Among The Jumbled Heap

PC Magazine has a list of recommended free software. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2271644,00.asp

It’s freeware, but not necessarily Open Source. I would not have picked all the things they pick. I especially hate the Google Toolbar. I’ve found it to be clunky. It takes up too much memory, slows things down, and is always, ALWAYS, collecting information about how you behave online. That’s the part I hate the most about it.

I intend to check out the Maxthon browser right away (I’m downloading it now). I love Firefox, but I’m always looking for a better browser. Disappointing, though, that Maxthon is Windows specific, what’s up with that? I’ll install it on my work machine and see how it flows for me.

Zotero is probably the best app they have listed. In librarian speak, Zotero is a “bibliographic management tool.” A fancy way of saying that it stores your references and builds bibliographies. If you’re doing any kind of research that requires keeping track of references, Zotero is the tool for the job. There are commercial options available (like Endnote and RefWorks), but I’ve found Zotero to be superior (at least to Endnote). The fact that it is open source means that many people have jumped on the Z band wagon and extended it’s functionality. It can, for example, now be used to capture snippets of online video. It is a reference generating tool for the social web. I’m doing a workshop on Zotero in a few weeks, so I need to bone up.

One newer tool that didn’t make the PC list is Omeka (http://omeka.org/). Omeka comes from the Center for History and New Media, the same folks that gave Zotero to the OSS world. In their own words, “Omeka is a web platform for publishing collections and exhibitions online.” It’s currently still in version 0.9, which is probably why PC didn’t write ‘er up, but it looks to have great potential. At my work, there is a group of folks who are working on an online exhibition of our rare books. Omeka is the perfect tool for that kind of project. Check out the list of sites that are using Omeka to get a better idea of the it’s potential, http://omeka.org/showcase/.