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Orangutan takes photos, shares them on Facebook

She's like the Ashton Kutcher of the ape world: an orangutan in the Vienna Zoo now has a Facebook fan page to showcase the photos she takes with a digital camera. The orangutan, named Nonja, uses a Samsung ST 1000 point-and-shoot that automatically uploads the photos.

When this post was published, Nonja had over 9,000 "fans" subscribed to her page.

But there's a catch: coverage of the camera-toting ape in the U.K.'s Daily Mail explains that the camera has been modified to dispense a raisin whenever the shutter button is pushed. So Nonja … Read more

Ad-zapping toolbar

So, another Internet Explorer add-on toolbar...but wait! Quero Toolbar is different: It's actually worth using. For starters, it's not like those spyware "toolbars" that continue to plague unprotected PCs and careless users. Quero Toolbar is actually designed to block pop-ups, flash animations, and other ad-related annoyances that can spoil your browsing. It also integrates a search-as-you-type function, easily selectable search engines and international profiles, a highlighter, easy zoom and resize, security options, and much more.

Quero Toolbar installs seamlessly with all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and above. The Quero button on the navigation … Read more

Block all ads

One of the best known and simplest Firefox add-ons, AdBlock Plus effectively blocks online ads from a predefined list of ad providers. You can quickly personalize that list by clicking on the AdBlock Plus "stop sign" button it installs on either your navigation toolbar or your status bar. Adblock Plus runs unobtrusively in the background, and right-clicking an ad brings up message box, through which you can easily add to the list of blocked ads. Removing an ad from the blocked list also is as simple as clicking and choosing the appropriate option. Via the same list, you … Read more

Podcast: One-stop online shopping for public assistance

In this tough economic period, more people are relying on some type of public assistance. However, getting information about what programs are available can be daunting. And even if you can access the information online, it typically requires going to numerous sites and filling out multiple applications.

The Oakland, Calif.-based Center to Promote HealthCare Access is trying to make the process easier with its new OneEApp service. OneEApp, which stands for One Electronic Application, is designed to provide a one-stop service to help people discover and apply for multiple benefit programs.

The service, according to director Claudia Page, is … Read more

Microsoft gives the MSN butterfly a makeover

Aiming to stay relevant, Microsoft is introducing a new look for its MSN.com home page.

Although MSN gets far less attention than the company's Bing or Windows Live efforts, the home page remains an important economic engine for Microsoft's online business, as well as a significant source of search traffic for Bing.

"We believe it's an important asset for Microsoft," said MSN general manager Bob Visse.

The site is still the top portal in about 25 of the 46 markets, with about 600 million unique users globally and 100 million in the U.S, … Read more

Get Serif PagePlus X4 for $16.99 shipped

Whatever happened to desktop publishing software? A decade ago you had your pick of at least a dozen programs, but now the field is nearly empty.

Sure, you can still buy Adobe PageMaker or QuarkXPress for a small fortune (make that a medium fortune: they run $499 and $799, respectively), but what if you just want a simple program for creating newsletters, brochures, flyers, and the like?

Enter Serif PagePlus X4, a terrific desktop-publishing application that's ideal for designing print and Web-based documents alike.

Right now, Buy.com has PagePlus X4 for just $16.99 shipped. That's after … Read more

Pages '09 quits when attempting to Save As...

I discovered a quite annoying issue with Pages '09 last night when attempting to change an already completed document and save it as a different copy. Pages would save the document but would immediately (sometimes even during the save) quit. This issue was recreated several times using the Save as... command as well as when attempting to print and using the the Save as PDF... option.… Read more

Digital coloring book

Coloring Book 11: Trucks and Things that Go is a digital coloring book with easy controls; children will be making colorful images in no time.

We found the program's interface to be well-suited for young computer users. The color palette and tools to choose a new image were big and obvious. We cycled through five well-drawn outlines of boats and trains and trucks, but couldn't access the bulk of the program's reported 50 pages because of its trial limits. The ones we saw were easy to fill in, using a generous selection of colors that circle the … Read more

Pics free and easy

Most PCs come with image-editing tools that do a lot, but sometimes too many features can be overwhelming. Imagistik Photo Album is a simple image editor that basically does one thing, which is make it easy to combine and arrange several images on one page, and save or print the results. You can add text to images, such as captions and labels, and rotate images individually. Cropping and red-eye removal tools spruce up your images.

A Windows installer makes the download a snap. The interface is decidedly sparse, with a few simple buttons and only two choices on the Taskbar, … Read more

Top file transfer option

ForkLift one of the best FTP/SFTP clients and file management programs available for the Mac. With its fast, flexible, and friendly interface (especially elegant for an FTP program, with tabs, spring-loaded folders, and one- and two-pane options), Forklift delivers on two of the main criteria for an app of its kind: speed and ease of use.

This app is even faster now that it handles multiple channel transfers over remote connections, and a ton of powerful features can make your work flow easier, such as previewing, batch functions, any-to-any copying (between multiple different devices or sources), filters and favorites (… Read more