Crave

Since I've amassed digital photos over the years, I've found it more pleasing to turn them into photo books instead of individual prints (plus, they make great gifts when you're running low on time). I've used Kodak Gallery, HP's Snapfish, and Apple's iPhoto to build and publish them with good results. Most recently, though, I've been using MyPublisher.

Click for more photos

(Credit: Joshua Goldman/CNET)

MyPublisher 4 is a stable, standalone application that is only 11MB, making it fast to download, and it takes no effort to install. Start it up and you're presented with your project options. Books are the main attraction, but you can also create calendars, cards, and book jackets. Compared with other services, the overall design and size options are fewer, but it makes for a streamlined process of building and buying a book instead of getting bogged down in too many selections.

The interface looks nice and is reasonably clean, but it could use some tweaking. For example, the main screen for assembling a book has two toolbars that sit below the project window: one with tools and editing options and one for moving you back and forth through the creation process. Having them on top of one another makes for a busy-looking and possibly confusing interface. Simply moving one above the project window would improve things.

Also, there are option menus that pop open when you click on them, but once you select something, they don't automatically collapse again and instead stay open on top of your project. Lastly, while adding the photos you want to use is easy, it relies on you knowing where your photos are stored; there is no organizer element to the software. This last one is only an issue if you don't know where the photos are that you want to use.

MyPublisher 4 photo-book creation software (photos)

The software isn't feature-packed, but it has everything you'll likely need, including basic editing tools that can be used both before and after you've placed an image in the book layout. All of the fonts on your computer are available for use when adding text. However, some fonts might not work well in the final product, in which case the software will switch your selection to Arial.

One of the best parts of using MyPublisher is the support behind the product. The company's site has a lot of easy-to-find information, but there is a toll-free phone number as well as an e-mail address for support. Even better, though, is the live chat that's available 24/7--it's one click away through a button in the interface. Another nice touch is the Price Check button for quickly finding out what your current project will cost.

The final results are very good, but a lot of that depends on the size and quality of the photos you used in the first place. Again, pay close attention to what the company says is best to use and you should be satisfied with the results.

(Credit: Nuance)

There've been some dictation apps before, but now Nuance, maker of the world's most popular desktop dictation software, is invading the App Store with its own.

Dragon Dictation (link opens iTunes), which is based on the desktop Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, lets you do pretty much everything you'd use the iPhone's keyboard for, but with your voice.

That includes using the iPhone's clipboard for cutting and pasting, as well as saying your latest Twitter or Facebook update aloud (warning: Saying "Just ate a sandwich LOL roast beef LOL" aloud may frighten those around you). The app's still pending approval, but it should be out very soon, at which point it'll be free for a limited time. LOL!

CNET editors' note: Some people have expressed concern about a passage in the app's end-user license agreement that states that Nuance "collects and uses: the names of individuals and companies that appear in your address book in order to improve the quality of service." Nuance responds to the worries here.

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

Just like everyone who grew up on something of a "Star Trek" diet, I want to believe.

I want to believe that Spock will rise from the dead, get married, and have pointy-eared offspring, who, regressing to the mean, will become sports-loving couch potatoes. I want to believe that Captain Kirk will shack up with Uhura on Pluto and lead a fight to have the planet recognized as one of the greats.

And I want to believe that d'Armond Speers really did only speak to his son in Klingon for the first three years of the little boy's life.

You don't remember d'Armond? Well, he first entered the Trekkie firmament in a 1999 Wired article, in which he told of how difficult it had been to communicate solely in the limited language of Klingon with his then 30-month-old son, Alec.

He even presented a recording of little Alec singing the opening bars of the Klingon Imperial Anthem.

Will Klingon still be the language of our future?

(Credit: CC Millermz/Flickr)

The story has this week been updated with some extraordinary news.... Read more

We've already had some time with the new Xbox Live Dashboard update, and now the new firmware, which will bring Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm to the console, is available for download today.

In addition to these services, Microsoft will be rolling out Zune Video, which promises instant-on 1080p video streaming as well as 5.1 surround sound.

