Wed, 23 May 2012 03:16:48 +0000 http://www.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:53:52 +0000 Tue, 15 May 2012 09:53:52 +0000 http://flashfxp.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

I remember getting an original 8-bit Nintendo for Christmas back in 1992. One of the games that I enjoyed the most was Tetris. It was challenging, fun, entertaining, and all the rage back in the day. This is one of the reasons why I really like Tetris Zone. It’s a fun, multi-platform game for your PC.
Tetris Zone offers four modes of play, from the simple, yet challenging 15-level Marathon mode to an instant hard-drop variation, and more. The game's stunning 3D graphics make the Tetris experience exciting as you experience new levels of play.
Tetris has four game variations to keep you entertained for hours. It also includes a full instant replay mode, so you can relive your best game, including your all-time hi-score and your daily best. You can automatically upload your scores to a world-wide Leader Board and compare your ranking against players from the around the world. Tetris is an authentic retro-Tetris game designed and optimized specifically for Windows and OS X.
Pros: Fun, easy to play.
Cons: The music for this game has always been distracting to me. I find it easier to play with the sound off.
Conclusion: Tetris Zone is a decent game and it’s a lot of fun. The graphics are good, and the sound is decent. I had a lot of fun with this, and it brought back a lot of fun memories. If you're looking for Tetris, this is a great implementation; and is a lot of fun.]]>

Fri, 11 May 2012 07:32:42 +0000 Fri, 11 May 2012 07:32:42 +0000 http://tetris-1.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Having a Mac usually means having a lot of multimedia on your PC. Having a lot of multimedia on your PC usually means you're going to need a tool to help you capture and preserve it. That's one of the reasons why I really like Toast Titanium. It's one of the premier multimedia tools available for your Mac.
Toast is the fastest way to capture video from your AVCHD camcorder, with no lengthy imports.  You can use just about any HD video source. With it, you can create stunning Blu-ray video or HD DVD discs for playback on compatible set top players as well as your PC.
Toast allows you to edit video clips.  You can trim start and end points, remove unwanted segments in the middle of video clips before export, or even apply audio effects.  You can capture any streaming Internet audio on your Mac, without interference from other apps or system sounds. Toast's MusicID automatically adds artist and title tags to captured music for easy syncing to your iTunes library.
Capturing streaming web video is just as easy with Toast.  You can save streaming video from your favorite web sites and then burn the content to DVD for viewing on your big-screen TV. Toast can even send it automatically to iTunes for syncing with your favorite iDevice.
You can digitize and restore your LP's and tapes, without the pops, clicks and hisses. Toast's audio filters and tools help you clean up your audio and then burn it to CD or DVD, or send to iTunes for syncing with your iDevice.  Ripping audiobook CDs to iTunes, with chapters, pause/resume support and variable playback speeds is also easy with Toast. You can convert for enjoyment on iPad, iPhone, or your favorite on-the-go-device with just a few clicks.
Pros: Easy audio and video capturing and editing
Cons: Expensive
Conclusion: Toast Titanium is THE audio and video editing and capture application for your PC or Mac.  There are very few apps out there, in my opinion that are better at these tasks than Toast. It's that good. The biggest problem, however with this app, is its price. At $79.99 as of this writing, it’s a bit on the pricey side unless you do a lot of audio-video editing on a regular basis or have a large project ahead of you, like converting your VHS-based home movies to DVD.]]>

Wed, 09 May 2012 07:04:22 +0000 Wed, 09 May 2012 07:04:22 +0000 http://toast-titanium.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Keeping your PC free from malware isn't always easy. Even with a malware scanner, it's not always easy to keep your PC clean. When it comes to removing tenacious malware, like rootkits, I'm glad there're tools like TDSSKiller. It’s a malware removal tool for Windows.
A rootkit is a program or a group of programs kit that hide the presence of malware on your system. A rootkit for Windows systems penetrates into the system and intercepts the system functions, replacing the proper instructions with their own. Moreover it can hide the presence of particular processes, folders, files and registry keys. Some rootkits install its own drivers and services in the system. They also remain "invisible."
Kaspersky Lab developed the TDSSKiller utility enabling the removal of rootkits. The utility supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems; and can be run in Normal and Safe Mode. TDSSKiller detects and removes malware family Rootkit.Win32.TDSS, bootkits, as well as rootkits.
Pros: Free, Removes stubborn rootkits and bootkits
Cons: Only removes specific malware
Conclusion: Rootkits are a very serious problem. They can be very destructive, and are very difficult to remove. TDSSKiller is a decent rootkit removal tool, but it doesn't remove any other kind of malware. If you have a rootkit, give TDSSKiller a try. It should remove the problem and leave you with a clean, manageable system.
 ]]>

