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Apple, once untouchable in terms of marketing, has gotten a little roughed up lately. For much of the decade, Apple got away with bashing longtime adversary Microsoft without repercussions. Apple also dominated the MP3 player category without a serious rival. But now, as Microsoft has reinvigorated its marketing and it navigates into the phone handset category, suddenly everyone is bashing Apple. First there was the Microsoft “I’m a PC” TV spot from Crispin, Porter + Bogusky featuring a send-up of the dorky “PC” caricature in Apple’s “Get A Mac” campaign. Then, three weeks ago Verizon launched a teaser pitch from...

I'm looking for ideas ... this one has me stumped.... DELL Optiplex GX150 , P3 @ 1 ghz , 512mb RAM , Windows 2000 Pro SP4 with all patches ... AVG antivirus and Spybot S&D both run clean. This PC will sometimes run nice and fast and other times will load windows to the point where the desktop appears and then come to a near halt... I'm pretty sure it's hardware but the usual suspects (dirt clogged or dead cpu fan , swap file too small or hdd controller screwed up by bad secondary device on the same channel) aren't...

Apple is the defendant in two recent, offbeat lawsuits, including one filed by an artist who alleges he invented and named the iPod and iPhone in the 1980s, only to have Apple and actress Sarah Jessica Parker steal his trade secrets. Defendants Apple, Steve Jobs and Sarah Jessica ParkerIn 1989, the suit alleges, plaintiff Franz A. Wakefield won first place in the 17th Congressional District Arts Competition and was honored by Congressman William Lehman and movie stars Parker and Robert Downey Jr. A self-described "trade secret and copyright owner," Wakefield, of Miami, Fla., is president and chief product design engineer...

You've had it. Maybe with AT&T. Maybe with Apple's crushing, dictatorial grip strangling the App Store. Whatever the reason, you're going to Android: Land of freedom, carriers not named AT&T, and the great Google. Here's what you need to know.It's All in the Google Cloud Android phones don't sync with your computer. That's because they don't have to: Your contacts, calendar and mail are all kept up in the great Googleyplex. Unfortunately, Google's Contacts manager, while it's gotten better, is kinda crappy, and all of your Contacts are beamed down to your phone from there.So even after you get the...

Parallels on Wednesday released Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, a new version of its virtualization software that allows Intel-based Macs to run Windows and Linux alongside Mac OS X. According to Parallels, the new version of its software is up to 300 percent faster than the previous version, Parallels Desktop 4. The company also hired Crimson Consulting Group to do performance testing on Parallels 5 and said it was 22 percent faster than its nearest virtualization competitor when running Windows 7 64-bit on a MacBook Pro. While the competitor wasn't named by Parallels, it is widely thought the virtualization market...

It’s baaaaaack! Like a relentless zombie in a bad horror flick that just can’t be killed, the Intel Atom chip is now supported again in the latest developer build of 10.6.2, 10C53. This doesn’t mean much since it’s just a developer build, but for now Hackintosh Netbook users can feel a bit better about their uncertain future. StellaRolla reports: …the latest development build Atom appears to have resurrected itself zombie style in 10C535. The Atom lives another day, but nothing is concrete until the final version of 10.6.2 is out. So that’s all fine and dandy, but will the Atom...

Long story short. I am looking to get a new cordless phone that is bluetooth enabled. This way I can link my cordless phone and my cell phone (i.e. when at home, and without having to do call forward, I can get the cell phone calls on my home phone). I know the Vtech DS6321 is the newest model that I know of that does this, but has one drawback, or is missing one feature that I need. Call Blocking on the phone. My current cordless phone has call blocking on it (Panasonic KX-TGA740), but none of the other features...

BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- The recent publicity for Hewlett-Packard and its new MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) accelerometer sent a message to Silicon Valley.The message was that MEMS technologies have indeed taken root and may be the target of the next generation of high tech venture investments after we're done with "green." H-P has long since been in the MEMS business since inkjet printheads are a MEMS device. Another famous MEMS device is the DLP (digital light processor) developed by Texas Instruments around 1987 by Larry Hornbeck. It was originally called a DMD, meaning digital micromirrors, the DLP now powers everything from...

Why did you stop? Well, I was recompiling my kernel and got a segfault...Mavizen has decided to offer a new electric bike based on the previous winner of the TTXGP so that other teams can have a solid foundation to build on for next year. The TTX02 is based on the KTM RC8 with a Agni powerplant. The twist is that they call it a "laptop on wheels" because of all the electronics it packs on top of what is strictly required to control the electric motor (dash-mounted computer that runs Linux, has wifi connectivity and a web-server, etc)....

