Turn off Aero
The huge visual leap Microsoft made between the XP and Vista operating systems — the attractive see-through taskbar and translucent window frames — means PCs with a slow video card will struggle to deliver the same speed you may be used to. Turn off the fancy graphics for improved performance on entry-level or older machines. Right click the desktop, select Personalize -> Windows Color and Appearance and turn off transparency. Plain, but faster.

Turn off visual effects
Even with Aero switched off, there are even more visual effects in Windows 7 that eat up your PC performance, and can be safely switched off. Right click Computer and select Properties. Click Advanced System Settings, which will open the System Properties popup window. Select Advanced tab and under Performance, click Settings, and choose Custom. Now, uncheck all the boxes except the bottom four. Restart your PC and notice the difference in speed!

Moderate your Sidebar
The Sidebar looks great but as with the new visual features in Vista, it will chew your CPU and take processing time away from the programs you use frequently. Disable the Sidebar by right-clicking it, select Properties -> Clear Sidebar. If you can’t bring yourself to get rid of the sidebar altogether, just remove the applications you don’t use.

Disable Search Indexing
Windows 7 Search Indexing stores parts of frequently-used files so the computer can quickly look them up and access them next time you’re searching.

If you don’t do much searching for files, you can safely turn this off to save memory and space.

Go to Start -> My Computer -> Manage -> Computer Management -> Services and Applications -> Services and find Windows Search in the list. Right click Windows Search, and choose Properties. In General tab of the popup window, go to the Startup type dropdown and choose Disabled. Click Apply, and OK, and you’re done.

Disable startup programs
Every PC has a host of programs that open automatically when you boot up. Most of them are important, but some of them you don’t need right away when you start the computer. Open Windows Defender and select Tools -> Software Explorer to reveal the programs Windows opens automatically at start up. Those you’re sure you don’t need to open overtime, click and select Disable.

Disable User Account Control
The User Account Control (UAC) feature controls the Windows permissions levels for user accounts. It is the reason you see the popup boxes asking for permission to perform tasks that require Administrator access. There are arguments that turning off the UAC makes the computer less secure because you don’t need passwords or permissions to carry out tassels, but if you just use your computer at home, you may find disabling the UAC gives you a bit of speed.

To turn off UAC, go to Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts and Family Safety, and click User Account Control settings. Next, drag the slider to Never Notify, click OK and restart.

Boost your RAM
A handy little trick for Windows 7 users, is the ability to use a USB jump drive as an extra source of RAM. This is great if you have a couple of big applications open at the same time, or if you want to easily switch between movies, music and photos.

To use this feature, you need a USB stick that has flash memory (NAND memory devices). Insert your USB stick and open My Computer. Right click the USB drive, select the Ready Boost tab, and check the Use this device checkbox. When you’re choosing your settings, note that minimum 512Mb RAM works best. If your device does not show you the Ready Boost option, it means your USB falls short of the minimum data transfer speed that Windows needs to use it as RAM.

If your computer is running slow, take it to PC repair shop so that you can get back online for the latest tech news.

Related posts:

1. 10 More Ways To Increase Windows 7 Performance
2. 10 Ways To Make Your Computer Faster
3. How to Increase Windows Speed with Paging

1. Clean out old files
In Performance Information… click Open Disk Cleanup to delete redundant files. Then click Start, enter ‘defrag’ in the search box and press Enter, click Defragment Now, and wait while your hard drive is optimised.

2. Tame the Sidebar
The Sidebar is fun, but the more gadgets you add, the more system resources they’ll consume and the slower your PC will be. Remove gadgets you don’t need, or right-click on the Sidebar, select Properties and clear Start Sidebar to disable it altogether.

3. Disable unused devices
Click Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System > Device Manager, right-click hardware you don’t need – an unused network adapter? – and select Disable. However, disable the wrong thing and your PC won’t reboot, so if in doubt, leave it.

4. Disable unwanted services
Type ‘Services’ in the Search box and press Enter to see what’s marked as ‘Started’ and running on your PC. Services you may not need that start anyway include the Distributed Link Tracking Client (which maintains NTFS file links over a network) and the Tablet PC Input Service (unless you’re using a Tablet PC). Double-click a redundant service, set its Startup type to Disabled, and it won’t be relaunched when you next boot. Again, some services are vital to your system, and disabling them will stop it from booting altogether. Take advice from sites like Black Viper, and if you’re in doubt about something, leave it running.

5. Troubleshoot long boot times
If your PC is up to date, but you’re suffering really slow boot times (over three minutes) then there could be a hardware or driver issue. Try removing everything apart from your monitor, keyboard and mouse. Or if you’re currently unplugged from your network, reconnect and see what happens.

6. Check for errors in the Event Viewer
Find clues in the Event Viewer (type ‘eventvwr’ in the Search box and press Enter). Expand the Windows Logs part of the tree and browse the Applications and System logs. Scroll down to the last time you booted and look for error messages that might explain why your PC is performing poorly.

7. Remove system tray clutter
Take a look at all those icons in your system tray. For every essential item like your antivirus program, there will be something else, like QuickTime, which probably doesn’t need to be there at all. Right-click or double-click that icon, look for ways you can tell the program not to load, and benefit from a little extra speed.

8. Check running tasks
Some background programs will run anyway, and could be tying up more memory or processor time than you realise. To find out, right-click the taskbar, select Task Manager > Processes. Now just watch for a while. Assuming you’ve sorted by CPU use, you’ll now see background processes pop up as they run. If you spot something you don’t recognise that’s taking up 10 per cent or more CPU time, right-click it and select Properties to find out more. Once you’ve discovered which program owns this process, check the documentation to find out if you really need to run it.

9. Get rid of unwanted startup programs
Launch Windows Defender and click Tools > Software Explorer to see the programs that load when Windows starts. Don’t automatically delete them all, but if you’re positive a program is unnecessary, click it and select Disable to stop it loading.

10. Trim the fat with Autoruns
Every program that starts up with your PC extends the boot time. Some programs are essential, but others aren’t. Trim them back with free program Autoruns. Autoruns has a whole series of tabs – each of these display start-up programs according to their category. Switch to the Logon tab. Before you remove anything, right-click on it and choose Search Online to find out more. Once you’ve been able to verify that a disabled entry isn’t important, you can opt to remove it completely – to do so, right-click and choose Delete. Click Yes when prompted. This action should prevent future memory loss.

11. Update your drivers
If you are experiencing any kind of performance issues, checking you’re running the latest drivers should always be one of your first ports of call. The drivers provide the link between the hardware inside your PC and what you experience, and companies constantly update them to iron out bugs and optimize performance. Search the manufacturer’s web site for the latest editions of your drivers, or use this too to scan and fix broken driver errors.

12. Tweak advanced settings
Even if there’s no new driver for a device, you may still be able to squeeze more speed out of it. Click Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Device Manager, then expand the Network Adapters section, right-click an adapter and select Properties > Advanced. You’ll probably find all kinds of settings that aren’t available anywhere else, and it’s much the same for any device with an Advanced tab.

13. Stop the Search index
The Indexing Service is a handy way to speed up searches, but if you rarely go hunting for files this can be turned off. Open Computer, right-click on the hard drive and clear the Index This Drive box.

14. Turn off legacy support
Launch REGEDIT, and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\currentcontrolset\Control\filesystem. Set ntfsdisable8dot3namecreation to 1 and it won’t create DOS-style shortened versions of file names; setting ntfsdisablelastaccessupdate means Windows won’t update the Last Accessed date on a folder when you view it. Both tweaks will help improve drive performance a little, but could break old software.

15. Get more speed from your SATA drives
You can squeeze a little extra performance from a SATA drive by going to Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System > Device Manager > Hard Drives, then right-clicking your drive, selecting Policies and checking Enable Advanced Performance. Beware: Microsoft says this increases the chance of data loss if the drive loses power. Only do this if you have backup like a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) or are willing to take the risk.

16. Plain but speedy
Click Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Performance Information and Tools > Adjust visual effects > Adjust for best performance to speed up PCs with a sluggish video card. Check Enable transparent glass if that’s a little too plain.

17. Give ReadyBoost a go
Slower PCs may benefit marginally from using a USB flash drive as a ReadyBoost drive – but it’s no substitute for adding more RAM. Before you start you need to make sure your USB memory card is up to the job. You’ll need a minimum of 256MB storage and a maximum of 4GB, and it needs to be capable of specific speeds: 2.5MB per second for random reads and 1.75MB per second for random writes. ReadyBoost will test your memory when you first plug it in and, if it’s not up to scratch, ReadyBoost will refuse to use it.

18. Remove SP1 uninstall files
If you’re running short of space and Service Pack 1 is causing you no trouble at all, and you’re sure you’ll never want to remove it, then use the tool that Microsoft has provided to clear the 800MB of uninstall files. Simply type vsp1cln.exe into Start Search and press Enter to launch it. It’ll erase your old files, free up some disk space and you can get on with enjoying your faster, more reliable PC.

19. Roll back to a faster, happier time
System Restore enables you to roll back Windows Vista to an earlier point in time without affecting your files. You can run it from within Windows Vista or in Safe mode by clicking Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System > System Protection > System Restore.

20. Turn off System Restore
In Windows Vista you can set restore points, so you can return to a state of PC peace if things get a little stormy. However, setting these points takes lots of disk space and processing power, and so if you suffer poor performance turning off this safeguard might give you the extra boost you need. Be sure to back up regularly, though – and strike tip 19 off your list if you do turn off System Restore.

21. Save time with Scheduled Tasks
If your PC is left on overnight or when you’re not using it, you can schedule common tasks to occur while you’re away from your desk. Go to Start Search, type in ‘Task Scheduler’ and hit Enter. Once the Scheduler is open, select tasks and edit the time they should occur and how long they’ll last, along with other options. The tasks you’ll probably want to run most often are Disk Defragmenter and System Restore.

22. Turn off Aero
People with very low-spec PCs might want to turn off Windows Aero to improve performance. Rendering those lovely transparent taskbars is hard work for older graphics cards, and switching them off would give your PC a much needed boost. To do this, right-click on the desktop, click Personalize > Windows Color and Appearance, and turn off transparency to optimise your computer’s performance.

23. Optimise the registry the easy way
Cleaning the registry used to come with all sorts of problems, and doing so can be a good way to send your PC to an early grave. Instead, try defragging the registry, which works much the same way as it does with hard drives. Scan and fix PC registry errors using a registry cleaner. You can also download a registry defrag tool from www.fasterloader.com.

24. Trace Windows services
Browse Task Manager on any PC and you’ll see the same name: svchost.exe. Each copy of this runs Windows services, some of which can be turned off to save RAM. Find the svchost.exe copy using the most memory, right-click it and select Go to Service(s). Check Black Viper to see what can be safely disabled.

