The Download Blog

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Amazon.com has nearly 800 MP3s free for the download.

(Credit: Rick Broida)

Want to freshen up your music library? Amazon.com is offering a whopping 770 MP3s you can download free of charge.

I've long been a fan of Amazon's MP3 store, which offers DRM-free music downloads compatible with PCs, portable players, cell phones, GPS devices, MP3-playing fry pans, and other gizmos.

I visit the store almost daily to check out the Daily Deal, which is usually a complete album for just $2 to $4. (For example, last month, Amazon had U2's new "No Line on the Horizon" for $3.99. Alas, it's back up to $8.99--but that's still a buck cheaper than on Apple's iTunes.)

As for the freebies, you'll find singles from the likes of Neko Case, Robyn Hitchcock, Death Cab for Cutie, and plenty of artists you've probably never heard of. But so what? Free is free, and there's loads of good listening to be had here. Here are five downloads I like:

• "Hurt Feelings," Flight of the Conchords
• "Belated Promise Ring," Iron & Wine
• "Ghosts Under Rocks," Ra Ra Riot
• "Sean Connery," Craig Ferguson (8 minutes of stand-up gold)
• "All the Same Mistakes," Mieka Pauley

Unfortunately, there's no way to download all 770 tracks in one fell swoop--you have to grab them one at a time. (You'll also need to install Amazon's MP3 Downloader app, which, conveniently, can automatically add new tracks to your iTunes or Windows Media Player library.)

Amazon regularly adds new stuff to the freebie library, so make sure to check back every few weeks. Oh, and if you want an easy way to keep tabs on the Daily Deal, subscribe to Amazon's Twitter feed.

A reliable freeware application, Wise Disk Cleaner Free may surprise you with its quick scanning pace. Novices will appreciate its optional wizard to guide you through the process of naming and taming space-sucking files. More experienced users can proceed on their own.

As you would with any system cleaner, you'll still need to take precautions when fixing problems. Luckily, this app wisely lets you move files to the Recycle Bin in the event you've deleted something important.

Wise Disk Cleaner Free is simple, has just enough options for more serious users, and can quickly make a difference in streamlining your system for speed.

(Credit: CNET)

(Credit: CNET)

Folks looking for free screen-recording applications may be well aware of Jing Project and CamStudio. TipCam is equally deserving, if not more so.

The freeware screen recorder loads a scosh more than the basics into an attractive and compact display, and throws in a few tricks all its own. We're talking about drawing on the screen with your mouse while you record, and recording remote desktops via a VNC server. Brilliantly, if you press the hot key to zoom in, the framing brackets will follow your mouse until or unless you lock them in place.

Unfortunately, the TipCam control panel isn't so intelligent. If you're not careful, it might inadvertently star in your screencast. After you become familiar with the icons, it's best two switch to mini mode to keep it out of the way.

TipCam's audio recording feature is more primitive-leaning--there's no post-production studio for editing audio if you mess up. Thankfully, you can rerecord with the voice-over tool. It's not a perfect method, but it's better than having to rerecord takes. Recording a separate audio track and tweaking it with a small editor would be the most ideal.

TipCam's developers have put good thought behind its delivery modes. In a click, you can upload to UtipU.com. There's also YouTube uploading you configure as the default, and the capability to make your recording a private link that's inserted into a new e-mail message for you to send to selected recipients.

KidZui for Windows and Mac seems like a kid-ified browser with social networking rolled in. Children can find their favorite YouTube videos, rate content using tags, and share opinions with other KidZui friends, all from a colorful interface with big buttons and labels. KidZui is anything but a standard childrens' browser, though, and what makes it so unique is precisely why it's such a safe tool for children.

KidZui is a closed system, not filter-driven, so all content that's available has been approved by editors into a whitelist database. Children can explore the Internet by using the search/URI bar, or search by a left-navigation sidebar that's organized by topics including science, movies and TV, games, sports, and animals. Just below the search bar are three tabs, for Web browsing, Photos, and Video.

Parental registration is required before your child can create "Zui," in the program's parlance. Children can customize their avatars to a limited degree in the free version, with more options available via a paid upgrade. Free KidZui is fully functional, but upgrading definitely offers more. Among the additions: children get more content rating tags, more avatar clothing, and more backgrounds, while parents get the capability to block individual sites, can view an unlimited history of the child's browsing, and can force-add sites to their children's favorites list.

