A Reminder: If You Use Windows, Just Get Flux [1]

Every year I cover around 200 freeware programs and web-based systems in this column that you're kind enough to be reading.  Of those, only a small handful get to stay on my main PC for any length of time.  Not because they're not useful, but because it's obviously not sensible for me to keep 1000 programs installed if I'm not going to find time to use them all regularly.

Over the next couple of weeks, in addition to writing about new stuff, I'm going to mention a couple of my favourite programs again.  Because, frankly, I think they're good enough to deserve it.  And I'm going to start with Flux, which is probably my favourite.

Flux is one of those programs which, unless you stop to think about it, you probably won't even remember that you installed.  And that's precisely how it's supposed to be.  It sits there, silently in the background, helping to protect your eyesight.  

Once you've installed Flux, and told it where you're based, it automatically dims your screen background at sunset and increases it again at sunrise.  So whenever you use your computer, you're staring at a background light level which is comfortable for the current conditions and won't overly strain your eyes.  

In addition, you can temporarily override the program if you want.  For example, press Alt-PgUp or Alt-PgDn to instantly dim the screen if your eyes are tired, or to put the brightness back to full level if you're doing some work that requires accurate colour representations.

You'll find Flux at https://justgetflux.com [3] and it's completely free.  The program is malware-free according to VirusTotal and Web of Trust, and is a 0.5 MB download.  Just get it.  It makes sense.