Essential Free Software for Your New Computer

VLC Media Player

Despite the advancements in technology, media files haven’t shrunk too much since the early days of Napster, and by and large the file formats have become more varied and confusing. Will my player cooperate with .mp3, .oog, .mp4, .mpeg…and so on?

With VLC Media Player, none of this really matters, because it plays absolutely everything. I’ve never once received a “codec error” in the five years using this, and its superbly-simple-straightforward interface makes everything ten times easier than using the memory-heavy Windows Media Player (or, god forbid, iTunes).

StumbleUpon

My father is 55 years old, and to say that he uses the “hunt-and-peck” method of typing is an understatement. He called me once to tell me “Hey Jason, I just signed up on the Facebook, but nothing’s happening. When does the Facebook start working?”

Despite his preference to the good ol’ outdoors over pixelated landscapes, when I introduced him to StumbleUpon it was love at first sight. It’s basically the Pandora of web sites, the automatic-awesomeness generator, and all-around boredom conqueror and procrastination enabler. If you’ve never used it, head to StumbleUpon and get the toolbar now.

F.lux

Any Stumbler worth his salt knows the feeling of Stumble Eyes: Dry, bloodshot, with a screen burning itself into your skull amidst the darkness of the room at 2am.

Yet fear no more, weary traveler, for F.lux has arrived, and it’s a free and magnificent way to reduce eye strain while computing. Based on your settings, it adjusts the screen to the perfect settings for the time of day and type of light being used in your room. Sayonara, Stumble Eyes!