locker

Is music part of Apple's tablet hoopla?

At this point, it looks fairly certain that an Apple tablet computer, expected to debut on Wednesday, will offer digital books, newspapers, and video.

But what about music? Conspicuously missing from much of the speculation surrounding Apple's tablet is any word about what music features it offers. Music is the content that Apple used to forge the iTunes and iPod dynasties, and music has been an integral part of the iPhone as well.

Could music be left out of all the tablet ballyhoo?

CNET reported last week that Apple spoke to the labels recently about offering iTunes users the … Read more

Fridge Locker screams, 'Hands off!'

How selfish can one truly get? How about the $19.99 Fridge Locker, the ultimate weapon against food thieves? When it comes to bunking with roomies and even siblings who are full-time freeloaders, there's no arsenal great enough to protect your private food stash.

The Fridge Locker is really a tiny cage measuring 7.5 inches by 7.5 inches by 11 inches with a metal combination lock to keep out what the retailer can't help calling "Refrig-A Raiders." Poor pun aside, I wonder if this would kill your popularity rating if you brought one to … Read more

Windows 7 security enhancements

Windows 7 makes remote connectivity to corporate networks seamless, protects data on thumb drives, and offers fewer user account control prompts to bug users compared to Vista, Microsoft said on Monday.

The software giant began an education blitz about the security features of the newest version of its operating system at the start of the RSA 2009 security conference.

Windows 7, which was released in public beta in January, will have 29 percent fewer user account control (UAC) prompts than Windows Vista has, and fewer prompts in general, according to Paul Cooke, director of Windows Client Enterprise Security.

"We'… Read more

Life insurance for your passwords: Legacy Locker

Jeremy Toeman is unveiling on Tuesday a simple, clever, and very different kind of backup service.

Legacy Locker simply backs up the passwords and access codes to your online accounts. When you die, it gives that information to the people you designate.

I got this concept in half a second: if I go, I cannot imagine the trouble my wife would have trying to untangle my financial and e-mail accounts and deal with my contacts on my social networks, not to mention controlling the disposition of some online assets I own, like domain names.

The idea with Legacy Locker is … Read more

Interface advertising small price to pay

Though we could have done without the product pushes, this comprehensive file encryption program left our files safe and secure.

MyWinLocker has a professionally designed user interface, but there's some wasted space thanks to the product advertisements. However, aside from those, we found the tab-style fairly easy to navigate. The encryption feature can be accessed several ways--through the main interface, by right-clicking on a specific file or folder, or through Windows Explorer. We like the option to use our master password or create a new one to encrypt the file. Test files were easily and successfully created, and we … Read more

Lack of password protection offers little privacy

This free privacy programs lets you hide and lock your most sensitive files and folders, but we found its user interface counterintuitive and lacking password protection.

Easy File Locker has a very plain user interface. The black-on-white command buttons aren't the least bit eye-appealing. But more importantly, the large blank window gives the impression that you can drag and drop files, but that proved not to be the case when we tried it. When we selected the add file button, a window appeared with boxes already checked to allow access and visibility to files, as well as the capability … Read more

Lala's awesome music locker service

I wrote about the latest version of Lala when it started beta-testing back in May. At the time, I dismissed it as a weird hybrid between all-you-can-eat subscription services like Rhapsody and free streams from the likes of Imeem. I didn't understand who'd pay 10 cents to stream a song an unlimited number of times when there are already plenty of free (mostly ad-supported) streaming sites out there.

So I was surprised to see reviews of that service Monday that used words like "spectacular" and "revolution." As it turns out, Lala has made a … Read more

Focus, focus, focus: Why Web retail is like a really cheesy mall

Years ago, for my wife's birthday, I bought her a terrarium for her orchids. You know where I got it? Terrariumsale.com. Because that's what showed up in Google. Now, Terrariumsale.com is not a business unto itself. It's one of several front-ends to a catalog of goods sold by FineWebStores. I was reminded of this today when I got a pitch for FreeShippingOn.com, a site that helps you find items available for sale online that you can get without paying shipping fees. I wrote back to the person who sent me the pitch: "You'… Read more

Where if you listen to this, you've played Mortal Kombat in a bowling alley

EPISODE 41

Friday, the end of the work week, the denouement, if you will, which means it's the perfect time to get Hepatitis A! Or at least that's what happened to some A-list celebrities at Ashton Kutcher's birthday party. D'oh! Also, Portal 2 might be in the works (we hope) and Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive" will be included in a Rock Band downloadable content pack.

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