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In recent years, new technology, fast Internet access, and an explosion of portable devices has meant that you can access hundreds of thousands of movies and TV shows almost instantly, as long as you have an Internet connection and a credit card. At the same time, with dozens of streaming services and stores, it's harder than ever to find any one show or movie quickly. Can I Stream It? is designed to solve that problem, compiling data from Neflix, Google, Hulu Plus, Amazon, Crackle, iTunes, Vudu, and more to show if a movie or TV show can be streamed, … Read more

While YouTube hosts an endless amount of content, it requires an active Internet connection for streaming. Free YouTube Converter for Mac converts YouTube formatted videos to more-common types, but ultimately doesn't complete the necessary steps.

Available as freeware, Free YouTube Converter for Mac downloads and installs seamlessly with its own native installer. Upon startup, the program takes the user to the developer's Web site, where other programs are sold. While a slight nuisance, this is acceptable for a freeware program. The program's design is well thought out, with large, easy-to-recognize buttons for the main functions of locating … Read more

For those with certain e-reader devices, working with e-books on a computer can be difficult. Calibre for Mac is a free program that helps you manage your e-book libraries and create e-books from other sources for use on portable devices.

Calibre for Mac is an open-source freeware program, and it's easy to download and install. The initial setup is easy, but requires an e-mail address to link to the user's e-reader. Once this is done, the user is prompted to go to an outside Web site for more instructions on using the program, and some streaming demonstration videos. … Read more

Some games are better off left in the past. Space Invaders for Mac offers a true original-style version of the Space Invaders game. Unfortunately, being true to the original game does not make this game easy to use or great to look at.

Space Invaders for Mac presents an unmodified version of the original Space Invaders game. This game loads as a widget, making it awkward to access. The graphics and overall look of the animation is just as flawed and basic as the original. The interface does not allow for any preference modifications, and no list of keyboard commands … Read more

When we first looked into the ancient d20 die from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it spurred a lot of geeky excitement. The only thing that might have been more fun would have been uncovering an ancient Egyptian Atari cartridge.

Readers quickly chimed in about getting a replica made. There were pleas for ThinkGeek to get busy on it, or for someone with Autodesk and a 3D printer to tackle the project. Cornerstone Gaming on Shapeways has officially made it across the 3D-printed-ancient-die finish line.… Read more

Screensavers have become far more valuable aesthetically than as a way to actually save your screen. Snowfall Fantasy is one of the better screensavers because it hits both of those notes. It moves around well enough to prevent burn-in and is an absolute delight to look at.

The Snowfall Fantasy screensaver depicts a log cabin covered in snow that continues to fall. When you first install it, it makes itself your default screensaver. However, if you change your screensaver, it can be tough to find this one again in your screensaver menu. That means you're stuck with it unless … Read more

If you access the Internet via Wi-Fi at home, work, or school, it's almost always through a Wi-Fi router. Almost -- because you can turn any Wi-Fi-capable Windows 7 PC into a virtual Wi-Fi router that can share Internet connections and create wireless networks. The capability is built into Windows 7 (and some earlier releases), but it's not easy to enable. Virtual Wi-Fi Router's simple GUI and user-friendly controls make it easy to turn your Wi-Fi-equipped PC or laptop into a wireless hub. Your laptop can be a mobile Wi-Fi router you can use in the car, … Read more

Video-hosting sites like YouTube are also a great source of free tunes. Even if the audio quality isn't usually the best, at least you can hear the song you're searching for, maybe with a video of a turntable spinning the vinyl original. You can save the YouTube vid, but to play the tune on your MP3 player or add it to your MP3 collection, you'll need to extract the audio. That's easy to do, though: Just convert Flash videos saved from YouTube and other sites into MP3s. Generally speaking, you have two choices: 1) an all-in-one … Read more

LAS VEGAS -- It's time to fix a broken immigration system that encourages smart engineers to study at U.S. universities but prevents them from staying afterward, a Republican senator said at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Sen. Jerry Moran from Kansas said here today that he was disappointed Congress hadn't acted on his legislation, called the Startup Act 2.0, which was introduced last spring but has languished in committee.

Engineers and other people in science-related disciplines who are "foreign-born but U.S.-educated" should be allowed to remain here, Moran said. Chile and other countries &… Read more