S tuff for free, sans gratis, without compensation. Itis the Holy Grail for computer users who are long on wants and needs, but short on greenbacks. Weive all heard the sayings: "Thereis no such thing as a free lunch," and "You get what you pay for," but weire here to tell you that there are exceptions to these trusty truisms.
Stars in his eyes
Are you a big astronomy buff? Do you like gazing up at the stars with wonder, curious to know how the Earth would look from the Moon or Mars or Mercury? There are astronomy apps available for the Mac and they are first rate, but those of us with high sights and empty pockets can still enjoy digital celestial bliss with a free app call Celestia.
Take a trip to Ganymede and watch the sunrise, then watch the dance of other Jovian moons as they vie for attention in the Ganymean sky. Maybe it would be interesting to see our Solar System from Betelgeuse or Alpha Centauri. You can zoom in on Earth, fly pass Mars, zip through the Asteroid Belt while munching on a bowl of Fruit Loops.
Educational? Yeah. Sure. Fun? Oh, baby! Free? As Air!
Free for fans from far frozen falls
If youid rather have your free fun without the brainy overhead, then you might be interested in Frozen Bubble, which is an Open Source version of the popular bubble popping game. Just aim your bubble-loaded pointer to a group of bubbles of the same color and watch them pop. The goal is to clear the screen of all bubbles. Thereis strategy involved but nothing that requires anything more than a thimble full of grey cells; mindless fun! Whatis more, you can double your mindless popping pleasure by challenging someone else.
These apps prove that free ainit necessarily bad. Both Celestia and Frozen Bubble can be found at SourceForge.net.
Vern Seward keeps a look out for those Unix apps making their way to the Mac so you donit have to.