Windows: Are you looking for a fast, handy, lightweight PDF reader? Look no further: Foxit Reader is that you need. This feature-rich PDF viewer includes all the tools you need to open, read, annotate and print your PDF documents. The latest version 3.2.1.401 includes support for undo and redo, grayscale printing and hundreds of bugs fixed.

iPhone: For many people, Last.fm has not only superceded traditional radio, but also their MP3 collection has been left untouched for months, such is the power of the service. If you haven't tried Last.fm at all yet then you're probably wondering what the big deal is. Just try it. In fact, try it on your iPhone so you can carry it around with you and really get a feel for it.

Mac: CleanApp helps you to thoroughly eliminate applications that you may have uninstalled in Mac OS X but that have left behind unwanted files and folders. Normally, only the program package is moved to the trash which means that there can be many other files left behind that you're not aware of. Going through them or searching or them one by one is terribly time consuming and also an inefficient way of doing it.

After turning 20 only a few weeks ago, Photoshop is again in the news thanks to the upcoming release of the Adobe Creative Suite 5, today April 12th. Photoshop has certainly changed the way we approach photo editing and manipulation, providing us with excellent tools and breaking all possible boundaries to our creativity. Let's take a look at some of the incredible new features we'll enjoy in Photoshop CS5:

New: PatchMatch

This is probably the biggest new tool in Photoshop CS5. While the previous version already included smart resizing tools, now the idea has been taken to the next level with content-aware filling and healing tools. This means that you'll be able to clone certain elements on your image with a simple selection; Photoshop's cloning algorithm will automatically search for similar samples around the selected area and blend them together to create highly realistic results. Say goodbye to repeated patterns!

Enhanced Refine Edge tool

The Refine Edge tool was introduced back in CS3 in order to make clear-cut mask selections quicker and easier. It seems that the Refine Edge dialog window in this new version of the Creative Suite is getting new features and options, which will hopefully help us create even more accurate selections, especially in complex areas such as hair or tree branches.

Colors and Brushes

The new Photoshop CS5 brings important enhancements and changes to the way we're used to working with them. First of all, you'll be able to use any image as a kind of color palette or template to paint. When you click any given color, it'll spread as if it you were dipping an actual brush into wet paint. You can also mix up colors, just like in real life. The second great enhancement is also related to this 'simulation of reality' characteristic: an animated 3D brush preview will allow you to test different painting results depending on brush position, hand pressure, rotation and so on.

Puppet Warp

As you've already seen in the previous video, Photoshop CS5 includes a new warping technology that enables you to move, bend and change the position of selected areas in your images. Once you bring up the Warping tool and define a set of control points, bending objects or changing someone's pose is as easy as dragging the selected element with the mouse.

[Via OnSoftware ES]

We all suffer the plague of spam. Everyday, in our inboxes, we find dozens of messages selling little blue pills, announcing we've won fantastic prizes or offering the best deals in cutting-edge gadgets we've never seen before. A good way to stop spam from invading your inbox is to avoid using your real address, especially when you're asked for it by a dodgy website that doesn't seem trustworthy at all. For those cases, you can create an alternative email address, or simply use one of these disposable email services. They let you create personal temporary emails that work perfectly fine but only exist for a few minutes - or that you only need to use once.

• GuerrillaMail This service provides you with disposable email addresses that expire in 60 minutes. You can read and reply to any email messages you receive in this temporary email inbox within that time frame.  GuerrillaMail lets you create a custom address, but can also generate a random one.

• Dispostable With a clean, minimalist interface, Dispostable creates random email addresses and also lets you pick a custom name if you want. You can create as many addresses as you need (they'll be listed on a right-side pane) and check their inboxes online. There's no information about how long they last.

• 10 Minute Mail This website generates a temporary random email address as soon as you open it on your browser. Addresses expire in 10 minutes, though you can extend this period by clicking the 10 more minutes link. The inbox can be checked on that same page.

• MailCatch Create temporary disposable email addresses on the spot. Any word (either a custom name or a random character combination created by the system) followed by the mailcatch domain name will work as a valid email inbox. You can check your inbox online and even subscribe to its RSS feed.

• Mailinator This temporary email system is a bit different. Disposable accounts are created the moment you send an email to them. You can then check your inbox online on the Mailinator website. Bear in mind though that all messages sent to Mailinator are public.

After last weekend's shopping frenzy, many of you may already be the proud owners of an iPad, the ubiquitous gadget du jour. One of iPad's main features is the possibility to use it as ebook reader, thanks to the iBook app and the iBookStore, Apple's own online ebook service. Unlike other ebook readers which work with multiple formats, iPad only opens ePUB ebooks. That means that if you already have a nice collection of ebooks in other formats, such as PDF, you'll need an ebook converter.

Converting ebooks from PDF and other formats to iPad-friendly ePUB is easier than you might think. All you need is a DRM-free ebook, Calibre (the excellent ebook manager we reviewed a while ago) and follow these simple steps:

1. Download and install Calibre on your computer. As the program doesn't seem to have support for iPad yet, simply select Default as your device in the ebook reader selection screen. Remember Calibre is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

2. Select the ebook you want to convert, or add it to the program's library if you haven't done it yet. Then right click on the title and add any missing meta information – or fix wrong data if necessary.

