The Official Dilbert Website featuring Scott Adams Dilbert strips, animation, mashups and more starring Dilbert, Dogbert, Wally, The Pointy Haired Boss, Alice, Asok, Dogbert’s New Ruling Class and more.
Windows 7 Media Center coming to embedded devices
We love Windows 7 Media Center, but at the end of the day we’d never give one to our mom and expect it to just work the way an embedded DVR like a TiVo or a Moxi would. But dependability isn’t the only concern about using a PC as a DVR, there is noise and how it looks in the living room to consider as well. The compromise before us might just be a thing of the past as Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 Embedded has been released to manufactures and includes many of the great features of the regular Windows 7 family, like Windows Media Center. At this point there aren’t any announcements from manufactures leveraging these new found features, but in the press release Microsoft is certainly bolstering the broadcast TV and other media features in a set-top box. AOpen is the only manufacturer mention by name that we’re familiar with, which also makes good small-form-factor PCs, but that won’t stop us from dreaming of the best, easy to use and dependable whole house DVR ever.
Update: Video of Media Center on an embedded device in action after the jump.
Continue reading Windows 7 Media Center coming to embedded devices
Windows 7 Media Center coming to embedded devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AMD’s 3.2GHz hexacore Phenom II X6 1090T comes out for a review roundup
How’s your memory today? Specifically, can you remember the last time AMD had a legitimate claim to the desktop performance crown? Don’t hold your breath, the latest and greatest Phenom II still can’t steal the spotlight from Intel’s spectacular top-of-the-line Core i7-980X, but if prices actually matter to you, you’ll wanna read on. Whereas you’d need to shell out $999 to get six cores from Intel, AMD is offering you its flagship 3.2GHz 1090T model at a reasonable $285, or an even more affordable option with the 2.8GHz 1055T at $199. The T in those names stands for Turbo Core, which automatically downclocks half the cores in order to provide a little extra speed (up to 500MHz more) to the other three. Reviewers agreed that its inclusion helped significantly improve single-threaded performance, to the point where the faster (in default clock speed) 3.4GHz Phenom II X4 965 was falling behind in benchmarks. The general opinion by the typically jaded journalists was that AMD has finally regained some pep in its step and that these new 6-core CPUs are going to give Intel’s upper midrange offerings something to worry about. Lest we forget, the 1090T and 1055T also retain socket compatibility with current AM2+ and AM3 motherboards, making upgrades a cinch too. The full reviews await below.
Read – AnandTech
Read – HotHardware
Read – PC Perspective
Read – Hexus
Read – Legit Reviews
Read – TweakTown
Read – TechSpot
AMD’s 3.2GHz hexacore Phenom II X6 1090T comes out for a review roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hugh Hefner Donates 900K to Save The Hollywood Sign
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has come to the rescue of the Hollywood sign on Monday, anteing up $900,000 to help in the effort to preserve the land to the west of the famed landmark
Google Earth Comes to Google Maps
Google Maps now has a Google Earth button. Since 2008 Google Maps API developers have been able to provide a Google Earth view in their Google Maps mashups. Now it is possible to view Google Earth directly in http://maps.google.com/This means that Google Maps users can now enjoy the 3D buildings and terrain that users of the Google Earth standalone application have long enjoyed. It is even
Police Seize Jason Chen’s Computers [Lost Iphone 4]
Last Friday night, California’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team entered editor Jason Chen’s home without him present, seizing four computers and two servers. They did so using a warrant by Judge of Superior Court of San Mateo. According to Gaby Darbyshire, COO of Gawker Media LLC, the search warrant to remove these computers was invalid under section 1524(g) of the California Penal Code. More »
Sask. man sentenced for youth jail abuse
A Regina man who sexually abused nine teenaged boys at a local youth correctional facility over a 15-year period has been sentenced to spend 4½ years in prison.
