Dr. Web helps you minimize contact with unsanitary files before you download them, by scanning them in advance and letting you know before it lands on your desktop if the file has a clean bill of health or if you should put on your biohazard suit before handling the innocuous-looking critter.
On his main desktop computer at the Power Lair, Power Downloader has huge hard drive volumes filled with old case files, spy photos, and secret documents. Though he's a master of software and navigating the intricacies of Windows to get the files he wants, he has always found that Windows Explorer isn't exactly ideal for some of his more complicated file management tasks. Fortunately there's a better way.… Read more
Web site owners and SEOs alike often feel at odds with the search engines, but times are changing. This was often the case in the past when the engines made updates and changes to their algorithms that seemed to send Web sites into a SERP tailspin, leaving everyone scrambling to regain their precious page-one positions. The engines were also a lot less forthcoming with information and guidance, perhaps taking the view that giving this information gave too much power to the spammers and phishers.
While this view was understandable on the surface, it didn't float all that well in … Read more
LOS ANGELES--The Google Lunar X Prize, a robotic race to the moon, has drawn its first contestant.
Not even an hour after the prize was announced here Thursday at the Wired NextFest, Carnegie Mellon University robotics pioneer Red Whittaker said he's putting together a team to build a rover that can snag the $20 million prize. To win the $20 million, a robotic rover must land on the moon, travel 500 meters and send data and video back to Earth by 2012. The total prize money is $30 million, including $5 million for second place and another $5 million … Read more
Firefox just passed the 400 million download mark, according to the Spread Firefox site for promoting the open-source, extendable Web browser.
That number shouldn't be confused with actual installations, Mozilla's public relations folks rightly caution. (I'm sure I've downloaded it at least a dozen times this year, and I'm only using copies on three computers at present. On the flip side, there are any number of other ways to get Firefox, including Linux installations.) Nevertheless, 400 million is an achievement worth noting, given that just a few years ago it looked like Microsoft had the … Read more
Twitter's just launched a new portion of their service called Explore. It's essentially a "labs" section, and home to a handful of old (and new) tools to integrate and browse Twitter. The newest addition, called "Blocks," is a 3-D visualization of your friends and followers, and what amounts to a 3-D social graph of Twitter buddies. The tool loads up with a neat popping effect that looks like little rooftops, and similar to the neat startup video on the Apple TV. Each one is actually a message. Mousing over it will show you who … Read more
Last week's post about Living with Windows XP generated a virtual storm of comments. Most readers echoed my own personal notion of sticking with XP for the near future instead of upgrading to Windows Vista.
It's not surprising that a discussion about operating systems can arouse empassioned responses. After all, it's the most essential software many of us run. The only other current candidate for king of software apps is the mighty Web browser.
I've been thinking about browsers lately, as well as my allegiance to Mozilla Firefox as my personal surfing weapon of choice. With the amount of customization and third-party add-ons, the open-source browser is extremely tough to beat.… Read more
The free spyware-removal software Ad-Aware 2007 helps protect your system from browser hijackers, data miners, and other malware, but it can also wipe your Web surfing tracks for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera with just one click. Rich DeMuro shows you how it's done.
Security vendor Secunia on Wednesday reported a highly critical JavaScript flaw in Opera 9.22 and earlier. Fortunately, Opera already knew about the problem and on Wednesday released a more secure version of Opera, version 9.23. How did it know? The Norwegian browser company said it used a tool that was released during this year's Black Hat USA by rival Mozilla, the makers of the Firefox browser.
According to Secunia, the Opera vulnerability is the result of an unspecified error when processing JavaScript code. The error can produce a virtual function call using an invalid pointer. This can … Read more
Just back from coaching my daughter's soccer practice, and I stumble into this on Slashdot: "only 50% of the people downloading Firefox actually try it out, and only a further half of those continue to use it actively.
In other words, a 25% retention rate, as ZDNet points out. Why is the retention rate so low?
Arguably, because Firefox isn't much better. Let the flames begin.… Read more
Reviews - Games and Gear
Technically Incorrect
Politics and Law
216Facebook Likes
435Tweets
128Google Plus Shares
CNET's Galaxy S4 giveaway spectacular!
CNET's publishing another supercharged e-book. "Mastering the Galaxy S4" is almost here, so we're celebrating with a huge S4-related giveaway.
Manage updates with the Download App