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:25:39 +0000 Mon, 07 May 2012 09:25:39 +0000 http://tdsskiller.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Digital photos...EVERYONE is taking them. Everyone is sharing them. Everyone is, well...wondering just what the heck to do WITH them once their taken. This is one of the reasons why I really like applications like HP Photo Creations – Image Zone. It’s a multi-platform digital photo creation app.
HP Photo Creations is free software that lets you easily create photo books, calendars, collages, greeting cards and other keepsakes that can be printed at home or shipped to you. With HP Photo Creations, you can quickly and easily make beautiful keepsakes with just a few mouse clicks; or you can take your time and customize them.  The application has over 1,800 high quality artwork designs, 1,300 placeable graphics, text boxes, custom fonts, borders, and dozens of photo editing tools.
With HP Photo Creations, you can easily create cards, calendars, photo books, and much more. You can customize your projects with backgrounds, styled text, hundreds of graphics and thousands of border styles. Drawing experience from film, television, and special effects, when you choose the Automatic Smart Arrangement option, the software analyzes your photos and arranges them into colorful, multi-layered designs that truly tell your story.
HP Photo Creations allows you to personalize almost every aspect of your project using text and graphics. You can use effects such as tinting, blending and airbrushing. Best of all, you can instantly add your design to any item and the real-time 3D preview will show you exactly how your finished project will look—there's no need to start over.
Pros: Free, easy and fun to use, home and "ship to" printing options
Cons: Your PC will need processing power to apply all included effects
Conclusion: HP Photo Creations - Image Zone is a lot of fun to use. The fact that projects can be printed at home or for shipment to your home is cool. This means you can purchase hard cover photo books and can truly preserve your memories for years and generations to come.]]>

Mon, 07 May 2012 06:37:24 +0000 Mon, 07 May 2012 06:37:24 +0000 http://www.soft32.com/windows/photo-design/digital-photo-tools/hp-photo-creations Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Finding the right piece of clip art for your video or still photo project or even a presentation for work or school can be difficult at times. In many cases even if you find the right clip, there are copyright considerations that come to play when you actually try to download and use a clean, unwatermarked version. It can often get very messy...and expensive. That's one of the reasons why I like Open Clip Art Library. It’s a multiplatform clipart library.The Open Clip Art Library project aims to create an archive of clip art that can be used for any reason, free of charge. All graphics submitted to the project should have been waived of all rights, including copyright, according to the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. The project was started in early 2004 and all images are donated to the public domain by their contributors. They are stored in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format, often with thumbnails in Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format.  The release of Open Clip Art Library 2.0 introduces a new content management system made for Open Clip Art Library 2.0 that allows anyone to edit the website easily. Pro’s: Thousands of free clip art images, FreeCon’s: Distribution is hard to locate, library is large and may take time to search through for the exact image you want.Conclusion: The best way to find a recent distribution of the OCAL is through Soft32's product URL.  I had a hard time locating the most current distribution on OCAL's website.  After the library is installed, it's easy to use the images any way you want. You'll likely spend hours trying to find the right one for your needs, the library is THAT vast.  This is a great resource and one that just about everyone should have.]]>

