Comcast merges with NBC -Video Discussion @ PBS Online

Video discussion of the merger between Comcast and NBC at PBS Online

Why some companies are ditching their spreadsheets - Computerworld

"Budgeting and forecasting are a big deal for us. We're a seasonal company, so we have to have product ready to go or the sale will go to our competitor," The company dumped its excel spreadsheets and went to an online Content Management System.

Google Voice tests $20 number porting

You can pay $20 through Google Checkout to get the Google Voice process going. So, if you have been holding off on using the service because you'd rather keep the cell phone number you've been toting around for 10 years, now's your chance.

Why you should always encrypt your smartphone

California's Supreme Court reached a controversial 5-2 decision in People v. Diaz (PDF), holding that police officers may lawfully search mobile phones found on arrested individuals' persons without first obtaining a search warrant.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-16-11

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-16-11. You can listen live every Sunday from 11AM to 12PM Pacific that's 2PM to 3PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Sometimes when we live under the conditions dealt to us by fate we fail to fully access the positions of our fellow citizens on this planet. A while ago when my internet went down for a few days I was totally surprised about how much that simple loss disrupted my peace of mind. I was totally blown away learning just how much I relied on the medium to maintain my balance. This article is really a great read about how things are in the third world. The reflections and implications illustrated here are an interesting illumination of the process of the techno-evolution effecting mankind’s development, as I fully believe technology is the expedient factor regarding the evolution of our species. http://opinionator

2) Google has announced a global science fair, I suppose one could find all sort of theories about why Google is doing this for the good of the world or the good of Google’s head hunting future, I see that as mixed and may accomplish both. Anyway probably not news to this group, but if you missed it, and know a young genius you might mention it. http://mashable.com

3) Well it would appear there are some serious looking changes coming concerning theories about our early years on the planet. I have followed with curiosity the work being done on our ancient history, there are many interesting areas of research pushing back the early history of man. I will be following this story with great interest, looks like an upcoming National Geographic’s special to me, maybe five years or more. http://www.wgbh.org

4) And now, for something from deep in the Gregg Zone, the Wikileaks story looks like it may have something for everyone. I had heard in a radio interview that there was a threat by Mr. Assange stating if the governments did not leave him alone he would release leaks about the U.F.O. wars in Antarctica, well you know that caught my ear, hear is an article I ran across about that. http://www.eutimes.net

5) This is yet another search improvement site, I thought there were some interesting search tips here regarding Google searches. I especially liked the term allowing you to load the last page image Google cashed, in the event a site is down, or has been changed. http://websearch.about.com

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

Tiger Direct has the Seagate Barracuda LP ST32000542AS 2TB 5900 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive (Bare Drive) for $80 - $10 off with coupon code HGG17437 + $3 shipping (EconoShip) = $73 shipped. From Seagate's line of low-power "green" drives AND a 2TB Wester Digital for $79 at the same site.

Newegg has the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Network-based Single Digital HDTV Tuner HDHR-T1-US Ethernet Interface for $50 with free shipping. This single tuner solution plugs into your network and lets you receive both over the air and unencrypted content from your cable company. Amazon has it for the same price.

Dell Business has the Vostro 230 Slim Tower plus Dell Professional P2311H 23" LED Monitor for $459 + $8 shipping = $467 shipped. The Professional-series display features portrait view. [Compare]
Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz, 3GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, 16X DVD+/-RW Intel GMA X4500, Microsoft Office Starter Windows 7 Home Premium

Newegg has the LG E2350V-SN 23" LED Backlit Slim LCD Monitor for $220 - $50 off with coupon code EMCYTZT261 [Exp 1/16] = $170 with free shipping. Features a 1080p resolution, LED backlight, 250 cd/m2 brightness, 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and 5ms response

Dell Business has the Dell E2311H 23" LED LCD Monitor for $229 - 30% off with coupon code 4QN5F7N$45W92W [Exp 1/31] = $160 with free shipping. Features 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time and 250 cd/m2 brightness. 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time 250 cd/m2 brightness, 160 (H) / 170 (V) viewing angles, DVI-D, VGA


SuperBiiz has the Super Talent 32GB Express Duo USB 3.0 Flash Drive for $59 - $10 off with coupon code APPLE3110 [Exp 1/17] = $49 with free shipping. Features transfer speeds up to 125MB/sec in USB 3.0 but is also fully backwards compatible

