blender

This free tool performs one function and one function only: it lets users adjust the transparency of any active window. But for such a simple task, we found its performance sketchy at best.

Windows Alpha Blender settings can be accessed by right-clicking on the taskbar icon and selecting the Properties option. The sparse menu that appears offers vague instructions. There is some guidance for adjusting the transparency, which requires using two hotkey combinations. There is also a slide bar for adjusting the transparency level. Once we selected our transparency level, we used the hotkey combinations to turn the transparency action … Read more

Ever tried to make milkshakes for more than one child at a time? They never want the same flavor, and worse, they are mightily offended by even the merest trace of the previous flavor left in the blender to contaminate the new shake. So, Mom winds up washing out the whole blender twice, which means that milkshakes are a rare treat. And that's sad.

The Hamilton Beach Dual-Wave blender wants to stop the madness. Simply load up two independent, 16-ounce serve jars with your favorite flavors and run them separately--but at the same time. And wait, there's more! … Read more

My family loves soup--as long as there aren't any chunks in their bowls that might be vegetables. Any time I make a pot, I get the fun of pouring hot soup into the blender, pureeing it and then pouring it out. Not only do I have a pot to clean up afterward, I have the blender and all its bits and pieces.

Immersion blenders make this whole process much simpler. All you have to do is stick the immersion blender in the pot and turn it on. Less mess, automatically. The Bosch MIXXO hand blender is an ideal immersion … Read more

If you add a couple of teaspoons of powder to a liquid and shake, you wind up with grit in the bottom of the pitcher or the bottle you're using. It doesn't matter if you're mixing Kool-Aid or energy shakes--shaking just doesn't mix smoothly.

Until now, that is. Blender Bottles have improved on the extremely basic bottle and lid design to provide a bottle capable of smooth mixing with just a couple of shakes. The big difference between Blender Bottles and their old-fashioned counterparts is the blender ball. This wire ball looks fairly similar to a … Read more

Your average blender may be good for a smoothie, or even smoothing out a vegetable soup, but when's the last time it pulverized anything? I think just about all of us want a blender that can take anything we throw at it.

The Vita-Mix 5200 can do just that: It can get a smooth juice out of whole foods, even if you toss in the seeds, the skin, and the stem. It can even turn a bag full of rice (uncooked) into rice flour, with a grind even enough that you can easily use it. Admittedly, the 5200 looks … Read more

If you've ever thought about making professional-quality animations but decided not to because of the cost of the software, your excuse just got up and walked out the door. For Windows, Mac, and Linux, Blender is a free, open-source 3D rendering program that puts the power of the medium back into the hands of the artist.

Blender features a laundry list of animation essentials that can be broken down into categories: Interface, Modeling, Rigging, Rendering, Animation, UV Unwrapping, Shading, Physics and Particles, Imaging and Compositing, and Real Time 3D/Game Creation. The interface, though loaded with complicated tools, is … Read more

LetsTalk has launched a new service this morning called ToneMine that lets you build your own ringtones. The service uses a multitrack composer that lets you drag and drop short, prerecorded sound clips onto an editing canvas. There are eight themed "packs" to choose from ranging from hip-hop and salsa, all the way to heavy metal. You also get some shared sound clips that will show up no matter what pack you've chosen.

The eventual goal is a takeaway ringtone you'll be able to use on your phone. You can get it sent directly to your handset via your carrier (which is configured when you sign up for the service), or download it as an MP3 ringtone to transfer on your own. You can also share it with other ToneMine users in a massive pool. There you can preview other people's ringtones and go in to remix them if you'd like to change something. It also keeps track of how many times it's been listened to and downloaded by other users.

Despite the selection of eight packs, there's really not that much to play with, although the editor is quite snappy. As an occasional user of Apple's Garageband application, I felt like the one thing it's missing is the capability to extend a looping sound clip. Instead, you're often dragging more clips together as well as you can. The service is also missing some of the commercial tie-in you'll find on competitors like Razz and Ringblender--the latter of which actually lets you go in and remix bits of commercial songs. It also reminded me a little bit of MusicShake, which demoed at last month's TechCrunch40 conference, although with a little less extensibility.

On a side note, for any 24 fans, you can get that wonderful CTU office ringtone free of charge from the site. I've embedded it after the break.… Read more

When Power Downloader received an e-mail from an artist friend recently, he wondered what he could do to help. Though Power knows a lot about software, he never had the type of talent needed to create art. His artist friend told Power that his work was going great, but that he was at an impasse. He wanted to get into the world of advanced 3D drawing and animation, but all of the software in the category was too expensive. That's when Power Downloader knew his friend was asking the right person.… Read more