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:56:48 +0000 Fri, 04 May 2012 11:56:48 +0000 http://www.soft32.com/windows/photo-design/illustration/open-clip-art-library Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Back in the day, "in the dark time...before the Empire," I remember using a Diamond Multimedia MP3 player to listen to a new kind of music format, called MP3's. Armed with a 8MB memory card, I was able to put about eight to ten songs on it before it filled up. I remember using this thing for about 4 or so years before I broke down and bought my first iPod. In the early days, before iTunes, MusicMatch JukeBox was the thing. It's still around and still a decent MP3 player for your Windows PC. MusicMatch JukeBox is a digital audio player which features a playlist library, CD ripping, and CD playback.  Its latest versions also touted online radio streaming and an online music store. The application has been around since 1992; and was originally developed by its founding company MusicMatch. Early versions only included simple jukebox features before becoming more advanced in later versions to include the ability to record mp3s from vinyl, cassette or microphone source. MusicMatch JukeBox is compatible for Windows NT/98/2000/XP.  It is possible to install MusicMatch JukeBox 10.0 on Windows 7; but only if you install the program in XP compatibility mode.  Most users consider any version prior to when Yahoo! acquired MusicMatch JukeBox as a preferred version.  Yahoo! incorporated too many changes leading to the software becoming bloated and confusing. MusicMatch JukeBox was discontinued in 2008. Pro’s: Easy to manage playlist library, AutoDJ feature creates playlists suited to your likes, easy to use, sleek UI.Con’s: Doesn't support Windows Vista and 7 without installing in Compatibility Mode; and may not run well afterwards; Plays audio only, Conclusion: MusicMatch JukeBox is old and a bit long in the tooth.  However, on older, underpowered systems that run XP or earlier, this is probably the best music player available. Stay away from Yahoo! powered versions of the app, as they are bloated and problematic. Your best bet is to use version 7.5, as it was the best one, prior to the Yahoo! acquisition.]]>

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:49:00 +0000 Fri, 04 May 2012 11:49:00 +0000 http://musicmatch-jukebox.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Sometimes, a word processor is just too much pomp for the circumstance. Having the right tool for the right job is important. My grandfather, a master carpenter, pounded this into my head as a child. This is one of the reasons why I really like EditPlus for coding and other programmatic tasks. It’s a text editor for Windows.EditPlus is a Windows-based text, HTML, PHP, Java editor and Hex Viewer. Its a good Notepad replacement, but it also offers many powerful features for programmers and Web page authors.EditPlus features syntax highlighting for HTML, PHP, Java, C/C++, CSS, ASP, Perl, JavaScript, VBScript, Python and Ruby on Rails. it can also be extended for other programming languages based on custom syntax files. It contains a seamless web browser for previewing HTML pages, and contains support for FTP commands for uploading local files directly to your FTP server. Other EditPlus features include a Hex Viewer, HTML toolbar, user tools, line number, ruler, URL highlighting, auto completion, clip text, column selection, powerful search and replace, multiple undo/redo, spell checker, and customizable keyboard shortcuts.Pro’s: Versatile, coding features, built in browser and support for FTP commandsCon’s: Expensive for a text editorConclusion: EditPlus is a decent text editor and programming tool. Its coding features make it a great choice for coding work and many of them will come in handy. As a text editor, it’s a bit on the pricey side at $35USD as of this writing. The value, however, to individuals that do a lot of coding is clear. If you're a contract programmer and need to provide your own tools or if you're a serious amateur, EditPlus is a great choice.]]>

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:08:50 +0000 Fri, 04 May 2012 09:08:50 +0000 http://editplus.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Anyone with children has this problem – you've got CD/DVD's running around the house without the protection of their jewel cases, and they're scratched beyond belief. Disc Doctors and other physical repair tools are great for optical discs, but not for other faulty media like floppies, hard drives and flash drives.  This is the reason why I like AnyReader. It’s a must have data utility for Windows.AnyReader copies files from scratched CD/DVD/Blu-ray or defective floppy or hard disks. When your computer is unable to copy files from a damaged disk it aborts and deletes the part of the file it has copied. AnyReader will continue copying the file right to the end. Any data that hasn't been recovered after several retries is replaced with blanks. This will allow you to effectively read every byte of information that can be read at all for the media in question so that it can be copied to the destination of choice.AnyReader effectively copies corrupt data from erroneous network and/or internet connections if standard copying methods fail. It supports resumed downloads from the remote server if the connection was broken during the copy process.  This is especially useful for unreliable or spotty Wi-Fi networks.
Pro’s: Recovers seemingly unrecoverable data, works on physical media and network connectionsCon’s: Data that is completely unrecoverable is replaced with blanks, which will adversely affect the state of executables. Isn't multi-platformConclusion: AnyReader is an awesome tool. If you're trying to pull data off corrupt or damaged discs or media and nothing else you do seems to work, AnyReader is the type of application that can save your bacon. Its affordable and reasonably priced and is a welcomed edition to my stable of utilities.  The only real downside to the app is that it won't work with Macs or Mac discs. This would be a stone-cold ringer if it was a multi-platform utility.]]>

