2008 October

I received this email from Google on Thursday afternoon:

Dear Publisher,
We understand that the recent economic turmoil has created a lot of uncertainty in the lives of AdSense publishers. During these difficult times, we’re continuing to invest in innovations that improve publisher monetization and advertiser value in the content network.
We’re focusing on further developing our product [...]

Yesterday I received an email from reader Don Naphen referencing his experience after he upgrade to Acronis 2009. Don stated:

Hi Ron;

Had quite the experience today.  Called up my Acronis 2009 program, which is their latest version.  Lo and behold, I get a nag screen informing me that the “trial version” has [...]

You may recall that Amazon wanted to patent the so called one click method to make a purchase on the Internet. I remember at the time thinking how ludcrious it was and that the patent should be rejected. It now seems at least one appeals court has come to their senses and is setting some [...]

Intel and Asus have teamed up and want you to share your ideas of what a perfect PC would be. Over at their site called WePC.com, users can share their ideas of what they want in a computer. It is a great opportunity to let these two companies know what you think.
On their site they state:
About [...]

Here are some first observations about Windows 7 Preview.
Setup was quick and easy with basically no user intervention. Once setup finished I was warned that there was no anti-virus protection. So I installed AVG before getting on the Internet.
So what is new in Windows 7? Not much. If I didn’t see the Windows 7 logo [...]

I had previously mentioned in another post that I was considering giving Vonage a try and I received some great comments. So I ordered Vonage and thought I would share my experience with you. Thanks to Marc aka ‘the oracle’ for his advice. I did connect the Vonage modem to my wireless router and all [...]

Now that the preview of Vista’s replacement Windows 7 has been released, we should be hearing more about the new operating system during the next few weeks. I’ve downloaded the preview of Windows 7 and I am hoping to get the preview installed this evening. But in the mean time, Engadget already has posted what [...]

Microsoft on their privacy site has released the features that will be included in their new operating system which they call Windows 7.This doesn’t mean that very one of these features will make it to the final release. These additions are only for the Pre-release of Windows 7. When you take a look at the [...]

It seems that the prices of Blu-Ray players are dropping below $230 at some of the larger retailers. The predictions are that prices could fall below $150 as we approach Black Friday. But the question that is being asked, ‘is that low enough’ to attract buyers to the newest technology?
Blu-Ray technology renders moves at 1080 [...]

The elf’s at Google seem to be working late into the night developing new features for their popular Gmail program. This time they have added gadgets for both Google Doc’s and Google Calender to Gmail. This addition will make it easier for uses of these Google programs to access their stuff while surfing the Internet [...]

When you either buy a copy of Windows 7 or get a copy preinstalled on a new computer, there will be some features that will not be present. What will be gone is Live Mail the replacement for Outlook Express. Also gone will be Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker. So what is the [...]

Over at eToys.com they have a deal on a Head-To-Head video game, designed for children five years and above. The toy normally sells for $19.99 but is on sale for $5 plus free shipping. The game is described on the web site as:
Play alone in one-player mode, or challenge a friend in two-player Head-to-Head mode. From [...]

Windows 7 has already started to generate some excitement in the blogging community, in that some portions of the operating system are being leaked. Normally these leaks can be attributed to Microsoft who wants to start to generate some interest as a release date approaches.
At this point we have two release dates. One is today, [...]

Over in the U.K. they are equipping their police force with mobile devices that can take fingerprints of suspects right on the street. The devices can than identify the suspect as well as providing a photo to confirm the suspects identification. Naturally civil rights groups in the U.K. are claiming this is a violation of [...]

There are numerous articles being posted on the Internet concerning Dells new Mini 12 netbook system, which some are comparing to the MacBook Air. Yes the Dell Mini 12 is sleek and thin and yes it is a whole lot cheaper priced at $599, but it comes with Microsoft’s Windows Vista. Which makes me ask [...]

Yesterday I posted an article concerning the prices of TV’s falling as we approach Black Friday. Reader Jeff sent me a link to a site that has additional predictions on what they feel may happen this year. It does appear that this could be a great time to buy a TV or other appliances.
What I [...]

This morning I got an email advertisement from Circuit City offering deals on select products from 7% to 15% off. These items are available online or in their stores. Here are some of the codes available:
To redeem online, use coupon code 3LAF35ZAA5 at checkout and save…..
To redeem the coupons at the store, go [...]

I mentioned this last month and it seems that the NY Times agrees. Pricing on TV’s are set to fall as we approach Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. For the readers who are outside of the U.S., Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday in which family gather and usually have a turkey for the main [...]

Make sure your system is up to date and has the latest protections in place.

AVG anti-virus: 10/26/08
Avast: 10/25/08
Norton anti-virus: 10/22/08
McAfee anti-virus: 10/22/08
Lavasoft Ad-Aware: 10/24/08
Spybot Search and Destroy: 10/22/08
Microsoft Windows Defender: 10/22/08
Nod32: 10/21/08

Updates as of October 26.  2008 6:00am CDT.

I have noticed that I am still receiving comments from readers to two previous articles I have written. One back on December 16, 2006 about Dell adapters not staying connected. The second about two wire Dell adapters that won’t charge the on board battery. Both of these are adapter problems are for Dell’s laptop computers.
Most [...]