Check out these downloads and Web sites that cost nothing but have big value.

The World Wide Web originally was designed as a tool for the free exchange of information. In fact, in the early days if you were found abusing this wonderful communication system for your own personal gain, you would be “flamed” — an online equivalent of being stoned or pilloried — by the other users. The Web has since developed into a colossal marketplace of commerce and personal gain, but free stuff is still available. Unfortunately, some of the free material offered online is a scam, a way to get you to pay for something else, or a means to deliver payloads of viruses or spyware to your computer. So you need to be informed and stay alert to these types of dangerous offers. Still, there is plenty of useful and beneficial information available, and the free stuff described below is nothing short of amazing. Some of the best software I’ve ever used is included!

Picasa For Managing Digital Photos

RVers take a lot of digital photos, and it can be very confusing to decide what software to use to manage them. There’s the program that came with the camera to transfer photos to the computer; Windows for organizing, printing, and e-mailing them; Photoshop Elements or IrfanView for editing them; and dozens of Web sites for publishing them. Then you also need CD-burning software to make backups or copies to give friends.

The first thing that’s so great about Picasa, available free from Google, is that it does all of the above. You only need to learn the one program. The second thing is that it’s quick and easy. One click and you can e-mail one or more photos — and it takes care of resizing them on the fly. One click prints your photos. And it lets you preview exactly how the pictures are going to fit on the paper before you waste all that ink. One click and you can burn a CD with a slideshow to give to your friends. One more click and you have a Web site for your photos; it’s called a Web Album.

Probably the feature that we love most about Picasa is that it makes it so fast and simple to improve the quality of images. I receive a lot of compliments about the photos on our blog (http://www.geeksontour.blogspot.com). I know it’s because Picasa helps me improve every picture. And it does it without changing my original image. I don’t have to make a copy before I start editing, as with other programs.

I’ve been teaching computer software classes and seminars since 1983, during which time I’ve covered probably a hundred different programs, and I can confidently say that Picasa is the most useful software I’ve ever known. I love the things it does, but I think it’s even better for what it doesn’t do. Because it doesn’t do serious editing (such as erasing a power line from the sky), Google has kept it lean and mean. It does 90 percent of what we need on a day-to-day basis and it does it quickly, easily, and for free. For the other 10 percent you still need Photoshop Elements, Fireworks (the software I use), or some other photo editor.

Picasa is for the Windows platform only, at http://www.picasa.google.com. Sorry, Mac users, but you have iPhoto, which is very similar.

Movies From Photos With Photo Story 3

Picasa will impress your friends with a simple slideshow, but put your photos into a movie and it will knock their socks off. Photo Story 3, a free program from Microsoft, makes it so easy. Just follow the wizard, which guides you through all the steps necessary to create an impressive photo presentation. Import and arrange the photos you want to show, and then click the “Next” button. Add titles, narration, music, and movement. It is so simple. And the results rival productions that took thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment only 20 years ago.

Photo Story 3 can be downloaded for free from Microsoft’s Web site. This is also Windows-only software.

Every Traveler Needs A Blog

Ever wished you could write travel articles for a magazine? Now you can write the whole magazine. It’s called a blog and it’s a special kind of Web site that anyone can create with the help of the free Blogger.com Web-based software from Google. As long as you have a computer, an Internet connection, and something to say, you can have a Web site. The word blog comes from Weblog, meaning a log or diary on the Web. So, any day you feel compelled to write, you can log on to your Blogger.com account and have at it. You also can upload photos, videos, and links to other Web sites.

Blogger keeps everything organized. It date-stamps your entries and publishes them in reverse order so the most recent is always on top. You can write for years this way and Blogger will keep your archives in order as well. Want to see what you were doing in December 2005? Just look it up in the blog. I’ve been keeping our blog since May 2003. You can even search our blog with a convenient search box provided at the top. Want to see the pictures we took at Devil’s Tower or the video of kayaking at La Jolla? Just go to the blog (http://www.geeksontour.blogspot.com) and search. It’s such a great thing for fickle memories.

Since Blogger is Web-based, it doesn’t matter what kind of computer you’re using, so this one can be used on Mac systems as well.