Fri, 04 May 2012 08:31:12 +0000 Fri, 04 May 2012 08:31:12 +0000 http://anyreader.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Let's face it. You use Facebook to keep up with your friends and family. You share pictures, stories, and stuff, and it’s a lot of fun. When it comes to connecting with friends, sometimes, getting the cute fluff out of the way so you can chat with yo' peeps is just what is needed. This is the reason why I really like fTalk. It’s a multiplatform chat client, specifically designed to work with Facebook. fTalk enhances your social media experience by taking Facebook to the next level. With fTalk, you can chat with your Facebook friends directly from your desktop, without having to run a browser and surf to Facebook. fTalk enables you to chat with your friends even when you're at work or in a public environment where you don't necessarily want to; or can't open Facebook. You can see which of your friends have logged in, you can change your status, use emoticons and even video chat! fTalk offers a fun and light Facebook chat experience; and its free.Pro’s: Free! Doesn't require an open, active Facebook windowCon’s: Very 1990-ish, Facebook onlyConclusion: fTalk is a decent app. It allows you to chat with your FB friends even without having an active FB session going in your browser. It's very much like Skype for Facebook; or something similar. The app is great. I like it. However its only real value is that it automatically integrates with your FB account and pulls in all your FB Friends.  You could manually do that with Skype Windows Live Messenger, AIM or any other chat client that also supported video. While this doesn't kill the application's usefulness, it does limit you to just chatting or video calling to only your FB friends, and if someone does want to chat or video chat with you, they have to be your Facebook friend first.]]>

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:18:12 +0000 Fri, 04 May 2012 07:18:12 +0000 http://ftalk.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

The installation is simple and straightforward. However, I personally chose the custom method to avoid installing their toolbar. When you open Ashampoo Photo Commander, you'll can simply locate your photo collection in order to edit and to use your favorite shots to create slideshows, albums, collages, cards, calendars and more. Ashampoo Photo Commander also includes a handful of filters and special effects. 
One thing that I find really useful is the batch processing tools which allow you to convert, edit or add filters to a group of selected photos. Also, comparative with version 8, the latest version introduces an improved wizard to make the process much simpler and the quick-fix mode has been improved, adding an automatic red-eye removal tool and better eraser tool. When you're playing with the effects, you can see now “before” and “after” shots of the photo. Also, the video playback has been improved, and video files can now be easily rotated during playback. 
Another interesting feature is the Capture Mode. You can capture windows or just parts of the screen and you can take multiple captures at a time. The captured images can be modified later in the built-in image editor. Before capturing the screen, you can set some options including the color of the applied shadows or the shape of the captured images. Also, you can burn your images directly to a CD or DVD as an animated slide show or upload them to your homepage as an interactive photo album.
Pluses: You can burn your images directly to a CD or DVD,  editing tools with anti-aliasing for all objects for smooth images and high quality, great collection of photo tools.Drawbacks / flaws: A little bit complicated to figure if you're a new user.In conclusion: Compact, well designed, with a fully customizable GUI, integrating photo editing, video, and audio file management, Ahampoo Photo Commander is a very useful photo suite that lets you manage, view, optimize and add a personal touch to your photos.version reviewed: 9.4.0]]>

Fri, 04 May 2012 06:56:11 +0000 Fri, 04 May 2012 06:56:11 +0000 http://www.soft32.com/windows/photo-design/illustration/ashampoo-photo-commander Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

The World Wide Web is a big place; and it's easy to get lost when trolling around the internets.  Keeping track of where you are and what you're looking for isn't as straight forward as you think. This is one of the reasons why I like browser add-ins like Google Toolbar. It’s a multi-platform, multi-browser compatible add-on.
Google Toolbar is designed to help you find what you're looking for quickly; and to discover new things along the way. Google Toolbar lets you search Google from anywhere on the web. Start typing your search and you'll see selectable suggestions for what you might be looking for display instantly. Your searches will highlight search terms on your current page, and will even jump to relevant sections of the page via three easy-to-use tools.
Google Tool bar incorporates Google+, making it easy to share interesting things from across the web. It's easy to keep up with the people you care about. When you encounter search results in a different language, don't worry.  The Toolbar can automatically translate all of the text for you via Google Translate.
Pros: Free, easy to install and use.
Cons: It's easy to get overloaded with toolbars. Works best in Google's Chrome browser, but will work with all modern browsers.
Conclusion: Google Toolbar helps you make your browser your own.  This cool customization gives you easy access to your bookmarks, contains custom buttons, and has a display designed to feature only the tools you actually use.  The add-in is free and works with all browsers, but if you're using anything else other than Chrome, expect to see a bit of a performance hit.  It's been our experience that tools designed to run natively in Chrome don't always run well in other browsers.]]>