Sony PRS-600 Reader Touch EditionReview When we reviewed Sony's original PRS-505 Reader a little over 12 months ago, our only real criticism was that the plethora of buttons and switches that festooned the device would be better replaced by a touchscreen. Revised edition: Sony's PRS-600 Reader Touch Now Sony has released its next-generation Reader, the PRS-600, which does indeed have a touch screen, hence its 'Touch Edition' moniker. Having asked, we have received. But should we grateful? Look at the Touch from any direction other than face on and the differences between it and the old Reader are a hard...

AV-Comparative.org recently released the results of a malware removal tests with which they evaluated 16 anti-virus software solutions: Avast Professional Edition 4.8AVG Anti-Virus 8.5AVIRA AntiVir Premium 9.0BitDefender Anti-Virus 2010eScan Anti-Virus 10.0ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.0F-Secure AntiVirus 2010G DATA AntiVirus 2010Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010Kingsoft AntiVirus 9McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0Norman Antivirus & Anti-Spyware 7.10Sophos Anti-Virus 7.6Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 2010Trustport Antivirus 2009.The test focused only on the malware removal/cleaning capabilities, therefore all used samples were samples that the tested antivirus products were able to detect. The main question was if the products are able to successfully remove malware from an already infected/compromised...

A law school professor has withdrawn a lawsuit accusing the legal blog Above the Law of publishing a "viciously racist series of rants" after reporting the professor's arrest for suspicion of soliciting prostitution. University of Miami School of Law professor Donald Marvin Jones dropped his lawsuit on Wednesday, nine days after he filed it pro se in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He did not respond to a request for comment.*** Above the Law Managing Editor David Lat declined comment on Thursday, but in a blog post on Wednesday wrote that there had been no...

I have purchased Windows 7, and have downloaded it. I now have the file Win7-HP-Retail-en-us-x86. on my desktop. I would like to do a custom install (i.e. wipe out everything on the disk and reinstall software), not an upgrade. Therefore: - MUST I copy this win7 application to a CD or DVD? I'm thinking I should, because if I don't, won't the installation of Windows 7 wipe out the Windows installation file itself? - If I do have to burn a CD or DVD with this Win7 file, must I make it bootable? I need the computer to boot off...

Botnets Tighten Defenses Year After McColo Shutdown (Only a link can be posted per FR rules.)

Never let it be said that the folks in Hollywood aren't good at coming up with a totally fictional horror story. I just have a problem when they use it not to entertain, but to create a moral panic to push the government to pass laws in their favor. In discussing the recent 60 Minutes piece that was really nothing more than an MPAA scare tactic, some suggested that it was really just a first step in the process of getting the government to make sure net neutrality rules had a special Hollywood exception. So, it's interesting to note that...

When you buy an Apple device, you're often locked in to buying other Apple products that are compatible with it. Here are five examples, and some advice on what to do. Oh, wait--there's nothing you can do.Once you enter the Big Tent of Apple, it's exceedingly hard to find the exit. Over its 33-year history, Apple has consistently elected to limit consumer choice, creating a situation known as "lock in." As soon as you start buying stuff from Apple, you'll find it difficult to move to products made by someone else without losing everything you've already paid for. Of course,...

Behind the taskbarComment Much better than Vista, and the best Windows yet. That seems to be the consensus view on Windows 7, and after two and a half months with the final build, I more or less agree - despite the niggling voice that says behind the new taskbar it is not really so different from Windows Vista. Nevertheless, Windows 7 on its launch today is a better experience than Windows Vista was when released in early 2007, thanks to a UI polish, faster hardware, better drivers, and new features that users actually enjoy - Taskbar, Libraries, Aero Peek -...

The brand new 27" iMac is suffering from major problems with video graphics while Windows 7 operating on the same machines is working fine. According to Apple bulletin boards, users started to notice that their Macs' pretty screens were running movies in browsers that were choppier than the North Sea in winter. With no help from Apple, Mac Fans have been trying to piece together what could be causing such a kerfuffle. Initially the thought was that it was probably some cheap Chinese component which was failing or overheating. However when Windows 7 appeared on the scene and users started...

We have gotten persistent Win32 exceptions on certain websites since upgrading to IE8. The number of the exception changes, but seems to be related to an access violation. I suspect we have a security setting or permission set wrong, but since no one supplies documentation any more..... My wife contacted Microsoft (in the Phillipines), and got a newby from India who put her on hold until the connection was lost.

