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Learning to program isn't easy. For those gifted with a mind to code though, it's a powerful skill that can mean employment prospects and the personal satisfaction of a job well done. Microsoft is lowering the barrier to entry to coding with Kodu, it's a kid-friendly introductory interface to the world of game programming and it works on Windows or on your Xbox 360.

If you want to keep your computer running in top form but don't want to get bogged down in the

Windows Registry Editor

, Uniblue's Registry Booster 2010 is here to help.

Registry Booster 2010

will take your computer back to the days when it was shiny and new; when you didn't have to wait an eternity for applications to open up, when clicking on the Start menu didn't mean waiting weeks for something to actually start.

Concerned that she's feeling the early signs of a repetitive strain injury (RSI), Miss Download goes looking for a solution. She finds e-Speaking 2,

free voice control and transcription software

that transcribes her words and even lets her take control of the computer with her voice.

Windows users hopefully know that their systems are open to

online attacks

without some

reliable security software

installed. Be it Windows' overwhelming market share or security oversights in the code (or both), Microsoft's flagship product gets the lion's share of the bad guys' efforts. If you're running a legit copy of Windows XP, Vista or 7, Microsoft Security Essentials is free and protects your computer from all kinds of Internet nasties.

Malware, spyware, viruses, Trojans

et. al. be gone!

For musical virtuosos, there's a lot of creative room to play with in FL Studio 9. For the musical tinkerers though, it's easy to put together a simple song and get a feel for the software before launching your career as an international superstar DJ.

If you've ever gotten lost while relying on your in-car GPS, or for the truckers, if you've ever gotten a fine for using a car-only road or even hit a bridge while hauling a load, check out Fugawi Global Navigator. You can pre-plan a route,

navigate using GPS on your laptop

, or even print off your maps and navigate the old school way. Accordion-style map folding instructions not included.

Kiwi Application Monitor keeps the kiddies in check when they're on the computer. Find out if they're telling the truth when they say they've only been online for five minutes. Moreover though, you can delve into some of the more advanced features of this app to set memory usage limitations on certain programs, kill a program that's eating all your CPU cycles and more. Heck, you can even kick the kids off of MSN Messenger after they've been online for half an hour, block Internet access and much more. They'll thank you for it... just not right away.

Handbrake lets you

rip DVDs and convert videos

into a portable-friendly format. It also makes it easy to convert videos to a format that your Xbox 360 or PS3 can read. Did we mention it's free? In short, you can turn just about any video format into just about any other video file format without the hassle or geek speak. What's not to love?

Miss Download's laptop is, how to we say this nicely... archaic. Whenever she installs or downloads something, she's rightly worried that she's going to fill up her hard drive. Thanks to Disk Space Inspector, she can get a visual representation of how much space is left on her puny drive. Turns out, she's got almost 80GB free... but that's not even enough for a season of Stargate SG-1 in HD. Fortunately, she can also check the storage space on remote or local network drives to see if her network attached storage drive (NAS) has room to spare.

Coming up with a business plan for your project can be intimidating. However, it's also necessary to secure funding, business loans and to keep your business on track. Ultimate Business Planner helps you

write an effective business plan

complete with informative tutorial text and smart tips. A simple wizard will even help you to determine if your business idea is viable.