Hide, Lock, Encrypt, Wipe Folders – Free and Portable App

Secure Folder has been designed with the purpose to keep your files safe from prying eyes. It locks your data using 256-bit AES Rijndael algorithm and can also hide the items from view.

Keeping information safe these days is not quite easy to achieve, despite the plethora of apps promising strong protection. In many case easy workarounds can open the door to your data. There are few programs that can indeed withstand cunning attacks.

But sometimes the easies solutions are the best. Secure Folder is a nifty little freebie geared up with plenty of protective features for your files. Besides encrypting your data it can also hide it from view. Moreover, you can use it to map a folder to a drive for easier access to that location; its functionality also includes a secure deletion component and a system cleaner.

The application comes both as a desktop installation as well as a portable download. If you go with the second there is no need to install, just unzip the contents and use.

Regardless how you decide to bring the program on your system you’ll face one of the simplest interfaces. All the options are condensed in the upper part of the window and most of the space is reserved for the folders you add and want to protect.

Secure Folder is protected by a countersign (“password”) from the very first moment you launch it. You are advised to change it for better protection, as this is the only key that can remove the security measures you enforce upon your data.

Support for drag and drop makes it easy to load up the directories you want to protect. A set of three options is at your disposal: lock the item, hide it or encrypt it. Of course, you can choose all of them to ensure maximum protection.

However, if locking and encrypting the folder work like a charm, hiding it does not really throw the invisibility cloak on them. We were able to bring it to surface by simply instructing Windows Explorer to display protected operating system files. Also, we noticed that the hiding occurs regardless of the security measure you impose in the software.

On the other hand locking and encrypting really did the job. The folder affected by these security measures showed zero size and we could not breach them.

An important aspect is that you always know which folders are protected and the protection measures enforced just by simply taking a gander at the main application window. Right near the secured folder you will see the protection modes currently on keeping it safe: “L” stands for Lock,” H” stands for Hide and “E” stands for Encrypt.

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Drag & Drop to Upload to Box.net

It is getting easier by the day to upload date into an online storage account. With SimpleShare from Box.net this procedure reaches the utmost simplicity level as dragging and dropping the data into its interface is all it takes to get them into your upload folder of your Box account.

The application is not exactly a desktop client for the online service, but rather an upload manager, designed to facilitate uploading data to your account to the maximum.

SimpleShare is a 10.2MB download and it does not take great computer skills to put on your system. Installation procedure is actually a click-through process, which can be handled by beginner users as well, with no effort at all.

The freebie obviously addresses Box.net users, but if you want to benefit from its advantages creating an account takes less than a minute. If you opt for the free, personal plan you get 5GB of web storage, easy sharing of data and access to your account from a mobile device. On the downside, you cannot upload files larger than 25MB.

There isn’t much investment in the looks of the application as these are plain and simple, with the application window composed of two tabs: one is for viewing the basic details of your Box.net account and access the online upload folder while the other offers the configuration options.

As far as details about your account are concerned, you will be provided only with the current quota state of the web storage. This is presented in percent but you also have the cold numbers.

All the data you upload in your online account is stored in a specific folder which is created the moment your account becomes active. With SimpleShare you can easily access the contents of this directory, but, more importantly you can upload files there by simply dragging and dropping the items in its interface.

On the downside, there is no obvious hint to betray the fact that an upload job is in progress. Only if you look closely at the system tray icon you will notice it filling up; also, when the task completes a message pops up informing you that the file has been uploaded. But apart from this, which is quite difficult to spot, there isn’t any other indication.

A progress bar in the interface of the program would have been a neat solution, or at least display the progress in percentage upon moving the mouse over the icon.

Uploading items when dropping them in the interface is not the only trick SimpleShare has been conferred. The app also gives you the possibility to take screenshots of specific areas of your desktop or the entire screen and automatically upload them.

A more important screen recording solution, though, is capturing video of your work on the computer. Video recording job is triggered by a keyboard shortcut, Shift+Alt+5, which you can change to something more convenient. Just select the region you want to capture and everything will be caught on “tape”. The “stop” button is present in the lower right corner of the captured region. Once you click it, SimpleShare automatically starts uploading the newly created FLV file.