Newegg has the Lite-On eTDU108-96 USB DVD Drive for $30 - with coupon code EMCKJJF53 [Exp 1/16] - $10 rebate [Exp 1/19] = $15 with free shipping. Features Smart-X speed regulating technology, low power consumption, 8x DVD and 24x CD read times, and top-load design

MidnightBox.com has the Deni Automatic Ice Cream Maker with Candy Crusher in Lime for $28 + $4 shipping = $32 shipped. Features a 1 1/2 quart quick freeze canister and Makes ice cream, frozen yogurt, The upside of the ice cream maker you ask? Well, the ice cream is AMAZING!! Who knew that home made ice cream would taste one thousand times better than the stuff you buy in the store, even the really expensive brands

Abes of Maine has the Nikon Coolpix S570 12MP Digital Camera (Red) for $109 - $5 off with coupon code ABESAVES5 = $104 with free shipping. 5x wide-angle optical zoom, NIKKOR glass lens, 2.7" LCD, SDHC slot $131 at Anazon Metal body (less than 1" thick), 4-way VR image stabilization system

Newegg has the Caviar Green Western Digital WD20EARS 2TB SATA Hard Drive for $100 - $10 off with coupon code EMCKJJG27 [Exp 1/19] - $20 rebate [Exp 1/16] = $70 with free shipping. Features 64 MB cache and SATA 3.0 interface in a 3.5" form factor.

Fry's Electronics offers the Kingston 16GB SDHC Secure Digital High Capacity Class 6 Card, model no. SD6G2/16GB, for $24.99 with $1.99 for shipping ($1.69/GB). That's the lowest total price we could find by $11. Sales tax is added where applicable.

How and Why to Upgrade Windows 7 Easily

Microsoft has a comparison page where you can see the very detailed list of features that differentiate each version of Windows from another, but it’s a lot of information to take in. This article goes over the iomportant differences.

Neowin.net - Windows 7 Service Pack 1 close to release

Service Pack 1 will bring dynamic memory support to Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, allowing administrators to pool all memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as needed. RemoteFX will add enhanced desktop virtualization aimed at giving remote users the same experience as those sitting at a workstation.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-09-11

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-09-11. You can listen live every Sunday from 11AM to 12PM Pacific that's 2PM to 3PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) I have decided to start off with something to take use some spare time, that is if you have any. This is the third link I have used from the Galaxy Zoo interactive citizen science participation site. This one is not for anything off planet, they are looking for people to enter data from old weather reports from early shipping. http://www.oldweather.org/

2) This is another area I touched on a year or two back, looks like this may be coming soon. I am referring to using light flickering office lighting to transmit data in an office setting. Since the lighting is confined to the room, without the need for unnecessary outside access it saves on speed and security. http://www.cbsnews.coml

3) We have speculated that the phones will someday be just implanted at birth, well here is another step down that road. You can now buy a device that uses brain waves to control your phone. I am not going to go too far with this as I feel a rant coming on. http://singularityhub.com

4) With all of the dead birds raining from the sky, beaches and rivers littered with dead fish and sea life, there is a lot of talk as to why. Some of the edgier stuff is interesting to read and therefore attracts me. There is a lot of talk about H.A.A.R.P. and their weather modification projects. That got me to looking around found several stories about Dubai making rain in the desert. Most stories blown out of proportion, this one a little more down to earth, and interesting read. http://breakingnewsdir.com

5) I read this about how an April fool’s day joke became reality, kind of like sci-fi it just plants the basic idea, and someone will run with it. http://kotaku.com

Earl's Cyber Steals and deals

EverydaySource has the 2.5" SATA HDD Enclosure (POTHSATA2501) in Black for $10 - $5 off with coupon code S0108IAFZ [1000 uses] = $5 with free shipping. Fits 2.5 inch SATA hard drive disks, supports up to 500GB, and plug & play and hot-swapping

Buy.com has the Kingston HyperX Blu 2GB DDR3 1600MHz 240-pin (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (KHX1600C9AD3B1/2G) for $30 - $10 rebate [Exp 1/11] = $20 with free shipping. Features 1600MHz memory speed.

