Listening to the Maximum PC podcast #131 this past week (I'm behind) brought back some fond memories.  Not only was there a little glint in my eye because I was actually mentioned on said podcast, but I was also tearing up a bit at the realization that the very art of podcasting could serve as an excellent Freeware Files roundup.

Thus, here we are!  Podcasting is a huge topic in itself, so I'm trying to bridge a bunch of different worlds in this week's list of awesome applications.  Just interested in listening to podcasts?  Don't worry--I've got you covered.  Looking to make a Maximum PC (or Freeware Files) fan podcast of your own?  You'll find a fun trick or two within the bits and bytes of this week's post.  Tired of all the same-ol', same-ol' podcasting programs that you read about on all the other tech sites (like iTunes, cough cough?)  Well, I'll do my best to surprise you with a new app or two!

Even if, like me, you think that 99-percent of all podcasts are lame and not really worth your time, you can also use some of the enclosed apps and utilities to exert some editing influence over existing audio files.  As well, you'll even find an awesome player for video and music files that even comes with a built-in Bittorrent download capability.

Have I whet your podcasting whistle yet?  Great.  Let's begin!

Robert's Podcatcher

If you're just looking for a way to grab the latest versions of audio recordings on the 'net, why bother with a bulky program like iTunes or its graphically intense cousin, Zune? Robert's Podcatcher is a perfect application for identifying and downloading all the latest updates to a syndicated podcast feed.  It works rather simply: Enter a stream, and the program will go out and download the very latest episode in the feed.  The next time you launch the application, it'll automatically grab all the new files that have been put up since the last time you loaded the program.  The program can run in the background of your system and scan for new updates to your podcast feeds along set intervals.

Download it here!

The Levelator

If you've ever recorded an audio file of a conversation--especially one handled over a VoIP medium like Skype--you've probably been frustrated by the volume disparity between all the voices on said recording.  You might sound super-loud, one of your subjects might sound deathly quiet, and a third party might warble between the two extremes depending on how often he or she has had to move away from the microphone to breathe.

Anyway, you can definitely fix this problem by applying limiting effects and other such audio trickery using complicated paid-for apps (or open-source software, like Audacity).  Or... you can grab The Levelator, which fixes the issue for you without requiring so much as a peep of parameter setting from you.  Just drag your crazy-sounding file over the interface and let The Levelator do what it does best--automatically try to make everyone in the file sound as equal in volume as possible.  Editing audio doesn't get much easier than this!

Download it here!

Miro

Now we're getting intense.  Miro is an application that's mainly geared for watching videos.  Not only can you view (and download) YouTube HD files, but you can also use the app to subscribe to (and play) video podcasts as well as a wide range of other common video file.  Miro's extended this functionality to audio podcasts as well--again, it's not the program's forte, but it's a welcome addition to an otherwise feature-packed media player.  The icing on the cake lies in Miro's Bittorrent support.  If there's a particular Bittorrent RSS feed that you care for (who's podcasting with Bittorrents anyway?), you can one-click add it to to Miro's scan list.  The program will download new files automatically using its integrated libtorrent engine.

Download it here!

Streamripper

It wouldn't make much sense to just outright record a podcast while it's playing--as in, make an audio recording of a live podcast you're listening to.  That pretty much defeats the entire concept of a podcast, doesn't it?  Well, if you've found yourself in this predicament or, conversely, have a favorite Internet radio station that you'd love to have a downloadable archive of, then Streamripper is your ticket.  This console utility will record and automatically separate tracks for any of the five following streams:

• .mp3 Shoutcast streams
• .mp3 Icecast streams
• .nsv (Nullsoft Streaming Video) streams
• .aac Shoutcast/Icecast streams
• .ogg streams

And if you want to get a little fancier, Streamripper can also take care of LasfFM streams and Live365 streams, amongst others.

Download it here!

LoadScout

File transfers are cheap, right?  Look, it might not break your bandwidth bank to download huge files--like a .zip archive of your favorite podcasts or, for that matter, the 150MB "Gordon's Greatest Rants Ever No Really" Maximum PC podcast.  If you're on anything but a cable Internet connection, the prospect of downloading huge files on a whim doesn't sound very appealing.  The situation's compounded if you're being asked to download a huge file based on something you may or may not even like to begin with.

That's where LoadScout comes into play.  This helpful application allows you to extract snippets of .zip archives and .mp3 files to your computer so you can judge for yourself whether you want the whole archive or audio file. Don't let the older appearance of LoadScout throw you off--this application is a powerful tool for power downloaders that want only what they like without having to waste precious bandwidth on guesswork.

Download it here!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend!

Security rivals thermal paste as the most important thing you have to keep in mind when building or using a system. Every bit of software on your PC should be updated; every external access point into your digital life, closed.  There's no reason why you should be handing over the keys to the castle to random Internet strangers.  Powerful virus protection, a strong firewall, and a bit of common sense -- among other tricks -- will go far to preserve your fortress of a system.

Now that's all well and good for the desktop in your living room, but what about third-party machines?  We've all had to jump on a system over which we've had no control--no observance or administrative rights to ensure that every bit of the operating system checked out to ideal security standards.  You can always head over the falls in a barrel and type your passwords and login credentials blindly, with no foresight or worries that you're inputting valuable information on a potentially infected machine.  That, or you can do what I'd do: Make sure that your every keystroke and action is somehow safeguarded through the use of portable applications that you can carry on a storage device of your choice (cough USB key cough).

