Do you want to get the excellent Mac web designer RapidWeaver for just €20? If so, you've got less than 48 hours now to claim a superb deal from the MacHeist team with their nanoBundle2 which includes RapidWeaver, Tales of Monkey Island plus nine more apps for the bargain price of $20. Even better, 25% of the profits go to charity so everyone is a winner.

However, until 50,000 bundles have been purchased, RapidWeaver won't be unlocked so do yourself and everyone that's bought one a favor and purchase a nanoBundle now. If you're still not convinced, then check out what else you get for your money, all of which you can try here:

MacJournal Elegant and easy to use Journal designed specifically for Macs

RipIt Easy to use and powerful DVD ripper

Clips Extends the power of your clipboard

CoverScout Search for album covers on Amazon, iTunes Music Store and Google Images.

Flow FTP client designed specifically for Leopard

And if that's not enough, if you tweet about the MacHeist offer after purchasing, you'll get these thrown in for free:

Airburst Extreme A fun air-balloon shooting game

Tracks Search iTunes tracks from any app

Burning Monkey Solitaire Solitaire with a fun monkey theme.

Buy the nanoBundle here!

There's a whole lot of wallpapers out there, but don't you sometimes get bored with the same old same old? It's time to inject a bit of life into your desktop, and I'm here to tell you how.

If you want 'wow' of the low-effort variety, take a look at a wallpaper randomizer. If you're a fan of Vladstudio's pretty designs, try Vladstudio Companion, an app that will find fresh, size-appropriate Vladstudio wallpapers at the click of a mouse. Bing's not my favorite search engine, but it has some impressive images that can be used on your desktop. Zapbing will grab the best, while the very cool NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader will do the same from National Geographic's impressive collection. Obviously Flickr is the number one internet photo resource: apps like Flickr Wallpaper Rotator and Fleace will comb the website for you, finding images specified by tags or usernames.

If you're handy with a camera, you're in luck. Lots of wallpaper apps are specifically designed to use your personal photos. Look out for ones with good rotation and display options, so you can make sure that your works of art always look their best. Moody Desktop is a small, no-install app that does just this, while Walyk lets you change you images manually or automatically. Bee Wallpapers, meanwhile, lets you intersperse your images with ones from the net, so you can make sure you'll never get bored.

No one saw it coming, but with 100 million accounts,  Facebook game FarmVille is massive. Bigger than Twitter (with only 75 million-ish accounts) it dwarfs last year's biggest game, Modern Warfare 2. I think FarmVille is terrible on two counts: First of just being a rubbish game and second of preying on our worst social instincts.

Of course, you can play FarmVille for free on any computer, which significantly lowers the bar for entry compared to a console game. But the really odd thing for gamers is why anyone would play FarmVille at all. After all, this browser game has simple, ugly graphics, requires no skill, and is essentially made of just the boring part of games. The boring part, at least in my opinion, is grind.

Grind is where a game makes you do lots of dull work, so you can 'level up' and do something cool. In FarmVille, there is nothing cool to do, just grind and the promise of more things to plant. Its attraction seems to be psychological, based around our desire to get more stuff, and socially to have more than your (other Facebook) friends.

Dull grind isn't unusual in gaming, nor are social factors. It's true that Xbox achievements can push you to play more so you compare better to other people online, but they can also be used by developers to help you get more out of a game. The dull grind in games is arguably just teaching you and preparing you for more challenging stuff later on.

In 'traditional' games there is more to do than mindless grind. Whereas I really can't think of any games I've played which are more insipid and sickening than Mafia Wars. With no narrative, no action and no engagement beyond a drive for ever higher numbers these games really reduce players to dumb automatons. The sheer number of users should make these games much more worrying than controversial games like Grand Theft Auto or Modern Warfare, both games which require thought, skill and intelligent engagement from players. All things that are totally absent from these Facebook spamming games.