25. Optimise SuperFetch
The SuperFetch settings in Windows Vista are designed to maximise performance, and Tweak VI (available to download from Totalidea Software) has a section dedicated to occasionally clearing the logs to tidy things up and optimise it. To access this, select System Information and Tweaks > Hard drive information… Switch to the Prefetcher and SuperFetch optimisation tab and follow the instructions that are presented.

26. Turn off automatic defragmentation
Your PC slows down while the Defragmenter is running, so you might prefer to set it to run manually – turn off scheduling by unticking Run on a Schedule (recommended). Alternatively, pick a time when you’re away from your PC – your lunch hour may be good, so it doesn’t interfere with your work.

27. Drop an app’s priority
Sometimes a program goes into an endless loop, grabbing all your CPU time, and refusing to be shut down. Launch Task Manager, right-click the program and select Set Priority > Below Normal. Your other programs should then get priority, and you’ll be able to use them again.

28. Remove external drives quickly
The Remove Drive Safely gadget sits quietly in your Windows Sidebar and lets you disconnect your USB, SATA and eSATA drives with just a click of your mouse, and it recognises any new drives you plug in as well. You can quickly disconnect single or multiple drives, and because it sits on your Sidebar, it’s immediately accessible. Download the gadget from Windows Live Gallery, or click the plus sign on the Sidebar and choose Get more gadgets online.

29. Disable network printer search
If you’re on a network, but not sharing any printers, then speed things up by disabling the network printer search. Open the Network and Sharing Center, then under Printer Sharing, click the down arrow and select Turn off printer sharing before clicking Apply.

30. Close any program faster than ever
People have been using this great trick for ages now: to close anything from an Internet Explorer browser window to Windows Media Player faster than you’re able to with your mouse, just hold down the Alt key on your keyboard, and then press F4. It might take a while to get used to this shortcut, but once you’re accustomed, you’ll be navigating round your PC faster than ever before.

31. Quickly gain elevated rights
Press the Windows key to launch the Start menu and type in the program you’re looking for – press Ctrl and Shift and Enter followed by Alt and C and you’ll launch it with full administrator rights without having to click once.

32. Rename groups of files quickly and easily
When you’ve got a huge amount of files you’d like to rename, instead of having to alter them one by one, you can rename them all in just a few clicks. Hold Ctrl and left-click each file, or left-click and drag to select all the files you want. Then press F2, type in a common name to use for all the files, press Enter and all the files will automatically be given the same name, with the exception of a number at the end.

33. File things quickly
Want to quickly fling files into their correct folders? Download the free Magic Folder Gadget from davecra.spaces.live.com – this creates a virtual folder into which you drag files. You can dump them all in a single folder, or set it up to move them to a specific location based on their file type. Alternatively, you can download The Magic Folder gadget for your Windows Sidebar, whereby you can drag files onto it and it will automatically move them to the right folder.

34. Use the Send To function
Type %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\sendto into the Start > Run box or Address bar to open your personal sendto folder. Drag a program shortcut into here (hold down Ctrl as you drag to ensure it’s copied rather than moved) and you can open a file in that program simply by right-clicking on the file and choosing Send to > Program name. This is perfect if, for example, you have a number of different image-editing tools installed on your PC and you need to choose a different one to the default.

35. Find more problems
The Performance Monitor can tell you which applications are using your processor, memory, hard drive and network, but you’ll need to use other tools to do something about it. Type ‘Performance Monitor’ into Start Search.

contracts of employment
St. Paul Computer Repair

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways To Make Your Computer Faster
2. 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer
3. Get Your Computer Running Like New

What are Cookies?
Cookies are tiny bits of data your computer uses to create a personalized experience when you’re using the internet. Websites you visit place the cookie on your PC, and they are used to retrieve useful information for sites that you use frequently. For example, when you login to your email account, you may see that your email address and password have been entered into the login fields before you type anything. This is cookies in action, and most of the time, cookies are a benign and useful tool. Most websites will display a sign asking for your permission before storing the cookies on your machine.

How Do I Delete Cookies?
More to the point, what are the circumstances when you would delete cookies? You would delete cookies when you’ve accessed a computer at a friend’s house or an internet cafe, and you don’t want he next user to access online accounts for the various sites you have personal access to. Also, cookies can be superfluous — and downright annoying — when you’re trying to login to a site as a different user, but your PC has remembered one set of login information and uses that to automatically take you through sign-in (for example, where you have a personal and work email account with the same email provider).

Delete your cookies through your browser’s menu by following these steps:

Internet Explorer 6
Select Tools -> Internet Options -> General -> Delete Cookies -> Yes -> OK

Internet Explorer 7
Select Tools -> Delete Browsing History -> Delete Cookies -> Yes

Firefox
Select Tools -> Clear Private Data -> select the Cookies checkbox -> Clear Private Data Now

How do I know if cookies are spyware?
Most cookies are useful, but a small percentage are not. A spyware cookie is a cookie that looks for personal information on your hard drive and send that information to the owner of the website that placed the cookie. It could be simple information like the websites you visit, but it could be much worse or illegal, for example, stealing credit card data or personal information to carry out identify theft. Most websites that have these cookies (also called malware for “malicious spyware”) have been detected, and your browser will display a big red sign before the page opens, warning you not to proceed to the website.

However, no matter how careful you might be, you are always susceptible for malicious spyware through email or undetected websites. To be certain your PC is clear, you would be best to download a free program to check your hard drive and clear out any programs designed to harm your computer or access your personal data. You can find a recommended free software download to check your hard drive by clicking here.

Related posts:

1. Quick Fixes For IE Bugs
2. How To Secure Outlook From Viruses
3. 7 Ways to Fix a Slow Computer

*1 Defrag*

Your PC stores files in different parts of your hard drive, as programs are extended and new files created over deleted ones. This process is called file fragmentation. An easy way to make your PC run faster is to make it easier for your hard drive to find the files it needs, speeding up direct read times. To run your Defragmenter, go to Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> click ‘Rearrange items on your hard disk to make programs run faster’.

*2. Disk Cleanup*

Disk Cleanup is a Windows application that will clear out old and unused files, saving your disk space for the programs you use routinely. Without realizing it, you may have documents that were relevant several months ago but their use has passed. You may have downloaded a lot of images attached to emails, such as a signature file. These have no use to you, but they take up room on your computer. To clear your old and unnecessary files, go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup and select the files you want to remove.

*3 Check For Viruses*
It’s possible a slow PC is the victim of a malicious program or virus, sometimes called ‘malware’ or ‘spyware’. Spyware keeps tabs on the information on your computer and may transmit it to thieves to use your credit card data or similar personal information. Check now if your firewall is turned on. Follow Start -> Control Panel -> Network and Internet Connections -> Windows Firewall.

Spyware will slow your PC down significantly and if you’ve got it, you should get rid of it immediately with an antivirus program. Click here for recommendations.

*4 Automate*
The best part is, you can automate everything above! Windows has a built-in feature to run the programs on auto-pilot. Follow the steps below and get your operating system to check and update itself regularly.

First, we need to create a Batch File. A Batch File contains a set of instructions you can define, for your computer to follow.

Second, we show you how to edit your Batch File.

*5 Create a Batch File*
Open notepad by clicking Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad.

You have a blank page. You will enter the text that appears below, but first, we need to save the notepad so your computer knows it’s a Batch File to automate your Defrag, Disk Cleanup and virus checker.

Save the file in a location where you can easily access it, like your desktop. Select File -> Save As from the Notepad menu. You can see three boxes at the bottom of the Save As popup box. In ‘File Name:’ enter an easy name that you will remember, and make sure enter .bat as the file extension. For example, you might call the file ‘cleanup.bat’ or ‘maintenance.bat’. The .bat after the name you choose is the file extension.

In ‘Save as type:’ select All Files from the dropdown menu.

Now you’ve created your Batch File, you need to give it the instructions to clean your computer.

*Auto Defrag*
To automatically defrag your hard drive, enter the following line into your Batch File:

“defrag:c”

*6 Auto Disk Cleanup*
We have to tell the Disk Cleanup program what parts of the disk to fix when the automated program comes around. Here’s how:

* Click Start -> Run
* Type “cleanmgr /sagerun:1″
* Click OK

The Disk Cleanup Settings window will appear. Select the items you’d like to scrub as we did in step 2 above.

Next, to automatically have Windows cleanup your disk, enter the following line into your Batch File”

“cleanmgr /sagerun:1″

*7 Auto Virus Check*
Scheduling virus checks depends on the virus program you have. You’re best to look at the support section of the website for the anti-virus company you use, or contact their support staff for instructions on how to automate the virus checker into your Batch File.

Keep Your Computer Running Like New – Automatically!

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer
2. 7 Ways to Fix a Slow Computer
3. 10 Ways To Make Your Computer Faster

Turn off autoplay

The Windows autoplay function is handy if you want to start a DVD or open a USB stick as soon as you insert the device in to the PC. However, if you use external devices with a lot of data stored on them, Windows will slow down considerably to open these automatically, every time you insert them. If you would prefer to do this manually, turn off the autoplay function by following these steps: Start -> Run -> type gpedit.msc and push Enter -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> double-click Turn off autoplay -> Enable -> select All drives in the drop-down list.

Clear prefetch files
One of Windows’s ways of speeding itself up is to store important parts of programs in a folder called Prefetch. The Prefetch folder allows Windows to quickly access programs you run often. This folder can become a burden when it fills up with files you’ve opened just once, usage up your PC’s memory for a duplicated file it won’t use again. To open your Prefetch folder, go to Start -> Run and enter prefetch in the dialog box. This will bring up all the files. You can delete them all without concern. The files you use everyday will be restored next time you boot up your PC.

Turn off optional Windows apps
If you notice long delays to open a program, it’s possible you have a previously opened app running on an endless loop, not shutting down. This eats up all your processing power without you realizing. To fix this, open Task Manager, right click on the program and select Set Priority -> Below Normal. This gives your other programs priority for your PC’s processing resources.

Visual performance*
Maximize your memory for running your programs, not making the desktop look pretty. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> System Preferences -> Advanced -> Performance -> Select the radio button ‘Adjust for best performance’

Increase RAM
If you really want to see a big improvement in your PC’s performance, you could consider boosting your RAM. Your Random Access Memory is the part of your computer that runs the programs you have open. The more RAM you have, the more programs you can use — and the faster they will run. Upgrading your RAM means taking your PC to your local computer shop, where they will make the hardware change for you.

Clean out old files

Find and remove files that you don’t need. You may have documents that were relevant several months ago but their use has passed. You may have downloaded a lot of images attached to emails, such as a signature file. These have no use to you, but they take up room on your computer. To clear your old and unnecessary files, go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup and select the files you want to remove.