The configuration screen of the application is nothing complicated and all the options are shown in a clear manner, with no room for confusion. The list of settings includes the possibility to delete data once it is uploaded, disable automatic uploads or enable SimpleShare to start with Windows.

A very useful option is copying the URL of the uploaded when it is online. Since Box.net can be used for sharing data and collaborative tasks, this feature comes in very handy as it allows you to securely send the link to anyone you want.

“Preferences” screen is also the place to change the default shortcuts for taking a snapshot of the desktop, a specific area or defining the section for the screencast.

The same options available in the application window of SimpleShare are also available in the context menu of the app’s tray icon. Here you can even see a list of the data that has already been uploaded and access it online.

The Good

Getting data from your desktop to your Box.net account was already an easy job, but SimpleShare made it even easier. You just have to drop it in the interface and the upload process begins in an instant.

At the end of the transfer the link to the file is automatically placed in Windows Clipboard, so you can share it with others. You can take screenshots of your desktop and even video clips and get them online.

The Bad

Though the application is simple, it still lacks several features that would make its usage more comfortable. Making the transfer progress more visible and displaying the details of the job would be most welcomed in a future version of the product. A warning in the case of files exceeding the supported limit of a free account before starting the upload would also work well.

The Truth

All the problems SimpleShare seems to have are related to the lack of the proper features. It is the easiest upload managers we’ve seen. Further development should include at least minor adjustments to view the transfer progress.

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"Model View Controller" for JavaScript library Ext JS 4

Version 4 of Ext JS is the most comprehensive release in the history of the JavaScript library, according to Sencha, the vendor of the library. The firm bases this assessment on revisions made to the library's architecture along with 350 new APIs, 50 new classes and completely revised documentation.

A new "Plug-in Free" Charting package removes the need of earlier versions of Ext JS to use Flash to display charts in older browsers. In Ext JS 4 it is even possible to display charts in Microsoft's outdated (but still widely used) Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) without a plug-in, thanks to the library’s new graphics engine. IE6 is one of 21  browser versions supported (Chrome 5+, Firefox 3+, IE6+, Safari 3.2+ and Opera 10+), in which the JavaScript library runs in quirks and strict modes. In more modern browsers, it supports forthcoming functions of HTML5.

Sencha has also launched support for the MVC-like (Model View Controller) pattern. MVC allows a developer to seperate the user interface (the view) from the data (the model) and orchestrate the interaction between the two (the controller). With that separation of responsibilities in place, a developer can iteratively enhance the view or model and add more application logic to the controller as needed. The approach also allows prototypes to be presented relatively quickly and then rapidly enhanced to production code. Sencha says it has introduced MVC to help standardise architecture patterns for larger development teams to make it easier for developers to "get up to speed" as they move between projects.

A new class system is intended to help developers, for example, to detect dependencies. Ext JS 4 also allows the library to run in a sandbox for the first time. Different versions of Ext JS can therefore be run on one page without colliding. Other revisions were made to the grid components, which are now modular and able to support "infinite" amounts of data without paging, and in support for themes, which now use stylesheet language Sass (syntactically awesome stylesheets) and CCS meta-framework Compass. For an overview of these and additional changes, see "What's new in Ext JS 4".

Sencha dual licenses the library under the GPLv3 or a commercial licence. The library and SDK tools can be downloaded from the Sencha site.

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The Little Math Helper

For children, mathematics can be difficult to learn, especially if there's not enough practice. To those starting from an early age to discover the basics, AddOrSubtract will shed some needed light on two of the most common operations.

When it comes to teaching kids the fundamentals of a subject like math, any help is welcomed, particularly if it concerns practical exercises. They are of the utmost importance because tare meant to show children how to actually put theory to work.

The first arithmetic operations to be learned and, as we will later find out, the most often used on a daily basis are addition and subtraction. Since these two play such a big part in our lives, it is all-important that youngsters get acquainted with them and, more that, make good friends with this pair.

To make things easier for kids as well as for parents who want to play an active role in the education of their sons and daughters, there are many applications dedicated to this purpose. Such a tool is AddOrSubtract that, as you probably guessed already, is bent on working with the mathematical operations that make up its name.

