andLinux is a full virtual installation of Ubuntu Linux and comes with a handy system tray icon for access to several default KDE apps like Konqueror (web browser / file manager) and Synaptic (to install more Linux apps.)

Lifehacker already has a full article on installing and setting up andLinux so I’ll just point you to their fine article.

[Found via: Lifehacker]

Picasa also makes it easy to edit and enhance your digital photos with simple and intuitive controls. Picasa includes 12 visual effects as well as many basic fixes.

Picasa’s Basic Fixes are buttons that make it fast and easy to crop, remove red eye, fix the contrast and color, and enhance your digital pictures.

One of my favorite features in Picasa is the screensaver album. Once Picasa is installed, go into your desktop properties and select Picasa as your screensaver. Whenever your screensaver kicks on, Picasa will play a slideshow of the contents of the screensaver album. If you keep lots of family photos on your computer, your idle monitor can become a digital photo frame.

Its easy to share your photos with Picasa too. If you have a CD burner (and who doesn’t anymore), Picasa can burn Gift CDs and DVDs that instantly play photo slideshows on grandma’s computer. Picasa has plenty of print options for your home printer as well as uploading your photos to order professional prints.

Picasa supports jpg, bmp, gif, png, psd and tif images as well as RAW data files, including cameras from Canon, Nikon, Kodak, Minolta and Pentax. Picasa will also recognize and organize your avi, mpg, wmv, asf and mov video formats.

Picasa is a free download from Google.

While Windows XP has Zip Compression built into it, 7-Zip supports many more compression formats including, TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ and more. 7-Zip integrates with the Windows Shell, so extracting a Zip file is just a right-click away.

7-Zip is an open source, free download for Windows. There is also a pz7ip project at sourceforge for Posix/Linux systems.

Once you’ve installed Ted, all you have to do is add a show you want it to watch for. You can have it start with the most current episode by clicking the “Get latest” button. If the show you want isn’t in Ted’s list, it allows you to manually enter the name and the RSS feeds to watch for it.

Ted is a cross platform free download.

Whenever I’m signing up for a new service, I open Password Safe and add a new entry. I enter in the site name, my username and my password. I click save and breathe a breath of relief knowing I’ll never have to remember that website’s login info ever again. Its stored in my Password Safe. The only password I ever have to remember is the one that opens my Password Safe database.

Password Safe is a free download hosted at SourceForge.

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows.

Handbrake can take in any DVD source (VIDEO_TS folders, DVD images or real DVDs) and output it to either MP4, AVI, or OGM format. Handbrake supports chapters, auto-cropping and scaling so running the program is about as easy as 1. browse to your DVD source 2. pick your output format and 3. output to your destination file.

Obviously, the 4th step would be watching your movie on your computer or mobile device, but 1, 2, 3 sounds so much better.

Handbrake is a free download.

Wallpaper Cycler Lite is an extremely customizable program to change your wallpaper at a specific interval. It goes a bit farther than that though. Wallpaper Cycler Lite’s features are very robust – Allowing you to create groups of wallpapers and assign them very specific run times.

Create a ‘Christmas’ wallpaper set and have the program cycle through them from Dec. 1st through Jan. 1st, for instance. Do the same for any holiday or special occasion. The program comes with a few presets like Morning, Autumn, Evening, and Midday.

Wallpaper Cycler is also available in a full version that boasts desktop layouts, URL-based wallpapers and calendars. Many of these extra features are almost obsolete due to the emergence of desktop widgets so the free Lite version is more than perfect for all your wallpaper changing needs.

Wallpaper Cycler Lite is a free download from NuonSoft

Note: Make sure you grab the Free (Lite) version and not the ‘Trial’ version.

Daily Alarm Clock is a no-hassle digital media alarm clock for your computer. With this little gem, you can play or execute any file on your computer (or a specific track from a CD in your disc drive) at 2 scheduled times per day. DAC sits in your system tray when minimized and can be configured to gradually raise the volume during playback.

Daily Alarm Clock is a program created specifically for college students. DAC stores a total of 14 alarm times (two for each day of the week) to allow you to program your alarm to your varying class schedules. The alarm allows you to play either a wave sound, a track from an audio cd, or execute a program or file on your computer (or a combination of them).

