ups

Easy to understand

Typically, this kind of program is geared toward more advanced users, but the intuitive Ashampoo StartUp Tuner will appeal to both the computer savvy and the not-so-savvy user.

The program's tabbed-style interface organizes your system's startup programs into five categories: Autostart entries, Services, Software, IE Plugins, and Backups. Everything is so well laid out that, basically all you have to do is click which startup programs that you do or don't want to load automatically. Despite its ease of use, there are dangers in messing with things you don't understand, and the program helpfully cautions users … Read more

Demo 09: Where start-ups show off

Editor's note: For CNET News' latest coverage of DemoFall 2009, please click here.

roundup The high-tech confab prides itself on putting cutting-edge companies in front of A-list venture capitalists and journalists. Here's this year's crop. (See live video feed at bottom of page.)

Featured stories Lessons from Demo on surviving recession The smaller size of Demo 09 doesn't mean the tech industry is going out of business. Rather, it suggests what companies need to do to get funding. (Posted in Digital Media by Daniel Terdiman) March 4, 2009 9 AM PST The best and worst of Demo 09 … Read more

WonderCon 2009: 'Up' flies away

Pixar showed the first 45 minutes of its next animated feature "Up" at WonderCon here in San Francisco this weekend. I did not see all of those minutes, due to there being some limited-to-first-250-people-to-come BS I didn't have the patience to deal with.

I did get to see about 17 minutes of the film, however, via five scenes Pixar debuted. My impressions after viewing the clips is that the movie looks very good--visually, conceptually, and just for pure entertainment.

"Up" deals with a curmudgeonly old man tying a bunch of balloons to his house and … Read more

Report: Yahoo CTO's duties may expand

Carol Bartz, Yahoo's newly minted CEO, is reportedly preparing for a management shake-up that could result in an expanded role for its chief technology officer, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The changes, which could be announced as soon as this week, are aimed at putting Yahoo's decision-making process on a faster track, as well as consolidating some of the company's operations to create a more uniform appearance across its sites, according to the report.

Under Yahoo's prior management with Sue Decker as president, the organizational structure and decision-making process were not only … Read more

It's time to find the world's best vacation spots

It's almost spring, which means it's time we all start planning our vacations for 2009. To do so, we need sites to help us research new places, decide where we want to go, and figure out what we can still afford.

I've picked five sites that try to do just that. Each site offers outstanding resources to help you find the right destination. And thanks to their user communities that often discuss affordability, you can make a better-informed decision about the price tag.

Driftr Like other services in this roundup, Driftr relies on the intelligence of the … Read more

The 404 280: Where we get Synched Up with Rich DeMuro

We have a sneaking suspicion that Natali Del Conte crept into the podcast studio over the weekend and planted a cherry bomb in our computer, because we run very, very close to losing the entire recording of today's show with Rich DeMuro of Synched Up. Luckily, Wilson "Al Borland" Tang is able to save the show, and although the audio isn't quite up to par, we gotta make do with what we got (it's not a lot).

So be sure to listen to today's show. We ask Rich about his new show Synched Up, … Read more

Obama Inc. - Web activism for profit

A few months after Barack Obama’s historic election, and a couple of weeks after the release of Barry Libert’s and Rick Faulk’s book Obama Inc. (and, of course, Obama's inauguration), the first start-ups are popping up that directly apply some of the widely heralded business lessons emerging from the innovative campaign. The fact that most of these lessons lie in the marketing domain supports the view I’ve expressed earlier and on numerous occasions: 1) Marketing will (again) become the number one change agent in business, 2) when it follows the new rules of “marketing with … Read more

Track the files and programs that load at start-up

Have you ever wondered what starts up automatically when you boot up your computer? Find out with this utility that gives you an easy to read chart displaying programs and processes that launch at start up.

Bootlog XP offers an intuitive design most users will find easy to understand. In order for the program to assess the boot process, the computer must restart. Because of the restart, the program may prove to be quite sluggish at first, but only because it is analyzing data gathered during the process. When the information is displayed in the chart, each file that has … Read more

Pop-up creator lacks some handy features

Building a custom pop-up for inclusion in an application or Web page is simple and straightforward with Popup Software, it's just not possible to see how you're doing or get any help.

The program's compact interface with tabbed navigation is easy to follow, but we were still disappointed to find that the Help link is for a page that has moved or no longer exists. Users are on their own if they have questions. Fortunately this utility is pretty easy to figure out. We liked that we could set the frequency of a pop-up's appearance, and … Read more