The Gimp image manipulation tool updated to v2.6.10

The Gimp 2.6.10 (Windows, Open Source) is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.

Bug Fixes:

• TGA files saved with incorrect header yOrigin data
• Save As... does not save Windows Bitmap as default in dialog
• CMYK decompose broken
• brush - color from gradient works wrong in greyscale
• Error in gimp-hue-saturation PDB call
• GIMP crashes when clicking any scroll bar from combo boxes
• newly opened images are put into the background

The Gimp [alt DL]

Dead Pixel Tester 3.00 – Inspect Your Display of Stuck Pixels

Dead Pixel Tester 3.00 (Windows, Freeware, 272KB) [alt DL] is a utility that lets you inspect your TFT display of problem pixels, both stuck on (“bright” defect) or off (“dark” defect).

This would be very useful to bring along when shopping for a new LCD display, or even a laptop.

IceRocket Tags: dead, pixel, test, stuck, windows freeware

GPU-Z 0.3.8 – Get Detailed Info About Your Graphics Card

GPU-Z 0.3.8 (Windows, Freeware, 449KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.

Changes:

• Added framework for translations in GPU-Z
• Added sensors to monitor GPU load percentages on NVIDIA
• Fixed startup on Windows 2000 (DLL not found)
• Improved detection/added sensors for ATI M86
• Fixed several NVAPI crashes
• Fixed crash when PhysX not available
• GPU-Z can now be set in its system menu to be always on top of other windows

IceRocket Tags: gpu-z, video, hardware, windows freeware

NVIDIA Forceware 191.07 WHQL Vista

NVIDIA Forceware 191.07 WHQL Vista (Windows Vista, Freeware, 99.9MB) [alt DL] unleashes the full power and features in NVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products.

Changes:

• Adds support for OpenGL 3.2 for GeForce 8, 9, 100, and 200-series GPUs and ION GPUs.
• Accelerates performance in several gaming applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with version 191.07 drivers vs. version 190.62 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
• Up to 12% performance increase in ARMA 2
• Up to 8% performance increase in Batman: Arkham Asylum with GPU PhysX enabled
• Up to 50% performance increase in Call of Juarez: Blood in Bound with SLI enabled
• Up to 14% performance increase in Fallout 3 (indoor scenes) with antialiasing enabled
• Up to 10% performance increase in Far Cry 2 (DX9 version) with antialiasing enabled
• Up to 34% performance increase in Prototype with antialiasing enabled
• Adds SLI support for Aion, Darkfall, Dawn of Magic 2: Time of Shadows, Dreamkiller, Fuel, Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Need for Speed: Shift and more.
• Includes numerous bug fixes, including the following key fix (additional bug fixes can be found in the release notes on the documentation tab): For graphics cards supporting multiple clock states, 3D clocks correctly return to 2D clocks after exiting a 3D application.
• Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver

IceRocket Tags: nvidia, forceware, driver, vista, windows freeware, whql

GPU-Z 0.3.5 – Info Utility for Video Graphics Cards

GPU-Z 0.3.5 (Windows, Freeware, 436KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.

Changes:

• ATI Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress) fully supported (includes voltage monitoring)
• Added or improved support for NVIDIA FX5500, 9400 GT, G73, GTS 240, GT 140, FX 1800, GT 120 (Apple), FX 380, FX 350, GTX 295 Single PCB, Quadro CX, FX 5800, FX 4800, FX 3800, GTX 180M, GTX 260M, FX 2700M, G 110M, GT 120M, GT 220M, FX 1700M, G 105M, MCP79MX
• Added or improved support for ATI HD 4730, HD 4650 AGP, M92, M96, M98
• Added clock reading for Intel i910, i915, i945, 946
• Added support for DDR3 detection on G9x
• Added monitoring support for RV7xx based mobile chips
• Voltage controller "slaves" are now called "phases"
• Added Intel Havendale detection
• Fixed BIOS parsing on some newer HD 4870 cards
• Added voltage monitoring support for MSI N275GTX Lightning

IceRocket Tags: gpu-z, video, graphics, hardware, windows freeware

The GIMP 2.7.0 Beta – Free Open Source Image Editor

The GIMP 2.7.0 Beta (Windows, Open Source, 20.9MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.

Also available for Linux.

