1. Get connected: Social networking sites
   LinkedIn.com | Facebook.com | Twitter.com
2. Better Browsing:
   GetFirefox.com | Camino (for Mac) | Flock (social-web browser) | Chrome (PC only)
3. Cloud computing: collaborative way to free Office:
   Docs.google.com (documents, spreadsheets, presentations) | Zoho.com | BuzzWord.com
4. Online photo and video editing
   Picnik.com |  | Jumpcut.com
5. Citizen (You!) broadcasting sites:
   BlogTalkRadio.com | Mogulus.com | LiveVideo.com | Qik.com | UStream.com 
6. Non-citizen broadcasting:
   Hulu.com | TV.com | Livestation.com
7. Consumers take over: Getting an operator, finding out consumer info
   GetHuman.com | Consumerist.com
8. Your Money: Tools to take charge of your money
   Finance.yahoo.com | 25 Web 2.0 finance tools (Expensr, Mint, Wesabe) | PriceProtectr.com
9.  Your Health: Tools to take charge of your health
   RevolutionHealth.com | Symptoms.webmd.com
10. Keep better track of... everything:
    Google.com/alerts | Yahoo.com/alerts
11. Using RSS to read blogs and more:
    Reader.Google.com | My.Yahoo.com
12. Be a real estate voyeur:
    Zillow.com | Trulia.com
13. Travel ideas:
    TripIt.com | Dopplr.com | Bookit.com | Kayak.com | Dealsandsteals.com | Travelocity.com | 
14. New cooking options:
    RecipeZaar.com | Epicurious.com | Google.com
    
15. Find music you like:
    Pandora.com | Jango.com | GrooveShark.com | Yes.com | Songza.com | Amiestreet.com
16. Must-read for technology ideas:
    Mashable.com | Lifehacker.com
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Billsville Computer --- Bill Pfleging --- 845-679-4141 --- bill@billsville.com
    
    Open source/free software:
    In every category of consumer software there are free alternatives to the established companies. They are constantly being improved and, in some cases, they are as good as the for-pay products they replace. They come in three major categories: 
    

• open-source projects you download onto your computer, built collaboratively and improved by developers around the world (the Firefox browser is the best-known example, with 100 million+ users worldwide)
•  web-based projects which involve no downloading; you do all your work on the Internet, accessing (and storing) your work anywhere in the world (the best-known example is Google Docs & Spreadsheets - formerly Writely)
• personal editions of existing software; they want you to use it at home at no charge and get your company to buy the corporate version (these are most common in products that protect your computer such as anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware)
  
  1. Open-Source Downloads (most work on Windows & Mac)
  

• Web browser: GetFireFox.com - Internet Explorer/Safari
• Office: OpenOffice.org - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access
  
• Desktop Publishing: Scribus.net - PageMaker/Quark/InDesign
• Web Production: NVU.com - Dreamweaver/FrontPage
• Image editing: GIMP.org | IrfanView - Photoshop
• Video editing: Wikipedia list of video editing packages
  
• MORE: 5,000+ open-source projects:
  | SourceForge.net | Distrowatch.com (lists top versions of Linux Operating System here) |
  | Wikipedia list (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open_source_software_packages)|
  | Google list (www.google.com/Top/Computers/Open_Source/Software/)|
  
  2. Web-based, online software

• Word-processing & spreadsheets: Docs.Google.com | Zoho.com | Thinkfree.com |
• Image editing: SnipShot.com | Picnik.com | Picasa.com (from Google) | Pixer.us | Fauxto.com 
• Video editing:  Jumpcut.com
• Conference Calling: freeconferencecall.com |
• Video Conferencing: Logitech's new Vid (www.logitech.com/vid)
• Remote Desktop sharing: Teamviewer.com
  
  3. Personal editions of existing software
  Get these all for free through Download.com:

• Firewall: ZoneAlarm
• Antispyware: Ad-Aware; Spybot Search & Destroy; and MalwareBytes  
  
• Anti-virus:AVG
  

Billsville Computer --- Bill Pfleging --- 845-679-4141 --- bill@billsville.com

Facts and Data Sources 

• ONLINE ENCYCLOPEDIAS: 
  Encyclopedia Britannica (www.britannica.com): new pay version for full archive (first two paras free);
  Encarta.com: many entries free, rest you pay
  Encyclopedia.com: concise, free articles
  Reference.Yahoo.com: search across several titles
  Xrefer (www.xrefer.com): one-stop search of 35 reference titles 
  