Disable unused ports

Save memory by turning off the programs you don’t need when your PC boots up. This will stop Windows from finding and reading unnecessary apps at bootup, for example, the USB drive or CD-rom drive. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager. You’ll see a list of devices Windows reads on startup. Double click one you don’t want (COM 1 is the communications port for the USB), then select the dropdown box ‘Do not use this device (disable)’.

Check your firewall
It’s possible a slow PC is the victim of a malicious program or virus, sometimes called ‘malware’ or ‘spyware’. Spyware keeps tabs on the information on your computer and may transmit it to thieves to use your credit card data or similar personal information. Check now if your firewall is turned on. Follow Start -> Control Panel -> Network and Internet Connections -> Windows Firewall.

Spyware/Adware
Spyware will slow your PC down significantly and if you’ve got it, you should get rid of it immediately with an antivirus program. Click here for recommendations.

Clear your registry
The registry is like a library, storing your computer’s programs. With time, as programs are added and removed, and everyday programs opened more frequently than others, your registry ends up disorganized with files scattered everywhere. An old or cluttered registry will cause crashes and blue screen lags. Check out an instant registry cleaner here.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways To Make Your Computer Faster
2. 7 Ways to Fix a Slow Computer
3. 10 More Ways To Increase Windows 7 Performance

Tame visual performance
The huge visual leap Microsoft made between the XP and Vista operating systems — the attractive see-through taskbar and translucent window frames — means PCs with a slow video card will struggle to deliver the same speed you may be used to. Turn off the fancy graphics for improved performance on entry-level or older machines. Right click the desktop, select Personalize -> Windows Color and Appearance and turn off transparency. Plain, but faster.

Moderate your Sidebar
The Sidebar looks great but as with the new visual features in Vista, it will chew your CPU and take processing time away from the programs you use frequently. Disable the Sidebar by right-clicking it, select Properties -> Clear Sidebar. If you can’t bring yourself to get rid of the sidebar altogether, just remove the applications you don’t use.

Disable search index
The auto-complete feature in your search tool is a handy add-on, but you may not use search enough to warrant the processing power it uses. You can turn it off by following Start -> Computer, right click the C: hard drive icon and clear the Index This Drive checkbox.

Disable startup programs
Every PC has a host of programs that open automatically when you boot up. Most of them are important, but some of them you don’t need right away when you start the computer. Open Windows Defender and select Tools -> Software Explorer to reveal the programs Windows opens automatically at start up. Those you’re sure you don’t need to open overtime, click and select Disable.

An extra 800MB
If you’ve updated Vista with Service Pack 1, you’re happy with SP1′s performance and you won’t need to remove it in future, you can use Microsoft’s tool to remove the uninstall files, that take 800MB of space on your PC. Go to Start -> Search and enter vsp1cln.exe into the search box. This command will automatically remove the files from your computer, giving you an extra bit of performance.

Tell Vista what programs get the red carpet
If you notice long delays to open a program, it’s possible you have a previously opened app running on an endless loop, not shutting down. This eats up all your processing power without you realizing. To fix this, open Task Manager, right click on the program and select Set Priority -> Below Normal. This gives your other programs priority for your PC’s processing resources.

System Restore
You can return your PC to a previous point in time you’ve set with System Restore. This feature will also set its own time points, for example, when you install an important program like antivirus, or every time you turn your PC on. Run System Restore at Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System > System Protection > System Restore. You can also find out more about System Restore here.

or Turn off System Restore
Vista’s method of setting restore points is great to wipe your disk clean of any bugs you may have picked up in the past week or so, that may be slowing your PC down. System Restore takes up a lot of space to keep the disk drive state in memory. If you backup regularly to hard drive or CD, you can turn off System Restore by following the same path above and selecting the checkbox ‘Turn off System Restore’.

Check your firewall
It’s possible a slow PC is the victim of a malicious program or virus, sometimes called ‘malware’ or ‘spyware’. Spyware keeps tabs on the information on your computer and may transmit it to thieves to use your credit card data or similar personal information. Check now if your firewall is turned on. Follow Start – Control Panel – Network and Internet Connections – Windows Firewall.

Spyware will slow your PC down significantly and if you’ve got it, you should get rid of it immediately with an antivirus program. Click here for recommendations.

Clear your registry
The registry is like your computer’s library that stores your programs. With time, as some programs are added and removed, and everyday programs opened more frequently than others, your registry ends up disorganized with files scattered everywhere. An old or cluttered registry will cause crashes and blue screen lags. Download this tool to perform a free scan on your PC.

Related posts:

1. 7 Ways to Boost Windows 7
2. 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer
3. Top 35 Tips For A Faster Computer

Keeping your computer in good working order is essential to get the most out of your machine. Follow the straightforward steps and tips in this article to maintain your PC and keep it running smoothly and efficiently.

Security
Making your computer safe from hackers and malware is a first and easy step to maintain your computer, and keep it running smoothly. Hackers and viruses can access your hard drive without you knowing, through email attachments and even some sites you visit. Websites are not such a concern because most modern browsers will display a warning if you’re opening a site that has been identified as placing malware on your computer.

The other security measures you can take are to make sure you keep your firewall turned on and updated. Your firewall will keep your computer safe from hackers and viruses, which in turn will save you time and money on expensive repairs. Check now if your firewall is turned on. Go to Start → Control Panel → Network and Internet Connections → Windows Firewall.

Give Your PC a Dusting Down
Increase your PC’s lifespan by keeping it clean. It’s very easy for dust and dirt to access the areas you don’t see. Under your keyboard and in your monitor, behind the trackball of your mouse, and in the fan that keeps your hard drive from overheating. Keeping the keyboard, screen and mouse clean is a trivial matter of wiping them down with a dust-free cloth, or damp baby wipe following by a lint-free cloth. Similarly, removing dust from your hard drive just needs a once-over with canned air. This will blow the dust and dirt out of your machine, and keep your computer running smoother, longer.

Backup Your Data
The major function of your PC is to allow ready access to data that you use daily, and archive data that you access infrequently. By maintaining your data storage — that is, your hard drive — you will keep your computer up-to-date which helps it run smoothly. Store all your large files like movies, music and photos on an external hard drive or burn them to CD, to leave more room for your computer to find what it needs when you open a program. Saving space makes your computer run faster, which extends its lifespan by reducing wear and tear on the hard drive.

Keep Your Files Up To Date
Just as you can reduce wear and tear on your hard drive by backing up your data, you can also optimize your hard drive’s performance by removing clutter caused by old and incomplete files. Here are two ways to make sure your computer isn’t weighed down by files you don’t need:

Uninstall old programs
With time, a regular computer user will have a dozen or so programs on their hard drive that had a purpose for particular task, but haven’t been opened for a long time. Removing these is easy and frees your computer up for other jobs.

To find and remove old programs, go to Start –> Control Panel –> Uninstall a program (Vista), or XP users, follow Start –> Control Panel –> Add/Remove Programs. This path will show you a list of familiar programs, some of which you may no longer have a use for. Click on the program, then select ‘Uninstall’.

Remove temporary files
You may have documents that were relevant several months ago, but their use has passed. Also, you will download a lot of images attached to emails, such as a signature file. These have no use to you, but they take up room on your computer. To clear these unnecessary files, go to Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools –> Disk Cleanup, and select the files you want to remove.

Scan and repair your registry
Use this registry repair tool to scan and fix system errors and get your computer running faster.

Related posts:

1. 7 Ways to Fix a Slow Computer
2. Get Your Computer Running Like New
3. 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer

The best way to improve your computer’s performances to increase the Random Access Memory (RAM). RAM is your computer’s storage space for programs you have open. It’s short-term computer memory that keeps all the parts of your programs open and available to use. More RAM means a faster computer, and that’s what we’re going to cover in this article.

When your PC is using all its available RAM, it begins to create Virtual Memory. For example, if your computer has 512MB (mega bytes) of RAM, and you’re using programs like music, internet browser, movies and photos, you might be using say 700MB of RAM — straining your PC almost 40% over capacity compared to the 512MB available.

Windows will fill up the 512MB, and then open up nearly 200MB free space on the hard drive to store the difference. This is called the Paging File os Virtual Memory, and Windows will increase or decrease the size of this file as needed. Sounds nice and efficient, but writing to the hard drive takes a lot of time, so when Windows creates a Paging File, you will notice a decrease in performance.

The good news is, you can change the settings for the Paging File to make it easier and faster for Windows to do its job.

To change the virtual memory settings, go to Start -> Control Panel and select System. Push the Advanced tab and under Performance, click Settings.

In the Performance popup window, click Advanced, and Change in the bottom panel (Virtual memory). This will open a popup window where you can change the virtual memory settings.

• The simplest setting is to create the Paging File on a different partition and different hard drive from your core partition (which is usually the C drive on Windows computers). This just means that Windows will be able to process more data, more efficiently, which is exactly what we want.
• If you want to get more advanced, you can create a new Paging File on the C drive, and create a second Paging File on different hard drive in its own partition. The advantage of this method is you will be able to access your data easily in case of a computer crash.
• Whichever you are more comfortable with, it’s best to create the Paging File in a partition with no other data. This will ensure the extra RAM does not get fragmented as Windows stores information for other files and programs.
• If you create one partition, set the initial and maximum sizes to 1.5 times the amount of RAM you have.
• If you have two partitions, select the boot partition — the first partition — and put both settings (initial and maximum) at 250MB. On the second partition, select Custom Size, then set the initial and maximum values to 1.5 times your PC’s regular fixed RAM. To find this value, go to Start -> Control Panel -> System. Your RAM is displayed in the bottom row of text, on the right.

Increase this settings if you still notice sluggish PC performance.

Click here to run a scan and optimize your PC.

Related posts:

1. 10 More Ways To Increase Windows 7 Performance
2. 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer
3. 7 Ways to Boost Windows 7

Here are a few steps you can take to improve IE stability and security. the goal is to disable parts of IE that cause the security problems.

Go to Tools -> Internet Options, and select the Security tab. You will see a row of icons showing the levels of security levels IE works to, from the whole Internet, to Restricted Sites. The first thing you can do, is set the default security level to High by pushing ‘Default level’ and dragging the slider to High.

Select the Custom Level button if you want more control over your IE settings. You probably want to try the default High setting for a few days, and if you notice IE is too restricted with websites it opens, you may consider changing the setting or using the Custom settings.

To help the Default high security setting run smoothly, you can enter safe sites that you trust and visit frequently, by selecting the ‘Sites’ button in the Trusted Sites area of the Internet Options panel. This will open a new window for you to enter a list of your trusted sites.

Back to Internet Options, and the Privacy tab. This is where you control your cookies. Cookies are a small file that websites place on your computer to make your browsing easier and more personalized. If you’ve ever gone to your email login page and seen your email address and password already entered, you’re watching cookies in action. Cookies are generally fine, but can sometimes be malicious if you’re visiting a new website.

