mp3DirectCut is a freeware audio editor and recorder that can work with compressed MP3 files. It allows you to cut, copy, and paste audio bits or change the volume without decompressing the audio file. In other words, you can edit your MP3 files without a loss of quality. Moreover, you can record MP3s and auto-detect pauses to cut and ID3 tag a file.

The Interface

mp3DirectCut has a clear interface, which provides easy access to all key features. Editing and playback buttons sit at the bottom of the window, navigation in the middle, topped by the MPEG audio data waveform.

Just underneath the menubar sits a list of smaller buttons that provide one-click access to further editing features, including ID3 tag editing or moving selection by frame. If you’re unsure what a button will do, hover with the mouse over it for a tooltip clue.

A Closer Look

When you open, edit, or save files mp3DirectCut may show a note, such as the one below. Similar tips can be found throughout the program. This is a great feature for new users, as the notes highlight important points and guide the user.

mp3DirectCut is very intuitive to use. You can edit mp3 files using the mouse, menu, buttons, or keyboard shortcuts. For several actions there is more than one way to get to the same result, making it easier to find it right away. As mentioned above, if you’re unsure what a button does, just have a peek at the tooltip.

For example you can change the volume of an MP3 file or only a section by dragging the grey grips of a cue up or down or click the keyboard shortcut [CTRL] + [UP] or [DOWN]. The brown color indicates that the volume was adjusted. You can then jump to the next cue to the left or right using the respective key in the navigation window or by clicking the keyboard shortcut [CTRL] + [LEFT] or [RIGHT].

To summarize, the program is straightforward and easy to learn using trial and error. If you’re stuck, there is always the user manual that you can consult. You can also find the link under > ? > Manual.

So to conclude, let me just highlight the…

3 Best Features

These are the best features as I see them.

Editing Several Files In Parallel

File > New program window will open an additional instance of mp3DirectCut, allowing you to edit several audio files in parallel.

High Speed Recording

With > Special > “High speed” recording you can record 33 rpm longplay records with 45 rpm playback and also set other grabbing speeds as needed.

Pause Detection… & Saving Split File

So you recorded an entire LP and now you want to split it up into single MP3 files? Go to > Special > Pause detection, and adjust the settings. When the tool is done adding the cues, close the Pause detection window.

You now need to change the cues to mark the end of a file. One after another, click each cue and go to > Edit > Names and part properties (or click the respective button), where you need to check > Cue. When you have done all cues, go to > File > Save split to save every region beginning with a cue to a new file.

If you need more help figuring out this program, know that mp3DirectCut comes with a good user manual, which also features a list of keyboard shortcuts and command line options.

Looking for more MP3 editing tools? Have a look at these articles:

• The Top 5 Free Tools To Split Or Merge Music Files
• Media Cope – An All In One Media Player, Cutter & Converter
• Normalize MP3 Volume Levels with MP3Gain
• 18 Online Tools to Edit, Mix and Enhance your Videos
• Remove MP3 ID3 Music Tags With ID3 Tag Remover

What are your favorite features or what do you think is missing in mp3DirectCut editor? Please share your impressions in the comments.

So in my desperate search for ways to optimize PDF files, I’ve found that there aren’t many free options. Although there are a lot of shareware programs, there are also, thankfully, a few free programs can help you reduce a PDF file size.

Irfanview & GhostScript [Windows & Possibly Linux]

If you don’t have Irfanview, you should really consider downloading it. It’s a much better and lightning fast alternative to the default image viewer in Windows, supports countless plugins that allow it to be extremely versatile, and converts images to different file types. You can use it to add borders and watermarks to your photos, and batch process many images at a time. You can also view PDF files, provided you download GhostScript first.

Once you have Ghostscript installed, you can use Irfanview (portable version will work as well) to view PDF files and save them as new files. You’ll get a box on the right of the Save As dialog to choose compression levels.

You can choose to save with lossless, best, high, medium, and ‘dump’ quality. In my tests, Irfanview reduced a 14MB PDF file to 8MB using the high-quality setting in Compression, while the lossless and best quality settings produced files bigger than the original size.

PrimoPDF [Windows]

PrimoPDF is a desktop application that allows you to create PDF files from image files and documents.

It installs itself as a virtual printer, which makes optimizing PDF files a matter of opening the files and printing them with PrimoPDF, though you can also drag and drop documents to the PrimoPDF desktop shortcut. From there, you’ll get a dialog box, where you can choose the document quality.

For the smallest file size, choose the Screen setting. Pressing Create PDF starts the conversion.

Free PDF Compressor (version 1.12) [Windows]

This program is now shareware but the link provided leads to the last freeware version. It is pretty much just an executable that does a decent job at reducing PDF file sizes. In my tests, this program managed to reduce a 50MB PDF file to 45MB, with the maximum compression level, at an impressive speed (almost instant conversion).

