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Latest Gear Live Videos
A More Vista-Friendly Version of iTunes
Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Apple, Microsoft, Music, Software,
When Microsoft unleashed havoc released it’s new Vista operating system, one of the many complaints from users was its incompatibility with Apple’s iTunes, at worst causing iPods to crash. Apple and Microsoft worked together to update iTunes and they’ve delivered. The newest version (7.1.1) is available now, and most of the problems with Vista have been resolved. However, this writer, a fed-up and frustrated
Vista user, is not taking any chances, and will wait until the next version of iTunes is released before diving in.
Read More 
| Apple
Gallery: A More Vista-Friendly Version of iTunes
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Federal Judge Overturns Outdated Pornography Law
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Software,
A federal judge has struck down a governmental effort to control pornography on the Internet. The 1998 U.S. Child Online Protection Act deems that it is a crime if Internet sites allow children to access material that is “harmful to minors.” The law would have expected sites to ask for a credit card number or other such proof of age. Penalties of a $50,000 fine and up to 6 months in prison would have been given to those who did not comply.
In 2004, the Supreme Court upheld a temporary injunction on the basis that the law may have been outdated and would probably be struck down. Sexual health sites complained that the law was vague and may have other repercussions to these sites. The judge declared that parents can already protect their kids by filtering online material without limiting free speech.
“Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if (free speech) protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection,” wrote Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over a month long trial last fall.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: Federal Judge Overturns Outdated Pornography Law
The Bleeding Edge Goes Behind The Scenes At AMD
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Features, Home Entertainment, PC / Laptop, Software, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos,
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4
Read More | The Bleeding Edge
Gallery: The Bleeding Edge Goes Behind The Scenes At AMD
The Bleeding Edge 161: Bluetooth SIG Demos Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Features
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Cameras, Smartphones, Corporate News, Features, PC / Laptop, Software, Videocasts, Videos, Wireless / WiFi,
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4
Read More | The Bleeding Edge
Gallery: The Bleeding Edge 161: Bluetooth SIG Demos Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Features
OneCare Fails Second Virus Test
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Software,
Austria’s AV Comparatives carries out tests quarterly to find out if top-selling anti-viral software can detect the rapidly growing amount of viruses online. In their last one, of the seventeen products tested, 14 of them got an advanced pass or better, 2 got a standard rating and Windows OneCare failed. Microsoft’s security software only spotted 82.4% of the 500,000 viruses in the company’s test. In particular, it had trouble with polymorphic viruses, which change configurations. Last month, OneCare failed a similar test conducted by Virus Bulletin Magazine. Everyone
thing fails tests occasionally, but two in a row? Get a clue, Microsoft.
Read More | BBC News
Gallery: OneCare Fails Second Virus Test
Apple just pushed out an update to their Backup software, which they highly recommend for all Backup 3 users. On our MacBook Pro, the download was 5.5 MB, while on our Mac Pro it weighed in at 6.3 MB. Not bad at all, especially with the promise of backup and restore with external drives, better memory management, and improved restores of bundled file types. Apple, as always, has provided full details on the Backup 3 support page, linked below.
Read More | Backup 3 Support
Gallery: Apple Backup 3.1.1 Released
Virtual Game “Second Life” Gets a New Voice
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Software, Video Games,
The virtual 3-D game “Second Life” is about to become an audio one. Linden Lab, the company that produced it, says it will be incorporating voice-over Internet software so that its over 4 million gamers can communicate to each other via mics and speakers. The process used to create this is Spacial Audio, which is dependent upon the separation of players in the virtual environment, according to tech exec Joe Miller.
“A group close together will be able to chat normally, but once a certain distance is reached, not even shouting will be enough,” says Miller.
Players will also be able to choose those that they wish to chat with and block those that they do not. Testing will begin next week, with a debut date sometime next month. We are gussying up our avatars just for the occasion.
Read More | Second Life Virtual Game via USA Today
Gallery: Virtual Game “Second Life” Gets a New Voice
Cuban Government Joins With Venezuela To Adopt Linux
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Microsoft, Software,
Cuba’s government has joined with socialist country Venezuela in converting its computers to open-source software. Both claim they are trying to rid themselves of Microsoft Windows to get on Linux, which was created by programmers who freely share their code.
Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes, longtime compadre of Castro, spoke of these issues and Microsoft’s possible cooperation with U.S. military and intellegence at the opening of a technology conference going on this week in Cuba. The two countries join the ranks of China, Brazil, and Norway, who find Microsoft’s high cost and security issues a little too much to bear.
Read More | USA Today
Gallery: Cuban Government Joins With Venezuela To Adopt Linux
Apple WWAN Support Update 1.0 Released
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Broadband, PC / Laptop, Software, Wireless / WiFi, USB,
As I was Twittering, Software Update popped up and notified me that there is a WWAN Support Update available. What does this mean? Since I am posting from a MacBook Pro, it means that Apple is adding support in OS X for even more cards for hopping online. Included are a bunch of Novatel products, like the Novatel Merlin XU870 ExpressCard (HSDPA) for Cingular, and the V740 ExpressCard for Verizon that supports EVDO Rev. A. The full message is below:
The WWAN Support Update v1.0 provides SW support for the following WWAN products:
Available on the Cingular network:
- Novatel Merlin XU870 ExpressCard (HSDPA)
Available on the Sprint network:
- Novatel Wireless Merlin EX720 Express Card (EVDO Rev. A)
- Novatel Wireless Ovation U720 USB Modem (USB Adapter, EVDO Rev. A)
Available on the Verizon network:
- Novatel XV620 ExpressCard (EVDO Rev. 0)
- Novatel V740 ExpressCard (EVDO Rev. A)
- Novatel Wireless Ovation U720 (USB Adapter, EVDO Rev. A)
If you’re on a Mac notebook, rev up Software Update for the download.
Gallery: Apple WWAN Support Update 1.0 Released
Windows Vista Lags in Sales
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Software,
With all the negative hype of late, we aren’t surprised that Windows Vista’s sales in the first quarter have so far lagged behind those of Windows XP when it was released. Marketing company NPD released figures based on sales that users install themselves. Vista sales were down 58.9% compared to those of XP with a revenue decrease of 32.1%. Windows Vista was launched on Jan. 30, 2007 and Windows XP on Oct. 25, 2001.
One possibility for the decrease may be that current XP users don’t think their old computers can handle the software. “All the reviewers have been beating people over the head about hardware requirements,” NPD’s Chris Swenson said. “The preliminary data suggests that consumers are getting the message that they need a more robust system to take advantage of some of the new features in Vista.” These consumers are choosing to “get Vista on a new PC rather than at retail.” We’re glad we could help, Chris.
Read More | Microsoft Watch
