eraser, the solution for completely disposing of sensitive files in a way that ensures they can never be recovered. Eraser does this by overwriting the disk space your file previously occupied with meaningless patterns. The program itself is easy to use; files can be dragged and complete annihilation of unwanted, yet sensitive files is only a right-click away. But be very sure you want to erase a file; there’s no “undo”.

SimpleCopier 3.11

Operating system: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Licence: Freeware
Minimum system requirements:
Web: http://www.neogie.com/simplecopier

SimpleCopier does one thing well; allowing you to use your scanner as a photocopier. While the interface is great and operating the software is very simple, there’s a heap of options you won’t find on your office photocopier. You can alter brightness, contrast, hue, and sepia as well as copying in black and white, grayscale or colour. Pages can be zoomed in on or rotated, and images can also be saved in a variety of formats as well as being faxed or emailed. There’s also multiple-language support, basic image editing and the ability to set up user-defined parameters, in the form of initialisation strings for your printer, scanner and fax.

WinUnit Free Convertor 3.5

Operating system: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Licence: Freeware
Minimum system requirements:
Web: http://www.unit-conversion.com

WinUnit is a small and fast unit conversion program that supports around 300 different sorts of units. Simply select the unit you are converting from, add in the measurement and select the unit you are converting to. Very simple, easy to use and the sort of utility you’re bound to need at some stage. How many firkins in a hogshead? WinUnit will allow you to convert between these two obscure volume measurements; that’s if you really need to.

MediaMonkey 2.1.1

Operating system: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Licence: Freeware
Minimum system requirements:
Web: http://www.mediamonkey.com

This Monkey is a music manager/jukebox that can catalogue your CDs, mp3, WMA and OGG audio files. It includes a built-in media player that supports Winamp plug-ins and integrates with Winamp for playback. There’s more; a CD ripper for grabbing CDs and an audio converter supporting multiple formats. It’s also a bit clever and can look up missing track information on the Internet via the FreeDB CD database and update the mp3 automatically. Other features are advanced ID3 tag editing, comprehensive cataloging, playlisting, an album browser and graphic equalizer. Monkey’s best trick is volume auto-leveling, meaning all your tracks play at a consistent volume.

CdTree 3.2

Operating system: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Licence: Freeware
Minimum system requirements:
Web: http://www.vbknowledgesolutions.com

If, like me, your CD collection is out of hand, this utility might help. CdTree is a media cataloging tool that can organise CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, Hard Disks, Floppies, ZIP Drives, DVDs and Audio CDs for offline browsing. It basically scans a particular media device and builds a catalogue of the contents. It can also catalogue ZIP files and recognises a CD that it’s already scanned, thus avoiding duplication. Other features include searching, backup, skins and data compacting.

LyricsAmp 4.0

Operating system: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Licence: Freeware
Minimum system requirements: Windows Media Player 9
Web: http://www.lyricsamp.org

This plug-in works with Microsoft Media Player 9, and connects with a variety of lyrics servers to download the lyrics for the song you are currently playing. If it can’t automatically grab the lyrics, it offers alternate Web locations where they can be found and displays them in the media player. Like most modern software, it auto-updates over the Web, saves lyrics in a local cache for later use, and also allows you to add them to your tracks as metadata. Now there’s no excuse for not singing along - loudly.