Rapportive is a Gmail add-on that provides all sorts of contextual information about who you are communicating with.

30/30 is a task timer, similar to the Pomodoro technique. It is a simple application that can hove a profound effect on how productive your day is.

If you're training for a marathon, like our own Miss Download, you'll probably want to track your running pace in addition to your run times and distance travelled. Pace Calculator 2 is free software that, with a little data from you, gives an accurate measurement of your running pace.

Cheryl Poirier, AKA Miss Download, takes a look at QBrew;

free software for home beer brewing

. If you're an old hand at making your own beer at home, you'll feel right at home here. You can manage your own

full-grain brewing recipes

, get specific gravity measures, an International Bitterness Unit maximum and minimum based on how much hops you use and create your own brewing notes. It's also perfect for anyone looking to move beyond beer brewing from kits.

Ubuntu is a solid operating system and it comes with some really solid software as well. If you're concerned about missing something should switch from Windows, fear not: Ubuntu comes with all the basic tools you need to get started on the

Internet

.

Michael "Doctor File Finder" Callahan takes a look at his

top five free anti-virus programs

. The available features may vary, but all of them are excellent products. They include

Rising Anti-Virus,

Free Antivirus and AntiSpyware - MWAV

,

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus

,

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

, and

PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition

.

Ubuntu provides a very

secure working environment

and is not plagued with viruses like Windows. One reason for this is the way Ubuntu handles

file permissions

which makes it very difficult for any virus to spread.

Ubuntu Linux is a full-featured operating system. You can configure it in so many ways including the way it looks and acts.

Change the desktop background, add icons, use 3D effects

and lots more.

One of the many benefits of Ubuntu Linux is that it

requires far less system resources

than say Windows Vista. That means that Ubuntu can run even on computers that are much older. Ubuntu doesn't need as much RAM, doesn't need as fast a processor, and doesn't eat up as much disk space.

The world of Linux has been getting increasing attention. Versions of Linux, the "open-source" operating system, are being installed on computers from major makers like Dell and HP. Google's Android mobile phone operating system is also a variation of Linux. Of all the versions of Linux available, Ubuntu is among the most polished and

user-friendly Linux distros

. It's free and comes with an amazing amount of software. Join us as we take a look into the wonderful world of Linux with our

introduction to Ubuntu

.

In this episode Michael "Doc" Callahan covers five fantastic and free HTML editors. The available features may vary, but all of them are excellent products. They include HTML Expert. Alleycode HTML Editor, DiDaPro HTML Editor, PageBreeze Free HTML Editor, and NoteTab Light.

SkiniTunes is a powerful little iTunes add-on that gives you two unobtrusive player interfaces, allows for customization with skins, displays album art, offers hotkeys to control your music and even song lyrics for your iTunes library. In short, it brings extra functionality to your music library with both the free basic version and the US$4.99 Pro version.

A five-part look at the best thing to happen to

free screen sharing

and

remote control PC software

since, well, ever. Michael "Doc" Callahan leads us through the finer points of Yuuguu including how to share your screen with one person or many, how to take control of a remote PC and how to conduct a virtual meeting with friends, family or business associates.

Windows Live Messenger

, formerly known as

MSN Messenger

, is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, whether they're around the corner or all around the world. You can

send and receive free instant messages

, even play a game together while chatting, share files,

voice and video chat

and so much more. Doc Callahan explains in this 10-part series on Windows Live Messenger

Molly McDonald, AKA Demo Girl runs through

beginner, intermediate to advanced iTunes

tips, tricks and techniques that will help you get the most out of Apple's audio and video player and

iPod syncing program on PC or Mac.

She'll show you how to find the content you're looking for, how to organize it and even where to look for the elusive iTunes freebies!

RSS

stands for Really Simple Syndication. And a truer moniker there never has been. Using

RSS feeds,

you can catch all of the news that matters to you in one place. In this demo, Molly McDonald uses the free

Google Reader

as that one place. She demonstrates how to add, manage, find and subscribe to feeds.
Using these practical tips, you need never miss another butterscotch.com tutorial, special tutorial or show again!

Our ten-part series on the Firefox browser gets in-depth, up close and personal with Mozilla's browser. This browser is available on Windows and Mac platforms as well as Linux and has gained significant market share in the past couple of years. It's time to figure out what the fuss is about!

Andy and Sean reviews software, freeware and other types of "ware".

With so many instant messaging services out there, how do you keep track of all your friends and associates across all the IM services on your Mac? With Adium you can connect to all your instant messaging friends, regardless of their preferred IM. Add friends from ICQ, Windows Live (MSN), AIM, Google Talk and many more. Michael "Doc" Callahan shows us how to keep track and provides some valuable power-user tips along the way.

Google's

Chrome web browser

is a light, lean and altogether smart piece of software. Far from a me-too browser though,

Google Chrome

takes a fundamentally different approach to some aspects of the web. From creating application shortcuts to web software services like Google Docs and Gmail to allowing for a private browsing session in

Incognito mode

, we'll show you what's up in this 10-part tutorial series.

Our ten-part series on the Firefox browser gets in-depth, up close and personal with Mozilla's browser. This browser is available on Windows and Mac platforms as well as Linux and has gained significant market share in the past couple of years. It's time to figure out what the fuss is about!

The latest version of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 8, is being hailed as a must-have download for Windows users. It features private browsing, a new and very handy feature called Web Slices and much, much more. Michael "Doc" Callahan gives the guided tour in this 10-part series.

In this butterscotch.com special 10-part tutorial series, we get the complete beginner's guide to working with free image editing utility IrfanView. We'll look at everything from working with images in batches and setting up a slideshow to enhancing and altering images.

Molly McDonald, AKA Demo Girl runs through beginner, intermediate to advanced iTunes tips, tricks and techniques that will help you get the most out of Apple's audio and video player and iPod syncing program on PC or Mac.
She'll show you how to find the content you're looking for, how to organize it and even where to look for the elusive iTunes freebies!

Host: Cheryl Poirier

Cheryl Poirier gives the scoop on the best software you didn't even know you needed. Miss Download is always on the lookout for fresh, powerful, fun and useful software that's worth the download. Speed up your computer, watch TV on your PC, get tips for ergonomic computer use and much more.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. And a truer moniker there never has been. Using RSS feeds, you can catch all of the news that matters to you in one place. In this demo, Molly McDonald uses the free Google Reader as that one place. She demonstrates how to add, manage, find and subscribe to feeds.
Using these practical tips, you need never miss another butterscotch.com tutorial, special tutorial or show again!

What is Linux? You've probably heard of Ubuntu as it is the most widely adopted Linux distribution. But what is Ubuntu? Doc Callahan offers a video guided tour of Ubuntu. Doc covers everything from running Windows applications on Ubuntu, games in Ubuntu, applications in Ubuntu, Linux versus Windows and much more. If you've never tried Ubuntu, this is your beginner's guide. If you've already tried Ubuntu, you might still learn a thing or two.

Winamp is a music and media player par excellence. Listen to music remotely with Winamp Remote, listen to free online radio, television, and podcasts. If it has to do with media you can check it out in Winamp.

Windows Live Messenger, formerly known as MSN Messenger, is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, whether they're around the corner or all around the world. You can send and receive free instant messages, even play a game together while chatting, share files, voice and video chat and so much more. Doc Callahan explains in this 10-part series on Windows Live Messenger

A five-part look at the best thing to happen to free screen sharing and remote control PC software since, well, ever. Michael "Doc" Callahan leads us through the finer points of Yuuguu including how to share your screen with one person or many, how to take control of a remote PC and how to conduct a virtual meeting with friends, family or business associates.