I" like a list of reviews of goos and bad software

REGVAC and A1Because I am retired I have the time to goof around and check out new programs-I like to do the free trial on some utilites if it is a full version-I have been ripped off a few times lately by not doing enough homework on some of these programs---Where do I find a non-biased software review site-?-I like Consumer Reports because they take no money from sponsers.Their money is made strickly from sales of the magazine-Is there a similare website?-I like PC ,agazine but they sell ads so that kinda makes them biased-Here is a short list of my programs-good and the bad-1-Good photos programs-/EZ SUITE for EZ CAM--very nice and easy-2-ULEAD PHOTO EXPRESS-very good-3.Cannon mp450-great multi-function unit-very quiet and has comes with lots of great software programs-make real good photos!-(but no money)I asked-Cannon tech said that their high end copy machines will make money that is near perfect and because of that they have a self destruct mechanism in the unit-If you attempt to make money it will fry the board!-Smoke will roll!-lol honest-thats what they said-So what's to stop a third world country from omitting that self destruct feature and flooding the ecomomy with funny money?--1CLICK DVD PRO! -I like Window Washer to scrub the hard drives and gain room-Convert X to DVD is real good and Audio DVD c Creator puts manymany songs on one dvd instead of 12-in audio format-VSO Inspector easy way to update firmware-from VSO -LG AND VSO Software companies are both great iIMO-Not only does their products work well but the tech support is fantastic-quick turn around time on help-One more recommendation-If you are looking for new car decks; I just bought a Kenwood w/ cd player-it comes with software to use when burning files-It converts the audio files to mp3 format so I can get 6 or 7 albums worth of tunes on one disk-and it reads and verbally tell me who's album is up-It then tells me where to honk the horn when we pass a beautiful lady walking down the street and it then flashes her name and address as well as marriage status across the faceplate-Amazing-How is it done? lol-(This feature will be available sometime soon)-

 

Hi robspace,
try this one:
http://www.tucows.com/
Regards,
d-fens

 

Its not that far fetched - if you use photoshop cs and later editions - if you try to photocopy any currency that is manufactured anywhere in the world it brings up a notice saying that you are committing a crime and that you cannot proceed with that - I think what canon are saying is that they have the same mechanism too. It may even be that an attempt to scan money say - more than once will trip a condition in the machine that will lock users out until reset by an engineer - obviously an embarrassing thing to have happen

As for good honest software reviews I can honestly say do not use zdnet
half the programs they recomend contain spyware for some reason.
but a good one is http://reviews.cnet.com/

 

Alright-thanks for that Colombo-The Canon Tech Support by the way; is very good-They have a toll free number that a live human actually picks up in 3 minutes or less!-With my lack of pc knowledge tech support is everything-I don't have the money to call The Geek Squad every time the batteries in my mouse die!-The guy said that the wiring actually burns up lol-not just shut down-not like fire but it goes beyond repair the way he put it-There should be one company out there that does unbiased reviews for software-I think Consumer Reports should get into the game-They have saved me alot of headachs and money over the years by doing alot of research on products-they review everything-why not software programs?-Let me know if ya find any-thanks Rob-I tried Z-NET but they recommended a very bad product called RADAR SYNC-there is a very long thread runnin right now on there about this update software-people are pissed-The software is terrible-loads bad drivers and they have virtually no tech support-but thanks again for the help-

 

bad software = "Windows 9x" /n "Windows XP" /n "Windows Server" /n "Microsoft compatible"

 

I have been looking for evidence of this for 2 hours on the net and the nearest I can find in the way of counterfeit protection is the fact that every printer in the world prints a hidden code into every picture you print so that secret services can track down counterfeiters (thats all printers - not just canon)
and the fact that when a canon machine recognises U.S currency or European currency is being scanned it will print a huge block of black ink over the page

They also have incorporated a system where if you tamper with the counterfeit protection chip - it will lock up and render the machine useless until a service engineer is called

but as to wrecking the electronics components there is no evidence whatsoever

 

Well-I can't remember his exact words. It was 4 days ago that I talked to them and I jokingly asked if my model would make decent looking money-He was cool and laughed and did not hesitate when he answered me-He said something like"-No your machine won't but our higher end units will and for that reason they have what sounded like a hardware item installed that when money is put in; it will destroy the system-I asked if he ment it would burn up wires and he said something like that-It will destroy the unit and make it unusable-I did not ask if it was repairable but it didn;t sound like it-It also did not sound like a simple software replacement but probably a special piece of custom hardware-I asked if the Goverment required them to have that in there and he said no-So-I asked what would stop a 3rd world country from making their own-without the saftey catch-he said"nothing"-kinda scary when ya think about it-The copiers are that good and we can be flooded with bogus bills-If you want to ask them about that call-toll free-1-800-828-4040-tech support-They answer fast ' like the 3rd ring!-I would be curious what they say-Of course you will be talking to someone different then me but I'd like to know what that device is and how it works-I'm pretty sure it does not explode on your desk or catch fire-lol-unless you have Sony batteries-they do-and are on re-call right now for that reason-overheating laptops