Gmail has just turned six. Google's webmail service was launched April 1st, 2004 as an invite-only beta release which everyone was eager to try out. Three years after that Gmail was opened to the general public and today is the most popular, powerful webmail available.

One of the elements that make Gmail stand out over its competitors is the so called Gmail Labs. Labs include a bunch of experimental enhancements that Google developers make available for Gmail users, in order to test them and get early feedback before turning them into permanent features. We mentioned Gmail Labs short after its launch, but loads of new add-ons have been included since then, and I especially liked one of them: emoticons!

Gmail emoticons are very easy to enable. Log in to your Gmail account and click the little green Labs icon on top of the page. This icon shows up if you already have Labs enabled; if not, click Settings and then go to the Labs tab.

Scroll down the page until you find "Extra emoji", and select the Enable option.

Click the Save Changes button either at top or bottom of page, and you'll be redirected back to your Inbox. You're now ready to start using Gmail emoticons! Create a new message and click the little yellow face in the top toolbar: emoticons will be displayed on a tabbed menu, conveniently organized into different categories.

Don't forget to check all the other features and enhancements available in Gmail Labs to make Gmail even more powerful!

[Via: OnSoftware FR]

Yes, it's that time of the year again. April Fools' is back for good, so you'd better keep your eyes open to avoid any pranks you may fall for. That doesn't necessarily mean that anything you see or read on this day is going to be a joke – Gmail was launched on April 1st, remember? – but a little bit of suspicion is advisable.

For those of you who qualify as the official prankster in your class or at work, there are dozens of apps you can use to have a good laugh at your mates. We collected some of them in this post about prank software, conveniently organized by type: custom error messages, mouse tricks, desktop animations and voice effects. Another handy list is this top 10 geek jokes, which includes tools to create fake blue screens of death, remap the victim's keyboard or create funny photo compositions, among other equally mean ideas.

The Internet is not safe from pranks either. A couple of years ago we wrote another April Fools' roundup with links to the best online pranks we found that day. Things like Virgle (the first permanent human colony on Mars sponsored by Virgin and Google), YouTube's hilarious rickrolling, WoW's alleged version for consoles or the USB Pregnancy Test you could buy on ThinkGeek all caught our attention.

We couldn't finish this post without a special mention to our own April Fools' jokes. Satellite Live (2008), Shouttr (2009) and All2All Converter (2010) have been really fun to create and review. Hope you liked them as well!

Windows: Would you like to watch your favorite DVD and Blu-Ray movies on your laptop anytime, anywhere? With MakeMKV you can easily rip them to MKV, a highly compatible video format supported by most players. The conversion is easy, quick and produces excellent results: it preserves most of the original information and works with encrypted discs as well.

iPhone: If you want to become a TV star don't bother going on Big Brother, just install Bambuser on your iPhone and broadcast yourself live on the internet! Bambuser allows you to capture video of yourself using your iPhone camera then stream it to a channel online. It’s very easy to start using the program. You just need to sign up for an account then click 'Go Live' to start recording.

Mac: If you're looking for a way to improve your typing skills that gives you detailed readouts and stats on how you're doing, then Master Key could be for you. Master Key is a rather basic looking but very effective typing tutor which takes you through a huge series of drills in order to bring your typing speed up to scratch. Master Key includes drills for U.S., Dvorak, French, and German keyboard layouts and you can create your own.

Many parents are worried about what their kids do when they're using the computer. Are they playing too many hours? Do they see inappropriate content when browsing the web? Will they fall for any online scam?

There are ways to prevent your children from these somewhat dangerous situations. The most important one is to sit with your kids when they start using the Internet, and teach them the basics of online behavior and relationships. Another good idea is to have the computer in a common room, so that they're not alone when using it and you can keep an eye on what they're doing. But sometimes this is not possible, so you have to rely on software to control the children's computer usage.

There is a wide variety of apps to block, control and monitor kids' access to the computer and the web, but if you prefer not to install anything, you can also use Windows Parental Controls settings. Here's how to configure them:

Windows XP

Windows XP doesn't have a built-in tool to configure parental filters for a specific account. However, you can still control the web pages your kid visits with Internet Explorer by going to Tools > Internet Options in the web browser, and then clicking the Content tab.

Hit the Enable button and you'll be able to filter the web content that can be viewed on the computer. Unfortunately, this affects all users.

Windows: Internet Explorer and Firefox are no longer the main contenders in the so called web browser wars. Chrome is becoming increasingly popular, with loads of users adopting it as their first browser or switching to it from others. The latest update, Chrome 4.1.249.1036, includes interesting translation tools and improved privacy features.

Mac: If you've never liked iPhoto much then Picasa may well be the solution you are looking for for organizing your photos. All the accolades that apply to the Windows version apply to Picasa for Mac except of course, Picasa for Mac has all the polish and classy touches you'd expect from a Mac interface. Once you open Picasa, it will perform a full scan of images on your Mac which it then loads into the elegant viewer instantly.

iPhone: The best way to follow the baseball season on your iPhone is by installing MLB.com At Bat 2010. This app lets you listen to every regular and postseason game live, watch live streaming games via MLB.TV, and get pitch-by-pitch updates on gamedays. MLB.com At Bat 2010 also includes a regularly updated news section containing all the latest information and gossip from the league.

