characters

PinYinWin Engine

The Chinese language and display options in Windows leave a bit to be desired, but a good Chinese language input engine can help. HanWJ's pinyin-based Chinese Input Engine not only adds power and flexibility to Windows programs like Word, Office, and Internet Explorer, but it also does much more, such as making it easy to choose normal, proverbial, and poetic usages or search for words, phrases, and other selections in a huge database of Chinese characters and definitions. A Word Forecast feature automatically determines hundreds of dependencies and usages and projects suggested words and sentences. You can create one-key … Read more

Photo recognition software

Digital Physiognomy provides users with a way to discover personality traits simply by creating their picture. While the program promises big results, several factors drag it through the mud.

The program's interface initially felt intuitive. The facial characteristic tools are easily manipulated and their results do not take any special key to decode. However, users will most likely want to read the Help file if the face they created isn't coming out right. Users will find the tools to create a face to be childishly simple to understand, which is a positive. Users can download a real picture … Read more

Palm reading program

MB Learn Palmistry is a simple program aimed at teaching and testing users on the world of palm reading. With excellent pictures and a simple design, users will be closer to unlocking the meaning of hands and palms with this download.

The interface is particularly simple, considering the complicated terms people will learn. With simple pictures, definitions, and commands, the program is so simple that users will not need the online Help file for guidance. The program consists of two distinctly different functions: tutorial and testing. The tutorial is a series of a few dozen screens featuring different aspects of … Read more

Simple handwriting reader

Define your personality through your handwriting style with this simple program that doesn't even require you to write a word. With extensive questioning and great flow, this program might just nail your personality.

The program's interface is fantastically simple. Users must only click on radio buttons and a few other excellently labeled buttons to take this test and learn about themselves. The program does provide an online Help file, though it is so basic user might be better off just experimenting. Learning about your handwriting style was surprisingly simple and effective. Users cycle through more than 15 questions … Read more

Cluttered fortune-telling program

MB Kabbalah Tarot gives users a Kabbalah and tarot reading based on their sun sign. Although the program delivers what it promises, users who want to know how any of this works or what it means would do well to look elsewhere.

The program's interface is simple in the beginning--the only information a user needs to enter is name and birth date--but a substantial amount of it is devoted to advertising for the program's publisher, Mystic Board. Once users proceed to the results page, the interface becomes a jumble of text boxes, images, and diagrams. The information is … Read more

Astrological match maker

MB Astrology Kundali Match provides users with an opportunity to learn about their compatibility with a mate and more. This program's slightly confusing layout is overshadowed by its impressively in-depth results.

The program's interface asks for some strange information about your birth, but is easy to navigate and fill out. In addition, reading the results also requires some understanding of Vedic astrology, but is mostly easy to interpret and very intuitive to use thanks to organizational tabs. A Help file is available, though it only defines the program's functions and not the terminology of astrology. Determining our … Read more

Tidy Mail, StripMail get the >#! out of your e-mail

My colleague Peter Butler recently wrote about Everything, a small, ancient-looking app that searches your files and folders with real-time results. He asked what other tiny but mighty apps you use day-to-day, and two of you responded with Tidy Mail and StripMail, both petite programs that are used to erase funky formatting and characters from e-mail messages, mostly forwarded.

Surely these stand-alone desktop applications are far too pass? to remain useful? Yes and no. StripMail and Tidy Mail are old-school, but the freeware cleanup apps may still come in handy if you're the type who can't stand to … Read more

TwitterKeys replaces your keyboard with a bookmarklet

I've been a long-time Windows user, and one of the many remaining traces of the old days lies deep within the accessories menu. I speak, of course, of the character map, something I rarely pull up except to find things like ? and the occasional ?. Apparently one of the hot trends on Twitter is adding some of these barely-used symbols to your Tweets, or it's at least enough of a trend for two guys over at The Next Web blog to create their own bookmarklet to avoid having to open up the character map, or learn the keyboard shortcuts … Read more

Epson announces three new sub-$100 printers

Color lasers, black and white multifunctions, color inkjets, compact photo printers--with a handful of options available to shoppers, the all-in-one (AIO) color inkjet printer is arguably the most functional. The ability to perform multiple functions within the same machine is a useful and convenient feature for the home-office entrepreneur, poor college student, or the everyday home user. Prices for these high-performance machines are affordable across the board. Today, Epson introduced three new AIO printers under $100. Let's take a closer look at the new offerings:

Epson Stylus NX100 Printer, scanner, and fax machine Two ink-cartridge bays with four total … Read more