accessibility

Microsoft says it will release three security updates on Patch Tuesday next week, fixing 11 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office and its Unified Access Gateway virtual private networking software.

One of the bulletins has a "critical" severity rating and the other two are rated "important," Microsoft said today in a Microsoft Security Response Center blog post.

In addition to Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway, affected software includes Office XP Service Pack 3, Office 2003 Service Pack 3, Office 2007 Service Pack 2, Office for Mac 2011, and the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Office 2010, according to … Read more

Propelled by demand for high-speed Internet in China, worldwide broadband subscriptions should show a healthy jump for the third quarter, says research firm iSuppli.

The number of new broadband subscribers in the quarter is expected to rise by 5.8 percent to reach 16.5 million, according to figures released yesterday by iSuppli. That's a rally from the second quarter when the number of new subscribers actually dropped by 6.6 percent to 15.6 million. It also means the third-quarter numbers are catching up with the 16.7 million new subscribers captured in the first quarter of the … Read more

Bare Bones Software's Yojimbo provides a fast, intuitive way to collect and store all kinds of information--from text and images to bookmarks, software serial numbers, passwords, and complete Web page archives that you can read offline. Yojimbo also lets you sync up with your iPad.

Yojimbo makes it extremely easy to add new bits of info: You can scan something directly using TWAIN plug-ins, you can drag and drop almost anything onto Yojimbo's Drop Dock (a tab that sits at the edge of the screen and holds all your "Collections"), or you can hit F8 to … Read more

Microsoft took a break today from suing the mobile industry to examine life on the other side of the coin as a patent licensee.

The company has agreed to license patents belonging to what many have derisively considered the ultimate patent troll, Acacia, according to The Wall Street Journal. Microsoft did not disclose how much it paid for the licenses, but they cover 74 patents held by Acacia and Access, which acquired Palmsource back in the day and agreed to let Acacia pursue licensing deals on its behalf.

Acacia has a long history of assembling patents and suing whomever it … Read more

Welcome to another week of The 404 Podcast! We're running through several stories on today's episode, including OnStar reading you Facebook updates in the car, Cablevision and Time Warner teaming up to offer "free" public Wi-Fi in NYC parks, carrier pigeons beating the Internet, Americans increasingly distracted by the Internet, a useless product appropriately called the "Textee," and a nerdy new Tumblr that looks at how the Internet and hacking culture are portrayed in film!

Our first story in the rundown is a shameless plug for AccessMainComputerFile, a new blog that pokes fun at images of hacker culture and embellished UI in popular movies like "Independence Day," "Richie Rich," "Terminator 2," and more. Submissions are also welcome, so send over your YouTube links!

Facebook is already a ubiquitous part of daily Interlife, but now OnStar is testing a service that connects your car to the social network as well. The system uses voice recognition and even interprets Web-slang like LOL as "laughing out loud," and drivers can also record audio as status updates without taking their hands off the wheel.

Additionally, if you have an Android-powered phone with Bluetooth, OnStar can receive your text messages and translate them to audio and from there, you can use voice commands to send a reply (like "yes" or "can't talk--driving"). OnStar hopes to have an similar app available for the iPhone soon, but in the meantime iPhone users can download OnStar's MyLink App that shows you service information, tire pressure, and even offers the capability to lock your doors remotely from anywhere in the world.

New York's two main cable providers are teaming up to offer free wireless Internet in select New York City public parks. Before you head out, though, we should mention that Time Warner and Cablevision promise only three free 10-minute sessions per month; after that, you'll be charged $0.99 a day to get on the network. It sounds like a classic bait-and-switch scenario, and we can't see people jumping to pay for public Internet when truly free wireless access is already available in thousands of hot spots around the city.

Everyone complains about sluggish Internet, but a CTO of a U.K. ISP put his own pathetic broadband speeds to the test...against a carrier pigeon. The only thing more bizarre than the test setup is the result: the pigeons were able to deliver the 100MB of video by MicroSD Card faster than it took to upload the clip to YouTube. The stunt is a half-joke, but it makes a good point about the necessity for Net neutrality.

No voice-mails today, so it's up to you to call us up at 1-866-404-CNET and help out the show! You can also hit us up on Twitter or just e-mail us at the404(at)cnet(dot)com!

There are times when you may copy files or folders to your system and cannot access them because the system does not allow you permission to them. In the case of folders, you may see a small "no entry" symbol to the lower right of the folder icon. This may happen after migrating or copying files, but it can also happen when accessing shared resources such as network drives, thumb drives, or external hard drives.

The reason these files are not accessible is a simple mixup in the permissions flags for them. Usually when you copy files, the … Read more

Those users choosing to do their photo editing in Apple's Aperture 3 may find that when ordering a book they have created, the order window may turn white, resulting in a failure to process. This issue generally occurs after filling out the order form and clicking the "Place Order" button. … Read more

Cable companies' fight to keep local sports broadcasts out of the hands of some competitors is heating up as satellite and phone companies pressure regulators to take action.

On Friday, satellite TV provider Dish Network said it would file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Comcast for withholding the rights to broadcast regional sports in Philadelphia. Comcast's SportsNet channel owns the rights to broadcast live games for Philadelphia's major sports teams, including the Phillies, Flyers, Sixers, and Eagles.

Dish Network has been in talks with Comcast over the past several weeks to hammer out a deal. … Read more

Many people who go to the racetrack are casual gamblers, placing bets based on the horses' names or their lucky numbers. Then there are those who take handicapping a little more seriously. QuickHorse '10 Horse Racing Software is designed for those serious handicappers, and not only because it assumes that users already have a fundamental understanding of how horseracing and wagering works. We can imagine only the most hardcore racing fans taking the time to wade through this program's abstruse interface and difficult navigation.

The program was designed with neither form nor function in mind. All of the text … Read more