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Microsoft has installed a panic button into UK editions of MSN Messenger and Live Messenger in order to protect kids from online sexual predators. The software behemoth has linked up with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to add a special button to the chat service, meaning that youngsters are just one click away from making a report to police if they are concerned their online ‘buddy’ is a sex offender.

“We take the safety and security of young people online very seriously,” explains Carrie Bogner, Senior Director, Citizenship, Windows Live. “People can already control who they do and don’t allow onto their Messenger buddy list – the new CEOP tab launched today is another safety feature that will make Windows Live and MSN Messenger safer still.”

“Behind the ‘report abuse’ button will sit police and intelligence officers who have been specially trained to tackle child sex abuse. We will tell you how to capture information and how to seize online discussions and then proactively do all we can to track down the perpetrator,” he explained.

What’s more, through the icon and link to the CEOP web site, users from anywhere in the world can access the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) – an international alliance of law enforcement agencies – of which the CEOP Centre is the UK’s representative. Hopefully this will ensure that more Net perverts are snared and exposed and make using a computer a safer past-time for children.

It seems Rockstar Games has decided to step out of the controversy spotlight and let some other players get in on some action. With the release of what is probably the best table-tennis simulation ever, modestly named Table Tennis, Rockstar has managed to wrong foot all their critics who were lying in wait for another slash and dash role player much like the latest title from Eidos – Reservoir Dogs.

Already banned in Australia and New Zealand, Reservoir Dogs promises not only to let you follow in the footsteps of the characters from the cult classic, but will also fill in some of the unanswered questions from the film. However, before it’s even been released, it has come under fire from British Police who are ‘disappointed’ to find this kind of violent game coming out at a time when “police officers are suffering more attacks than ever before”.

A collective sigh must just about be the total effect of this criticism as we set off on this familiar beaten path once again. Comments like these have already been shown as a great form of publicity for the games in question and when it comes to the crunch, the quality of the game will decide whether it’s a hit or a miss, so there isn’t much point in kicking up a storm in the first place. You’ve got to wonder what more can be said on the matter except “Will we ever learn?”

If, like the Softonic Team, you spent your wonder years in the company of moustachioed plumbers and blue hedgehogs then Console Classix is the perfect vehicle to transport you back to those times. The application puts a new spin on emulators such as MAME by allowing you to download and play games for the NES, SNES, Atari, Genesis and Master System legally, rather than having to creep around the Net’s dirty side streets looking for dodgy ROMs.

Getting into the action takes just a few moments and involves nothing more than loading the program selecting a console then picking a game from the list. The app then fetches the game via the Net and you’re ready to start jumping on mushrooms or punching aliens. The list of games is immense and you could have hours of fun just reading it and recalling those nights spent button-bashing in your bedroom.

Ultimately, the downside of Console Classix is that you need to pay a $5 per month charge to access Genesis, Super Nintendo and Master System games. However, if you’ve ever owned a NES or an Atari 2600 then you’ll realize that this isn’t such a problem due to the massive back catalogue of classics such as Paperboy, Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. Of course there are a few stinkers on the list (Back to the Future should never have been made into a game) but finding the long-forgotten gems makes using Console Classix a real dream.

Ever since Nintendo came out with its Brain Age title there’s been a preoccupation that we’re all slowly and irrevocably losing the ability to use our grey matter as efficiently as we apparently could in our teens. Along with this sudden self-consciousness that we’re falling into a hole of senility has come a variety of titles that will restore your mind and maintain it at its optimum “level”, just like Brain Workout does.

To get started you create a user that will then be used to record all your scores and your overall progress on the way to a sharper brain. There are five categories – Logic, Memory, Numerical, Spatial, and Verbal – each containing three games that can be played at five difficulty levels. The main purpose of the game is the “Daily Brain Test” that gives you one puzzle from each category and records your results for the progress chart. You can also practice the games as much as you like, uploading your score to the Brain Workout web site, but that won’t particularly help you in the quest for the perfect mind.

Continue reading “Brain WorkOut: Stretch that grey matter”

Staying organized, getting on top of things, multitasking, managing your workflow…the list of reasons to increase your productivity can go on and on. There’s a whole range of applications in our Productivity section, but we wanted to outline the ten Windows software we think really matter. So here goes:

1. Rainlendar
2. Freemind
3. EssentialPIM
4. WhereIsIt
5. WakeMeUP!
6. TaoNotes 3D Pro
7. TreePad Plus
8. eTunes
9. EverNote
10. Griffith

What are your favorite productiviy tools for PC? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Pirates and spammers beware, there’s been a new breakthrough in information encryption. Researchers of the University of Queensland and the Australian National University have been awarded the prestigious Eureka 2006 Scientific Research award for their use of quantum physics to encrypt information. Their research consists of using “laser beams to generate entangled photons” thus making it virtually impossible to mess with the transmission of information. According to the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes press release however “quantum computers could also crack the mathematically-based codes we rely on for personal and commercial security on the web”. So much for user privacy.

We’re not there yet however, and it’ll surely be ages before we get any closer to home-owned quantum-powered PCs. Most programs available to protect your data consist of solid yet not totally invincible, 128 or 256KB AES encryption. There’s a good number of applications you can find on Softonic to keep your precious files from prying eyes. AxCrypt is a quick encryptor/decryptor for your files, while Cryptic Disk handles your hard drive and disk partitions. It’s a good idea to make a backup encrypted copy of your files once in a while.

She may now have retired, but Mavis Beacon is still fondly remembered at Softonic HQ. The badly-rendered typing guru has always been regarded as the digital equivalent of a favorite aunt and is part of the reason why Softonic’s blog posts are written so quickly.

The application was designed to help you learn to touch-type or improve your typing speed and accuracy. The original version taught you by displaying the layout of a keyboard along with transparent fingers to explain where your hands should be hovering. Mavis would then bark orders, getting you to type what she was saying, and gradually getting faster.

The idea was that after a few hours in Mavis’ company you’d be able to touch-type with ease. It didn’t do a bad job, but typing tutors have evolved a lot since Ms Beacon’s era. For instance, MaxType Typing Tutor allows you not only to test and practice your typing skills with any *.txt file, but to print out test ‘diplomas’ statistical data, which will give you the information about 20 parameters of your typing and even replay the mtr-record file of your own typing. For younger users, the wonderfully silly Tux Typing is full of enough fun and games to keep kids’ fingers tapping for a long time.

If you want to check out more tools to help you type like a pro, take a look here.

Are you a news junkie? Do you find yourself checking your favorite newsites every 10 minutes to get that headline adrenaline? If so, you must know about Really Simple Syndication (RSS). RSS allows you to keep up to date with all new articles or posts that your favorite site puts up. Here at Softonic we mostly use the inbuilt RSS feature from Firefox, but if there was one to recommend we would go for Blogbridge. This stand alone rss application allows you to search and add the syndication feeds from a url and lets you set tags and ratings. While it is mostly destined for blog fanatics, you can also use it to follow up on normal websites. What we like in Blogbridge is also the interface, with the main window to read your post, and the left side of the interface revealing your list of feeds, a thumbnail for each of them and a short description. If you’re hooked on RSS, what feed reader would you recommend to other users and why?