• FACT PORTALS: sources of information
  Refdesk: Colin Powell's favorite site, says NYTimes
  http://www.refdesk.com
  Martindale's Reference Desk: resources galore
  http://www-sci.lib.uci.edu/HSG/Ref.html
  BJPinchbeck's Homework Helper: a school kid's best friend
  http://www.bjpinchbeck.com
  
• RESEARCH HELP:
  GoogleAnswers ( http://answers.google.com): pay for answers (starting at $2.50)
  IPL Pathfinders: Internet Public Library research assistance 
  http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/PF/
  Ask.yahoo.com: answers for every day questions
  
• STATISTICS / MATH HELP: by the numbers
  Niles Guide to Data on the Internet: access stats of all kinds 
  http://www.robertniles.com/data
  Statistics.com: more stats 
  http://www.statistics.com
  Stats.org: deeper look at statistics; how journos use stats
  http://www.stats.org
  Online Conversion: 8,000+ calculators 
  http://www.onlineconversion.com
  
• POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: who's gives, who gets
  Fundrace.org
  http://www.fundrace.org
  OpenSecrets.org
  http://www.opensecrets.org
  FECinfo.com
  http://www.fecinfo.com
  
• PUBLIC RECORDS HELP: accessing court records & databases
  Search Systems' Public Records: 40,000+ public record databases; now charges $50 a year or $5 a month 
  http://www.searchsystems.net
  Pretrieve.com: Instead of searching state by state, just put in a name 
  http://www.pretrieve.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Billsville Computer --- Bill Pfleging --- 845-679-4141 --- bill@billsville.com
  
  
• ONLINE MAPS:
  NG's Map Machine (http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine): dynamic maps tied to govt. data
  http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
  Maps.com Explorer: interactive satellite/aerial maps
  http://www.maps.com/explore/viewer.html
  SpaceImaging.com: what you see on TV
  http://www.spaceimaging.com
  Google Earth (earth.google.com): Real images of our home planet.
  DRIVING DIRECTIONS: Mapquest.com, MapBlast.com, Yahoo Maps, Google Maps
  
• FACTS ABOUT COUNTRIES:
  WorldInformation.com: http://www.worldinformation.com
  Economist's Country Briefings: http://www.economist.com/countries
  CIA World Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
  COMPARING COUNTRIES: 
  NationMaster.com: compare stats about different countries
  Your-Nation.com: compare stats about different countries:
  http://www.your-nation.com
  UN CyberSchoolBus InfoNation: http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/index.asp
  
• MEDICAL INFO: medical/drug info
  WebMD: http://www.webmd.com
  MayoClinic.com: http://www.mayoclinic.com
  Merck Manual: http://www.merckhomeedition.com/home.html
  PDR: http://www.healthsquare.com/medcare4.htm 
  RxList: http://www.rxlist.com
  
• LEGAL INFO: US legal data
  FindLaw: useful legal links
  http://www.findlaw.com
  FreeAdvice.com: answers to legal questions; approach carefully
  http://www.freeadvice.com
  
• BOOKS: new and old books, with authors/titles
  Amazon: author/title lookup & purchase
  http://www.amazon.com/purchasecircles
  BookFinder.com: used and out of print books
  http://www.bookfinder.com
  
• MOVIES: Hollywood and more
  IMDb: Internet Movie Database
  http://www.imdb.com
  Ain't It Cool News: inside buzz from an outsider
  http://www.aint-it-cool.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Billsville Computer --- Bill Pfleging --- 845-679-4141 --- bill@billsville.com
  

• Government Resources
  
  Federal
  FirstGov: "Your First Click to the US Government"
  http://www.firstgov.gov/
  
  GovernmenGuide.com: useful government links
  http://www.governmentguide.com

  FedStats: all federal statistics on one site
  http://www.fedstats.gov/

  FedWorld Information Network
  http://www.fedworld.gov/

  Thomas: Legislative info from the Library of Congress
  http://thomas.loc.gov/

  Federal Election Commission:
  http://www.fec.gov
  
  New York City
  New York City official site 
  http://www.nyc.gov/

  New York City Services & Agencies
  http://www.nyc.gov/html/serdir/home.html

  New York City Government Publications
  http://www.nyc.gov/html/serdir/html/pubs.html
  
  New York Police Dept
  http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/home.html

  New York City Board of Eduation
  http://www.nycenet.edu/

  New York City Council
  http://council.nyc.ny.us/

  New York State
  List of New York State Agencies
  http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ils/nyserver.html
  
  Subject Listing of New York State Govt Information
  http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ils/nystopic.html
  
  New York State Telephone Directory
  http://www.ogs.state.ny.us/telecom/