For many years, Alien Skin's Eye Candy has been one of the most used plugins for creating eye-catching effects for image design enhancement. This current version continues to build on previous versions to provide even more effects and greater variety to make your designs "work." The catch is that working with Eye Candy is at its best if you have Photoshop CS4. If you have Photoshop CS3, it's good. If you have Fireworks CS4 or Photoshop Elements, it's okay. This is partly due to the fact that the amount of features has fully passed the inharent user-interface design limitations.

U-Sleaf and U-Pouch - two inexpensive but attractive and cleverly-designed minimalist cases for your mobile devices

Park your iGadget. watch video, view slideshows, use speakerphone mode in portrait or landscape orientation, even type on this solid aluminum stand from Keynamics made in the USA from recycled 1/8" aluminum plate

After a nine year absence and a promise that a Mac OS X version would be out "soon," Strider Software has finally released TypeStyler for Mac OS X. This vector program that can stylize text like Photoshop—but with significantly more potential for customization—is once again back on my computer. The new TypeStyler has significantly more features, but it also has a curious amount of limitations and/or gaps; features are either missing or only partially there. Trust me, though; despite the holes here and there, this is an application I've truly missed.

The quest for ideal pointing device ergonomics continues with this new grip-less mouse from Holland, which incorporates the latest and greatest tracking technology

The art of the blur. That's what we are talking about here: blurring images. We see this blurring all the time in movies when the camera shifts its focus from one protagonist to another so that person A is in focus at one point and person B is in focus at another. The quality of that "out-of-focus" is Bokeh, and if you didn't properly get that blur in your camera, the Photoshop plug-in, Bokeh, will do a great job of giving you a second chance for great bokeh in your computer.

The G-Drive Professional External Hard Drive comes out-of-the-box Mac-formatted and Time Machine ready for true plug in and play convenience - an extremely robust unit that fairly hollers professional grade hardware.

As a long time Photoshop user, I'm always intrigued about what can be accomplished with its younger sibling: Photoshop Elements. Truth is, a lot. That's good news, because Photoshop Extended, with all of its 3D charm and extra features, retails for $999 while the standard version of Photoshop is a svelte $699. So what do you get for the austere sum of $99? A lot of the technology from the big Photoshop, but designed for the user who wants to just "get it done." What you do not get is the depth and degree of control that big Photoshop can provide. But for many people, the power you will get is very likely more than you will use. Simply, I'd take Photoshop Elements over iPhoto any day.

Universal Electronic Accessories (Uniea) makes a variety of laptop and electronic device cases, two of their newest offerings being the U-Hip Pop - a universal Hip Case with belt/waistband clip for iPhone, iPod Touch and similar size devices, and the U-Suit Premium leather hard case for iPhone 3Gs and Blackberry Bold

Bento, as a Japanese meal, is a box where the various items are cordoned off in small regions. As an application, Bento is a database where each field is cordoned off in small, self-made regions. And a database (so we are all together here) is simply an application that contains data (within fields) that you access easily, quickly, and efficiently. Bento is made by FileMaker, Inc., who also makes the database program FileMaker Pro. FileMaker is probably the best databas application there is. Unfortunately, to construct a full-fledged, full-featured database that's easy to use can be a bit of a challenge. While not as powerful as FileMaker, Bento is easy to use. Now, with Bento 3, it's even better.

Taking photos is no less an art form than painting, sculpting, writing, glassblowing, or any endeavor that requires time and practice to develop the skills necessary to create unique beauty. When we go off on vacations and take photos of the iconic beauties of this earth, the vast majority are pictures. Few are photos. While some peopl can do art naturally, the vast majority of us cannot, at least not without some guidance. These three books—Within the Frame by David duChemin, Visual Poetry by Chris Orwig and The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby—aim to offer that guidance.

Bestows Editor's Choice laurels - MacSpeech Dictate is one of those software programs that you wonder how you ever got along without. Now that I’ve used it for the past several months I cannot imagine life on my MacBook Pro without it - Tomas Ratas