Submission + - 5 Remote Support Services Compared (pcmag.com)
mikemuch writes: PC Magazine loads up a Windows XP machine with junkware and asks five remote support services to clean it out. Well-known player Geek Squad was pitted against Circuit City's new firedog, YourTechonline, support.com, and Florida-based FixFlash. The testing is of necessity anecdotal, but gives some insight into the remote support process of each service, and results vary widely among them in how much junk was cleaned out.
Submission + - Microsoft Takes Windows Live Software out of Beta (pcmag.com)
mikemuch writes: This evening Microsoft took the wraps off several of its Windows Live free consumer software: Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, OneCare Family Safety, and Messenger 8.5. All of the software requires at least XP SP2 and a Windows Live ID (formerly .NET Passport). The apps include some slick features: Mail can work with non-Hotmail/Live accounts and includes RSS and Usenet readers. There's also an option to subscribe to your contacts' updates so that you're not stuck with a lot of out-of-date email addresses. Photo Gallery is a respectable answer to Picasa, with an impressive panorama creator. OneCare Family Safety comprises both a service and installed software; it provides online filtering and activity reporting on Live accounts you designate as children's. Writer isn't a word processor but a very WYSIWYG blog updater that works with non-Spaces blogs an includes image resizing in the editor. The new Messenger is mostly a face-lift of version 8. A unified installer lets you pick which pieces you want without multiple downloads/installs.
Comment Is it now assumed Microsoft = Facebook? (Score 3, Insightful) 148
I haven't seen the comment made anywhere that perhaps the real motivation for the bit OpenSocial announcement could be that Google lost the bidding war for a stake in Facebook. This could explain MS's lack of interest in creating a cross-SN API, though I can't picture them doing that anyway, except maybe as an option in their dev tools.
Submission + - Microblog Roundup: Twitter and Beyond (pcmag.com)
mikemuch writes: "Whether you love it or hate it, Twitter has spawned a growing community of micro- and mobloggers, along with imitation services, many of which go beyond the original in capabilities. PC Magazine has just posted reviews twitter and several of its offspring. One of them is Pownce, which has generated its own buzz and adds file storage to the Twitter model. Another, Jaiku, was just purchased by Google in a gesture of support for the genre."
Submission + - A 5-Watt, Tiny Linux or Windows PC
ThinSkin writes: "Meet the fit-PC, a tiny 4.7 x 4.5 x 1.5-inch PC that only draws 5-watts, consuming in a day less power than a traditional PC consumes in one hour. By today's standards, the fit-PC has very little horsepower, which makes it apt for web browsing and light applications; today's games need not apply. Loyd Case over at ExtremeTech reviews the fit-PC and puts it through its paces, noting that performance is not this PC's strength, but rather its small size and price tag of $285."
Submission + - Build a Solaris Workstation for Under $300 (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "Christian Cruz built a compact, very low cost UNIX workstation using Sun's new open-source Solaris 10 as the operating system. At under $300, it's pretty bare-bones, but it's quite functional as a server or for basic web and document use. He had to guess about whether his mATX motherboard would be supported, as it wasn't on Sun's HCL — there weren't any suitable for a small-form-factor personal computer there. One hurdle was that the graphical intstaller didn't work with his chosen hardware, so he had to partition the HD via the command line."
Submission + - GPhone to Appear in Two Weeks? (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "Murmurings of GPhone are again crossing the web today, with claims by a respected Indian news service that telecoms are in talks with the search behemoth to launch the mobile device in two weeks. Google won't deny or confirm, and the report should certainly not be taken as gospel, but there are clear signs of Google's intentions to create the 3G and WiFi capable handheld."
Submission + - eSATA External HD Roundup (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "As well as comparing five 500GB external drives, Joel Durham's article compares the newer eSATA interface with USB 2.0. Products include: Cavalry CAXM37500, Iomega Silver Series Professional Hard Drive, LaCie d2 quadra, Seagate ST305004FPA1E3-RK FreeAgent Pro, and Western Digital MyBook Premium ES Edition. They vary quite a bit in terms of performance and included software. From the article: "The FreeAgent software included with the Seagate drive offers interesting remote access functionality, while the WD drive's capacity gauge is a useful add-on. However, in their zeal to reduce power usage and noise, these drives are also slower than the rest. That may have been fine in the day of USB 2.0 drives, but the performance issues become more glaring with eSATA's higher throughput.""
Submission + - Mech Case Mod Takes Prize (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "The winner of ExtremeTech's 2007 Case Mod Contest is Don Soule's Mecha-inspired Altas Mech. The mod took 7 months to complete, and its paint job is patterned after the African dart frog. Other mods in the contest included a Transformer, the Batmobile, and a replica of an old John Deer gas pump."
Submission + - Ziff Davis Launches Green Technology Site (goodcleantech.com)
mikemuch writes: "Part of Ziff's suite of newer blog-style sites like Appscout and Gearlog, the new GoodCleanTech launched last Thursday and focuses on all things green and technical. Recent entries include stuff like a tidal turbine project in the East River, a wind-up MP3 player, and a combo solar/electric barbecue. And of course there's reportage of Al Gore's every movement."
Submission + - 10 Common Home Theater Buying Mistakes (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "Loyd Case has made all the mistakes: buying the wrong gear for the room, not bringing his own audition CDs, mismatching equipment, and quite a few more. In this piece on home theater buying mistakes, you can benefit from his experience and get the home theater that's right for you."
Submission + - Couple Bonding Through PC Building (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "When his lovely girlfriend Glenda needed a new PC, Jason Cross, who spends much of the week assembling PCs with the latest gear to test for ExtremeTech, decided he would let her build it herself. She gave him her list of needs, he came up with a part list, and then watched, as she did all the screwdriving herself. Despite a DOA hard drive and some misconnected wires, everyone was smiling when it was all finished."
Submission + - 5 New File-Exchange Services Reviewed (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "Huge email attachments should become a thing of the past if these new online file sharing services take hold. A couple, FileCrunch and YouSendit resemble nothing more than online storage with a sharing component. Microsoft's early beta Windows Live Folders is entering the fray, offering a shared folder metaphor, while Tubes is a file-syncing service from mobile platform developer Adesso Systems that keeps files synchronized on the individual sharers' machines. Pando leverages the BitTorrent protocol, but making it private so you can share media with a chosen network of friends and colleagues rather than the whole world. The services all have free levels for file sizes ranging from 50MB to 1GB."
Submission + - Six Steps to a Better Home Theater (extremetech.com)
mikemuch writes: "Though he's been a student of home theater technology for years, ExtremeTech's Loyd Case came back from a recent THX professional installers training course with wide eyes from all he learned. He shares the knowledge about room characteristics, speaker choice and placement, calibration, and more in this article on home theater optimization."
