Over the years, I have brought all kinds of free software and open source software to your attention. There are many software options that can make your life a lot easier AND you don’t have to pay for them!

The Geek Girl’s Software Pack includes what I consider to be a solid set of free software that every computer user should have installed on their system - whether they are computer beginners or experts!

OpenOffice provides excellent Word, Excel and PowerPoint equivalents that are fully compatible with the Microsoft file formats. It is easy to use and has extensive support, including free templates. It also comes in a portable version for your flash drive.

I’ve said it several times and my opinion hasn’t changed - Pidgin is one of the best multi-client chat protocol programs on the market. I can chat with my friends on AOL, MSN, Yahoo, GChat, and many more - without having to run 2-3-4- or more chat clients at a time. It is also customizable and open source, so you can tweak to your heart’s content or use free plugins to add additional functionality. Pidgin is also available as a portable application.

IZArc provides support for most compressed and encoded file formats in a easy-to-understand interface that doesn’t annoy with popups or oddly phrased questions. It is powerful and puts the control back in your hands when it comes to compressing or encoding files.

doPDF is the replacement PDF creator to my first love, PDFCreator. doPDF, unlike some other PDF creators, is Vista compatible and has a straightforward interface that makes it easy to create PDF files from almost any file on your computer. It doesn’t require Ghostscript and the installation is fast. Click print, select the output directory and watch your PDF open in seconds!

FileZilla is a fast, feature-filled FTP program. Not only is it a quick install, but when you upgrade, it uninstalls the old version for you, but saves your settings! It also comes in a portable version for your flash drive.

Music lovers will love Media Monkey. It is a great alternative to iTunes or Windows Media Player - and it comes with skins, good support and a customizable interface. I use Media Monkey to manage my growing music collection as well as transfer files to and from my iPod. Plugins and the upgraded (pay) version make this program even more powerful - but out of the box, it is more than enough for the typical user. Read my full-length review of MediaMonkey - “Organize And Manage Your Music Collection With MediaMonkey” -at MakeUseOf.

CCleaner keeps my computer running fresh and clean - with clean and easy to use interfaces and the strength of an industrial sized computer junk cleaner! I only run CCleaner once or twice a week, which is often enough to help clear off the cookies, temp files, etc. and keep my laptop running smoothly.

Foxit Reader won a place in this lineup because it is fast, easy to use and powerful. It does exactly what it’s description says - reads PDF files - and does so quickly! By the time Adobe Acrobat Reader had loaded, I had already finished reading the same file in Foxit Reader! Foxit Reader also comes in a portable version.

IrfanView is probably all of the photo editing/viewing software that most of us need - you can crop and resize photos easily.This is one of the few times where most of us would say, “less is more.” If you need more functionality, there are free plugins that can be installed.

I record my podcasts with Audacity. This program is provides the functions I need to create a podcast - but it is wrapped in an easy-to-use interface and comes with excellent customer support. You can also use Audacity to record internet radio, other sounds and create ringtones. Audacity also has a portable version, so you can create podcasts and recordings anywhere!

And last, but definitely not least, is Firefox. I mention Firefox a lot here at ultimate geek girl because frankly, Firefox ROCKS! It is customizable with plugins and add-ons, it comes in a portable version for your flash or external drive, and it has a large community of followers that offer support from around the world!

Anything you’d include or exclude on this list? Let us know in the comments or send me an email!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the feed in order to get the latest update sent to your computer for free!

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Most people want to make money from their blogs. With WordPress, it is easy to monetize (turn into money) your blog!

Here are 11 tried and true methods to monetize your blog, according to research and personal experience.

Some bloggers have had success with selling links on their blogs - however, be aware the the Great Google does not condone selling links that pass PageRank.

Top sites for getting listed and selling your links or linking to products for sale include:

1. Kontera ContentLink
2. Text Link Ads
3. BlogAds
4. Ad Brite
5. ReviewMe (offers an option to buy or sell reviews of websites with link text of your choice)
   
6. Bidvertise
7. AuctionAds

There are quite a few plugins that can help you with direct ad sales and sponsorships - but again, you want to be sure that you do not pass PageRank. Some of my favorite plugins include OIOpublisher Direct and AdRotator. You could also sign up for Google Adsense, which has a variety of methods for ad publishing on your site - and they are customizable, too! There are also quite a few Adsense related WordPress Plugins available - check out some of them at the WordPress Plugins website.

The benefit in using a plugin versus manually selling ads is that clients can order and pay for the service without contacting you - and you can even have the code set up to automatically update images and links - so you have more time to write and enjoy life!

My most successful method of making money online is Affiliate Sales. This is a very passive method of making money. However, it is not dependable, stable income. Unless you have a lot of traffic and tons of people who want to buy the product or service you are offering, you will not be making $1000/month just from affiliate sales. But, it can be good extra income to spend on a night out, a day trip or pay extra on a bill!

And last, but definitely not least, think about monetizing your RSS feed! Some of your readers only read via RSS, so adding ads from the FeedBurner Ad Network and Text Link Ads can be a great way to add affiliate links or sell text links. Also consider using a WordPress plugin such as RSS Footer, which allows you to add a line (or more) of HTML or plain text content to the end of your RSS feed articles.

Do you have any methods of monetization that haven’t been mentioned here? If so, let’s hear it in the comments!

This post covers steps 71-81of 101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger.

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I upgraded my computer system in January - and initially, I was upset because the laptop I wanted only came with Vista. I heard the horror stories and was not looking forward to using Vista, but I did it, anyway!

After playing around with it for a couple of months, I have found some tweaks that make it a lot better operating system, even if it means I lose some of those pretty visualizations Vista is known for.

First things first, disable the sidebar. The sidebar slows down my system’s startup by almost 8 seconds. This feels like a lifetime when I just want to quickly get on my laptop and get back off. Most of the functions in the sidebar are in many of our preexisting programs or online services - including weather, a clock and a notepad.

Disable startup programs that you don’t absolutely need. This will speed up your computer’s bootup time as well as free up RAM. For example, do you really need to start your chat program when you turn your system on? If not, just disable it and run it when you need it. Same goes for automatically starting your browser, printer software or Microsoft Office.

One of the major gripes with Vista is how “slow” it is - Vista is a memory intensive program, so if you do not have a good amount of RAM (2GB or more), you will feel some sluggishness when you try to run Vista. So, buy more RAM! If you can’t afford more RAM or your system cannot upgrade, try disabling the Vista Aero theme, which is RAM intensive and can slow you down quite a bit.

Also use slimmer, more efficient programs, such as Open Office instead of Microsoft Office; Firefox instead of Internet Explorer or Pidgin (download) instead of 3 or 4 individual chat programs. Also try Foxit Reader instead of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Using Vista does not have to be a pain, and if you follow these tips, you will be well on your way to a lean, mean, Vista running machine!

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