fast

View and edit images with FastStone Image Viewer

Despite its name, FastStone Image Viewer is more than just a program for viewing images. It's also capable of performing a fairly significant number of editing functions, which come packaged in an innovative interface. It's no Photoshop replacement, but we think it's a good choice if you need a way to view images and perform basic editing and correction tasks.

At first glance, the program's interface is a bit cluttered; there are toolbars with lots of buttons across the top, and there are panes where you can navigate to particular directories, view thumbnails of the contents, … Read more

Hide your IP from snoops and hackers with Fast Hide IP

Changing your computer's IP address not only hides your location from marketers but also worse threats. Fast Hide IP makes it easy to mask your IP by routing your traffic through a network of secure servers that are impossible to trace. Fast Hide IP is not only easy to use but also lets you choose which country's address to use. To Internet snoops, it'll look like you're in that country instead of your own. You can also access Web content limited by geographical location, such as TV networks. The trial version is fully functional, but it'… Read more

SunVolt power station aims to make charging faster

Don Cayelli says one of his main motivations for developing his SunVolt Portable Solar Power Station was that he couldn't find a solar charger that worked well for charging his iPad on his boat.

He sails a lot and uses his iPad as a chart plotter and preferred to use the sun as a power source rather than rechargeable battery packs. Most solar chargers, he says, had internal batteries, and the standard approach was the solar panel would charge the internal battery and the battery would charge your device. That was because the panels were too small to charge … Read more

Facebook Fast Delete Messages

If you are a regular Facebook user, you must be familiar with how long it takes to delete a single message from the social media site. While the reason for this is obvious, some people might actually prefer a faster way of erasing their unwanted messages. For them, Facebook Fast Delete Messages from Ravan Scafi just might be the answer.

This free Google Chrome extension couldn't be easier to use. It doesn't even come with a Help file or user guide. This is because the app has one single purpose: to delete messages quickly on Facebook. Once installed, … Read more

WD joins networking with My Net router family

Once in a while there's a big change, and Western Digital is having one of its own.

The major storage vendor today unveiled not a new hard drive or NAS server, but its very first networking devices in the My Net family. There are five routers and one Gigabit Ethernet switch, enough to challenge other major home-networking vendors, such as Cisco, D-Link, Trendnet, and Netgear.

Unlike other networking vendors whose lineups tend to start with a budget single-band router, WD starts with the My Net N600, a true dual-band router that offers 300Mbps on both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands. The next step is the My Net N750, which also offers the 450Mbps speed on the 5GHz band, and finally there's the top-tier My Net N900, which offers the 450Mbps data rate on both bands. The My Net N900 also notably comes with seven Gigabit LAN ports (as opposed to the four ports found in most wireless routers). All of these routers work with any existing Wi-Fi clients.… Read more

Bigger isn't always better for mobile ad clicks, report says

When it comes to advertising on mobile devices, bigger screens don't necessary equate to more clicks.

Although the Amazon Kindle Fire's popularity may be dipping, a mobile advertising company says that users of the 7-inch tablet click on more ads than do those who use the 9.7-inch Apple iPad.

Jumptap, a company that focuses on targeted mobile advertising, released a report today containing data related to mobile devices, fast food ads, and the Kentucky Derby.

While the Kindle Fire may have the highest percentage of actual clicks on advertisements for the first quarter of this year -- … Read more

Improve your Facebook experience on Android with Fast for Facebook

Facebook keeps promising to offer a better experience on its Android app, but a lot of users still find it to be buggy and slow. Because of these complaints, companies like One Louder Apps, makers of TweetCaster and 1Weather, have created a Facebook alternative. A newer choice in this category is Fast for Facebook. This app hosts many of the classic Facebook app features, except faster and more beautifully (Android 4.0) designed.

Step 1: Download a copy of Fast for Facebook on your Android device.

Step 2: Log in to your Facebook account and then choose experience … Read more

Quickly delete multiple Facebook messages in Chrome

With all of your private Facebook communication now happening in the Messages area, clutter can build up quickly. Looking at the list of messages you'll see an option next to each one for Archiving. Unfortunately, this doesn't actually delete the message, it just removes it from the main list. If you want to permanently delete a message, you have to open the thread, click a button at the top and then delete.

Instead of visiting each message thread, check out Facebook Fast Delete Messages, a handy extension for Google Chrome. Here's how to get started:

Step 1: … Read more

The 404 1,064: Where just enough is more (podcast)

Today's show title is the design credo of Milton Glaser, the celebrated designer responsible for turning the "I <3 New York" graphic into a world-recognized symbol.

That ethos is also the inspiration for today's discussion topic about Apple's "faux-real" user interfaces that Tom Hobbs at Fast Company believes is stunted by skeuomorphs, or elements of design that retain parts of its inspiration.

We'll look at how Apple's desire to show off the look of its products may be hindering its principal innovations, why the Amazon Kindle uses its own basic layout to create a more immersive environment for its readers, and how apps harnessing nostalgia like Instagram and Hipstamatic are holding back the next evolution of technology.… Read more

Boost your downloads

Just as in previous versions, Download Accelerator Plus 10 (free) boosts your download speeds by breaking files into smaller pieces, connecting to and downloading from multiple sources simultaneously, and even seeking out faster mirrors. What's different with this newest version, though, is the more streamlined engine that now offers features in the form of "add-ons." This means you can supplement your boosted download speeds (200 to 400 percent faster in many cases) with only the additional features that you want.

One of the most useful add-ons that you can enable in version 10 is DAPsters. If you … Read more