And that's exactly what I'll be exploring in this week's Freeware Files: Five awesome portable apps that you can carry with you to increase your security presence on a PC that isn't yours.  These aren't panaceas--you'll still want to be as critical and as cautious as you would previously.  However, they're a step in the right direction toward (hopefully) a data-leak-free lifestyle.

Active Kill Disk -- Hard Drive Eraser

In a world of small arms, I'll start with the security nuke: If you need to wipe a drive that's too far beyond saving due to malware, virus infections, or some other critical issue, you'll want to slap a copy of Active Kill Disk on your USB key post-haste.  Provided you're rocking a bootable USB key, you can use this app to fire up a DOS-based destruction tool for unruly digital files.  The free version of the app only allows you to erase your drive using the one-pass zero method.  Stronger techniques will require you to pony up a price for the full version of the app.  However, unless you're trying to avoid a government inquiry or something, this should be all you need for bringing your beleaguered hard drive back in line--and making sure that your key information is gone for good!

Download it here!

FreeOTFE

Similar to the popular privacy app TrueCrypt, FreeOTFE allows you to create and access encrypted volumes of information on a system--which, naturally, will appear as just a stream of junk for anyone lacking the proper authorization credentials.  The beauty of FreeOTFE is that, unlike TrueCrypt, you don't actually have to install an application in order to gain access to this powerful protection.  You don't even need administrator rights for the encryption to work!  While this app might not make the most sense if you're frequently jet-setting between systems, it's an ideal solution for building additional privacy into something like your work system.

Download it here!

PortableTor

Need a quick way to access Web sites while reducing your ability to be tracked?  PortableTor is the easy solution for gaining access to a large network of proxy servers (really, other people) that bounce your traffic requests around before pointing them toward the final destination you seek.  The only problem with the Tor solution is that, by nature, traffic exiting the Tor network isn't going to be encrypted.  That would theoretically allow someone serving as an exit node for Tor to eavesdrop on what gets passed out between that machine and said destinations.  Still, for an easy-to-use privacy solution, PortableTor sure beats surfing the Internet vanilla-style.

Download it here!

PuTTY Portable

Right on the heels of PortableTor comes PuTTY Portable.  This app doesn't allow you to join an encrypted network of proxies.  Rather, you can use PuTTY to fire up an encrypted SSH connection -- or tunnel -- to your desktop computer that's presumably located in a safer surfing location than wherever you happen to be.  Once this connection is live, you can use this protected gateway to do your normal network routines like browsing around, checking email, et cetera.  Others won't be able to decrypt the information you're sending out and you won't be forced to use an unsecure network to conduct your important business!

Download it here!

NetWrix USB Blocker

If you're on the flip-side of the equation and are looking for ways to keep your system free from the USB-based applications others are carrying around, then this app is a perfect way to lock down your system from unauthorized, portable access.  NetWrix USB Blocker helps you turn off all (or a select number) of your USB ports, which will prevent anyone from simply walking up, slapping in a USB key, and ripping out your saved passwords in a single setting.  The app requires the use of Microsoft's Group Policy Management, so make sure that's installed on the system of choice before you go to run NetWrix USB Blocker.  After that, your system will be safe from unwanted flash drives!

Download it here!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend!

Music, music everywhere, and a ton of programs with which to organize it. But how will you know which of the many iTunes-equivalents (if not iTunes itself) are going to be right for your needs?

If you're one of the many people using Windows' default music libraries to organize and store your files, stop. Just stop. There's so much more you can do beyond that-which-is-given by Windows Media Player's library features, it's not even funny. Conversely, if you're one of the people who clings to Apple's iTunes with a death grip by virtue of it being one of the first big music organizing tools to really "stick" amongst the general geek population... you might be in good hands. You also might be missing out on a ton of additional functionality, depending on what you're looking for and how you typically go about rocking out on your computer.

To keep the playing field fair, we'll look at three different applications in this ultimate guide to media organizing: iTunes, Songbird, and Zune. For those keeping score at home, that's one big solution from Apple, one big solution from Microsoft, and one big solution from the open-source community. There are certainly other options around--Foobar comes to mind as one such example. None are as comprehensive in their combination of features and/or customizability as these three, however. They're all easy to install and easy to set up, but which application has the features and usability that'll make it a hit?

iTunes

Apple introduced iTunes into the world at the 2001 Macworld Expo. At the time, it was fairly trimmed-down piece of software that was really only meant to do two things: play audio files and burn discs in a single program. Apple's app wasn't quite as slick as its chief rival, Windows Media Player 7. The latter built Internet connectivity into the usual list of media playback features to deliver a player that could not only burn and rip CDs, but also connect to Internet radio, surf online media guides, and download new skins for the whole application.

My, how times have changed.

Awesome

Apple Support: Duh. Apple's iTunes is the only media player/organizer that fully supports all the features of Apple's various handheld products. Other media organizers simply can't bypass the encryption Apple keeps between its products and its players.

Online Store: It's hard to deny the power of Apple's online store. With downloads of more than 8.5 billion songs, three billion apps, and one million video files since its inception, the iTunes Store is a veritable powerhouse of content in the marketplace.

Customized Data Dump: Want to list your music by the last time you accessed the file? Okay. You're your music by beats-per-minute? Sure! Want to organize your files by bit rate? Go ahead. iTunes comes with a full list of sortable options for listing your jams.

