Blogs | Tech & Gadgets

11/26/2009

Easy ways to watch video - legitimately

Another one bites the dust. BitTorrent site Mininova has just taken the decision to take down all of the content that was uploaded to its free torrent sharing service. This action, prompted by a successful lawsuit against the site by the anti-piracy organisation Brein. Brein had sued the site, which lets users share downloads of large files such as films and movies. Brein said that it had to stop allowing people to share files with certain titles or similar-sounding titles to copyrighted content. That copy of "2012" that you wanted to download using the peer-to-peer service? Forget it. Go see it in the theatre, you cheapskate. Anyway, the popcorn's better.

Posted at 05:15 PM in Computer, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/25/2009

Avoiding spam with common sense

It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Alan Ralsky, the self-proclaimed "godfather of spam", was just sentenced to four years in jail for his part in a 'pump and dump' spam scam. Ralsky, 64, worked in unison with his son-in-law Scott Bradley, and a collection of other people, to defraud people of their hard earned savings by tempting them with fake stock tips.

Posted at 05:45 PM in Computer, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/23/2009

Will Chrome privacy be illusionary?

The market for software to run your computer with got a little bit more crowded late last week. Google excited software developers by releasing its Google Chrome operating system for them to play with. It's an operating system -- the thing that makes your computer run, kind of like Windows -- but with some key differences. And it has me a little bit worried.

Posted at 12:32 AM in Computer, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/19/2009

When laptops die

How reliable is your laptop? According to SquareTrade, a firm that provides independent warranties for laptops, not very, when compared to other consumer electronics. In fact, one in five laptops will automatically malfunction within three years -- and that rises to almost a third, if you include accidents by hapless users, such as dropping them.

Posted at 10:22 PM in Computer | Permalink | Comments (22)

11/18/2009

Will Canadians buy the Kindle?

So, after much complaining and wailing from Canadians, Amazon's Kindle has finally hit Canada. The company, which launched the international version of its ebook reader a month ago, didn't offer in Canada at the time. Now, however, it has signed a deal with one of our national cellular providers (as yet unnamed), to provide wireless support for the device, which lets you buy books directly from Amazon without having to mess around with a PC or Mac at all.

Posted at 05:29 PM in Books, Smartphone, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (27)

11/16/2009

Harper vs Obama: Who's more tech savvy?

US media commentator Glenn Beck called Barack Obama a racist a few weeks ago, which plunged his show, and Fox News, into heated controversy. But the sane world's angry response to Beck's comments is as nothing, compared to the wrath of the Twitterati. Obama, attending a conference in China this week, admitted that he had never uses the Twitter micro-blogging service. And yet, he has a Twitter account to which someone is posting regularly.

Posted at 01:54 PM in Computer, Current Affairs, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (5)

11/13/2009

Is Call of Duty's release ill-timed?

It's been a busy few weeks for gamers.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, heralded as the biggest war-based videogame of all time, hit the shelves on Nov. 10. People were queueing from midnight to get a copy. The title, based on the original, groundbreaking Call of Duty title, features controversial scenes of modern battle -- including, apparently, an optional scene in which you play someone who has infiltrated a terrorist group and happily shoots civilians. But, amid all the hype and celebration, did anyone remember the date?

Posted at 11:37 AM in Computer, Games, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (57)

11/12/2009

Toughen up your phone - avoiding scratches

Sometimes, us gadget users are a whiny lot. Remember the brouhaha when the iPod touch first appeared, as people started complaining that the screens on the unit were getting scratched? It turned out that in at least some cases, they were keeping them in their pockets with their keys. I mean, honestly what does Apple have to do? Print a big warning sign on the side of the box, saying "please do not take Exacto Knife to screen, as it might damage the device"? Clearly, some of these gadgets have higher IQs than the people using them.

Posted at 10:54 PM in Smartphone | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/10/2009

Watch out for the 'electricity vampires' in your home

Halloween has come and gone, but you likely still have vampires hanging around your house -- especially if you love your high-tech gadgets and gizmos.

With many of your consumer electronics products plugged into AC sockets -- with an average of 40 items per household connected at any one time -- they're still "sucking" electricity, even when not in use.

Posted at 11:04 AM in Appliances, Holiday Guide, Television | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Canadian-invented remote control offers touch of class

You've likely invested heavily in your home theatre -- widescreen HDTV, audio-video receiver and speaker system, perhaps -- so why not control it all with ease by picking up a clever universal remote?

Posted at 11:01 AM in Gadgets, Holiday Guide | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Live search:

November 2009

11/26/2009

Easy ways to watch video - legitimately

11/25/2009

Avoiding spam with common sense

11/23/2009

Will Chrome privacy be illusionary?

11/19/2009

When laptops die

11/18/2009

Will Canadians buy the Kindle?

11/16/2009

Harper vs Obama: Who's more tech savvy?

11/13/2009

Is Call of Duty's release ill-timed?

11/12/2009

Toughen up your phone - avoiding scratches

11/10/2009

Watch out for the 'electricity vampires' in your home

Canadian-invented remote control offers touch of class

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