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Map your ideas with Open Mind

Have you ever drawn a mind map? We bet you have. Mind maps are the kind of diagrams that business planners, mad scientists, and other innovative types scribble over blackboards and whiteboards, linking balloons and boxes with a variety of lines, arrows, and assorted scribblings. Ordinary people might draw one on a napkin while planning out their day. In any case, mind maps are one of the most flexible, useful, and intuitive planning techniques known. Open Mind is freeware for creating customized mind maps for any use you can think of. You can insert text, images, and even YouTube video … Read more

Save time with RenPhoric

If you've ever dreaded the prospect of manually changing numerous file names, RenPhoric is the program for you. It's nothing fancy, but it does provide an extremely easy way to find and replace specific file names anywhere on your computer. It's a great choice if you need to batch-rename images, songs, or any other files that you have too many of to deal with individually.

RenPhoric has a straightforward interface, with a button at the top that lets users navigate to the desired directory. From there, just start typing the file name you want to locate in … Read more

Map your mind (and more) with Blumind

Blumind--it's like "Blue-Mind," not "Bloomin'"--is freeware that creates mind maps, those diagrams dominated by a central idea or goal, with elements, subconcepts, and other related things radiating outward. They can plot everything from sewage systems to philosophies, as simple as your breakfast diet or as complex as quantum physics. Any concept that can be centralized and studied in parts can be mapped with Blumind's easy-to-use graphical tools and handy themes.

Blumind works like a graphics tool but looks like a browser, with tabs, a Menu button, and sidebars. But the tabs open New … Read more

How to add multitasking to your old iPhone without jailbreaking

So you've got an original iPhone and you're hanging on to it for sentimentality's sake. I get that. But that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice all the cool, new goodies that accompany the latest versions of iOS.

If you're hanging on to your little piece of Apple history (whether because you have to or just want to) TechCrunch lets us know that you can now use a custom firmware called Whited00r to add some sweet features such as multitasking, app folders, and device syncing.

The best part about Whited00r? No jailbreaking.

Instead, Whited00r is … Read more

Automate Windows with TimeComX Basic

With TimeComX Basic, you can tell your PC to shut down, go into hibernation, and run a variety of processes automatically on schedule, after a certain time, or when activity drops. This free program improves and expands your control over a range of automated processes and activities in Windows. Optional password protection, automatic screenshots, and logging make it a great choice for parents, employers, and others concerned about unauthorized access or activity on their computers.

TimeComX's unique interface is clean, efficient, and attractive, beginning with a row of icons accessing Global Settings, Passwords, Profiles, and Logs. The main view … Read more

MegaMind Player doesn't make the cut

With so many free media players available to download, it's hard to know which one to use. But they tend to break down into two kinds, easy-to-use and do-it-all. MegaMind Player is an easy-to-use media player, though a bit too basic: It offers few of the amenities needed to live up to its claim of being an all-in-one digital media solution, and there's some clunkiness, too. It also uses components of Windows Media Player, so it's not the best choice if you're looking for an alternative.

We've seen every kind of user interface, but MegaMind … Read more

Customize your screen captures with Horizon33

Horizon33 is a simple screen-capture utility that gives users extra control over exactly what their screenshots include, and also makes it easy to store or share images. It's not as full-featured as some other programs we've seen, but it's a good choice if you're looking for more features than the built-in Windows screen-capture utility offers.

The program appears as an icon in the Windows system tray, and clicking on it brings up a simple interface in which users can configure Horizon33's features. The program has multiple options for determining what's captured, including full screen, … Read more

Apple fixes download bug for iPhone OS 3.1.3 users

iPhone owners still using OS 3.1.3 can once again install new apps from the App Store.

Users running the older OS reported on Apple's Support Communities over the past week that they were unable to download and install new apps directly onto their iPhone and iPod Touch devices, though they could update existing apps and sync new apps from iTunes. The glitch seemed specific to OS 3.1.3, though some iPhone 4S users with iOS 5 reported a similar problem.

As of yesterday afternoon, forum users started chiming in that the download bug had been squashed.… Read more

iPhone OS 3.1.3 users unable to download new apps

iPhone owners still running OS 3.1.3 are apparently bumping into trouble trying to download new apps from Apple's App Store.

Several users of the older OS have chimed in on Apple's Support Communities reporting that they can update existing apps and sync apps from iTunes to their phones, but they can't install new apps directly to their devices.

One commenter described the problem in part as follows:

Whenever I go into a specific app in the app store, none of the buttons work properly. 1) clicking on the price no longer downloads the app, 2) … Read more