| Batcmd.com ~ If you’ve screwed with your operating system, since those faraway days when you were first able to do so, or were actively encouraged by the manufacturers, to devote your time and expertise for a free copy of the software, you’ll love this site. Once you have trashed your entire OS a simple script, restores the Big Brother element. At least; that is the theory anyway… |
| Beaker Browser ~ Right now, you’re using a web browser. There are many on offer and they are usually free: although just two browser engines predominate, plus only one for iOS. The Beaker Browser is experimental, but has a revolutionary approach. It uses a peer-to-peer protocol called Dat instead of HTTP, allowing you to host a website on your own computer, with no web server. |
| Best Astrology Programs for Linux ~ Bringing open source software to a wider audience, here are the best eight astrology programs for Linux. Testing under Ubuntu 10.10 (32-bit) I found four wouldn’t install at all, two suited disciplines other than Western astrology and one only ran from the command line, leaving a single link worth a further look next week… |
| Browser Leaks ~ A great thing about the Internet is your anonymity, right? You can stalk your ex-partner, flirt with strangers and bad-mouth adversaries without anybody knowing, it is you. Except in reality, this is an entirely erroneous assumption. Consider all the data your browser proffers when nobody asked. It is a shock to many, how easily and accurately you’re being tracked online. |
| Browserling Tools ~ Browserling is a subscription service that allows developers to test their work under either Windows or Android with an array of different browsers and versions. Obviously they need to earn a living, but attract visitors by offering plenty of useful tools for free. I enjoyed converting text into Base64 and hexadecimal, for example. Possibly, I should get out more? |
| BugMeNot ~ Don’t you hate websites that force you to register, for no other reason than to send you shedloads of spam and to pass on your information to others who’ll do just the same? Here’s a neat way to bypass the whole process by sharing logins and email addresses for popular sites and to submit details you’ve found useful. |
| C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) Comet Viewer ~ Notoriously hard to predict, the first of two bright comets anticipated during 2013 was first spotted from the UK on March 13, having been pinpointed initially with the Pan-STARRS telescope based in Hawaii during 2011. Here is a helpful program to tell you when this comet is the brightest and where in the zodiac it can be seen… |
| C/2012 S1 (ISON) Comet Viewer ~ After the anticlimax of comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) from a UK perspective recently, all hopes now rest with comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) that some believe, will become bright enough to be seen during daylight hours, around Thanksgiving Day 2013. Download this small program to track the comet’s path and progress yourself. |
| Cartes du Ciel / SkyChart ~ Cartes du Ciel or SkyChart for you monoglots out there, is a free desktop planetarium that supports an enormous database of astronomical features. It is fully cross-platform and shows the planets, stars, comets, asteroids and nebulae on Windows, the Mac or Linux. It takes time to configure, but you’ll learn lots about the universe in the process… |
| Celestia ~ Celestia is a free and open-source 3D astronomy program. It allows you to explore space at the speed you want and for any point in history. Celestia can render everything from a small spacecraft to a massive galaxy, including every angle and viewpoint. Development stopped in 2011; but with the support of an enthusiastic community, is now actively underway again. |
| Cenon Astrology ~ Across a web dominated by Windows, alternatives are few if you don’t want a Mac. Linux is one you could try, much praised by many, but used by only 0.25% of those who visit this site. Linux has a geeky reputation, but it’s free. Also
free is much of this software, which helps astrologers who can’t get over Mac OS-X too! |
| Common Vulnerabilities & Exposures ~ Many will be expecting something more salacious, considering the title of this week’s recommendation. But sadly, I am only nerding out again, as has often been my tendency. It is amusing for those who know about such things, to see how the claims of folk sold on what they believe to be a secure operating system, match up to scrutiny. |
| Darwin ~ While the gullible and the bewildered, dig deep for the latest Apple operating system, others recognise there are free alternatives that allow them greater choice. In fact, an open-source operating system called Darwin: built on Unix, the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) and FreeBSD in particular, forms the base system of macOS. Why not check the code, yourself? |
| Dead Drops ~ Conceived by a media artist from Berlin, the Dead Drops project is about creating an open, offline network. You take a cheap USB flash drive and cement it into the side of a public building for example, then add it to their database. All six listed for my neighbourhood and dated 2011 turned out not to be there anymore, but new dead drops are born constantly… |
| Desktop Wallpapers ~ I am not recommending this site for its astrology content, but rather for some of the value-added features, several of which are quite fun. These desktop wallpapers are strangely handsome and come in a range of resolutions that may work with modern monitors, if you don’t mind adjusting a few things, to help them display at their best. |
| DistroTest.net ~ Like many, you access the Internet from your smartphone. But to tackle anything more complicated; or to retain some inkling of privacy, a laptop is needed at least. In the past you had two choices, to run Windows or macOS. But Linux blew this out of the water, as its variants dominate the mobile and server markets equally. Try a desktop distro, online and for free… |
