Mar 31 2009
PCMag.com has posted a Conficker to-do list.
Mar 31 2009
If you haven't heard about the Conficker worm, you must have been in hiding, but just a reminder. Speculation is that the worm, which may be present on millions of Windows computers, will get activation instructions April 1. No one is sure what it will do, if anything. But you should make sure you have the latest updates for your operating system and security programs. Don't assume that automatic updates has taken care of it, because one thing that Conficker C does is turn off automatic updates. Backing up your data before tomorrow (April 1) also might be a good idea.
For anyone interested in more detail about Conficker, here is a link to the advisory from the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team.
Mar 31 2009
Got this e-mail last night from Netflix:
Dear Jody,
You are receiving this email because you added unlimited Blu-ray access to your account for $1 a month. The number of Blu-ray titles has increased significantly and will continue to do so. As we buy more, you are able to choose from a rapidly expanding selection of Blu-ray titles. And as you've probably heard, Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs.
As a result, the monthly charge for Blu-ray access is increasing for most plans and will now vary by plan. The charge for monthly Blu-ray access on your 1 DVD at-a-time (Unlimited) plan will increase from $1 a month to $2 a month. The price of your 1 DVD at-a-time (Unlimited) plan is not changing and remains at $8.99 a month.
The new charge for Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after April 27, 2009 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details.
If you wish to continue unlimited Blu-ray access for $2 a month, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account.
If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-923-0898.
-The Netflix Team
Hopefully this little increase goes away when BD discs are as cheap as DVDs. By then, I'll probably be participating in their movie-on-an-SD-card plan and my Blu-ray player will be collecting as much dust as my cassette collection. I just hope that, when that day comes, Netflix catalog browsing is still fun.
Mar 29 2009
BBC has an interesting story about social networks being the new email.
Mar 29 2009
Being a service kind of column and seeing that April Fools' Day is coming on Wednesday, TechMan wants to help readers avoid being taken in by a gag. So if you see these headlines anywhere, you can be pretty sure they are an attempt to get one over on you.
Pittsburgh man helps Nigerian official slip $300 million out of the country, receives half of it.
E-mail informs Upper St. Clair woman she has won Irish lottery, she collects millions despite never buying a ticket.
Dormont man takes pills bought on Internet, sees lower body part grow noticeably.
Ross senior citizen responds quickly to e-mail by typing banking password into a Web site, helps prevent theft from her account.
Microsoft says Windows 7 will never be hacked; security is 100 percent assured.
Mac user speaks humbly of his computer choice.
Recording Industry Association of America disbands law department, decides to concentrate on coming up with a business model to help record companies prosper in the digital age instead of suing college students.
Apple sues frozen food industry for copyright violation for using the word pod on packages of frozen peas.
Dormont man sets up home computer network, has no problems.
Ross woman buys new smartphone, finds it is easy to use, especially for typing.
Glenshaw teen repeatedly accesses music sharing sites, doesn't get computer virus.
Bridgeville woman buys new electronic device, gets a clear printed user's manual with it.
Comcast pulls new animated TV commercial off the air because so many customers complain that it is extremely irritating.
Shadyside woman calls technical support for new computer, phone call is answered quickly in understandable English and problem is solved.
Coraopolis man buys assembly-required computer desk, no screws are missing from package.
Cell phone of Monroeville man runs out of charge after he is done using it for the day.
Everyone is ready for switch to digital television June 12.
Spammers apologize and promise to step sending unwanted e-mails.
Busy Fox Chapel executive spends an entire day on vacation without checking e-mail.
Big box retailer advertises great price on HDTV, has more than one in store.
TechMan wins Pulitzer for distinguished technology reporting.
On another April Fools' matter, reports are that the Conficker C virus may do something nasty on Wednesday.
As you may remember, TechMan wrote about the Conficker worm in a column on Feb. 22. The worm may have infected millions of Windows computers and turned them into bots that can do the will of those who now can control them. Conficker C is the latest variant and has some nasty turns.
Security specialists believe that Conficker C will "go off" on April 1. What it will do is anyone's guess. It could send out spam or download more malware or destroy data or do nothing.
Some security specialists are recommending that you back up your system before Wednesday. Backing up is always a good idea.
But at the very least, you should make sure your updates are current for both Windows and your security programs because Conficker C can turn off automatic updating.
The TechMan column, blog and the TechTalk podcast now have a presence on Twitter at pgtechman.
Mar 27 2009
With four doors, 160 miles on a charge and a price tag below $60,000, the new Tesla Model S was unveiled for the press yesterday in Los Angeles. The car will be built in LA, thanks to some incentives (tax credits and a free 10-year property lease) put together by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and city officials.
It will also be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles, which effectively reduces the price to $49,900.
