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Anyone who does most of their work on a laptop knows the pain of not having a mouse. Since your smartphone is always nearby, it only makes sense to turn it into a mouse. Remote Mouse will let you do just that, but there are definitely some hiccups. It's better than any other free mouse app you can find, though.

Though it calls itself a mouse app, the app is really more of a trackpad. Moving your smartphone like you would a mouse does nothing. In order to set it up, you need to download a desktop app. Sadly, … Read more

Psy's smash hit got everyone doing the signature horsey dance. The Gangnam Style Dance Booth Hits app claims to let you paste your face on the South Korean singer, but never works. It won't let you create video thanks to dozens of pop-up ads that take over your screen.

Before you even finish looking at the app's privacy policy, it starts hitting you with ads for games. Any time you try to do anything else with the app, more pop-ups come flying at you. Once you finally make it to the app's welcome screen, it asks … Read more

We badly need a new way to organize our recipes; they're currently on numerous sheets of paper, crammed into a decrepit binder, waiting for one wrong move to send them spilling across the kitchen floor. Creating a digital recipe archive sounds like a great idea, so we were excited to try Cookbook. The program didn't really knock our oven mitts off, but it's not a bad choice if you're looking to start a recipe database. It also comes with over 900 recipes to get you started.

Cookbook runs on Microsoft Access, so if you don't … Read more

All kinds of sensitive information can end up stored on your computer, from trade secrets to medical information, financial records to love letters. There are plenty of utilities out there that are designed to keep private files private, protecting users from identity theft, fraud, and embarrassment. Ogni Free Folder Locker & Hider is one such program. Although it seems to work--sort of--it didn't seem as easy to use or as secure as similar programs we've encountered.

When we first opened Ogni Free Folder Locker & Hider, the program prompted us to choose whether we wanted to use regular … Read more

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of the most significant applications of information technology to modern business practice. CRM hasn't replaced critical personal contacts but enabled and enhanced them. NCH Software is leveling the playing field for CRM database systems with its Reflect CRM technology, a multiuser CRM package that happens to be free. It can track customer information, accounts, leads, and more. It can import and export data as CSV files, too, and is compatible with other programs, databases, and files, including PDFs.

Reflect CRM Free is a compact download that installs quickly. The setup wizard prompted us … Read more

Lightning Windows 7 Theme is nothing to be scared of, unless dramatic pictures of high-energy lightning strikes accompanied by the occasional rumble of thunder rattles you. It's just a free desktop theme pack that rotates a series of intense high-resolution lightning photos with thunderclap sound effects.

This theme's installer automatically replaced our wallpaper with the Lightning Windows 7 slideshow, announcing the change with a realistic roll of thunder that won't trash your speakers. The first image depicted a dramatic city skyline lit by forks of lightning. We right-clicked the desktop, selected Personalize, and then clicked Desktop Background … Read more

Toy Story 3 Windows 7 Theme is a free theme pack with high-resolution images from the movie "Toy Story 3" as well as sounds. However, we were unable to hear the sounds on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 installations.

Like other free themes from Windows7Theme.net, Toy Story 3 Windows 7 Theme installs automatically when you decompress its download. We minimized our browser window and were pleased to see Woody's smiling face. The 10 still images from the movie are indeed very high-quality HD images in wide-screen format (1,920x1,200-pixel resolution). We opened the Windows … Read more

Virtual Families provides an impressive game for users who want to manage a simulated family's life. This program gives the popular game Sims a run for its money.

The simulation's interface was impressively professional with graphics and strategy that reminded us of the aforementioned Sims. The Help file's excellent onscreen tutorials kept us informed while we played and also improved our gaming skills. To adopt a player, you choose from a variety of interesting character designs and jobs. Most of these were funny, such as ketchup bottler, barbecue sauce maker, or food photographer. After adopting a player, … Read more