My daughter a HS Junior is doing really well in school. I am planning to buy her a new laptop for school. She currently has a Dell 13" XPS that has been ok, but the battery has been replaced twice, the CD/DVD will currently only play CDs and it is getting slower to start up. So I start looking and I know she wants a Mac because they are cool, I however am not a Mac fan. Not that there is anything wrong with Mac, I have a slowly dying PowerMac G5 Dual that has a nice monitor I use...

Everybody is looking to shake up the server business this days, it seems. But everyone had better get in line behind 3Leaf Systems, which is launching its much awaited "Aqua" system pooling and virtualization chipset and an intriguing x64 system to match. A little more than two years ago, 3Leaf Systems came out of stealth mode with a funky I/O virtualization product for X64 servers and the promise that it would create a special chip for system boards that would allow for the virtualization of multiple CPUs dozens or hundreds of servers and - here's the neat part - the...

It's hard to look at the DROID without looking at the company which brought the device to life. Motorola: for years the name has been synonymous with... well, disappointment. While the industry-stalwart made cellphones sexy with the RAZR, the days which followed have not been especially fruitful or compelling. Over the past year or so, we've seen Motorola beating its way back into the mainstream through a series of smart plays: first embracing Android as a platform, then shucking off the weight of Windows Mobile and finally bringing some desirable (and high profile) devices to market. With the DROID, the...

Now that we in the northern hemisphere have had some time to digest the Windows 7 hype and settle in for the coming winter, we thought we would get some more hard data regarding Windows 7 security. On October 22nd, we settled in at SophosLabs and loaded a full release copy of Windows 7 on a clean machine. We configured it to follow the system defaults for User Account Control (UAC) and did not load any anti-virus software.We grabbed the next 10 unique samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed to see how well the newer, more secure version of...

Before my upgrade, a right click on the mouse over a highlighted misspelled word gave me a list of alternative spelling. Now, it pastes the last thing I copied. I'd like to get back to spell checking, any ideas.

2010 is supposed to be the year of many things. I’ve heard it called the year of Android and more recently, the year of the ebook reader.I used to read a lot when I was a kid at the behest of my parents. My mom always tried to enforce a balance between video games and books. That unfortunately stopped as AnandTech took off. Most of my recreational reading turned into trying to understand datasheets or reading other reviews, the rest of the time was spent writing.My first and only ebook reader was Amazon’s Kindle 2, and while it didn’t reinvigorate...

Help! I'm using frames and trying to get a website up asap. Please don't suggest css/dreamweaver etc. Thanks. Problem: Within a frame I just want (ideally) a FORMS button to reload the whole frames site - eg load index.html - starting at home page in the same window/tab. The first example works as a "Back button" - the second almost works as a home button but it loads the homepage in the current frame. Note: A "leading" space is used to allow the html to display ... The following works: ---------------------- Forms & Java - "Back Button" -------- Successfully loads...

SNIPPET: "Yemeni Shi'ite Cleric and Houthi Disciple 'Issam Al-'Imad: Our Leader Houthi is Close to Khamenei; We Are Influenced Religiously and Ideologically By Iran" SNIPPET: "On September 28, 2009, the Iranian website ayandenews.com, which is affiliated with former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezai, published an interview with cleric 'Issam Al-'Imad, who is a disciple of Hussein Al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi rebels in Yemen. [1] Al-'Imad, who was born 1968 in Yemen, received his religious education in Saudi Arabia, but after studying Shi'ite Islam left Wahhabism to become a Twelver Shi'ite. Since1989 he has been pursuing advanced Islamic studies in the...

TAU recommends that lawmakers take a closer look at digital and Internet securityThe details of your personal life, such as grocery purchases and pizza topping preferences, are collected every day — online and by club and discount cards from the gym, department store and supermarket. Though this data seems innocent enough, when it's put together it can tell a whole lot about your health, finances and behavior. That information, a Tel Aviv University researcher reminds us, could eventually be used against you. Dr. Michael Birnhack of TAU's Faculty of Law and Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren from the University of Haifa recently...

The spread of malicious software, also known as malware or computer viruses, is a growing problem that can lead to crashed computer systems, stolen personal information, and billions of dollars in lost productivity every year. One of the most insidious types of malware is a "rootkit," which can effectively hide the presence of other spyware or viruses from the user – allowing third parties to steal information from your computer without your knowledge. But now researchers from North Carolina State University have devised a new way to block rootkits and prevent them from taking over your computer systems. To give...

