Flashing lights, or computer screens on which ALERT, or CRITICAL, are flashing violently, are only 5% accurate this month. Nevertheless, it's probably better to run screaming from the building just to be on the safe side, unless you are the manager of a nuclear power station where it's probably time to dust off the procedure manuals they told you about when you joined the company.

E-mail warns that a child injured his arm through extended wearing of Silly Bandz.

Newt Gingrich issued a statement condemning the building of the Cordoba House community center in Manhattan.

Looks like a "I Have a Nightmare Speech."

The name of this little software program might sound cheesy, but it does exactly what it says, and a lot better than you might expect. It helps you create professional business cards really quickly and easily. And it has been around for a few years/versions, so the UI is mature, stable, and elegant. And EASY.

You just drag stuff into the card area and they just work. Guide lines appear right when and where you'd expect them without having to work with extra commands. When you're done, you simply click Export and a PDF appears - with cut marks for the printers, if you want - and you can then hand the PDF file directly to a professional printer to work off of.

I've used this any time I've needed to make business cards and it works flawlessly. They have some links within the program to help you find printers, but I don't bother with that feature- I just hand the PDF to the printer that I know and trust. The whole process is so much easier than working with InDesign or some other design tool not made for business cards.

-- Mark Hurst

[Requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later -- OH]

Business Card Composer 5
$35 for a standard version, or $40 for a version with a more expansive catalog of images, designs, and fonts
30-day free trial (projects will bear a watermark until registered)

Available from and produced by BeLight Software