 

wow - maybe they do then? Seems a bit drastic though - I mean some of them canon copiers are like 2 or 3000 dollar for their office stuff - imagine if some airhead secretary copies a note for a laugh and the copier machine explodes

 

Now ya got me wondering too-I found this article but it dosen't say much about the Canon solution to the forgery problem but it looks like it has become a big problem and they are all looking to fix it-I will do some more reseach-Canon may not want it known how their machine works-I'will look-see if I can find it--Also- would like to find a good reliable source of software reviews that sell no ads to anyone and are completely unbiased-There nust be someone like that-like Consumer Reports-I just get tired of the false claims and promises these guys offer to make my life run easier!
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De La Rue
Software 2000
Fierce competition in the inkjet printer market has made digital colour printers so cheap and the print quality so high that a £100 printer can produce fake banknotes that pass for the real thing in the dim light of a bar or nightclub.

This warning comes from De La Rue, the world leader in security printing. The company has coined the name "digifeiters" for the new generation of counterfeiters spawned by ultra-cheap high-resolution inkjet printers.

In speaking out, De La Rue has broken its traditional stony silence on alleged security problems. "This is very sensitive subject but we thought it was time to say something and make people think," says spokesman John Winchcombe.

In a warning document, De La Rue tells banks and governments: "There appears to be little appreciation of the nature of the problem * and even less sense of urgency. The world¹s central banks are now having to deal with an increasing number of counterfeit banknotes, generated by colour inkjet printers."

Fine detail
Commercial colour copiers that work on the xerographic principle, with multiple drums and coloured inks, have been available for 25 years. But they cost tens of thousands of pounds and since the mid-1980s their makers have voluntarily built in software that detects the fine detail of banknote security marks and stops them from being copied.

Modern inkjet printers are often dirt cheap or are given away with PCs. Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark are now making "all-in-one" machines that combine a printer, copier, scanner and fax for around £100. And resolution is very high * at least 4800 dots per inch. Anyone can copy just about anything.

"These low-cost devices have completely changed the nature of counterfeiting," says Mark Cricket, bank note security specialist with De La Rue.

De La Rue has been working with computer firm Software 2000 on an anti-digifeiting system, which modifies printer driver software to recognise data patterns indicative of banknotes from many countries. But printer makers are showing no signs of wanting to adopt the technology.

De La Rue thinks the printer makers may fear potentially degraded performance from such printers * as they may perhaps refuse to print similarly detailed but innocent items. Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark say they currently have no home-grown technology to stop cash copying, but would incorporate it if they did.

 

Except for one thing - by law and international convention, all colour printers have a secret sequence of dots unique to that manufacturer and unique to the printer itself. The dots are yellow in colour and are hidden amongst the printing so you cannot spot them - it takes a chemical process to reveal them and - the printer will put these marks onto every single image it creates - print up fakes using a photocopier or printer and you may as well prepare yourself for a long time indoors with a boyfriend called Bubba and from what I can gather the best advice is if you drop the soap in the shower - LEAVE IT THERE

http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/wp.php

 

columbo, i hear that printer dot signature is inaccurate though because of the affect of the ink level or something like that. have you read anything about it. i think that counterfeit-proof printers are a bunch of scare tactics anyway. who knows... ?

 

No its not true - for this reason - back in the days when there were only
typewriters. A convention was setup where each typewriter manufacturer
offset a particular sequence of keys - unnoticable to the human eye
almost, but very evident to secret service personell and typewriter
experts. The British Secret services doccumented this very well and an
expert was able to name the typewriter, the date of its manufacture, its
geographical location and its serial number just by reading the text
produced by it.

This isnt fantasy its a fact. The printer manufacturers carried over the key
offsets until the days of laser and inkjet - now they use this chemical dot
code - infact all printing implements have some such code so its easy to
get a lot of info on someone quickly
see the end of this document - the section called forensic identification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriters

and this specific to colour printers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_identification_encoding

and this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_steganography

try using photoshop CS to make a copy of a banknote nd it will refuse to
do so - the code for the colour ranges of notes are coded into the
software and this produces a popup to say stop trying to forge money
I do believe that if this is tampered with it locks the software

 

I don't do long stretches with Bubba!-I like my freedom to much to mess with it-The copy people do have a problem on their hands though-The better the copy they make the higher percentage of people are going to try using it to try to make easy money-I really like the self-destruct function the Canon tech guy told me about-Did you call them and ask about that?-It may get you on someones list in Washingtons if you do-Secret Service is touchy about those kinda conversations-especially the current adminastration!