1.7.1

Review: Remember to take regular breaks using Dejal Time Out for Mac

Experts recommend that those who use computers for long time periods need to take frequent breaks to prevent health issues from arising. Dejal Time Out for Mac allows users to track when these breaks should occur and has a number of useful options for the task.

Both download and installation of Dejal Time Out for Mac completed quickly, despite the lack of a native installer. There were no user instructions or tutorials available, which was a disappointment since some of the options required trial and error to figure out. Technical support did not appear to be present either. The actual … Read more

Clean up your tracks with PrivaZer

If you share a computer, you can rest assured that someone has looked over your browser's history for salacious details. PrivaZer protects your privacy by cleaning that up, but it doesn't stop there. It does a thorough cleaning of everything you do on your computer, so no one can use it against you.

PrivaZer can be installed on your computer, but if you want to take the program with you, it offers an executable version you can slip on a portable drive, too. Regardless of how you run it, the first time you use the program it takes … Read more

Remove blocked memory that is not in use with FreeMemory for Mac

FreeMemory for Mac is a utility to free up unneeded memory in your Mac OS X device. It is available for free from the App Store and download sites. It installs easily.

The goal of FreeMemory for Mac is to mark blocks of memory that were used by terminated applications as free, allowing them to be used by other applications. When run, FreeMemory for Mac checks what memory is allocated and whether it is associated with a running app. If not, then it is freed up, allowing for other apps to run. Activated by clicking on the menu bar icon, … Read more

Get Google Maps Street View for your Android phone

Street View for Google Maps brings Google's incredible Street View feature to your smartphone's Google Maps app. Like the regular version, it lets you take a virtual stroll down a large (and ever-growing) database of the world's streets. You can turn around, change directions, and zoom in, all while viewing high-resolution images of the actual buildings, trees, and street scenes you'd see if you were there in person. But the Android app is actually easier to use than the desktop software.

Street View doesn't have its own icon but is integrated with Google Maps. To … Read more

Manage your budget with Personal Budget VP

There are plenty of tools available for managing your budget, from the old-fashioned envelope method to Web sites that automatically import and categorize your bank transactions. Personal Budget VP falls somewhere in the middle between these two options; it lets you keep track of your budget electronically, but it requires lots of manual data entry.

Personal Budget VP's interface isn't particularly impressive, but it's easy enough to navigate. You first specify the currency you want to use and then identify income sources. Setting up the actual budget is simply a process of creating a new expense plan … Read more

Block that app!

Java is aptly named. Like coffee, Java stimulates and enhances in the right amount, but too much of either can give you the jitters. QuickJava is a free Firefox add-on that lets you quickly enable and disable Java and similar content from the Firefox toolbar or statusbar. It can stop Java, JavaScript, Flash, Silverlight, and even image content from loading without having to open any dialogs.

We downloaded and installed QuickJava and restarted Firefox. QuickJava placed six blue icons in the statusbar at the far right edge along the bottom of our Firefox interface, labeled Js, J, F, SL, and … Read more

Brower-based music

Jamendo is an online music sharing community where users can stream and download a wide variety of music. What sets Jamendo apart from similar sites is that all of its music is licensed with Creative Commons or the Free Art License, making it legal to copy, share, and edit songs found there. Jamendo Radio is a Chrome extension that lets users control Jamendo from within their browser. It's not the most intuitive add-on we've ever seen, but once we figured it out we found that it worked well.

Jamendo Radio installs easily and appears as a small icon … Read more

Tweaks, now!

TweakNow PowerPack 2009 is a free set of tools that give you the power to tweak, modify, and personalize just about every aspect of Windows and your PC. It features a fully integrated suite of modular utilities. There's a Registry Cleaner module, a nice touch in freeware since so many of them cost more than they're worth, but there's also a Registry Defragmenter that reorganizes things for speedier performance. The Windows Secrets module gives you access to more than 100 hidden Windows settings. The Virtual Desktop module lets you run as many as four different virtual desktops … Read more

Powepoint converter

Leawo PowerPoint to Video provides a simple tool for converting slideshows to video. Its professional layout, focused functions and simplicity make this a great choice for those seeking to view their PowerPoint presentations in new ways.

The program's interface instantly impressed us with its professional design and its simple layout. We never felt compelled to seek out Help file instructions, because the entire process felt so intuitive. We were able to build a queue of PowerPoint files for conversion within a few minutes, which was nice but expected. The program's biggest surprise came from the variety of file … Read more

First listen: Dolby Pro Logic IIz 'height' surround falls flat

The Dolby Web site is bubbling with excitement about its new processing trick, "With Dolby Pro Logic IIz, rain in a movie now seems to be actually falling on the listener's roof, concert videos bring a more intense sense of being at the performance, and orchestral works deliver more palpable depth, power, and connection." The "z" in Pro Logic IIz signifies the Z axis, otherwise known as height.

Sounds interesting, but when I setup and listened to the first receiver (an Onkyo TX-SR607) with Pro Logic IIz, the height speakers didn't lift my spirits.

Pro Logic IIz can, depending on the receiver's capabilities, either augment a 5.1 or 7.1 channel speaker system with two height channels. In other words, in a 5.1 channel system with Pro Logic IIz you'll have five speakers in the front of the room--left, center, right, left height, and right height--plus a surround speaker to both sides of the main listening position.

The 7.1 system with Pro Logic IIz uses the same speaker array--plus two rear surround speakers.

Once you have a receiver equipped with Pro Logic IIz, and wall mount the height speakers three feet or higher over the main left/right speakers, you're all set. You won't have to buy specially encoded movies or music.

According to Dolby, "Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content--stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1 and 7.1 Blu-ray discs, and video games. Dolby Pro Logic IIz processes low-level, uncorrelated information--such as ambience and some amorphous effects like rain or wind--and directs it to the front height speakers."

Nice idea, did it actually work? … Read more