If you want to be the best at Space Invaders, you'll need practice, hand-eye coordination and some inherent skill. With Mafia Wars and FarmVille you just need patience and time.  They make lots of money, certainly, but it's not money that would have been spent on 'traditional' gaming, so it can't be seen as lost revenue. I've never met someone who plays PC or console games who also plays these 'casual' Facebook games. I hope developers don't look at these games as a threat, or something to copy!

People are free to play these terrible excuses for entertainment if they wish, but I think it's a shame as there are much richer ways of 'wasting your time'. Reducing games to social high scores is a sad state of affairs. For a nightmarish vision of where this might take us, watch Jesse Schell's DICE presentation where he predicts points and achievements being expanded throughout life - points from everything from brushing your teeth to turning up to work on time, and no doubt linked to Facebook, so your friends can see what a good person you are.

Me, I just want to switch off, shoot aliens, go virtual skydiving or stop a zombie invasion sometimes. I like life without points and when I do want to play a game - I want to be engaged!

[Jesse Schell's presentation via RockPaperShotgun]

Well, judging by the glorious weather this morning, I'd say that spring is in the air. And we all know what spring means - weddings! If you are planning for the big day, you'll probably be thinking about a million things you have to do and the million bucks you have to spend. Take care of one of the most important aspects at home - it will save you money and give you a chance to show off your creative side. Why not make your own invitations?

At the low-tech end of the spectrum, you could search for some free templates. Using patterns such as these as a base, some imagination should be enough to create lovely handcrafted invites. There are even some ready to use in Microsoft Word, which is probably the easiest option of them all.

If you want to include a photo or image in the invite, you're in luck. A lot of photo software can easily be leveraged to make invitations with a personal touch. Try Wondershare Photo Collage Studio (online tutorial here), Belltech Greeting Card Designer or My Photo Calendars + My Photo Cards Software.

Apple's App Store has had its share of scandals, and the latest started with developer Chillifresh having his app 'Wobble iBoobs' removed, for featuring 'overtly sexual content' (according to Apple). The developer protests that's not the case, but I think the name of the app gives it away, doesn't it?

This isn't the first time in my life I've heard complaints about free speech being censored where the only examples given are that of pornography. They are almost always bogus. It's not a free speech issue - these kinds of images aren't illegal, but organizations and companies are completely within their rights to decide whether they want to be associated with them or not.

If you don't like their decision, you can go elsewhere. Neither is this a slippery slope towards more sinister censorship, nor is it saying that the only acceptable images of women (for it almost exclusively is women) are those of women in a burqa, as an article on Cult of Mac crassly suggested. I assume it's just do do with not wanting sexual content in the App Store, and not being associated with content that objectifies women.

The App Store is Apple's baby, and they can sell what they like in it. I can understand why they might think that having hundreds of apps like Wobble iBoobs and Swimsuit Calendars kind of ruins the cool aesthetic they try to have. The App Store is chock full of rubbish, and on top of the sexism inherent in these tacky apps, I'm happy to see them go just because they're awful.

Maybe these soft porn-like apps weren't hurting anyone, but there's nothing admirable about them either. I think developers who make such lowest common denominator stuff don't have too much to complain about, as it's not like they were trying too hard to begin with.

Over the last 20 years, Photoshop has become an indispensable tool in media and advertising. From streamlining models to de-wrinkling celebrities, Adobe's star product has transformed the way we think about photography. Image retouching is everywhere, so much so that it is hard to know how many fiddled, fixed and embellished photos pass before our eyes every day. In magazines, bars, on TV or just on the street, images are omnipresent, presenting their product in the best light possible, even if that does mean stretching the truth a little...

When it comes to photo editing and manipulation, Photoshop is undoubtedly the best software you can find for the job. Though it started back in 1987 as a basic graphic app developed by Thomas Knoll, the first version of Photoshop was officially launched at the beginning of 1990 – exactly twenty years ago.

I'm a big fan of this great program (as you can tell by the loads of posts I've written about it) so I thought it would be a nice idea to write this post as a celebration of Photoshop's 20th birthday. I'm sure you'll be shocked to see how different the first Photoshop looks from the one you have on your computer!

