By Jessica Dolcourt
(10/30/06)
The Halloween moon does spooky things to our senses of humor. Suddenly, pranksters lurking in mild-mannered editors lunge with bloodshot eyes and compel us to install insidious prank software on each other's desktops. The horror! Dosed on sugar, the monsters eventually subside and our angelic natures return, innocently offering up freeware that works like treats.
Pop open a new browser tab (if you're using Firefox, add this nifty Halloween theme first) and get ready to raid our goody bag. Be forewarned: your antispyware and antivirus programs may not take too kindly to the joke software in our Tricks column, especially the RJL Software programs. Norton and Trend Micro flag these programs as medium-risk, but others go further, identifying some as Trojan horses or viruses. However, the prank programs have passed CNET Download.com's strict malware policy and rigorous testing.
SiteAdvisor, which tests for download safety in clean environments, rates all these publishers' sites green. As an additional confidence-builder, you can download a free tool for locating prank files on your computer prior to removal. Remember, you can always visit the publishers' sites for additional explanations and support. Happy Halloween!
TRICKS
That devil on your left shoulder says, "Go ahead!" but don't be surprised if these pranks make you public enemy number one.
TREATS
These excellent free applications don't need a holiday to mark their importance. You'll likely keep using them all year round.
ReplaceKeys
Pull a keystroke switcheroo! When you swap A's with Z's and I's with U's, your friends will swear their keyboards are haunted. As with all programs from RJL Software, ReplaceKeys only runs once and can be turned off by passing your mouse over the top-left corner of the screen. Here's the publisher's disclaimer.
FastStone Image Viewer
An excellent image viewer and editor, FastStone is a usability treat. With intuitive navigation, powerful editing capabilities, and a light footprint, you'll want to trade in your expensive editing Hulk for this fantastic freebie.
The Finger
Now it's a Windows index finger, now it's the bird. No, really, your cursor just flipped you off. The Finger is a classy prank that glimmers with understated brilliance. (The file was flagged by Avast Home Edition as spyware [Win32:Trojan-gen], though our multiple tests registered it as a joke program. You may read the publisher's disclaimer or test the software yourself in a clean environment free of sensitive data.)
All-In-One Sidebar
This superuseful Firefox extension consolidates your bookmarks, extensions, themes, downloads, and Web history into a single jackpot of online goodness. Add the ability to view HTML source code, a second Web page, and a built-in newsreader, and you've got one heck of an extension.
MorphVOX Junior
This Halloween, dress up your vocal chords. MorphVOX Junior's voice-changing tool is ideal for disguising your voice in online games or freaking out Grandma on a VoIP call.
Audacity
You'll love this flexible, feature-packed audio editor. It does the basics better than most and throws in some special sauce: fading effects, uncompressed audio support, and WAV file conversion to multiple formats. Yeehaw!
Copy Cursor
It's an attack of the clones as your cursor multiplies all over the screen. End the program by passing your mouse over the top-left corner...if you can find it. Otherwise, hold Control+Alt+Delete and end the process in your Task Manager. Here's the publisher's disclaimer.
N
You're a ninja escape artist in this 2D, Flash-based game, outmaneuvering relentless evil robots through a maze of underground rooms. Just beware the hidden traps. This freeware tidbit is so addictive you can't help but indulge.
Avoid
Launching the Start menu is a hide-'n'-go-seek game you'll never win with Avoid. Approach it and the Start button roars to life, jumping away from your mouse pointer to other areas of the taskbar. Read the publisher's disclaimer.
MyPictures 3D
Why go bobbing for photos in your files when you can bunch them together in a 3D gallery, then display the beauties in the atmospheric background of your choice? Du-uh! We recommend the ancient castle for the best Halloween effect.
