Ever want to just find free alternatives to expensive programs like Adobe Photoshop without having to search a gazillion sites or sift through Google results? Alternative To makes it simple and has software for windows, apple, linux etc.

I found three alternatives to Microsoft Excel. Granted, I already have the top choice: OpenOffice Calculate.

The best part of this site is that it is user-driven by a community of software seekers.

1. First, if you are new, get a NewsReader!

I don’t know where to start when it comes to organizing RSS feeds. I am biased towards what I use which is NetVibes but there are many other tools to use such as: bloglines, Google Reader, and Yahoo. Check out this extensive list of applications on Wikipedia.

If that is too much trouble, you can use your e-mail program or even your desktop!

2. Track what’s new on Wikipedia

wikirage allows to use RSS feeds to track articles which are receiving the most edits on Wikipedia.

eHow shows you how to track a keyword on wikipedia which interests you.

Wikipedia itself lets you use RSS to track revisions to its site.

3. Check eBay auctions

Track the auctions you want to track via RSS with RSS Auction. There are also feeds for e-Bay’s categories too.

4. Search the Web

google

Google Alerts can be used for RSS feeds not just e-mail alerts. You can use this service to find just about anything put on the web and crawled by Google of course. Homes can be found if you have a search term like (“real estate” zip code). I use the service for a beer called Westvleteran. The sky is the limit!

search4RSS lets you search the web, blogs, videos and more.

5. Find a House

Realty Feed Search has a directory of RSS feeds by state.

oodle.com lets you search for real estate and many other things.

Coldwell Banker has a widget which delivers house listings to your desktop.

6. Conduct your Job Search

Indeed.com lets you create RSS feeds of your job searches.

Oodle.com has the same functionality plus the ability to search other classifieds.

Monster.com only shows jobs from the last 24 hours in its feed if you want to use that site.

Simply Hired is another valuable search tool.

Hotjobs from Yahoo has this functionality as well.

Best Colleges Online has a bigger list than this with RSS job feeds by region and profession.

7. Catch up on (or download) TV shows

Hulu.com has a widget which works on RSS readers and lets you catch up on NBC and Fox.

(Probably not legal) Wikipedia has a section on Broadcatching which allows one to use RSS feeds on torrent clients to capture TV shows the second they are released as torrents. Here is a how-to guide on combining RSS and bit torrent to download TV shows.

xtvi has a list of TV divx torrents.

8. Get Weather Alerts or Forecasts

Track hurricanes with National Weather Service feeds.

The National Weather Service also has weather alerts in its feeds. I have co-workers who prefer this service over others.

There are a multitude of local weather forecast RSS feeds whether you like the Weatherbug, Accuweather, RSSWeather, or Intellicast.

9. Translate Foreign Languages

Webware has a guide on how to translate a foreign language using Yahoo Pipes.

10. Mash the Feeds Up!

Ever feel there are too many feeds to look at? My netvibes page has gotten a bit too expansive. Wouldn’t you like to combine multiple feeds into one feed? Try xFruits

RSS Mix seems more user friendly with mixing multiple feeds into one though.

TothePC.com lists ten such tools if the first two don’t suffice.

11. Check Movie Listings/Reviews

iSnoop has a tool where you enter your zip code and can generate RSS feeds which list what movies are playing at your local theater and the show times.

And if you want to know which movies might be good and which ones are rubbish, subscribe to the RSS feed from Rotten Tomatoes.

Here are more feeds from movies.com.

12. Check e-mail

This might not be a good option unless you have a private page which is password protected to view the feeds.

Drexel has a how to guide designed for those who want to direct busy e-mail lists to RSS feed.

If you use an RSS tool like Bloglines, Netvibes, or Google Reader, you can get a widget which will check your e-mail. I use the e-mail wizard at netvibes and am able to read e-mail from any account. I have mine set directly to mail2web which lets one check e-mail from an internet browser.

If spam is an issue, the RSS feed on Netvibes lets me preview all the e-mail before I delete them in my e-mail client.

13. Be a Frugal Shopper

I’m an occasional fan of Slick Deals but find the site overwhelming with all its posts so I find the RSS feed much easier to digest! There are also freebies.

It would be criminal of me not to mention the Consumerist.

Like Slick Deals, Bargainist is full of offers, coupons and other saving tips.

Tech Bargains.

Check out couponshack for the latest coupons. Dealcathcer also focuses on online coupons.

The Simple Dollar is about everything frugal!

14. Track your Social Networking

Facebook allows you to track your friends status changes.

Twitter also allows for RSS feeds.

delicious social bookmarking can be tracked by new bookmarks added or by users who interest you.

15. Download Freeware

Debian.

Softpedia offers freeware and demos.