Psystar and Apple continue to battle it out, and things are coming to a head next month. They are fighting on two major fronts, and both will be the subject of oral argument on November 12. It looks like we will see an end, one way or another, of much of the first Apple-Psystar litigation. Psystar, I gather, would like this to be the end of this litigation, period, and then it will be on to Florida, I assume, for the second, the one over Snow Leopard, which Psystar has already been infringing, from Apple's point of view. Psystar has...

Mac clone maker wants Apple to stop saying it's breaking the lawThe Mac clone maker that's been battling Apple for more than a year in federal court last week asked a judge to rule that its business is legitimate, and to stop Apple from saying different. In an amended complaint submitted last Thursday, Psystar asked U.S. District Court Judge William Hoeveler to rule that it is legally allowed to sell machines with Apple's Mac OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, pre-installed. "A declaration by this Court of the legal rights of Apple and Psystar with respect to Psystar computers running...

Draw near, infidels, for these are dark days for the Knights of Hubbard. Do not despair entirely – the Church of Scientology remains insanely rich, has excellent and rapacious lawyers, and according to the International Scientology News, "every minute of every hour, someone reaches for L Ron Hubbard technology … simply because they know Tom Cruise is a Scientologist". So unless the world's supply of troubled fools is melting away quicker than the Arctic ice cap, they can probably hold off trying to lure disaffected Kabbalists into their cultish communion, after the fashion of Pope Benedict and the Anglicans. And...

Mountain View wants your exabyte Google’s massively global infrastructure now employs a proprietary system that automatically moves and replicates loads between its mega data centers when traffic and hardware issues arise. The distributed technology was first hinted at — in classically coy Google fashion — during a conference this summer, and Google fellow Jeff Dean has now confirmed its existence in a presentation (PDF) delivered at a symposium earlier this month. The platform is known as Spanner. Dean’s presentation calls it a “storage and computation system that spans all our data centers [and that] automatically moves and adds replicas of...

Upstart multicore, Linux-compatible chip maker Tilera don't need no stinking tier one server makers. That means no IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, or Sun Microsystems. At least not yet. The company has just lined up $25m in its C round of funding, which includes $10m from Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese PC maker that is the volume leader in notebook manufacturing in the world. And as Tilera has confirmed to El Reg, Quanta is going to use Tilera chips to build servers. As it turns out, one of the reasons why Tilera announced its future Tile-Gx family of 100-core mesh processors last week,...

It’s not out in the wild yet, but 10.6.2 has been confirmed to kill support for the Intel Atom processor, this is especially important for Hackintosh users who have hacked various Atom based netbooks to run Snow Leopard. So what should you do if you have an Atom based Hackintosh Netbook? StellaRolla recommends staying with 10.6.1 (or 10.5.8 if you’re running Leopard on your Hackintosh, sine 10.5.9 will likely have the same Atom problems) for the time being, otherwise you can try upgrading to 10.6.2 but run an older or modified kernel. I think I’ll just stick to 10.6.1 when...

I love upgrades. But I hate upgrade discs and upgrade pricing. Let's find a way to do away with both, or at least make the upgrade transaction a bit cleaner. The reason I'm writing this column won't be a surprise to anyone one who follows technology: Windows 7. I bought the upgrade disc (on the pre-order special price). When it arrived, I started the upgrade process for my Vista desktop. Knowing that the disc was licensed only to upgrade an existing Windows installation, I pressed the big button for a "Custom" installation and the disc set up my computer more-or-less...

"ALLAHU AKBAR! THE AL-SHMOKH FORUM IS BACK ONLINE (FOR NOW) Complete with a banner ad announcing the blessed event:" SNIPPET: "If you want to separate the wheat from the chaff among jihadi forum users, here's a tip: look at the guys who address the site in question by the IP address (not to mention the guys who use the https:// connection instead of good old http://). Happy hunting!"

I just experienced virtualization in a computer lab environment. The PC’s use VMWare Workstation and have a virtual machine with Windows XP Pro and Office 2007 and another virtual machine with Windows XP Pro and Office 200. I'm thinking very seriously about purchasing VMWare Workstation or possibly installing equivalent open source virtualization software. My goal is to upgrade my Dell (Inspiron 530 Intel Core2 processor Q6600 (2.40Ghz 1066FSB) w/Quad Core Technology and 8MB cache and 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz) with Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit and install virtualization as well. But, before I take the plunge I have many...

Apple iPhone and Google Android phone owners can now watch live NBA games The National Basketball Association is now offering mobile phone owners the ability to watch entire live games for $40 per year. Just a few games into the 2009-2010 NBA season, this is the first time entire games are available for streaming -- only game highlights were previously available through an official service. There are now three methods to watch complete games in the NBA:  via TV, PC, or now using a mobile phone.  Initial estimates report 59M mobile phone owners have the ability to watch streaming NBA...

