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Gryphn's free Android app brings its robust Secure Text Messaging technology to your smartphone. Gryphn encrypts your text, image, and video messages, in transit and in storage. It can create, send, and receive encrypted and even self-destructing picture messages. It lets you control who can see your messages and for how long, and it can even prevent users from saving your messages. It also protects your stored data: Any malware or virus (or snoop) gaining access to your phone will be unable to open or damage files encrypted by Gryphn's technology. You may have encountered Gryphn's secure … Read more

"Three of these things belong together; three of these things are kinda the same." Kids who remember the classic "Sesame Street" song and game already know the basic premise of 4 Pics 1 Word Puzzle Plus, a new edition of the popular title from Second Gear Games: Compare and match images to deduce the correct answer. But unlike One Of These Things, this free Android app doesn't show you the answer directly. Your job is to identify the word that all four pictures represent. The pictures appear one by one, and you get extra credit … Read more

Alexander Graham Bell is known for inventing the telephone; but for someone so associated with sound, it's curious that no one living has actually ever heard the tenor of his voice.

However, as of Wednesday, anyone can hear what he sounded like. New technology has brought a 128-year-old recording made by Bell back to life, according to Smithsonian magazine.

The artifact, a wax and cardboard disc, has most likely been unplayable for at least a century. According to Smithsonian, Bell worked on several different ways to record sound, including using foil, wax, glass, paper, plaster, metal, and cardboard. Not … Read more

An Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro is the "best-performing" Windows laptop? Yes, says a PC services company that has done "frustration analytics" on some of the best-selling PCs.

The MacBook Pro won out over established PC makers like Dell, Acer, and Lenovo, according to Soluto, which was quick to explain its finding.

A main factor in this machine's metrics is the fact that every Windows installation on it is clean. With PC manufacturers loading so much crapware on new laptops, this is a bit of an unfair competition. But, on the other hand, PC makers should … Read more

For a while now I've been wanting to test-drive FreedomPop, the wireless Internet provider that offers, among other things, 500MB of free mobile data per month.

Alas, because it's a 4G-only service based on Clearwire's WiMAX network, there's no coverage in my area.

That changes today with the introduction of FreedomPop's new Overdrive Pro mobile hot spot, which offers both 4G and 3G coverage via Sprint.

In other words, now I can get in on the free-data action. The Overdrive Pro costs $39.99 and allows for up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices to connect at … Read more

If you use different log-in information for all your online accounts, keeping it all in your head can be rather overwhelming. Password Bank for Mac helps you store all your precious data under one safe roof. Best of all, it utilizes 128-bit encryption to protect your passwords, too.

It only takes a few minutes to install and begin using this free security application. On startup, Password Bank for Mac offers a welcome screen with a log-in field. The default password is 1234, which you can change later. Logging in gives you access to a rather simple but quite intuitive interface. … Read more

While originally developed to process satellite and airborne images, MultiSpec for Mac has now found other applications such as multiband imagery for medical and educational uses. MultiSpec for Mac offers an image processing system that interactively analyzes and edits multispectral image data. While it performs well, this app would benefit from a more user-friendly interface.

There is no installation required for MultiSpec for Mac. Instead the application can be run straight out of the package you download. Once you open the app, you can choose an image to edit. Once you've opened your image of choice, you can begin … Read more

Chemists or other professionals working with crystals may need a program to visualize them on the computer. For those users, Mercury for Mac works well, but offers little for average Mac users.

Mercury for Mac comes as a free version with some functions limited. The program states a full version license may be purchased, but its cost was unavailable. Installation completed quickly despite the file's large size of over 200MB. Upon startup, the program requires the user to accept a license agreement and indicate if a full version license has been purchased. There are no instructions or tutorials available … Read more

Those running small businesses need a way to track their accounts. Manager for Mac performs these basic functions well, although larger businesses may need software with additional capabilities.

Despite being a small program, Manager for Mac took longer than expected to download and install via a high-speed connection. In order to install the program, acceptance of a user agreement was required. During initial setup, the user must create an account with a name and e-mail address. Once through this step, a business name must be entered, which brings up the main screen. Instructions and support are available from the developer, … Read more