modify

If your computer can't keep up with your games, it may be time to give it a boost. For a small fee, this program wants to change a few settings on your computer to make things run faster. Sadly, the GameGain trial version doesn't make good on its promises; you won't notice any performance upgrade in any of your favorite games.

The program offers a free trial that lasts for 29 days, while the full version costs $12.99. You can't unlock GameGain's "fastest" setting" without paying up, though. The program occasionally … Read more

Is your older computer struggling to keep up with the latest and greatest games? GameBoost claims to save you from having to boost your hardware by giving you more performance through software tweaks. However, any changes the trial version makes aren't noticeable at all. In fact, the program doesn't boost your computer's power or speed one bit.

The trial version of the program offers most of the performance tweaks for 29 days. The "fastest" performance upgrade isn't available unless you buy, though. GameBoost requires some administrator access to work, which makes you think it … Read more

The Windows desktop can be a fairly ordinary place, no matter what kind of background or wallpaper you use. The problem is right in front of you: boring rows of shortcuts. You can sort them by name, date, and type, if that's your idea of a good time, but that's about it. But then we downloaded Onekit's Desktop Modify. This simple freeware lets you arrange your desktop icons in a wide range of shapes, including circles, stars, crosses, and many more. There are up to 77 shapes in five categories: Basic Shapes, Christmas, Nature, Objects, and Others. … Read more

Modifier keys for Mac systems are the Shift, Control, Option (Alt), Command, and Caps Lock keys. The commands triggered by combinations of these keys can greatly speed up how you use your computer, but it can slow you down again if you switch to a keyboard with an unfamiliar layout.

While most Mac keyboards have these keys in the same relative locations, so you don't have to change your typing habits, there are situations in which you may end up using something different, such as if you take a laptop to the office and plug in whatever keyboard you … Read more

Most people have at least experimented with Paint, the built-in--and rather basic--graphics painting application that comes with Windows. Although the best that many of us can do with Paint is to create Kindergarten-caliber artwork, there are actually skilled artists who use these types of programs. If you're one of them, mtPaint might be worth checking out. It's not the most intuitive program we've ever seen, but it packs a lot of useful features for both creating and editing works of digital art.

The basics of mtPaint's interface are fairly intuitive, with a color selector down the … Read more

We're fans of lightweight PDF readers, which tend to load much faster than the big-name tools, even the free ones. We looked at eXpert PDF Reader, which displays PDF files and even offers some editing features. It's free and can serve as your default PDF software.

With a ribbon-style toolbar and contrasting highlights, eXpert PDF Reader's interface has a familiar look and feel, but with some unique touches, such as a Start button in the upper left corner of the interface. Clicking this button let us open, save, e-mail and print documents and access document properties, functions … Read more

Drug companies have long used plants to produce pharmaceuticals--and tobacco plants, perhaps ironically, have been explored for their potential role in fighting such things as cancer, cavities, scorpion venom, and more.

The latest big news, announced at a press conference in London this morning, is that U.K. regulators have, for the first time, approved a human clinical trial of a monoclonal antibody produced using genetically modified tobacco plants.

Monoclonal antibodies are made from identical immune cells that have been cloned from a unique parent cell to fulfill a specific role. The roots of this idea, which date back more … Read more

FFT stands for Find Files Time. It's a free tool that shows when files in a folder are modified with a high degree of specificity and accuracy. Users can view which files were modified and when in days, hours, minutes, and seconds, or search for files based on when they were modified. You can also use it like a fast file counter. It's portable freeware that requires no installation, but it does require Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or higher, which isn't a problem for Vista and Windows 7 users.

We extracted FFT's compact executable and … Read more

Intel has until 2013 to add an interface to the tablet-centric version of its Atom processor, as device makers are targeting the chip for Netbooks, the Federal Trade Commission said in a "modified settlement order" today.

"The agreement reached in August is now final but there is a minor modification to it," Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said today. "That modification is related to Oak Trail, which is for a tablet computer design. Some OEMs (device makers) have decided to design it into a Netbook-type device and under the definitions of the agreement, that made it … Read more