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Tux Paint is an easy-to-use drawing program, designed for children ages 3 and up. It offers a simple interface, with large, colorful buttons and sound effects. Even though it is designed for kids, the program is not limited to simple paint operations, but includes a good array of features like paint effects (rainbow, fading, sparkles etc.), auto-fill, text insertion, shapes, image gallery, image stamps and more. The program can either run in normal windowed mode, or full screen. Tux Paint is easy enough to be used by young children, yet provides enough features to keep them using it as they grow older.

Google Sketchup is an easy-to-use 3D modeling software that enables you to create 3D models of houses, buildings and many other objects, using an array of drag and drop tools and materials in a WYSIWYG editing environment. You can design your objects with rectangles, circles, ovals, arcs, lines and freehand drawings, and use a unique push/pull tool to add dimension to 2D objects. The program offers a library of building material patterns (brick, concrete, wood, glass, carpet etc.) and colors that you can use to add a realistic look to your creation. The finished design can be exported to popular image formats, including JPG, TIF, PNG and BMP, or shared via the Google 3D warehouse. Google Sketchup does not require any 3D experience, but you should read the supplied documentation and tutorials to make full use of the software - an interactive tutorial will explain the basic functionality for each selected tool. There is also a Pro version available, that offers export to 3D and raster formats.

Country Codes is a small database of country codes and additional information for more than 250 countries. It displays their location (continent), ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2-3 codes and ISO number as well as IDDD (International Direct Distance Dialing) country code and flag, FIPS PUB 10-4 and TLD (Top Level Domain) code and the current time in the country. The program provides checkboxes, that allow you to copy all or just selected information to the clipboard. In addition, it provides IP to country conversion, and a handy link for each country that launches your browser with detailed information from the Internet. You can also view the location of a selected country on a world map.

Microsoft WorldWide Telescope is a virtual telescope software that enables you to explore the universe with the help of interactive star charts and high resolution imagery from some of the best land and sky based telescopes. You can manually explore the night sky for your geographical location or enjoy one of the many interactive tours that will take you on an educational journey across the universe, to visit the solar system, black holes, star clusters, nebula, cosmic events and more. WorldWide Telescope also supports the ASCOM platform which allows you to connect and control a compatible telescope directly to the software. Other features include real-time tracking of the night sky in your location, a finder scope to reveal details for any object, multiple sources for imagery, object search and filtering, and morel. WorldWide Telescope provides a user friendly interface, and is well suited for casual night sky explorers as well as more advanced star gazers and hobby astronomers.

RapidTyping Typing Tutor can help you to learn touch typing through a series of lesson that include exercises to learn individual letters,numbers and symbols as well as a series of text exercises. A virtual keyboard is displayed below the text to be typed and help you with finding keys ans finger position without having to look at your keyboard. Other features include the ability to edit included lessons or to create your own, detailed progress statistics and support for multiple users. RapidTyping Typing Tutor supports QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, ABNT2, and Dvorak keyboard layouts. The program comes with a rather annoying fish tank animation background which can (and probably should) be turned off.

Celestia is a real-time 3D space simulator that allows to to travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy. All travel in Celestia is seamless; the zoom feature lets you explore space across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters down to spacecraft only a few meters across. A point and go interface makes it simple to navigate through the universe to the object you want to visit, just select it with your mouse and click on Go To from the menu. You can also retrieve additional information on the object from web sites, that are linked from the menu. Celestia comes with a demo tour and several pre-selected tours. You can capture views as images and record your travels as movie file as well.

IRIS is astronomical images processing software that provides a full range of features to enhance, correct and process digital astronomical images, optimized for CCD captures. It can open digital raw formats, as well as BMP, FITS and PIC as well as images from the Buil-Thouvenot Atlas. The many features include noise suppression, distortion correction, stacking of image sequences, spectra processing, sun chromosphere image processing, frame grabbing via webcam and much more.

