magic

Using your e-mail address and password makes remembering your security log-in for this encryption app easy. The tool also makes it easy to share encrypted files with other users through their e-mail accounts. However, using that e-mail information may make some users shy away from this app. Although simplicity is a good thing, simplicity paired with security doesn't always lead a user to be confident about the strength of the alleged security that's being promoted.

LockMagic launches its Web site at installation. From there, you open your free account and access its online users' manual by entering your … Read more

Many optimizer packages offer a mishmash of tools seemingly tossed in a box, but this well-designed, easy-to-use optimizer will satisfy nearly any novice user's system management needs. However, although the developer's description says the free download version has no limitations, some features were disabled in our tests.

Magic Memory Optimizer launches an attractive interface that's simple to comprehend and navigate. The initial launch window displays current usage for Memory, CPU, Physical Memory, along with some settings you can configure to tweak general memory management.

This utility worked fine in our tests, although we were disappointed that the … Read more

What with all the talk about companies buying their way into Gartner's Magic Quadrants (viz, the more cash you offer, the better the magic), most recently with accusations flying about Wipro buying its way onto a Magic Quadrant, I was pleased to see a comic take on the infamous (but powerful) Magic Quadrants posted by Valley of the Geeks publisher and Sun Microsystems executive Zack Urlocker:

Gartner, of course, provides an explanation of how it builds its Magic Quadrants, which it says helps provide "visual snapshots of a market's direction, maturity, and participants." The hitch? You … Read more

The too-simple features and operation can leave users lacking confidence in this system tweaking and cleaning application. Advertised as a free version, this is merely a limited 14-day demo of the Magic Speed tools. Of course, the demo won't remove problems without registration. A Wizard moves users through a series of plainly designed information interfaces.

Magic Speed's first function is a basic list of start-up programs. Each gets a simple indicator that marks it as a system requirement, virus, or user's choice. Clicking the detail link opens a Google search for each item. It's mostly the … Read more

Tech start-ups are at high risk during this financial crisis since they can't get credit and venture capital money is drying up. Webware editor Rafe Needleman offers some words of encouragement and advice for staying afloat during these rough times.

Apple is rumored to soon be releasing its 2.2 software update for the iPhone. According to Apple sources, expect this one to include a refit of Safari to read better on the handheld and an update to the App Store. Searching for applications by category is rumored to get easier, and Apple will supposedly only let people who … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--On Tuesday, the DVD version of the mega-hit film Iron Man will be released, and to celebrate, the visual effects superstars at Industrial Light & Magic decided to show off just a little bit more magic behind the movie.

Back in April, ILM invited me and a couple of my colleagues to their fantastic facilities here for a look at the technology behind the famous suit used in Iron Man. Recently, they invited us back to see how the seamless animation in some of the film's scenes--such as one famous shot involving the throwing of an Audi--was produced.

In particular, they wanted to give us the inside scoop on the motion-capture technology used to create a number of the film's scenes, a technology that is increasingly being used today that allows directors to see, in real time, while the actors are acting, what animated sequences will look like.

That's why we--myself, CNET reporter Kara Tsuboi, and a cameraman--spent several hours on an ILM image capture stage last week: So that Tsuboi could don a motion-capture suit and we could all see how footage of her would translate instantly into an animated Iron Man scene.

The idea is that George Lucas--who owns the effects studio--wants to give filmmakers advanced technological tools that provide them with flexibility and efficiency. And so he staffs ILM with the kinds of people who can make that happen.

"We understand the entire process," said ILM digital supervisor Michael Sanders, "from writing code to animating creatures to even shooting live elements. So we know each layer in the process. We understand the vision of the key creatives and understand" what the actors are going to do.

The technology used at ILM--and elsewhere, as well--allows directors to mix real filmmaking and virtual spaces, but with full camera control, depth of field, tracking, and panning. The upshot? A filmmaker can have an entire digital set created, then have an actor perform on the image capture stage wearing the motion-capture suit, and see, as the filming is happening, how the actor's character looks superimposed on the digital background. … Read more

If you're one of the many waiting for Apple to get its act together and offer a copy/paste feature on the iPhone, there's a promising development called MagicPad from software creator Proximi. It's an application similar to the notes tool that ships with the iPhone. The big difference is that it's got support for multiple fonts; rich text elements like underlining, italics, and strikethroughs; and the much-wanted copy/paste.

It manages to do all this by adding a small toolbar over the iPhone's onscreen keyboard. Using the small loop magnifier you can highlight strings of text, then copy them into a virtual clipboard. From there it can be pasted into other notes, then sent off. Unfortunately you can't carry the clipboard to other applications, which is what most people are hoping Apple will provide.

Posted after the break is a video of the yet-to-be-released application in action, which was made by AppleiPhoneNotes.com. One thing that might keep MagicPad from making it onto the device is if it does not meet Apple's stringent human interface guidelines, which protect things like the keyboard configuration to keep the end user from getting confused.

(Via Macrumors)… Read more

Besides kimchi and tear-jerking dramas, Koreans are exporting creatively hacked cameras. While on vacation, Taeyoon Choi had a flash of brilliance when he saw that his shots looked no different from those taken by other tourists. With some tinkering, he fitted a point-and-shoot into Charlie, his "Magical Image Digesting Duck."

As with any good inventions, there is more to Charlie than meets the eye. Hooked up to the shooter is a vacuum cleaner, printer, and MP3 player. All the devices are linked to a central controller that handles the automated operations of the robotic waterfowl.

Charlie follows Choi … Read more

What do you get when you decide that a bicycle needs only one main wheel while declaring that the seat and handles are useless? You get the Magic Wheel, which functions like a foot scooter but looks a little like an Andy Warhol installation.

We first spotted this odd conveyance while on our way to lunch, and our initial thought was that this was a little late for an April Fool's joke. But shockingly, we found out it's an actual product.

Despite its unusual design, the distributor claims that it takes only a couple of hours to master … Read more