Recovering a Stolen Laptop... via the Stolen Laptop
It's the kind of story you wouldn't think to make up: the White Plains, New York apartment that Kait Duplaga shared with two others was burgled, with two laptops among the items stolen. Later, an offhand comment from a friend alerted Duplaga to the fact that the thieves had gone online using her Mac laptop. According to the story in yesterday's New York Times, she then used another Mac to remotely access her laptop via the Back to My Mac feature and took a photo of the thief using the stolen computer's built-in iSight camera. That photo led to the arrest of Edmon Shahikian and Ian Frias, and the recovery of most of the stolen property.
The bit with the iSight camera is pretty cool, but what the case really hinged on was the fact that one of Duplaga's roommates recognized the photographed perpetrator as an acquaintance who had been at a party in the apartment weeks earlier. It's like a Law & Order episode -- the bad guys are almost always connected to the victim in some way. So is this a technology story or a crime story?
Continue reading "Recovering a Stolen Laptop... via the Stolen Laptop"
Caption Crunch: The Robo-Governator
Hello and welcome back to another exciting installment of Caption Crunch, the every-other-week caption-writing contest that depends heavily on your creative submissions.
This week, we've got a photo snapped at last weekend's Maker Faire taken by PC World Associate Editor Danny Allen. It's a chariot-pulling Arnold Schwarzenegger robot, and it's begging for your captions... or else.
Got a great caption idea for this photo? Give it your best shot in the Comments section below, and check back next Friday for a big winner. Good luck!
Contest over: Buckwalter wins.
Prototype of the T-82 Terminator Unit. Luckily, it's still in its autism phase.
At last I have the World in my hands............and I was able to ditch that stupid Mr. Freeze costume. I looked like the electric guy I fried in "Running Man"......
Microsoft to Offer Office 2007 SP1 via Automatic Update
Microsoft's Automatic Update service will push out Office 2007 Service Pack 1 starting June 16.
What does this mean for Office 2007 and Microsoft users in general? Well, it obviously means that Microsoft is finally ready to say that the Office 2007 SP1 is ready for the masses. It's been available for months now, but the software giant has been reluctant to use Automatic Update to dump it to the masses. Late last year Microsoft accidentally distributed he massive Office 2007 SP1 update automatically confusing Vista and XP users.
The service pack adds stability to the office suite as well as a few new features including support for Windows Server 2008 and beefed up compatibility between 2007's native file format, Office Open XML and the formats used by earlier editions of the suite.
Continue reading "Microsoft to Offer Office 2007 SP1 via Automatic Update"
The Return of the Free PC?: Bank Gives Away Eee PCs with New Account
Some of you may remember a brief period back in the late 90's where you could walk in to a computer store and sign up for three years of dial-up internet service in exchange for a new, "free" eMachines computer. I was in college and working at Circuit City at the time and I seem to remember that the actual deal was a $400 mail-in rebate in exchange for signing up with CompuServe at around $22 per month for three years. The computer system itself cost $399 and canceling the CompuServe service before the three years were up carried stiff penalties. Other similar deals existed from companies like PeoplePC and Free-PC. Remember?
Continue reading "The Return of the Free PC?: Bank Gives Away Eee PCs with New Account"
RIAA Clings to DRM and the Past: It's Time to Look Forward
Just when you thought the music business was entering a reasonable truce with the DRM-hating public the Recording Industry Association of America wants to promote the controversial technology. David Hughes, who is in charge of the technology unit for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), told the Digital Hollywood Conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, that DRM will still be a necessary component in the music business as music subscription services continue to require it.
I find the statement odd considering the current trends that are taking the music industry away from the use of DRM. Most major record labels are moving away from DRM and now sell DRM-free tracks on Amazon, iTunes, and on Zune's marketplace. What Hughes doesn't seem to realize is that the use of DRM technology to protect songs has been on life support for years - and someone needs to pull the plug.
Not only is DRM demeaning to honest music lovers, it's a pain. Consider last month's news that Microsoft will close its PlaysForSure licensing server that was tied to the now shuttered MSN Music store. Come September, when Microsoft turns off the licensing server, music tracks purchased from MSN Music before 2006 will only playback on PCs with PlaysForSure DRM installed.
Continue reading "RIAA Clings to DRM and the Past: It's Time to Look Forward"
Are you kidding? You need drm for subscription. Subscription is so nice to have especially for pop music and oldies that you never care to own. Without drm how could this subscription be possible. I will never buy music with drm as i buy the mp3's but love subscription.
Apple Offers Credit For Older-Generation iPod Owners
Apple has settled a class-action lawsuit involving bad iPod batteries and as a result will hand out $45 credits to Canadian residents who purchased first, second or third generation iPod prior to June 24, 2004.
The class-action lawsuit involves a claim that Apple's Canadian iPod did not meet the suggested battery life. The two iPod users that initiated the lawsuit suggested that the iPods only lasted three hours after a year of use compared to the eight hours Apple claims.