This utility is quite small in size, weighing in at only 580 KB and, best of all, free of cost. The installation takes a few seconds so you'll be able to have it up and running in no time at all. Once you open the software, you will notice the simple interface, without any eye-catching effects, just the plain workspace and the commands for controlling it.

Practicality is the main focus for this app and accessibility is also high on the priorities list because all the functions are well delimited and pretty easy to understand and use by anyone. You can run this tool using the preset parameters, or just as easy configure them as you please from the ''Options'' area.

The choices you are presented with concern, first of all, the range of numbers you will be utilizing for the exercises. You can select the each one for the top and, respectively, the bottom row that each question consists of. All there is to do next is opt for the operation that will be employed, addition or subtraction.

A mention definitely worth making at this point pertains to the maximum number of digits supported which is ten. Nonetheless, in the question area is only capable of displaying four of them. Another aspect you should be aware of is the handling of negative numbers. Even though they will appear as results of a certain operation, you won't be able to use them in defining the number ranges.

In order to stress the difference between the rows, AddOrSubtract has some colors up its sleeve: red for the upper and blue for the lower rows. Answering the questions is very easy since all you have to do is write the result and hit ''Enter''. Each query is logged in the history list, where you can view both the correct answer and the one given by the user.

Keeping track of all questions and their solution is very useful for anyone who wants to monitor the progress of the child and see what operations are the most problematic. However, there is a shortcoming to be noted here, namely the impossibility to save or print the results sheet for later review. A nice addition in this respect would be a chart for checking the evolution, without having to analyze dozens of questions.

The application will show the exact score of the respondent by displaying how many correct answers were provided out of the total number of questions. There is also a percent bar that serves the same purpose of evaluating the accuracy of the person taking the test. Each time you feel like starting over, you just have to press the dedicated button, but be careful because in doing so you will erase the results obtained thus far.

Aside from the stress that might be on the shoulders of children being examined, AddOrSubtract will not impact on your system, at least not in a noticeable manner. The resource usage is minimal, especially for the processor. During our tests, the dual-core 1.9 GHz AMD Athlon 64-bit CPU barely moved, while just over 3 MB of the 2 GB of available RAM were called to do all the hard labor.


The Good

This utility scores well for its ease of use, a great thing to have each time school kids are involved. Also, AddOrSubtract gains some good points thanks to the fact that you can view all the questions and compare the answers to see which ones are correct and where potential issues may arise.

The Bad

On the downside, there is the dull interface of the application that couples with some other shortcomings like the lack of print or save functions. On the same note, negative numbers should be an option for the user to select rather than having them included in the default operating mode because younger pupils may not even know they exist. Yet another drawback is the fact that this tool can display only 4 numbers in the question area, even though its number range supports far more digits.

The Truth

All things considered, AddOrSubtract does a fair job and will certainly be of assistance for practicing these two arithmetic operations. The software is surely not quite tailored for the most demanding users, but it will function perfectly for anyone needing to work on basic exercises.

It may not be the best piece of kit on the market, but if you need a freeware app to teach or learn elementary addition and subtraction, this application might just fit your bill.


Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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Image Conversion, Resizing and Watermarking All in One

Kigo Image Converter is a three-way image processor, providing a fortunate mix of conversion capabilities, joined by a resizing utility and a watermarking feature. All these make a good promise for users that are looking to process large packs of photos at a time.

Image conversion is such a common task these days. The simple fact that more and more users become familiar with different image types has raised the bar for software developers. As some of them are trying to focus only on providing accurate and fast conversion skills, others boost the value of their applications with additional capabilities, such as resizing, editing or watermarking.

This is exactly the kind of principle that Kigo Image Converter was built upon. This program successfully combines its major functionality, image conversion, with two graphic extras: resizing and protecting your work with watermarks. Moreover, the application can perform these tasks in batch mode.

Kigo Image Converter is free of charge, so you can take it for a spin without paying a single cent. The installation process is smooth and takes very little of your time, no toolbars or third party components included. However, despite being clean on this matter, the app is marked as ad-supported due to the fact that it displays ad banners during its runtime.

The GUI of Kigo Image Converter isn’t as appealing as its features, but its simplicity is an
advantage for beginners to say the least. All the Options are laid in front of you, no complicated menus involved. The upper side of the main window is home to the buttons that will help you add or remove pictures from the list of images to be processed. On the same subject, adding pictures is also possible by means of drag & drop, which is a real helper if you prefer speed.