Changes:

• Change the Text Tool to perform text editing on-canvas
• Add support for tagging GIMP resources such as brushes and allow filtering based on these tags
• Separate the activies of saving an image and exporting it, there is now an 'File->Export...' for example
• Port file plug-ins to new export API which gets rid of many annoying export dialogs
• Add a simple parser to size entry widgets, images can be scaled to e.g. "50%" or "2 * 37px + 10in"
• Arrange layer modes into more logical and useful groups
• Added support for rotation of brushes
• Make the Pointer dockable show information about selection position and size
• Get rid of the Tools dockable and move toolbox configuration to Preferences
• Add status bar feedback for keyboard changes to brush parameters
• Add diagonal guides to the Crop Tool
• New docks are created at the pointer position
• Add support for printing crop marks for images
• Move 'Text along path' from tool options to text context menu
• Change default shortcuts for "Shrink Wrap" and "Fit in Window" to Ctrl+R and Ctrl+Shift+R respectively since the previous shortcuts are now used for the save+export feature
• Make Alt+Click on layers in Layers dockable create a selection from the layer
• Allow to specify written language in the Text Tool

IceRocket Tags: gimp, image, editor, windows open source

OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 – Open Source Office Software Suite

OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 (Windows, Open Source, 136.32MB) [alt DL] is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more.

Also available for Linux.

Changes:

• Fix encoding of URIs of external references and chart data range loss.
• Java update
• single fix for possible data loss with graphics in impress/draw
• And some bugfixes.

Thanks to this great software suite, I no longer have to spend big bucks for a new office productivity software license whenever I build a new Windows or Linux machine.

IceRocket Tags: openoffice, office, suite, word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, database, windows open source

NVIDIA Forceware 190.62 WHQL XP

NVIDIA Forceware 190.62 WHQL XP (Windows XP, Freeware, 78.5MB) [alt DL] unleashes the full power and features in NVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products.

Also available for Vista.

Changes:

• Optimized for the latest PhysX gaming titles: Batman: Arkham Asylum and Darkest of Days.
• Installs PhysX System Software version 9.09.0814.
• Includes several bug fixes.

IceRocket Tags: nvidia, forceware, windows freeware

The Gimp 2.6.7 – Free Open Source Image Editor

The Gimp 2.6.7 (Windows, Open Source, 16.1MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.

Also available for Linux.

Changes:

• Tablet pan is not working as fast as it should
• Crashes when using any colors tool/function on Windows
• GIMP crashes when clicking GEGL Operation on Windows
• file-jpeg-save erroneous with small quality values
• Changing palettes from list to grid view loses "locked to dock" status
• And many more enhancements and fixes

If you love taking pictures, and would want to edit them (crop, color enhance, various effects), The Gimp is a fantastic piece of software. It may not be as great as the popular non-free graphics tool, but is good enough for most people. And did I mention it was free?

IceRocket Tags: gimp, photo, manipulation, windows open source, linux

Snarl 2.2 Beta – Growl-like Notification for Windows

Snarl 2.2 Beta (Windows, Open Source, 6.6MB) [alt DL] is a notification system inspired by Growl that allows applications to display a nice alpha-blended message on the screen.

Snarl does not hijack the current focused window, nor does it force the taskbar to be visible. Notifications can either be cancelled by clicking on them, or left to disappear automatically if ignored for a period of time.

IceRocket Tags: snarl, growl, notification, windows open source

ATI Catalyst Drivers 9.6 Vista

ATI Catalyst Drivers 9.6 Vista (Windows Vista, 43.2MB) [alt DL] is AMD's award-winning graphics and HD video configuration software that delivers unprecedented control of performance and visual quality with ATI Radeon graphics processors.

Changes: Catalyst 9.6 brings performance benefits in several cases where framerates are CPUlimited. Some measured examples are:

• Company of Heroes – performance improves up to 25% with HD 4600 series
  products and below as well as improvements of up to 10% on HD 4800 series
• Crysis – performance improves up to 13% in multi-GPU configurations
• Crysis Warhead – performance improves up to 11% in multi-GPU configurations
• World in Conflict – performance improvements of up to 30% can be seen in settings that were previously CPU limited

IceRocket Tags: ati catalyst, driver, graphics, vista, windows freeware

GPU-Z 0.3.4 – Graphics Card Info Utility

GPU-Z 0.3.4 (Windows, Freeware, 434KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.

Changes:

• Fixed RV740 Bugs: ROP count, shader count, real-time core clock, BIOS dump size
• Fixed number of transistors on RV790
• Fixed BIOS reading on RV790
• NVIDIA driver version is returned correctly on Windows 7
• GPU-Z should work again on Windows 2000 without PSAPI.DLL
• Added voltage reading support for HD 4890
• Fixed default clock reading on ATI cards that have default clock < boot clock
• Fixed GM45 to be 65 nm and DX 10.0
• Added release date for GTX 275
• Fixed GT 130M to be 55 nm and added its release date

IceRocket: gpu-z graphics card utility, windows freeware

DirectX 9.0c (Mar 09)

DirectX 9.0c (Mar 09) (Windows, Freeware, 92.4MB) [alt DL] is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio.

IceRocket: directx 9.0c march 2009, windows freeware

The GIMP 2.66 – Open Source Graphics Tool

The GIMP 2.66 (Windows, Open Source, 15.3MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool.