World Wind is an open source project, that lets you zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth. It uses Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, as well as several data sources that provide historical and information on storms, fires, floods and other major events, as well as important landmarks with links to additional information on the web. World Wind also includes a full copy of the Blue Marble, a true-color image of the entire Earth as seen on NASA's Earth Observatory. Other data sources include Land Sat 7, SRTM, NASA SVS, MODIS, GLOBE as well as country and US state borders and city names. NASA World Wind also provides imagery of the moon. Even though the program appears similar to Google Earth, it covers a much wider range of data sources, however it is not nearly as user-friendly and requires an in-depth look at the documentation.

Calendar Magic is a feature packed calendar tool that supports a variety of date calculations, specialized calendars, alarm reminders, as well as calculators, unit conversions and more. It also includes a pregnancy due date calculator, an option to look up the current time in various parts of the world, a global distance calculator and other mathematical toys. You can even generate a report that will provide you with interesting (calendar) details about your life and biorhythm. Other features include calendar comparison, time between dates, observed holidays, religious festivals, sun/moon data and more. Calendar Magic supports multiple languages and calendar systems and all results can be printed.

Acronym Genie is a searchable database of acronyms and abbreviations from various areas, including Computers, Internet, Information Technology, Programming, Networking and many others. It includes more than 17000 acronyms and offers an easy-to-use interface with simple and advanced search options. In addition to acronyms, it also offers anagram lookup. The program includes an offline database and does not use the Internet to perform searches.

EasyGPS provides a fast and easy way to create, edit, and transfer waypoints and routes between your PC and your Garmin, Magellan, or Lowrance GPS. It supports import of .LOC and .GPX files and also allows you to add waypoints manually, and import existing waypoints from a GPS unit. The program lists all your waypoints sorted by name, elevation, or distance and integrates with additional online resources to provide street and topo maps, aerial photos, weather forecasts and more.

Moffsoft FreeCalc is a basic calculator that offers a virtual tape display, that keeps track of your calculations, and can be printed, copied or saved to a text file. Additional features include visible memory value (status bar), several color schemes to choose from, and an option to run in the system tray.

TypingTutor is a program that can help you learn touch typing by following a series of exercises while monitoring your progress and tracking the results. It offers some basic instructions on finger placements and starts with a simple set of lessons to practice the basic key combinations, expanding the number of letters used as you progress through the exercises. TypingTutor offers a simple interface that requires you to frequently use your mouse in order to switch or continue lessons, which we found a little counterproductive. The included lessons are fairly short and lack the sophistication of other (commercial) typing products.

Dannon Recipe Box lets you store, organize and share all your favorite recipes. The program comes pre-loaded with dozens of recipes, and you can search through them by course/meal, occasion, preparation method, main ingredients and other criteria. You can add your own recipes along with a photo (if available), mark favorite recipes and print the recipe or send it to a friend via email. Dannon Recipe Box also integrates with an online community where you can post/read ratings and reviews for all the included recipes.

Ideal Calorie Intake Calculator will calculate your basic metabolic rate based on your current weight and job activity and show you the number of daily calories burnt by your body, as well as the ideal calorie intake in order to lose 1 pound per week.

Solar System 3D Simulator generates a 3D model of our solar system, along with the 9 planets and their orbits. You can use standard 3D controls to zoom and tilt the view, and also adjust the speed of the rotation. The program also includes a small database with physical and chemical details for each planet as well as a close-up graphic. Designed for students of Elementary, Middle and High School to convey a basic understanding of the solar system.

Homeland Security Threat Monitor is a small system tray application that displays the current threat level as posted on the official Homeland Security website. It offers blinking notification of increased threat level and has several different icon styles to choose from, each indicating the level with the associated color display. Standalone executable, just run it or put a shortcut in your startup folder to have it start automatically.

SunTimes displays an animated map of day and night moving across the world`s time zones. It calculates and tabulates sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times for more than 10,000 locations in the world and also displays the current local time for each, along with daylight saving adjustments and local event times that are based on the position of the sun. In addition to the main functionality, the program also includes several climate, aviation and astronomy related map features that display current temperatures, commercial airline routes and movements of the moon, sun and planets. Other features include integration of local photos (where available), support for custom locations, climate statistics, and a lot more. The location database include almost all of the places with populations greater than 100,000 and the capital cities of countries.

