The Download Blog

A potentially invaluable tool for math students or engineers, this tightly focused program draws and analyzes two-dimensional graphs. Within these limits, Graph offers most of the features any mathematically minded computer user could ask for.

Standard, parameter, and polar functions are supported. It includes a huge number of predefined functions, but new ones can be added. Tangents, normals, and derivatives can be drawn. Users can add relations and set constraints. The program can calculate the length or area of a selected function, or determine its first and second derivatives. From a cosmetic point of view, users can freely adjust axes, … Read more

Power-packed beyond Registry tweaks, RegToy focuses on Registry edits to optimize your computer performance--but novices shouldn't expect much hand-holding. Though the tweak options are carefully labeled, users must know the consequences of altering them, as the few onscreen notes don't provide adequate assistance. You can restore the Registry settings to the Windows default, but that's an emergency final resort, as it will undo many changes made by you and other programs. RegToy also includes a poorly explained feature for saving and loading settings.

Other features include a file renamer, a file shredder, a start-up manager, an uninstall … Read more

iTunes makes it really easy to put music from your computer onto your iPod--unfortunately, the reverse is not true. If you want to get music from your iPod onto your computer--say, if you had a hard-drive failure, or you just bought a new Mac--you either need to know how to use Terminal or you need an app like Senuti.

This cleverly named utility essentially does what iTunes does backwards, acting as an "iPod ripper" that lets you move your music, playlists, videos, everything, onto your Mac. Senuti has been around for a few years, but it's still … Read more

As you might have noticed, Power Downloader hasn't been around for the past few weeks. Even on vacation and out of range of a Wi-Fi signal, Power D's been able to look up any question he has on Wikipedia. He managed that little superheroic feat with a sharp program called WikiTaxi.

WikiTaxi compresses all of Wikipedia into a database that's searchable, fully usable, and small enough to fit on an 8 GB USB drive. Power D knew not to be skeptical about the entries getting old because WikiTaxi grabs the Wikipedia database dump every few weeks. There'… Read more

Originally intended for blogging, but customizable into just about any configuration, WordPress is the Firefox of cross-platform content management systems, including the iPhone. Extensible and proud of it, the program itself is known for having one of the simplest installations of any CMS available.

The download is a ZIP file that comes with instructions on how to install it to your server, requiring an FTP client and administrator-level rights. Documentation for the ''five-minute install'' at its Web site is extensive, clear, and concise. The WordPress support forums haven't failed me yet in answering even my most difficult questions.

Without … Read more

This past July, Facebook's excellent iPhone application joined similar apps for BlackBerry and Palm to bring core Facebook features to mobile socializers in a distinctive Facebook wrapper. Curiously, there's no official software for the Windows Mobile platform, and no word that a program is in the works. In fact, Facebook has kept mum to my inquiries, and Microsoft's Windows Mobile team responded with evasive PR nonsense.

That doesn't mean social butterflies of the Windows Mobile breed are left in a lurch. Two software companies have stepped up to bring their own freeware versions of Facebook to … Read more

We've talked about Simplify Media here before as a great way to listen to music from your friends' iTunes music libraries (Windows and Mac). In fact, Simplify Media was one of our 10 best downloads of 2007. The minute you fire it up, you'll see why--as long as you and your friend both have a free account with Simplify Media, you can stream and listen to each others entire music collections on both Windows and Mac. But, the latest release of Simplify Media for iPhone and iPod Touch lets you take all of that music with you.

To … Read more

Mp3tag is a super-sweet and lightweight little app for cleaning up the mess you've made of your ID3 tags. But don't take my word for it: in the words of a user, it's "simply indispensable." Now, I'd disagree with that if I was using a music jukebox like MediaMonkey that supplies its own excellent editor, but for iTunes users--and I used to be one--I'd be hard-pressed to get by without it.

The autotag feature comes from a rarely-wrong pedigree, sourced by FreeDB, Amazon, or discogs. If you don't like the results from … Read more

When all you've got is a hammer, every problem looks suspiciously like a nail. RarZilla is a great little utility for automatically "unraring" RAR archives, but it's incompatible with any other archive format. Depending on what you're looking for, the program--which is also available in a portable version--is either just the tool you need or woefully inadequate.

The program does a wonderful job of unzipping--sorry, unraring--RARs, and it provides three methods for achieving that lofty goal. You can select the "RarZilla!" option from the context menu associated with any RAR file in … Read more