The middle area of the main window is reserved for listing the images you bring in. They will be scaled to a thumbnail size once you add them, making it possible to have a wider view over the entire list of images. As it turns out, there is no context menu available, so this is not the section we need to be looking at in terms of functionality.

All the fun is concentrated in the lower part, where you’ll learn that each of the three available tabs carries out a different task. The first one focuses on the output image format and the destination folder for the converted images. In terms of image support, Kigo Image Converter is not the most generous application of its type, but not the neediest either. The list of formats includes BMP, JPG, J2K, JPC, PNG, TIFF, TGA, PCX and PNM formats and no one would mind if it grew a few other image types.

Resizing images with Kigo Image Converter is plain simple. You can accomplish it with the size factor feature (accepted values go from 0 to 10) or by manually entering values for width and height, with the possibility of keeping the aspect ratio.

Watermarking images is not as simple and comfortable as the resizing operation. It demands a little patience, because unfortunately, you will not be able to apply the text or image stamp in any position you want. Instead, you will benefit from five predefined areas to place the watermarks (upper left/right, bottom left/right and center). This may come as a downside when working with a small number of images, but for when you’re batch processing a large pack, it can actually turn into an advantage.

The real disadvantage here comes in the situation involving image watermarks. In this case, it would be desirable to be able to move the stamp around, in order to adjust it to your taste in the final image. On the same subject, if you’re not satisfied with the five areas, you can always set the position yourself manually, by inputting the left and top margin values that fit your needs.

It’s most certainly not easy and fun to play around with numbers until you find just the right spot, but the preview function comes somewhat as a consolation prize and proves to be of great use in this particular case.

Overall, Kigo Image Converter carries out a great job in a relatively short amount of time. Sometimes, the process can last longer if you decide to use the resizing feature. However, the aspect of time estimation is covered only by a little bar that moves along as the conversion is being processed.

For future developments, a more accurate approximation regarding the conversion interval would surely be appreciated, especially when working with hundreds of files. This aspect aside, the output quality is undeniable and compensates any other shortcomings that the application may have.

The Good

Kigo Image Converter can process hundreds of photos at a time and with decent speed too. It can protect your photos with both text and image watermarks and can easily modify their dimensions to a size of your own choice. Nonetheless, the preview function makes up for the fact that you can’t move the watermarks in live mode.

The Bad

Kigo Image Converter is at times demanding on the system resources. The situation that stands out the most involves image resizing. If and when you use this feature, not only will the process take longer, but it will also cost you more resource wise. Processing a batch of 70 photos took about 250 MB of RAM, with the processor peaking at about 50%.

The impossibility to move freely the watermarks across the images is also a downside. Also, the support for image formats could be a lot richer.

The Truth

All things considered, Kigo Image Converter is a piece of software worth having, especially for the nice combination of features it brings into the world of image converters.

The application gains some important points with the resizing and watermarking utilities and with its ease of use, which makes it a great asset for any type of user. It’s the right option for large batches of images and it does a good job, regardless of the minor disadvantages it may have.

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If you want to take snapshots fast and easy

If you want to take snapshots fast and easy, Neoshooter might give you just what you need in a very small package.

Neoshooter is a small, very easy to use app, free for home use, so, if you like it you can use it for as long as you want to.

This program will open in your system tray enabling you to access its features with a simple left-click. The tray menu allows you to take a snapshot of your desktop or of the last active window.

If you have an application that also uses shortcuts, Neoshooter might display an error message and fail to open. So, you can't have PicPick and this software running at the same time, for example.

An option for capturing parts of the desktop is also available. This feature will also offer you a preview of the section you’ve selected, an advantage absent in previous options.

The Take Active Window Screenshot feature comes with a timer, so you can make sure the right window is selected. This timer is by default set at 5 seconds, but it can be adjusted from the Options section. The countdown will be displayed in a balloon, and can also be easily disabled if it annoys you.

It is worth mentioning that the timer can also be enabled for the Take Screenshot action. In order to offer users a better view (and for a more accurate screenshot) you can use the Zoom window. This will open a window zooming on the area around your mouse. The zoom factor can be adjusted with the aid of a slider.