Snapfiles has a bunch of freeware feeds to choose from.

Sofotex.

Cnet lists the feeds for download.com.

Freeware Beast.

16. Get Recipes

All Recipes.

52 Simply Recipes.

126 Simply Recipes.

101 cookbooks.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks has pictures with directions.

The Times (UK newspaper) has a list of 50 of the world’s best food blogs and I’m imagine they all have RSS feeds.

17. Listen to Podcasts

Podanza seems to have podcasts on many topics and you can submit your own.

Podomatic allows you to search by tags and bigger tags indicate more popularity.

Here is the iTunes podcast directory.

master newmedia has these feeds listed and more!

18. Combine RSS with Twitter

RSS to Twitter lets you take your favorite RSS feeds and add them to your Twitter account.

Another tool is Twitterfeed.

RSS Friends lets you create RSS feeds for people you follow or those who unfollow. I find this more manageable than the web site interface or even Tweetdeck.

Flock O’ Tweets lets you combine Twitter folks who interest you into one RSS feed instead of having to scroll through all your tweets every time.

You can also create an RSS feed for a search term on Twitter to follow its results. Here is one for joke.

Some wonder if Twitter is a good replacement for dumping RSS altogether. This article has me thinking.

19. Package Tracking

Wikihow has a guide on how to do this.

There’s also simpletracking and packagemapping and trackthis whick also uses Twitter.

20. Find a Book

Newsisfree has a list of hundreds of RSS-based sources with book reviews.

Moreover.com has reviews too.

New York Times Book Reviews.

Library Journal RSS feeds.

School Library Journal RSS feeds.

21. Track your favorite web site

Ever want to track web sites which don’t have RSS feeds? Try Feedage.com which has a tool to convert urls into feeds.

22.Track your flight information

Flight Stats.com allows you to keep on top of flight information.

mydigital life shows us how to use Google to track flights.

23. Search forums and message boards

Omgli forum search lets you scan forums for topics that interest you. Simply enter your search term and subscribe to the RSS feed that appears after you hit search.

Personally, I find Yahoo Answers quite addicting. To subscribe to an RSS feed of a particular question, click on Save and you will see a link to the RSS feed appear.

Maholo Answers lets you subscribe to an RSS feed of a question you asked.

24. Learn DIY tips

Wikihow has “How to of the day.”

MakeUseof.com has a lot of helpful net tips.

Lifehacker has an eclectic array of helpful tips.

25. Keep track of your product

Ego-searches allow you to search news portals blogs to track your company or product (any keywords as well) and those of competitors.

I particulary like the list of online encyclopedias.

Here is a list of such appliances and how much they use.

I didn’t believe it until I heard a whistle but a cell phone charger sucks electric even when its not charging so unplug it when you are done charging.

The power strip you hook devices into sucks power even though you aren’t watching the TV or using the other devices that are hooked into it. Computers, DVD players, cable boxes, and other devices also draw power. You can buy some power strips with remote controls so you don’t have to walk back and switch them off. Some have timers if you have Christmas tree lights or other things you don’t want on all the time.

My electric went down when I started unplugging the Wii. Video game consoles are huge energy hogs, even when they aren’t being used.

Another device that turns on against your will is a hot water heater. Buy a $20 jacket to insulate this appliance and it will more than pay off what you spent.

Google has jumped in with Google Power Meter which measures how much energy appliances hog to help you save money. I mention this because there are appliances that you turn on which are bigger menaces than phantom power such as old refrigerators (donated mine to poor family for smaller energy star model) and my beloved dryer which my eco-friendly mother refuses to use.

Turns out I was wrong! As the One Tip a Day web site attests, you use more energy overcharging the battery than you do from the limited periods you run the laptop on just the battery.

A guy in the tech department told me I was reducing the life of the battery. He told me to drain the battery completely. Put it in for a full charge, and then remove it. Put it in when you want to be plug free.

I thought being green meant disconnecting from the grid but having the battery in all the time increases the amount of power my laptop uses. Granted, laptops still use a lot less electricity than desktops.

Don’t stop at this article. Read the others like:

“Top 25 non-obvious ways RSS can make your life easier” has tips like using RSS to find jobs, check the weather, track profits, etc.

“Test your website: a 57 point checklist for maximum usability” is a link I need to look at next.

I use Firefox as my browser of choice unless the site only works in Internet Explorer. But how does one optimize Firefox to avoid security threats on the web?

For years I’ve used McAfee SiteAdvisor but this has a limited database of reviewed sites.

MakeUseOf.com just listed over ten tools which can help further enhance your Firefox browser’s security. I admit I find NoScript a bit of a task since I have to click it for each new site but it does a great job stopping malicious codes. The rest of the tools listed are worth checking out too!