Apple Can't Shake Battery Critics
Continue reading "Apple Offers Credit For Older-Generation iPod Owners"
'Net Neutrality': A Nettlesome Question
Net neutrality is once again in the news, as detailed by Grant Gross of IDG News Service in a story about a bill newly introduced in Congress that aims to require ISPs to provide their customers with even-handed service. Net neutrality invites controversy on a number of points, but one key issue--the lack of consensus about what the term actually means--rarely receives much attention. Think of this as a multiple-choice quiz question:
"Net neutrality" refers to what?
a) Network neutrality
b) Internet neutrality
c) What's left after you subtract operating expenses from gross neutrality
d) A feature of fishing legislation that doesn't distinguish between dip netting, drag netting, drift netting, and seining
The answer, according to Wikipedia, is (a) and (b): "Network neutrality (equivalently net neutrality, Internet neutrality or simply NN) refers to a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks." And what might that principle be? Well, the Wikipedia pundits say evasively, "Precise definitions vary." Eventually, though, the Wiksters disclose three possible meanings.
The first attempt at a definition comes from Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia University Law School: "a network design principle [that] aspires to treat all content, sites, and platforms equally."
This wording has the great advantage of defining "network neutrality" without reference to the Internet. In fact, Wu nominates "the electric grid" as a familiar example of network neutrality in action. But the breadth of his definition is a weakness, too: "Net neutrality" is a political issue today not at the general level of a design principle, but in the concrete instance of policies that ISPs adopt in providing Internet service to their various customers.
The second Wikipedia definition, drawn from Google's "A Guide to Net Neutrality for Google Users," sounds quite different: "Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet."
That's clear and succinct, but it refers to the Internet twice and to non-Internet networks not at all--so why does Google assert that the definition applies to "network neutrality" rather than to "Internet neutrality"? It's sort of like describing the details of an ordinance that requires all dogs in public places to be kept on leashes and then calling the ordinance a "mammal leash law."
The third Wikipedia offering cites Susan Crawford of Yeshiva University's Benjamin Cardozo School of Law as its source: "a neutral Internet must forward packets on a first-come, first served basis, without regard for Quality of Service considerations." Like the Google definition, this one seems to be about "Internet neutrality," and not "network neutrality" in general.
Maybe our well-informed readers can help us decide (after all, Webster's Dictionary works on a similarly democratic principle, where what the majority thinks a word means is what it means--think of yourself as living in a nation of Humpty-Dumpties). Let us know where you fall on the "NN" question by casting your vote (if not your net) for "net neutrality" (i.e., "network neutrality"), "Net neutrality" (i.e., "Internet neutrality"), or neither.
NASA Vintage Film Footage Restored for Hi-Def Broadcast and Blu-ray Disc Sales
The Discovery Channel is turning to the power of high definition to bring us restored NASA footage in all of its non-grainy glory. In a multi-part mini-series, set to debut in June, the Discovery Channel will debut When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions.
The footage being shown in the series will detail NASA's first 50 years of space exploration. The documentary, being produced in part to celebrate NASA's 50th anniversary year, will showcase footage from NASA's "secret film vaults" and with the help of Discovery be transfered to high definition for the first time.
The Discovery Channel is also selling DVDs of the documentary $69.95 and making a Blu-ray version available for $79.95.
Continue reading "NASA Vintage Film Footage Restored for Hi-Def Broadcast and Blu-ray Disc Sales"
MySpace Bridges Out to eBay, Twitter, Photobucket, Yahoo!
MySpace has just announced a "Data Availability" initiative that will, in effect, link your MySpace account to your account at Yahoo!, Twitter, eBay and Photobucket.
MySpace users will soon ("within the next several weeks" says MySpace) be able to export their profile, photos, favorites, videos, etc. directly to their spaces on eBay, Twitter, Yahoo! and Photobucket. When a change is made to your MySpace profile, the changes will automatically be replicated at those other sites.
This graphic shows how MySpace data will show up on a Twitter account. View image
MySpace says it will soon unveil a new, central spot at its site where MySpacers can control how and what content is distributed to their accounts on Twitter, Yahoo! etc. MySpace says it is offering prospective partner sites a set of open, standardized client-side controls that allows MySpace data to be embedded at those sites.
The move addresses the widespread complaint among social networkers that their data is scattered around the Web and increasingly difficult to maintain. It also addresses the wider problem that the social networking community isn't really very social, in fact it's become a series of large, unconnected walled gardens.
"Today MySpace is no longer operating as an autonomous island on the internet," said MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe in today's conference call. "It's now a significantly more social experience." DeWolfe says he hopes your MySpace profile will become your main Web address, from which you can control your online identity Web-wide.
MySpace's announcement today is certainly a step in the right direction, but it does nothing for people like me who maintain MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. I still must maintain my various social networking accounts on those sites separately.
A direct data sharing agreement between MySpace and Facebook is almost too fraught with financial implications/conflicts to consider in one sitting. Don't hold your breath on that one, but don't be surprised if MySpace forms data-sharing agreements with smaller, more niche-oriented social networking sites like Twitter.
My only question is this: Twitter needs a buyer, not a partner. Why didn't MySpace just buy Twitter outright?
First Impressions: HTC's Touch Diamond
I got a chance to play with HTC's upcoming "Touch Diamond" smartphone in London on Tuesday and I think it'll fare pretty well. There are a few features about the device that haven't quite come across in preliminary reports. Here are some of them:
1. It's a lot smaller than it looks
The Touch Diamond will undoubtedly get compared to the iPhone time and time again. That's fine, as the two devices share more than a few similarities. One "big" difference, though, is that the Touch Diamond is a lot smaller than it looks. It's about the size of a deck of cards, but half the thickness. Impressive, since it manages to squeeze a 640x480 screen into such a small body.
PC World's Marketplace
PC World's Free Whitepapers
tech news tech blogs community & forums laptop prices software reviews downloads