Neevia’s PDFCompress [Web-Based]

PDFCompress is a simple web app that takes any PDF files smaller than 5MB and compresses them according to the presets you chose (low, medium, high and maximum). Maximum compression means the quality will be approximately a 10 in a scale of 100. In my test with a 3MB file and maximum compression, the optimized file was about 9% smaller, with no visible quality loss.

I should also mention PDF ReDirect which is another Windows-only PDF printer that lets you optimize and rotate PDF files, which we previously reviewed here.

What free software do you use to reduce PDF file size? Let us know in the comments!

This can be a nightmare, but if you stick to the rules it shouldn’t be. If you’ve got a pesky archive that needs installing, the following method will create a package, install said package and provide a nice clean way to remove the software afterwards via your package manager. Command lines at the ready, deep breath please…

Tarballs Of Steel

A .TAR.GZ/BZ2 file is a compressed tarball (the uncompressed extension being .TAR) which contains the raw source code for your chosen application. Installation requires these files to be compiled, processed and linked in a way that Ubuntu can then execute the program.

The tarball format was standardised in 1988 (and again in 2001) and continues to be widely used on both Linux and Windows for the distribution of software. Originally tarballs were designed to facilitate the backup of data onto tape devices, not that you’ll be doing that.

If you’ve not used the Linux command line before there’s no need to worry, the commands are straight-forward and cohesive. We also have an article that should get you up to speed with the Linux command line which will probably help you out if you’re going to be spending a lot of time there.

Preparing Your System

You’ll need to install a package called build-essential for creating the package from source and checkinstall to add it to your package manager for easy removal. This can be done quickly via the console, simply open up Terminal (Applications, Accessories, Terminal) and type:

sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall

Allow time for these to download and install, and once done you may also want to install version management software for upgrades, though you can always do this later. In any case, these three will do the trick:

sudo apt-get install subversion git-core mercurial

Next you’ll want a common directory to use when building these packages. You can technically put this anywhere, as long as it is writeable. The official Ubuntu documentation recommends

/usr/local/src

so we’ll stick with that:

sudo chown $USER /usr/local/src

Then make sure it’s writeable:

sudo chmod u+rwx /usr/local/src

Finally we’ll also install apt-file, which is used to resolve any dependency issues you encounter:

sudo apt-get install apt-file

You’ll probably get a pop-up telling you need to update apt-file, if not run the following command and let it finish:

sudo apt-file update

Once you’ve done this, you’ll never need to do it again as your system will be prepared for any tarballs you throw at it.

Extract & Configure

Assuming you’ve already downloaded a mysterious .TAR.GZ file you’re first going to need to move it to your designated build folder (I used

/usr/local/src

). You can do this with your normal file browser, and once done, open up a new Terminal.

Change to the build folder by typing:

cd /usr/local/src

Next extract the archive. For .TAR.GZ files type:

tar -xzvf <filename>.tar.gz

And for .TAR.BZ2 files type:

tar -xjvf <filename>.tar.bz2

If all went well you’ll see a long list of extracted files, like in the screenshot above. Don’t close the Terminal yet, we’re not done.

It is at this point I urge you to navigate to the folder your archive just created (with your usual file browser) and open either README or INSTALL should the files exist. If your particular software requires a different method to the one I’m about to go into then this file will hold the key. You can save yourself a lot of hassle by doing this.

You may also be able to choose different install options depending on the software, and the INSTALL or README will stipulate what these are. The files may have no extension, but are plain text and should open in Gedit or any text editor you choose.

As a general rule, the following commands will install your software with the default installation method.

Your tarball will have been extracted to a folder with the same name as the file, so change to this folder with the cd command you used earlier, like so:

cd /usr/local/src/<extracted folder>

Replace <extracted folder> with the name of the folder the archive created. Next you’ll need to configure the source files by typing:

./configure

Note: If your software does not have a configure file, you might want to try skipping straight to the Build & Install section of this article, though consult your INSTALL or README documentation first.

If you receive an error message related to autoconf, then you’ll need to install it by typing:

sudo apt-get install autoconf

Then run

./configure

again.

This command will verify whether you have all the installed packages required to use your software. You can use apt-file which you installed earlier to fill in the blanks.

If you do receive an error (something like

configure: error: Library requirements ... not met

) have a look for the file not found above the error message, then using apt-file search by typing:

apt-file search <filename>.<extension>

This will tell you which package the file you require is in, so you can download it using:

sudo apt-get install <package>

This won’t necessarily always happen, but it is very useful if you don’t have the required dependencies.

When you’re satisfied you’ve got the packages (if you needed any) run the

./configure

command again.

If all went well you’ll see

config.status: creating Makefile

““ congratulations, you’re very nearly there! Lots of people give up before they get to this point, but you’re better than that.