Virus And Spyware Scanners

Unfortunately, it is a fact of computer life that dangers lurk on the Internet. Your computer needs to be protected with antivirus and antispyware programs. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of choices. Some cost a lot, some cost a little, some are free, and some are scams. It is a common consensus among geeks that the Anti-Virus Free software from AVG Technologies (formerly Grisoft) is one of the very best programs available.

You should use only one antivirus program. But in the antispyware category, you can install more than one. There is so much spyware out there that no one program catches everything. Two good programs that also happen to be free are Spybot Search & Destroy by Safer-networking.org and Ad-Aware by Lavasoftusa.com. But our favorite is Defender by Microsoft, primarily because it does everything automatically on a schedule. You install it and forget it. The other two need to be manually run. These are all Windows programs.

Maps And Globes

This category has a ton of offerings. MapQuest, Maps.Live.com, and Yahoo! Maps are all free offerings. They are also all Web-based, so they will operate on Macintosh as well as Windows systems. We have the most experience with Google Maps and Google Earth.

If there’s anything that makes a traveler drool, it’s a good map. If this describes you, get out the bib before you look at these programs. These are so much more than maps. Sure, you can get directions from Google Maps (maps.google.com), but you also can create your own custom map, complete with a line for your route and markers for your various stops (sample: Geeks on Tour 2008 Travels). When a viewer clicks on a marker, they can see your photos of the place, anything you have to say about it, and links to other Web sites. This program does not require a download.

Did you ever dream of having a magic globe? Want to point to a place on the globe and get answers to questions about that location? That’s Google Earth (earth.google.com). You can explore photos and information about any spot on the planet that will keep you occupied for hours. It’s not a map. It’s a globe-based information system that you download to your computer. Photos, Web sites, news feeds, encyclopedia entries, videos, and more are all referenced by latitude and longitude, available just by clicking or searching. After watching one of our Google Earth seminars, I remember hearing one woman exclaim, “My poor husband is going to starve!” She apparently felt there would be no more time for cooking once she got started on Google Earth.

Lots More

The programs mentioned above are just some of the more visible choices. We teach seminars on all of them, but there are many more. If you need a spreadsheet to keep track of expenses but don’t want to shell out the cash for Excel, you can use Google Docs online for free, or you can download the complete productivity suite of OpenOffice, also for free. Yes, you read right — a complete office suite that allows users to work on documents, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, and illustrations. OpenOffice can open and save Microsoft Office files. It is now available for Macintosh as well as Windows and Linux.

Need a free e-mail account? Choose from Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, and more. How about an online calendar? Google Calendar can be used by you individually, or you can share it with a team. Want a free Web site? Geocities, Google Pages, Yahoo!, and so many more are available. Just use Google to search for “free Web site hosts.”

A good way to get any of these programs is by visiting Download.com, a service of CNET. I have long trusted CNET as a kind of Consumer Reports for the computer world. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on Download.com, you probably don’t want it.

Oh, I can’t go on without mentioning the free investing tools available online. Yahoo! Finance and MSN’s Money Central are goldmines for stock charts, company research, and analysis. These are two I use, and I’m sure there are many, many more.

Why Is It Free?

It’s important for me to understand why something is free; otherwise, I don’t trust it. I think there are three reasons why software is available to the public at no cost.

First, companies use it as a “presale” or free sample in hopes that people will like it and buy a more full-featured version later. Second, they use it to sell advertising. The more page-views a Web site receives, the more a sponsor will pay for their ads to be placed on that page. Finally, it is used to build a community of loyal customers. The Web today is all about community. The larger your community, the more you can be supported by just a few chargeable items.

Some software has no good reason to be free and may end up costing you in the long run. Some software is nothing more than a scam to gain access to your computer. After you download it you will notice all sorts of pop-ups on your computer; it will become infected with a virus; or you may find that your computer has been turned into a zombie that does only the bidding of the company you downloaded the product from. Remember, get your downloads from Download.com or from another site that has been recommended by someone you trust. Be careful and stay informed, but don’t be paralyzed. Go ahead; use the good stuff. Haven’t you heard? The best things in life are free!Chris Guld is president and Web master for GeeksOnTour.com. She and her husband, Jim, live full-time in their motorhome and tour the country conducting seminars at RV parks, conventions, and rallies, including FMCA events. They recently presented a number of topics at FMCA’s 80th International Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tutorial videos are available on www.geeksontour.com.

