September 2023 eDVD

Welcome to Digit’s “e” DVD. Instead of limiting ourselves to physical media, we’re attempting to curate the best content from the WWW for you, and give it to you in monthly instalments. By the 15th of every month there will be a new e-DVD made available to buyers / subscribers of the Digit Magazine, so watch our homepage for updates.

While most of the following is content for your PCs, if you’re reading this from a mobile, scroll to the Mobile section to get some interesting downloads, apps and games, all recommended by Team Digit.

As always, remember to send us feedback about this exercise, and suggestions on how we can improve.

Featured Distros

Some of the latest Distros for you to try –

• Network Security Toolkit:
• Neptune:
• Mageia:
• Whonix:
• Elive:
• Void:

Essentials

• 7Zip: Do not want to pay for Winrar? Use 7-Zip. 7-Zip is free archiving software with open source. Most of the code is under the GNU LGPL license. Some parts of the code are under the BSD 3-clause License. Also there is unRAR license restriction for some parts of the code.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader: To open all those PDF files. Well-rounded PDF reader that provides cloud sharing, carefully selected text reading options and a couple of handy editing features.
• Avidemux: This is an easy to use tool that you can use to quickly cut and edit videos, without any fancy interface or extras. Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using projects, job queue and powerful scripting capabilities.
• Calibre: Calibre is a powerful and easy to use e-book manager. It’ll allow you to do nearly everything and it takes things a step beyond normal e-book software. It’s also completely free and open source and great for both casual users and computer experts.
• Chrome: Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google.
• CPU-Z: View detailed information on your PC’s CPU, memory, mainboard, caches, graphics, and more, with the help of an app that also works as a benchmark tool.
• Deluge: Deluge is a lightweight, Free Software, cross-platform BitTorrent client.
• Discord: All-in-one voice and text chat for gamers that’s free, secure, and works on both your desktop and phone. Stop paying for TeamSpeak servers and hassling with Skype. Simplify your life.
• EasyBCD: A powerful bootloader/modification tool that enables you to run multiple operating systems on the same computer, as well as reset the BCD configuration or recreate and repair boot files.
• FFmpeg: A complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video.
• File Splitter and Joiner: A simple yet efficient software solution that helps you split and join files, calculate the MD5 signature and encrypt data if necessary.
• Firefox: Mozilla Firefox is a free Web browser. Firefox is created by a global non-profit dedicated to putting individuals in control online.
• Foxit Reader: View, edit or create PDF files with this rich-featured application, which also offers support for drawing tools, signatures, full screen mode and more.
• Free Download Manager: It is a powerful modern download accelerator and organizer.
• Free OCR: Scan images or PDF files and extract the text the contain, exporting it to editable form, so you can work with it immediately after.
• Handbrake: HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.
• HDD Low Level Format Tool: Utility for low-level hard disk drive formatting, with support for SATA, IDE or SCSI hard disks, as well as removable drives of any size.
• IrfanView: IrfanView is an image viewer, editor, organiser and converter program for Microsoft Windows.
• K-Lite Codec Pack: Already contains everything you need to play all common audio and video file formats, along with ACM and VFW codecs for transcoding and editing. Bundled with Windows Media Player Classic.
• LibreOffice: Complex productivity suite which enables you to create text document, spreadsheets and presentations, manage databases and draw, and offers compatibility with other major office suites.
• Mouse Recorder Premium: Record the execution of repetitive tasks and automate them, to spare yourself the effort on a regular basis, by using a user-friendly and efficient application.
• Notepad++: A source code and text editor for all programmers that comes with support for various languages, providing a wide range of productivity tools to ease their work.
• Opera: Try the Opera browser with a free VPN, fast ad blocker, Web 3 support and get more control of your browsing experience.
• PeaZip: PeaZip is free file archiver utility, based on Open Source technologies of 7-Zip, p7zip, FreeArc, PAQ, and PEA projects.
• Power Defragmenter: Take advantage of the power packed in this lightweight utility that is able to flawlessly perform a defragmentation process on your files and disk drives.
• Q-Dir: Choosing to manually clean your computer or sort out files of various types can be a pain and a time-consuming process. However, it all becomes a lot easier with the help of specialized applications such as Q-Dir. It gives you the possibility to manage files and folders from a single window, for a more practical approach on file management.
• qBittorrent: The qBittorrent project aims to provide an open-source software alternative to µTorrent.
• Skype: Skype is one of the best voice over IP services and instant messaging clients that comes bundled with a powerful set of calling, video, messaging and sharing capabilities.
• SpeedFan: View and tweak settings for your computer’s fan speed, voltage and chip temperature using this lightweight utility with support for log files.
• SpeedRunner: A powerful, yet highly intuitive multi-thread file manager that helps users get a clear overview of the files types they have in each folder.
• TeamViewer: The new standard for remote control and remote support.
• Universal Media Server: A highly configurable media server that supports devices which have received the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certification.
• VirtualBox: VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.
• Vivaldi: We live in our browsers. Choose one that has the features you need, a style that fits and values you can stand by.
• VLC: VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
• Winamp: After a leaked version of Winamp 5.8 appeared on the Internet, the team decided to make a version available for everyone. This is not an ongoing project, but there is news expected from Winamp in the future.

Open-Source Home Automation Control Tools

A selection of open-source tools that will help you manage the power consumption of your PCs –:

• • Powermonitor:
  • Power Plan Switcher:
  • Kcmlaptop:
  • Powerkit:
  • PRiME Framework:

R & D

Some interesting lectures and informative videos by some of the best researchers from the world of science and technology –

• • GCSE Science brought down to Earth:
  • At the limits of astrophysics:
  • The Astonishing Simplicity of Everything:
  • Universe and Black Holes:
  • Why Black Hole Environments are a lot more complicated than we thought:

Learn

Watch and learn… It’s that simple. Added entertainment? Well, we’ve got you covered!

• • • • How Filmmakers Make Cameras Disappear:
      • Go behind the scenes of ‘Oppenheimer’:
      • Tenet, but in reverse:
      • Cicada 3301: An Internet Mystery:
      • The man who tried to fake an element:

    

    Play:

    Bored of your recommendations? Here’s some interesting geeky content to keep you engaged through the day –

    • • • The Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt:
        • Third Planet by Murray Leinster:
        • The Radio Planet by Ralph Milne Farley:
        • Search the Sky by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl:
        • An Earthman on Venus by Ralph Milne Farley:

      

      Mobile Madness

      • • • FINAL FANTASY VI:
          • Dead Cells:
          • Super Meat Boy:
          • My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Reve:
          • Grand Mountain Adventure:
          • Monument Valley: