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Terrific typing teacher

Typing used to be the domain of secretaries and writers, but the explosive popularity of computers has made it an important skill for almost everyone. People who can't type are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to succeeding in school, applying for jobs, and even keeping in touch with friends and family. Letter Chase Typing Tutor is a simple program that teaches you to type using a step-by-step process, ensuring that proper technique is learned while keeping the process from becoming overwhelming.

Letter Chase's interface is plain and intuitive, with plenty of guidance for newbies. You first … Read more

The Maestro of hot keys

For power users and other keyboard-shortcut fanatics, Keyboard Maestro is one of those apps that--once you've used it for a couple weeks--you wonder how you ever lived without it. (And, in fact, Keyboard Maestro mimics the functionality of many other much-beloved productivity-enhancing apps, even including the Classic Finder.) Keyboard Maestro's Program Switcher and Window Switcher make cycling through and managing open applications and windows a breeze, and its Clipboard Switcher lets you work with and store an endless number of clipboards. Keyboard Maestro also supports Growl and AppleScript, with the option of automatically pasting in script results at … Read more

Bare-bones password recovery

We can think of two potential uses for Asterisk Key. Perhaps, like many of us, you have allowed your browser to store a password for a Web site you frequently access, only to realize in time that you've forgotten what the password actually is. Or, more nefariously, perhaps you have decided that you need or want to know someone else's password for a particular site. However pure or impure your motives, Asterisk Key can help--sometimes.

The most important thing to know about Asterisk Key is that it seems to work only with Internet Explorer. We tried it with … Read more

Cheers to the keyhole designed for drunk people

Remember the time when you repeatedly stabbed your front door's keyhole while trying to get into the house after a wild night of drinks? Well, I know how that feels. It becomes an even more pressing matter if you have an urgent need to use the loo. Fortunately, there's a solution making its way around the Internet. The bad news is it's still a concept for now.

This new-age keyhole is designed with a large gap at the top that will help you funnel your key down to the keyhole. It's a much more elegant solution … Read more

Tune your Alt+Tab

Alt+Tab Tuner gives you granular control over Windows 7's Alt+Tab preview and window-switching hot-key combo. That's pretty much all it does, but it's an incredible depth of fine-tuning.

Users can adjust the margins on the top, bottom, or side of the global preview window; change the number of columns and rows that those previews appear in; and change the amount of spacing between each preview thumbnail. Users can also tweak the program icon location and size; the preview thumbnail size; the milliseconds the global preview window takes to fade out; and the opacity of the … Read more

Get FTP and more in Windows Explorer

7plus adds numerous tweak options to Windows 7, Vista, and XP; however, 7plus differentiates itself from its competitors with an in-depth array of how-to videos and a couple of feature surprises. There are far too many tweaks to document here, but suffice to say that the drab interface houses five tabs of customizations: two for Windows Explorer, one for non-Explorer tweaks, and the ever-present Miscellaneous tab. Oh, and the kicker: the FTP tab. 7plus lets you upload files from Windows Explorer to your FTP site at the touch of a hot key, which is an unusual but very welcome addition. … Read more

Bare-bones Registry cleaner

As software reviewers, we install and uninstall a lot of programs, many of which leave bits and pieces behind. We're always on the lookout for a good tool to help us clean up after ourselves. Registry Trash Keys Finder is a simple program that does just that. This no-frills program identifies and deletes invalid Registry keys that take up space and contribute to poor system performance.

Once Registry Trash Keys Finder is launched, it automatically scans the computer's Registry, which for us took only a few seconds. The interface is pretty bare bones, listing the resulting trash keys … Read more

Log in with your face

KeyLemon adds an extra layer of security to your computer log-in process by making your Webcam do all the heavy lifting. Instead of typing your password, KeyLemon 2.2 associates your face with your profile, and then regularly checks to make sure that the person sitting in front of the computer matches the image attached to that profile. If it doesn't think they match, the computer takes a photo via the Webcam and then automatically goes to hibernate.

The latest version of KeyLemon introduces a Firefox plug-in called LemonFox that lets users log in to three social-networking services using … Read more