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Computer Links

These are computer software, hardware and web development links:

Search Engines 

Google.com - The biggest simple search engine. Also has a good image search facility and a browser plug in which puts a google web search bar plus other  features into your toolbar.
Open Directory - "The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors"...also worth a look.
Yahoo.com - mainstream semi-edited webdatabase which uses Google to provide extra links to yet to be vetted and/or approved sites. 
Scirus.com - Scientific search engine run by Elsevier, good though of course biased towards their publications.
NASA - Search NASA technical reports. http://www.sti.nasa.gov

E-Mail /SMS / FTP / Newsgroups

Web Based E-mail
Email you can access from anywhere. Try Totalise :  Everything you would expect PLUS 50mb of storage - 25 times what Hotmail gives you!   http://mail.totalise.co.uk

Telnet/SSH
A nice windows style SSH clieent is available from http://www.ssh.com

MindTerm is a SSH client which runs as a Java applet in your browser (must be downloaded each time you want it but is good for travelling) you can get it from: http://www.appgate.com/ag.asp?template=products&level1=product_mindterm or from the engineering department: http://www-h.eng.cam.ac.uk/help/pnt/mindterm

SMS
Send free text messages to mobile phones.  You need to use a service specific the the country in which the phone network is based.
UK:    http://www.genie.co.uk
Switzerland:    http://www.sms.search.ch/

FTP Client
It's free, it works well, it's intuitive - it looks like Windows Explorer -Smart FTP:    http://www.smartftp.com

Newsgroups
Cambridge University News Groups On-Line:   http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/annevng.html

X-Terminal for Windows
Connect to Linux/Unix servers from a networked PC.  Often needed for accessing departmental computer systems etc. from windows machines.  But be aware that many network operators will not actually allow access to their system unless you are within their domain (e.g. you cannot connect to Cambridge University Engineering Dept unless your machine is within the .cam domain).  X-Win32 is available for evaluation (unlimited use provided you log off every 3 hours)    http://www.starnet.com/products

Shopping

Cambridge Computers are great:    http://www.cambridge-computers.com/
Dabs are a big cheap mail order company:    http://www.dabs.com
Maplin Electronics not always the cheapest, but a good general electronics supplier:    http://www.maplin.co.uk
Printer Refills - save a fortune! Try U Refill Toner UK: http://www.refilltoner.com/

Software Downloads

A huge assortment of comercial, free, shareware and adware software with reviews, ratings and download links. The best places to find all of the software described here.
Download.com:    http://www.download.com Gives all of the above, plus has a service which scans your computer and automatically updates all software/drivers !!
TuCows:  http://www.tucows.com/    
Direct to UK mirror:    http://computalynx.tucows.com/internet.html
Nonags:  http://www.nonags.com     
Direct to Austria mirror:    http://www.intertech.at/nonags/index.html

Web Hosting / ISP's / Web Development

Web Hosting & Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
The best domain registration company I've found is 123-reg: http://www.123-reg.com

Writing Web Pages
There are lots of ways of making web pages from the very simple (use word and select save as web page) to the expert (write your own HTML or use proffesional software).  What is difficult is generating decent pages with minimal effort and which are compatible with multiple operating systems and browsers - my compromise is Netscape Composer, version 4 works and is fairly small, version 6 is bigger and more user friendly, BUT you need to get the latest version as earlier versions were full of bugs: http://www.netscape.com

Web-Site Search Tool
I've only tried one, but it seems pretty good.  FreeFind: http://control.freefind.com

Gif Animator
For making those little changing pictures people use all over the web.  The pictures don't require any addtional sofware and can be small in size.
http://www.ulead.com/ga/trial.htm

Computer Maintenace & Upgrading

Device Drivers & Bios
I always start just by typing in what I know about the device/bios into a search engine ( http://www.google.com/ ) which usually brings up the manufacturers download page. Failing that Driver Sites like http://www.driverguide.com/ are pretty good for finding elusive drivers and BIOS (be ready to spend a while getting used to the process)
To find drivers for unidentified devices, as long they aren't too old, you can get a lot of information from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) either through a driver site like http://www.driverzone.com/fcc_id_search.htm or directly from the FCC at http://www.fcc.gov/oet/fccid/help.html

UpGrading RAM
If you have bought a branded computer you can find out you RAM specifications from   http://www.crucial.com/   otherwise it is a bit more complicated...
Like Drivers, the starting place is to type everything written on existing RAM units into a search engine to try to find out what it is.  Some manufacturers have good sites which will quickly tell what kind of RAM is installed, allowing you to easily buy compatible upgrades.  Failing that find a help site such as: http://www.chipmunk.nl/DRAM /     (it is a Dutch site but lots of it is in English...tips for an English Language site greatly appreciated) might help.

Coding

Numerical Recipies
The definitive source of algorithms:    http://www.nr.com

File Compression

Document
Winzip is the most widely used: http://www.winzip.com/ddchomea.htm
Power Archiver is accessed in exactly the same way but is more clever - supports more formats and allows spanning across floppy disks: http://www.powerarchiver.com/download/

Sound - MP3's
For ripping CD's or creating audio CD's from MP3's.- CDex: ( It's free, it works, it has good help)  http://www.cdex.n3.net/
When creating MP3's, consider using variable bit rate (I use VBR=4, minimum 92kbps, maximum 320kbps and the Lame Encoder) which gives higher quality for a given file size.

Viewers - PDF / TIFF

Adobe Acrobat Reader
You'll need it at some point...    http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

TIFF Viewer
As recomended by the US Patent Office :
AlternaTIFF: http://www.mieweb.com/alternatiff/

Spy Software

Eliminate spysoftware (which monitors your computer usage and sends data to Advertising Agencies) using AdAware:    http://www.lavasoftusa.com

Media Players - MP3 / DivX

WinAmp
Plays most audio formats, is small, has nice built in visualisation tools. My default audio player: http://www.winamp.com

Windows Media Player
Comes with new windows installs or can be downloaded from Microsoft Updates , my default video player.

The Playa
Released by the developers of DivX, you need The Playa's DivX codec (translator) in order to view DivX movies.  However The Playa itself is not brilliant, so download it to get the codec and use windows media player (it will automatically find the codec) to watch movies.

RealPlayer
Needed for Real Player files and streaming media. Lots of versions, the latest version - RealOne - is annoying because it is too big and clumsy so I use RealPlayer 8 which comes with Netscape Installs or can be easily found on Kazza (File Sharing ) or from Download sites.

QuickTime
From Apple is needed to view Quicktime files.  Download available only from Apple (or sometimes on Kazza): http://www.apple.com/quicktime/

Download Accelerators

Open multiple connections to the fastest download mirrors of what you want, wherever you initially specify the download site to be.  Most impressive if you have a fast connection (i.e. your speed is limited by the remote server), but still help if you use a modem. I use  Download Accelerator : http://www.speedbit.com

File Sharing - MP3's / DivX

An excellent way to share files with your friends!
Morpheus - is dead... but their partners have taken over with Kazaa.  Good for larger files - film, music videos, software. But full of spyware, so search for 'Kazaalite' which is a hacked version without the spyware: http://www.kazaa.com
Audio Galaxy -Is dead! - I'm told there are other services giving access to the same resources without the spyware, will have link soon.
Hotline - Much more involved but excellent for films and software : http://www.bigredh.com/ .