The car will be available in 2011.
Source: LA Times,Tesla Motors
Mar 26 2009
I must confess something. When I saw the Kindle 2 was launched, I wasn't interested. I kept telling myself that I would wait until they come out with a color-screened version. But after getting a chance to tinker with Ced's Kindle, I realized that I was in denial. Now I'm hooked on the idea, and I really REALLY want a Kindle RIGHT NOW.
My primary reason is the sheer bulk of all the computer programming and web development reference manuals I have on my shelf. If I could get all of those on a Kindle, I could carry ALL of them with me, which would make my dealings with private clients a lot easier. My javascript bible would be on hand whenever I needed it, even though it's nearly 1,000 pages thick. And that's one of about 20 books I would love to have on hand in situations like that.
But while I could justify the $360 price tag for the Kindle unit itself, re-purchasing Kindle copies of all of my books is another matter altogether. At anywhere from $9.99 to $30 each, I'd be looking at maybe another $500 in books. Ouch. Back to the drawing board.
It occurred to me that maybe there's a way out of this mess, and so I'm offering this idea to Jeff Bezos directly since I have no clue how to do it myself. Jeff, here you go:
Offer a program where you allow people to ship back to Amazon their physical copies of books that also exist in the Kindle book store, and give full or partial credit to the sender so they can get the book on their Kindle. Then you turn around and sell these books as used on your Amazon web site.
I have no idea what Amazon pays to the publisher/author for each Kindle copy purchased. Nor do I know what it costs them to maintain the books in their system and/or delivery them via WhisperNet. I would wager that it's a lot less than the $9.99 price, so even if they gave you 50% credit toward the cost of the Kindle version of the book and then sold your used copy on their site, they're probably still making a profit.
So there you go, Jeff. Put that plan into action, and I'm sure your Kindle sales will jump dramatically. Or at least by one, because I'd definitely be on board.
Mar 25 2009
This is sweet - a computer that fits inside your wall in the same space that the Ethernet jack takes up now. It's a thin client computer, which means it has no real permanent storage or RAM locally, and all of its work is held on a central server in your office. As a result, it's 100% immune to viruses, trojans and theft (i.e., someone could chisel it out of your wall but they wouldn't get your data).
The gadget is powered over the Ethernet cable that feeds it, so the only power cord you'll need at your workstation is for the monitor. Total power consumption is 3.5W plus whatever power your monitor needs (roughly 40W for a 19" widescreen LCD).
This would be a dynamite solution for a small business like a doctor's office or insurance agency.
Source: Chip PC
Mar 23 2009
Scientists have found a way to convert CO2 back into energy using titanium oxide nanotubes and sunlight.
March 23, 2009 -- Powered by sunlight, titanium oxide nanotubes can turn carbon dioxide into methane, which can be harnessed as an energy source, say scientists at Pennsylvania State University.
The nanotubes could dramatically reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and reduce our need for fossil fuels.
"Right now there is lots of talk about burying carbon dioxide, which is
ridiculous," said Craig Grimes of Penn State, who, along with Oomman
Varghese, Maggie Paulose and Thomas LaTempa, co-authored a paper on the
nanotubes in the journal Nano Letters. "Instead we can
collect the waste out of the smoke stack, put it though a converter,
and presto, use sunlight to change [CO2] back into fuel."
This is a remarkable achievement, and in the laboratory they're already converting the greenhouse gas into methane by the gallon.
Source: Discover News
Mar 22 2009
People love Apple's Mac Books. They're stylish, rugged, and powerful. They're also incredibly expensive for the level of hardware and software you get for your Apple bucks. You can probably Google this and find lots of folks who have done price comparisons between a Mac Book and a comparable PC, and you'll find that there's a substantial difference in price. People refer to this as the "Apple Tax" - the amount you're willing to pay just because it was designed by Apple and looks purty (as they say here in PA).
To compete for your extra bucks, Dell recently launched their new "Adamo" laptop, also stylish, rugged and powerful. Their top entry in this class comes with a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip, 128GB SSD drive, 4GB of RAM, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit and mobile broadband for $2,699. That's a whole lot of Benjamins for a machine that is light on power but heavy on asthetics.
To see just how much of a "Dell Tax" is figured into this thing, I specced out a Dell Inspiron with similar parts, and came out at $849. It's not a true apples-to-apples (no pun intended) comparison because you can't get the Inspiron something as small as a 1.4GHz Intel chip and the smallest drive you can get for the Inspiron is an SATA 120GB unit. In short, the Inspiron is more powerful than the Adamo.
Adamo for $2,699. Inspiron for $849. By my reckoning, that's $1,850 in asthetics but I'm heretofore referring to it as the Dell Tax.
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