Software Blog » image

Droid Scan Pro’s an Amateur at Character Recognition

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Has anyone else noticed that you rarely receive a copy of hotel room-service receipts? Why is that? It hadn’t really bothered me that much over the years — despite a niggling feeling it should — until an incident recently where the dollar amount I had signed for clearly didn’t match the checkout bill. In this case, the hotel had added a service charge after I’d signed — and after I’d added a tip to the receipt. Dodgy stuff. I caught them because I specifically remembered the total on the receipt as I was signing it.

Assange to Test His Charm on Russian TV

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:33:23 +0000

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has plans to host a new TV show called “The World Tomorrow.” The half-hour weekly episodes are scheduled to begin airing in mid-March on Russia’s English-language RT channel. It will reach some 60 million global viewers.
Assange sees the series as a vehicle to discuss the issues of the day with the people who are shaping the future “in a deeper and clearer way than has been done before.” It can be assumed, though, that Assange and Wikileaks have goals that go beyond discussions of pressing issues.

Slow Shutter Cam: A Great App for Blurring Photos on Purpose

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

For me, there are three basic kinds of apps: Those that I use frequently and can’t live without, those that provide diversions of one form or another, and in-the-moment apps. Slow Shutter Cam is what I call an “in-the-moment app” because, well, it’s basically useless until you have a reason to tap it to life. Another way to think about it is like a tool for your toolbox of photography apps. With a DSLR camera, you already have all these built-in features that let you mess around with your shutter speed to get certain effects, but who’s packing a bulky DSLR all the time?

With PhotoForge2, Hammering Out Great Photos Takes Some Elbow Grease

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 07:00:00 +0000

Among iPhone photography applications, Camera+ simply rules. I said as much back in March after using it only a couple of days, and since then it’s been my go-to shooting app. My opinion hasn’t changed — it’s a must-have app for anyone who takes photos with an iPhone. One of the things I like about Camera+ are its quick-edit options. You can make an image “Grunge” or “Hipster” or “So Emo” instantly, and you can toggle the depth of the effect. But what if you’re more of a darkroom control freak — someone who wants to use more traditional tools for fine-tweaking an image?

iSpy With My Little iPhone – but Not Much to See There

admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 07:00:00 +0000

One of the biggest news stories around the iPhone in a long time is the recent — for lack of a better term — LocationGate fiasco. As with most stories like this, fear and link bait rule the day. You also have, in this case, U.S. Senators smelling blood in the water and inserting themselves into the story — and in some cases actually contributing to the misinformation out there. Take Senator Al Franken with this quote when talking about the data file that has location information in it. “Anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of a user’s home, the business he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attends.”

Camera+: Meet Your New Go-To Cam App

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:00:00 +0000

The iOS App Store is not wanting for camera software. Photography is a top-level category, and at the time I’m writing this, it contains 3,670 apps. Some give you new and interesting stillcam functions, some augment video capture, others are photo-editing applications. The problem is, too many of them are one-trick ponies. I’m not just talking about joke apps that do silly things like seeing what you’d look like if you suddenly became overweight or were attacked by a zombie.

Scan Tailor: A Fussy Yet Effective Scan Scrubber

admin — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:00:00 +0000

The Linux OS has a number of nimble apps that take the hassle out of getting photo images and documents from a flatbed scanner to a hard drive or USB storage device. Two worthy examples reviewed in Linux Picks are Xsane and Simple Scan. While these and other scanner apps do a good job of creating facsimile-like digital images, the results can be less than printer-ready. A finishing step is often needed to clean up the copied clutter the scanning process creates. That type of scanner clean-up app is almost non-existent.

Simple Scan Brings Much-Needed Sanity to SANE

admin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 07:00:00 +0000

One key area of frustration for newcomers to the Linux OS is using document scanners. Most hardware makers do not provide Linux drivers on discs that accompany their scanner models. So Linux users have to struggle to find solutions on distro-specific help forums. Linux does not support the TWAIN-compatible drivers popular in the Windows world. So the trick in obtaining scanning success is to use a scanner device that is compatible with Xsane, a scanner interface that uses the Scanner Access Now Easy driver.

Sony’s Many Flavors of 3D

Victor — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:53:02 +0000

Last year’s CES was 3D TV’s great big debutant ball. The world was shown something kind of cool-looking and told, This is the future of home entertainment! Behold! Everyone oohed and aahed appropriately, then went out and bought tablets. It’s OK that 3D TVs still aren’t exactly commonplace in the typical American living room. They’re expensive, there’s still relatively little 3D content, and you have to spring for a special pair of glasses for everyone in the room. And replacing a large TV for any reason can be kind of a pain.

The Many Ways of Capturing the Moment With Linux

admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Capturing a screen image is a basic computing task — so basic, in fact, that almost every computer keyboard has a dedicated key to grab a picture of what the monitor is displaying in the instant the key is pressed. Three Linux apps have proven very useful to me. I use Shutter, Gnome Screenshot and mtPaint Snapshot almost daily in documenting Linux Picks selections and feature articles about using computers. In the earliest text-based DOS days of the PC, the Print Screen key was used to literally send the image on the monitor’s display to the printer.