Yugster.com has the refurbished Dell Optiplex GX620 Dual Core 2.8GHz Desktop for $215 - $5 off with coupon code YUGSAVE5/25 + $10 shipping = $220 shipped. Features Intel Dual Core 2.8GHz, 2GB DDR2, 500GB HDD, CD-RW Drive, and Windows XP Professional

SuperBiiz has the Super Talent 16GB Express Duo USB 3.0 Flash Drive for $29 - $4 off with coupon code HELLO2011 [Exp 1/10] = $25 with free shipping. A fully backwards compatible USB 3.0 flash drive with a single storage partition.

Newegg has the PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory (MN8192KD3-1066) for $95 - $20 rebate [Exp 1/31] = $70 with free shipping. Free Sony movie download included.

Newegg has the SIIG JK-WR0212-S1 USB 104 Normal Keys 2.4GHz Wireless Standard Multimedia Keyboard and Mouse for $40 - $20 rebate [Exp 1/10] = $20 with free shipping. Includes a free SIIG AC-LG0012-S1 USB LED Light with purchase. Features water resistant design, 18 hotkeys for shortcuts to programs and multimedia control, and a detachable palm rest

Newegg has the Samsung SH-S223L 22X SATA DVD Burner SATA for $17 with free shipping. Features SATA 1.5Gbps data transfer rate

$50 price drop. Abes of Maine has the ASUS UL20FT-A1 12.1" Core i3 Notebook (Silver) for $600 - $100 rebate [Exp 1/31] = $500 with free shipping. Intel Core i3-330UM 1.20GHz, 2GB DDR3, 320GB HDD 12.1" (1366x768) LED LCD, Windows 7 HP x64, 6-cell Li-ion

TigerDirect offers the 5.5-lb. HP 620 Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz 15.6" Widescreen Notebook, model no. XT964UT#ABA, for $439.99. Coupon code "CDX16765" knocks it to $409.99. With $4.78 for shipping, Intel Core 2 Duo T6670 2GHz dual-core processor, 15.6" 1366x768 widescreen LCD, 2GB RAM, 250GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, dual layer DVD burner with LightScribe, 802.11n wireless, webcam, 6-cell battery, memory card reader, and Windows 7 Professional 32-bit

NYT: Amid WikiLeaks threat, Bank of America Builds Defenses

Bank of America has emerged as the most likely target because a year before the latest threat, Mr. Assange said in an interview that his group had the hard drive of a Bank of America executive containing five gigabytes of data — enough to hold more than 200,000 pages of text — and was evaluating how to present it. It was this connection that set the wheels in motion on Nov. 30

Tablet Wars of 2011 loom

The iPad rules the tablet world right now, but an Android army has begun its attack

Putin to put Russian government on Linux by 2015

But if Putin says: 'make it so,' I suspect that a lot of people will jump pretty fast to make sure that it *is* so," he wrote. "And once that happens, other plans to roll out free software might well suddenly look rather more attractive."
The Business Software Alliance, a trade group representing large U.S. software vendors, estimated that 67% of software used in Russia in 2009 was pirated

Skype blames buggy Windows software, swamped servers for outage

The bug in version 5.0.0152 of SKYPE caused old Windows clients to crash when they received a delayed response from "a cluster of support servers responsible for offline instant messaging" that had been overloaded, Rabbe said. About 50% of all Skype users were running the buggy 5.0.0152 version of the Windows client last week.

Calif. woman sues Microsoft over XP downgrades -- again

Prior to permitting the consumer to 'downgrade' to Windows XP Professional, Microsoft first mandates that the consumer 'upgrade' from the Home versions of its operating systems to either Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate -- thereby forcing the consumer to incur an unnecessary expense and creating revenue for Microsoft by virtue of the End User consumer purchasing two operating systems for one PC," Alvarado's complaint alleged

Helpdesk help gets more complicated in 2011

One factor is the variation among consumer devices that run the same operating system,while some Android smartphones can connect to Exchange through ActiveSync, others require third-party software, while still others don't enforce automated security rules such as password policies,

McAfee Labs Predicts Geolocation, Mobile Devices and Apple Will Top the List of Targets for Emerging Threats in 2011

There are significant advancements in device and social network adoption, placing a bulls-eye on the platforms and services users are embracing the most including Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone, foursquare, Google TV and the Mac OS X platform

Chinese Trojan discovered in Android games | Security News -

The Trojan is capable of sending personal information to remote servers and exhibits botnet-like behavior, the security company Lookout says.