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Review: Effectors add photo effects and captions to your new or existing photos

Effectos is a very familiar app, because it resembles many other photo augmenting apps on the App Store. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as long as this particular app provides an experience that is unique and engaging enough to warrant a download. In some ways it does, but in a handful of others it could use some additional work.

As its name implies, Effectos is an app allowing you to add different effects to photos. These effects range from sepia wash to a framed background or reverse negative. Each of the effects is shown in a rudimentary menu … Read more

Review: Generate secure passwords with specific criteria using Amuck Password Generator

More than ever before it is critical that the passwords you use online are secure. With more advanced and sophisticated technologies trying to access accounts ranging from Facebook to bank accounts, a secure password is the best line of defense you can put up. That's why apps like Amuck Password Generator are so useful; they provide a rudimentary and yet very effective tool for creating customized, highly-secure passwords for your online accounts.

Amuck Password Generator is a very basic app. It has a single screen with a handful of options that allow you to customize how your password will … Read more

Nine tips to help you manage the BlackBerry Hub

The BlackBerry Hub holds a lot of information and provides a unique way of managing all of your communication needs from a central place. But, with so much information being presented to you at all times, you're bound to want to tailor it to meet your needs. Below you'll find some great tips aimed to help you make the Hub work for you, instead of you working for the Hub.

View messages as a conversation

One way to help eliminate clutter from your Hub is to organize e-mail messages into a conversation view. Doing so will group related … Read more

Photoplay App 1.0 Review

Due to the success of companies like Instagram, the iPhone is overrun each week with a dozen copycats that offer roughly the same experience with a few small tweaks. So at first glance, it's easy to ignore Photoplay App as another attempt to capitalize on the success of other, better-established apps. But despite the many similarities, Photoplay is still an engaging, unique-enough experience. If you're looking for a tool that doesn't integrate directly with Facebook, this may be it.

The concepts are simple. After registering your account, connect it to any social networks you want to share … Read more

Review: Add more operations to Excel with Solver for Excel 2011 for Mac

Mac users with Excel may want add-on applications for more functionality. Solver for Excel 2011 for Mac integrates well into the existing Excel program and performs additional operations on spreadsheet data.

The program is available for free and is actually included in later versions of Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program for Mac. Solver for Excel 2011 for Mac downloads and installs directly onto the Excel program without any problems or user input required. After opening Excel, the user must go to the add-in area and select the Solver program. It then imports and installs a button in Excel's Data … Read more

Review: TCPBlock for Mac performs OK as a firewall, but its advanced options lag

There's no question that you need to protect your computer from incoming network threats, and there are plenty of options available. One option, TCPBlock for Mac, functions adequately as a firewall; but its options lag behind other, more popular programs.

TCPBlock for Mac downloaded quickly, but installing it required a computer system restart, which was a disappointment. A readme file contained some basic instructions, but a detailed manual would have been helpful, especially for longtime Mac users not familiar with firewall software. It was also disappointing to see that there were no indications of direct technical support availability, although … Read more

Review: Tweak images using Photo Zoe Editor for Mac

Photo editing programs can be geared towards the digital editing expert or the novice. Despite a lack of user guidance, the free Photo Zoe Editor for Mac is definitely aimed at the less experienced user. It performs all of the basic editing functions well and is fairly easy to use for any Mac owner.

Installation of Photo Zoe Editor completed quickly. The program started for the first time without any problematic setup steps. No user instructions were present, but the interface was very easy to use for anyone familiar with other photo editing programs. Technical support did not appear to … Read more

Review: Simplify the browsing experience with Minimalist Browser for Mac

Some users may find modern Web browsers too complicated for basic Internet use. Minimalist Browser for Mac accomplishes its goal of presenting a less complicated browsing experience, but ultimately appears incomplete.

There were no unnecessary steps required to download and install Minimalist Browser for Mac. After installation, there did not appear to be any technical support for updates, but the first page in the browser was a rudimentary instruction page. The program, itself, is just a Web page window with no control or URL bar. Navigation is limited to a key combination that brings up a Google search and a … Read more

Apple fail should be a lesson for Microsoft

Apple is good at addressing design oversights. Will Microsoft be as adept?

The Retina iPad, for example, violated Apple's design creed: products should get thinner and lighter -- aka, cooler. Not thicker and heavier.

But Apple fixed this quickly (six month later) with the iPad Mini trifecta: thinner, lighter, cheaper. And the iPad, reinvented as the Mini, has been a runaway success.

Now that Microsoft is in the business of making tablets, can it act fast when it commits product-design sins?

Surface is not a success -- yet. The Surface Pro is too big and heavy (and expensive), according … Read more