Through the Looking Glass: 3D Everywhere

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

“What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?” That’s the question Alice asks at the beginning of Lewis Carroll’s classic adventure. Perhaps Mr. Carroll knew more than he realized. 3D Movies. Multitouch screens. iPads. Everywhere you look, consumers increasingly demand more of an “experience” when engaging with their content, be it a book, a movie or their computers. This change in expectations has put pressure on the print world to deliver a similar experience in that medium.

The Web’s Next Layer of Innovation: Q&A With Creative Commons CEO Joi Ito

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Web surfers, whether hardcore business professionals or amateur Web site creators, frequently find images online either through search engines or Web page browsing. However, in most cases, these images are not free to use. Maybe the photographer who created the image would be open to selling rights for a small fee; perhaps he or she only wants attribution but no pay. In any case, the Internet lacks a standardized method to ensure that intellectual property owners get the recognition and/or payment they are due.

Software Appliances: Lean, Mean Deployment Machines

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Today’s enterprises are clamoring for software applications that run in a wide variety of environments — everything from physical to virtual to cloud. If you are a software vendor, how do you make it easy to give them what they want? You could hand customers your software on a CD and let them figure it out. However, in this environment, independent software vendors that find ways to help their customers get where they need to go earn big dividends in terms of market adoption and revenue.

Dell Offers Unpolished Chrome OS for Mini Netbooks

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Less than a week after Google released the code for its Chrome OS, Dell announced that it has succeeded in getting the operating system up and running on its Mini 10v netbook. “Without a network connection, ChromiumOS is not very interesting,” company blogger and technology strategist Doug Anson wrote on the Direct2Dell blog last week. “With a network connection, ChromiumOS shines. The Chromium browser is extremely fast and makes for a great web-centric browsing experience.”

Image Resizer by VSO 2.2.0.1

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:01:03 +0000

Image Resizer is a handy freeware that resizes images and converts them between different formats. With Image Resizer you’ll be able to send photos via email, move them from one folder to another or free space on your hard drive.The utility will convert any image (bmp, jpeg, gif, png) into any formats (from 320×200 to 1600×1200 and even Ipod photo and video, Sony PSPS, HDTV and DVD). The reduced file size of images enables faster loading, better management of the pictures and saves space. You will be able to send your images with a smaller size (weighing less) by email, something that was hardly possible with the original files. Depending on your needs, you can choose the resolution and the quality of the images you want to compress. Whether you want to send, move, shrink or enlarge a single picture or a whole batch, Image Resizer will do the job in one click.

Image Resizer is a freeware edited by award winning CD and DVD burning software developer VSO Software.

Download Image Resizer by VSO 2.2.0.1

Acronis True Image Home 2009

admin — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:19:27 +0000

This cutting-edge backup software allows you to make a backup of your PC with the OS and apps. The brand-new Acronis True Image 2009 is the solution youve been waiting for. In case of a system crash you’ll be able to restore your hard disk and particular files in minutes. Your docs, music, photos, Outlook e-mails just all your data and configurations will be recovered. No reinstallations, only a few mouse clicks and there you are up and running again. With ATI 2009, data loss is no threat anymore.

A new One-click protection feature enables you to run backups automatically or with just one click after you once decide what, where and when to back up. Another notable innovation is an Auto backup based on destination availability which works jointly with existing scheduling.

Download For Free

Desktop Earth 2.1.1

admin — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:53:45 +0000

Desktop Earth is a wallpaper generator for Windows. It runs whenever you’re logged on and updates your wallpaper with an accurate representation of the Earth as it would be seen from space at that precise moment. Images are created from high-resolution textures (2560×1280) so it’s perfect for that QSXGA display – but they work on anything, even on SVGA. There is an image for every month to accurately depict snow and foliage changes, and the night view is simply stunning.

Download For Free

CaptureWizPro 3.B0

admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:40:46 +0000

Capture it all – images, scrolling areas, video and audio. Innovative features make it fast and easy. You’ll love our pop-out capture bar, speedy predictive capture tool, fully automatic bi-directional scrolling, and flexible full-screen preview. Simple tools, visible over any background, guide you through the three quick steps. Time-saving innovations include sticky notes, a thumbnail viewer, a precision frame tool, and programmable hot keys.

Version 3.B0 fixes Microsoft Video 1 bug.

Download Here For Free

Snagit 9.1

admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:24:11 +0000

Snagit: Capture your digital lifestyle. Capture anything you see on the screen. Edit and combine those captures. Share them via your favorite applications. Organize and find them again later. The more you use Snagit, the more ways you’ll find to use it! Want to get a laugh? Add a speech balloon to that photo of your cat and fire it off in an instant message. Need to make an impression at work? Capture that sales chart and point out important details with a sleek-looking arrow.

Snagit can turn a simple screenshot into a powerful information graphic. Snagit is versatile, yet surprisingly simple.

Version 9.1 adds mini toolbar, live preview, auto-store export, and stamps.

Download Here For Free