With an allowable spend of approximately R27-00 per doctor; the pharmaceutical company generosity has virtually disappeared.  Us poor medics must now search for our own freebies. I have put together a selection of excellent free internet tools. Please feel free to submit your own selections to me on friedmanr@surgeon.co.za and I will update the list on your site. Obviously the responsibility of use is your own as neither I nor the publishers of your site can vouch for them 100%.  I will personally research and try each module and will comment on each program with the best intentions – (for whatever that’s worth.) Mozilla have the honour of the top two products. FireFox® “Join more than 20 million others and make the switch today - you have nothing to lose.” “Beware of spyware. If you can, use the Firefox browser.” - USA Today “Better than Internet Explorer by leaps and bounds “- FORBES I have been using this browser for two months now. Apart from one particular medical website, SAMN , this has been flawless. Tabbed Browsing is probably the best feature. You can view more than one web page in a single window with this time saving feature. More importantly links that are opened are opened in the background – they don’t pop up over the page you are busy with. A comprehensive set of privacy tools keep your online activity your business. Smarter Search Google Search is built right into the toolbar Files you download are automatically saved to your Desktop so they're easy to find. You can customize almost anything. 4.7MB (Windows) Easy Transition system imports all of your settings - Favourites, passwords and other data from Internet Explorer and other browsers Download Now: Firefox The Mozilla Thunderbird Mail Project Thunderbird V 0.9 This is in its final development stage and is already an awesome product. It is not a direct replacement for Microsoft Outlook® but just the email section I have used it but only recently for a short time. One of its best attributes is the side pane with address book that allows a more intuitive use of this feature whilst composing emails as opposed to being in a separate window. Download Now: Thunderbird SKYPE VOIP is the current buzz. For the non-corporate user Skype is VOIP “Skype is free Internet telephony that just works.” Download Skype and start calling for free all over the world. This is their by-line and it is absolutely true! Originally I ran this on my dial up modem with a bad home connection. Having used Messenger® for 4 years in regularly talking to the USA, Skype was an enormous improvement. If you don’t have ISDN or Broadband, avoid high peak times both in SA and your call destination, delays and break-up do occur. Features that I really enjoy include the fact that the “phone” rings on the other side alerting the person called to your call request, and then there is SkypeOut. Call ordinary phones from Skype with SkypeOut. Using a top up credit facility with Skype, you can dial direct to the receiver’s ordinary phone. I sometimes use this just to get them to go online if they are offline. (Most international users are on broadband and therefore online all the time.) Top up on SkypeOut credit and use the Skype programme to call ordinary phones all over the world. Not free, but pretty cheap. Download Now: skype Get to know a bit more Google Desktop Search from your desktop without opening browser A very useful utility - especially when busy. You can search the computer, network or internet Download Now: Google Answers.com “The best definitions and explanations for over 1 million topics.” “real instant information, not just links to pages where that information may, or may not, be found. I urge you to try it." Walt Mossberg, Jan 27, 2005 Wall Street Journal. Whether you search from their toolbar or alt-left click while mousing over any word in any type of document – the programme intelligently searches for relevant dictionary, thesaurus and other data. The data is presented in page format with links and not just links. Excellent, especially for school, presentations and papers – you too can have the gift of the gab Download Now: Answer.com SpywareBlaster 3.2 Prevent spyware from installing in the first place! “The most important step you can take is to secure your system. And SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available. Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests. Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox. Restrict the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.” Website data I have not yet personally used this but have downloaded on recommendations of much internet research and will install soon. Download Now: SpywareBlaster 3.2 Antivirus Software a) AVG ANTIVIRUS FREE EDITION Download Now and join the more than 1 million new home users who sign-up each month. The AVG Free page is your site for the latest information about AVG Free, technical support via the FAQ document, update downloads and more. Personal communications endorse this product wholeheartedly. I have not used it myself but the need for antivirus software that has automatic updates cannot be stressed enough. b) AVG Special Virus Removal Here is the list of specialized utilities and instructions for virus removal. The utilities and instructions can be used for removing of some types of viruses, commonly most spread. The list is updated on regular basis. Multipurpose utility (VCleaner) for removal of http://free.grisoft.com/doc/8/lng/us/tpl/v5/nid/3001#3001 I-Worm/Bagle, I-Worm/Bugbear, I-Worm/Netsky, I-Worm/Sasser, PSW.Bispy, I-Worm/Atack These are the equivalent of resistant Strep. They are everywhere; they arrive hidden in email, photos and other graphics and documents. It’s important to run these utilities regularly even if you have antivirus software. Download Now: AVG ANTIVIRUS The simple home solution to great protection avast! antivirus Home Edition represents the best FREE antivirus protection currently available on the market. This edition is FREE OF CHARGE for non-commercial & home use only. Both of these conditions should be met! Download Now: Avast McAfee Antivirus Alternative to above utilities – I use these extensively and in fact just this last weekend picked up three worms and Trojans on my daughters computer. Download Now: McAfee Antivirus Open Source Software The most outstanding local example of making money from Open Source Software is undoubtedly the “Mark Shuttleworth Story”, a garage-to-riches tale of hard work, Open Source and business acumen, resulting in the creation of South Africa’s best-known IT multi-millionaire, and Africa’s first astronaut! Download Now: Open Source Software Adware - Removes Spyware You are only a few clicks away from your free* copy of the new Ad-Aware® SE Personal Edition. Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. With the release of Ad-Aware SE Personal edition, Lavasoft takes the fight against Spyware to the next level. Download Now: Adware