Archive for November, 2009
CNET Top 5 Most Popular Products for December
November 30th, 2009CrunchPad Canceled
November 30th, 2009Bad news folks the crunchpad from techcrunch has been cancelled.
It looks like it was a timing issue, a stockholder issue, and now legal issues.
The tablet may still go into production but will not be partnered with tech crunch but rather from Fusion Garage.
Tech crunch says because they have intellectual rights behind the device, but not allowing them to manufacture it, it means that this could head into a lawsuit.
“Our plan was to debut the CrunchPad on stage at the Real-Time Crunchup event on November 20, a little over a week ago. We even hoped to have devices hacked together with Google Chrome OS and Windows 7 to show people that you could hack this thing to run just about anything you want. We’d put 1,000 of the devices on pre-sale and take orders immediately. Larger scale production would begin early in 2010.” -Tech Crunch
It’s sad to see such a thing happen, but it’s not the last time we will hear about this.
- The cancelled crunchpad. (c) techcrunch.com
Message To Apple: Here Is A List Of Things You Need To Change
November 28th, 2009We all have grits against Apple but let’s make them public.
Things that need changing related to the app store;
- Bug fixes may take up to a month to crawl around the app store. As a result apps lose respect because bugs that are pretty serious don’t get fixed for a long time. Apple you need to white-list bug fixes, have some trust. Let the developers mark it as a bug fix only release. Only moderate large releases and do random checkups.
- Stop rejecting because of stupid excuses. No seriously there is a website now for rejected apps. Rejecting apps because they contain the word iPhone or a picture of a iMac is stupid. Apple you need to realise that apps need pictures and names of your devices so users can easily find them and use them. I know there is copyright but still allow it in apps.
Things that need changing related to the iPhone/iPod Touch;
- Only 1 app at a time? That’s a major let down Apple. You say that it’s because of stability or battery life reasons but most apps can crash or drain the battery all by themselves. So seriously remove this or the Android OS will eat you alive.
Things that need changing in general;
- Sealed batteries. Yes they look good but because they are almost impossible (but not completely) end-user unfriendly. Sure with your laptops you know get 7 hours battery life because now they are sealed but there can still be a latch.
- It’s not a sale when you save $5-$10. I see catalogs all the time saying that the iPod Touch, or Macbook pro, or iMac is on sale only to realize its only $10 off. Is your MSRP really that high that you cannot offer better sales? Black Friday you offered $100 off so it’s not all that bad.
- Mac VS PC commercials. We all know they are heavily aggressive marketing strategy’s but it’s also a double edge sword. There are thousands maybe even millions who refuse to buy an Apple product because they have been tossed around so much in commercials.
So Apple please take this feedback and change a few things. Who knows you may just pass 15% market share.
PS: If I’ve missed anything that you feel is worthy just leave a comment.
IE8 Blocks 2+ Million Hazardous Websites Per Day
November 27th, 2009Reports are out that IE8 is now blocking 2,000,000+ malicious and fake websites per day via the smart screen technology.
The goal of most fake websites (also called phishing) is to get you to enter your info into a website that looks like it but is obviously not. This is usually gaming websites like haboo.com/ca, runescape, and most banking websites.
While the goal of malicious websites is to either freeze your browser or your computer, install spyware/adware/trojans or to exploit a vulnerability in a software. Most of the times this is seen with fake flash player videos, pdf’s, and fake your infected web pages.
Microsoft’s smart screen technology has been out since IE7 where it scans a website, checks to see if anything is bad. It also checks to see if the url is blacklisted. IE8 will also block downloads that are detected by Microsoft as unsafe.
It’s unknown how much higher Firefox blocks the same websites. I personally have seen a much higher block rate in Firefox than IE with community’s like phishtank.
Chome’s block rate though is low since it needs Google to detect problems on a webpage. If their is problems detected it will be blocked also in there search engine.
So really. IE8/Safari/Chrome/Firefox and others are helping us fight the bad side of the online world and its nice to now that block rates are rising.
Huge PopCap Games Giveaway 44 Games for $99.95 USD!
November 26th, 2009PopCap is having a huge sale on their games. So much so you can get their complete pack of games for almost $100!
For $100 you get;
- Peggle
- Bejeweled 2
- Plants Vs Zombies
- Peggle Nights
- Zuma’s Revenge
- Zuma
- Bejeweled
- Bejeweled Twist
- Booknorm Adventures 1 &2
- Chuzzle
- And 32 others
So what are you waiting for? Check out the whole list here.
This is a Black Friday deal you do not want to miss.
iPhone botnet coming to a unlocked iPhone near you!
November 26th, 2009
One of the many iPhone worms. Image Credit: Cultofmac
The security world this whole week has be screaming either a) restore your iPhone/iPod touch back to apple firmware b) change your OpenSSH password or c) never use Open SSH.
Now its serious there is no just a rickroll nag on your phone, now its gotten to botnet status.
If you haven’t fixed your unlocked device you will get your banking data stolen.
So really change your password from alpine as Ikee’s brother Duh (worm) will target your data.
Most antivirus company’s will detect the worm on your phone and remove it.
Before it was Australian now its Netherlands.
So if you choose NOT to change the password there will be a fake ING bank screen. It will phish out your banking data if you manage to use it.
You can learn to change the password here.
PS: Locked iPhones/iPod touches (Default Apple firmware) are SAFE from this worm so there is no problem for you.
CCleaner 2.26.1050 Out
November 26th, 2009A new version of CCleaner is out lets see whats changed;
- Added support to clean Windows DNS cache.
- Added vacuum SQLite databases for Firefox and Google Chrome.
- Added publisher and version to Uninstall tool.
- Added Taskbar jump list tasks for Windows 7.
- Added Taskbar Progress for Windows 7.
- Improved Exclude list registry keys addition functionality in 64bit Windows 7.
- Improved Registry Cleaner detection algorithm and 64-bit file system redirection.
- Improved “Save to text file” functionality in Cleaner screen.
- Improved system tray icon activation and tooltip.
- Improved Registry screen “fix selected issues” dialog usability by removing prompt.
- Further improved RECURSE and REMOVESELF functionality.
- Improved Uninstall screen detection algorithm.
- Improved memory usage to avoid GDI leaks.
- Fixed issue with Sticky Notes being detected as Missing startup item.
- Fixed “Edit” and “Remove” button availability on Include/Exclude screen.
- Fixed various GUI bugs.
Thunderbird 3 Gets Release Candidate Status
November 25th, 2009Looks like Thunderbird 3 is close to getting final.
Edit: It’s now out.
The free email client today hit release candidate status.
Changes include:
Kindle Gets A Native PDF Reader and Significantly Improved Battery Life
November 24th, 2009A new firmware coming out for the Kindle will bring better battery life and a PDF reader.
The firmware brings a 85% improvement in battery life so you can keep it idle for 7 days with its wireless on.
It also includes a native PDF reader.
The update is only for Kindle 2 devices and excludes the DX.
Unknown when the update will arrive.