KidZui offers children one of the safest Web browsing methods I've seen. Parents get the peace of mind that their children are both learning and having fun without relinquishing their role as the final arbiter of the Internet experience. If you're hesitant, KidZui offers a Firefox extension that replicates the KidZui experience in Mozilla's browser.

I'm going on vacation for the next few weeks, so this will be the last Featured Freeware until January 2009. You can peruse the past nine months of Featured Freeware here. Have a happy and safe holidays!

Small and swift, Find and Run Robot makes searching files and launching programs go faster than a Black Friday deal. Also known as FARR, the program is great for those who love options. If you're the indecisive type, though, you may want to stay clear.

Running in your system tray, FARR is innocuous and uses little RAM. Hit the Pause/Break key to bring up the launching window; as you type, FARR narrows down your choices. In that sense, FARR functions like many other launchers. Search results are numbered and automatically sorted using built-in scoring systems unique to the program. If you want returned-result number nine, for example, simply type ALT+9 and hit enter--there's no need to touch the mouse or continue typing a longer string. A Launch History tab keeps track of what you've launched.

While the launching and searching functions are fairly basic, the options are almost overwhelming. Users can do nearly anything with the app, from adjusting the font size, style, and color to monitoring your clipboard, taking basic screen captures, Web searches, customizing hot keys, and calculation functions. FARR is also fully portable, making this a must-have whether you're on a desktop or a laptop.

If you need to free up system memory or if you think you do but aren't sure, this little tool will provide the help you need.

Instant Memory Cleaner provides an easy-to-use front-end interface for Microsoft's command-line ClearMem and FreeMem commands (for XP and Vista, respectively). It installs an icon to your system tray, and its color provides a handy clue about your system's memory use. When the icon is green, the system's free memory is more than 30 percent of the total physical memory; yellow means less is available; and red means its time for action.

The informative small pane that opens when clicking the tray icon is useful, displaying the megabytes of free physical memory and a check box that verified whether the application launches at boot. Also included are buttons for launching a memory-cleaning session, opening Help, minimizing the pane, or exiting the utility. A final button opens a fresh pane (again, nicely designed) with details on current memory use, including megabytes of Total Physical Memory, megabytes of Memory in Use, and percentage of Memory in Use.

It requires care when using, but this portable executable eliminates unwanted Registry keys. RegAssassin's business-like interface sports only a text entry box, a pair of check boxes, and a function button. Using it requires experience editing the Registry, but for some pernicious malicious software, deleting their registry entries is part of the cleaning process. The program does display warning messages, but inexperienced users could easily crash their system by deleting an important Registry key.

Operating RegAssassin is simple and quick. Users merely enter a Registry key name and delete the key with a single button click. The application includes simple check box-enabled options to reset the key permissions and delete all subkeys. The utility recommends using RegEdit to correctly get Key Names. The total time from finding a problem key to deletion is less than 10 seconds.

This isn't a tool for novices. Even experienced should stay on their toes when operating RegAssassin. The application has no undo or Registry backup functions. However, advanced users looking for a simple Registry Key killer executable for their USB toolbox will want this utility.

Greatly improve your process-killing ability with Process Terminator, a utility with a simple list-and-button interface that is immediately operable by intermediate to advanced users. You probably won't even crack open the simple four-paragraph Help screen.

Operating Process Terminator is intuitive and simple. On start, the app loads the list of running processes. Selecting a process displays its start time, total CPU time utilized, maximum physical memory used and amount allocated, thread count, handle count, and whether the Process UI is responding. Double-clicking a listed name opens the folder where the process is located. Any process is easily killed with a single button click, but the app won't warn users if killing a particular process will destabilize your system.

The deficiencies in Windows' basic utilities leave lots of room for growth, and this is one tool that's worth a second look.

This fun, free game for the iPhone requires fast fingers and judicious judgment. In ESPN Cameraman, you try to quickly find five differences between two nearly identical sports photos. Gameplay here is similar to popular electronic bar games like Photo Finder, albeit minus the scantily clad subjects. This one is definitely safe for children, although you might become a victim of the economy if you play it at work.

Touch the screen wherever you spot a difference on either photo while beating a countdown timer to keep from losing a life. You have three lives per game, as well as three free hints, and wrong guesses cost you additional time. As befitting an ESPN-sponsored product, the photos, music and sound effects, and general production values are quite good. The only limit on replay value is the number of photos, but thankfully, ESPN Cameraman includes 73 levels.