Powerful Playlisting: Automatically assign new songs to a playlist based on customized criteria you select. It's a perfect way to have a perfect, hands-free organization for your music library.

Unfortunate

Apple Authorization: Want to connect your app to your iTunes Store account? You only get five authorizations (and one do-over) per year. That's not much for a single computer user, but if you're running iTunes on multiple devices using one account, and forget to deauthorize your computers when reinstalling the OS, you're hosed.

Clunky Interface: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I can't help but feel that the iTunes UI is a bit kludgy. Throw in Apple's marketing efforts--like the Genius-based callbacks to the iTunes Store, as well as the entirety of the iTunes store itself--and the whole app just feels a bit out of its element on the Windows platform.

Lookups, Schmookups: Apple's iTunes isn't that good about looking up cover art for MP3s you've imported, even when the album seems pretty easy to identify-in my case, the Avenue Q soundtrack. If the ID3 tags aren't perfect, isn't there some kind of fancy technology iTunes can use to suggest a best-guess fix?

Lost Music? Lost Money: Delete a track you've downloaded from iTunes and you're stuck--unless you send a mea culpa to Apple itself, you'll have to repurchase the song from the iTunes Store.

Zune

Ahh, yes. Microsoft's answer to Apple's iTunes-if-we're-not-talking-about-Windows-Media-Player. Like iTunes, you won't be able to use the external-features of Zune with any device but... the Zune. Go figure. However, unlike Apple's iTunes, Microsoft has really hit one out of the park from an interactivity standpoint. Zune is easy to install and setup, and it works wonderfully with your preexisting music libraries in Windows. Provided you've dumped your music according to Windows' design, you won't have to go through any annoying re-importing via Zune.

Awesome

Interface: ‘nuff said. With beautiful backgrounds, fading windows that pop up and down, and awesome auto-collages of your entire library's cover art--to name a few--Microsoft's interface for Zune is simply amazing. It's responsive, it's artistic, and it's a lot more fun to navigate than any other music organizer out there.

Social Interaction: Since Zune ties into your existing Microsoft Live account, you gain access to a wealth of awesome social features that you don't normally find in music organizers. Track what you're listening too, message your friends and see what they're listening to, and gain mini-achievements for your rocking out!

Home Page: That's right. The Zune software comes with its own "You just loaded the app" page that gives you quick access to bands you've selected to care about, music you've recently imported, and Smart DJ mixes that--in theory--should give you the same kind of sound as the band you've selected.

Unfortunate

Limited Ripping: You can only rip tracks from CDs to a WMA or an MP3 format. That's not a lot of choice.

Zune Pass: Microsoft is really pimping its Zune Pass service all over the software. While admittedly neat--unlimited access to all music on the Zune Marketplace for $15 a month--I don't need it thrown in my face every time I'm trying to play a song or mix.

My Library? Zune Marketplace? Whenever you click on related links to what you're listening to, you might be pulling up a preview track from the Zune marketplace instead of an actual related song--e.g. clicking on Sara Bareilles when listening to Ben Folds could get you a 30-second preview of "Gravity" instead of an actual Bareilles song in your library. Zune needs a way to restrict recommendations to offline-only.

Long Loading: I'm currently sitting at 2.5-hours and counting just for Zune to make a Smart DJ mix of my files. While this will hopefully offer stronger musical recommendations than iTunes' default "eh, whatever" DJ service, you'll want to make sure you enable this functionality... a few days before your party.

Crazy networking: Streaming audio files in iTunes is a breeze--just click on a shared computer and play away. Zune requires you to go through Windows Media Extenders. Admittedly, this opens up your software to more devices for playback. However, it's a bit more involved of a process than iTunes--also, no Zune remote software for your device or wireless speaker connectivity.

Songbird

Open-source, here we come! The third entrant in the "best music organizers ever?" category is its only open-source creation. Thousands of developers--ranging from Mozilla Firefox geeks to Winamp hackers--have descended upon this application in hopes of providing an awesome third-party solution to the predominant media tools on the marketplace. Have they succeeded? Yes and no. Unfortunately, some of the program's faults are elements that don't really have an open-source solution.

Awesome

Add-ons: Right off the bat, Songbird prompts you to install a number of awesome add-ons that take this music organizer light-years beyond its closed-source competition, including last.fm integration, a built-in lyrics auto-downloader, and a concert-tracker to tell you when artists in your library are on tour. Excellent.

Tabbed-browsing: Ahh, now you know it's an open-source program. In all seriousness, Songbird's tabbed-browsing-friendly interface does help you look up information on-the-fly, as these tabs serve as a built-in Web browser analogous to Mozilla Firefox.

File-formats: You'll be hard-pressed to find a music organizer that supports more file formats than Songbird, including: MPGA, MP3, M4A, M4V, MP4, M4P, M4B, Ogg Vorbis, Speex, AAC, WMA, WMADRM, FLAC, LPCM, ADPCM, and AMR.

Skinnable: Don't like how Songbird looks? Change up the look at a whim by installing a new skin overtop the program's core!

iTunes integration: Sorry, Zune. Songbird works alongside your existing iTunes configuration, enabling you to pull up your playlists from that program into this one. It's a great trick if you're still on the fence about switching from one to the other

Unfortunate

Video: Not gonna' happen. Songbird is the only media organizer on this list that can't play video files

64-bit: Sorry, Windows 7 x64 enthusiasts. The current version of Songbird (as of this article's writing) doesn't work perfectly in your 64-bit operating system. That means no Aero support and, worse, problematic disc burning functionality.

