The Download Blog

A perennial Cheapskate favorite, LogMeIn Free lets you connect to your PC from any other PC. This comes in impossibly handy when you're working offsite and need to access files, run programs, check your e-mail, and so on. It's like sitting at your PC when you're not actually sitting at your PC.

All you do is download and install the free LogMeIn utility on your primary PC; it runs quietly in the background until needed. When you want to connect to your system from somewhere else, just fire up that PC's browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, … Read more

Patterson describes the title of his latest, "Wines & Spirits," as sounding "biblical," but it's the songs that really belong in church. Rich vocal harmonies and sermon-strength lyrics point straight to gospel, while funked-out bass lines and biting synths earn their own believers.

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In the long list of odious chores, defragmenting your hard drive is right up there with flossing your teeth and washing your dog--or flossing your dog's teeth, for that matter.

There is little agreement on how much--or even whether--defragmenting improves your PC's performance, but having files closer together on the disk reduces the amount of movement required by the drive's mechanical parts. This should make it last longer, though such factors as operating environment and the quality of its components probably have a greater impact on its life span.

Regardless of whether it will actually improve your … Read more

Justin Vernon comes by this project name--sorta-French for "good winter"--honestly, having cut his LP in the snowy isolation of rural Wisconsin. There's a reason we mythologize such outings. This is pristine lo-fi, run through with icy acoustic guitar and fragile vocals.

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A former Slum Village member, a beatsmith for Madlib, MF DOOM, Common, Busta and many more, an increasingly cherished solo artist--by the time of his recent death at age 32, Jay Dee had made the rap game his plaything. Jay's last LP "Donuts" finds new troves of soul inside taut hip-hop beats.

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I regularly visit tons of Web sites every day for the latest software updates, blog posts about cool gadgets, and other news sites. But instead of clicking through bookmarks in my Web Browser, I like the ease and convenience of a RSS reader. I recently put together a collection of RSS readers for Windows, but I just found out only a few days ago the developer of one of the best RSS readers for Mac decided to release its product for free.

NewsFire is a full-featured RSS reader with an easy-to-use interface so you can get your news just how … Read more

If you're looking for a fun and retro way to kill a few minutes this weekend, The Tetris Game offers up a simple freeware version of the classic game. There's no frills here, but anybody who's got a craving for that four-block goodness will probably find this rendition instantly satisfying.

The controls are mapped to your keyboard's arrow keys. Up rotates the piece, left and right shift it in one direction or another, and down accelerates the rate of descent. Pieces come in red, green, gray, yellow, and blue. You can save your high scores or … Read more

Recently, Power Downloader received a instant message from his sister, Maggie Mouse. When he clicked on the blinking Pidgin icon, he found himself confronted by a distraught question: Firefox would crash on her in the middle of browsing her email. She had tried restarting the browser and restarting her computer, and she'd even reinstalled Firefox. Maggie Mouse had turned off all her extensions, and Mozilla's browser would still die on her. Although not a dastardly crime, this was definitely a job for Power Downloader.

For all situations, Power Downloader recommends keeping a second browser installed and ready to … Read more

Upgrading Notepad on your PC isn't hard, and the added oomph you get for your efforts definitely makes them worthwhile. CNET Executive Editor Tom Merritt shows you how to switch to Notepad 2, and keep the old Windows Notepad from reversing the coup.

There are plenty more terrific Notepad alternatives out there, like these heavyweight hitters, and the lightweight Quicknote that's best suited for jotting--or doodling--fleeting thoughts.

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