Build & Install

Into the same Terminal window type:

make

Sit back, grab a coffee and breathe for a second. Depending on the size of your install this can take a while.

Now you can install the program with the following command:

sudo checkinstall

Follow the on-screen prompts, add a description for your software and hit Enter on this screen:

If everything went well you’ll see Installation Successful. Pat yourself on the back. You’ve done well.

Your software should now be installed to

/usr/local/bin

and you’ll be able to run it from there without any problems.

Did you make it all the way through? Isn’t it easier just waiting for a package or getting it from the repositories? Maybe you found it… easy? Let us know in the comments.

You might think there’s no free extraction program out there that can match 7zip, a great program for unzipping uncommon archive formats. PeaZip does. It supports extraction from 126 different archive types, includes drag-and-drop extraction and can convert one type of archive to another. Heck, it can even open Apple’s .DMG files in Windows or Linux.

PeaZip does all this with an interface users of commercial products like WinRAR or WinZIP will find completely familiar.

Basic Usage

Fire up PeaZip and you’ll see what looks like a file browser. It’s when you open a file that things become interesting. Here’s me taking a look at an ISO:

Nothing too exciting, of course, but if I start dragging a file I get this helpful popup:

This is fantastic if you want to very quickly extract a certain file. If you want to extract everything from a given file that’s easy too: just press the big “extract” button.

PeaZip supports an insane number of archive types, which is nice. What I like is that Mac’s .DMG archive is supported, giving Linux and Windows users a way to open these files. Here’s me looking at the contents of the iLife ’09 DVD:

This just might come in handy for you, if you’re the sort of person who works on multiple platforms.

Sometimes you don’t want to simply extract information; you want to convert one sort of archive file (RAR) to one your less tech-savvy friends are more likely to be able to open (ZIP). Not a problem. Just click the “Convert” button after highlighting a given archive:

You’ll only be able to convert files to formats PeaZip supports creating, of course, so keep reading for that list. But this feature is a very useful way to make any archive cross-platform and easy to share.

Supported File Types

126 formats is a big claim, but PeaZip backs this claim up on their website. Of course, many of these formats can only be opened by PeaZip; a few can be created by the program as well. Here is, from the PeaZip website, a rundown of what formats the application can work with:

Creation: 7z, FreeArc’s arc/wrc, sfx (7z and arc), bz2, gz, paq/lpaq/zpaq, pea, quad/balz, split, tar, upx, zip

Opening: 7z, bz, bz2, bzip2, tbz2, tbz, gz, gzip, tgz, tpz, tar, zip, z01, smzip, arj, cab, chm, chi, chq, chw, hxs, hxi, hxr, hxq, hxw, lit, cpio, deb, lzh, lha, rar, r01, 00, rpm, z, taz, tz, iso, jar, ear, war, lha, pet, pup, pak, pk3, pk4, slp, xpi, wim, u3p, lzma86, lzma, udf, xar, dmg, hfs, part1, split, swm, tpz, kmz, xz, txz, vhd, mslz, apm, mbr, fat, ntfs, exe, dll, sys, msi, msp, ods, ots, odm, oth, oxt, odb, odf, odg, otg, odp, otp, odt, ott, gnm, doc, dot, xls, xlt, ppt, pps, pot, docx, dotx, xlsx, xltx, swf, flv, quad, balz, zpaq, paq8f, paq8jd, paq8l, paq8o, lpaq1, lpaq5, lpaq8, ace, arc, wrc, 001, pea, cbz, cbr, cba, cb7, cbt and more.

Be sure to check out PeaZip’s technical specifications if you want to learn more about the program and how it works.

Download

Ready to start using PeaZip? Awesome. Just head over to PeaZip’s website to find installation instructions for Windows and Linux. You’ll even find a portable version of PeaZip for both Windows and Linux, meaning you can take file extraction with you just about everywhere.

PeaZip is, unusually, not in the Ubuntu repositories, so check the above link even if you’re used to using the repo for everything. Weird, I know, but you’ll find a nice .deb file for easy installation.

Like this program? Tell us why below. Also feel free to tell us what extraction program you like best, and why.

We have started off with speed. But it also has very powerful encryption algorithms which make it iron clad.

BCArchive is an unheralded and relatively lesser known file security tool. When it comes to file archiver tools, there are plenty to pick from. WinRAR is top of the pile among sharewares while 7-Zip might be the freeware choice. Every program does its own bit.

BCArchive’s facet is that it makes it easy for a newbie to create password protected archives without getting into the whys and how’s of encryption protocols.

To start off, BCArchive (v.2.02.7) is a free 2.93MB download. It is supported on Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2008 Server, 2003 Server, 2000, NT, ME, 98. It installs in a jiffy and you can access it from the desktop or take one of its three functions via the right click menu.

