Archive for January, 2010
Sunday, January 31st, 2010

The fact that silicon chips start life as nothing more exotic than sand is amazing enough, but have you ever thought about that other important PC component, the hard disk? Its origins couldn’t be more different. The heart of a hard disk – the rotating platter where your data is stored – is made out of an exotic mix of elements including ruthenium and platinum, two of the world’s rarest and most expensive metals. Needless to say, this statement doesn’t even hint at the complexity involved in transforming rare ores into gigabytes of data storage. The hard disk’s high speeds of rotation and the close proximity of the head to the platter means that the processes must be carried out with the ultimate in precision and cleanliness.
The full story can be found on Tech Radar
Posted in Reviews | Tags: blanks, data, disk, earth, media, platter, south-africa, storage, the-platter | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010

With the Blu-ray 3D specification finalised and Sky’s 3D TV channel due to launch this April , the UK faces another telly revolution. Forget the digital switchover, 1080p ‘Full HD’ and web-connected TV widgetry. Jump-out-of-the-screen ’stereoscopic 3D’ is the technology that has set everybody a-buzzing. Trying to describe it is like trying to paint a symphony.
The full story can be found on Tech Radar
Posted in Reviews | Tags: answers, broadcast, digital, earth, industry, japanese, networks, picture, power, signature, space, technology, television, vista, work | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010

You don’t hear much about Silverlight these days, but rest assured, Microsoft is still hard at work on the speedy little flash competitor. Of course, a platform is only as powerful as its applications, and a new Silverlight Facebook client does a fantastic job of showcasing this power. The lightweight and lightening fast new interface works on both Mac’s and PC’s, and is a significant improvement to the look and feel of Facebook. Created using the developer preview edition of Silverlight 4, the new Facebook client pretty much bypasses any need you would ever have to visit the full website
For the full story, go to Maximum PC
Posted in Reviews | Tags: client, developer, facebook, fantastic-job, hard-at-work, news, photo, power, visit-the-full, window | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Love it or hate it, the $499 entry level iPad is much cheaper than anyone expected. Tablet PC makers which were hoping to ride the wave of enthusiasm Apple was bound to kick up, are now being forced to step back and really question if they have what it takes to compete. Unnamed sources from within Asus and MSI claim they were counting on an iPad that would debut at $1,000 or more, making room for a more powerful and open device for $200-$300 less. Now that the new price to beat is less than half of what they expected, they will need to determine how they will differentiate if they can’t win on price
For the full story, go to Maximum PC
Posted in Reviews | Tags: apple, asus, design, itunes, pretty-serious, pricing, really-question, ride-the-wave, tablet pc, take-on-apple | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010

In the past, we covered several free tools such as Ultimate Windows Tweaker , Windows 7 Taskbar Tweaker & also list of 15 free Windows 7 tweakers that help you tweak Windows registry with a click. RegMod is a similar tool that comes with over 20 tweaks to quickly modify your Windows registry. RegMod is a standalone tool, which requires no installation. The UI is very simple as well.
Posted in How to Guides | Tags: disable-control, disable-recent, disable-task, find-it-useful, remove, remove-system, standalone-tool, taskbar-tweaker, windows, windows registry | No Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Are you a sci-fi fan who has been looking for some great starship wallpapers for your desktop? Then you will definitely want to look through the “fleet” that we have gathered together for you today. Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen’s resolution. These wallpapers not exactly what you were looking for? Not a problem…look through our other wonderful wallpaper collections to find that perfect wallpaper to brighten up your desktop.
The full story can be found on How To Geek
Posted in How to Guides | Tags: browser, desktop customization, guitar, learning, linux, permanent-link, picture, random, retro, salary, security, wallpapers, windows, winter | No Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Google’s Chrome browser is marketed as a streamlined browser that removes all unnecessary bloat in order to maximise its speed on the web. But its lack of bells and whistles shouldn’t be misinterpreted as a lack of functionality. There are still plenty of ways that you can tweak Chrome to suit your own surfing habits.. 1. Useful Chrome shortcuts As with other browsers, you can use keyboard shortcuts to save time.
The full story can be found on Tech Radar
Posted in Reviews | Tags: address, browser, chrome, desktop, downloads, explorer, favourite, firefox, flickr, internet, opera, radio, search, search-engine, tool | No Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010

If you’re a big fan of one of the application launching dock applications like Rocketdock , you might have little need for the Windows taskbar, and would prefer to just hide it. Taskbar Eliminator does just that—the second you run the software, your taskbar will be gone. You can use the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key combination to bring it back, though, and you can set the utility to start with Windows. Definitely could be useful… just don’t use it if you aren’t willing to use the shortcut key! Download Taskbar Eliminator [via Life Rocks 2.0 ] Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Change the Windows 7 Taskbar to Work Like Vista Make the Windows 7 Taskbar Work More Like Windows XP or Vista Add “My Computer” to Your Windows 7 / Vista Taskbar Stupid Geek Tricks: Select Multiple Windows on the Taskbar Workaround for Vista Taskbar Thumbnail Previews Not Showing Correctly Monochrome Grey Desktop Get Better Functionality Stacks with no Extra Software How to Find Sleep When It Escapes You The Anatomy of Salary Negotiations Arguing Productively Leads to a Lasting Relationship Tips and Advice on Saving Money Today Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Check How Trackable Your Browser is using Panopticlick How To Know When Your Computer Last Shut Down Analyze Your Website using Woorank Looking for a Character Not On Your Keyboard?
The full story can be found on How To Geek
Posted in How to Guides | Tags: advice, desktop, mechanic, permanent-link, random, select-multiple, taskbar, taskbar-work, thumbnail, tools, utility, windows | No Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Like certain other “ episodes ” we’ve been impatiently anticipating for quite some time, GTA IV’s two after-dinner mints have taken nearly as long to arrive as the main course. But at least GTA IV has a good (ish) reason. You see, Microsoft struck a timed exclusivity deal with Rockstar… for the Xbox. PC, not so much.
For the full story, go to Maximum PC
Posted in Reviews | Tags: after-the-first, come-bundled, episodes, from-the-xbox, gaming, grand theft auto iv, liberty-city, microsoft, news, rockstar, take-two, xbox | No Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010

All new operating systems have their little bugbears. Snow Leopard has had its problems, but it’s the tiny everyday annoyances that can really grate. So here are 20 of the most common issues, together with ways to get around them. 1. “Exposé leaves windows in the background” The Application Window mode of Exposé is designed to let you switch between multiple document windows open in just the current application, rather than between every single open window
The full story can be found on Tech Radar
Posted in Reviews | Tags: apple, computing/apple, finder, images, mac, reading, reference, screensaver, smart, utility, windows | No Comments »