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I use one or more of the items marked with a
*
for building your web site, and for other web-related purposes. The other items in this list are alternatives. Click the graphic for more information.
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Web Site Builders
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* Fusion
by NetObjects
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NetObjects Fusion is
a powerful “What You
See Is What You Get”
(WYSIWYG) web site builder
that works very much like a
Desk Top Publishng program,
complete with drag-and-drop
object placement and
resizing. Lots of advanced
capabilities, yet still easy
to learn. Supports most
browsers, produces
browser-friendly code, and
can create either HTML 3.2
using (nested) tables or
HTML 4.0 with layers and/or
CSS and DHTML. No knowledge
of HTML is necessary to use
this program, but you can
code your own HTML or add
JAVA.
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* nPower
by NetObjects
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nPower is an optional
“Content Management
System” (CMS) program,
that, when installed on your
computer, allows you to edit
portions of your
nPower-enabled web site.
nPower works only with specially enabled web sites that were built with NetObjects Fusion. You must specify that you want to use nPower, and you must purchase the nPower program separately.
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* WebPlus
by Serif
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WebPlus is a very
good “What You See Is
What You Get”
(WYSIWYG) web site builder
for entry or intermediate
level users. Lots of
built-in wizards, quality
templates, and drop-in
automatic site navigation
(among other things) makes
building quality web sites
very easy. No knowledge of
HTML is necessary to use
this program, but you can
insert your own HTML code.
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WebEditor
by Namo Interactive
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Namo WebEditor is a
web site builder that can
quickly and easily produce
simple to complex, and
single or multiple page,
sites from scratch or
templates
From the Namo web site:
“Whether
you're an
experienced Web
professional or just
starting with your first
home page, Namo
WebEditor provides the
complete set of tools
you need to design,
build, manage and
publish leading edge Web
sites in less time and
with great results.
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* WS-FTP Pro
by IPSwitch
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WS-FTP Pro
is an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Client. Fast and easy file transfer to or from your computer and your web hosting service. Also rename, delete, copy, and move folders and files on the remote server.
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Online Web Site Payment Services
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* CCNow
on-line credit card
services
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CCNow
is a very low-cost alternative to obtaining your own merchant credit card account. No membership, annual, or setup fees. No equipment rental or leasing. No minimum monthly sales. No fees or charges of any knid, other than CCNow does charge a monthly fee, plus 9% of total sales over $100. CCNow says that their monthly fee also gets your web site listed on 125 search engines.
CCNow
acts as the retail seller of
your “tangible”
product(s), and you act as
the manufacturer, warehouse,
and shipper of your
product(s). CCNow defines
tangible products as
“physical products
that are shipped to the
Online Shopper's
physical address.”
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* PayPal
accept on-line
payments
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PayPal
is another low-cost method of accepting payments from your customers by credit card or check. PayPal charges a “per transaction” charge, and a percentage of the sales. PayPal’s rates are lower than CCNow, but do not include listing your web site on any Internet search engines.
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Image and Sound Editors and Management
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* PhotoPlus
by Serif
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PhotoPlus is a
low-cost, yet powerful image
editing program.
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PhotoImpact
by ULead
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PhotoImpact is a very
powerful image editing
program. Also creates web
pages, web banners,
navigation buttons (regular,
or rollover with the
appropriate HTML and JAVA
coding), background
graphics, and much more.
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* DrawPlus
by Serif
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DrawPlus easily
allows both beginners and
experienced designers to
create a simple logo, a
designer web graphic, a
complex diagram, or much
more.
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Neat Image
by ABSoft
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Neat Image
is a filter designed to reduce visible noise and grain in photographic images produced by digital cameras and scanners. Neat Image works as both a stand-alone program, and as a PS-compatable plug-in.
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* PanoramaPlus
by Serif
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PanoramaPlus is an
extremely fast and easy way
to make 2-dimensional
panoramas. From the web
site...
“With
just one click,
PanoramaPlus will
automatically
‘stitch’
your photos or movie
clips together –
creating a stunning
composite image for you.
Unlike other similar
programs, PanoramaPlus
works in 2 dimensions
– stitching your
photos together
horizontally and
vertically!”
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Panorama Factory
by Smoky City Design
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Panorama Factory
is a 360 panorama creator with Virtual Reality, Virtual Tour, clickable hotspots, and view interaction.
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MoviePlus
by Serif
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MoviePlus
is is a full-featured digital video editing and DVD creation suite.
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QImage
by Digital Domain
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QImage
is possibly the best professional tool available for printing multiple photographs at the highest possible quality.
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CompuPic
by PhotoDex
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CompuPic
is an outstanding image and media management program. It can display graphics in thumbnail form, index your photos, create slide shows and web photo pages, and much more.
Although
this program is still being
offered for sale from the
company’s web site, it
has not been updated for
several years.
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MediaPlus
by Serif
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MediaPlus is an easy
way to manage the media
files on your computer,
including images and sounds.
MediaPlus can create slide
shows and photoalbums.
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* Cool3D
by Ulead
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Cool3D
creates 3D objects like banners, logos, buttons, and more. This is not the same product as ULead’s Cool3D Studio.
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* ImpactPlus
by Serif
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ImpactPlus creates 3D
objects like banners, logos,
buttons, and more.
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* SWiSHmax
by SWiSHzone
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SWiSHmax
creates all the cool flash effects you need for your web site in a fraction of the time it takes with other programs, and at a price and learning curve that is much less.
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GIF Animator
by ULead
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GIF Animator creates
and edits animated GIFs
quickly and easily.
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* GIF Construction Set
by Alchemy Mindworks
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GIF Construction Set
makes animated GIFs,
banners, signs, and more.
