Adobe is offering to the public a free beta test of its Photoshop Express software. Included in the freebie is up to 2G of online storage. Users can then store, edit or use eye catching effects to modify their photographs. All of this online and is done through your browser. [Gee, this sounds like more cloud computing.] According to Adobe:

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 27, 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe Photoshop Express public beta, a free Rich Internet Application (RIA) available to anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time. As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe’s best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2 gigabytes of images online for free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook.

For all of you who have been waiting to join in on a beta program, this is your chance to play with new software all for free.

Link to Adobe press release is here.

Sign up is here.

Over at SilconValley.com they have an article on what could be the future which combines TV and the Internet. Though the current TV sets cannot surf the Internet as of yet, future sets may be able to replace your computer for surfing. According to the article which states:

Buyers of this year’s most advanced televisions might notice a curious new feature - a jack that connects the sets directly to the Internet.

For now, the capabilities are modest. Viewers can’t surf the Web as they can on their computers, but they can use their remote controls to receive updated local weather forecasts, personalized stock quotes, on-demand access to a handful of TV shows such as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and thousands of YouTube videos.

But the Web connections eventually could upend the way TV programs have been distributed. The goal one day is to replace every set-top device - cable boxes, TiVos, media center computers, stereos and game consoles - so all you need is a TV set that does it all, via the Internet.

As broadband grows faster, TVs become more powerful and entertainment companies put more content online, viewers might be able to call up any show, movie, song or amateur video without needing local TV stations or cable subscriptions.

This is going to be the future of television. I can see a day down the road when we will use our TV as we do our computers to access information and other online broadcasts.

What do you think? Comments welcome.

Complete article is here.

Each year I use the months of March and September as friendly reminders to myself of some of the chores that need to be done on items that require maintenance. I get the car serviced, change the batteries in the smoke detectors, and also do a semi annual cleaning of my computer systems.

So when I saw that ESET, the makers of Nod32 anti-virus, had an online scanner, I decided to give it a try. I have previously mentioned that using an online scanner to check your system, no matter which anti-virus product you use, is wise. Critters can sneak through the best defense so it doesn’t hurt to check your system using a different product occasionally.

ESET online scanner needs to use IE. The scan itself on my system took 1 hour and 33 minutes, so be patient. All files were checked and no problems were found.

Give this freebie a try.

Comments welcome.

ESET scanner is here.