Geek to Me
Its All Geek To Me
There is an abundance of freeware and shareware available on the Internet. Wherever
possible, links to the producers of software you need to obtain are provided.
If such a reference is not available, a link to a "distribution center" or
archive is provided. Please respect the conditions that the distributors place on
each product.
Netscape and Explorer are "smart browsers". As you move around the Internet you may encounter a "broken icon" -- this means that you do not have the applications or plug-ins" that are needed. If you double click on the broken icon you will be connected to a page which will advise you where you may be alble to obtain what is needed. Be aware that some of these applications are only available for one platform whereas others are cross-platform. READ the "readme" files that usually accompany applications when you download them. You will probably have to move files and may produce conflicts if you are not careful. This is where a good systems manager (or knowledgeable colleague) is invaluable!
Many of the distributors of freeware and shareware also offer other products that
you may decide to purchase -- pretty smart of these distributors. Everyone Wins.
National
Geographic has links to the applications that readers of its online
publication would need to have. These are quite valuable and I would recommend that everyone download these "extras".
PC sources
- Microlib Software Archives
- TUCOWS
at the University of Texas at Austin.
Macintosh Sources
- the Geologists Pick
- MacIntosh applications exists which may prove helpful.
- TUCOWS offers "one-stop" shopping for Macintosh software.
Are these all of the applications that you will ever need? Not really.
But they will get you started with those things that you need and that your students
may need.
- Internet Browsers
- Communication Packages
- File Preparation (HTML and other applications)
- Graphics Applications for manipulating images
- File Compression Utilities
- Sound
- Video and Animations
Internet Browsers
You will need an Internet browser and I can recommend either of the following.
Both have a price which is highly attractive ($ 0.00) for those affiliated with
colleges or universities! Please read the conditions before you attempt to download
either one.
File Preparation
The free Adobe Acrobat Reader allows you to view, navigate, and print PDF (portable data files) files across all major computing platforms. Acrobat Reader is the free viewing companion to Adobe Acrobat 3.0 and to Acrobat Capture(R) software.
BBEdit Lite, from Bare Bones Software, "is a freeware derivative of BBEdit 4.0, the popular and critically acclaimed text editor for programmers, HTML authors, on-line-service users, and anyone else who needs to edit plain-text files. It will open any number of files and the files may be of any size, limited only by available memory."
Communications
Eudora, from Qualcomm, Inc., "is a complete freeware email package which handles email using the standard SMTP and POP protocols. This gives Mac users in appropriately equipped environments access to the same sort of industrial grade, world-wide email services that UNIX and other mainframe OS users have had for years, but with a much better user interface. Features like filters, mailing lists, enclosures, multiple mailboxes, and background operation are supported."
Fetch "is a user-friendly Macintosh FTP client; it allows point-and-click, drag and drop file transfers to and from any machine with an FTP server, over a TCP/IP network. Fetch is free to users affiliated with an educational institution or charitable non-profit organization; all other users may purchase a license."
Graphics
GraphicConverter "exports PICT, Startup-Screen, MacPaint, TIFF (uncompressed, packbits and lzw), GIF, PCX, GEM-IMG/-XIMG, BMP, IFF/LBM, TGA, PSD, JPEG/JFIF, HP-GL/2, EPSF, Movie (QuickTime), SUN, PICS, PICT in Resource, PBM/PGM/PPM, SGI, TRS-80, ppat, SOFTIMAGE, PNG, PSION and RAW."
jPEGView 3.3, by Aaron Giles, "is a flexible image utility designed to allow quick, high-quality viewing of the most common image formats, including JPEG, JFIF, GIF, PICT, Baseline and LZW-compressed TIFF."
Sparkle 2.4.5, by Maynard Handley, "plays MPEG and QuickTime movies and can convert
movies from one format to the other. It uses the familiar QuickTime movie
controller as the basis for its interface. Given sufficient memory, it will open
multiple movies at once."
File Compression/Decompression Utilities
"On the internet, Macintosh files are generally posted in one of two
encoded formats: BinHex (.hqx) or MacBinary (.bin)...."
UnStuff/PC "is a DOS-only freeware program that expands Macintosh StuffIt archives on IBM-PCs and compatibles."
Sound
RealAudio 3.0 "brings broadcast-quality audio to the Internet, delivering stereo sound to 28.8 modems and near-CD quality to ISDN and LAN connections. "
Video and Animation
QuickTime "QuickTime is the multi-platform industry-standard
multimedia architecture used by software tool vendors and content creators to create and deliver synchronizedgraphics, sound, video, text and music."
QuickTime Virtual Reality " QuickTime VR software for Macintosh
and Windows brings virtual reality to your desktop without any special equipment.
Shockwave"Download the new ShockwaveFlash player. These fast & small
vector-based animations, graphics, and buttons make the web come alive. "
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