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3.14

Review: Protect removable and optical discs with Master Voyager

When it comes to mobile data encryption shareware like InterCrypto's Master Voyager, there are two ways of looking at things: 1) You get what you pay for, generally speaking; and 2) What's your data worth? Not to mention your privacy, security, and even your time--all of which can be compromised when your portable drive is lost, stolen, or copied. Master Voyager creates strongly encrypted, password-protected areas on USB drives and optical discs. You can distribute protected data to others who only need a password to open it on their own computers. Recent updates to Master Voyager include the … Read more

Pi Day 2012: Geeks' siren song sung in a round

Pi Day is on its way and it's time to let that geek flag fly.

If you don't spend a lot of time in the nerd-o-sphere (pun totally intended), you may not realize that March 14 (3/14) is a beloved day to the mathematically aware.

I shouldn't have to tell CNET readers, but pi is a mathematical constant--the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. The actual ratio is fairly close to 22/7--though pi to 12 places is 3.141592653589, not 3.142857142857--and comes in handy for calculating the area of a circle and other activities that even the nerdiest of writers like myself try to avoid on a daily basis.

My colleague Gina Smith, a contributor to CNET sister site TechRepublic, has a little less shame about her love for pi. She posted a long list of her favorite pi facts acquired over the years at aNewDomain (disclosure: I am a contributing editor for that site). Here are a few of my favorites:… Read more

Vox documentum

Speech synthesis has come a long way since its most famous application, giving voice to Professor Stephen Hawking, whose iconic cadence still echoes in the latest and most capable voice generators, such as Text Speaker 3.14 from DeskShare. It can read virtually any text document aloud, accurately, reliably, and pleasantly. You can configure the speaking voice to suit and download additional voices in a wide range of accents and speaking styles.

Text Speaker's efficient interface resembles a word processor but with mission-specific controls such as Voice and Pronunciation, which activate pop-up configuration dialogs. The program is easy to … Read more