Magic 8 Ball is a simple, computerized recreation of the classic fortune telling device from Mattel. The program resembles a virtual 8-ball that sits on your desktop. Ask a question, shake the ball with your mouse and the answer will appear. Mildly entertaining.

Perf Control Personal Edition enables you to keep track of your workout routines and physical development. You can create custom workout routines from a list of standard exercises and also add your own exercises to customize the program. A calendar display allows you to view your recent workouts at a glance and statistical reports allow you to track your weight and other physical measurements. You can also print your workout routines and take them to the gym.

Math Ninja is an educational math game that can help you practice your math skills. It offers 8 levels of difficulty that include Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division with an option to customize the level. The objective is to solve the exercise as quickly as possible, each correct result will score a punch for you. On the lowest difficulty level, Math Ninja is suitable for children, while the higher levels require some rather advanced skills. The program can be customized with the player`s name and also keeps a log with detailed results of the exercises.

Blood Pressure Recorder is an easy-to-use program that enables you to track your blood pressure values on a daily basis. It generates a graphical chart and a printable report that you can take to your doctor. All you need to do is take your daily measurement and enter the systolic, diastolic and pulse values into the software.

Teach2000 is a personal teaching assistant that enables you to create custom Qamp;A quizzes to memorize vocabulary, science knowledge, history or any other topic that you want to be tested on. The program supports simple question/answer quizzes, as well as more complex multiple choice or Yes/No tests. You can also attach images and sound files to a question, record questions via microphone, assign labels and add remarks. Other features include support for phonetic symbols, import/export of lists, multi-line questions and answers, rich formatting, export to HTML (for online quizzes), foreign symbols, statistics and more.

ATW 1040EZ 2006 Enhanced is a fill-in capable and an auto-calculate enhanced PDF version of the official IRS 1040EZ 2006 Tax Return Form. This PDF file will automatically calculate all values, allows you to save time and will create a neat printed document. Not officially endorsed by the IRS! Read the conditions before using it.

NetChess enables you to play chess with an opponent over the local network or the Internet. Both players need to have NetChess installed, one player will host the game, the other connects via the IP address. The program also includes a simple text chat option that enables you to exchange messages with your opponent. NetChess automatically saves completed games and allows you to review every move at a later time.

TypeFaster is an Open Source typing tutor that offers a touch typing course in 15 lessons. The program can keep track of your progress with statistical charts and create custom exercises based on the errors you make during your lessons. An interactive keyboard display can assist you with finding the keys without having to look at the keyboard. Type Faster also includes spaceship-shooter typing game. Other features include support for international keyboard layouts, customizable typing lessons, adjustable font sizes and more.

Lottery Results Gadget is a sidebar gadget for Windows Vista that can display the latest lottery numbers from every lottery in the US, Canada and the UK. You can choose the lottery results that you want it to display and be alerted via sound whenever the results are updated. The results are displayed within minutes of the drawing and linked to online resources that provide additional information, such as history and statistics.

Bruce`s Unusual Typing Wizard is a simple application that can help you learn touch typing. It offers 13 typing lessons that gradually introduce you to the keyboard keys, as well as a typing practice mode that measures your typing speed and errors. The program also includes a simple typing game and keeps track of your statistics.

Rhymesaurus Free Edition is a rhyming dictionary that contains 35,000 rhyming words including idioms, phrases and proverbs that rhyme with the selected word. The results are displayed in a browser-like display and organized by their number of syllables and the results can be exported as HTML page.

Track `n share your GPS Adventures is a enables you create interactive track maps from your GPS track files. The program is able to import track data directly from your (Magellan or Garmin) GPS or from data files and automatically maps the data to Google satellite maps. You can add photos, videos and comments to annotate your trip data and the media files are automatically positioned along the track. The finished track can be saved as a local file and those who want to share it with a broader audience can chose to upload it to track-n-share.com.