Not very speedy: Clicking through menus and selecting options in Songbird feels like you're wading through molasses. This could be a direct result of the program's lack of 64-bit support (confession: That's how I was running it on my system). Or, at least, here's hoping--this app is s-l-o-w.

Limited device support: Although Songbird will sync up with devices like the Palm Pre and Motorola's Droid, and a few other handheld audio players, it employs workarounds to sync with Apple devices and won't sync with a Zune unless you go hunting for add-ons.

No streaming: Want to share your library to other computers on your network? Not with Songbird, you won't!

The Wrap-up

So which music player should you go with? All three. No, really. There are compelling reasons to pick any of these media organizers--your personal "best match" really depends on your use scenarios. For a no-frills audio experience with super-fast sharing capabilities and a powerhouse store of content to purchase, you'll want to hit up Apple's iTunes.

If you're looking for a bit more flair for your rocking out and prefer to synchronize your tunes with more than just computers, Zune is an excellent choice that bridges a beautiful aesthetic with excellent, recommendation-based functionality (provided you don't mind the constant links to Zune's store).

And, naturally, if you're looking for features that you simply can't find in either app, Songbird is your ticket--its powerful add-on database extends the capabilities of this application light-years beyond what you'll find in either iTunes or Zune. The downside? You can't stream your audio and, honestly, the program feels a bit sluggish.

Optical drives aren't potatoes. You can't boil them, mash them, or stick 'em in a stew. And by that, I mean there's simply not that much you can do with your average digital coffee holder. Optical drives read CDs. Optical drives write CDs. And... well, unless you have your drive hooked up to some kind of crazy Rube Goldberg device that feeds your guinea pig whenever you eject the tray, there's simply not much else you're going to be able to do with this essential part of your PC. CD goes in; CD goes out--end of story.

Of course, I'm being a little tongue-in-cheek with this description. There's a great deal you can do with your optical drive on the software side of things. Here's the problem: There are a ton of different programs out there for ripping, burning, and mounting images, amongst other behaviors. Finding the best-in-class application for your device can be like trying to find a tiny scratch on the bottom of the disc itself--a mind-numbing task that's sure to frustrate you as you sift through the 30 different utilities you've pulled down onto your desktop.

Allow me ease the pain a bit. In this week's freeware files, I'll be taking a look at some of the must-have software to supplement your CD drive. With these five apps, you'll be covered for a wide range of uses--ripping all different kinds of media to your (presumably) terabytes of storage space, burning your own custom discs and presentations based on preexisting files, and converting physical media to digital images that you can pull up off of your hard drive instead of ever having to fiddle with a disc again.

Let's begin!

Ripping: Handbrake and Exact Audio Copy

I wish I could point to a better tool for ripping your DVDs and Blu-ray discs than Handbrake. Unfortunately, there isn't one. There might be apps that offer more settings and customization options than Handbrake, but they certainly aren't without their learning curves. This easy-to-use app delivers a sturdy, helpful GUI for figuring out all the nuances of video ripping-and believe me, there are a ton. Check out Maximum PC's helpful guide to making the most of your Handbrake download, especially for the Blu-Ray ripping part of the deal. By itself, Handbrake doesn't do the greatest job with this kind of media. You'll definitely want to hit up the utilities AnyDVD or DVD43 to supplement your ripping, though it might be worth your while to use the encoding tool RipBot264 instead of Handbrake for Blu-ray rips.

As for audio, you have a few solutions. You can use a program like iTunes or Songbird as your default, all-in-one media warehouse and ripping solution (I recommend either; especially the latter if you don't own any Apple products). If you just want to rip your audio without all the additional cataloging support, check out Exact Audio Copy. This free CD ripping application does a great job of reading through the nicks and scratches of older media to get an accurate, digital copy of your physical disc. You get full ID3 support for tagging your audio and can automatically compress your files to whatever algorithm you want post-rip (especially useful if you combine Exact Audio Copy with the awesome AutoFLAC add-on).

Download Handbrake here!

Download Exact Audio Copy (and AutoFLAC) here!

Burning: ImgBurn and DVD Flick

Sound familiar? Again, ImgBurn is really a best-in-show kind of app that's well-suited to handle all the different kinds of files you throw at it. Want to straight-up burn an image (BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG, and PDI) to a disc? There you go. Want to create your own image file for burning or mounting later? Just fire up the program and select all the files you want to slap into the new archive. Need to burn audio CDs, DVD, or hi-def video discs? Easy as pie. To say that "ImgBurn" is comprehensive would be an understatement--this app literally does it all (and can automatically shut off when it's done!)

So why, then, would you want to grab DVD Flick? This app is like a slimmed-down version of Handbrake. You don't rip the DVDs yourself, rather, DVD Flick runs you through the whole media creation process: take preexisting video files, configure them up to meet your final specifications, and burn the disc. And unlike Handbrake, you can actually create little titles for your movies. It's a perfect way to give a little bit more organization to the 35+ video files you've packed onto your media of choice.

Download ImgBurn here!

Download DVD Flick here!

Mounting: Gizmo Drive

I frequently mention Virtual CloneDrive or Daemon Tools as two of my favorite image mounting programs out there. But, now, a new contender has entered the fray. I've really been enjoying using Gizmo Drive thus far, as this app delivers a comprehensive amount of support for even more file formats than I thought previously existed. Case in point: Not only can you use this freeware app to mount your standard disc images (ISO, CUE, BIN, NRG, etc.), but you can also load VHD files (used with Microsoft's Virtual PC program) into a virtualized optical drive as well. That's a pretty unique feature for mounting apps at this point, which gives the head-nod to Gizmo Drive as one of the best examples in its category.

