Brandon Dimmel

For those who follow the tech industry, and in particular Microsoft, the sudden announcement of legal matters is hardly surprising. It seems the Redmond-based company, and others like Sony and Apple, are perpetually engaged in litigation to defend ... anything from copyright issues to product quality. Now, the most recent case surrounds a woman who has launched a legal campaign against Microsoft's Vista advertising, and the "Windows Vista Capable" motto. The suit comes from one Dianne L. Kelley, who finds that a number of PCs sold last year with Vista on board are anything but capable. Instead, ... (view more)

One of the rising technologies right now is Skype, a peer-to-peer telephone network devised by the same entrepreneurs behind the now decrepit Kazaa. But, don't be too alarmed; although peer-to-peer and Kazaa have both become dirty terms in the ... security vocabulary, Skype is a rather safe (and in many cases, cheap) and effective way of reaching friends long distance. However, Skype grows in popularity, so too do the threats, including a recent instant messaging worm that has spread its way to a few unlucky users. The recent issue hitting Skype's instant messaging service isn't much different ... (view more)

According to popular tech publication Wired, there are at least ten good reasons why geeks, nerds, or even dorks, make for the best lovers. Some of the site's reasoning makes sense, while others appear a desperate attempt to diversify who's clicking ... on whose lavalife profile. So, what makes sense? Reason #10: Geeks build it, so you will come. According to popular belief, women love a handyman. Although this is generally associated with fixing toilets, kitchen faucets, and leaky roofs, in this day and age it should also apply to technology. In many instances, computer mechanics charge as much ... (view more)

Best Buy has for a long time offered "Thousands of Possibilities". Apparently, one of those includes the chance to be recorded in the shower by one of the company's Geek Squad employees. That's exactly what happened according to a lawsuit filed ... early this month, alleging that a technician set up his camera phone in the washroom of a customer. According to reports, on March 4th, Hao Kuo Chi entered the home of roommates Natalie Fornaciari and Sarah Vasquez. While the two women expected Chi to simply perform his Geek functions, he set about his own plan to record Vasquez in the shower. While ... (view more)

In the beginning, there was Yahoo, Lycos, and even a little search engine 'that could,' called AltaVista. While each offered varying abilities in crawling the web, none could quite match the rise of Google. And although its roots were only modest, ... Google's impressive search capabilities quickly rocketed it to the top of the web, with the power to control the rise and fall of companies vying for space in the Internet community. Now, less than a year after buying YouTube, Google is flexing its muscle again, buying advertising firm DoubleClick for an astounding $3.1 billion. The sheer value of ... (view more)

As if doing your taxes weren't annoying enough, now the Internal Revenue Service is warning American citizens that a phishing scheme is reaping important personal details by posing as a free tax-filing agency. It seems no one knows better than the ... IRS that nothing -- and we mean nothing -- is free. It's a fairly bad time for such a scam, considering Tuesday's tax filing deadline. Those behind the offence clearly know that anyone still left to complete the necessary forms are desperate for help as the clock strikes twelve. The threat is making its way to the frantic via emails, with the ... (view more)

Recently, I reported on the boom 2006 represented for semiconductor manufacturer AMD. The chipmaker, responsible for the mega popular Athlon line, reportedly increased its revenue by a staggering 86.1% from 2005. However, the numbers don't tell the ... whole story. AMD is still struggling to establish a stable existence in the chip market, strongly evidenced by its announcement that it will fail to meet sales expectations for this quarter. (Source: theinquirer.net ) Early predictions for AMD's first quarter placed revenue at an impressive $1.55 billion. This lofty goal may have been set when it ... (view more)

During the summer of 2006, the fortunes of major computer chip manufacturers Intel and AMD looked anything but promising. Both posted major losses for the period, with AMD desperately branching out into the graphics card market in order to gain ... some, or any, momentum. Although it resembled a captain frantically trying to right a sinking ship, it appears AMD knew what it was doing all along. The company posted impressive -- if not incredible -- year-end profits, with the entire industry's future looking bright thanks to the Far East. By glancing at the chipmaking industry's revenue for ... (view more)

Although many music fans -- especially those of the eye-patch-wearing pirate variety -- long ago dismissed Napster, the company is beginning to build momentum as a legal download site. Since it was hammered by the RIAA a few years ago, Napster has ... shifted from its illegal peer-to-peer roots to a more iTunes-like interface. It appears to be stumping critics and paying off, with the company reporting a quarterly revenue of $28 million. For those who might be confused about Napster's current state, realize that there have been two versions of the protocol. That older, piracy-based program was ... (view more)

It seems few people use Outlook Express anymore. For many web users, email has moved online, to sites like Yahoo Mail, Gmail, and the ever-popular Hotmail. Each have their strengths and weaknesses, but above all each are tasked with outdoing one ... another in order to gain headway in a competitive market. It's part of the reason Yahoo has recently announced unlimited storage space for those that use its mail service, with another fan-favorite site rumored to follow. Yahoo Mail has been in service for nearly a decade now, but is clearly worried about losing the popular vote amongst web mailers. ... (view more)