To screen the cookies that get access to your computer, select Advanced under the Privacy tab, and then choose ‘Override automatic cookie handling’. Next, select ‘Prompt’ for first and third party cookies. Now you’ll be alerted every time a website wants to put a cookie on your PC. If you find you get too many cookies prompts from sites you know and trust, you can come back and select Always allow session cookies. This means the cookies from sites you visit regularly will be accepted automatically, while yo will be able to check any other website that wants to place cookies on your machine.

If you want to block cookies from sites, you’ll see the Privacy Alert warning popup box come up and you simply select ‘Block Cookie’. Easy.

If you notice other issues with IE after following these steps you may need to download a recommended hard disk scan and check for free if hackers have targeted your browser.

Related posts:

1. How to Delete Cookies and Spyware
2. How To Secure Outlook From Viruses
3. Google Offers Cash Rewards For Finding Bugs in Chrome

What Causes DLL Errors?
DLL errors can be caused by uninstalled programs you thought you’d removed. When you use the Windows Uninstall feature (Start -> Control Panel -> Add Or Remove Programs), occasionally the uninstall process will remove a file that other programs use to function normally. Also, a bad installation can cause files to be corrupted before you even use the program.

These are common causes for DLL Errors that can be fixed by a free and recommended hard drive scan.

It’s possible to replace the missing files that Windows mistakenly deleted. The easiest way to do this, is to reinstall the deleted program, then uninstall it again — and select ‘no to all’ when you see the dialogue box that asks to delete the files associated with your operating system or other programs. This should restore the missing and repair the DLL error.

If you get a DLL error when you install a *new* application, this means the program has been updated by the developer / manufacturer. The easiest way to fix this is to go to the program’s website, and look for a software update or new version of the program to download.

Troubleshooting DLL Errors
If these steps don’t work, you can restore your operating system files to an earlier date using System Restore. Go to Start -> Accessories -> System Properties -> System Restore, and follow the prompts in the box to complete the job.

Spyware and Viruses
Spyware is a cookie designed to invade your hard drive and send personal information or browsing history to a third party, without you knowing. If you have DLL errors, it’s possible this is a symptom of Spyware or a virus that is removing parts of programs. If this is the case, the best option is to download a recommended hard disk scan and check for free if you have been targeted by Spyware.

Related posts:

1. How to Fix Application Error 0xc0000142
2. 7 Ways to Fix a Slow Computer
3. Dealing with Kernel32.dll Error

*Disable Aero Snap and Aero Peek*
Windows 7′s impressive visual performance and additional features will slow down your computer. This is particularly true if you’ve installed the new software in your existing machine, with an older graphics card. Turn off the bloat by going to Start -> Control Panel -> Ease of Access, and choose Make it easier to focus on tasks. Next, uncheck the box that says ‘Prevent Windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen’. Then right click your taskbar that runs along the bottom of the screen, select Properties, and uncheck the box that says ‘Use aero Peek to preview the desktop’.

*Boost Power and Performance*
Windows 7 is shipped with default power settings to balance between energy consumption and performance. Get optimal performance by maximizing your power plan. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Power Options -> Show Additional Plans and select High Performance.

*Use Sleep and Hibernate*
Instead of shutting down and restarting your computer every time you use it, why not quickly resume where you left and have your PC running in just seconds? Sleep mode switches your machine to low power so you can leave documents and programs open, come back to it hours or days later, and have your same session open and waiting for you. Initiate Sleep mode from the shutdown menu.

If you do want to close your computer down for a longer period, the Hibernate feature saves your current session to the hard drive, and your programs and files are restored next time you boot the computer up. Hibernate is not a default feature in Windows 7 so you need to configure it manually. Here’s how:

1. Open Start -> Run and enter cmd.exe in the dialog box
2. Right-click cmd.exe and select Run as administrator
3. You will see a black text ‘Command’ box popup. Type powercfg /hibernate on and press enter
4. Next, open Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Power Options. You will see your current power option selected. Click ‘Change Plan Settings’ next to it.
5. Click Advanced Power Settings
6. Select ‘Sleep’ from the list, then Allow Hybrid Sleep, and Select Off, then click OK

Now you will notice Hibernate in the shutdown options on your start menu.

*Disable Thumbnail Preview*
Thumbnail view displays the contents of folders when you scroll over the folder icon. Along with the visual improvements in Windows 7 compared with XP, the thumbnail view feature is cute to look at, but not a good use of memory space if you’re after performance. Turn it off by opening My Computer and select Organize -> Folder and Search options. Under Files and Folders, click View and then select the check box ‘Always show icons, never thumbnails’.

*Disable startup programs*
Windows 7 has a host of programs that open automatically when you boot up. Most of them are important, but some of them you don’t need right away when you start the computer. Open Windows Defender and select Tools -> Software Explorer to reveal the programs Windows opens automatically at start up. Those you’re sure you don’t need to open overtime, click and select Disable.

*Streamline your sounds*
Trim a little bit more fat from Windows 7 by turning off the sounds and alerts. Go to Start -> Run and enter mmsys.cpl into the search box. When the popup window appears, open the Sounds tab and under Sound Scheme, select No Sounds. Then click Apply and OK.

*Customize & Tweak Your Settings*
WinBubble is a free software download that will easily allow you to change your Windows settings for optimum performance. These just five of the tweaks you can make:

* Edit Owner Information – speed up file and program opening
* Customize the Context menu – one click to change visual settings
* Copy/Move to – organize files, fast
* Add Disk Cleanup to right-click menu – quicker access to scrub your PC
* Customize Shortcut Icons – to easily identify your files

*Performance Updates*
Keeping your software updated will maintain the best performance from your Windows PC. Software updates will install bug fixes and extra security on your machine. Bookmark windowsupdate.microsoft.com in Internet Explorer. Also, you’ll notice periodic updates for your system drivers (audio, video etc), so also bookmark those manufacturers’ sites.

*Check your firewall*
It’s always prudent to check your firewall settings. If you’ve noticed a change in performance with Windows 7, it’s a possible sign of a malicious program or virus, sometimes called ‘malware’ or ‘spyware’. Spyware keeps tabs on the information on your computer and may transmit it to thieves to use your credit card data or similar personal information. Check now if your firewall is turned on. Follow Start – Control Panel – Network and Internet Connections – Windows Firewall.

Spyware will slow your PC down significantly and if you’ve got it, you should get rid of it immediately with an antivirus program. Click here for recommendations.

*Clear your registry*
The registry is like your computer’s library that stores your programs. With time, as some programs are added and removed, and everyday programs opened more frequently than others, your registry ends up disorganized with files scattered everywhere. An old or cluttered registry will cause crashes and blue screen lags. Download a recommended hard disk scan and check for free if hackers have targeted your browser.

Related posts:

1. How to Increase Windows Speed with Paging
2. 7 Ways to Boost Windows 7
3. 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer

What if you could run your computer like new, just as the day you first took it out of the box?

Here are 7 simple steps you can take to fix a slow PC in minutes.

*1. Backup your data*
One of the easiest steps you can take is improve your storage space. If you store all your large files like movies, music and photos on an external hard drive or burn them to CD, you’ll leave more room for your computer to find what it needs when you open a program. Saving space makes your computer run faster.

*2. Empty your Recycle Bin*
If you don’t need a file, get rid of it. Not just to your recycle bin, but for good. Leaving your recycle bin full of old files means you’re leaving rubbish in the path of programs that you use every day. Emptying your recycle bin of old files will make it easier — and faster — for your computer to open the program you want.

*3. Uninstall old programs*
With time, a regular computer user will have a dozen or so programs on their hard drive that had a purpose for particular task, but haven’t been opened for a long time. Removing these is easy and frees your computer up for the jobs you need it for.

To find and remove old programs, go to Start – Control Panel – Uninstall a program (Vista), or XP users, follow Start – Control Panel – Add/Remove Programs. This path will show you a list of familiar programs, some of which you may no longer have a use for. Click on the program, then select ‘Uninstall’.

*4. Remove temporary files*
Just as you want to clear your Recycle Bin daily, it’s also a good idea to find and remove files that you don’t need. For example, you may have documents that were relevant several months ago but their use has passed. Another example is images. You will download a lot of images attached to emails, such as a signature file. These have no use to you, but they take up room on your computer. To clear your old and unnecessary files, go to Start – All Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Cleanup and select the files you want to remove.

*5. Run System Recovery*
If you suffer from a relatively new PC that is chronically slow, get a new computer in a minutes by restoring your PC to the same factory settings you enjoyed when you took it out of the box. System Recovery will wipe your hard drive clean, taking all the slow bugs — and your data — with it. This is the nuclear option.

Use System Recovery AFTER you have backed up your important data onto an external hard drive or CD. To access System Recovery, enter your Windows install CD into your drive and follow the instructions. [ TS. Check for an easier way]

*6. Check your firewall*
It’s possible a slow PC is the victim of a malicious program or virus, sometimes called ‘malware’ or ‘spyware’. Spyware keeps tabs on the information on your computer and may transmit it to thieves to use your credit card data or similar personal information. Check now if your firewall is turned on. Follow Start – Control Panel – Network and Internet Connections – Windows Firewall.

Spyware will slow your PC down significantly and if you’ve got it, you should get rid of it immediately with an antivirus program. Click here for recommendations.

*7. Clear your registry*
The registry is like your computer’s library that stores your programs. With time, as some programs are added and removed, and everyday programs opened more frequently than others, your registry ends up disorganized with files scattered everywhere. An old or cluttered registry will cause crashes and blue screen lags.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways To Make Your Computer Faster
2. 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer
3. D.I.Y. Computer Repair

It is imperative to fix the out of memory error as and when one encounters it. These might be triggered by virus attacks too. At times malware and pseudo codes can disrupt the usual PC operations by injecting the falsified actions in user screens. Online resources should be accessed by the novice users. They can get to benefit endlessly from the rich and actionable information in just about no time at all. Users who are unsure about the options and ways to tweak their cache should benefit from the professional services. These can be availed in affordable prices without any concerns. There could be some confidential data and apps in your PC and you might not like to compromise your data with the malware injected errors.

Get going and ensure to make your PC systems error free at all times. The best in class solutions and PC protection mechanisms can be leveraged by one and all in a seamless manner at all times. These are indeed highly flexible and smarter solutions that can provide on the go solutions to the PC users if they are facing concerns. One can fix their out of memory errors without any hassles. It is imperative to protect PC platform through reliable antivirus and spyware solutions. These can optimize the performance of the PC systems in no time.