Download it here!

Slideshows: DVD Slideshow GUI

This one's a little bit esoteric, but hear me out. Sure, you can burn a ton of your pictures and such to whatever media you want. But what's the point of doing this without incorporating a little pizazz as well? Are you really going to impress everyone when you have to tell them to fire up the ol' Windows Photo Gallery just to scroll through your shots? That's where the open-source DVD Slideshow GUI comes into play. This simple-to-use application gives you a number of different transition effects to slap between pictures (and movies!) you've arranged yourself. You can set durations, print subtitles, and run all sorts of visual effects throughout your little presentation. And when you're done, you can burn your masterpiece directly out of the app itself!

Download it here!

Autoplay: Ed's Autorun INF Generator and PStart

Like peas in a pod, these two utilities will allow you to create a little menu for launching programs, opening files, and doing whatever else it is you want to do whenever you stick one of your finished CDs in the drive for the first time. I'll start with PStart. If you have a ton of portable apps, executables, or .bat files stuck in a folder, then be sure to install PStart as a portable application to this folder. That's key, as this allows PStart to then use relative paths for the shortcuts it creates for its little launching menu. From there, feel free to add whatever programs you want to said launcher.

Once you're done, fire up Ed's Autorun INF Generator and select the main PStart executable as the one you want to automatically launch once the CD or DVD is first read by the drive. It's as simple as that. You'll now have a cute little icon-driven menu for launching elements on your discs instead of having to revert to the old, boring way of searching for these programs through Windows Explorer. Lame.

Download Ed's Autorun INF Generator here!

Download PStart here!

I've been a stalwart user of TweetDeck for all my 140-character messaging needs for quite some time now. But that's the problem with having a favorite freeware program: Your devotion to a tried-and-true application could be preventing you from reaching out and discovering a program that does an even better job. I mean, TweetDeck--awesome as can be--sure isn't perfect. There are a few features I wish I could get my hands on and, conversely, a few features I wish I could excise from the program with one almighty keystroke.

So all this got me thinking. I cover a lot of apps in these weekly Freeware Files roundups. But apps typically go through a number of changes throughout their lifespans. For better or worse, not every app is always going to look like it does when it's been profiled in a Freeware Files column. And with new programs entering the freeware fray at all times, what's a great recommendation one day might turn out to be an average or dull recommendation the next.

So, instead of just profiling five different Twitter apps this week, I'm going to make this more of a challenge. TweetDeck has been a top Twitter application on the market for some time now. What has it been up to since we last took a look at the software. More importantly, what other apps have risen the occasion to challenge--or topple--this killer program?

The Champion: TweetDeck

Why does TweetDeck rock? Let me count the ways. For starters, this Adobe Air-based application does a great job of delivering a wide assortment of information in an easily navigable column layout. None of those floating boxes, or separate windows, or any of that junk--scanning through your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn updates (or lists) is as easy as scrolling your many themed columns left and right. For Twitter, you can add new columns based on customized friend groups or keyword searches. You can also use the handy buttons at the bottom of each column to filter and erase seen Tweets, a lifesaver feature if you're trying to find a nugget of information in the middle of a huge Twitter pile.

TweetDeck automatically pulls new updates from your services based on intervals you set--ideal for when you're trying to balance out your Twitter API usage based on your own personal preferences (balancing the time between all friend updates and direct message checks, for example). Pop-up notification windows splash over your desktop when new information jumps into any of your feeds, which removes the need to check TweetDeck itself depending on how much information you receive with each update.

Download it here!

The Challenger: Blu

If you want a graphics-heavy Twitter client, it's hard to beat Blu. This super-pretty app makes the most of Windows' transparency features to deliver an elegant solution for Twitter-tracking to your desktop. Scrolling through your list of recent updates can be done via the normal scroll bar (which automatically pulls in later Tweets once you've reached the bottom of the window), or you can just "flick" through the interface as if your mouse cursor was a finger on your iPhone (or similar device). Selecting a list of "favorite" friends to follow in a separate section of Blu is as easy as clicking on a person's picture and selecting the giant heart icon. Yes, it's a heart icon.

The downside to Blu is that all of your information is locked in one single column. You can't resize Blu's window, which is a real stinker for those who want to make use of the larger screen real estate that big ol' monitors provide. If you have a ton of friends, be prepared to do a ton of scrolling in this app. Aside from your "faves" list, you really can't specify (or search for) additional Twitter categories.

Download it here!

The Challenger: Twitterfox

Here's an interesting one. Twitterfox isn't actually a separate program--it's an add-on for Mozilla's Firefox. That right there makes me a little suspicious about its ability to go up against TweetDeck as a general Twitter app, but enough people have been swearing by Twitterfox's usefulness that it warrants checking out. As expected, there's not a lot of general functionality built into this extension. You get three different tabbed columns for your Friends' updates, mentions of your Twitter handle, and direct messages. That's it.

Although this app of-sorts comes with no ability to add additional columns or segment your friends into groups, it is, by far, the fastest way to update Twitter. That's assuming, of course, that you're already using Firefox to browse the Web as you Tweet--a common occurrence, I wager. Shooting off new messages into the ether is as easy as clicking on the icon in Firefox's corner and typing away. You can insert the link of the current tab you're on by clicking on the chain key in Twitterfox's interface--no automatic URL shortening, however.

