WHAT'S HOT!

OK, so what is hot in computing right now? Well on this page you will find those things that you risk burning your fingers on if you are not wearing asbestos gloves.

If you are visiting this page and expected to find a list of online software applications, please note that this has now moved to my new Cloud Computing Directory.

Enjoy the Hot Stuff that follows!

CLOUD COMPUTING

OK, so cloud computing has to be the hottest thing in computing right now! No really, it does! Cloud computing is where software applications, processing power, data and even artificial intelligence are accessed over the Internet. The Cloud Computing Revolution is also destined to be as radical as the Personal Computing Revolution of a few decades ago. For more information, just go to explainingcomputers.com/cloud and make your selection!

AUGMENTED REALITY

Augmented reality overlays data from the cloud on a real-time view of the physical world. This means that a user can hold up their smartphone or tablet and see information overlaid on buildings, people or other objects viewed through its camera. Please click here for a list of pioneering augmented reality websites!

3D PRINTERS

3D printers do what their name implies. That is, they take digital data and turn it into real, solid objects! Just as an inkjet printer can turn pictures from a digital camera into two dimensional hardcopy prints, so a 3D printer takes a digital 3D model or scan and outputs it as a real, physical object. Already there are printers that can output objects made out of plastics, ceramics, concrete and even living cells! To find out more just visit the 3D printing page over on our sister-site at ExplainingTheFuture.com.

SOLID STATE DISKS (SSDs)

Solid State Disks -- or SSDs -- contain no moving components and are becoming viable, high-performance and silent alternatives to traditional hard disks. To find out more why not watch my Explaining Solid State Disks video?

OPEN SOURCE AND OTHERWISE FREE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS

Whilst we can now all find a great deal of great software out in the cloud, if you want great free applications to install locally on your PC, laptop or netbook, just checkout the below!

• OPEN OFFICE
  Available from www.openoffice.org, Open Office is an open source office word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation package. It reads and write files that are compatible with Microsoft Office, and even allows the creation of PDF files! Open Office has been available for many years, but is only now really growing in popularity as more and more people realise that they don't have to purchase Microsoft Office in order to word process and undertake other "office" tasks. Open Office is available for Windows and Apple computers, as well as for Linux.
• TRUECRYPT
  Available from www.truecrypt.org, TrueCrypt allows you to create an encrypted block of space on any form of storage device. Once the relevant password is entered, this can then be mounted and accessed like a normal disk volume. The software can be run from a USB key or other storage device, so you can get at your encrypted files on any computer.
• GOOGLE PACK
  Available from http://pack.google.com, Google Pack is a collection of free software applications all handily gathered together for you by Google. Specifically it includes Star Office (a version of Open Office as above), the Firefox web browser, the Picasa photo editing package, the Skype online phone and video conferencing software, Adobe Reader, Realplayer, and Norton Security Scan.
• AUDACITY
  Available from http://audacity.sourceforge.net, Audacity is a free sound editing package increasingly used to record and edit podcasts. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
• CAMSTUDIO
  Available from http://camstudio.org, CamStudio is a very useful piece of free software for capturing video and audio from a computer screen and saving it to an AVI or shockwave (SWF) media file. CamStudio is therefore particularly useful when producing videos or presentations that need to demonstrate websites or other computer activity, for example as in my own Explaining Web 2.0 and Explaining Cloud Computing videos where it was used for many of the screen grabs.
• NOTETAB LIGHT
  Available from http://www.notetab.com/ntl.php, Notetab Light (sic) is a free text and HTML editor. It allows a user to manipulate a large number of text or HTML files via a tabbed interface, which makes it perfect for writing websites -- such as this one!