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Befuddling lotto program

PowerPlayer for Pick 3/4 2008 helps users select lottery numbers for pick-three and pick-four lotteries based on the results of previous drawings. Or at least, that's what it's supposed to do. We found the whole thing so confusing that we're not sure what, if anything, the program actually does.

The interface is a disaster, a jumble of columns, numbers, and check boxes. It was easy enough to select our local pick-three from the list of available lotteries, but after that, we were stumped. A visit to the built-in Help file was practically worthless. Even the sections … Read more

Photo alteration tool

FotoSketcher provides users with a simple tool for re-imagining their photos as handmade drawings. While the program provides easy controls and a lot of flexibility, nobody will mistake the results for actual art.

This program is very simple, especially if users have prior experience with drawing and photo-touching software like Paintbrush or Photoshop. The controls mimic those programs with their simplicity and logical progressions. Users having any difficulties will find an informative Help file that walks people through the process. Converting our pictures was easy. Once we selected a photo to work with from our own hard drive, we were … Read more

Astrological destiny predictor

MB Feng Shui Ba Zi provides a program that sheds light on a user's destiny. However, without much direction, we predict users will need outside sources to translate their future.

Thankfully, this program could not have a much simpler interface. Users can enter their personal information in very plain boxes and pull-down menus for dates. From there, navigating the information is much easier than interpreting what it might mean. We were disappointed to find that the Help file did not give us much information beyond the program's core functions. The program asks users for their birthday, time of … Read more

Wi-Fi whiteboard collaboration

Whiteboard Collaborative Drawing is a free app that turns your iPhone or iPod Touch's screen into a small, shared drawing space, like a whiteboard or sketchpad. The simple touch-screen interface lets you choose the width of your "marker" (from a fine, pencil-like point to a wide spray-paint-style brush), with six different colors plus an eraser. You just tap on the screen to begin drawing, and you tap with two fingers to bring back the settings screen.

Whiteboard Collaborative Drawing becomes even more useful over Wi-Fi, as users on two different devices on the same network can draw … Read more

Simple desktop notes

Hott Notes offers users an opportunity to keep themselves organized with a virtual pad of yellow sticky notes. This program offers a simple set of tools to create notes, but does not live up to all its promised potential.

This freeware pops up instantly and allows users to quickly sketch down a note and paste it to their desktop. This is much like any note-making program on the market. However, what makes Hott Notes enjoyable is how it handles its added features. Where many programs are cluttered and sometimes confusing, four simple tabs allow users to customize their notes. Note … Read more

Some is better than none

Some PDF to Word Converter is one of the better free PDF-to-Word format converters out there, but like its competition it's far from perfect. Its interface is basic but uncluttered, even with all of the user options handily available in a sidebar on the right. It handles batch conversions, converts outer fonts into text and embedded fonts into images, and supports both All Pages and page-range specific conversions. Some PDF can also remove graphics on demand from the output document, which is always in the RTF format.

Its biggest drawback is that the conversions aren't always the cleanest, … Read more

Three free alternatives to pricey graphics software

Why spend big bucks on graphics software when you can get many, if not most, of the same features from freeware? Here are three mui-expensive graphics apps and their free counterparts:

Adobe Illustrator Available for Windows only, Creative Docs .NET (yeah, weird name) is a vector-based graphic design tool for creating illustrations, manuals, flow charts, icons, and the like. It offers advanced features like Bezier curves, styles, convert-to-curves, and curved-path text. Adobe Photoshop You've actually got two choices here: GIMP, which is available for all platforms, and Paint.NET, which is Windows-only. Both programs offer powerful, Photoshop-caliber image-editing tools, … Read more

New review: OmniGraffle (Mac)

Need to make a flow chart, a family tree, a diagram, or just plan the layout of your new apartment? Check out OmniGraffle, from the folks who make the classy OmniWeb browser. OmniGraffle offers all the tools you need to make professional-looking diagrams for any presentation you might have. Whether you're just sketching out ideas for a business plan or even planning an elaborate presentation, OmniGraffle helps you create a nice-looking diagram everyone will appreciate.

Still not sure if OmniGraffle is right for you? Download OmniGraffle and read our review.

At last. A robot that paints better than the Surrealists

Robert Rauschenberg died this year.

Worry not.

For now we have Robot Rauschenberg.

Well, technically speaking (which we try not to here), his name is Viktor.

Just one name, like only the finest artists, Viktor is a drawing and painting machine. He's made from bits taken from other machines, ones that were made for entirely different purposes. (I suppose he will one day describe them as his muses.)

Viktor is really an amalgam of ordinary design software and industrial motors of various kinds.

Instead of drawing graphs for presentations, Viktor creates art for the world. Or, at least, what … Read more