Download it here!

The Challenger: Digsby

Digsby? That Digsby? Yes, that Digsby. This all-in-one communications app has taken a little bit of flak for the various programs and configuration changes it can place on your system. However, I'm pleased to report that Digsby's installer is much more open about what it could potentially be doing to your PC. And, beyond that, Digsby has integrated Twitter into its all-in-one, AIM-style interface for every social network you're on.

Is it any good, though? Well, Digsby falters through its inability to branch your Twitter stream out into new categories. However, it is super-easy to scan through a list of recent Twitter updates and, if you're interested, have these updates thrown out onto your desktop via a pop-up window the moment they occur. When that happens, you're given the option to immediately reply to or retweet said messages--a nice convenience. Given that Digsby will likely become the de-facto hub for all of your communications once you install it, the integrated Twitter functionality--while not superb--is still a pretty solid addition to an otherwise excellent cross-platform messenger.

Download it here!

The Challenger: Seesmic Desktop

I'll save the best for last. Or, at least, Seesmic Desktop is the one app I immediately think of when pondering Twitter clients that are as popular--and hopefully as feature-rich--as TweetDeck. So let's get down to it then. The first thing you'll notice about Seesmic Desktop's app (the for-Windows program, not the Adobe Air version) is its crispness--it's crispness and its transparency. Not only does Seesmic Desktop borrow the best elements of Windows inherent transparency features (if your rig can support it), but the app itself feels sharp when you interact with its various elements. There's little to no delay when switching between or modifying elements--TweetDeck can sometimes feel a bit sluggish when you're adding or removing columns, or scrolling through Tweets.

Although you can't add categories a la TweetDeck, you can use Twitter's built-in lists functionality to organize your own groupings of Twitter friends. These are super-easy to pull up and close down in Seesmic Desktop, and the application does support saved searches which mimics the categorization features of TweetDeck. Seesmic Desktop only supports Twitter as a service, although it does come with the same kind of pop-up notification functionality as TweetDeck for quick access to up-to-the-minute information.

Ladies and gentlemen... I think we've found a new champion!

Download it here!

The Bounty

Here's the deal. I want a Twitter app that goes back and pulls as many Tweets from my main feed as possible. I don't often have time to check Twitter throughout the day and frequently come home to find that I only can read the last two hours' or so worth of tweets. That's not cool--I want the whole enchilada. Find me an app that could theoretically let you scroll back through every single tweet in your timeline, and I'll reward you in some glorious fashion that may or may not include a Twitter-themed present as well as a personal shout-out in a Freeware Files column!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend!

If market research firm Gartner's numbers are even remotely in the ballpark, then Apple just socked Android in the face, knocked its rival down, and then tea-bagged the little green open-source fanboy. Harsh? You bet, but there's really no way else to describe dominating the $4.2 billion mobile app market by grabbing a 99.4 percent share, leaving just .6 percent for the also-rans.

"As smartphones grow in popularity and application stores become the focus for several players in the value chain, more consumers will experiment with application downloads," Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner, said in a statement. "Games remain the number one application, and mobile shopping , social networking, utilities, and productivity tools continue to grow and attract increasing amounts of money."

And most of it falls right into Apple's pocket. Even if Apple should lose some of its market share this year -- and it probably will -- the company still stands to make a king's ransom. According to Gartner, some 4.5 billion mobile apps will be sold in 2010, resulting in $6.8 billion in revenue. Jump ahead to 2013 and Gartner says there will be 21.6 billion apps sold for a total of $29.5 billion in revenue.

There’s a big demand for Android apps, spurned by the sudden, and welcomed, influx of Android devices in the mobile marketplace. But you’d still think that the vetting of these apps was more cautious than this: an app, intended to harvest bank login details was approved for the Android Marketplace.

According to The Register, the “rogue” Android app passed itself off as a legitimate banking applet for the credit union First Tech. First Tech, however, has no such Android app. Instead, a users banking information would be captured and forwarded on to somewhere it didn’t belong. First Tech has posted a warning to users, and reports that, so far, no attempts have been made against it.

The app was built by Droid09. The app has been dropped. The Android Marketplace is advising it be deleted. And Droid09 has been banned from the Marketplace.

Image Credit: Google

I'll preface: not that kind of hardcore file management. And I'll promise: I will do my best to not make some kind of witty reflection about how it's the new year, and you should really use this time to finish that big resolution of getting your computer's file system all tidy and organized, et cetera. Only, I just said that. And that's exactly what this first Freeware Files of the 2010 is about. Enclosed within the bits and bytes of this post are five killer applications that are designed to help out your cluttered, aging file system by hunting down junk, helping you organize, and giving you new ways to tackle issues that bugged you in 2009.

There's no freeware app that's going to get me to stop with this extended metaphor, unfortunately. But don't let that keep you away from the helpful programs found within the bowels of this very post. Need an app that better manages your Windows 7 libraries? Got it. Need a way to recover deleted files from a USB key? Fear not. Want to catalog and delete the duplicate files taking up unnecessary space on your system? Get ready to itch that trigger finger.

Those are but mere snippets of the full assortment of apps in this week's roundup. If frustrating file issues and a steadily decreasing amount of hard drive space makes you mad, then get ready to pop five different freeware chill pills.