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Webstyle
by XARA
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Webstyle produces all
the web graphics you need in
one handy program - no skill
required! Create navigation
bars with rollover effects
and menus, animated banner
ads, headings and many other
graphic types - or even do
basic photo processing, all
with the click of a button.
Webstyle's customizable
professionally-designed
templates give you almost
limitless possibilities
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Irfanview
by Irfanview
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IrfanView
is a very fast, small,
compact and innovative
Windows graphic viewer with
multiple (animated)
GIF, TIF, and ICO
support.
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PDF Creation & Readers
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*Jaws PDF Creator
by Global Graphics.
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JawsPDFCreator
is a professional-level “printing” utility that will create an Adobe Acrobat compatable PDF file from nearly any ”Windows” program. The PDF file can then be opened and read with any PDF reader. This is an excellent way to get your printed paper brochures, booklets, flyers, etc., onto the Internet for your site visitors to download.
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FoxIt PDF reader
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* Adobe Reader
by Adobe
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A
free
program from Adobe that allows you to open and read documents that are in PDF format. This is the program that people would use to view your printed materials that had been converted into PEF format by the JAWS PDF program listed above.
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* Instant Messaging
by Trillian
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An
excellent instant messaging
program, with no adware or
spyware. From the Trillian
web site:
Communicate with Flexibility and Style
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Trillian is
everything you need for
instant messaging.
Connect to ICQ®,
AOL Instant
Messenger(SM), MSN
Messenger, Yahoo!
Messenger and IRC in a
single, sleek and slim
interface.
Trillian
is available in a free
(limited) or a paid (full)
version.
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JAVA Plug-in
by Sun Microsystems
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Sun Microsystems
FREE
JAVA downloader and installer. Update your old JAVA, or add JAVA to a system that doesn’t have it.
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Forms To Go
by BeboSoft
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With
Forms To Go, add
professional scripts in your
web site to process HTML
forms and send the field
values thru email. Scripts
can be in PHP, ASP or Perl
language.
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* nms Perl Scripts
by Sourceforge.net
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From the nms web site:
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* Intuos2 Graphics Tablet
by WACOM
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The
Intuos
graphics tablet (with cordless and battereyless stylus and mouse) makes using your computer, and especially image editing, so much easier than using a mouse or even a trackball.
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Web Browsers
If
you are (still) using the
web browser (probably
Internet Explorer) or E-mail
client (probably Outlook
Express) that came with your
computer when you bought it,
then you are doing the
equivalent of still riding
your first bicycle, with the
training wheels attached!
The
following web browsers have
built-in popup blockers,
“tabbed”
browsing, and much, much
more than the browser that
was probably pre-installed
on your computer, including
much greater security
against malware and
hijacking.
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* Firefox web browser
by Mozilla Foundation
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Firefox
is just a very fast, very powerful web browser that is highly customizeable with extensions and skins.
From the FireFox web site...
Firefox
empowers you to
accomplish your online
activities faster, more
safely and efficiently
than any other browser,
period. Built with Tab
browsing, popup blocking
and a number of other
seamless innovations,
Firefox stands out ahead.
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Opera web suite
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Opera 9
Web Browser suite. A fast alternative to the “big two”. Opera also has an excellent built-in E-mail handler, and a newsgroup reader.
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Mozilla web suite
by Mozilla Foundation
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DISCONTINUED - Use the Seamonkey Suite
A
web browser suite with many
advanced features, including
the ability to block
UNrequested pop-up or
pop-under windows. Mozilla
also has an excellent
built-in E-mail handler and
news reader.
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Internet Security
If you surf the Internet without both a firewall (there are two types of firewall - hardware and software) and an up-to-date and current anti-virus program, you are virtually inviting someone to steal your computer, your money, and your identity.
According
to some computer technology
web sites, an unprotected
computer that is connected
to a high speed (broadband)
Internet connection has less
than 20 minutes before it
becomes seriously infected.
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* ZoneAlarm
by ZoneLabs
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ZoneAlarm
is an excellent firewall,
available with and without
antivirus. It is user
friendly, highly
configurable, and has
frequently updated antivirus
definitions.
ZoneAlarm also has antivirus and security suites.
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* Ad-Aware
by Lava Software
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Ad-Aware
is a program that will examine your computer’s memory, registry, and hard drive, for “spyware”, then allow you to remove that spyware. Spyware is a program that gets downloaded and installed on your computer usually without you knowing it. Spyware typically tracks your web surfing habits, then sends that information back to its creators who sell that data to advertisers. The advertisers target ads to you, which might pop up on your screen as you visit various web sites, or even when you are not on line. Ad-Aware is available in a free and a paid version.
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* Spybot Search &
Destroy
by Safer Networking
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Spybot - Search & Destroy
can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spybot is free, with no nags or timeouts. Their website asks that you make a donation if you use and like the porgram.
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Anti-virus and Firewall
by Panda Software
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Antivirus and firewall programs.
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Anti-virus and Firewall
by GRI Software
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Antivirus and firewall programs.
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Web Site Content Rating Services
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ICRA
website rating system
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From the ICRA web site:
“The
Internet Content Rating Association
is an independent, non-profit organization with offices in the US and Europe. ICRA's aim is to protect children from potentially harmful material while protecting the free speech rights of content providers. ICRA owns and operates the ICRA labelling system, and its RSACi forerunner.”
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SafeSurf
website rating system
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From the SafeSurf web site:
“
SafeSurf
believes that standards must be implemented in cyberspace. Children should be protected on the Internet, however parents should have the choice to raise children as they see fit and define the word "indecent" for themselves. The online community is made up of many diverse cultures from around the world. Obviously, opinions will differ on levels of acceptable material. Parental choice is really the only answer to this problem. The only way we will be able to achieve freedom of choice by parents is to implement an Internet-wide rating standard.”
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revised: December 29, 2006
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