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Digest
Software
By TIMES WIRES
Published November 27, 2006
So you have that shiny new computer, and want to load it up with some good software. Noah Matthews of McClatchy-Tribune News Service suggests these titles, all available from WashingtonCD (www.washingtoncd.net): Speak More Spanish Price: $25 Operating system: Windows XP, Macintosh OSX 10.4 or higher Speak More Spanish has about 1,000 common Spanish words and 250 phrases that cover most tourist needs. The program uses flash cards in categories such as hotels, restaurants, places to go, numbers and directions to el servicio. You start by hearing the correct pronunciation, and reinforce the lesson by repeating the word or phrase, then typing the translation in English. Some of the words include pictures. If you have 15 minutes a day for a week, you can be speaking basic Espanol by the time you cross the border. Your Custom Home on DVD Price: $35 Operating system: Windows XP, Me and 98 Company: WashingtonCD, www. washingtoncd.net Your Custom Home, which has 11 essential homebuilding and remodeling programs on a single DVD, lets you plan your next remodel without having to consult architects, contractors or five-hour-a-day workmen. The Home Architect program has millions of variations on your dream home. You conduct a virtual walkabout, create floor plans, put staircases where they're needed and choose wall coverings and colors. From there you go on to Home Design Guide, which has a wealth of suggestions from professional designers. If you're contemplating an interior redesign, you can import pictures of your home and arrange fixtures and furniture before you tear out your first wall. The Home Plan Finder has thousands of home plans for single or multiple-family homes. Once you see what you like, you can order blue prints (for a fee) that you can give to your contractor. The Cost Estimator program will help you figure out how much your project will cost and give you a shopping list of materials. There also are programs to help you design and build a deck, design unique objects, such as fireplaces, and repair everything from plumbing to electrical challenges. StarFlyers 2nd Grade Learning System Price: $26 Operating system: Windows XP, Me, 2000 and 98 and Macintosh computers running systems 8.6 to 10.1. Company: WashingtonCD, www.washingtoncd.net The StarFlyers are cute kids, a flying dog and assorted androids that challenge young learners to solve puzzles. In the process children ages 6 to 8 will learn how to add, subtract, dabble in basic geometry, make decisions and, basically, how to use their computers. Spelling flash cards show subjects such as animals, and challenge young learners how to spell them. The cards are packaged separately, which means that teachers or parents can use them while other children are playing the computer programs in the two-CD set. The StarFlyers challenge kids to help them solve intergalactic puzzles at three levels of difficulty. PrintMaster Greeting Cards Deluxe 2 Price: $26 Operating system: Windows XP, Me, 98SE and 2000. Company: WashingtonCD, www.washingtoncd.net Okay, Mr. and Ms. Moneybags, you want to spend five bucks on a Christmas card for your mom, no one's stopping you. But if money is an object, here's a cheaper way to design Christmas cards, and cards for birthdays, anniversaries, expressing sympathy, announcing your new poodle puppy's first haircut, and just about any other occasion, even ones the greeting card companies haven't invented yet. You can choose from thousands of templates, hundreds of crazy and sober fonts, drawings and photos. Not into sending cards via snail mail? You can design animated e-mail cards with this program. The same holiday and special occasion choices are available. For those of us who still care enough to send our very best by mail, there's a special joy in composing backgrounds, colors, choosing fonts, and selecting the right photo or drawing. E-mail users can attach video clips and sound files to their electronic cards. This program also helps create labels, postcards, banners, photo frames, stickers, invitations and personal stationery. It even has a date reminder so you'll have plenty of time to create the perfect card.
[Last modified November 26, 2006, 20:21:53]
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