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SoundCloud is meant to allow people who work with audio files a lot to manage their workloads and their libraries. The idea is to use SoundCloud to listen to sound files from others and to share your own. To do so, you need to set up a SoundCloud account. SoundCloud installs easily on Mac OS X 10.6 or later.

The SoundCloud interface is similar to iTunes: there's a list of folders and playlists on the left, a middle pane that lists music files, and a panel on the right with more information about a selected file. There's … Read more

With energy costs perpetually rising, you don't have to be all that green to want to reduce your energy use and expenditures. Energy Cost Calculator from AB-Tools is freeware that calculates how much energy your appliances use, and how much it's costing you. It's easy to use, but you'll need to know your electric utility rates, usage habits, and appliance types for the program to calculate your energy costs. Energy Cost Calculator's database includes many examples, and you can add new ones, too.

Energy Cost Calculator's compact interface opened with an optional tool tip … Read more

Cloudmark Desktop One is an antispam tool for small and medium businesses, but it's free for personal use. It protects your e-mail account from spam, phishing, and viruses. It automatically configures itself to your e-mail account, but it works independently to protect you from threats even when your e-mail client is closed. It supports Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, and Mozilla Thunderbird with its optional integrated toolbar, and Gmail, Yahoo, Lycos, Hotmail, FastMail, and AOL without the toolbar. It offers separate downloads for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Vista, and 7. We tried the 64-bit version in … Read more

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

We should all know the dangers of browsing the Web without any protection. That's why it's best to take the proper precautions. One way to do that is to hide your IP address from prying eyes. Surf Anonymous Free offers a way to disguise your IP address while you browse. It worked as promised, though our browsing performance suffered, often with connections that timed out.

The program's user interface is basic and to the point. Your real IP address appears in the small window, and from there, you have two options: Hide IP and Select Fake Location. … Read more

If you use more than one computer or more than one browser, you have probably experienced the frustration of not having access to a particular bookmark that you need. Fortunately, bookmarks are something that you can easily sync across machines or browsers thanks to Xmarks for Internet Explorer. This simple extension keeps your bookmarks consistent across locations, ensuring that you always have access to the sites you need.

Xmarks for Internet Explorer installs easily and then guides you through a setup wizard to create an Xmarks account if you don't already have one. Xmarks then backs up your bookmarks … Read more

If you're big on reading you no doubt have your book collection displayed on a bookcase, maybe even with some semblance of organization. If you enjoy electronic books in addition to--or instead of--their paper counterparts, why not organize them as well? eLib is a basic program you can use to create collections of e-books for easy organization and viewing.

The program's interface is plain, with a tree view on the left that displays user-defined collections. Clicking on a collection allows you to view the contents either as a list or as a group of thumbnails. To view an … Read more

Perhaps the surest sign that Google Chrome is making inroads in the browser wars is the appearance of free extensions like AutoCopy. It does something simple but useful: when you select text in Chrome, AutoCopy automatically copies it to the system Clipboard, much like Unix does.

To install AutoCopy, we merely had to open it in Chrome. We re-opened Chrome, clicked Tools/Extensions, and clicked AutoCopy's options, which offered a few choices for how it copies text, such as Enable copy on select and Copy when selecting inside text boxes (Copy as simple text is already selected because of … Read more

Nebula Business Suite provides an impressive collection of tools for operating a small business office. While overwhelming at first, the program's results are worth the effort.

We felt the program's packed interface was its weakest element, though not for lack of direction. The various commands and options took a few minutes to sort out, but with guidance from the Help file we found a wealth of tools for monitoring expenses, creating quotes, writing checks, creating an invoice, and managing inventory. Creating these items was no more difficult than filling out an online order form. The longer we tinkered … Read more