11:44 AM CST on Thursday, March 30, 2006

By WALT ZWIRKO / WFAA-TV

Free stuff. It's one of our favorite topics on Computer Corner.

And that's why I'm happy to report that the editors at PC World have done some helpful research on our behalf.

The magazine's May issue features 101 Fabulous Freebies—the top software products that you can download for free.

The list includes titles we've featured previously on on Computer Corner, including:

• Gmail: Google's free and incredibly useful e-mail service, which rates a PC World "Best Bet."

•  Firefox Web browser: A nifty alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer and a product I use daily.

•  OpenOffice.org: A word processor, spreadsheet and presentation suite that mimics Microsoft Office.

PC World also gave its highest "Best Bet" honor to a service I'd not seen before: Revver . It's a way to share your video creations with the world (and to see what others have to offer).

You'll see things like The Geek Show, a late night talk show taped in the living room of some zany Canadians; Djunior: Our Little Cat, three-and-a-half minutes of the cutest kitten you ever did see (and her pals); and To the Airport, about—well—a trip to the airport.

Not only does Revver let content authors track how often their videos are being played, but it also offers to pay them for the privilege.

Revver attaches a commercial message to the end of each submitted mini-movie. Every time someone clicks on an ad, the author gets paid.

You won't likely get rich, but it is nice to know that you can gain notariety and pick up some spare change at the same time with Revver.

PC World will have its full list of 101 Fabulous Freebies in the magazine's May issue, which goes on sale April 11 (but you can see them online now).

OK, here's a crazy idea.

Establish a Web site that consists of a picture of a big, giant button. Call it BigGiantButton.com.

That's it.

Click it the button with your mouse and it conveys you to a surprise site that changes every day. On Wednesday, it took clickers to a blog by podcasting guru Adam Curry.

BigGiantButton.com was established by the mysterious Button Guy, who said that while visitors can expect to see an eclectic mix of "new technology sites, classic Internet applications, blogs, podcasts, goofy stuff, good causes," he reserves the right to sell the daily links in the future.

If it's successful, Big Giant Button merchandise might prove to be a hot commodity. Then again, maybe not.

And finally, a Computer Corner salute to the original Palm Pilot pocket organizer.

It's 10 years old this month, a product that changed the way a lot of people work by letting them share names, numbers, addresses and other information with a desktop PC.

Today, when most everybody carries a cell phone, Palm is using its hardware and software expertise to power its popular Treo smartphones that add communication to organizational tools. But Palm is also recognizing the limitations of its own software by offering a model (the Treo 700W)that runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile software.

A lot of people forget that three years before the original Palm Pilot was introduced, Apple unveiled a device called the Newton MessagePad.

It was one one of the first products we featured on Computer Corner, but while Newton was a technical tour de force—with handwriting recognition it failed in the marketplace.

Just slightly ahead of its time.

Watch Computer Corner every Wednesday on News 8 Midday at noon, or online any time.

E-mail askwalt@wfaa.com