Archive for November, 2007
Advertising and the business model of the Web
Press baron Rupert Murdoch, the new owner of Dow Jones, has announced that he will be making the online Wall Street Journal free, according to a story in the New York Times. This is a very interesting development from the standpoint of business models for Web sites. There has been some debate about whether the [...]
Some Maxtor consumer hard drives ship with virus
PC World is warning about some of Seagate’s Maxtor drives. The drives are made in China and it seems someone over there slipped a password-stealing virus onto certain drives. The article says:
Seagate is warning that a “small number” of its Maxtor Basics Personal Storage 3200 hard drives recently shipped with the Virus.Win32.AutoRun.ah virus, malicious software [...]
Hope for inexpensive consumer PCs with Linux?
I previously posted about a $200 Linux PC at Wal-Mart. At the time, I expressed doubt that it would sell. I am glad to say that I was wrong since it seems that Wal-Mart has sold out the original shipment. That’s good news for those of us wishing for a low-cost consumer system. However, the [...]
The future of the 64-bit operating system for PCs
Somewhere down the road, 64-bit operating systems will become the norm for consumers. Both Intel and AMD hardware already support 64-bit systems and XP and Vista both have 64-bit versions. So far, however, the absence of any compelling advantage for 64-bits and the lack of drivers has continued the dominance of 32-bit systems. Nonetheless, sooner [...]
Microsoft wants a patent on “goodbye”
There have been some really screwy patents issued for supposed technical innovations and here is another possible example. The Blade reports:
Microsoft is applying for a patent in which they wish to patent a ‘goodby’ message being sent when using text messaging, chat or VOIP. You have to read the patent application which fully describes [...]
Beware fake emails supposedly from friends in trouble
We have yet another twist on the Nigerian scam. Maybe you don’t fall for stuff from supposed widows of African dictators or bank directors with lost accounts but how about a plea from a friend or business acquaintance? The New York Times Bits blog describes a new scam:
Here’s how it works: The scammer somehow breaks [...]
More changes to Google Earth
It isn’t just weather that has been added to Google Earth. There are some other new layers as well. The Google Lat Long blog reports:
We have re-organized the data layers in the left-side Layers panel in this new release. The long layer list has been shrunk into a smaller set. Basic information such as roads, [...]
Google Earth adds weather
Webware describes a new feature of Google Earth:
As of today, Google Earth can finally tell you what the weather is like while you zoom around the 3D representation of our planet. The app has a new layer that lets you toggle cloud cover, Doppler radar, and conditions and forecasts, which will show you what’s on [...]
Updated review of Acronis True Image 11
Back in September I posted about a review of the latest version of the disk imaging software Acronis True Image. The reviewer Eric Vaughan (aka The Tweakhound) is a fan of Acronis 10 but panned version 11. Now Acronis has issued an update for the software and Vaughan has updated his review. He concludes:
With the [...]
Review of lesser-known security suites
Symantec and McAfee are the big names in security suites but there are plenty of other offerings in this area. Windows expert Serdar Yegulalp reviews five that you may not be familiar with.