Migratr

If you're sitting on a large stash of photographs in hopes that they'll somehow sprout wings and fly away to your favorite online hosting service, you're in for quite a wait. While Migratr can't help you get your pictures from your hard drive to your favorite online photo gallery of choice, it's an awesome tool for duplicating the contents of an online photo archive to a new service entirely.

The cool thing about the freeware app Migratr is its sheer compatibility: In one app, you have a direct route to quickly get your photos transferred (really, copied) to more than 10 different photo hosting services. Jump from Photobucket to Flickr. Jump from Flickr to Smugmug. Jump from Smugmug to Picasa. Does this have anything to do with actual desktop-based file management? Not really. However, to dry up the future tears streaming down your face when your years' worth of photographs are eliminated in a single, unfortunate drive crash, there is no better solution than Migratr. In but a few clicks, you have insta-backups all around the Web--backups that preserve your original EXIF data, mind you.

Download it here!

iBin

Delete a file on your system and it goes to your recycle bin. Delete a file on your USB key... and you're stuck. Stuck until now, that is. The useful app iBin creates a new recycle bin of sorts on a portable device of your choosing, tasked with storing the deleted files from your USB drive until you're ready to cut the cord for good. A super-helpful configuration screen actually gives you more options to work with than the default Windows recycle bin, and an easy-to-use file list delivers the name, size, and deletion date of the files you've since recycled from your key.

The only sticking point with iBin is that it uses the term "recycled" to actually mean "restore," whereas traditional Windows users might mistake this for "delete for good." The "Clear data selected" option is actually the big delete key for files that have been recycled. Er. Deleted. Er. Trashed?

Download it here!

Win7 Library Tool

Windows 7's libraries--large file organizers that can scoop up certain files from across your operating system into giant combined folders--are pretty cool tools for those with media files scattered all over the place. However, just try adding a networked location as part of a library. Odds are good you will run into difficulty. Solving that problem became the genesis of the Win7 Library Tool, but that's not all this little utility can deliver for Windows 7 library enthusiasts. Not only will you be able to add un-indexed folders to your libraries for now and evermore, but you'll also be able to:

• Backup and restore your library configuration for quick resetting following an OS reinstallation or for transfer to a different PC.
• Create a mirror of your libraries in a new [systemdrive]:\Libraries folder, which gives you easier access to said libraries by eliminating your need to hunt through a large list of folders.
• Change the icons for your libraries!

Download it here!

Auslogics Duplicate File Finder

The name says it all. This application combs through your system and spits out a list of all the duplicate files on your PC. You can then peruse said files and choose which, if any, you want to delete from your system for good. Sounds easy, right?

Just to make sure that it's catching exactly what you want it to catch, Duplicate File Finder comes with a number of configurable options for the searches it runs on your system. You can have the program match files by their exact name, size, date and time, or contents--which includes an MD5 check, in case two files are bit-for-bit identical but exist under different names in your file system. You can set the program to scan for particular files, like multimedia or applications, and tell it to ignore any files under a specific size. Who cares about those tiny little text files on your drive when you can go after the bigger space hogs?

Download it here!

NTFSRatio

Just how well is the NTFS file system--and I hope you've switched to the NTFS file system--compressing your folders? Only one way to find out! Fire up the NTFSRatio utility, which gives you way to scan folders and subfolders on your system to determine just how much compression you've achieved for a particular file or folder. If you've found that this ratio just isn't up to your specifications, then you can compress or decompress the folder directly through NTFSRatio. It's that easy.

Download it here!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend!

There are a lot of weird little applications and utilities out there. They aren't programs that will win a spot on anyone's top-ten list of yearly freeware or anything like that, but that doesn't mean that they are any less deserving than their peers for a spot on your desktop or laptop computer. They're just, well, small. Small and simple-minded. A number of them aspire to solve individual problems or issues with your system, and some even attempt to bolster your interactions with your computer in some newfound way. These aren't huge applications--no Firefoxes of the freeware world--but they're every bit as interesting and important to know about as the next greatest Web browser.

That said, I've taken a grand look through all instances of my Freeware Files weekly roundup over the past year, and I've pulled out some tidbits that might have flown under your radar for whatever reason. They cover a hodgepodge of scenarios, but that doesn't mean that I've just reached into the freeware sack and pulled out a random pile of apps. No, these little programs represent the best of the forgotten--apps that might not be as well-spoken in your freeware vocabulary as the more popular entities on the Internet, but ones that are nevertheless important for whatever services they provide.

Without further ado, I present: 2009's most underappreciated apps and utilities!

StrokeIt

What it does: This powerful, freeware application adds mouse gesture functionality to any application you want.  Install the program and hold down your right mouse button, then use the cursor to draw a predefined shape of your choosing.  StrokeIt will recognize the picture or shape and carry out the assigned task.  For example, you can use the program to create macros that output certain phrases or words, or even launch functions within an application.  StrokeIt is a powerful tool that's only limited by your imagination and/or drawing capability--but don't worry, you don't have to be a Picasso to be productive.

Download it here!  

ReNamer

Right-click on a batch of selected files in Windows, hit rename, and the OS will automatically append whatever name you create to the files you picked--automatically adding an ugly (1), (2), (3), et cetera, to the end of said files. Yuck. The freeware application ReNamer rips apart this sad scheme and grants you the ability to mass-rename files in a number of customizable ways.

Download it here!