Although the program’s creator was clearly targeting college students with varying schedules, I think Daily Alarm Clock makes a nice addition to anyone’s Accessories folder.

Daily Alarm Clock is a Windows-only free download and donation supported.

What’s your favorite way to wake up? Let us know in the comments.

Foldershare.com is a folder synchronization tool purchased by Microsoft and added to the Windows Live lineup. Foldershare synchronizes folders you select across multiple PCs and allows users to access their files from any internet connected PC using a web interface.

Keep important files at your fingertips – anywhere. All file changes are automatically synchronized between linked computers, so you are always accessing the latest documents, photos, and files.

With Foldershare, you create a shared folder on 2 or more PCs and any changes to any files in that folder are synchronized across all computers. Foldershare can be used as a group collaborative tool or just a quick way to share files with friends.

You must install Foldershare on at least 2 computers to use it. Once installed and signed in, you can create or choose a folder to share. If the folder is not already present on the second computer, it is made. Folders also share a common location, so I recommend creating them in your account’s My Documents folder.

SpaceMonger Version 1.4.0 is a free program that helps you visualize the files on your drives by displaying files and folders as boxes. The size of each box is represents the percentage of space it takes up. You can quickly keep track of the free space on your computer by being actually seeing the size of those huge files you downloaded months ago and completely forgot about.

SpaceMonger is a tool for keeping track of the free space on your computer. Each file or folder on a given drive is displayed in a box in the main window whose size is a relative comparison to all the other files in your system. So, for example, if the “Windows” box takes up 90% of the screen, the “C:\Windows” folder and all its sub-folders and files are taking up 90% of your “C:” drive.

A new version 2.1 is available to purchase for $19.95, however, Version 1.4 is a free download and has all the main features you really need to keep your drives in line.

You have a DVD program. Right? And a program to watch videos. Right? And if that video happens to be a different type of format, you have to open it in a different program. Right?

Wrong. VLC Media Player is an open source, cross-platform media player that has almost every codec you will ever need built in to the program. So you can kiss all those codec packs goodbye. So far, it has played every kind of video I’ve thrown at it. It plays all my DVDs, VCDs, AVIs, MPGs, WMVs, FLVs, MOVs, XVIDs, and DIVXs. It even plays 3GP and 3G2 videos I’ve taken with my mobile phone. It handles streaming media, audio files (though I don’t use it as a music player) and runs faster than Windows Media Player any day of the week. It has a sleek design and isn’t bloated with scores of never-used features.

VLC is a must-have free download for anyone who watches a lot of video on their computer.

ColorPix is a great time saver for anyone wanting to grab a specific color from their screen. With ColorPix, you can quickly grab the RGB, HEX, HSB, and CMYK value of any pixel on your screen. There’s even a handy, customizable magnifier window to really get in there and grab the right pixel.

ColorPix is a free download from Color Schemer, the makers of Color Schemer Studio (another great tool that I’ll feature later).

ColorPix Window

ColorPix Window w/ Magnifier Expanded

If you have a Google account (… and who doesn’t?) and you’re not using Google’s Browser Sync extension for Firefox, then you’re missing out on a whole world of easy-ness.

From Google:
Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions.

With the Browser Sync extension installed and logged in on both work and home computers, you can close Firefox at work, go home and continue browsing right where you left off. The extension even allows you to resume browser sessions by storing encrypted copies of site-specific cookies. So if you’re logged in to a site at one location, you’re logged in at all locations. The Browser Sync extension also saves your bookmarks, though I recommend web-based services for that.

Had good or bad experiences with the Google Browser Sync extension? Let me know in the comments.

OK, so I thought a decent first article here should be a really useful application. And many came to mind. But when it came down to it, I chose TeamViewer.

TeamViewer is an instant remote access solution. Its a tiny download that can run on both the host and the client without installing. The program generates a unique numeric ID and password for your computer. Entering in someone else’s ID and password grants you remote access to their computer and vice versa. In addition to being able to control the client computer, you can initiate chat and transfer files.

TeamViewer is great if you’re offering quick remote-access tech-support, client presentations or point-to-point file sharing. It can also be used to gain fast access to your own computer from the road. Though Hamachi would be a more secure choice.

Has anyone used TeamViewer or know of an alternate program they think is better? Let me know in the comments.