{Search Tool} Although I'm not one for downloading mp3s from the Internet, I do know a number of people who are accustomed to doing so and therefore I decided to check out a program called 2 Find MP3. This little program searches ordinary Web sites for the music you are looking for and displays the results. One of the nice things about this program is that it verifies each link so you can avoid broken downloads. Not only that: since the software doesn't use any peer-to-peer networks, you can download your favorite music without having to expose your hard drive to other users on the Internet.

{Streaming player} From the Web site of your favorite radio station, you're listening to a great artist playing live in the studio. Suddenly... silence. Looking at your player, you see that little flashing red icon and the word "Rebuffering..." Don't you hate when that happens? Audioactive StreamPlay is a dedicated MP3 streaming player that's optimized for live audio streams and gets rid of those dead spots. The program comes with an onscreen data rate / buffer display. I may not have the best listening ears, but like everyone, I don't like silence in the middle of an audio file. There was no mention of compatibility with Windows XP, but since it works with 2000 and NT, I would bet it would be OK for XPers - in this case, forewarned is forearmed.

{AVI movie player} Instead of waiting for a large file to be completely downloaded (at a snail's pace), AVIPreview is capable of playing movies while they're in the process of downloading (not necessarily "immediately," as the author explains in the FAQ). It works with AVI, DivX, MPG, MPEG, and VideoCD. The creator's original intent for the program was for watching KaZaA *.dat files while they're loading. The program has been tested with P2P file sharing programs. AVIPreview can generate the index and play the file using one click, providing information on the length of the video. One note to Win98 users: try v0.20a (a few lines below the link to the newest version) if File | Open does not work in 0.21a, or try using only drag-'n-drop to download the file.

    • Ultrapeers
    • Multi-source downloads
    • Queuing
    • Bandwidth Controls
    • Secure Channels
    • Hostile Host detector
    • User-friendly interface
    • and more!

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For some reason, people really get into calendars. You may have even seen those mall kiosks that have all different types of calendars. Wall, desk, and organizer calendars are everywhere. Maybe I should break into that business? OK, that thought's gone. Instead of buying regular calendars, have you ever thought about making your own? Some people like to do this because they can put pictures of their kids or pets (aren't they the same?) on the calendar. To get started in a simple way, check out CalendarPainter.

The software takes you through a six-step process to create your calendar. You can customize the colors, the orientation, and a host of other things. As you can imagine, CalendarPainter has support for Bitmap and JPEG graphics. The software is easy to understand, and leads you from the beginning to end in a nice way. However, I would like to see a little more calendar customization added in a future version. In the end, CalendarPainter allows you to keep track of each day in a more personal way. You heard me - things just got a lot more personal

It’s important to note that this program should primarily be used if you have an LCD display, because it could make things blurry on a CRT. All you have to do is select the font smoothing options that look good to you, and the settings will be applied to your system. I noticed a dramatic difference while I was playing around with this program. It’s amazing how different things can look with a few simple tweaks. Give it a try, and see what pleases your eyes

ClearTweak] [1.12M] [WinXP] [FREE]

CD Check v3.0.1

The file is free for non-profit use. If you wish to support continued development, you are encouraged to register it for $10; if you use the program for your business, government agency, or educational institution, you must pay $50 to register it. Download it from PcWorld.com or go to the author's website

cdTree is a media cataloging tool, that will let you catalog and categorize CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, hard disk directories, floppies, Zip drives, DVDs, and audio CDs for offline browsing and searching. You can optionally add notes and user-configurable fields for any of the objects in the catalog. cdTree also enables you to password protect a specific catalog file, create custom categories, search the catalog content, view CD statistics and more. Additional features include sprint support, backups, custom fonts, and icons. This version is free to keep. Several additional features are offered in a Pro version.

A special thanks to Lynne for the broken link report. The link was moved to a new site.

• Matsushita (Matshita Panasonic) Driver Page
  CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-R(CR-,SR-,CW-,LK-M Series
• WinDrivers.Com - CD-Rom Drivers for Windows
• ZDNet - Driver Finder
• Micro Solutions Backpack cd-rewriter | Backpack CD-ROM Drive software
• DOWNLOAD.COM -- Drivers
• Jargon's CD-ROM driver archive
• WINDRIVERS.COM --
• Gateway Driver Archive
• CD-ROM Drivers at Drivers.Net
• Metropoli files - kala/DRIVERS
• The CD-ROM Driver Downloads
• Matshushita (Panasonic) at Driver Guide
  CR-585 IDE CD-ROM Driver , IDE CD-ROM Information for Windows 95.
• Device Driver Repository
• Archos Mini CD & Mini CDRW Drivers
• Goldstar CDrom & CRD-81608 Drives
  The GoldStar GCD-R520B, 540B, 540C, 542B, 560B, 580B are all E-IDE / ATAPI compliant and should not require separate drivers for Windows 95.
• CD-ROM Driver Source Links
• Consan Storage Solutions
• Myriad16 Pro CDROM Drivers
• Hi-Val
• Wearnes CD Driver
  Drivers for CD and CD-R

For more information and other options, please see these sites:

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