Great Windows Programs I Use Almost Every Day

I was in a class last week with several windows admins who unaware of some great windows programs, so I thought these programs used for common tasks might be worth linking to here. I use at least one of the programs listed on a near daily basis, especially VLC & PDFCreator. All these programs are free, but not all are open source.

• Make all your mp3 files the same volume level without compromising existing audio quality using mp3gain
(see the included help file for step-by-step How To... instructions)


• Copy video DVDs to a folder or an .ISO using DVDFab HD Decrypter
  
  
• Mount ISO CD & DVD images using a CDROM emulator using Virtual Clonedrive (license allows for business _and_ personal use)
  
  
• Create data CD & data DVD ISO files (the entire disc in one file) using the READ MODE in ImgBurn
  (ImgBurn can also burn .ISO files in WRITE MODE)
  
  
• Create PDF files using PDFCreator (here's how to get PDFCreator to work with Vista)
  
  
• Download using the BitTorrent protocol with the µTorrent software
  
  
• Use VLC to playback nearly any audio or video file _without_ installing additional codecs
  
  
• Make Flash video tutorials/walkthroughs to share with colleagues using Debugmode's Wink software (also free for business and personal use)

Shrek 3: CPU Render Hours Double Every 3 Years

Linux Journal has a great article detailing some of the rendering specifics of Shrek 3. Some of the highlights include a 2Gbps network, use of NFS & LAMP, RHEL 4, use of Python, 24TB of storage, and a corollary to Moore's Law.

Gmail's Targeted Advertising Sometimes Hits Their Target Market

I just started playing paintball, and this morning I noticed Gmail was paying attention(see screenshot):

I've long been annoyed by advertisements, but when the ads are relevant to my tastes, I don't seem to mind as much. I still watch my TV shows without commercials, though. Suspension of disbelief and the viewing experience can be very negatively affected by advertisements. I've asked the ushers at movie theaters how long the ads/trailers last, and the answer seems consistent - 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes is a very long time when you're attending a show to be entertained, and also means that the cost of a movie ticket is paying in part to attend 15 minutes of advertisements! I'd pay even more to attend a theater that removed pre-feature advertisements, how about you?