Like I said before, Photoshop started off in 1987 as a very basic graphic app for Mac called Display, created by Thomas Knoll, which could only display images in black and white.

Thomas's brother, John, was working for Industrial Light and Magic and asked Thomas to work on a enhanced version of this program that could help him process digital images. The idea seemed to work, and in 1988 the two brothers decided to create a commercial photo editing tool based on Display, but using a new name: Photoshop.

Thomas wrote all the code, while John focused on plug-ins. They also managed to reach a deal with Adobe in September 1988, and early in 1990, the first version of Photoshop was launched.

A year ago I was still pretty skeptical about touchscreens. I felt that total reliance on a touchscreens was a mistake, and that devices needed some physical controls, like d-pads, keyboards or keypads.

Having decided to get an iPhone regardless of these fears, and watching the development of apps over the last year, I have changed my mind. While I still can't touch-text under tables like I used to, I can now tap out emails pretty quickly using the virtual keyboard. I think a physical keyboard is more natural to use, but I have been surprised how quickly I've got comfortable to life without one. The gains from touchscreens certainly outweigh the losses: Navigating around a device with a touchscreen is easier and faster - browsing is fantastic. A smartphone without a touchscreen would be a nightmare!

I own a Nintendo DS and a PSP, and never thought the iPhone could compete in game quality. There are areas where that's still true - driving games on the iPhone are only ever surprisingly good considering they're on an iPhone. They don't stand up to systems with more controls - the accelerometer is too imprecise and sensitive (see Real Racing). But when games are developed especially for the touchscreen, they can be fantastic. Space Invaders Infinity Gene is perfect, while Beneath a Steel Sky and Broken Sword show that touchscreens are the best system for point and click adventures.

All in all, touchscreens are a great way to interact with computers - there is plenty of space for them in my life, although that doesn't mean my joypads and laptop keyboards will be going anywhere soon. Is it a bad idea to say that on the eve of another Apple launch?

The twelfth annual Independent Games Festival has released the winners of the Student Showcase category. Don't think that "student" equals amateurish or poor quality - there are some amazing games in the list, and some will no doubt go on to be commercial titles like DigiPen's Narbacular Drop, which turned into the wonderful Portal.

The best thing about the list? Of the ten finalists, only two are unavailable, but the other eight are free to play!

There are cool puzzle games (Continuity, Puzzle Bloom and and Puddle), strange 3D experiences (Devil's Tuning Fork and Dreamside Maroon), art games (Spectre and Ulitsa Dimitrova), and the adrenaline rush that is DigiPen's Igneous. All are great reasons to be excited about game development, mixing experimentation with great playability.

Dive in and get playing!

Windows 7 features a nice collection of themes with which you can easily change the look and feel of your operating system. You can find them under the Personalize menu, right-clicking anywhere on the desktop. Depending on your area, you'll get different sets of location specific themes - in my case, I have a Spain set with nice wallpapers displaying the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the windmills in La Mancha and the coves of Majorca.

But these are not the only regional themes you can use in Windows 7. There are other additional themes you can easily find in the system. Click the Start button and enter C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT in the Search field.

It's that time of year again when we whip our crystal ball out of the drawer and take a look at what software is in store for the coming year. We were proved right with all our software predictions for 2009, so I'm trusting the ball to work its magic once again. Here we go with a guide to what to expect from the coming year:

1. Chromium OS

This was an easy one, because Google has already released the source code for its shiny new operating system. The OS is being touted as the perfect solution for netbooks, because it's entirely based around the web and thus doesn't require cavernous hard disk space. We were initially underwhelmed by Chromium when we gave it a run-out a couple of months back, but the OS is sure to look a lot different come the end of the year, and Google's reputation alone should be enough to convince hoards of people to make the switch to browser-based computing.

