Archive for the ‘Computers’ Category

What Are The Things We Can’t Live Without

In spite of the recession, Americans have clung dearly to a few surprising necessities. This only shows that people also require a bit of entertainment and a tasty beverage or two. Companionship is important even if it’s not human. And you can’t even look for a job these days if you don’t have internet access.

Aside from the food, clothing and shelter, what are the other things that we can’t live without? The following are the 10 new most essentials for people:

  • Coffee: Though Americans cut back on the $5 daily latter, they’re compensating by brewing more of their own coffee. 86% of coffee drinkers make their own at home and if a lot of people are drinking more booze at home, it makes sense that they’d be dosing themselves with more coffee, too.
  • Beer and Wine: Their sales have inched up over the last few years. More people are drinking at home while watching their favorite TV programs. (more…)

30,000 Quit Using Facebook

According to a group of protesting Facebook’s privacy policies there are more than 30,000 people already quit the social networking giant.

“For us it comes down to two things: fair choices and best intentions. In our view, Facebook doesn’t do a good job in either department,” the organizers, who did not identify themselves, said on their website for Monday’s “Quit Facebook Day.”

“Facebook gives you choices about how to manage your data, but they aren’t fair choices.” There are 32,749 had dropped out of the Facebook universe, group said. (more…)

New Facebook Privacy Settings Policy

Facebook revealed their new new privacy settings designed, Wednesday. This is to keep users’ personal information more secure, however, some consumer advocates say the site’s update will still leave some information vulnerable. They advice that users should take caution with the information they post on Facebook.

According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the new policy will provide simpler controls and among the changes are:

  • Basic privacy setting controls will be condensed to a single page, reformatted as a chart so that users can easily review who has access to what.
  • Once a user chooses who can see a particular type of content — “friends only” for photos, for example, or “friends of friends” for status updates — that choice will apply retroactively and going forward in the case of future policy changes.
  • Opt-outs for “instant personalization” and other applications that access a user’s profile will be made easier. (more…)

Best Technology Against Best Bargain

Here is the list of the gold standard and their best but less expensive alternatives. You will not only see the high-value alternatives to pricey tools from Apple but also the worth of ESPN and the Food Channel for you.

Whether you want to spend more or less of your money, you can’t go wrong with the following best and bargain picks.

Smartphones:

  • Best: You can have the unmatched Apple’s iPhone for $200 plus a two-year AT&T contract.
  • Bargain: You may want the HTC Droid Eris as your alternative. Its touch-screen talker has a crisp, colorful display, a 5-megapixel camera, a GPS receiver and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 which you can buy for an online price of $80 after $100 discount. It also comes with a two-year Verizon Wireless contract.
  • Note: Though Eris doesn’t quite match the iPhone’s features, fit and finish but it’s more closer compared to the other smartphone models. (more…)

How User-Friendly the Apple iPad is?

They are so funny and cute!

Apple co founder and CEO Steve Jobs said that iPad is a magical and revolutionary product. That is why one cat owner aimed to find it out.

Iggy the cat will try how user-friendly his owner’s iPad. Watch the video below.

Meanwhile, Chloe the dog also want to experience using the tablet device. (more…)

International Debut of iPad Overseas Delays

Sad news for the overseas techies who wants to have their own Apple’s iPad because they have to wait for another month to have the new table on their hands. The reason behind the delay is the “surprisingly strong U.S. demand“.

Apple claims it’s “delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week” of U.S. sales and that “demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks.” They also noted that it’s already received “a large number of pre-orders” for the 3G-embedded version of the iPad, still due by “late April.”

Steve Jobs said that they have sold 450,000 iPads.

“Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason—the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far.” Apple explained. (more…)

Apple’s MacBook Pro line gets new Intel processors, price tweaks

Originally Posted by Ben Patterson in Yahoo! News

At last, the long-rumored revamp of Apple’s MacBook Pro notebooks has arrived, with the 15- and 17-inch models getting bleeding-edge Intel Core i5 and i7 processors while the 13-inch version sees graphics and battery-life improvements. Also new: a $100 price hike for one of the MacBook Pro configurations, plus $100 and $200 price cuts for two others.

The biggest news, of course, is the replacement of the older Intel Core 2 Duo processors on the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models (starting at $1,799 for the 15-incher — a $100 price hike over last year’s model — and $2,299 for the 17-inch MBP, a $200 price drop) with Intel’s next-generation Core i5 and i7 processors, good for a performance boost of “up to 50 percent” over last year’s lineup, Apple claims.

Of the new MacBook Pros, only the high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro configuration gets the i7 processor. The other two 15-inch configurations and the single 17-inch MBP model must settle for the i5 processor. [Update: Oops — turns out you can get a Core i7 processor for the 17-inch MacBook Pro as a $200 built-to-order option. Sorry about that (and thanks, Carl!).] (more…)

Study: Frequent password changes are useless

Originally Posted by Christopher Null on Yahoo! News

Users hate them. They’re a massive headache to network administrators. But IT departments often mandate them nonetheless: regularly scheduled password changes — part of a policy intended to increase computer security.

Now new research proves what you’ve probably suspected ever since your first pop-up announcing that your password has expired and you need to create a new one. This presumed security measure is little more than a big waste of time, the Boston Globe reports.

Microsoft undertook the study to gauge how effectively frequent password changes thwart cyberattacks, and found that the advice generally doesn’t make much sense, since, as the study notes, someone who obtains your password will use it immediately, not sit on it for weeks until you have a chance to change it. “That’s about as likely as a crook lifting a house key and then waiting until the lock is changed before sticking it in the door,” the Globe says. (more…)

Tips on How to Clean Your Computer’s Keyboard

clean-keyboardIn case you haven’t notice, there’s a space between and under your computer’s keypad that can trap small and dirty things like dust, hair strands and crumbs (if you eat near your computer). These could breed germs and bacterias that can be health hazards like bugs that can cause a nasty case of food poisoning.

So, if you think your keyboard needs cleaning, here’s the step-by-step guidelines.

  1. Carefully turn your keyboard upside down and shake it gently to release any dusty build-up, hair strand or crumbs that might be lurking between and under the keys.
  2. You can use the hose of a vacuum cleaner or a can of compressed air to blow off the dirt and other debris around and under your keyboard. (more…)

New Facebook Virus

facebook-virus-attackA new virus-tainted spam that targets the 400 million users of Facebook is spreading the net. This virus will steal banking passwords and gather sensitive information.

According to anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc., A Facebook user will receive an email that his password on their FB account has been reset and he will be urged to click on the an attachment to obtain a new login credentials. Once you click it, numerous type of malicious software including password stealing program will start to download. (more…)