MAPS, FONTS, THEMES & MORE…
15 Free media codecs from Microsoft
Windows 10 comes with built-in support for dozens of audio and video-file formats. But to play files in unsupported formats you need to install special codec packs or multiformat media players, such as VLC ( www. videolan.org). That’s why we’re encouraged by Microsoft’s recent decision to release the Web Media Extensions app in the Windows Store ( www.snipca.com/26403, see screenshot below left). It adds support for three new media formats (OGG, Vorbis and Theora) to Windows 10. Hopefully, this is a trend that Microsoft will continue in 2018 and beyond, adding support for more media formats via similar free apps.
16 Free maps
The recently updated Streetcomplete app ( www. snipca.com/26404) not only provides access to all Openstreetmap ( www.openstreetmap.org) maps on your Android phone or tablet, but also lets you add information yourself (see screenshot right). By completing simple ‘quests’ you can fill in incomplete or unfinished data in your local area. The latest version lets you attach photos and comments. All you need is a free Openstreetmap account.
17 New free clip art
Looking for a new image to spruce up a document, presentation or newsletter? If you’ve already exhausted your word processor’s built-in supply of clip art, you’ll probably be looking for something new. If so, check out the latest downloadable files available from the Openclipart website ( www. snipca.com/26405, see screenshot below). You’ll find everything from abstract shapes and patterns to cartoonstyle images, striking silhouettes and even free photos, all downloadable in a range of formats.
New Windows 10 themes
The Windows 10 Creators Update (released in April) revived Themes – an old Windows system that let you apply themed wallpapers, colour schemes and sound effects to your PC. Now you can download hundreds of free themes via the Windows Store (see screenshot below).
To give your desktop a fresh lick of paint for 2018, click Start, Settings, Personalisation, Themes, then click ‘Get more themes in the Store’. Click one to preview it, then click Get to download it.
19 Nature photos & illustrations
The Biodiversity Heritage Library ( www.biodiversitylibrary.org), a consortium of natural history and botanical libraries in the US and England, recently put the entire contents of its open-source archive online for free. You can browse the whole collection – more than 2 million illustrations and photos, taken from a range of scientific, natural history, botanical, and research sources. Download any you like at www. snipca.com/26408 (see screenshot above).
20 Free fonts
Windows, Office and other tools come with a built-in library of fonts for you to use in your documents. But if you’re looking for something new then try 1001fonts.com. Going to www.snipca.com/26407 will take you to the latest fonts available, but you can also browse by category. You can type a word into the box at the top to see how it would look in all the fonts displayed (see screenshot above). Most fonts are free. Click the price-tag icon in the top toolbar to see those you’ll have to pay for.
Free stock video footage
In centuries to come, historians will be thankful for the Internet Archive. Set up in 1996, it’s now the world’s largest vault of digital content, including 279 billion (yes, billion) web pages, 4 million audio recordings and 100,000 PC programs.
There are also 3 million videos, of which over 1,600 are copyright-free clips you can use in your own videos. Visit www. snipca.com/26435, then click one of the four headings to order the videos (to see those most recently added click Date Reviewed, see screenshot right). Footage uploaded this year includes clips of a British hydrogen bomb explosion from 1957, and Annie Oakley (of Annie Get Your Gun fame) firing rifles in 1894. After you click a thumbnail image, select a download option in the right-hand menu.
22 Calendars for 2018
You can create PDF calendars at Timeanddate.com ( www.snipca. com/26448), adding your own events by clicking the link at the top (see screenshot below). Once you’ve done this and created an account, click a date then type the event description in the box that appears and colour-code it (optional). To print it, click the magenta ‘Print Calendar as PDF’ button at the top right.
23 Free walking maps
One site we hope will come out of beta in 2018 is Footpath Maps ( https://footpathmaps.com), which contains downloadable Ordnance Survey maps. It’s maintained by just one person (John) and lacks a bit of polish, but it’s a brilliant source of downloadable maps showing the UK’S footpaths, cycle paths, bridleways and other rights of way. Type a location in the search box, click Go, then select a place (we chose the Yorkshire Dales, see screenshot above). To download it as a PDF click the printer icon at the top right, then (in Chrome) click Change under Destination, and select ‘Save as PDF’. To do this in Firefox you’ll need to install an add-on, such as WEB2PDF Converter ( www.snipca. com/26446) or ‘Save as PDF’ ( www. snipca.com/26447).
24 BBC World Service documentaries
How’s this for a variety of topics: music in the Stone Age; Japanese Kamikaze pilots; women’s football in Tibet; and cheerleading grandmothers in Arizona (see screenshot above). This quartet of topics may sound like the most diverse ‘specialist subject’ round in the history of Mastermind, but they’re actually all covered in the 500plus radio documentaries on the BBC World Service’s website ( www.snipca. com/ 26454). Unless you know what you’re looking for (in which case you type it in the search box), it’s best to simply browse through the pages for something that intrigues you.
After clicking the Download button you need to choose whether you want the file in ‘higher’ (128Kbps) or ‘lower’ (64Kbps) quality. To receive forthcoming documentaries as a podcast, visit www. snipca.com/26455 and click the top-right Subscribe button.