Friday, April 17, 2009

Susan Boyle Rocks YouTube Audience for 40+ Million Hits and Growing

Called a bit dowdy and plain, a 47 year old Scottish unemployed charity worker with no professional experience performs live before a large audience on Britain's Got Talent. As she states before the performance "I am going to make that audience rock." After only 7 days her 3 minute act is broadcast on YouTube and other video sites arouhd the world totalling over 40 million hits in its first week on the 'Net.

Pirate Bay four jailed for breaking copyright in Swedish file-sharing trial

Experts believe the ruling could be the first step towards ending illegal downloading, which has cost music and film companies billions of dollars in lost revenue. However the defedants are still defiant!
Founders Peter Sunde and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, along with two other employees Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundström, were sentenced to a year in jail after being found guilty in a Swedish court of making 33 copyright-protected files accessible for illegal downloading on the website ThePirateBay.org.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Earl's Cyber Steals And Deals

Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1.5TB USB 2.0 External Desktop Hard Drive
Costco offers its members the Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1.5TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive in Silver, model no. ST315005FDA2E1-RK, for $109.99 with $4.99 for shipping ($0.08/GB). (Proceed to the checkout page to see this price. Non-members pay $7 more.) Deal ends May 3.
Dell E2209W 22" Widescreen LCD Display for $152 + free shipping
Dell Small Business offers its Dell E2209W 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $169. Coupon codes "WNL1B1$R1W0P16" knocks the price to $152.10. With free shipping,
PC Connection offers the refurbished ViewSonic 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. VX2433WM, for $184.95 plus free shipping. native resolution of 1920x1080, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m² brightness, 2ms response time, and HDMI, DVI with HDCP, and VGA inputs.
Acer 23" 1080p Widescreen LCD Display w/ HDMI for $180 + free shipping
newegg.com offers the Acer X233Hbid 23" 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. ET.VX3HP.002, for $189.99 with free shipping. Apply coupon code "EMCLRMT52" to drop it to $179.99. 1920x1080 (1080p) native resolution, 5ms response time

Monday, April 13, 2009

Patch Tuesday heads-up: 8 bulletins, 5 critical | Zero Day | ZDNet.com

"Microsoft plans to ship 8 security bulletins next Tuesday (April 14, 2009) to fix remote code execution and denial of service vulnerabilities affecting Windows, Office and Internet Explorer."
Remember the best way to keep your system running right is to do your Windows Updates.
AlaskaJoe

Sunday, April 12, 2009

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 04-12-09

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 04-12-09. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) To start off the week I decided to use a site that originated from something Troll sent me a while back dealing with human powered flight. While this is not that site it is one I ran across while googling around looking for some current information. The link is to a section of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s main site, dealing with human flight and the Kremer Prizes. Has me wondering if the design factors running around in my head would qualify, and of course if they would work. Anyway I very much like the idea of riding a bicycle twenty feet off the ground, what a smooth, and quiet experience that must be, http://www.raes.org
2) This is a link that is admittedly “loosely” connected to the holiday, suggested by Joe last week to post something on Easter Eggs. I thought I would look for the definitive site on the subject. This has to be it, 13,112 eggs, and of those 31 new ones in the last two weeks. They are broken down into 7 categories, DVD, Software, Movies, Music, TV, Books, and Art. I think they missed a category as I have heard of them being added to circuit boards. Anyway if this is something you like to look for this is a great place to start. I have a friend who used to have Easter egg parties; they would get DVD’s then watch the movies and eggs, just another excuse for wings, and beer. Anyway, here is the link http://www.eeggs.com/
3) This one comes compliments of JohnnyK26 via the show, thanks Johnny. It’s those guys at MIT at it again, this time they have found a way to build batteries on a nano scale using a virus. I mean just how cool is that, they grow them in just plain water, and at room temperature, can there be a greener way to build a battery, I don’t think so. While they did not get into the details of using them on a nano level, saw an article on the worlds smallest motor once, it was a tenth of the width of a human hair, if I remember. But needed external power source, this would solve that also. Anyway this is a must read, and it is from a NPR page with an audio link to the story. Thanks again JohnnyK. http://www.npr.org/

4) This is another sent to me by Troll as a follow up to a subject I referred to last week, the Rod links. I have always liked to read both sides of a story, if the story is solid it should stand up to the debunkers, and if we are unwilling to consider other points of view we limit ourselves, and our understanding. I like weird stuff, conspiracies, and any thing on the edge of the accepted paradigm. But, I also like to read the debunkers, and weigh both sides. This link to Wikipedia article I must admit seems to have the Occam’s razor explanation of the phenomenon, and has pretty much put it to rest for me. Thanks Troll, check it out here http://en.wikipedia.org
5) This is a stretch for a geek link this week, but it does involve the use, or better put misuse of computers, and facial recognition software. In a new, and on some level disturbing way. How about a new billboard sign that is personally aimed at you. The camera gets your picture analyses your features, categorizes your features, runs a logarithm, and then offers a tailor made ad just for you. Stop the planet I want off. http://www.engadget.com