Laptop-Reliability Study Highlights the Most Sturdy Laptop Makers [Buying Guide]
There’s nothing worse than buying new gear that malfunctions shortly after you purchase it. If you’re in the market for a new laptop, check out warranty-provider SquareTrade’s detailed laptop-reliability report to find the most dependable hardware. More »
Microsoft Security Essentials Offers Fast, Powerful and Free Malware Protection
What it is:
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free anti-malware and anti-virus package, designed to compete with both commercial and free offerings like AVG and Norton.
What we like:
First, and most obviously, we like the price point; it’s hard to argue with free. But no matter how free an app is, if it sucks, there’s no reason to install it. Thankfully, there is plenty more to like about Security Essentials.
Unlike some other anti-virus suites, MSE (as it will be known from here on out) is light on its feet. In addition to using very little RAM, saving precious CPU power for more important things (like watching the Switched Video feature). MSE is fast; scans take significantly less time than they do with many free or paid options.
Continue reading Microsoft Security Essentials Offers Fast, Powerful and Free Malware Protection
Filed under: Computers, Windows Software
Microsoft Security Essentials Offers Fast, Powerful and Free Malware Protection originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
How To Start Your Own Professional Blog with WordPress
Would you like to start your own blog or website? With a free WordPress account, it’s free and easy to get started creating your own professional quality blog site.
This is the first part in a series on how to create your own professional quality blog site. No, we’re not talking about some cheapo looking blog from Blogger or something on Facebook, but creating a quality blog you can be proud of and present to millions of readers online.
WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms, powering hundreds of high-profile websites and blogs around the world. It’s both powerful and easy to use, which makes it great whether you’re just starting out or are a blogging pro. To start out with your blogging project WordPress is completely free, and you can use the online interface or install the WordPress software on your own server and blog from there.
Getting Started
You can start a blog in just a few minutes. Head over to WordPress.com and click Sign up now on the right-hand side of the main page.
![sshot-2010-04-25-[02-09-18]](http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/sshot20100425020918.png)
Enter a username and password, check that you agree with the legal terms, select the “Gimme a blog” bullet, and click Next.
WordPress may inform you that your username is already taken, simply choose a new one and try again.
Next, choose a domain for your blog. This will be the address for your site, and cannot be changed, so be sure to choose exactly what you want. If you’d prefer your address to be yourname.com instead of yourname.wordpress.com, you can add your own domain for a fee after your blog is setup…but we’ll cover that later.
Once you click signup, you will be sent a confirmation email. While you wait for the email to arrive you can go ahead and enter in your name and a short bio about yourself.
When you receive your confirmation email, click the link. Congratulations; you now have your own blog!
You can view your new blog immediately, though the default theme isn’t very interesting without your content and pictures.
Back on the page you opened from the email, click Login to access your blog’s administration page and to start adding stuff to your blog. You can also access your blog’s admin page anytime by from yourname.wordpress.com/admin, substituting your own blog name for yourname.
Enter your username and password, then click Log in to get started.
Adding Content to your WordPress.com Blog
When you sign in to your WordPress blog, you’ll first see the WordPress Admin page. Here you can see recent posts and comments, and you can see stats of how many people have visited your site. You can also access all of your blog tools and settings right from this page.
To add a new post to your blog, click the Posts link on the left, then click “Add New” either on the left menu or on the top of the Edit Posts page. Or, if you want to edit the default first post, hover over it and select Edit.
Or click the New Posts button on the top of the page. This menu bar is always visible whenever you’re logged in, so it’s an easy way to add a post.
The editor lets you easily write anything you want in a Microsoft Word-style editor. You can format your text, add lists, links, quotes, and more. When you’re ready to share your content with the world, click Publish on the right side.
To add pictures or other files, click the picture icon beside “Upload/Insert”. Your free blog account can store up to 3Gb of pictures and documents which will definitely give you a good start.
Click Select Files, and then choose the pictures or documents you want to add to your post.