The Options window is where the magic starts happening. First of all, you can set the application to offer you a preview of the image that you’ve just captured. The Preview window will help you rotate the picture, crop it or overlay a PNG file.

Further customizations can be made by opting to include the mouse cursor or the Start Panel /Menu. If you want to pinpoint something with your mouse this options might come in handy.

One other thing you can adjust in this section is the action to be performed when double-clicking the tray icon. The Take screenshot, Take active window screenshot and Preview last screenshot alternatives are being offered.

You will of course have to select the output folder that you would like to use for saving you screenshots and the file type as well; PNG, JPG and BMP are the provided file formats. It’s true that these are the most popular image types used but some other like GIF or TIFF would have been welcomed.

The Options window also enables you to select a default filename to be used for your screenshots. Just enter a name of your choice and you’re good to go. In order to keep track of the images you’ve made in certain days you can enable the Add Day Stamp option. For an even more precise tracking the Add time stamp feature comes in handy.

Despite the fact that Neoshooter does not offer any editing options whatsoever, it gives you the possibility to open your images using another app. By default Paint is selected, but you can of course change it to any other tool you want.

In our testing adventure we found a quite useful option that allows you to resize the picture to a certain dimension. If you know that your newly created images must have a specific size, this feature might be useful. Of course, a fixed size region capturing option would have been very useful as well, but for the average user this option should suffice.

Creating thumbnails is another valuable feature that requires little effort from your side: setting the size is the only task you need to complete. Basically, you will get two images in the designated folder: the screenshot and its thumb which can contain information about the image as well (size in pixels and bytes). You can also select the file format for your thumb, of course. We’ve tested this feature and noticed that users can choose to save the screenshot in a JPG format and the thumb as PNG, for example. The image format can be customized by modifying the PNG compression and the JPEG quality.

The Good

Neoshooter is a simple tool that will help you create screenshots with just one click. You can save those images using some of the most popular file formats out there. The resize feature also adds value to the overall value of this application, especially since you don’t have the fixed size capture option available.

The Bad

This application can be improved by adding a few more capturing options like: fixed size or free-hand screen capture. Furthermore, adding some editing options or shortcut keys for the capture actions would be welcomed. Another minus is the fact that, at startup, it fails to run if it finds a hotkey conflict. Enabling the users to change that hotkey in order to avoid conflicts would have been a better solution for the issue.

The Truth

It’s obvious that Neoshooter wasn’t developed for advanced users. On the other hand, beginners, who just need a screenshot or two every day, will be satisfied. You can get a preview of the image you’ve captured and that’s a plus. The resizing feature also might come in handy if some predetermined parameters must be met.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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Simple Shutdown Scheduler

Most of us rely on this kind of applications even for simple tasks like locking your workstation at a specific hour. Whether you like a shutdown scheduler filled with all kinds of triggers and features or just a simple timer made specifically for the job, Simple Shutdown Scheduler might be the tool you need.

Scheduling computer actions might prove to be very useful for people who download large files overnight or just want to relax, listening some music without having to worry they’ll fall asleep with the computer running.

Simple Shutdown Scheduler is distributed under the GPL license which means you can use it for free for as long as you want, without any restrictions. Also, this license allows you to use and modify the source code as you need or even use it as part of your projects if you provide the proper credentials.

The app has a simple and comprehensive interface that provides quick access to all its features. Occupying only a small amount of space on your hard drive, approximately 1.67 MB, you will never feel it’s there.

The main window contains two tabs where you will find the tools you need to setup your scenarios. All the planned actions can be easily viewed in the General tab, but we’ll come back to this later, after we present the scenario creation mechanism.

Scenarios are the actions that your computer will perform according to a selected trigger. At the moment, Simple Shutdown Scheduler supports Restart, Shutdown, Power Off, Sleep, Log Off, Lock and Start program. For a future version the addition of Hibernate will be of good use and it could complete the scenario list.

The application doesn’t offer too many options regarding the triggers for the selected scenario, as you may choose only from Date&Time and Countdown actions. The first one allows you to schedule your action to run only once or on a daily, weekly or monthly basis at the desired date and time.

