computer

Since owning his cell phone, Piotr Staniaszek has never paid more than $147 a month for service. Last month, he was more than a little shocked to peek into his mailbox and find a phone bill totaling $59,000 in additional charges. When he called to ... complain about the perceived error, he discovered that his current phone bill was clocked at $83,000...and counting. The reason for such a drastic increase in cost? Staniaszek had recently begun using his cell phone to download music and videos onto his personal computer. Staniaszek has pleaded total ignorance for his actions, citing that he ... (view more)

Security experts have found a way to intercept information from Microsoft's wireless keyboards, and warn that other brands could also be at risk. The affected keyboards don't use the popular Bluetooth technology, but instead broadcast on a very ... short radio frequency. Most surprisingly, the encryption appears to be shockingly weak. It turns out that much only the keystrokes themselves are encrypted, not any of the background information such as that used to synchronise the keyboard and computer. Shockingly, the same encryption key (the code needed to decipher the data) is used for the entire ... (view more)

A new version of Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is being rolled out with the first "service pack" for Windows Vista, due in the first quarter of 2008. The new WGA will employ nagging alerts on computers suspected of using pirated software instead ... of disabling programs on the suspected computer. (Source: nwsource.com ) When computer users activate Windows or try to download software from Microsoft's web site, WGA scans their system for signs of pirated software. If WGA finds an unauthorized copy of Windows, in many instances the computer becomes non-functional, only allowing a user to connect ... (view more)

You thought you were safe didn't you? Being ever so careful not to enter a site you couldn't trust, scanning every email before you opened it. It was all so perfect...until that banner ad. Late last week it was reported that hackers had found a ... remarkably sophisticated way to break into the average computer. Several trusted websites found malicious software hidden within banner ads on their web pages. Companies affected included The Economist.com, Canada.com, and MLB.com. (Source: cbc.ca ) The amazing part about the scam was that you only had to visit the site and see the infected page for ... (view more)

Shut Your Computer In One Click Really simple, and this will work under Windows XP and 2003. http://www.intelliadmin.com/ Test Website Speed Enter a URL to see what time it takes to download. http://tools.itscales.com/cgi-bin/pma-dl (view more)

In 1995, Microsoft attempted to fend off their ever-increasing rival companies by adding a free web browser to their brand new operating system, Windows 95. This effort was effectively blocked by several court rulings and the subject was never ... spoken of again. Over a decade later, Microsoft is giving the strategy one more try by offering free software that connects their current brand new operating system, Windows Vista, to software services delivered over the Internet. (Source: nytimes.com ) This practice is not uncommon in the technological world and is often referred to as "cloud" ... (view more)

North Americans usually assume a moral obligation when conserving energy. An individual will likely turn off the lights in an empty room or shut off the water when brushing their teeth. But, if this energy-conscious person is one of the many ... millions of computer users who leave their PC sitting idle, they are actually contributing to over a days worth of wasted energy in just one hour of computer use. Industry analysts are now reporting that a standard desktop PC, with its many cooling fans and whirring disk drives, uses enough energy to illuminate up to three 100-watt light bulbs, more if ... (view more)

Dell and Lenovo, two of the largest personal computer manufacturers in the world, have announced plans to launch the first batch of mainstream laptop computers that come equipped with Wireless USB (Universal Serial Bus) technology. The latest in ... Wi-Fi allows electronics, such as a personal computer and a printer, to communicate without the use of cables. Wireless technology uses radio waves that send bits of data through the air. The concept is not foreign in the technological world. Internationally-recognized brands like Bluetooth, WiFi and WiMax essentially all do the same thing. (Source: ... (view more)

Researchers in Edmonton, Alberta have launched a simple computer program that claims to have "solved" the game of checkers. Apparently "Chinook", the checker-playing computer program, cannot lose in a game that has been played by young and old for ... hundreds of years. Tests have shown the very best a player can do while playing against the computer is a draw. While Chinook is unlikely to start a technological revolution, the steps that were taken to overcome such an improbable obstacle is most interesting. In the past, game-playing programs had used a common sense approach in making all ... (view more)

In Computer Science -- more specifically, in the creation of software programs -- there are efficient ways of achieving a result, and there are not-so-efficient ways of doing the same thing. In fact, many refer to Microsoft Windows as bloatware: ... software that "is so overloaded with functionality that its performance suffers." (Source: techweb.com ) Unfortunately, Microsoft isn't the only one to blame. In the race for profit, many software developers are guilty of adding useless and abundant features to their programs for nothing more than a marketing tactic. (Source: wikipedia.org ... (view more)