When the pictures have uploaded, you can add a caption and choose how to position the picture. When you’re finished, select “Insert into Post”.
Or, if you want to add a video, click the video button. You have to add a paid upgrade to upload videos directly, but you can add YouTube and other online videos for free.
Click the “From URL” tab, and then paste the link to the YouTube video and click Insert into post.
If you’re a code geek, click the HTML tab in the editor and edit the HTML of your blog post the geeky way.
Once you’ve added all your content and edited it the way you want, click the Publish button on the right of the editor. Or, you can click Preview to make sure it looks right, and then click Publish.
Here’s our blog with the new blog post containing a picture and video. While you’re getting to know you’re way around the controls in WordPress, the Preview feature will be your best friend while you try to organize the content to your liking.
Conclusion
It only takes a couple minutes to get started blogging at WordPress.com. Whether you want to write about your daily life, share pictures of your children, or review the latest books and gadgets, WordPress.com is a great place to get started for free. But we’ve only covered a small portion of the WordPress features…but this should get you started. Check back for more WordPress and blogging coverage coming up soon!
Links
Signup for a free WordPress.com account
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‘District 10’ In the Works
Everyone’s favorite apartheid allegory is back for seconds, or so it seems! Read on for more details!
‘Avatar’ Sets Record DVD, Blu-ray Sales
“Avatar” is a hit on the small screen too!
Ford Diverts 30M Lbs of Waste by Making Cars 85% Recyclable
Ford vehicles are now 85 percent recyclable by weight. In 2009, Ford saved approximately $4.5 million by using recycled materials, and diverted between 25 and 30 million pounds of plastic from landfills in North America alone.
Stephen Hawking Says Aliens Probably Out There, Will Want to Conquer Us
Don’t count on friendly aliens, like ET, says Hawking; they’re likely looking to conquer, colonize, and exploit
VidCoder Streamlines HandBrake’s UI for Easy Ripping and Converting [Downloads]
The end of an era: Sony officially kills floppy disks
Who uses 3.5-inch floppy disks anymore? No one. So it is a mainly symbolic announcement that Sony will no longer be producing the disks in Japan, officially putting the last death knell on the format.
Controversial Book Claims Samsung Is Basically the Most Corrupt Company In Asia [Corruption]
Bribes, prosecutors on the take, tax evasion and slush funds. It sounds like organized crime, but if we’re to believe Kim Yong-chul, author of Think Samsung, all these terrible things happen at popular electronics company Samsung. All the time. More »
The Raven (HD)
Diet Pill Swells in Your Belly, Making You Feel Instantly Full
With KFC’s Double Down “sandwich” now threatening to slap quadruple chins across much of America, people may soon begin chomping at the bit for equally extreme diet solutions to counteract the havoc wreaked by the Colonel. Gelesis, a Boston-based drug company, has apparently read the grease-stained handwriting on the wall, and has just concocted a new pill aimed at helping plus-sized Americans shed some pounds — by convincing them that they’re full.
As Xconomy reports, Gelesis’ newest pill, Attiva, contains a bunch of super-absorbent hydrogel beads that swell up when introduced to water, meaning all you have to do is swallow one and you’re full. Of course, Gelesis doesn’t want to make anyone look like Lara Flynn Boyle, which is why the drug developers designed Attiva to fully blend with any ingested food. The hydrogel keeps whatever you eat in your stomach for a longer period, thus allowing your stomach more time to digest while the beads release the water they’ve absorbed. Once the train moves down to the low intestine, the beads begin to re-expand a bit, slowing the absorption of fat and sugar.
Continue reading Diet Pill Swells in Your Belly, Making You Feel Instantly Full
Diet Pill Swells in Your Belly, Making You Feel Instantly Full originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Preeceville drug bust nets marijuana
Two people were arrested and four to five pounds of marijuana were seized Friday following a search of a home in Preeceville, Sask., RCMP say.