Also available for Linux.

Bug fixes:

• lcms plug-in crashes on broken profile
• changing the help browser preference may not work
• blur plugin: bug in the first line
• gimp-2.6 crashed with SIGSEGV in IA__g_object_get()
• 1-bit white background saved as PBM becomes all black
• Small bug in Filter>Distorts>Ripple
• top left pixel position/coordinate is not 0,0 but 1,1
• Rotate with clipping crops the whole layer

IceRocket: gimp image manipulation, windows open source

NVIDIA Forceware 182.08 WHQL XP

NVIDIA ForceWare 182.08 WHQL XP (Windows XP, Freeware, 77.01MB) [alt DL] software unleashes the full power and features in NVIDIA's desktop, gaming, platform, workstation, laptop, multimedia, and mobile products. It ensures the best experience with your NVIDIA hardware.

Also available for Vista.

Fixes:

• NVIDIA Control Panel: The user cannot create custom resolutions.
• GeForce 200 Series: Need for Speed Undercover and Dead Space–the applications cannot be run using a Gateway XHD3000H 30” HD monitor at 2560x1600 resolution.
• GeForce 200 Series: Photoshop CS4–OpenGL settings are grayed out and cannot be set for the application.

Note: This release no longer supports GeForce 5-series cards, and older. If you have one of these older cards, Nvidia Forceware 175.19 WHQL is probably the last driver available.

IceRocket: nvidia forceware whql graphics driver, windows freeware

GPU-Z 0.3.2 – Video Card and GPU Info Utility

GPU-Z 0.3.2 (Windows, Freeware, 372KB) [alt DL] is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.

Changes:

• Clock reading on ATI cards fixed
• GT200b is now detected as 55 nm
• Added detection for GeForce GT 120, GT 130, GT 130M, FX 5200, 9400 GT, 9600 GSO 512, FX 2700M, 9500 GS, Quadro FX 540M, Quadro FX 3700M, 9650M GT, Quadro FX 370M, 9400 IGP, 9300 IGP, 8200M G
• Added support for S3 Chrome 500 Series
• Added new ATI logo
• Fixed screen corruption during screenshot of sensors tab
• Added support to show lowest, highest and average reading on sensors tab (click on sensor value to switch)
• Fixed number of texture units on RV730
• Fixed Catalyst version reading

IceRocket: gpu-z video card gpu info, windows freeware

f.lux – Better Lighting for Your Computer Monitor

f.lux (Windows, Freeware, 538KB) makes your computer monitor's lighting adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.

It makes your computer screen look like the room you're in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again.

You just need to set the correct latitude of your current area in the world, and f.lux will set your monitor’s lighting automatically.

At first, this software will feel a bit weird as it approaches night time, giving your display a yellowish tone. I do a lot of computing during night, so f.lux will definitely minimize the stress to my eyes that the brightness of the monitor gives. Nice app!

IceRocket: f.lux, flux, display monitor light, windows freeware

The GIMP 2.6.5 – Open Source Photo Manipulation Tool

The GIMP 2.6.5 (Windows, Open Source, 15.3MB) [alt DL] is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.

Also available for Linux.

Bugs fixed:

• Scaling image to 25% turn background from white to grey
• GIMP's GtkScaleButton conflicts with GTK's
• GEGL tool - missing Operation Settings for all sub-tools
• don't rely on GtkAction implementation details
• wrong RGB values for color names in libgimpcolor/gimprgb-parse.c
• wrong hex RGB value for the color names slategrey and slategray
• Brushes dragged to the image window look strange
• Rectangle Select Tool does not allow 1:1 fixed ratio
• Black pullout parameter of plug-in-newsprint has no effect
• First image opened in GIMP offset
• Align Tool doesn't work properly if it is the active tool at startup

IceRocket: the gimp photo manipulation, windows open source

JPEG & PNG Stripper 1.5.0.34 – Remove Metadata from Images

JPEG & PNG Stripper 1.5.0.34 (Windows, Freeware, 75.5KB) is a tool for stripping/cleaning/removing unnecessary metadata (junk) from JPG/JPEG/JFIF & PNG files.

The image quality is not affected. Includes command line support. Just specify a folder or file on the command line (wildcards allowed).

IceRocket: jpeg png metadata stripper, windows freeware

NVIDIA Forceware 181.22 WHQL XP

NVIDIA Forceware 181.22 WHQL XP (Windows XP, Freeware, 72.3MB) [alt DL] is a WHQL-certified driver for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, and 200-series desktop GPUs.

Changes:

• This driver is recommended for the best GPU PhysX experience in EA’s hot PC title Mirror’s Edge.
• This driver package automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0010.

IceRocket: nvidia forceware whql graphics driver, windows freeware