Related posts:

1. Fix Error Code 36
2. How to Fix Runtime Error 75
3. Smart Tips For Ensuring Error Free Environment For Your PC

The Error code 0xc0000142 highlights that the DLL file is unable to execute itself under the normal conditions as some of the parts of fragments are missing from the PC system. These can be easily addressed by the users if they are aware of right hot fixes and other security patches for the product. In fact one can seamlessly ensure to get rid of these errors from their machines if they first ensure to check their system integrity with free registry optimizer at all times in a streamlined way. In order to successfully fix the application error one should follow the simple to use steps as follows:

1. Ensure to take a print handy for this mini help source so that you can always reference when you are lost or wish to confirm the steps with a quick look.
2. The system’s integrity should be checked thoroughly with a reliable antivirus solution at all times. This can provide handy actionable user information to one and all in a streamlined way.
3. After users are sure that the prime concern is only Error code 0xc0000142 they should download the apt security patch from Microsoft’s website and install the service from there on.
4. In order to get best results, users should restart their PC machines so that the hot fix can better proliferate all parts of registered programs in a seamless manner without any constraints whatsoever.

Related posts:

1. How to Fix Runtime Error 75
2. Fix Error Code 36
3. Fix Svchost Exe Application Error With Registry Cleaner

Available in ivory and black, the Samsung HMX-E10 will be available in September for the friendly price of $199.99. Now let’s eye some of it’s key aspects:

1. 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen
2. 2x digital zoom
3. One-touch uploading to YouTube
4. MicroSD card slot
5. Connectivity: USB 2.0, HDMI
6. Preset Modes: Panorama, Miniature, Vignetting, Defog, Sketch
7. Can record full HD (1,920 x 1,080 resolution) video in H.264 format with the 1/3.2-inch CMOS sensor
8. 270-degree swiveling lens, opening up the viewpoint far more than comparable mini-camcorders can
9. Comes with intelli studio, Samsung’s play edit sharing program
10. Built-in USB connection that gives users the ability to connect the camcorder to any computer

Besides the HMX-E10 is packed with a full range of fun controls which encourage consumers to get creative with their videos. Consumers can take advantage of several Smart Filters which adjust the HMX-E10 to produce unique lens and color effects. The camcorder lens effects include miniature, which produces the tilt and lens shift effect, and vignetting, which produces the lomo effect. Color effects include defog, which mimics the use of a CPL filter, and sketch, which gives video a pencil drawing feel.

“Samsung is focused on introducing features to its camcorders which address unmet needs and take the video recording experience to new levels for consumers,” said Sangjin Park, President of the Digital Imaging Business, Samsung Electronics. “The HMX-E10 offers the image quality, ultra-compact design and built-in USB technology that consumers expect from this class of camcorder, but goes a step beyond, offering features such as a swiveling lens, versatile LCD screen and a range of smart filters, which give users the ability to do more and express their creativity.”

So get ready for the new experience and shoot all around in full HD.

Related posts:

1. Samsung HMX-E10: Full HD Features 270 Degree Swivelling Lens
2. Samsung PL90 Digital Camera
3. Aiptek Pocket DV Z100 pro – Digital Camcorder Review By Tech-Digit

Apple has been rolling out newer products and offers since the launch of iPad early this year. Apple is offering free protective cases to the iPhone 4 users too in order to stay upbeat with the competitive environment all around. It might be interesting to see if Apple can recall the iPhone 4 amongst the early users. However, the chances of that happening look pretty dim and minimal too. There could be more freebies and offers that could be made by the company to the esteemed users of the product to compensate for the few technical glitches. Apple’s iPhone 4 is one of the smartest communication devices that have hit the global markets in 2010. Apple would be keen to make a long lasting impact in its relatively newer Asian, Gulf and African market with its flagship phone.  The technical glitches are expected to be fixed and a new version of the phone is expected to be delivered to the global audience base as Apple introduces iPhone 4 to international markets on the go in a seamless manner. It is anticipated that Apple’s engineers are working day in and night out to provide a best in class antenna when the phone is launched on an international arena. The last phases of testing and operability are under way at Apple’s head office. The industry analysts feel that there could be an announcement in near future about the newer version of iPhone 4 similar to what Apple did with iPhone 3 by making iPhone 3GS version.

The ones who are yet to get their hands-on iPhone 4 should aim at ensuring the features and rich functionalities of the device. It is highly recommended to adopt wait and watch strategy with Apple’s iPhone 4 while it is still relatively new in the market. Apart from antenna and few technical glitches, iPhone 4 seems to be the order of the day. With the next version release one can get to expect robust feature enablement in the device to provide endless benefits to the customers.

Related posts:

1. Access More On iPhone 4
2. Should iPhone 4 be Bought?
3. Should Gadget Lovers Buy iPhone 4?

Youtube put together an initial playlist of five videos which can be seen in a 4k resolution and if your connection and gear can take it, go right ahead and let us now how it was. I guess that someone could open a 4k theme bar where people could watch youtube vids and have cocktails. I always wanted to watch CC Catch clips at the craziest resolution available.

Via: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20010174-248.html

Related posts:

1. Turn Your Next Party Into A YouTube “Disco”
2. YouTube To Microsoft: The HP Slate Sucks
3. Huge Lightsaber Fight Breaks Out In Mall

The aircraft-vehicle received recently a go ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration, being classified as a light aircraft, even if the Terrafugia Transition is 120 pounds heavier than the limit. The FAA made an exception, considering that the extra weight comes from car related safety devices, like airbags and crumple zones. The “light aircraft” label is a money maker for the company, because a potential client needs only 20 hours of flying time to get the license to fly the Terrafugia Transition (can’t stop saying the cool name over and over again). Yeah, now I’ll have to spoil it to you and reveal the price tag: the retail cost of the car-plane is 194.000 dollars, but until now 70 people placed a deposit.

From http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93804?fp=1

and

http://www.terrafugia.com/about_us.html

Related posts:

1. Here Come The Flying Cars!
2. Electric Cars To Sell Unused Energy Back Into Grid?
3. Whale-Shaped Airship First Flying Hotel

So what, you might say, they’re still cashing in huge profits, as the manufacturing process of e-readers is cost effective (that means cheap). Not really. The people over at iSupply, a company that takes gadgets and breaks them into pieces (cool job) to know how much it costs to build them say that Amazon and Barnes&Noble are not making any money of their e-readers because their new trimmed down prices are equal to the production costs- corporations not making a profit, that’s weird. Well, it’s not, because the move aims to sell more e-books and the money supposedly lost by the price cut of the e-reader will be gained by a huge increase of book sales. It’s a move similar to a historical marketing stunt made by King Camp Gillette, who sold razors at a small price, but the razor blades were extremely expensive.

So don’t hope for a price cut also for the e-books. You’ll end up paying more for your e-reading experience overall, even if the actual device is apparently cheaper. And yes, it’s the same model like the one with the cheap console and increasingly expensive console content.

Via : http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/24/kindle-amazon-nook-technology-ereader.html?boxes=techchannellighttop
Also: Kindle @ Amazon.com

Related posts:

1. Amazon eBook Price Wars: Macmillan Strikes Back!
2. Nook vs. Kindle: A New Champion?
3. Facebook Comes to Kindle

At the Humboldt University in Berlin, an industrial design company named Frackenpohl Poulheim working for a lab named ALEAR Laboratory of Neuro Robotics develops MUON, a humanoid robot as tall as an 8 year old (but way cooler). It sure looks cool with that huge eye occupying the entire face (or is “face” an obsolete term?) and the slick, blue leds inside the robot’s knees and hands. There is no word about the actual benefits the robot would bring (beside being awesome), but we can anticipate that it could be used for therapy, commercials and Michael Bay pics (and, considering the hands, to be the coolest cup holder available).

Also, it’s not clear in which development stage the robot is (I wonder if there’s a search for beta testers). Don’t forget to check the german link bellow (hail to Google translate) and read all about the idea behind Muon and watch a cool making of video. I hate that there’s not a “preorder now” button anywhere on the site.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/19/muon-the-humanoid-robot-is-our-ideal-best-friend/

and http://www.frackenpohl-poulheim.de/projekte/myon-roboter/

Related posts:

1. Japanese Coop Making Humanoid Moon Robot
2. The Motorola “Devour”: Great Function, Crappy Name
3. Yee Haw, It’s A Robot Roundup!

We are so caught up in texting while driving that 16% of people (that’s one in six) actually hit something while driving ( a little bit of explanation about the “something” would have been nice though). The results of the Pew study are the opposite of another survey held in February by the Insurance Institutes of Highway Safety. They claim that the highest rate of texting while driving is found in the 18-33 age range and the incidences decline with age.

There are, of course, laws that ban the usage of cell phones while driving, but they have no effect on textaholic drivers, thinks Russ Rader, a spokesperson for the Insurance Institutes of Highway Safety. In the end, it seems that technology will solve this problem too (considering that it caused it in the first place) because it is possible to block the cell phone signal while driving. More, technology will help deal with all forms of distracted driving, as car manufactures are increasingly interested in collision warning systems, solutions that will automatically stop the car if an accident seems imminent and sensors that can determine when the driver falls asleep.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Texting-While-Driving-Everyones-Doing-it-70250.html

Related posts:

1. Study Says Cell Phone Ban Doesn’t Decrease Auto Accidents
2. Red Cross Raises $3 Million for Haiti Via Text Message Campaign
3. Technology Allows Disabled To Type With Their Brain

Described as an “iPhone without a screen,” the new version of the Apple TV will have the same internals as the upcoming iPhone revision, including  an A4 CPU and a 16GB of flash storage. That’s a sizable decrease in storage space from the last Apple TV model, but that’s because the device will focus on cloud-based storage of videos with instant-on 1080p HD streaming. But the kicker to it all is that the device will supposedly carry a mere $99 price tag.

A one-hundred dollar device that brings streaming HD video content to your TV, as well as iPhone-like app support? If true, this is going to be huge.

Related posts:

1. Apple iPhone 4 Should Be Your First Choice
2. Apple Sells 300,000 iPads on Day 1
3. Apple Exec Promises AT&T Network Upgrade

Lead by chemistry professor Shin-ichy Ohkoshi, the new process creates DVDs with 1,000 times the storage capacity of a Blu-ray disc by painting a layer of titanium oxide variant onto the disc. The material switches back and forth between the metal and semiconductor states at room temperature when exposed to light, creating an “on/off” switch that’s ideal for data storage.

The professor is in talks for commerical applications of his discovery, although there’s no word when this potential “super DVD” technology might hit the market.

Source: Gizmodo

Related posts:

1. Not All Blu-ray Players Will Take You To Pandora
2. Matter Created At 4,000,000,000,000 Degrees Celsius
3. Finally: “Pain Ray” Installed On Air Force Gunships

Rights:

1. The right to be even geekier.
2. The right to not leave your house.
3. The right to not like football or any other sport.
4. The right to associate with other nerds.
5. The right to have few friends (or none at all).
6. The right to have as many geeky friends as you want.
7. The right to be out of style.
8. The right to be overweight and short-sighted.
9. The right to show off your geekiness.
10. The right to take over the world.

