The TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.
The program can aid both the novice and the advanced user in tweaking related TCP/IP parameters in the Windows Registry, making it easy to tune your system to the type of Internet connection used at the press of the button. There are commercial programs that will do much the same thing but TCPOptimizer does it just as well and is totally free.

The TCP Optimizer is targeted towards broadband internet connections, however it can be helpful with tuning any internet connection type. Since version 2 it’s easy to backup/restore all modified settings as well, by restoring to the automatic backup of your settings it creates from the first time you run it.
The only minus is the lack of in-program help, there is some help available online though, as well as a useful FAQ.

You can read more about it and download at the SpeedGuide site.

Available for:

• Windows

PuTTY is a client program for the SSH, Telnet and Rlogin network protocols. These protocols are all used to run a remote session on a computer, over a network. PuTTY implements the client end of that session: the end at which the session is displayed, rather than the end at which it runs.
In really simple terms: you run PuTTY on a Windows machine, and tell it to connect to (for example) a Unix machine. PuTTY opens a window. Then, anything you type into that window is sent straight to the Unix machine, and everything the Unix machine sends back is displayed in the window. So you can work on the Unix machine as if you were sitting at its console.

The programs main page is here, further documentation and instructions here.

Available for:

•  Windows
• Linux

HTTrack is an easy-to-use offline browser utility with an excellent user interface which offers every feature you could want and is blindingly fast. It allows you to download a web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer.
HTTrack arranges the original site’s relative link-structure. Once downloaded simply open a page of the “mirrored” website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. It can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads.
HTTrack supports over 25 languages and features: user-selectable recursion levels, various advanced filters (by file type, link location, structure depth, file size, site size), multiple connections, HTML parsing and tag analysis (including javascript code/embedded HTML code) and much more.

Visit the homepage for more, or go to download.

Available for:

• Windows
• MacOS X
• Linux
• Free BSD

Have you encountered a strange performance bottleneck that you can’t track down? Are you curious about which cookies are being sent, or what downloaded content is marked as cacheable? Fiddler can help you answer these questions, and many more.
Fiddler is an HTTP debugging proxy that logs all HTTP traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler enables you to inspect all HTTP traffic, set breakpoints, and “fiddle” with incoming or outgoing data. Fiddler is much simpler to use than NetMon or other network debuggers because it exposes only HTTP traffic and does so in a user-friendly format.

Find out more and download through this link.

Available for:

• Windows  (2000, XP, 2003)

GMail Drive allows you to use Gmail as a storage medium. It creates a virtual file-system on top of your Google Gmail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your Gmail account directly from inside Windows Explorer.
GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders and are able to copy files to and from by using drag’n'drop like you’re used to with the normal Explorer folders. You can use it to have files that you wish to access from multiple locations easily available via web.
I have to admit that beside the occasional Gmail log-in changes that disable accessing files until an updated version of the program is released (usually within a day or two), it has worked nicely for me in the past. However since there are still web sites providing such services for free I would advise their use over the this tool, especially for critical files or documents.

The Gmail Drive page can be found here.

Available for:

• Windows

Important note from the author: GMail Drive is still an experimental tool. There’s still a number of limitations of the file-system (such as total file-name size must be less than 65 characters). Since the tool hooks up with the free Gmail Service provided by Google, changes in the Gmail system may break the tool’s ability to function. I cannot guarantee that files stored in this manner will be accessible in the future.

Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search. You can, fly from space to your neighborhood, type in an address and zoom right in, search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels, View driving directions and even fly along your route. Google Earth puts a planet’s worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop.
The use of KML – data exchange format lets you share useful annotations and view thousands of data points created by Google Earth users.

Click here for more, or here to get the free version.

Available for:

• Windows (2000 or XP)
• MacOS X (10.3.9 +)
• Linux

Google Earth vs NASA’s World Wind

Google Earth and World Wind are not entirely comparable because of significantly different focuses, development histories, and development philosophies. Some use both programs, depending on what we wish to accomplish since each program has distinct advantages over the other, and so it is ultimately up to you to decide which you prefer. However there are some criteria that could help your thinking:

1. Google Earth is available for Windows, Macintosh & Linux whereas World Wind is still available only for Windows (NASA is currently making plans for World Wind 1.5. This version will be available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux and the Macintosh)
2. Beside the free version, there are additional versions of Google Earth available with different features (these versions start at $20 a year and quickly jump to $400 a year plus Additional components may cost up to $200 each) – moreover Google Earth Free is licensed for Home/Personal use. As such it cannot be used in a work environment, or at home where the results are work related.
   NASA World Wind has very open terms of use. Basically anyone can use it, for any reason, from any location. Copyright of code and images still applies, but there is no restriction on using the application. World Wind is totally free. It is also easy to use. No company limits what you can do with World Wind, and it won’t cost you a dime. It includes a myriad of advanced functions and capabilities. For those, and for many other things, there is the world of Open Source. World Wind benefits from diverse input from a user community which has the power to shape its development.