The later gives you the possibility to setup a countdown until the selected scenario will be performed. The countdown can be adjusted with as much as 23:59:59 (h:m:s) before starting the desired action.

A lot of improvements can be done in this area, as developers might add other triggers like CPU and RAM usage, network traffic or process behavior to give users all the means necessary to perform the desired scenario.

If you’re part of a network and you want to perform an action on a specific computer, with Simple Shutdown Scheduler you can easily enter the PC name, user name and password, choose the desired scenario and the application will automatically complete it. To activate this option one must activate the Remote action checkbox.

You have to keep in mind that only Restart, Shutdown, Power Off, Log Off and Start Program options can be used with the remote action method (the Lock and Sleep actions are not yet supported). The bottom table from the scenarios tab will display the error messages that you might get if a remote task could not be completed.

You can force the activation of a scenario by using the Force checkbox. If you want to perform a task only once and then remove it from the scenario list the Auto remove scenario checkbox will help you with that.

During our tests we’ve noticed Simple Shutdown Scheduler does not enable you to edit tasks that are already scheduled. A rather annoying problem when your only solution is to delete the task and create a new one that suits your needs.

The only way to delete a scheduled scenario is using the Delete key on your keyboard, no right click menu or option to simplify the action. An odd thing we've discovered is the fact that when you try to delete a random scenario from your list, the program will always delete the topmost scenario regardless of the one you choose.

So, if you have many scenarios scheduled and you need to delete one from the bottom of your list, I’m afraid it can’t be done without erasing all previous scenarios.

Besides scheduled scenarios, immediate actions can also be performed. As in the case of scenario scheduling, the same actions can be performed right away without any planning. The tray menu can come in handy in this case, providing you quick shortcuts to the desired actions.

If you’re not looking for a complex application to schedule when your computer should shutdown, restart, sleep, lock, power off or log off, Simple Shutdown Scheduler might satisfy your needs.

The Good

Simple Shutdown Scheduler is a basic program that will allow you to schedule when you want your PC to sleep, restart, shutdown, power off, lock, log off or launch a specific file.

It also enables you to perform these actions on a remote computer without installing additional software. Scheduling can be made on a daily, weekly or monthly basis or as a simple countdown.

The Bad

Simple or not, the program has its drawbacks. The biggest one is the fact that you can’t delete the desired action without deleting the previous ones.

The addition of Hibernate to the action list can bring a plus to its usability. Also, adding more triggers (CPU and RAM usage, network traffic or process behavior) to scenario scheduling can add up to its value.

The Truth

Disregarding its flaws, Simple Shutdown Scheduler is a lightweight piece of software that will help you with your scheduling needs.

The developers need to concentrate more on solving the actual bugs that can become rather annoying. Also, the addition of some new features might improve its usability and value at the same time.

Version reviewed: Simple Shutdown Scheduler 1.1.1

A light and useful tool to schedule shutdowns / reboots / ... for any computer of the network.

Simple Shutdown Scheduler is a simple and easy to use application that will help you schedule shutdowns, restarts, logoff, poweroff etc.

All the actions are schedulable for an immediate, unique, daily, weekly or monthly launch, according to the specified date/time or countdown.

Here are some key features of "Simple Shutdown Scheduler":

· It is simple to use
· It is secure (all passwords are saved encrypted, and passwords are never readable as text in memory)
· It is multi-threaded, so the application will never hung

Requirements:

· Net Framework 2.0

DOWNLOAD 

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Google doodle celebrates steam-engine pioneer and badass Richard Trevithick

Today's Google doodle celebrates a British inventor who played a major role in the industrial revolution, and who was also something of a steam-powered badass. The doodle commemorates the colourful life of Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick, born today in 1771.

Trevithick built the first high-pressure steam engine in 1799, and the first full-scale working steam locomotive, which made the world's first industrial rail journey in Wales on 21 February 1804. He had a terrible head for business but a clear mischievous streak, betting on his engines, exhibiting them in a 'steam circus', and giving them names like Puffing Devil and Catch Me Who Can.

If you're thinking 'Hang on -- didn't George Stephenson invent trains an' that?', you'd be half-right: Stephenson built the first public railway line, and his Locomotion No. 1 steam locomotive hauled the first train in 1825 before it was superceded by Stephenson's famous Rocket. 