Responsibilities:

1. Be a geek, no matter what.
2. Try to be nerdier than anyone else.
3. If there is a discussion about something geeky, you must give your opinion.
4. To save and protect all geeky material.
5. Do everything you can to show off geeky stuff as a “museum of geekiness.”
6. Don’t be a generalized geek. You must specialize in something.
7. Attend every nerdy movie on opening night and buy every geeky book before anyone else.
8. Wait in line on every opening night. If you can go in costume or at least with a related T-shirt, all the better.
9. Never throw away anything related to geekdom.
10. Try to take over the world!

No related posts.

To play Don’t Shit Your Pants, head here!

Related posts:

1. Flash Friday: Crush the Castle
2. Flash Friday: Robot Wants Kitty
3. Flash Friday: Dragon Age Journeys

Costing $8 million, the Bullet 580 is the world’s largest blimp, measuring 71m long, and 19m in diameter. Able to be flown remotely or with a crew, you could rent it—for over $300,000 a month.

While it will seriously be available to rent at some point, its first test flights are scheduled for this summer, so it may be a while before  you’ll finally get to pilot an airship.

Related posts:

1. World’s Largest Aquarium Made For World’s Largest Bachelor Pad
2. Airborne Laser Murders Ballistic Missile Mid-flight
3. Apple Sells 300,000 iPads on Day 1

• Speed
• App data backup
• Improved Enterprise / Exchange Support
• Push services – “Android Intent”
• Tethering / Mobile Hotspot
• Much faster browsing experience – V8 in browser
• New functionality in browser- Camera, orientation, geolocation
• Support for Adobe Flash and Adobe Air
• Search the Android Marketplace directly from Quick Search
• The ability to install applications on the SD card automatically
• One-button update or automatic update for apps
• The ability to purchase music from Android Marketplace
• The ability to stream your own music from your desktop

Via Android Central

Related posts:

1. Dolphin Browser HD Adds Slick Features to Android Phones
2. Firefox’s Mobile Browser “Fennec” For Android
3. Search Android Phones With Gestures

I know what you’re thinking.The answer to that headline must be “No, of course not! Are you crazy. Have you seen Waterworld?” Yes I have, and it’s pretty bad. But maybe that movie gave him and his brother the idea for the device above, which Costner claims can filter up to 97% of oil from water. Costner’s brother is a scientist, and together they’ve been pursuing this project for 15 years. As you can see in the video above, the machine separates water from oil through centrifugal force – it’s not explained in the video, but we can assume the machine separates the liquids out through their different weights.

Costner and his team would like to test out their machine in the open waters and see if it can be of help. The largest version of the device can filter 200 gallons at a time. That’s almost nothing compared to how much oil is leaking into the ocean every day, but if the science behind the machine turns out to be solid, it could very well lead to a solution.

Source: Treehugger via Gizmodo.

Related posts:

1. Did China Attack US Oil With Their Elite Cyberspies?
2. Who Wants to Rent This Blimp?
3. Will the Next Apple TV Cost $99 Bucks?

Currently, separating hydrogen from oxygen in water takes electricity — more electricity than the resulting hydrogen could create. So, unless this electricity is coming from a solar array or wind energy, it’s not efficient enough to use on a large scale.

Scientists have recently found a possible solution to this: viruses, algae and an extremely long and dry research paper which lies behind a paywall.

Luckily, someone distilled the science of artificial photosynthesis for we the masses.

Using sunlight rather than electricity to make hydrogen from water could greatly improve the efficiency of the process. Hydrogen can then be stored and used to generate electricity using a fuel cell, or burned as fuel for cars and trucks.

Dr. Belcher’s team is already working on a biological template to efficiently split hydrogen from water similar to the one they successfully used to split oxygen from water. The hydrogen atoms in their current process get split into component protons and electrons. The new process under development would combine these back into hydrogen atoms and molecules.

Splitting hydrogen from water could help make hydrogen a more viable alternative to coal, nuclear, and fossil fuels.

The lead research behind the breakthrough is Dr. Angela Belcher, Germeshausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, has already won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant for her work on powering nanoscale electronic components.

“We’re letting biology help us work on solving those problems, solving what the next-next generation batteries are going to be,” says Dr. Belcher. She was featured on the Science Channel talking about her work.

It’s really fascinating work and is one step closer to getting away from fossil fuels and the problems they cause; which are slowly killing us.

[Via H+ Magazine]

Related posts:

1. 1.3 Trillion Pounds Of Ice Found On Moon
2. Initiative Seeks To Reduce Data Center Energy Usage 1000-Fold
3. Mass Effect 2 Tackles Tricky Science Of Dark Energy

I sleep like crap, too much caffeine and too many video games to play put sleep on the back burner.
But if I had this sweet bed, I think I could stop both — and I would probably have to since it would cost a fortune.

Designed for extreme insomnia sufferers, the “Once Upon a Dream” project bed was designed by French furniture designer Mathieu Lehanneur to be more than just soft and cuddly. The bed actually uses white noise and other sounds that create sleep-like brainwaves.

The bed features curtains that automatically close prodding the user to sleep. The temperature and lighting levels are dropped gradually, while levels of gentle white noise rise to block out external sounds. The purr sound created by adding together barely audible frequencies is used to put certain patients into a Non Ordinary State of Consciousness (NOSC) prior to telepathic experiments.

The temperature of the over all room is reduced to between 2° to 19° C. The light dimmers can be activated with a touch by the user, with the help of a plant hanging over the bed. Within a span of fifteen minutes the light dims from 1000 Lux to 0. The bed also has a provision for waking the user through increasing temperature by two degrees and light levels from 0 to 2500 Lux in fifteen minutes.

The bed was created based on extensive research on psychology on insomniacs.
So next time you’re at the Hotel du Marc in Reims, France, try it out and get some techy sleep in a huge fancy bed.

[Via World Interior Design Network]

Related posts:

1. Science + Art + Mutants = Sweet!
2. Military Launches Gigantic Stratospheric Tapeworm To Watch Us While We Sleep
3. Matter Created At 4,000,000,000,000 Degrees Celsius

Also included in the new version of the video player is sound normalization that means you’ll no longer be blasted by too-loud ads, subtitle support, thumbnail support for searching an episode and even a heat map that shows you the most popular scenes. There are also a few other tweaks like a bigger screen and a few retooled controls, but to sum it up you can simply say that Hulu is now better, and it gets better today.

Source: Hulu Blog

Related posts:

1. Paid Subscriptions Coming to Hulu
2. Download Hulu Videos With StreamTransport
3. Hulu Loses Comedy Central

At any given time, we’re looking at new ideas, investigating, testing, incubating them. It’s in our DNA to develop new form factors and natural user interfaces to foster productivity and creativity. The Courier project is an example of this type of effort. It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time.

The premature death of the Courier is a shame, but hopefully the technology developed for the device will resurface in future Microsoft products.

Related posts:

1. More Microsoft Tablet Photos “Leaked”
2. Microsoft Loses Two Key Executives
3. YouTube To Microsoft: The HP Slate Sucks

Related posts:

1. Sony Unveils PlayStation Move
2. Netflix Comes to Nintendo Wii
3. Wii Balance Board Good For Something: Helps Stroke Victims With Balance

To experience the Halo: Reach beta, you’ll need a copy of Halo 3: ODST and an Xbox 360 console with a valid Xbox Live account.

Related posts:

1. Halo Reach Review
2. Dreams Do Come True: Starcraft II Closed Beta Begins
3. Play Classic Arcade Games in Microsoft’s Game Room

Source: Hotel Chatter via Boing Boing

Related posts:

1. Whale-Shaped Airship First Flying Hotel
2. iPad Sells One Million Units
3. The Best of the Worst of the Decade

Image and Story via Engadget.

Related posts:

1. Rumor That’s Probably True: Touchscreen iMacs Coming Soon
2. New Reseach Makes DVDs 1,000 Bigger Than Blu-ray
3. New PlayStation 3 Models On the Way?

Only one electric connection exists between the West Texas town of Presidio and the US national power grid – it was created back in 1948, and frequently fails, throwing the whole town into darkness.

Well, Presidio found a fix that’s as epic as it is ingenious – buy a huge battery. The biggest in the United States, actually – Presidio purchased the humongous sodium sulfur battery for the princely sum of $25 million dollars, and has earned the local nickname of “BOB” (for “Big Ol’ Battery”).

The battery can store up to four megawatts and can run the town by itself for about eight hours, which is just enough time to fix the town’s only external transmission line.

Before BOB showed up, the town would have to pull energy from Mexico – the new battery should allay such needs, as well as providing the pretty cool national landmark that is “Nation’s Biggest Battery.”

Source & Photo Source: PopSci

Related posts:

1. Invented! The 20-Year Lithium Ion Battery
2. Microsoft Installs New Chief Creative Officer
3. Why Are Space Strawberries A Thing We’re Talking About?

Sweedish firm People of Lava has beaten the others to the punch, manufacturing a television dubbed The Scandinavia. The set will come in 42, 47 and 55 inch models, and will cost between $2,000 and $2,5000 for the smallest size. The 42 inch model drops in September, with the others following shortly.

As for the Android features? Well, it’ll do the standard internet surfing and be able to provide Facebook, Youtube and Hulu access  – watching Hulu on your television is, of course, a geeky thrill. But the neat thing is that People of Lava are creating their own Android App store, which means you’ll be able to buy apps and content designed specifically for the Android TV. Pretty cool!

Source & Photo Source: FastCompany

Related posts:

1. Paid Subscriptions Coming to Hulu
2. Dell Aero: Good Looking, Inexpensive Runs Outdated Android
3. 60,000 Android Handsets Shipped Daily

The Nexus One can already be run on pretty much any cell phone network, including many 3G networks. However, different 3G protocols have been a stumbling block for the phone on the AT&T/Rogers networks before. Full press release from Google below:

Nexus One now compatible with the AT&T 3G network and shipping to Canada

In early January, we announced the Nexus One, the first device sold through Google’s web store. The Nexus One is unlocked, which means you can use it with a SIM card from most GSM operators worldwide. Currently the device is compatible with most 3G networks, including T-Mobile in the US. However, there are some carriers that have different 3G frequencies, such as AT&T in the US and Rogers Wireless in Canada, so users with these SIM cards can only access 2G or EDGE networks on their Nexus One.

Starting today, an additional version of the Nexus One is available from the Google web store that is compatible with AT&T’s 3G network. This new model can be purchased as an unlocked device without a service plan. In addition to AT&T’s 3G network, this device will also run on Rogers Wireless in Canada. And like the first version of the Nexus One, it can be used with most GSM operators globally.

Additionally, Nexus One devices can now be shipped to Canada from Google’s web store, and will work with a SIM from Rogers Wireless. To find out which version you should purchase, based on your mobile service provider, please visit our Help Center.

