Giving away Commercial Game and Licensed Software for free

Shocked to read the title of this article? It’s something very new to me and I think this is a very good concept where both visitors and author of game/software will benefit. We, the visitors will get commercial game and licensed software everyday for free and the author of the game/software will gain more exposures.

Basically, one software title will be nominated everyday. The software will be available for download for 24 hours (or more, if agreed by software publisher) and that software will be absolutely free. That means – not a trial, not a limited version – but a registered and legal version of the software will be free for the visitors. The software product will be presented in its full functionality, without any limitations save for those mentioned in Terms and Conditions.

Giveaway of the day
Giveaway of the Day will provide the download link on their web-site for the agreed period of time, together with the review of the software product and the information about other products from the software publisher presenting the giveaway title. Once the software or game has passed the 24 hours giveaway time, you won’t be able to active it for free anymore. This method really makes people to visit the Giveaway website everyday.

To license the game or software, you have to download from the Giveaway website. Inside the archive file, there should be a file Activate.exe. You need to run activate.exe first and only install the software or game.
Activate Shareware and Commercial Game
I noticed that each activate.exe that comes together with the software or game is different because of the file size.

One very good feature that’s included in the Giveaway website is the “Rating” system. It helps new visitors to have an idea if the game or software is worth downloading or not. The more thumbs up, the better the software/game is.
Rate Software and Game

Please note that the software you download and install during the Giveaway period comes with the following important limitations. You won’t be getting any free technical support from the author of the software, no free upgrades to future versions and you can’t use it for commercial purposes.

Thanks to Matthew Votsikas for suggesting this website to me.

Software Giveaway | Game Giveaway

How to clear Google Search history

One of the main reason why some people would like to clear their Google search history from web browser and Google Toolbar is to maintain their privacy. If you own your own desktop or laptop which is used only by you, then it’s fine. But if your computer is shared with a few people, sometimes it’s just not nice to let them “accidentally” find out what you were looking for. An example below would be embarrassing.
Clear Google Search History

Here’s how you can clear Google’s search history from Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Toolbar for Firefox and Internet Explorer.

The below instruction A and B is for deleting search history from the Google home page search box. This is if you use either Firefox or Internet Explorer and manually type in Google.com address to perform the search.

A. Internet Explorer 7
1. Go to Tools menu
2. Select Options
3. On General tab, click on the “Delete…” button from the Browsing History area.
4. Click “Delete forms…” button from the Form data area.
Remove search history
5. Click Yes to confirm.

B. In Mozilla Firefox
1. Go to Tools menu
2. Select Options
3. Select the “Privacy” tab
4. On the Private Data area, click on the “Clear Now…” button.
5. Make sure the “Saved Form and Search History” is checked and click on the Clear Private Data Now.
Clear Visited Link

The below instruction C and D is if you have Google Toolbar installed on your Firefox or Internet Explorer browser.

C. Internet Explorer with Google Toolbar
1. Click on the Google logo on the Toolbar to access the drop-down menu.
2. Select the “Clear History” option.
Clear Internet Explorer Google Toolbar Search History

C. Firefox with Google Toolbar
1. Click on the Google logo on the Toolbar.
2. Select “Clear Search History” option.
Clear Firefox Google Toolbar Search History

As you can see, clearing search history from Google Toolbar on Internet Explorer and Firefox is slightly a bit different. Not sure why they made it that way… Although it seems easy to clear Google search history, I did not immediately knew where to clear Google search history in Firefox Google Toolbar. I was searching through the options and the drop-down but I missed clicking the Google logo where the “Clear Search History” option is.

WebTop – Your Personalized Desktop anywhere

You’ve heard of Laptop and Desktop but have you heard of “WebTop”? I don’t think it’s something very new but it’s certainly new to me! A webtop or web desktop is a virtual desktop on the web, running in a web browser as software. Web desktops often are characterized by an environment similar to that of Windows, Mac, or Linux, but are now considered to have much more functionality being dependent on the internet. Typical benefits include the ability to save work and settings over the internet rather than to the local desktop.

Here’s a scenario. You are going overseas for a month. You don’t have a laptop and you only have a desktop. Of course you can use remote access to access your home desktop from another computer but to leave your desktop turned on 24 hours a day for the whole month is rather risky. What if there’s a power failure and it shuts off your computer? Moreover, leaving your desktop turned on 24 hours for the whole month gives hacker plenty of time to hack in.

Here’s how WebTop can be useful. You can upload your important files to a free WebTop service, and you can easily access your web desktop from any computer. You can also edit your documents from your webtop!

I got to know about WebTop when I heard about AjaxWindows.
AjaxWindows – Web Desktop
Then, while searching for more information on web desktop, I found 30 more web desktop. Some are free and some are commercial web desktop which requires you to pay. You can check the list at Wikipedia.

There are Pros and Cons in using WebTop.
Pros:
- Don’t require installation of software. Can run directly from web browser.
- You can access your own personalized desktop from anywhere
- Works on any operating system as long as there is internet connection and web browser
- Ability to share application among users located at different locations

Cons:
- A high speed internet is a must. I think it’d be impossible to use if you’re using a 56kbps connection.
- If someone manage to obtain your username and password, he is able to access your web desktop.
- If the webtop doesn’t use secure connection (https), it is possible for a hacker to sniff your data while you’re transferring documents from your desktop to your webtop.

WebTop is certainly a very good concept if you don’t want to use remote access. Other than using WebTop to retrieve your own files, you can also use to write quick notes in case you might forget when you get home. For example, sometimes when I am on a servicing job, I learn a new tip or got to know a new website. Instead of logging in to my webmail, and sending it to my own email address, I can log in to my WebTop and write a sticky note. When I get home, I can note down the website or tip.

See how useful can a web desktop (webtop) be? I love computer so much because there’s always something new to learn EVERYDAY.