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Believe it or not, your equipment – computer / adapter / operating system / drivers – is just as important as the hotspot’s equipment in making the Internet connection work. It’s a two-way radio. The hotspot’s Access Points, antennas, and amplifiers are one side of the equation. Your computer, WiFi adapter, antenna, and controlling software is the other side.

Let me use an analogy to the cell phone world. I remember when I was first researching cell phone service providers, I would ask everyone I knew, “How do you like your service from XYZ company?” I was very surprised when one woman answered me, “My service is lousy – lots of places, even at home, I have no signal at all and, where I do have signal I’m constantly getting dropped. However my son shares the same service and loves it. His signal is always strong and he never gets dropped. The only difference is that he has a different phone!” I can now attest to this from personal experience. Jim and I share the same phone service. He sits on one side of our motorhome and I’m on the other. My phone has 1 bar of signal and his has 4. I can’t make calls without plugging into the external antenna – he can. Our phones are even from the same manufacturer, but his is a newer model.

It’s the same thing with WiFi and your computer except that it’s more complicated. Cell phones are built to do one thing – make calls. Connecting to a WiFi hotspot is only one of hundreds of functions built into computers. The more you know about this stuff, the more amazed you are when it DOES work! Let’s take a look at each part of your equipment that is involved.

802.11b/g Wireless Adapter and antenna: This is the single most critical element of your system for connecting to a WiFi hotspot. There are several types of adapters: 1) built-in to the computer, 2) PC Card adapter, 3) USB adapter, 4) Ethernet bridge adapter. Your antenna may be part of the adapter itself, or you may have a separate antenna. Built in adapters rarely have enough power or positioning capablility to connect to a hotspot unless it’s within 100 ft. Cards may be more powerful, but it can be so important to orient them towards the hotspot’s access point, and the only way to do that is to move your whole computer. USB adapters are the recommended solution. They are usually rated for a distance of 3-400 feet and, since they’re on a wire, you can orient them for the best signal, even stick them out a window. Remember ‘rabbit ear’ antennas on TVs? Same thing – orientation is critical. The ethernet bridge adapters with an external antenna are the most powerful, but they cost more, and you need more technical expertise to set them up. We have been successful with this type of adapter in connecting to an Access Point over 700 feet away.

Computer: The newer the better. WiFi has only been in existence since about 2001, and it has only become popular in the last year (2004) or so. Computer manufacturers are now paying attention to WiFi capabilities. A year ago they weren’t. So, odds are, if your computer was built after January 2004 it should be pretty good. After January 2005 is even better. If it was built in 2001 it’s not going to work very well, if at all. We have seen 5 year old computers connect successfully to a WiFi hotspot – but I wouldn’t want to use it because it was so slow.

USB Port: If you use a USB adapter, you should know that the USB ports changed in late 2003. The older 1.1 version should only be used with 1.1 USB adapters. The 2.0 adapters claim to be downward compatible with USB 1.1 ports, but don’t believe it. We have seen a USB 2.0 adapter plugged into a USB 1.1 port and be able to connect to a WiFi hotspot, but it was deadly slow and kept dropping the signal. Plug a 1.1 adapter into the 1.1 port and it worked fine. And the 2.0 adapter worked great when plugged into a 2.0 port.

Operating System: Windows XP and Macintosh OS X understand WiFi and have built-in facilities for managing wireless networks and adapters. Anything other than those 2 operating systems and you will have less than optimum performance. Windows 98 is usually OK, as long as it is Second Edition. Windows 98 (not Second Edition) was not meant to support USB ports. And Windows ME just doesn’t do anything very well!

Device Drivers: These are the little software programs that control or ‘drive’ your hardware components. Device drivers are made by the same company that makes the device. So, if you have a Linksys USB adapter, you will need to install the Linksys device driver. If the driver that came with your device (on the CD in the box) is more than 6 months old, you may want to go to the manufacturer’s website and see if there is a newer one you can download. I’ve been very surprised to see the difference in performance after upgrading the drivers.

Viruses and Spyware: Although this isn’t a piece of equipment, it does refer to the condition of your equipment. Having viruses and spyware on your system is like having sugar in your gas tank. Nothing works well. Make sure to keep your system clean and up to date.

Related posts:

1. Troubleshooting Wi-Fi
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