The word FREE always sounds excellent but it’s hard to get really good things for free. Thankfully, if you are a computer savvy, there are lots of free things which can make your day to day computing satisfying and pleasurable. Yes, I’m talking about productive software which are absolutely free. You don’t need to spend money on software because you can go for Linux as your OS, OpenOffice.org for documentation, AVG or Avast for your computer’s security and then Google’s Picasa, VLC or GOM for multimedia/graphics. There is free software in almost all categories. Digitaltrends.com has posted an article introducing some of the best freeware software available on the net.

“Literally hundreds of free programs are available (as downloadable software or online-only applications) that are guaranteed to increase fun and productivity, yet won’t cost you a dime. And while these offerings might be as feature-rich as their paid counterparts, you might just be surprised at the scope and quality of the selection that’s out there today.”

If you are nature lover and love travelling then you can look forward to some games related to these topics. Washington-based National Geographic, the monthly magazine famed for its glossy photographs and stories, announced the launch of a new division that will develop and launch video games based on the organization's core themes and media properties. National Geographic Games has signed partnerships with publishers including Namco Bandai and Sony Computer Entertainment that will work on a variety of games consoles, mobile phones and online platforms. NGG plans to release four games by the end of this year and the first game, "Herod's Lost Tomb," will come out this month. The game will be available for free online at the official website and will also be downloadable for PCs, Macs and iPhones.

If you an Internet Explorer lover and desperate to have your hands on the final release of Internet Explorer 8, then this news might disappoint you. Microsoft has confirmed a delay yesterday on an IEBlog post. The earlier official deadline for the final release of IE8 was 2008 end but they can’t make it! In the first quarter of 2009, Microsoft plans for one more public update and will then follow that up with the final release.

“Microsoft officially set the deadline for the final version of Internet Explorer for the end of 2008, and never gave details beyond that. We noted in September that, according to the IE8 Beta 2 support page, prerelease versions of IE8 would no longer be supported come November 1, 2008. Earlier this week I noticed that that date had changed to December 31, 2008 and speculated that the final release of IE8 wouldn't be on time.” – MSDN Blog.

Here is another move ahead for Android. Andy Rubin form Google and Kevin Lynch from Adobe demonstrated Flash 10 running on Google Android loaded onto a T-Mobile G1 smartphone during the recent Adobe MAX developer’s conference in San Francisco. Their demonstration clearly revealed the capability of Android in full-HTML web browsing. Here is the video of the demonstration:

“We are excited to be working alongside Adobe to bring Flash technology to Android,” said Andy Rubin, director of mobile platforms at Google. “Adobe Flash is crucial to a rich Internet and content experience on mobile devices and we are thrilled that Google will be one of the first companies along with the Open Handset Alliance to bring Flash technology to the smartphone market.” - Talkandroid.com.

If you look a century back and compare the technology involved in radio at that time with current radio you would soon see that it has came a long way. Nowadays, radio stations can be played over the Internet as well as on cool gadget like the Sanyo R227, an Internet-based radio. The Sanyo R227 is an Ethernet enabled and WiFi enabled radio device. Read a full review of the Sanyo R227 here.

“It goes without saying: Internet radio is cool, and so are Internet radios. Don't comprehend the distinction? Head to your local CE retailer and lay your hands on sweet devices like the Sanyo R227. It looks like a tabletop radio because, well it is. But the device is also Ethernet-enabled, so you can tune into thousands of Internet radio stations just as you would through your desktop browser. Or rather, it's almost that easy - but we'll get to that story in just a minute."