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Chances are you either listen to internet radio or knows someone who does. How about Last.FM? Myspace? While the source quality of music from these sources can be questionable, the ability to download that music would be an undeniably handy resource.

Free Music Zilla, by Innoshock, is just the tool for the job. Despite the name, Free Music Zilla is a simply wonderful little tool that is long overdue. Fans of internet radio will wonder how they lived before this app existed. While not all sites are supported, the most popular, including Myspace, Last. FM, and Pandora, are. Small, lightweight, and functional regardless of browser… what could be better?

From the site:

Key Features:

• No limit download!
• Download music from Last.fm™, IMEEM™, Pandora™ and more social music!
• Support all web browser like IE, Firefox, Opera, Maxthon, Avnta, Netscape!
• Super light, micro-sized and resource-friendly!
• Free! No adware! No spyware!

Unfortunately this app is Windows only. No clue if a Linux/OSX version is in the works, but we can always hope.

Download: Free Music Zilla (Windows Only)

There is only one efficient way to empty your Recycle Bin in Windows XP; by right-clicking the desktop icon and selecting Empty Recycle Bin. This method works well for those casually browsing, blogging, and otherwise having fun, however for those of us whose livelihoods depend on their computer, this method of emptying the recycle bin can be somewhat irritating. Outside of just being a hassle, some of us really loathe having icons on our desktop and choose to have no icons whatsoever.

I was quite surprised when I came across a registry edit a few months ago that adds a Empty Recycle Bin entry to Explorer right-click context menus. I expect that most people won’t find this tool exceptionally useful, but for those who use explorer as much and as extensively as I do, this will come as a godsend.

How to use:

1. Extract the file from the zip. double click the .reg file and accept the warning that pops up
2. Open My Computer/Windows Explorer; right click in any white space, in any folder, in any directory. You’ll see the empty recycle bin option.

Guaranteed for use with Windows XP; I haven’t tested this with Vista yet, but I plan on getting around to it eventually.

Download: Empty Recycle Bin Registry Addition

Microsoft’s newest Windows release, Vista, has been out for a few months now, but most users will still be using Windows XP for some time to come. For some this is due to financial considerations, but for most this is due to a distaste for Microsoft Vista.

XP was released more than five years ago, however there are still things to be learned about XP, which is why I’m happily reporting to you a great Windows XP Optimization Guide. I must admit that most of the information won’t come as anything new to experienced power users, but for beginning to intermediate users this guide will be a great help.

As the site explains it:

Clean Spyware and Viruses + Optimize Windows XP to improve home, work and gaming performance safely. Windows XP’s default configuration is far from optimized. This Free guide will help you improve your overall system performance without having to manually edit the Registry. I avoid using or recommending “all-in-one” Windows XP Tweak programs since many blindly adjust settings that have no affect on performance and can cause future problems.

Even if you are confident in your XP mastery and don’t feel the need to check out the XP Optimization Guide, you should still visit the site as it is home to a few other interesting guides such as XP Freeware, XP Myths, and XP Secrets.