Revenge of the Nerds

Here are my tips for how to be a nerd (like me) I was going to html all the links but I'm tired. Just google it for god's sake.

basic (I really hope this is all old news to y'all)

1: Open Office. Open source MSOffice clone. More powerful everyday.
2: Spybot search and destroy. I rarely have a malware problem it can't tackle. If your computer get's sluggish, chances are it can fix it.
3: Mozilla firefox: I really hope you aren't still using internet explorer. Although iE 7 has tabbed browsing, this program is still the shit. It has more plugin's than i know what to do with, including one that logs into my cingular account and constantly displays my remaining minutes in the corner of the browser.
Also, if you use a little mini-hack I pioneered you can have your own little icon-link panel. Simply add a bookmark to the bookmark toolbar by dragging it down from the address bar. Then right click "properties" and delete the name. All that's left is the icon. i swear I am so cool.
4: Foodnetwork.com. Want to know how to make something? Find out here.

Intermediate (still may be a secret to some of you)

1: Gmail is no longer invitation only. You think you like your comcast account. Maybe your school account makes you happy. Whatever your status, your membership in those organizations is transient. Gmail is not. Get an account and see what all the fuss is about.
2: Mozilla suite. There is Web-browser, advanced e-mail and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML editing.

Advanced (Only the nerdiest of nerdy's)

1: Foxit reader. Very light pdf reader and creater. Takes a fraction of the time to open of acrobat, allows you to edit pdf's (with a copyright mark in the corner, but still, that's more than you can say for adobe), and best of all, it's free.
2: AlZip: Free multiplatform document unzipper. Including rar archives.
3: Blender 3d animation authoring software. Freeware. I don't know how to use it but it looks cool.
4: Gimp: freeware paint, animation, and image editing software. Not easy to lean but powerful.
5: Audacity. Audio editing freeware. Record anything off the internet. Edit preexisting files. I make ringtones with it (my phone interfaces with my computer). I think you can layer audio too, but I ain't that tricky. IMPORTANT: if you plan on saving files as mp3's there is a special file you have to download. Look for the info on the site.
6: Avast antivirus. Those free antivirus subscriptions run out in a year. Don't wait, uninstall them now and get this free provider.
7: Primo pdf. Adds an option to the printers at print time to print any document to a pdf file. Saved my but numerous times.
8: Ccleaner: Great if for no other reason than it's uninstaller utility. Also gives you access to all the programs that have permission to start at startup. Let's you make changes. Does other stuff too.
9: Fresh Diagnose: Ever want to know what motherboard you have without restarting and reading the bios startup screen? Or worse, opening up your computer? This program tells you that and does a whole lot more.

Lastly 10: Lifehacker.com. I have to give credit to that site because it's where I learned about a lot of this stuff.
There are many more freeware apps out there, I just don't use them. Anywho.