We should note that Twitter, Last.fm, and Facebook will require an Xbox Live Gold membership ($50/year) and both Twitter and Facebook services require all users to be at least 18 years of age.

If you aren't a member of Xbox Live Gold, a free preview weekend will begin November 20, at 12 p.m. ET and run until November 23, at 12 p.m. ET.

For a sneak peek at these new Xbox 360 features, check out our video playlist above or click over to the slideshow.

Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm hit Xbox 360 November 17--photos

(Credit: CNET)

Last month we blogged about a bug marring Flash playback on the latest 27-inch Apple iMacs. Users on several Web sites, including the Apple Discussion Threads, noticed a problem with the Flash player that caused choppy audio and video playback, but it appears that the newest Mac OS X v10.6.2 update fixes the issue that was apparently caused by a conflict with the Airport driver.

According to Apple, the update "addresses video playback and performance issues for iMac (21.5-inch, late 2009) and iMac (27-inch, late 2009) computers that may occur in some situations while AirPort is turned on." Since our own 27-inch iMac also experienced slow Flash streaming and intermittent sound hiccups with the AirPort turned on, we downloaded the 10.6.2 update and left it to sleep overnight.

Prior to the update, the Flash Player consumed 114.4 percent of system resources, but 24 hours after the update we're happy to report 26.8 percent usage in the activity monitor and smooth performance across all popular streaming video Web sites like YouTube, Hulu, etc.

Much thanks to the Apple Forums and Apple itself for quickly addressing the needs of its community. If you haven't updated yet, simply choose Software Update from the Apple menu to install OS X v10.6.2.

Tom and Rafe discuss the apps they put on first thing when they get a new computer.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Good news, PC gamers: today's the day to score some solid deals on three popular titles, all of them available via download for (near) instant delivery. Here's the rundown:

• Direct2Drive has Ghostbusters: The Video Game for $9.95. It lacks the multiplayer modes of its console counterparts, but the single-player stuff is a blast. It's a must-have for any fans of the franchise.
• Today only, EA is offering The Sims 3 for $29.95--a savings of $20 off the list price. If you don't mind taking a drive or waiting on delivery, Best Buy has it for $19.99--with an exclusive game guide.
• This weekend only, Steam is offering Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Game of the Year Edition for $23.99. It's one of the top-rated first-person shooters of all time, and it normally sells for $40.

Every three months we corral Seth Rosenblatt to forage through the latest downloadable software and come up with a list of the worst. Why? Because Seth loves a challenge. And you people love "Top Worst" lists. It's all about the schadenfreude, isn't it?

Anyway, this Top 5 still has a lame prize, so get to watching, and then return here and post your guess in the comments. We'll draw one winner from the first 10 people to get the answer right.

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of fanfare about an application called DoubleTwist that is at its core a free music jukebox that offers content syncing to a variety of portable devices, including the BlackBerry, the PSP, and the iPod, as well as pretty much anything that can mount in Universal Mass Storage mode. One of the main draws of the program is that it can take your iTunes library and sync it to a variety of non-iPod players, an important feature for anyone who has ditched the ubiquitous device in favor of a music phone or other MP3 player. And soon, the Windows version of the jukebox will offer built-in support for Amazon MP3 store purchases as well (note: the Mac version already supports Amazon MP3 purchases), a move in line with the company's goal to offer consumers choice when it comes to digital music management.

The DoubleTwist video view.

Certainly, DoubleTwist is a useful solution for a lot of people, especially since it incorporates automatic video transcoding for a lot of the supported devices, which is the feature that drew me to the software. However, the program is not without its pitfalls, and some of them are sure to cause no small amount of frustration. For example, the video transcoding--done during the syncing process--takes forever. Conversion speed was roughly two times normal speed, so a 90-minute movie took 50 minutes or so to encode and transfer. Still, considering DoubleTwist offers this feature for free and integrates it so simply, I'm willing to forgive the sluggishness.

Much more annoying is how slow the video library loads in thumbnail mode, and while it is loading, you can't actually browse the selections. ... Read more