Shareware

CNET staff — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:10:08 PST

Developer 4Team specializes in add-ins, "software solutions integrated into Microsoft Office and Outlook," which are the business world's essential tools. Their ShareCalendar lets users share Microsoft Outlook Calendar folders without a server, both online and offline. You can share information with it from within Outlook and other Office applications, such as customized Outlook calendars with your own forms and even imported items. You can specify different folders for different groups of people, and even "subscribe" data for clients and coworkers. It also synchronizes shared Outlook items with handheld devices or between a PC and laptop.

Like the 4Team Web site, ShareCalendar's interface densely packs a lot of useful information in the available space, but it's well laid out and easy to grasp, and there's extensive assistance from the Help file as well as the product site. ShareCalendar must be installed on each user's computer. The program integrates seamlessly with Microsoft's familiar applications. When you update your shared folder, ShareCalendar automatically synchronizes and updates each subscribed users' calendars, too. Despite considerable choices for sharing this folder with that user, it's surprisingly easy to configure, thanks in part to a welcome Wizard process that walks you through each step.

ShareCalendar is free to try for 14 days and costs $24.95. It's certified for Windows 98 to 7 and all versions of Microsoft Office from 2000 on, including the 2010 beta release, which means early adopters are covered and those planning to upgrade already know their systems will be compatible.

Log in with your face

Seth Rosenblatt — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:00:00 PST

KeyLemon logs you in to your computer by using your face. More than just a glorified Webcam tool, it regularly checks to make sure that it really is you using the computer. The latest version of the app also comes with a neat Firefox plug-in called LemonFox, for added protection when logging into Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Once installed, the program's Wizard will walk you through creating a profile of your face, and link it to your computer's log-in. From there, KeyLemon defaults to checking the Webcam every 10 seconds, although you can always bypass it with your text-based log-in. If the face in front of the Webcam isn't yours, KeyLemon locks the computer--but not before taking a photo of the hijacker. KeyLemon will also lock the computer if it detects that nobody in front of the computer. You can change how often it checks the Webcam, create multiple profiles, toggle the log-in feature on and off, set it to run at start-up, and create your own skins. Just like the main program, the LemonFox plug-in opens to a tutorial to get your started and it uses the Webcam to prevent unauthorized access--at least on the computer that has KeyLemon installed. Hopefully, LemonFox will be able to support more Web sites in the future.

KeyLemon was largely, but not completely, problem-free. The most common software issue occurred when waking the computer. It would occasionally not recognize the face in the front of the Webcam. Also, it crashed the computer when jumping from the laptop dock to undocked mode. The biggest problem though was lighting. If the lights on your face are too strong, the program can't discern your features and it won't function. Overall, though, it seems like a solid software tool for adding an extra layer of security to your computer. Just don't expect it to fully replace your text-based or fingerprint log-in.

Self-help snake oil

CNET staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:38:53 PST

Mystic Board is at it again, providing useless, atrociously designed software under the guise of offering personal insight and self-improvement. MB Motivation And Self Help is a suite of Mystic Board programs that we've encountered before individually, and we're sorry to say that packaging these programs together did not make them any less ridiculous.

The three programs included in MB Motivation And Self Help are Subliminal Message Software, Hypnosis, and Color Therapy. All three of these are encased in horrible interfaces that are cluttered with Mystic Board advertising. We started with the Subliminal Message Software, which was laughable. Users select things that they want to focus on--finding a mate, dealing with depression, and so on--and the program flashes related affirmations on the computer screen. The program's interface flashes at the same time, however, which interrupts whatever you're doing and surely distracts you from the subliminal message. Next we tried the Hypnosis program. This offered three visual focus items, a pendulum, a color square, and a color wheel, and users are supposed to somehow hypnotize themselves by staring at them. The Color Therapy section offered a handful of options for stress management, energy, etc., all of which consisted of staring at blocks of color for an extended period of time. Though all three of these strategies have the potential to be helpful if used correctly, the way that this program presents them makes it obvious that Mystic Board is more concerned with making money than helping people.

MB Motivation And Self Help is free. The program installs a desktop icon without asking and leaves a folder behind upon removal. We do not recommend this program.

Error-prone genealogy program

CNET staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:36:46 PST

Osk is a mediocre genealogy program that allows users to create basic family trees. Although it works, its lack of features and some functional problems left us unimpressed.

The program's interface is basic and intuitive enough, allowing users to add people and associate them with other family members. There's plenty of room to add information about each person, including video, images, and sound. However, when it came time to actually view the family tree, we were not impressed with the results. Although the program offers four formats for family trees, they ranged from confusing to downright nonsensical. There is a Help button, but clicking it does absolutely nothing, which furthered our frustration. Also frustrating was the fact that clicking on a person's name within a certain context--an action that one would intuitively expect to open that person's details--resulted in an error message and the program crashing. We tried this repeatedly, and got the same result every time. (At least it's consistent.) Overall, between the weird family tree layouts, lack of Help file, and error messages, we don't see much to recommend this program. It's fairly basic by design, but can't seem to manage even what it's designed to do.

Osk has a 30-day trial period. It comes as a ZIP file but installs and uninstalls without issues. We do not recommend this program; there are many other genealogy programs that are more functional and effective.

Unintuitive PDF maker

CNET staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:00:15 PST

pdfMachine is a multifeatured program that allows users to convert documents into PDF files with a variety of extra options. Unfortunately, although the actual conversion is quick and easy, we found the rest of the features quite unintuitive.