For a variety of reasons I've given up on the switch to Apple and am now considering buying a Dell here in Japan . Never owned any Dell products . If one Google searches one can find a _______( fill in co. name of choice ) SUCKS blogs for every computer company in existence inc. Apple . : ) Need some good advice re: next purchase . I am not a techie nor am I a gamer . Use the computer for basic stuff . The XPS I'm thinking of getting would come with the Intel i5 2.66mhz 8MB ;...

Updated If you're having trouble syncing your iPhone with a PC based on the Intel P55 chipset and running Windows 7, you're not alone. For the past six weeks, complaints from users running this trifecta of pain have been clogging a thread on Apple's discussion board. The posts report that - in most cases - iTunes 9 for Windows will recognize the iPhone, but when a sync is attempted, users are greeted with a cryptic "error 0xE8000065" - an iPhone-connection failure notification. Although the reported configurations that are unable to sync iPhones with iTunes for Windows are many and varied,...

ON THE INTERNET - Quote: 30 October 2009 SERGEI BRIN MAKES JIHADI SH*TLIST Mazel Tov! Posted on 30 October 2009 @ 23:42

Last week, my Dell Inspiron laptop ingested a cup of coffee (with cream and sugar, of course) and I would appreciate any suggestions. At this point, while it does shut down frequently and sporadically during the boot process, it has gotten as far as the Vista login screen. (Many of the keys aren't responding so I can't log in.) Since so much of it is working, my thought is that a good internal cleaning to remove the coffee/cream/sugar gunk would be a good next step. Can anyone offer any guidance on disassembling this computer and how to best clean it...

2009 AntiVirus Software Review Product Comparisons***************************Chart at the website:*********************************** Why Buy Antivirus Software? An unprotected computer is a vulnerable computer, plain and simple. Every year there are hundreds of viruses, Trojans, worms and other malware, released into cyberspace designed to harm your computer. Most people don't realize that malware is everywhere and avoiding a malicious computer invader is very difficult. And usually, you won't even know you've become a victim.Malware is an umbrella term for all malicious software. The most common are viruses and spyware. There are many different types of viruses floating through the Internet. Consider yourself lucky if...

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Joe Eboh, a conman who was persuaded to prove evidence of his initiation into the Holy Church of The Painted Breast in a reverse scam Dear Honourable Friend. Those generous Nigerians who e-mail you with promises of a fortune are themselves being targeted in a new drive to deter cyber criminals. Millions of internet users have received messages offering them a huge financial reward if they help to release money trapped in a foreign bank account. And, although the majority of these e-mails are deleted, the fraudsters still find a sufficient number of gullible Britons to cost the country millions...

According to security researchers, computer servers at the government institutions of Poland suffered a well-synchronized cyber attack, which was allegedly launched by Russian sources in September 2009. The details of this attack on the Polish government are not yet revealed, as reported by the daily Rzeczpospolita. The attack took place in the beginning of September, a particularly intense moment, near about Westerplatte visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The purpose of his visit was to commemorate the outburst of the Second World War, as reported by NATIONAL on October 11, 2009. Meanwhile, security experts informed that generally botnets are...

Ex-Microsoftie says that Windows 7 is doomed and Linux, free software, will ultimately dominate.A lot of open source advocates like to rage against the machine at Microsoft, but when a former Microsoft Research employee says that Windows 7 won't stop Linux from market domination, that's an opinion to note. Keith Curtis, author of the book After the Software Wars, says just that. But he goes further. He thinks Microsoft and its customers would be better off if the company ditched Windows and instead built its own version of the Linux operating system. These topics came up yesterday during my interview...

Verizon Wireless opened up to us. Verizon Communications Inc. and Motorola Inc. proudly and excitedly showed off their new Droid smart phone in a meeting Wednesday afternoon.First impression: The device is fast, powerful, fully featured and well-designed -- a combination of adjectives we've never used for a Verizon cellphone.When was the last time a Verizon phone got this much hype? The BlackBerry Storm? Ouch.Yet, one is coming on Nov. 6, and it has a good chance of living up to the hype. A phone with Google's fast-improving Android operating system, a 5-megapixel camera with a flash and digital zoom, a...

For all you alternative OS folks out there, Ubuntu 9.10 is now out. Grab it if you want it, try it if you haven’t. If you are unfamiliar with Ubuntu, I highly recommend you give our 30 days with Linux article a look.