Source: Engadget

Related posts:

1. Google Kills Online Sales of Nexus One
2. Nexus One Not Coming to Verizon
3. Nexus One Hunted Down By Blade Runner?

Apple fans will call the number a triumph, while detractors will say selling “only” 300k makes it a bust. It is really hard to declare victory or defeat at this point, as many consumers may be waiting for the 3G version of the device later this month. Apple’s shares were down 17 cents to $235.80 in premarket trading and productivity is down across the nation as Apple fans play with their new toy.

Source: Associated Press

Related posts:

1. Will the Next Apple TV Cost $99 Bucks?
2. iPad Sells One Million Units
3. Apple Sells 3-Billionth iPhone App, 2.99 Billion Are Lightsabers

• Eight commuter rail platforms on the Long Island Railroad Port Washington line: Woodside, Flushing Main Street, Murray Hill, Broadway, Auburndale, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck;
• Manhattan: Bryant Park, Madison Square Park and 79th Street Boat Basin;
• Four parks in Queens: Bowne Park and Kissena Park in Flushing, Baisley Pond Park and Railroad Park in Jamaica.

Congrats, you lucky SOBs. Your city already has the best bagels and the craziest bums, and now you’ve got the best public internet as well. Then again, you also have Rudy Giuliani, so that balances things out a little bit.

Source: PRWeb

Related posts:

1. Download Free, Legal Music from South By Southwest
2. Apple Allows Free 24-Hours App Trial: Inspired By Android
3. Crytek Engine Going Free For Developers

Along with the changes to searching, the new update adds a Google Latitude widget, which shows you which of your Latitute-using friends are where on the map. Finally, the new version of Maps also allows you to switch between multiple Google accounts if you have them – which is great, because my real identity and my “spy” identity James St. Royce have very different places we need to go!

Image and story source: Google Mobile Blog

Related posts:

1. Google Maps Adds Bike-Friendly Directions
2. Google Shopper Allows For Mobile Comparison Shopping
3. Google Store Sells $300 Scarf, Keeps Straight Face

Play Crush the Castle at Armor Games.

Related posts:

1. Flash Friday: Crush The Castle!
2. Flash Friday: Gemcraft
3. Flash Friday: Don’t Shit Your Pants

This site collects all of the available tracks into two massive torrent files. Despite the “Unofficial” name, keep in mind that all of these songs are being given away by the artists at the conference and are completely legal. The free songs from previous years are also archived on the site, so the free music you download here could keep you jamming literally for days.

If you don’t have a Torrent program installed, there are a couple of links at the bottom of the page to two of your better options. Happy rocking!

Story and Image source: Lifehacker

Related posts:

1. Guitar Hero’s Hilarious Legal Problems
2. New Torrent Suits Target Some 20,000 Pirates
3. Pew Pew: CES Gadget Makes Music With Lasers

A typical prosthesis doesn’t reproduce the force a living ankle exerts to push off of the ground. As a result, test subjects spent 23 percent more energy walking with a conventional prosthetic foot, compared with walking naturally.

To test how stepping with their device compared with normal walking, the engineers conducted their experiments with non-amputees wearing a rigid boot and prosthetic simulator.

On top of that, while walking, the foot produces one watt of energy, enough to power the device. Other such systems require heavy batteries.

I don’t see whether or not the foot has been used in actual real-world situations, but researchers are right when they say it could revolutionize prosthetics for the average person. Runners can have their running blade feet, but most people want to be able to walk normally after losing a foot — having a natural and low-profile foot is a step in the right direction.

[Via University Of Michigan | MAKE]

Related posts:

1. Green TVs Getting Greener
2. Airborne Laser Murders Ballistic Missile Mid-flight
3. Silicone Implants Harvest Human Energy For Later Use

According to Wikipedia, the Tesla Roadster “can travel 244 miles (393 km) on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack, and can accelerate from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 3.7 seconds. The Roadster’s efficiency, as of September 2008, was reported as 120 mpg_ge (2.0 L/100 km). It uses 135 W·h/km (21.7 kW·h/100mi or 490 kJ/km) battery-to-wheel, and has an efficiency of 92% on average.” Of course, all that power and efficiency comes at a price: $111,005, to be exact.

The new 3 year/30k miles lease agreement lets you drive around the zippy car for only $1,658 per month for 36 months. Well, there is also the $12,000 down payment. Given that the monthly lease payment is more than my mortgage, I’m clearly not a member of the very specific population being targeted here.

Story via Engadget

Image Via Tesla Motors

Related posts:

1. Tesla Takes A Cross-Country, Hijinx-Filled Road Trip
2. Calculate Home Energy Savings with Microsoft Hohm
3. Texas Town Installs Massive Battery Backup

This really interesting clock uses several small analog clocks to make up numerals.

It’s a concept clock, so you won’t see it soon, but what an interesting concept.

There is an interesting demo of the clock at the designer’s site.

Related posts:

1. Aspiral Clock Makes It Fun To Watch The Clock
2. Gun O’Clock: The Alarm Clock For Those With No Respect For Time Commitments
3. Concept Wireless HD Projector Came From Space

A new technology looks to appease those wanting a sleek touch screen with the tactile feedback of a real button.

According to the MorphPad company rep, the technology is only available in a few devices in Japan, but it will likely make its way to the US at some point. She did mention that it was available in a watch in Japan, which would be really neat — buttons and a display in the same space right on your wrist.

I’ve gotten used to a virtual keyboard, but it still gets annoying sometimes, especially in the harsh cold of the great north.

[Via Mobile Review | Engadget]

Related posts:

1. Features Of The iPod Touch
2. Canon X Mark I Mouse: Bluetooth Connectivity, Calculator, Numeric Keypad
3. Virtual Reality Sphere Not Cool, But Could Be

This is pretty cool news for the do-it-yourself filmmaker – until a few years ago, all these films would have been cut on systems called Avid, hardware/software combo stations that run into the tens of thousands of dollars. By contrast, Final Cut Pro costs less than a thousand, making it much more accessible to indie filmmakers trying to get their message out.

The docs edited on FCP? The Cove, Food Inc., Which Way Home, The Most Dangerous Man In America, and the five documentary shorts.

The one doc not edited on FCP? “Burma VJ,” a film about jailed Burmese citizen  journalists. Get with the program, “Burma VJ,” you guys are falling behind!

Related posts:

1. Kindle Price Cut?
2. Final Fantasy: Now on the iPhone
3. A Bunch Of Facts About Final Fantasy XIII

Bikers could soon have a little extra help with those tricky hills thanks to the technology behind hybrid cars.

Finally, the most efficient machine is even easier to use thanks to Sanyo’s series of hybrid bikes.

The series of bikes has been getting more advanced over the years, and the new SPL models are the smartest yet. Whereas previous editions could only regeneratively charge themselves on down hills or when the brakes were applied, this new series can juice up while the rider is pedaling along on the flats. This presumably increases the rolling resistance somewhat but the new “Eco Charge Mode” is said to boost range by 53 percent.

More importantly, a new chrome basket shows that this ride means business.

It won’t come cheap, though, shipping to Japanese pedalers on April 21 for ¥157,290, or about $1,800.

[Via Engadget]

Related posts:

1. Google Maps Adds Bike-Friendly Directions
2. Eco gadgets
3. Android 2.2 Boosts Speeds by 450 Percent

An Indian satellite doing a flyover with a NASA radar spotted tons, and tons, and tons of ice — 600 million metric tons worth.

The 1.3 trillion pounds of ice are very interesting to moon scientists and NASA explorers who could potentially use the ice to create water and to eventually create oxygen for future explorers.

“The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are occurring on the moon,” said Paul Spudis, principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.
“The new discoveries show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought.”

The ice was found mostly on the northern pole in craters likely created by icy asteroids smashing into the moon. NASA has to figure out a good way to collect, purify and split the water into oxygen and hydrogen (which they can then use for fuel) but it’s a good start. Figuring out the problems associated with using the space ice close to home is a great stepping point toward making technology for future missions to Mars.

[Via NASA]

Related posts:

1. Obama’s Budget Proposal Funds NASA, Cuts Moon Landings
2. Only One Of These Three Missions Will Be The Next NASA Idol!
3. Obama To NASA: ‘No Moon For You!’

First off, you can now hide the Buzz inbox completely and prevent the public from seeing your followers list (one of the biggest early complaints). If that’s not drastic enough for you, you can even permanently delete your Buzz account. Choosing that option will remove all traces of Buzz from your Google profile. Of course, like any Google product, you’re always able to restart it at a later date.

Story and Image via Lifehacker.

Related posts:

1. Google Buzz Hits 9 Million Posts & Comments
2. Google Buzz-ing With New Social Perks
3. Google To End Censorship In China

MIT researchers are taking 3D video to the actual third dimension with their prototype system of flying swarms of robot displays.

Yup, read that again — I’ll wait.

I know!! What?!

The video from MIT distills all the pertinent information, but doesn’t capture the scope that something like this could have. Hypothetically, the “Flyfire” technology could create giant moving displays about anything anywhere.

Think of those cheesy laser light shows that once blew people’s minds. Bands could use this to fill a stadium with their light displays or video of the band. Outdoor venues could have towering video arrows instead of spotlights.

I guess advertisers could use the technology to advertise to people in airplanes or at popup events like carnivals that don’t need dedicated billboards or lighting.

It’s not going to be HD video in the sky, but with a little creativity a swarm of flying robots could wow just about anyone.

[Via Make Magazine | MIT]

Related posts:

1. Show Off Your Muscles, Control a Computer
2. Yee Haw, It’s A Robot Roundup!
3. Flying Cars Are Here!

A new site designed to waste your time shows you just what any Web site would sound like. I spent far, far too long plugging in every Web site. I must say, Techomaly.com is the best!

[Via Codeorgan]

Related posts:

1. Pandora Finally Turns A Profit
2. US Web Users Watched 33 Billion Online Videos in December
3. Europe, You Now Have Web Browser Freedom!

The military is looking for a better way to cut through the challenges of listening to radio chatter in several dialects when every word and second counts.

Currently, the military passes around the radio to interpreters who piece it together but lose a lot in the translation.

Darpa’s is experimenting with a system dubbed Robust Automatic Translation of Speech, or RATS.

Darpa wants RATS to pull speech out of “noisy or degraded signals,” with 99 percent accuracy at distinguishing spoken words from background noise. The system should also be able to identify, with 98 percent accuracy, the language spoken — with special emphasis on Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, Dari and Urdu.

The RATS software will be programmed with voice-recognition technology, to identify people on a military most-wanted list. It’ll also be able to automatically detect specific, preselected “key words or phases.”

They want the program to translate 15 languages among 1,000 different speakers with the ability to identify 100 words in three Middle Eastern languages.
Darpa wants the whole program on a PDA device (I want it on my phone) and wants it ready in 6 months.

That’s some app, but if it works it could take interpreters out of danger and out of the messy equation that the current method of spying creates.