2. Internet Explorer 9

For the last few years poor old IE has been kicked, battered and stamped on by web users like a cute puppy who got old. Microsoft began work on Internet Explorer 9 a few weeks ago and unveiled some details of the browser at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles in November. When finally released, hopefully towards the end of the year, IE9 will be equipped with new hardware-accelerated text and graphics to make web sites look better. The new version's Direct2D browsing technology is designed to significantly speed up web applications, which is necessary if Microsoft continues to push the wonders of cloud computing. Internet Explorer 9 could see Firefox turncoats flocking back to their roots. Alternatively, and more likely, no one will notice much difference in the browser and its release will pass with no great fanfare.

3. Adobe Creative Suite 5

Rumor has it that the new versions of Photoshop, Flash et. al should be with us around April. It'll be a new era for the design suite because the Mac version has been completely rebuilt in Cocoa, and will no longer run on PowerPC chips. Judging by the sneaky peeks we've seen here and from what was announced at Adobe MAX 2009, designers will be whimpering with delight when CS5 finally becomes available. New goodies you can expect from the suite include 'wet look' 3D Photoshop paint brushes, native iPhone game compiling in Flash, and a 'Smart Paste' tool for Dreamweaver that makes it easier to integrate vector graphics and Illustrator-created content into your web sites.

Windows: The better your password practice, the harder it is to remember them! Get those passwords under control with Sticky Password, a password manager with brains and brawn. Its excellent security options are perfectly packaged in a seriously well-thought out program.

Mac: iPhoto offers fairly basic photo editing options but to really impress with your images, you can't do much better than Adobe Photoshop Elements. Adobe Photoshop Elements integrates seamlessly with Adobe Bridge CS4 software and provides instant organization of your images.

iPhone: If Forest Gump had an iPhone, then World Cup Table Tennis would surely be the first game he would download. This excellent iPhone ping pong simulation sees you take on the World in a knockout tournament, or compete for points in Arcade mode. The graphics and ball physics in World Cup Table Tennis are the best you'll find in any iPhone ping pong game

Windows: If you want to get started in professional video editing, Sony Vegas is an excellent choice. This powerful video editor includes more than 300 special effects, supports VST plug-ins, works with all popular formats and imports data from various devices, including HD video. It takes a while to learn how to use it, but it's really worth the effort!

Mac: Special effects can help you breath new life into your images, and with ImageLobe is easier than ever! Simply drag any image into the program's interface, select the effect among the more than 40 included in the program and drag it out again to save your changes. A simple, effective way to give that special touch to your images.

Mobile: Even if you're not a hardcore gamer, you've surely played Space Invaders at some point. Now you can enjoy an excellent version of the original Space Invaders from 1978 on your phone. Graphics and sound are quite primitive - as they're supposed to be - but the best about this game is its insanely addictive gameplay!

Going back to the past is sometimes the only way to understand the present - and even the future. Now that we're about to enter 2010, blogs and newspapers are starting to publish their own analysis of this first decade of the 21st century. But what about software? Can we trace it back to its origins and see what it looked like five, ten or twenty years ago? In the case of Windows, the answer is yes. We've been able to find images from all the versions of Windows released up to now, from 1.01 to Seven.

Windows 1.01 (1985)

You might not have been born yet when Windows 1.0 was released. Don't complain about it though. With such a tacky combination of colors, this first version of Windows wasn't really something worth viewing.

Windows 2.03 (1987)

It took Microsoft two long years to release the second version of Windows. Windows 2 was supposed to improve the first version, but the color combination didn't get any better. The most outstanding feature, however, was the Control Panel, with an overbloated menu of three options.

Just two more days until Christmas and that's two more days in which to check out great software before you get  interrupted by the festivities. Have a look behind the window to find one of Niamh's top apps of the year.

xxx is a great application that allows you to create stick figure animations that range from the simple to impressive - with a little time and patience. Working on the normal basics of stick figure animation, create individual frames of action and then view them in sequence, producing the animation. Move over Disney, xxx has come to town! - Niamh