We tried several times to review this program and kept putting it aside, thinking that it wasn't making sense because we were tired or distracted or otherwise mentally unprepared to deal with it. We finally came to the conclusion that the problem wasn't with us. The program's interface looks nice enough, with a sleek design and attractive graphical buttons. We found it easy to create PDF files by printing directly to the program's virtual printer, but editing PDF files was another matter entirely. We found ourselves searching through menus trying to find the options we were looking for, and in many cases not having much luck at all. Some of the features, like the drawing tools and sticky notes, seemed like they would be quite useful, but we never were able to locate them within the program. The program's built-in Help file describes its features, but doesn't actually offer instructions for finding and using them. We spent a lot of time searching and being frustrated, and not much time editing our PDF. Although pdfMachine has the potential to be really useful, in the end it's just too difficult to use.

pdfMachine is free to try, but the trial version puts a watermark on the program's output. The program comes as a ZIP file but installs and uninstalls without issues. We do not recommend this program; there are many similar programs that are much easier to use.

Mediocre TV viewer

CNET staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:55:32 PST

There is a lot of television content available on the Internet now, both from traditional TV channels that stream their content online and channels that exist solely on the Web. We've seen quite a few programs that attempt to amalgamate all of this content into one big online TV viewer with hundreds of channels. PC Satellite TV BOX is another entry into this field, and as far as we can tell, the only thing that sets it apart from other similar programs is that it's not free.

Programs of this type are always imperfect, as they nearly always contain links to some streams that--temporarily or permanently--just don't work. It's difficult to evaluate the severity of this problem with PC Satellite TV BOX, as the trial version gives users access to only 10 channels (eight of which worked when we tested it, and one of which, called "Live Sports TV," showed nothing but a handful of French-language trailers for American movies). The trial version allows users to view the list of so-called VIP channels that are available when the program is purchased, and there are quite a few of them, but we cannot vouch for their quality. The program itself is functional but contains virtually no features; a list of channels on the left, the viewing area on the right, and that's about it. Not even a Help file.

PC Satellite TV BOX installs and uninstalls without issues, but we do not recommend it. There are many similar programs available with more features that are free.

Pointless tax prep

CNET staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:41:32 PST

Tax Assistant for Excel is a set of Excel worksheets that assist users in completing their income taxes using forms 1040 or 1040A. We're not sure why a user would want to use Excel for taxes when there are so many programs and Web sites that are better-suited to the job, and functional problems in Tax Assistant for Excel make it even less attractive.

The workbook presents users with Excel versions of IRS forms and workbooks with an introductory page that's supposed to provide instructions. Unfortunately, we kept receiving error messages about macros (although we had enabled macros in Excel), and clicking the arrows to expand the instructions resulted in a message about protected sheets. Although we suppose it would be possible to complete our taxes using the workbook anyway--it does come with PDFs of the official IRS instructions--in the end, we just didn't see the point. There are plenty of programs and Web sites that will walk users through the tax preparation process, make sure that users maximize their refunds (or minimize their liabilities), and then file the tax return electronically. Excel is a comparatively low-tech way to prepare one's taxes, and though this program may have been a good idea in the days before electronic filing was available, it's all but obsolete now.

Tax Assistant has a 10-day trial period. It installs and uninstalls without issues. We do not recommend this program; there are many more-efficient ways to do your taxes.

Space junk

CNET staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:33:00 PST

"That looks craptastic!" was the unsolicited, over-the-shoulder assessment of Space Fighter X11. Hopes that this colorful summary would prove inaccurate were dashed by several attempts at playing this game. The strolling critic was right: Space Fighter X11 is, indeed, craptastic.

The game's premise--frankly, we're surprised that the creators even bothered with one--is that the Wymacet Horde has attacked a space station, and players must investigate the damage. Aside from being told that the left mouse button shoots and the right accelerates, that's all we're to know about the game and how it's played; there's no other information and no Help file. It turns out that users must pilot a spacecraft down a long corridor, through a series of rings, dodging enemy fire--can you say "Death Star," Luke? Honestly, the graphics weren't really as bad as we'd expected them to be, but they weren't great, and the spacecraft was difficult to control. We can't say much about what the game's overall scenario since, despite multiple attempts, we couldn't get past the first level (we can only assume that the game has multiple levels) and we gave up. It was especially irritating to have to wait for the game to reload each time before we could play again.

Space Fighter X11 is free. It comes as a zip file but installs and uninstalls without issues. This game was poorly designed and not fun to play. We don't recommend it; there are better ways to entertain yourself.

A virtual world for teens

Webware staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:01:00 PST

Gaia Online is a large, forum-based social network that attracts mostly teenagers. Users can create avatars, earn virtual money by playing games, and interact with the virtual world. In this way, the service has created a realistic economy that exists solely online, attracting the attention of several well-known economists.

Gaia also includes a video hosting service and a marketplace driven by a micro economy among its members. The natural appeal of the site is due both to community and the built-in rewards system for participation.

Gaia Online was founded in 2003, and has more than 100,000 micro-transactions happening on its site every day. In addition to the games, Gaia Online also has active forums that have been host to more than a billion member posts. The service is ad-driven, so user registration is free.

Ask questions, get answers

Webware staff — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:57:00 PST

Do you want to find more information about something? Check Answers.com. The service pulls information from several different reference sites to provide answers to your questions. You get full encyclopedia entries from services such as Wikipedia and Britannica, as well as spelling, usage information, and translations into different languages.

Since these other services are updated frequently, entries on Answers.com tend to stay fairly current. Users are also able to register, and answer questions that have been asked by other users. The service has also partnered with sites such as nytimes.com to bring the service to any word used in articles on the site; readers simply hold down the Alt key while clicking their mouse.

In addition to its Web site, Answers.com offers a software program users can install to look up any word they come across on their computer, be it in other Web sites, e-mails, or applications. There's also a Facebook daily trivia application and a plug-in for blog owners that will highlight keywords with small pop-up links to content on Answers.com pages.