We’ve reported in the past about Microsoft not only extending Windows XP support but also downgrade rights from various editions of Vista. To their credit, Microsoft is being forward-thinking and also extending downgrade rights to Windows 7.
Ironically, this move will probably help rather than hinder Microsoft in their efforts to get people to adopt their latest OS. Thanks MS.
AV researchers noticed that the Conficker worm ‘woke up’ and has started replicating a piece of data among infected computers. It is still unknown what this mystery payload is, but it could be something as dangerous as a keylogger.
Bottom line is that you should check your Windows systems again for up to date virus definitions and security patches. You should also make use of a couple of free online checks: the Conficker Eye Chart (makes sense when you see it) and another test at the University of Bonn.
‘Brain gyms’ which help members to ‘work out’ their brains are springing up all over the country. They’re essentially computer labs stocked with software that run users through mental-fitness tests and exercises.
One such example is a gym in San Francisco which charges $60/month. It’s interesting that people would find it more beneficial to go to such a place and pay a great deal more when they could get a similar (or possibly the exact same) service online or at home.
A simple search for ‘brain exercises’ yields millions of results, but within the first 10 results are different websites and references for online services, some of which are free.
Here’s our weekly summary of featured items from Gizmos For Geeks:
There’s a new feature from Google Labs that allows you to ‘unsend’ an email just after sending. Why oh why is the Sci Fi Channel renaming themselves to SyFy?
For noisy environments, you’ll be able to get a ‘throat microphone’ from Sanwa. Home improvement buffs may like the Ultimate Musical Doorbell and wanna-be musicians should take a look at the illuminated fret guitar.
Perhaps one of the more high-end, expensive items this week was the 3G WiFi router for Cadillacs. tikitag which was an item we featured from CES 2009 was renamed to ‘touchatag’ and got some new features as well.
For all of you who crave for faster broadband speeds, VDSL2 might have the answer with the possiblity of up to 500Mbps speeds through simple copper telephone wiring.
Finally, the most important article was that there’s a new virus making the rounds and you should update your AV definitions and security patches ASAP.
Source: Gizmos for Geeks.
If you’re running Windows, then you should get your system patched ASAP and check that your virus scanner definitions are up to date. Not that you shouldn’t be doing this all the time, but there is a worm called Conficker C that has already infected millions of computers and will allow the author to control those computers on April 1.
Luckily, the world has been mostly spared from really serious attacks. Most viruses, worms and trojans have been written to make the authors lots of money, not necessarily inflict damage on the target computers. But that could change easily. Be afraid and take steps to prevent that from happening to you.
…
Palringo, a mobile Instant Messenger aggregator, is now available for the Android platform.
Palringo handles IM services like MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber and more in 1 client.
You can get the app on the Android Market.
The Gmail Lab team has added another new feature called Undo Send, and it works exactly like it sounds. For 5 seconds after you click Send on an e-mail, you can cancel it.
While I may only need this once in a blue moon, when I need it, I need it! My only feature request is that the undo time be customizable; 5 seconds isn’t long enough for my slow-thinking brain.
Here is last week’s featured gadgets and news items at Gizmos for Geeks:
To start off the week, we took a look at Legacy Locker – a rather needed innovation that allows you to pass down important account details for your online ‘assets’ in the case of your death.
We found two interesting pieces of software: Claymation’s Stop-Motion Studio Tool that allows the user to make their own stop-motion movies and Palringo – a mobile messaging service that allows you to mix up all the major IMs with and chat to groups all in one.
Dell just rolled out their Adamo Notebook which is essentially Dell’s response to the MacBook Air – thin & stylish.
Rebit’s 160GB Automatic Backup Device makes it quite easy to backup your data regularly.
Got $40k laying around? Get a Novelquest Emporer Workspace – a very high end workspace that puts you inside the spine of what can only be described as a giant dinosaur. On a more practical note, the Just One Club Card’ allows you to put all of your loyalty cards’ barcodes onto just one card.
Sony got together with Google to put 500,000 free public domain books onto their eReaders. You can save money (possibly up to 90%) on international calls by using Vopium on your mobile.
In perhaps a sign of things to come, a new magazine from Popular Science called the Genius Guide is being rolled out online only.
IBM may buy Sun Microsystems in what may be a $7 billion deal. Apparently, IBM is offering $10/share which at the time the news came out was more than twice Sun’s then stock price.
IBM would be purchasing a fellow hardware and software vendor, and there is a decent amount of discussion and speculation as to what they are primarily after. After all, IBM has invested a fair amount into Java development, tools and solutions. Further speculation is that IBM does not care for the hardware component, but Sun has considerable high-end mainframe-type hardware in its repertoire.
Of further concern is how the industry will react and in particular, Sun customers and users. As a former Solaris sys admin, I know that Solaris shops & admins are fiercely loyal to the OS; and so are many of the Java developers.
I for one, will miss Sun should this come to pass, as I felt that Sun was very much there from the very beginning of the growth of the public Internet and World Wide Web.
You may remember, back in January this year, we posted an article about BounceBack Ultimate device. Well, Rebit have now put this into practice with their automatic backup drive.
All you have to do is plug in the hard drive lookalike to your computer and set it up to continuously back up files and that’s exactly what it’ll do; all day, every day the Rebit Disk Drive Backup will be backing up your files just in case something goes wrong with your most important piece of hardware.
With the 160GB version costing only $59.99, it’s a bargain for something that will not only back up your core files, but also your application settings and operating system! Rebit have also thought of the problem that if you take your laptop somewhere and wish to unplug it, it will simply carry on from where it left off after you plug it back in. Integration with your operating system (Windows) means that when you hover over your file for the critical information it will tell you how many backups have been made and when they have been made.
This is one device that you really can’t afford to live without.
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $59.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)
