ie8 fix

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Virtual pool

Cue Online is a realistic pool game you play on your computer. It supports several different styles of pool and features detailed and colorful graphics. Create a username and password at the game manufacturer's Web site, view the detailed tutorial, and you're ready to play.

The design and interface of Cue Online is detailed and sophisticated. The backgrounds and various viewing angles are impressive. There's a Help file and an Options menu for customizing the game and your playing experience. Opening the program prompts you for a username and password. After a moment of confusion, we visited … Read more

What's new with Palm WebOS 1.3.1?

As most Palm Pre owners (and anyone who bought the Palm Pixi, which went on sale Sunday) found out this weekend, WebOS 1.3.1 is now available for download.

The latest version of Palm's WebOS brings new features, such as the integration of Yahoo contacts, calendar, and instant messaging into Palm Synergy; text message forwarding; custom ring tone support; and support for Google Apps and Yahoo Small Business Domain e-mail accounts. In addition, WebOS 1.3.1 offers several of bug fixes, all of which you can find on Palm's Web site.

However, there seems to be … Read more

Switching to Android? Read this first

With the recent flood of new Google Android phones, some of you may be thinking of making the switch. You're right to consider it, as there are many advantages to the operating system, not the least of which is the growing line of attractive handsets. But for the uninitiated, Android can be a bit of a mess. It's supposed to be a uniform operating system across all devices, but in practice, the user interface on each device varies slightly. It offers third-party applications, e-mail syncing, and a media player; however, the capabilities of those features also will differ by handset. Lastly, while Android promises a high degree of user customization, that may not mean a whole lot to the average person.

Understanding the operating system Fear not, as Android takes only a brief period of acclimation. Even after a few minutes, you'll get the hang of the interface and you'll be able to navigate your way through your phone. Yet, you need to know a few things about Android before making the jump. Below I've told you what to expect, because I'd hate for you to be surprised by what you find. And equally as important, because your Android experience will vary by device, I'll break down the current U.S. handsets and give you the basic scoop of the Android features on each device.… Read more

Virtual organizer

Are your calendars, to-do lists, and databases disorganized? Corral all of your schedules and lists with All-in-1 Personal Information Manager.

All-in-1 Personal Information Manager (A-PIM) is based around a calendar that shows the day and month and task lists for each day at a glance. A-PIM has other handy tools, such as a contact manager, and sections where you can create databases of your CD, DVD, and book collections. You can create sticky notes, agendas, and journal entries, and you can manage your expenses with A-PIM's Money section. A-PIM will even keep a list of your favorite URLs in … Read more

Easy photo fix

Ashampoo Photo Optimizer Free is the perfect tool for fixing underexposed photos quickly and easily. Open one picture or a whole folder full of images, and it will lighten all of the files with a single click.

Ashampoo Photo Optimizer Free is a one-trick pony, but it does its one trick well. The program lightens photos that are too dark. You can also rotate your images left or right. When we tested this utility, we found it did a good job with underexposed files, but it doesn't improve overexposed files, reduce digital noise, or make any other adjustments. Clicking … Read more

Media label maker

RonyaSoft CD DVD Label Maker offers a simple set of tools for personalizing your movie and music collections. Its quick performance and handy features make for an effective program that users of any skill level can operate.

The program's interface is a breeze to manage, thanks to its single-screen navigation and clearly labeled commands. Everything is so easy to use that we never felt the need to inspect the Help file for further instruction. We were easily able to customize our labels to fit several different styles of CD and DVD cases, though, oddly, not the actual discs themselves. … Read more

Color by mouse click

Children can have fun coloring cyber style with this computer-based coloring book. Coloring Book 10: Baby Animals includes a selection of baby animal drawings that children fill in by clicking on colors in preloaded palettes. Parents can help their children print their finished artwork with a few simple clicks.

Coloring Book 10: Baby Animals features a colorful, easy-to-use interface that children of all ages should be able to navigate. The program's drawings are simple, so older children may not find them challenging enough. Each drawing is "colored" by selecting colors from the palettes that ring the edges … Read more

Game saver

Recording your PC, console, or Flash video games for reviewing your play or sharing with friends just became easier with this application. Limitations on the trial version may put a damper on some of your fun, though.

Quobi Game Recorder opens a compact, stylish interface that lets you choose the type of game to record and watch, edit, and upload the results. The tabbed navigation allows for quick and easy movement around the app's features, and the options and commands are straightforward and simple to master.

In our tests, this application performed satisfactorily, although it responded a bit slowly … Read more

No-frills Flash downloader

Endlesssoft Video Master is a simple program that allows users to download Flash videos from Web sites like YouTube and convert them into different file formats. Although there are plenty of other programs that have more features, Video Master provides a quick and easy way to download your favorite videos.

The program's interface is plain and fairly intuitive. Users simply click a button, paste the URL of the desired video into the dialog box that opens, and start downloading. The program saves the video as an FLV file, but it's easy to convert the file to another format … Read more

Basic start-up utility

WhatInStartup is a basic program that allows users to view and disable programs that run automatically when Windows starts. It's nothing fancy, but it does work.

The program's interface is plain, consisting mostly of just a list of processes that are scheduled to run on start-up. Users enable or disable each one with the click of a button, and that's really all there is to it. The program provides a few other features--users can view each program's properties (in an HTML format if desired), and there's a search feature for users who have a lot … Read more