A beta version of the next Windows Live suite has leaked to torrent sites and, as eager as we always are to test new software, we couldn't help downloading it and giving it  a try. It seems that the new Windows Live Messenger will be the star of the suite again, though Microsoft has also given an important role to Facebook and social networks. So, would you like to know what the new Live Messenger 2010 looks like? Let's take a look.

There are tons of gorgeous images on Flickr which you can easily browse using the website's built-in slideshow tool. But what if you wanted to download a few of them? Either you do it one by one - which is obviously quite a boring task - or you use Downloadr, a great little app I had the chance to review last week.

Downloadr is a simple program that lets you download multiple images from Flickr. It enables you to search for images using various filters and criteria, like tags, username, a string of text or the place the photo was taken. You can also refine the search by date or set the program to only show images with Creative Commons license - quite handy if you're searching for photos you intend to use on your website.

Windows: The news have spread like wildfire: Microsoft has finally published a very early version of its long awaited web browser. Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview is not really a standard web browser, but a limited version where you can try out all the new features and capabilities of this new Internet Explorer: a faster JavaScript, CSS3, HTML5...

iPhone: ESPN Tournament Challenge will heighten your enjoyment of this year’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. The app lets you play ESPN’s popular bracket game on your iPhone, pitting your wits against friends, family, and sports fans across the globe. You can create up to 10 brackets within ESPN Tournament Challenge, and enter groups to take on other people online.

Mac: If you've got a Wii, you can put it to far more valuable use than throwing bowling balls and jumping around with a fake tennis racket. You could also use Wii Transfer to enable it to receive data, including photos, music and movie streams from your Mac that you can browse, listen and watch on your TV. This is really useful if you've got a huge amount of multimedia data stored on your hard drive and want to watch it directly.

Everyday when I check my RSS feeds, I come across a dozen articles that I'd like to read in detail, but for which I have no time at that moment. The easy thing to do is to add them to Bookmarks and check them later on. But if you keep on doing this for a long period of time, you'll end up with a huge and messy collection of bookmarks, most of which you won't even remember why you bookmarked them in the first place.

Fixing this problem is easier than you think. There are a few apps that have been especially developed to save web pages to read later - as some sort of temporal bookmarks you'll delete right after reading. Here's a selection of some of them, but don't hesitate to drop us a line in comments in case you know any others.

Read It Later - As its name clearly states, Read It Later allows you to save interesting blog posts and web articles to read them later. It's a Firefox extension that saves web pages with a single click on its bookmarklet. Read It Later stands out for its support for mobile phones, featuring an official iPhone client and an Android client created by one of its users.

Instapaper - Really simple app that lets you save web pages for reading later, with the possibility to organize them in folders and mark them as starred items - like RSS feed readers. Instapaper requires free registration and is compatible with other services such as Google Reader and NetNewsWire, as well as iPhone, Kindle and other devices.

Taboo - This is another Firefox extension that adds two new icons to the toolbar, next to the browser's address bar. The first one lets you save the current web page to read it later, while the second one displays the list of all the web pages you've saved so far. Taboo shows a handy preview before actually opening the article.

Readbag - Another excellent choice, though unlike the previous ones, it's not free. Readbag features an impeccable minimalist design and has also an iPhone version, which makes it quite handy for reading selected articles and blog posts on the move. Like Read It Later or Instapaper, it creates an RSS feed with the web pages you save.

Quiet Read - Finally, an app for Mac. Quiet Read enables you to save web pages to read later, but the difference is that the program displays them without you having to open the web browser. All saved web pages are stored in a convenient drop-down list you can access from the Mac's menu bar on top of your screen.

[Via: OnSoftware ES]

Windows: Trying to help someone with a computer problem on the phone can be exasperating. This is why you should try CrossLoop, a free screen sharing tool that makes computer support much easier. The latest version includes a few new features such as the ability to create your own accounts, view your login history and rate other who have helped you.

iPhone: If you're a fan of Daft Punk then you'll go wild for iDaft. This free app lets you remix the works of the French DJs on your iPhone. Even if you've got no previous music production experience you'll have no trouble creating fun mixes with iDaft. The app contains soundboards of vocal samples from two of Daft Punk's hit tracks, Harder Better Faster Stronger and Technologic.

Mac: Desktop sharing is not just for experts anymore. Whether you want to show how an application works or simply explain things on someone else's computer, you'll need a way to share desktops easily. TeamViewer offers a simple way of creating desktop sharing sessions with other users whether on a distant computer, local connection or over the internet.

After unveiling Internet Explorer 9 for the first time at the Professional Developers Conference in 2009, Microsoft has finally made a first version of its new browser available for download.

Well, not exactly. What you get when hitting the download link on Microsoft's website is not what I'd call a web browser; it's more of a web-capable playground with a bunch of testing links that lets you check all the new features included in the all new Internet Explorer 9.