[Via Wired]

Related posts:

1. Here Come The Flying Cars!
2. Real Life Cloaking Device Gets Closer
3. Virtual Reality, Now With Real Life Neck Pain

The drone flew above the crime scene and helped officers find an alleged car thief using infrared imaging.

A suspected car thief was believed to be hiding from police in thick undergrowth in Bootle, Merseyside, so officers launched their new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

They used the on-board thermal imaging camera to seek out the teenager and pinpoint his hiding place 300-metres away.

The officer operating the drone from the ground was then able to guide colleagues to the exact location and they arrested the 16-year-old youth.

It’s an interesting development in crime fighting and shows what these drones can do even on a small scale.

One wonders what these types of machines could do for firefighters searching a burning building — giving them a glimpse inside before they risk their lives. Rescuers could use these drones to help people immediately after a disaster and spot them from the air.

They could greatly speed up response times and spot people faster than an entire search party, but there is no question that they could infringe on certain unalienable rights.

Phil Chamberlain, a Wiltshire-based freelance journalist, wrote this in Big Issue:

However it is their spying ability which has alarmed some.

Small and manoeuvrable, UAVs can perch silently and record still, moving and thermal images. They can fly in to buildings if necessary. Specialist software has been developed that allows them to scan large areas quickly for particular vehicles or record number plates or faces and compare them against databases.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: “It’s a grave step in any democracy to use military surveillance methods against your own peacetime population.”

This will surely be a bigger issue as these types of drones roll out to police stations around the world. Especially with incredibly cheap aerial drones on the horizon.

I wonder how long it will take before someone caught doing something in their home by these drones to file a lawsuit and making these pricey machines go the way of the illegal red light cameras.

[ViaSky News | Taking Out The Trash]

Related posts:

1. Iraqi Fighters Hack Predator Drone With 3.7mb File?
2. Car Powers Up To Drive 800 mph
3. iPhone Drone Attacks At CES (Run For Your Lives)

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman slapped a huge laser on the front of a modified 747, then used it to shoot down a ballistic missle, while they were both in the air.

Think about it: that’s like a bullet shooting a laser to shoot down another bullet. It’s incredible. Here’s a quote from last Friday’s press release:

“While ballistic missiles like the one [the Airborne Laser Testbed] destroyed move at speeds of about 4,000 miles per hour, they are no match for a super-heated, high-energy laser beam racing towards it at 670 million mph,”

Wow. You gotta love it when people seriously use phrases like “they’re no match for a super-heated, high-energy laser beam.” What the hell could possibly be a match for that?

The test went like this – a missile was fired from an “at sea” platform into the air. The 747 then detected that missile and fired three different beams at it – one to track it, one to monitor the atmosphere between the 747 and the missile, and one to blow that missile straight to hell.

Boeing calls that third laser, “the most powerful mobile laser device in the world” – when the laser connects, it heats up pressurized sections of the weapon targeted, rupturing those sections to take out the missile. All in all, it took two minutes to bring down the missile.

Damn!

Related posts:

1. High School Student Builds Flight Simulator
2. Logitech Wireless Mouse G700: Uses Gaming Grade Laser
3. Green TVs Getting Greener

Dearly beloved, we gather here today to mourn the loss of Unix, stricken down after over 40 years due to declining sales of the Unix server.  Unix will be mourned by his legal guardian Sun Microsystems and illegitimate younger brother Linux.  Now I believe BSD would like to say a few words, and Mac OS will read a poem later…

Okay, maybe it’s a bit too soon to call Unix dead, but recent financial reports mark the beginning of the end for the operating system.  Unix server revenue fell almost 24 percent in the third quarter of 2009, according to IDC.  Sun Microsystems, a huge proponent of Unix, lost $147 million in Q4 2009.  40 might be the new 30 for humans, but 40 years is ancient when it comes to computer operating systems.

Still, a poll by ComputerWorld suggests Unix still has life in it.  90% of IT Managers polled said their companies rely heavily on Unix and only 12% said they were moving away from the OS.  This suggests that Unix isn’t dead yet, but might be dying very slowly.  So with Linux and Windows anxiously awaiting the plug to be pulled, how much time is left?

Source: The Inquirer

Image: Unix.org

Related posts:

1. PlayStation 3 Losing Linux
2. Microsoft will give 90 000 Windows 7 Phones to its employees
3. 05 Ways To Get Creative With Your Little USB Drive

Then again, the iPhone’s price was cut dramatically soon after its launch, and the iPhone was an immediate success.  So maybe rumors of a price cut aren’t so much a reflection of negative buzz, as they are a reflection of consumers being turned-off by a high price tag.  After all, its much touted function is as a superior eBook reader, but you can get a lowly Kindle for half the cost.

Or maybe — just maybe — tech blogs should stop obsessing over every rumor surrounding Cupertino.  When you search for Apple Rumors in Google, you get almost 15 million results.  So that’s probably enough rumor coverage to last us for a little while.

Source: eWeek

Image Sources: Bored of Jam

Related posts:

1. Rumor: iPad Launch Date is March 26th
2. iPad To Be Sold At Best Buy
3. Confirmed: iPad To Launch April 3rd

Data retrieval will be a thing of the past with this bad boy – it’s encased in CNC-milled, aircraft grade aluminum, (I don’t know what that means), comes molded in a shock-dampening collar and EPDM seal, (I don’t know what that means either), and is water-resistant to a depth of 200 meters. (I have no idea why you’d go swimming with this).

Corsair claims that reviewers and bloggers have baked, boiled, dropped, run over and microwaved this thing without breaking it, so…holy lord, these are all conditions that would never be met in real life, yet I’m happy have been enacted!

A sixteen gigabyte model will run you fifty dollars on Amazon, which isn’t too bad  – it comes with a USB extension cord, some dogtags, a 10 year warranty and bragging rights. Lots and lots of worthless bragging rights.

Source: Maximum PC

Related posts:

1. World’s Largest Commercially Available Flash Drive?
2. Flash Friday: Don’t Shit Your Pants
3. Adobe Exports Flash Animation To HTML5

I feel pretty bad for Veoh. It was part of that fleet of Youtube clones that popped up once someone realized a dog riding a skateboard could equal big cash (that person being Google, who purchased the video service back in 2006 for $1.6 billion dollars).

Speaking as someone who’s used Veoh, it seems to only exist to store copyrighted content that Youtube weeds out – episodes of old TV shows, namely. But at one time, it raised $70 million dollars in funding from the likes of Time Warner & financial titan Goldman Sachs.

The site saw its user base decline steadily, from +5.5 million unique visitors in December ’08 down to 3.2 million unique visitors in December ’09, so I guess this isn’t a  huge surprise. Still, it’s sad to see them go.

You gave it your best shot, Veoh.

Source: Mashable

Photo Source: Veoh

Related posts:

1. US Web Users Watched 33 Billion Online Videos in December
2. Rumor: An iPhone For All Carriers?
3. Mashable Compiles Gigantic List Of 700+ iPhone App Reviews

A new report from Websense says that a staggeringly small 5 percent of user content is not a part of some malicious plot or hacker ploy.

Well I’m feeling paranoid.

The report also found that 13 percent of searches for trending news lead to malicious code such as Trojan viruses or spam sites.

During the second half of 2009 Websense Security Labs discovered:
• 95 percent of user-generated comments to blogs, chat rooms and message boards are spam or malicious
• 35 percent of malicious Web attacks included data-stealing code
• 58 percent of data-stealing attacks are conducted over the Web
• 85.8 percent of all emails were spam
• an average growth of 225 percent in malicious Web sites

Fire up those firewalls and start searching, that 5 percent of real content must really be awesome, like this Captain Planet fanfic!

It seemed to the fire planeteer that he was spending more and more time alone, just thinking, instead of spending time with his friends. A thinking session usually followed a conversation with Linka of course, and those conversations seemed to nearly always end in an argument recently.

I don’t know why I do it to myself, I should just give up and move on. She’s made it plenty clear that she’s not interested and yet I can’t seem to help myself. Every time I decide I’m done, she’ll smile or say something and I’m right back where I started.

[Via Websense]

Related posts:

1. Android 2.2 Boosts Speeds by 450 Percent
2. How to Delete Cookies and Spyware
3. Fix Error Code 36

The new poster boy for Canon — the Canon T2i — blends the line between a high-quality DSLR camera and an HD video camera.

The T2i looks to be the next step in bringing HD video to the masses. Debuting at $800 ($900) with a lens kit in March, the camera is leagues beyond its similarly-priced counterparts. The Canon T2i can do up to 1080p video at — compared to other still cameras — a blinding fast 30 fps. It also does 720p at 60 fps.
On top of all that, the T2i can also zoom automatically while shooting video. Other still cameras along with the T1i were very difficult to focus while shooting video since photographers were forced to focus manually with the lenses.

The T2i also features “Movie Crop” mode:

Another feature debuting in the Rebel T2i is Canon’s new Movie Crop mode, where the user can achieve 7x magnification when shooting SD video for a significantly increased “telephoto” effect.

Unlike the digital zoom feature found in many compact digital cameras, Canon’s new Movie Crop mode actually crops the image directly from the CMOS sensor at full SD resolution to preserve maximum image quality and provide additional zoom power.

Oh, and to make up for the typically awful sound taken via still cameras, the Rebel T2i features an external stereo microphone jack on top of the onboard mic.

Oh right, it’s a camera too:

The EOS Rebel T2i DSLR features a newly developed 18-million-pixel Canon CMOS imaging sensor providing outstanding resolution and light sensitivity for amazing poster-sized prints with fine detail and stunning color.

The camera exhibits exceptional low-noise performance incorporating many of the same technologies used to reduce noise in professional cameras such as the EOS 7D. The Rebel T2i camera’s basic ISO range is an amazing 100~6400, and via a Custom Function, it can be extended to ISO 12,800.

Taking advantage of the video functionality, the T2i still camera is extremely fast, shooting at 3.7fps of continuous images.

So yeah, I want it.

Related posts:

1. Samsung PL90 Digital Camera
2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2
3. Aiptek Pocket DV Z100 pro – Digital Camcorder Review By Tech-Digit

Robot 1: Dancing Crochet Earth

Find more videos like this on Fashioning Technology
Finally, one of these! I’ve been looking everywhere.

Robot 2: Pneumatic Centipede

A robot walking on a set of pneumatic air-powered legs.

Robot 3: Bouncing Military Bot

OK, that’s an old one, but look how cool!

Robot 4: Swimming Snakebot

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the inflatable kiddie pool.

Robot 5: Android Controlled Robot

Take that iGeeks! We Android dorks can do stuff too.

Robot 6: New Nao Robot

Sure that’s great, robots that can throw my valuables away and then lie about it, jerks.

[Via Osamu Iwasaki | Boing Boing | Make Magazine]