Community Resources
Many Internet businesses give away free services and useful software tools. These tools can be used to build and maintain our local communities.
The free resources below consist of only a limited sample of the vast resources available on the Internet:
- Web Browsers
- Email Accounts
- Personal Computer Security
- PDF Converters
- Electronic Money Transfers
- Fax Services
- Document Sharing/Collaboration
- Office Applications
- Talk Over the Internet
- Instant Messengers (IM)
- Web Hosting
- Software for Creating and Updating Websites
- Blogs and Journals
- Online Communities
- Local Online Bulletin Boards
Web Browsers
- Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Safari (Windows, Mac)
- Google Chrome (Windows)
- Opera (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Camino (Mac)
Email Accounts
- GMail (Google) http://gmail.com/
- Yahoo! Mail http://mail.yahoo.com/
- Hotmail http://hotmail.com/
- FastMail.fm http://fastmail.fm
Free Email Address Directory lists many other services, including some which offer support for non-English characters.
Personal Computer Security
Anti-Virus
- AVG http://free.avg.com/
- Avast! http://avast.com/
Anti-Spyware
- Spy-Bot Search & Destroy http://safer-networking.org
- Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
PDF Converters
- CutePDF http://www.cutepdf.com/
- PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com/
- PDF Online http://www.gohtm.com/
Electronic Money Transfers
- PayPal
- Network for Good (For direct contributions to registered 501(c)(3) organizations)
- Go Fund Me (For online fundraising for invidividuals and organizations)
Fax Services
- faxZERO (sending only, free version puts an ad on cover page)
- GotFreeFax.com (sending only, no ads in free version)
Document Sharing/Collaboration
Files and Documents
- Dropbox (Store, sync, & share files online)
- Google Docs (Create, edit, share, and collaborate documents online)
- Zoho (Create, edit, share, discuss online and more)
- Microsoft Office Live Workspace
Wikis
The concept of a "Wiki" popularized by (http://www.wikipedia.org) is that anyone can edit the content of any page on that site.
Office Applications
Online Services
- Google Docs (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations)
- Zoho (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, wiki, planner, database, invoice)
Desktop Software
- Open Office (Full office suite for Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Neo Office (Full office suite for Mac)
- AbbiWord (Word processing only)
Talk Over the Internet
- Skype (Voice, video, text, call land and cell phones)
- Google Talk (Video, voice, text, voice mail)
- Gmail Chat (Video, voice, text)
- FreeWorldDialup (Voice, video, text)
Instant Messaging (IM)
- Skype (For Windows & Mac)
- Google Talk
- ICQ
- AOL Instant Messenger
- Windows Live Messenger
- Yahoo! Messenger
- Meebo (Online service that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once.)
- Pidgin (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Windows & Linux)
- Adium (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Mac)
- Miranda IM (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Windows)
Web Hosting
- Google Pages
- Tripod
- Free-Webhosts.com (database of organizations that offer free web hosting)
Software for Creating & Updating Websites
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software allows you to directly create and edit the look and feel of your website without having to know any HTML or CSS.
Text Editors
- Notepad++ (Windows only.)
- TextWrangler (Mac only.)
- Bluefish (Built-in FTP tools. Linux & Mac.)
FTP Clients
Image Creation/Manipulation
- GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Paint.NET (Windows only)
- pixlr.com (Online service)
- Photoshop.com (Online service)
Blogs and Journals
Online Communities
Local Online Bulletin Boards
Feedback is anonymous. If you would like a response, contact this department directly.
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