For more comparison related info and more in depth analysis look up:

GoogleEarth versus NASA’s World Wind

Google Earth comparison with World Wind

Democracy Player makes video on the internet way less frustrating and way more enjoyable. You can subscribe to channels of internet video, download videos, and watch them fullscreen, one after the other, all in one application. Internet video becomes internet TV. It’s free and open for everyone to watch and to broadcast.
With Democracy you can search YouTube, Google Video, and Yahoo Video, create playlists and folders to organize your videos and channels, auto-Download new videos as soon as they are available.
It also seamlessly integrates Bittorrent and can work as a standalone BitTorrent client, and includes a built-in Channel Guide with more than 600 channels, as interesting and diverse as the internet itself, to subscribe for free with a single click.

Visit the site to find out more or download immediately.

Available for:

• Windows (2000 or XP, more…)
• MacOS X (10.3+)
• Linux

World Wind allows any user to zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth, leveraging high resolution LandSat imagery and SRTM elevation data to experience Earth in visually rich 3D, just as if they were really there.
Particular focus was put into the ease of usability so people of all ages can enjoy World Wind. All one needs to control World Wind is a two button mouse. Additional guides and features can be accessed though a simplified menu. World Wind has a full catalog of countries, capitals, counties, cities, towns, and even historical references.
World Wind is capable of browsing through and displaying GLOBE data based on any time the user wants. For example, a user can download today’s (or any previous day’s) temperature across the world.

For a full feature list click here or for got to the download page.

Available for:

• Windows (2000 or XP)

Google Earth vs NASA’s World Wind

Google Earth and World Wind are not entirely comparable because of significantly different focuses, development histories, and development philosophies. Some use both programs, depending on what we wish to accomplish since each program has distinct advantages over the other, and so it is ultimately up to you to decide which you prefer. However there are some criteria that could help your thinking:

1. Google Earth is available for Windows, Macintosh & Linux whereas World Wind is still available only for Windows (NASA is currently making plans for World Wind 1.5. This version will be available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux and the Macintosh)
2. Beside the free version, there are additional versions of Google Earth available with different features (these versions start at $20 a year and quickly jump to $400 a year plus Additional components may cost up to $200 each) – moreover Google Earth Free is licensed for Home/Personal use. As such it cannot be used in a work environment, or at home where the results are work related.
   NASA World Wind has very open terms of use. Basically anyone can use it, for any reason, from any location. Copyright of code and images still applies, but there is no restriction on using the application. World Wind is totally free. It is also easy to use. No company limits what you can do with World Wind, and it won’t cost you a dime. It includes a myriad of advanced functions and capabilities. For those, and for many other things, there is the world of Open Source. World Wind benefits from diverse input from a user community which has the power to shape its development.

For more comparison related info and more in depth analysis look up:

GoogleEarth versus NASA’s World Wind

Google Earth comparison with World Wind

Juice is a solid podcasting client that lets users select and download shows and music and play them whenever they want on their iPods, portable digital media players, or computers automatically.
Juice is technically a “Media Aggregator,” a program that helps you select audio files from among the thousands of audio sources on the web and download them from anywhere on the Internet to your desktop. It is platform-independent, so you can use it from virtually any computer and play the files on any MP3 device.
Juice supports, more than 15 languages, multiple media players and has a built-in directory with thousands of listed podcast feeds.

You can find out more about podcasting and Juice here.

Available for:

• Windows (2000 or XP)
• MacOS X (10.3 or higher)
• Linux
• Free BSD

Free Download Manager is a light-weight but powerful download manager. It’s fast, stable and integrates well into both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Along with all the expected options to control and schedule your downloads (resume broken downloads, split download into several sections, schedule automatic connections and doanloads, disconnect or shut down your computer when it’s done etc), you can also download whole web sites from a remote server.
A latest and unique adition to the feature list is that you can now request other users’ opinion on the file you are going to download as well as write your comment on the downloaded file – right in the download window! In this way you will always be warned against useless and corrupted files or malicious content (see Community Features). Free Download Manager is available in over 25 languages.
Find out more at the very nice project’s site.

Available for:

•  Windows