Eraser

You threw your files in the recycle bin and emptied it. You're in the clear, right? Wrong. One run of this program on the files you want to toss and you'll make it extremely difficult for off-the-shelf file restoration software to be able to piece together your unwanted information. I'm not suggesting that this open-source app could somehow survive the scrutiny of a government-level scan merely because I have not been able to test that claim out, er, first-hand.

Download it here! 

ADRC Data Recovery Tools

Did you frak up and accidentally shift-delete a bunch of files you were working on? Try to recover them using this freeware collection of DIY "save thyself" tools. Not only can you possibly recover files you've deleted, but the program also comes with tools to rip the contents of a dying hard drive, as well as backup options akin to a Norton Ghost drive clone.

Download it here!

USBDriveFresher

Although it's strictly designed for file deletion, this miniscule application runs in your system's background and automatically cleans unwanted files off any USB device. If you frequently switch between Apple and PC platforms, and can't stand the miscellaneous files that OSX dumps on your drive, this little utility is your key to a cleaner, er, key.

Download it here! 

Visual Subst

Virtual Subst allows you to take any folder on your system and mount it as if it was its own virtual hard drive. For example, pretend that you've mapped all of your iTunes music to the X:\ drive. The actual folder that corresponds to said virtual hard drive can be located anywhere on your PC, and you can move it around to anywhere else you want without any problem. To iTunes, your music will always exist in a single location--X:\. For you, however, you can shift and shuffle your files to your heart's content, provided you always point the final destination back to your trusty virtual drive of choice.

Download it here! 

Network Activity Indicator for Windows 7

One of the chief omissions of Windows 7 has actually been one of the more useful staples of Windows for a long time. It's the good ol' network activity light, a little icon in your tray that would blink on and off to match whenever you sent or received network traffic. As you might expect, this utility replicates the good ol' light sans bandwidth monitoring. But hey, it's an icon, and the lights blink. That's 90-percent of the problem solved.

Download it here!

CD Recovery Toolbox

CD Recovery Toolbox scans discs and recovers as much data as it can, depending on the extent and location of the scratches, nicks, or gouges on your media of choice. From there, you can pick exactly what files or folders you want to restore. It's not a perfect fix--don't expect that the optical disc you dropped in the garbage disposal will suddenly pull up in Windows as if it was a fresh piece of media.

Download it here!

Cache My Work

Consider Cache My Work to be a functional equivalent to Mozilla Firefox's "Save my pages from last time" for your Windows operating system. Here's how it works. Launch the application when you're calling it quits for the day (or, conversely, when a Windows Update is demanding that you restart your computer). Cache My Work saves a majority of the open programs you're running, then re-launches these applications upon the next restart of your system.

Download it here!

Autosizer

Autosizer will automatically size a given application to whatever parameters you select. Want that Firefox window to always run maximized? You got it. This application is perfect for a power user's desktop, as it even blends window positioning into its crazy configurations. Slap your miniature Steam window into the upper-right corner of your desktop by changing just a few numbers--it's that easy!

Download it here!

Super-Bonus Shout-out to the Maximum PC Forums: Folding CD Generator

Want to contribute to the Folding@Home distributed computing experiment with some older hardware, but don't want to go through the hassle of installing operating systems (or hard drives)? Check out the hybrid Folding CD Generator online application / Live CD. Hit up the Web site and you'll be given a series of prompts that will ask you about your particular Folding@Home habits as well as your user name and passkey for the service. The site will then create a customized ISO file based on your information. Burn the ISO to a CD, boot off this CD when you go to run a computer, and you'll be doing your part to help cure diseases in no time!

And there you have it! If you can think of any other awesome apps or utilities that aren't very common, but you couldn't get through 2009 without them, then do let me know in the comments or via a Twitter message.  I'll profile you in an edition of the Freeware Files next year!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend! 

Muziic developer Dan Nelson still isn't a household name. But this 16-year-old may be pitchforked into the limelight, in case the music industry chooses to confront him over his creation, Muziic, an app that streams YouTube music directly to the user's desktop. He and his dad, Mark Nelson, had launched the media player on February 25, 2009. The Muziic player, to its credit, not only spares users an otherwise mandatory visit to YouTube's website but also lets them search YouTube's vast music library, create playlists, and browse them with ample ease.

While Google gave the nod for Muziic to continue after the latter agreed to expand the size of its video player, the music industry has hitherto chosen to turn its sight away from the father-son duo and Muziic. All that changed on Monday, though, when Muziic expanded its service to include content from label-backed video service Vevo, and that too without any annoying ads. Vevo is operated by YouTube for the companies that own the service: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, EMI and Abu Dhabi Media Company. As if blocking ads usually displayed along with Vevo content wasn't enough, Muziic circumvents the site's North America-only limitation to add insult to injury.

Push has come to shove for the music industry and the consortium behind Vevo is in the mood for some action. Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff has asked Dan Nelson to pull the plug on Muziic's use of Vevo's content. "I kindly advise you to immediately cease the use of the Vevo Logo, trademark and any other references to our corporate name," Caraeff wrote in an e-mail meant for the Muziic founder. "With regards to the use of Vevo licensed videos...they are also being used directly without our consent...You can be assured that changes are being deployed to the API in question immediately, however I am still going to ask you directly to cease the use of Vevo videos from within your service." Nelson remains adamant that he has done nothing wrong. He insists that he hasn't taken “any actions to circumvent the delivery of 'pre-roll' advertisements.” He further contends that it is the Youtube API, which currently does not deliver any ads to Vevo content, that is at fault.