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We've reviewed innumerable screen-capture utilities, ranging from tiny bare-bones programs to those that are practically image editing suites unto themselves. Plixia definitely falls closer to the bare-bones end of the spectrum, offering the very basics in screen-capture features and not much else. There are plenty of other programs that can do much more, but if you only need the basics, Plixia is worth looking at.

When Plixia is running it appears as an icon in the system tray. Double-click on it and your screen will go slightly gray, letting you know that Plixia is active. Then simply select the … Read more

We have to admit that when we first laid eyes on Bubble Breaker, we weren't impressed. It was nothing but a small rectangle full of colored circles arranged in a grid, and clicking on them in groups of two or more of the same color made them disappear. This didn't seem particularly fun or exciting at first, but once we played a few rounds and figured out exactly how the game worked, we couldn't tear ourselves away.

The object of the game is to attain a high score by popping bubbles, but this isn't obvious in … Read more

In nature, light ranges from blinding intensity to the faintest flicker. In photography and digital imagery, that range of intensity is difficult to capture. HDRI stands for High Dynamic Range Imaging, a technology that increases the dynamic range of luminance in digital images, allowing for a more realistic representation of actual light levels. HDRpad is a free HDRI tool. It blends digital images with different exposures into a single new image with HDRI properties. You can also use HDRpad to correct underexposed images. It's largely automatic in operation, though it offers custom settings, too.

HDRpad's interface is fairly … Read more

Abbreviations have become a pretty common part of online communication, but so-called Netspeak is not without its detractors; linguistic purists insist that it's an affront to the English language. If you want the economy of keystrokes provided by abbreviations without sacrificing proper word use, try InstantType. This simple utility will automatically paste the full text of whatever abbreviations you type, allowing you to save time and still sound literate.

There's not much to InstantType, really; when it's running it appears as an icon in the system tray, and right-clicking on it brings up a Settings menu. Here, … Read more

You've almost certainly seen mind maps, which depict ideas, words, tasks, projects, and other elements as graphical symbols arrayed around a central idea. They're nothing new; the Ancient Greeks knew of them, and today mind maps are used in business, industry, government, academia, the military, and other planning-dependent fields. Freeplane is a free, Java-based tool for creating mind maps. As with many open-source projects, Freeplane is available in a wide range of interface languages.

The first thing we noticed about Freeplane's efficiently configured layout was a toolbar containing a row of quick-access Function keys, beginning with F1, … Read more

We should all know the dangers of browsing the Web without any protection. That's why it's best to take the proper precautions. One way to do that is to hide your IP address from prying eyes. Surf Anonymous Free offers a way to disguise your IP address while you browse. It worked as promised, though our browsing performance suffered, often with connections that timed out.

The program's user interface is basic and to the point. Your real IP address appears in the small window, and from there, you have two options: Hide IP and Select Fake Location. … Read more

LightShot for Internet Explorer is a fast, flexible screen capture tool that makes it easy to upload and share your captured images. It's free and works in the latest versions of IE, including IE 9.

We downloaded LightShot, which opened inside Internet Explorer. A start-up page quickly explained how to use this simple tool: click the program's feather icon to activate the selection area, drag your cursor to select an area to copy, and choose a command from a widget-style menu that appears. We clicked the feather icon on the toolbar, and our window changed appearance to indicate … Read more

If you use more than one computer or more than one browser, you have probably experienced the frustration of not having access to a particular bookmark that you need. Fortunately, bookmarks are something that you can easily sync across machines or browsers thanks to Xmarks for Internet Explorer. This simple extension keeps your bookmarks consistent across locations, ensuring that you always have access to the sites you need.

Xmarks for Internet Explorer installs easily and then guides you through a setup wizard to create an Xmarks account if you don't already have one. Xmarks then backs up your bookmarks … Read more

If you're big on reading you no doubt have your book collection displayed on a bookcase, maybe even with some semblance of organization. If you enjoy electronic books in addition to--or instead of--their paper counterparts, why not organize them as well? eLib is a basic program you can use to create collections of e-books for easy organization and viewing.

The program's interface is plain, with a tree view on the left that displays user-defined collections. Clicking on a collection allows you to view the contents either as a list or as a group of thumbnails. To view an … Read more