Let’s Archive & Encrypt A Bunch Of Files

The quickest way to archive and password protect a single file or bunch of files is from the right click menu. You can also do it from the main program window. Drag and drop is also supported. Select the files you want to compress and right click to see three options ““

Create A BCArchive

Create and store your files in a secure encrypted BCArchive file. While creating a new archive file, you need to put in your password twice. Advanced users can set other encryption parameters and also choose public key encryption.

BCArchive prompts you to make random movements by mouse to generate a unique encryption key (random seed buffer) to complete the archiving.

Once your archive is created, you can keep on adding files to it. BCArchive encrypts them on the fly. BCArchive dynamically compacts the files. In case, you are adding or modifying the files in a large archive, you can turn it off and choose manual compact when you are done.

You can send the archive to your email program as an attachment.

Create A Self Extracting Archive

Create a self-extracted program containing the encrypted archive. You can take this with you or mail it to someone. You don’t need the program to extract all the files, just the password to unlock the executable file.

Create An Archive Using Public/Secret Keys

A key is a piece of code that locks or unlocks using a specific rule i.e. the encryption algorithm. BCArchive allows the use of key pairs (a public key and a secret key) to securely transfer files between two or more people. A Public key is used to encrypt data so that only an owner of the corresponding private key can decrypt the data.

With your own public/secret key pair, others can send you data encrypted by your public key which only you can open with your secret key.

To better explain it, here’s an example ““ You want to send a file to Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith has a public key which he sends to you or you can also access it from an internet location where public keys are stored. Once you have the public key, you can encrypt the data with it and send it to Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith then proceeds to open it with his unique secret key.

Public/secret key pairs are an extremely secure way of transmitting files. In case this is the first time, BCArchive helps you to create your own public/private key pairs.

Among other key algorithms, BCArchive supports PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). It’s not a pun, but probably the best military grade privacy and data encryption method you can depend on.

You don’t need to go to public key servers to get the encryption keys everytime. BCArchive has a local database (BC Key Manager) which stores the public keys of your contacts.

The highlights of the freeware make this an appealing option for compressing and transferring files. BCArchive has a detailed Help file which you can fall back upon. BCArchive mentions that it is limited to compressing up to 2 terabytes of data. But I think it would be a rare need for everyday use.

BCArchive is not only for the paranoid but also for us, as data hacking is almost a side industry. Let us in on your opinion on this freeware.

Image Credit: Grant MacDonald

Anyway, the storage limitation in that era forced everybody to come up with the solution to put big-size files in to those miniscule capacity floppies. Maybe that need is the force which gave birth to the technology to split files.

How to Split Files – Divide and Conquer

Even today, the era when you can easily find elementary school students with a few gigabytes of USB drive inside their pencil case, file-splitting technology is still in demand. A few of the most common scenarios behind this necessity are: sending big files via email, burning over 700MB-size files onto CDs, copying the contents of a dual-layer DVD to single layer discs, uploading extremely large files to online storage that sets specific maximum sizes of each file, and much more. A lot of people want to know how to split files.

However, doing file splitting carries its own risks. If one of the parts is missing or damaged, it’s impossible to reconstruct everything back to its original form. The same thing goes for the existence of compatible splitter-joiner apps. Imagine downloading 21 parts of 100MB only to find that one of them is damaged, or to find that you don’t have the application that can join them.

But if you really need to do it, you can use one of the alternative file splitters in Mac: Slices.

Slicing The Fresh Orange

The user interface of this file splitter is plain simple. You’ll see a rectangular box with two main tabs: “Split” and “Combine” representing the two main functions of this app.

If you want to know how to split files, all you have to do is simply drag and drop the file to the dropping area called “drag file to split here” under the “Split” tab.

Then decide how big the maximum size of every file chunk should be. The options are any number in KB, MB or GB.

Before you click the “Split” button, go to the “Options” first. Here is the place to decide what splitting format that you want to use.

There’s “Split & Cat” with “Checksum” option and “7zip” with “Compress” option. Choose one of them, click “OK“, then continue on with the “Split” button and decide the place to save the chunks.

The process could take some time depending on the size of the original file and the maximum size of each individual chunk.

Reconstructing Details

Joining chunks of files is also as easy as drag and drop. Select the files and drag them to the “drag files to combine here” area under the “Combine” tab.

Hit the “Combine” button and decide the place to save the reconstructed file.

Please note that unlike RAR chunks, you cannot drag only one of the chunks to combine everything even though the other chunks are within the same folder. This is the only drawback that I could find. Hopefully the developer will improve this particular issue in a future release.

But in general, Slices is a solid application and can fit everyday needs of splitting files and re-joining the chunks.

Do you often need to split files? Do you know other file splitting app alternatives? Share your thoughts and opinions using the comments below. And don’t forget to check out our other file-splitting articles.

Image credit: oxtopus, joyosity