Stories by: Sally Wiener Grotta and Daniel Grotta

In ancient times, the elite read their sacred writings, histories, philosophical musings and more on materials such as clay tablets, papyrus leaves and vellum scrolls. Somewhere around the first century, the paper-and-ink book appeared, and the invention of the mechanical printing press in the 15th century brought the printed word to the masses. Now, for the first time in centuries, how we read is undergoing a revolutionary transformation.

Many professional photographers and serious hobbyists have been using Adobe Lightroom 2 as an integral part of their editing workflow. With Adobe Lightroom 3 ($412 for first-time buyers, $136.12 as an upgrade; prices as of June 25, 2010), even more photographers are likely to adopt it as a one-stop photo-editing resource.

Whenever a new version of an important program comes out, the need for it, depending on the changes, can run the spectrum - from it's-revolutionary, got-to-have-it-now to ho-hum, I-can-wait-for-the-next-revision. Adobe Photoshop CS5, the latest version that's sold both individually and as part of Adobe Creative Suite 5, falls between those two extremes. We reviewed a beta.

In Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3, Corel has redesigned PaintShop Pro's interface, added a handful of useful features, and enhanced others.

Trend Micro - one of the most respected companies in security software - offers HouseCall, a free web-based utility that scans for and cleans your computer of all currently documented viruses, Trojans and other malware.

The sight of a blank page in any design program can be daunting, and that's the first screen that SiteSpinner Standard presents to the user. But the text-based (as opposed to video) tutorials will get most people up and running rather quickly.

Screen captures -- pictures of what's shown on your computer monitor -- are extremely useful. You can use them to help you explain to your associates, clients, IT, or tech support what you are seeing, or how to interact with a particular program. They're great for presentations, or to insert into larger documents. And, for us as reviewers, it makes it possible for us to illustrate our articles, so that you can see what we're writing about. But, with the right screen capture utility, you can do so much more. A case in point is Ashampoo Snap 3 (US$20, 10-day free trial), which allows you to easily capture or create video as well as still images.

Selecting a Web site design program can be daunting. You could choose either an easy-to-use application that straightjackets you with templates that allow little or no customization, or a professional program that has a steep learning curve and demands lots of technical expertise.

Premiere Elements 8 adds file organising and keywording, plus greater integration with Photoshop Elements, while making it much easier to edit and use videos in style.

Unlike Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle is more rooted in traditional video editing methods used to produce professional-quality movies. Pinnacle offers deeper features for import, customisation, and export that will likely make it significantly more difficult for the novice to learn and use, but its free online tutorials are excellent at getting you jump-started.