Software

Skype needs to run as administrator or with administrative privileges

Networking & Internet, Software / By /

After pulling my hair out for a while, I discovered that the Skype client needs to be run as a user with administrative privileges (I’m using version 4.x). I don’t see why this is necessary, but oh well, I’ll live. I’m not happy with Skype as I’d rather not have to run my applications with admin privileges.

While some security experts will disagree with me on this, I’d rather run my account with lower security privileges to at least ‘sandbox’ my account somewhat and prevent (at least some) malicious processes from getting away with too much. My user account is a member of the Power Users group.

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Oracle to buy Sun Microsystems

1 Comment / Networking & Internet, Software / By /

oracle-logosun-logoIn what seems to be a rather bizarre marriage, Oracle will snap up Sun for approximately $7 billion after IBM declined to up their bid. Oracle is primarily a software company and this will be a huge foray into hardware for them, although they will get Sun’s operating systems, Java and other software assets.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a good feeling for this. If Oracle doesn’t turn around Sun’s slow performing areas, I can see them taking an axe to them quickly.

So long Sun – I have fond memories of your products and technology.

ReQall – Give Yourself A Brain Extension

Gizmo of the Day, GPS, Portable, Software / By /

ReQall Memory Aid

ReQall is a very nice piece of to-do software; it allows you to make a to-do with reminders via a wide range of media. When setting yourself a to-do note, you can call their toll free number and dictate the note (using voice recognition software), text the note, instant message (IM) the note, send via a Firefox extension and by applications available for many phones (including of course iPhones and Blackerrys).

There is integration with Google Calendar & Outlook, sharing of items with other people, and the premium version even has location-aware reminders (ex: you go to the supermarket and want to be reminded to buy milk).

The basic version is free and the Pro version is $2.99/month or $24.99 a year – a real bargain for what you get.

Fujitsu Develop Data-Erase USB Memory Sticks

Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Portable, Software / By /

Fujitsu Data-Erase Memory Device

Fujitsu have just announced their latest memory security device; one that erases the data after a certain time period and also has the ability to block users from copying the files from the memory stick to a PC. Perfect if you’ve had your memory stick with confidential files on lost or stolen (something that that would probably be welcomed in the UK).

No word on pricing or availability yet, but hit the link to find out all the gory details: Read more.

See Timeline of Events on Google News

Networking & Internet, Software / By /

news-timeline-of-eventsI usually have no reason to visit websites to read news as I take it all in via RSS feeds using Netvibes (fantastic reader by the way), but now I have a really cool reason to visit Google News. They’ve launched a new feature called “Timeline of articles” which shows you events and other related news items related to a story chronologically.

Just click on the green link to see all related stories at the bottom of the story.

Article Recap for the Week ending Apr 17, 2009

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Books, Music and Movies, Computers, Gaming & Toys, Gizmo of the Day, Miscellaneous, Networking & Internet, Software / By /

We started off the week by reporting that Amazon’s Kindle Store has surpassed over 260,000 books with an exponential growth rate – at least that’s not a reason not to own one.

We took a look at the available VHS to DVD converters and other analog to digital converters (both hardware and software solutions).

We featured a bunch of Google-related news. The latest offering from Gmail Labs is a tiny addition but welcome one – insert images directly into email. Next are the many uses of Google Latitude and last is the news that Google and universal were partnering up on a music video website called Vevo.

Rounding up, we pleasantly discovered that Facebook is
not only attracting younger members. Rock Band fan? Nowhere to put your instruments? Then take a look at the ‘Rock Box’ Rock Band storage box.

Gmail Labs now has an insert image feature

Networking & Internet, Software / By /

Thank you, thank you Gmail Labs team. There is now a new Labs feature that lets you insert images directly into e-mails you compose within Gmail. While it’s not something I use that often, when I do, I spend waaaay too much time trying to get images inserted.

Don’t know about Gmail Labs? Oh, you’re missing out, but I warn you – don’t go clicking that tab right now unless you’ve got a few hours to spend exploring, oohing and aahing.

4 Top VHS To DVD Converters

4 Comments / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Recommended, Software / By /

VHS to DVD Conversion

I recently got rid of all my VHS tapes, simply because I decided there were only 4 or 5 worth keeping, and I might as well just buy them on DVD if I ever wanted to watch them again, but what if you have hundreds of VHS tapes that you don’t want to throw away? How do you convert those VHS tapes to DVD? Well, over the years we have featured a few solutions that will allow you to copy your VHS tapes to DVDs for a fraction of the cost of buying new ones. Here’s our Top 4 countdown:
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Article Recap for the Week Ending Apr 10, 2009

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Cameras and Photo, Computers, Gaming & Toys, Gizmo of the Day, Portable, Site News, Software / By /

Here’s some of the notable articles and gadgets from this past week:

A few weeks ago we reported on Legacy Locker asset access scheme in case of death, well now it’s live. Residents in Broughton, UK, decided that they didn’t like Google’s StreetView intrusion, and got a bit angry with the StreetView driver. In some positive Microsoft news, downgrades are going to be available for Windows 7, much like the XP downgrades from Vista.

Back to tangible gadgets: Guitar Hero enthusiasts will like these new Guitar Hero cufflinks (no batteries needed!), and Flip has a new tiny HD camcorder.

We made an attempt to answer the question “What is a Gizmo?” (a.k.a “What is a Gadget?” ).

Last but not least, the Conficker worm has gone live so it’s important to get your computer and security systems up-to-date.

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