Brandon Dimmel

Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday release fixes several security vulnerabilities currently marked "critical" -- the firm's highest security rating. Microsoft's Patch Tuesday fixes are always rolled out starting the second Tuesday of each month, but ... sometimes take longer to reach consumers depending on Internet availability. This month's Patch Tuesday includes five security updates, two of which have been marked critical. One of those critical fixes addresses a vulnerability in Internet Explorer, Microsoft's web browser. This month's updates are particularly ... (view more)

SmoothDraw 4.5.0 Afraid to try a digital painting program because you think the software will be too difficult to use? Then give the simple, easy-to-use SmoothDraw a spin. This program features an accessible interface and supports many kinds of ... brushes, from pen and pencil to airbrush and bristle brush. Using retouch tools and adding layers are both easy processes, too. http://www.smoothdraw.com JDiskReport 1.4.1 Learn more about the disk drives inside your system with JDiskReport. This program shows you how much space all of the files, folders, and directories are occupying on your disk ... (view more)

Microsoft is hoping that its upcoming digital assistant, currently known as "Cortana", will be Windows Phone 8.1's must-have app. Although it's not yet known when the app will be available, rumors suggest it will be released as early as April 2014, ... and will likely be extended to run on the PC. The name "Cortana" is in reference to a female fictional artificially intelligent (AI) character in the Halo video game series for the Xbox / 360 platform, which was also created by Microsoft. In short: Cortana is Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri application, which ... (view more)

MusicBee 2.3.5173 Looking for a better way to organize your music collection? Then check out the accessible Music Bee, which makes it easy to find, play, and arrange your favorite songs, albums, and playlists. This program can be installed on a ... computer and portable devices. http://getmusicbee.com/ FileSearchy 1.2 Learn more about the files stored on your system with FileSearchy. This quick yet powerful and easy-to-use tool provides users with real-time search functionality. Importantly, it also allows you to search by content string, date, and size of file. http://www.filesearchy.com/ (view more)

Attribute Changer 7.10g This add-on for Windows Explorer gives you access to a wide array of exciting features, all from the right button on your mouse. Using this add-on, you can change photo information and modify date and time stamps. Attribute ... Changes is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. http://www.petges.lu/home/ OpenedFilesView 1.55 As the name suggests, this program allows you to view information related to all of the files currently opened on your system. Displayed information includes file name, file location, creation date, and read / write / ... (view more)

A new study suggests that most Americans favor Apple when it comes to mobile devices, though Samsung isn't too far from the top. The study was performed by KS Mobile, a San Francisco-based app maker for the Android and iOS platforms. The study was ... carried out between February 6 and 10, 2014, and involved 1,000 people aged 18 and older. Apple is for Women, Samsung is for Men: Study Suggests Of the people interviewed, nearly half of all women said they favored Apple mobile products, such as the iPhone. Only women aged 40 to 49 said they favored Samsung products. On the other hand, most men ... (view more)

A new report shows that Yahoo instant messages can be easily intercepted and read by government spies and hackers. The problem: Yahoo fails to encrypt those messages. A recent study by CNET shows that Yahoo continues to transmit message content in ... unencrypted form. This makes the instant messages vulnerable and exploitable by third parties. To compound the problem, a recent article by UK-based The Guardian shows that a number of government agencies are, in fact, spying on Yahoo's unencrypted messages. (Source: cnet.com ) Government Agents Spying on Everyday People Worse still, evidence ... (view more)

Puran File Recovery 1.2 Think you've lost an imported file? Puran File Recovery can help you reclaim that file. This program features a very simple and easy to use interface but a powerful recovery engine. It's the perfect combination for recovering ... files fast and easy. http://www.puransoftware.com Asterisk Logger 1.4 Hate it when the passwords you enter are masked by asterisks? Asterisk Logger effectively replaces those nagging asterisks with the actual characters you're entering into your computer. The goal is to eliminate mistakes and help you log in faster. http://www.nirsoft. ... (view more)

Should you be allowed to use high-tech Google Glass spectacles while driving? It's an ongoing debate, and now Google itself is finally weighing in on the issue. Google Glass is a wearable technology that is connected to the Internet. In essence, ... it's like a hands-free smartphone in the shape of eyeglasses; it allows users to take high-definition (HD) pictures, record HD video, and instantly share recorded content with friends and family using various social Internet platforms, such as Google+, Facebook, and similar. Among many other features, Google Glass also includes the ability for the ... (view more)