Trevithick later had a crack at driving the first tunnel under the Thames but nearly drowned when it failed. He also invented a system for raising wrecked ships with air tanks, and, when one ship's owner refused to pay, he simply cut the ropes and let it sink again.

It's good to see Google celebrating a great British pioneer who never achieved the success he deserved during his life. In recent days, Google has also celebrated Robert Bunsen, the man behind the Bunsen burner and the inspiration for the hapless muppet scientist, and Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. 

Incidentally, tomorrow is Thunderbirds puppet-master Gerry Anderson's birthday. If the man behind Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Fireball XL5 doesn't deserve a doodle, then we don't know who does.

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Beyond Good & Evil HD

Beyond Good & Evil HD is the latest in the array of high definition remakes we've seen appear in the last year or so and Ubisoft's attempted at seeing if there are enough fans to warrant fully investing in Beyond Good & Evil 2, one of the most anticipated sequels in the whole gaming industry.

The title was launched as part of the Xbox Live House Party promotion and wants to deliver the same great game originally released back in 2003, but with upgraded graphics fit for a new console generation.

Has it succeeded or should Beyond Good & Evil HD slowly sink to the bottom of the oceans on the planet Hillys, alongside the possibility of a fully pledged sequel? Let's find out.

 

Beyond Good & Evil HD has a pretty tough job ahead of it, adding a few new features to one of the most critically acclaimed titles of yesteryear, and trying to cement it into mainstream gaming culture, after they original failed to actually sell lots of units.


For a guy like me, who hasn't played the original game and was fresh into the whole Beyond Good & Evil experience, it has pretty much succeeded.

Even if it is a high-definition remake, the improved graphics and resolutions still take a back seat to the story and the unique characters, including leading lady Jade and her friends.

Beyond Good & Evil paints a world where things may look cute and cuddly, thanks to the anthropomorphized animals, but there are some serious things afoot, starting with the invasion of the weird DomZ aliens and reaching even the Alpha Section, a force that promises to help the residents of Hillys in front of the evil monsters.

Jade, with the help of her Uncle Pey'J and others must use her photography and stealth skills to uncover the conspiracies behind all of these events and restore peace to her world.

Photography plays an important role in the game, perhaps more than the actual fighting, as it is used not just to complete objectives and missions but also to earn credits and pearls, one of the special currencies in the game world. While it may seem a bit annoying at first, taking photos becomes quite interesting and, dare I say it, addictive, so you'll start to search for rare animals in order to complete your collections in no time.

You'll still do quite a lot of fighting and platforming though, and even if it has a simple combat system, with just one button to press, it becomes more difficult as it progresses. Platforming is pretty good, but there are some instances where navigating the levels becomes too complicated.

The actual levels in the game are pretty much split between wider, open ones and small, cramped little rooms or corridors. You'll find yourself going through a lot of loading screens, while extra animations like when saving your progress at special stations throughout the world can also get tiresome.

Still, exploration is one of the most important things to do in the game, as not only can you uncover secret items or new animals to photograph, but also other activities, like racing or chases with looters that are quite exciting.

Moving around the world can get a bit annoying because of the dodgy camera system, however, as the angles that the game chooses to display its action are extremely bad and fail to show you that you have enemies in the new chamber you're entering or if you have a special nook or cranny that you can explore.

The most important thing, however, is that Beyond Good & Evil HD still has a lot of charm for a game originally launched in 2003, starting with Jade, who has emotions just like a normal human being, and ending with the world of the game which is extremely memorable.

 

Graphics-wise, Beyond Good & Evil HD manages to take the old game and really give it a new coat of paint. The textures could have used some more work, but, overall, things have improved and they'll keep people interested in the game.

It's not Crysis 2, but don't forget that the base is still a title released 8 years ago for platforms like the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube or the original Xbox.

Overall, Beyond Good & Evil HD, for those who haven't played the original, is a great choice and will prove certain delight, even if its visuals aren't what you might expect in 2011. For those who still keep the older one in high regard, it's a pretty fun blast from the past which feels great even after many years.

Beyond Good & Evil HD is available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 MS Points and will appear on the PlayStation Store later this year.

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