Email Newsletter

Free and entertaining newsletter with technology news and special promotions. Enter email and name below:

iPhone Hacked

A method of hacking the iPhone has been developed which will allow users to choose their cellular provider and not be restricted to AT&T. Although this may be good news to frustrated iPhone users, it's believed that Apple will lose out big time. It also seems that the hack itself works flawlessly, and even an iPhone restore wont remove it (it can be removed but it ain't easy).

Unfortunately, it's not all good news for the end user either. Apple was smart enough to force iPhone owners to provide their cell phone number when applying for the voucher (offered to early iPhone buyers who were unhappy with the $200 price drop). What does this mean? Well, if your number isn't an AT&T number, you ain't getting your voucher!

Anti-Spyware

AdAlert is the all in one Spyware solution for your home or work PC, as well as the best software of its kind in its price range. Use it to remove rid your computer of the nasty parasites you might collect while browsing the net.

Features:
Usability:
Price:

In terms of features, it is similar to the popular XoftSpySE Scan, but with the advantage of having excellent usibility and technical support. Download AdAlert from AdwareAlert.com

MacBook Air Overview

Looks wise, there is no doubt that the MacBook Air is the sexiest laptop around. But don’t be fooled, there are many features which were left out to allow for the Air to be as thin as it is. So, is the US$1,799 price tag really worth the stylish looks and the ultra portability? In short, the answer is no.

My first real beef with this laptop is the fact that is has no inbuilt optical drive. You have to connect the Apple SuperDrive if you want CD/DVD access. Oh, and don’t think for a second you’ll be able to play your favourite DVD’s using this drive—because you won’t. The main purpose of the SuperDrive is software installation and file transfer only.

In terms of hardware this laptop does have, the 1.6GHz core-duo from Intel does the job, but isn’t exactly super fast (although it does run very cool, allowing you to actually rest the laptop on your lap). The Air’s inbuilt 802.11n WiFi is also a handy feature and will save time—especially as there will be a fair bit of data transfer over the wireless to make up for the lack of inbuilt optical drive.

I’ll also concede that the LED screen is amazingly bright and very energy efficient. Unfortunately, you don’t really get longer battery life on the Air (due to a smaller battery than the MacBook Pro). The backlit keyboard is also a pleasure to use, it’s also where the speakers are situated (clever, but doesn’t make for great sound quality). Right next to the keyboard, you have the extra large touch pad which now supports multi-finger gestures (a great innovation). This feature used in many Apple apps—for example, the three finger sweep for forward and backward in Safari—is just brilliant.

Conclusion

So although for the average person the price is a bit steep, there is no reason why people with money won’t buy this machine to run as a second computer. I could also see this being a winner once Apple drops the price to about US$1,300 – US$1,400.

Thursday, February 21. 2008

Protecting Your Privacy

Many PC users out there are under the impression that when they delete an email, no one else can ever read that email. Similarly, when they clear their internet history and close their browser, the sites theyve surfed disappear forever. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, in fact a lot of this information remains on our hard-drives, and unless we know exactly where it resides and how to delete itit will remain hidden forever.

Generally, this does not really pose a threat because who would go through your computer? But sometimes a friend, a boss or a spouse may get curious and if they really wanted to, they can in fact find out what emails youve sent, what websites youve visited, what movies youve watched and what music youve listened to. Its not hard at all and there is a ton of software out there that can dig up all that information quickly from your PC.

In recent times, privacy protection has become more of a problem particularly with bosses, as they want to monitor what their employees use the work computers for. The nastiest part is that most of the time the bosses dont inform their employees that they are doing any spying! Nevertheless, there are steps you can take to. Unfortunately deleting your internet history or deleting old emails may not be enoughit can all be recovered.

In order to properly clear your computer history, you either require a thorough knowledge of computers, or you need software to do it all for you. A small piece of software can be used to delete all the evidence on your PC so that no one can ever find out what you use your computer for. Now, Im not saying that most folks get up to no good with their computers, but at the end of the day what you do with your PC is private and no one else should have a right to view your computer history. Am I right?

Saturday, August 27. 2007

Archiving Digital Files

Archiving (or Zipping) files is something that most advanced computer users do everyday without blinking. It is the simple act of putting multiple files into one large archived file in order to save room or make the files easier to move around. For example, you may have some photos on your computer that you want to email to a friend. Sending those photos individually can be a hassle, but with archiving, you can zip all the photos into one file and then send that file in one go! Not only is this easier, but thanks to file compression, the archive is also smaller than all the individual files put together. In fact, you can even password protect the archived photos so that only the person that you're sending to will be able to access them!

Ready to start creating your own archives? The first step is to grab the required software which will enable you to not only create your own archives, but also unzip them. Not sure what software to get? Just pick between the many readily available programs out there, or go with our selection: ZipUltra which is one of the more popular and feature packed programs around.

The Wizard or Classic interfaces accommodate both novice and more experienced users alike. ZipUltra quickly zips and unzips files to conserve disk space and reduce transmission time, as well as encrypt and decrypt your sensitive documents. Features include automatic compression selection, improved audio compression, quick file selection, support for almost any Internet file formats, and one-click zipping and e-mail. Version 11 improves the Job Wizard and adds many compression and usability innovations, including the ability to open BZ2 and RAR files. Download UltraZip here!

Saturday, August 27. 2007