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:52:26 +0000 Thu, 03 May 2012 11:52:26 +0000 http://google-toolbar.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

When Adobe created the PDF document (PDF stands for Portable Document Format), it hoped that it would be creating a standard. I don't think they thought it would be as successful or as lasting as it has been. I also don't think they thought it would foster the creation of so many different applications and companies that support the format with third party products.
It's actually quite amazing. Everyone uses PDF's now-a-days to create near source, identically-formatted documents for secure distribution to friends and colleagues who need the information, but (authors) don't want/need readers to edit them. This is why I like apps like Foxit PDF Editor.  It’s a PDF creating and editing tool for Windows.
We all need to create or archive professional looking personal documents, collaborate with teammates, design company forms, produce company collateral, finalize agreements, apply digital signatures. Foxit PDF Editor is one of the leading solutions for home/home offices, small and medium sized businesses, and large enterprises in this space. It comes in three versions to fit the diverse use cases that different users require.
Foxit PDF Editor Express is great for home/home office or business users. It helps you create standards PDF files. You can create PDF's directly from MS Office with one button click; or batch create PDF documents from other common formats. You can also use its convenient annotation tools to add comments, notes and other annotations. Foxit PDF Editor Express provides a quick and easy way to get the job done.
Foxit PDF Editor Standard is ideal for any size business. Foxit PDF Editor Standard expands upon Foxit PDF Editor Express by allowing you to directly edit the text in the PDF document. After you are done editing, Foxit PDF Editor Standard's robust security features keep your business documents safe.  You can include password and certificate encryption, and a digital signature. Its form design tools let you develop forms. Its import tools allow data to be automatically imported into forms; and custom JavaScript actions allow increased forms customization.
Foxit PDF Editor Business is robust for the needs of businesses. Foxit PDF Editor Business expands upon Foxit PDF Editor Standard by providing the security that helps companies meet regulatory compliance and corporate governance for their important documents and archives. It ensures documents don't change after they are approved. You can extend the usage control benefits of Microsoft's Active Directory Rights Management Service to all your PDF documents.  Author can control document features within each PDF, where they can certify documents and set permitted actions.
Pros: Easy to install and use, wide variety of features and price tiers
Cons: Business Edition is a tad expensive
Conclusion: Foxit PDF Editor is a decent application. Its product tiers and price points are consistent with similar offerings. The application is easy to use, and its Express edition is going to offer what most people are going to need at a reasonable price. Creating is as easy as printing, and editing is as easy as opening the PDF and very much like using your word processor of choice. This is a great app at a very reasonable price.
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Thu, 03 May 2012 07:09:06 +0000 Thu, 03 May 2012 07:09:06 +0000 http://foxit-pdf-editor.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Let's face it. Gaming is a lot more fun when you play with people you like. Not every networkable game supports gaming across the internet, though. This is one of the reasons why I like Tunngle. It’s a network gaming utility for Windows.
Tunngle makes multiplayer games enjoyable, regardless of your location. Tunngle is a P2P VPN gaming client, enabling LAN party mode via the Internet. Any game with a built-in LAN mode, whether old or new, can be played over the internet through Tunngle.
In order to accomplish its magic, Tunngle installs a VPN driver. The driver is included with the app. There isn't a separate executable for this. The VPN driver is required for use with the Tunngle network. The app also requires you to create a free network account in order to access its resources.
The app's main display has active networks on the left hand side, as well as under the Community tab. Tunngle comes with a number of these already active, of course. A double click can get you going. For users who know the games they are looking for, searching for an active game is easy.
The app also supports Calendar Dates The integrated event calendar helps you find and remind you of scheduled game. The app's Network settings and optics adjustments can be found under the System tab. Here you can configure options for your network router, as well audio settings and the app's general look and feel.
Pros: Play any networkable game over the internet, Player blacklist support, community forums, free.
Cons: documentation is difficult to understand.
Conclusion: Tunngle is a decent app, once you figure out how to use it. The basic version is free. Evaluating it, however was difficult, as the publisher's first language is not English; and the translator software they used did a horrible job with all of their documentation.]]>

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:05:20 +0000 Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:05:20 +0000 http://tunngle.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:31:23 +0000 Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:31:23 +0000 http://proshow-gold.soft32.com Soft32.com support@soft32.com http://www.soft32.com