Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist 2

Serif is known for its powerful but reasonably priced design software. Scrapping booking, collecting photos and other memorabilia in a book, is now made easy on your PC. This new software lets you combine all of your pictures with attractive clip-art to make very nice pages. This type of scrap booking is great because you can share it with others online.

No automated wizard comes with the program so it is a little tricky to drop your photos into predesigned pages. There are some helpful Youtube tutorials that do make the process easier. Another problem is that there is only six provided Digikits with the software, you can download more and most are free.

Designing your own decorations for pages are not a problem. There are basic tools in the program that are set up to let you do just that, and they are quite simple to use. You can give your book tons of appearances everything from antique to adding hand drawn designs. The text options are also nice, texts can be run along a curved path for an interesting look. The program doesn’t trouble any advanced DTP or photo-editing software.

You can easily make a book because adding the pictures is a breeze, it even will keep track of the pictures you have already used. Built-in photo editing lets you edit everything from red eye to adding special effects to your pictures. The effects are all divided into categories making it easier to find everything you want done to your pictures. Your book can also be output to a printer giving you great results.

Steinberg Cubase Essential 5

This software is specialized in recording live instruments, which is not a very common focal point in today’s music production software. Steinberg does also offer a much more expensive Cubase that might not be for amateurs so this is where the new Essential steps in it includes the core features of Cubase.

This is a great option for consumers that don’t want to deal with tons of different gadgets it offers a mature and dependable recording environment. It has features like the snap-to-grid which lets you crossfade between audio objects and it has support for tempos. Mix automation is also included in the program and it works something like video editing but for sound and it allows you to vary your mixer settings over time. You can also record from many simultaneous sources at the same time, which is made possible by the 32-bit audio signal path.

The down side of the program is that it is not that easy to master, configuration does take a while and your music jargon must be up to par. Advanced mixing options won’t come easy to new consumers.

The Cubase Essential is limited to 64 audio tracks, it has 16 plug-ins for instruments, and its eight global effects will only affect most ambitious producers. It integrates external hardware, multiple mixer views, and surround sound support. It’s easier to combine a single because it lets you record multiple takes of a single track. VariAudio vocal editor is missing in this program. It may not be as highly advanced as the Cubase 5 but the Cubase Essential is great for beginners.

Symantec Norton Internet Security 2010 Review

This newest version from Norton Security needs no configuration and is quite easy to install. It has a comprehensible interface and provides access to all of Norton’s key features, like for instance, on-demand scanning, vulnerability detection, and web tools that help protect your personal details and credit card information by storing and protecting your passwords.

The settings menu allows you to have more control over your internet like instant scanning for Yahoo, AIM, and Windows Live Messenger. POP and SMTP e-mail scanning is also included and you have configuring options for firewall and parental controls. Firefox and Internet Explorer are integrated with Norton through a plug-in to report the safety of various websites and all of your search results.

Heavy system resources are reported on the system and Symantec has included some monitoring tools to track Norton’s footprints. Norton has been showing to have low system loads, even when carrying out a full scan. The Insight system judges the safety of various programs based on the opinions of other Norton consumers. This suite also includes heuristic scanning, which spots malevolent files by analyzing the instructions on their codes, and signature scanning which compares all of your files against a list of known malware. Uncommon programs are not blocked but Norton warns you that there is not enough information to determine weather or not the site is safe.

Norton performs at the top of its game, testing by consumers shows that your system will not be compromised. It is one of the best around for malware defense.

Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite X5

Adobe may dominate the graphic design industry, but CorelDraw is what comes to mind to most PC users who use drawing programs. The new Graphic Suite X5 is a combination of CorelDraw along with some added bonus features that offer a huge range of capabilities. Included in this package are; Photo-Paint image editor, which has new color filters, theSwish miniMax2 animation tool, and CorelDraw’s newest Corel Connect media browser. Quantity is emphasized here and the 6GB of disk space it takes up may take a while to download.

The subtle improvements are what are noticed in this program with Mesh Fill it is now easier to create those complex color gradients with that deep and rich look. CorelDraw can be started from various ready to use templates or you can simply start from scratch. Curve tools have been modified and the alternative B-Spline drawing method will appeal to illustrators. Corel also finally made it possible for rounded corners to be supported, which preserves the proportions when objects are resized.

Connect can run like a standalone app or with CorelDraw or Photo-Paint and it integrates with Windows Desktop Search to help you find content by keyword. Professionals will find Corel quite handy, especially the users in specialist sectors like garment design and advertising studios. This program offers new video tutorials, in context sensitive hints, more hand-holding, and has plenty of clip art and different templates. CorelDraw is the first choice for most consumers outside the Adobe price bracket.

Lenovo Idea Pad Review

Lenovo is trying to combine the notebook and the stand alone tablet devices. This may look like your standard, and old, 10-inch notebook but once you swivel around its multi touch display it turns into a slate device that you have only dreamed about. A bonus to all of this, the Lenovo is the first to have 1.83 GHz Atom N470 processor.

The design isn’t anything mind blowing. The notebook is noticeably narrower than the standard 10-inch ones, and a little thicker than the standard reading tablets. The tablet, when equipped with the battery, weighs about 2.7 pounds. One of the biggest benefits that is offered with this gadget is its unique convertible form factor that gives you the option to use a full keyboard or a very nice multi touch display.

The 10.1-inch display offers 1024x600 resolution and it is quite simple to navigate around Windows 7 Home Premium with the touch screen. The desktop items are designed big enough so that you can simply use your finger to tap them. A downside is that the gadget doesn’t come with a stylus and so if you want to take advantage of Windows 7 handwriting system one must be purchased separately.

It has pretty typical notebook performances despite its Atom N470 processor and 2GB of RAM. Cell battery was tested and ran up to 3 hours and 12 minutes, but when actually using the system you can get up to about 4 and a half hours of battery life.

HMK 561 Electric Bike

Most electronic bikes are nothing out of the ordinary they look like ordinary bikes but with motorized hubs, a strap-on battery pack, and regenerative breaking capabilities. This bike on the other hand is quite unique, taking home an iF Design Award for its very forward thinking. This bike is not just stylish and totally juiced out, the frame is what adds to its creativity it is composed completely of a conductive carbon fiber weave along the sides of the bike’s body that not only allow the body to pass the motors electrically but they actually are the things that store it, like a jumbo capacitor. You literally have the bike of your dreams when you factor in all the other perks; integrated lights, a hint of the aforesaid regenerative braking at each axle.

The designers at HMK really had their thinking caps on for this one, the carbon fiber frame is highly conductive so the designer uses it as a network for power distribution instead of wires. The power drives the lights and motors in between the rims, but the most unique aspect is its braking. The energy is used to drive a system that actually turns the wheels of the bike using a counter-turning axle instead of the ordinary gears and chains.

This idea may seem far-fetched, yes, but there already is a prototype being built. This bike concept will sit you on a battery and make you look far more attractive than any of the other electronic bikes out there.