Well Scotty, you’ll still have to use the keyboard, but HTML5 has made it possible (without added speech ware like Dragon Speak) to talk to your Chrome 11 (beta) browser. On special sites (in the meantime just Google sites) like Google Translate (no more excuses, lecajef) a small microphone will appear in the lower right hand corner of the browser (Chrome 11 only) and you will be able to speak into the computer and it will appear in the translation box. ...
I’ve been watching this story evolve over the past week, and decided to warn our gamer friends about this as a Community service. I don’t know if many or, for that matter any of you folks have been impacted by this, but safe is better than sorry, and “Thou shalt not stand idly by.” seem to apply here. Sony confirmed this penetration on Tuesday. If you are part of Playstation Network and/or Qriocity, you should be receiving an email from Sony confirming the...
The search for extra terrestrial intelligence has been put on hold due to funding problems. “The SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array has been forced offline due to lack of funding, essentially crippling the organization's hunt for extraterrestrial communications. In a note to supporters by SETI Institute chief executive Tom Pierson earlier this week, Pierson noted that reduced funding by both the National Science Foundation and U.C. Berkeley had put the telescope ...
In the United States, pre teens and teens own and use a tremendous number of mobile devices. Research also found that the kids surveyed average over half an hour talking on the phone and send more than 100 text messages, every day. That is more than 3,000 a month, and at least double the number of European kids. For some it is a truly addictive behavior like tweeting. Many plans offer unlimited texts. Relatively few seventh through twelfth grad...
For almost a year it’s been strongly suspected and reported that Microsoft is building facial recognition technology into Windows 8 (unless you have an evil identical twin). A "detect human presence" API is in an early copy of Windows 8, according to an article on Slashgear which links back to leaked Windows 8 images published by Windows8Italia of W8 M1. NetworkWorld reported the following: “By 2012 sensors such as microphones, cameras, GPS...
Motor control disability users may have trouble using a standard mouse because it requires fine movements to click on screen controls such as buttons and sliders. So can visually impaired users. These difficulties can come from vision and nerve-muscle disorders. The University of Washington AIM Research Group has released, for free, two mouse cursor control systems for Windows that make locating the mouse on a target and interacting with it a lot easier fo...
Source: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=10941 The German computer software company Ashampoo has been targeted by attackers that managed to gain access to its customers database and possibly extracted data such as names and email addresses. If you have gotten free or ‘pay for’ software from them in the past, your info may have been compromised, although Rolf Hilchner (CEO) hastened to assure customers that there was no breach of financial info...
Adobe Flash Player has a property which imo is borderline illegal. So do other programs. Background – websites and apps can (and do) place cookies on your system which are designed to make loading the website faster. They generally expire after a certain amount of time. Ideally, they aren’t supposed to collect info about you, especially if you gave no consent for them to do so (at least in my opinion) because that is a privacy violation. Usually cookies are just small pieses of...
OK, you know the mantra already. You know which software I use and recommend (Yrag too). Now there’s no excuse: Go and get this FREE guide (just register with minimal info) at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download-stuff-backup-restore-guide/ “It will explain: -How to use the built-in Windows 7/Vista backup tool. -Which files you should backup. -Putting your data and your operating system on separate partitions or disks. ...
Microsoft has just released an on-demand anti-malware scanner called "The Microsoft Safety Scanner". It’s a free downloadable security tool for the Windows user and provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It’s a 67.9 Mb file. It expires 10 days after being downloaded . I think this is MS’s answer to adding new definitions and preventing the casual user from thinking “Download and...
Also courtesy of Hankers….who sent this to me for everyone. There’s a lot of info on this chart which graphic artists and photographers should have available. Also, please note the remarks about Metadata. That might be info you don’t want everyone to know. Master Skinner Po’ Smedley published a nice post about this: https://forums.wincustomize.com/339359 you should probably read. Anyway, here’s the chart: Source: http://www.t...
AV comparatives tested a slew of antivirals and has published it’s results. They do this testing every three months. This isn’t supposed to be a “mine’s better than yours” post. It is meant to help you decide which software you might wish to obtain to protect your computer/s. Bear in mind the limitations of the testing (see my last paragraph). The software tested: “Seven products attained the ADVANCED+ rating: Avira, BitDefender, eScan, F-Secur...
I’ve published on the need for strong passwords . There’s also great software available for free to keep your passwords safe: Of course, they can’t prevent the sites you visit from being hacked and your info grabbed. Yesterday, the White House outlined its plan for a secure online identification system intended to allow people to get rid of the user ID/password setup for a " trusted identity " they would obtain from a private company that specializes in ...
Ma Yi Xuan, wherever you are: Bless you! How much time have you wasted trying to flip the USB plug so it fits? This is how it should have been done in the first place! The greatest part of this simple modification? It’s just an extra fixed piece of squishy plastic (in addition to the one already in USB plugs) to press the electrical contacts into place, regardless of which side is facing up. My blessing to this designer who just made USB...
Try stealing one of these babies, and all you’ll have is a brick. Smart anti theft device, BUT: don’t try to transfer it to another computer, even one you own (which to me is a major drawback). Because of this, I would think it’s best use will be in large companies and government where more than one user is probable. No more loss of huge, sensitive databases through misplacing a computer. The usual erasing process rewrites data over the chosen area of the HDD. This Disk wor...