activation

Social media has ingrained itself so thoroughly as an instrument of activist organization that it's targeted by many an authoritarian government seeking to quell an uprising. This week, as protests descended upon the Egyptian capital of Cairo, Twitter confirmed that it had been blocked in the North African country. On Wednesday, rumors began to spread that Egypt was trying to block Facebook as well--especially since it appears that a Facebook "event" page had been how many of the protesters found out about the gathering.

Not quite. "We are aware of reports of disruption to service but … Read more

In late 2010, Vizio quietly released the 65-inch XVT3D650SV ($3,700), the first mainstream TV equipped with so-called "passive" 3D technology for the U.S. market. Earlier this week our review sample arrived, so in advance of the full review I'd like to present some initial impressions.

This is the first time we've had a chance to really sit down and watch a passive 3D TV, so of course our first order of business was to set it up in the lab next the other 65-inch 3D TV we had on hand: the 2010 Editors' Choice-winning Panasonic TC-P65VT25 ($4,300). Like nearly all other TV makers, Panasonic has embraced "active" technology for its 3D TVs, and for 2011, it didn't announce any passive 3D TVs.

For this initial look, I chose not to include comparisons with other TVs, for the simple reason that the Panasonic is the best comparison model to the Vizio I have available. It's the only 65-incher in our lab at the moment, its 3D performance is excellent, and its overall picture quality was the best of 2010. The Vizio, as the only shipping passive TV, is by default the "best" of its kind available.

I'm also not going to get into the technical differences between active and passive 3D, except to remind new readers that active requires expensive liquid crystal shutter glasses (at least $100 per pair in Panasonic's case; the VT25 ships with one pair free) that are relatively heavy and bulky; passive calls for cheap circular polarized glasses (Vizio's TV ships with four pairs) that feel like light sunglasses. Most U.S. theaters use passive technology, and in fact many theater 3D glasses will work with the Vizio.

So, seriously, which one is better?… Read more

The upcoming release candidate of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 browser is said to include a new feature that will let users selectively pick which parts of Web pages can load ActiveX elements.

According to blog WinRumors, which is citing its own sources, the security-focused feature will be included inside the first release candidate for IE9, which is expected to arrive later this month. The filter will come in the form of a toggle that sits alongside the recently announced tracking protection feature--the one that blocks third-parties from tracking user behavior from site to site. Together, the two features … Read more

Is there a design school somewhere that instructs students on creating goofy USB flash drives?

We've seen drives shaped in the form of engagement rings, bones, lighters, car keys, and skulls. We now get a drive in the shape of a silver .22 caliber bullet.

The tech trinket comes from Active Media Products and is presumably marketed for the NRA crowd or those people who, maybe as a result of the glut of bad teen-horror TV programming, fear werewolf attacks.

"The Bullet-2 drive is the ultimate USB drive because it is rugged, reliable, waterproof, dust-proof," Active Media … Read more

LAS VEGAS--3D isn't just plain old 3D anymore.

Later this year when the 3D televisions sets that debuted at CES 2011 start hitting store shelves, shoppers will find more than one type of 3D technology. CES a year ago was 3D-at-home's big coming-out party, led by Sony and Panasonic, which came with HDTVs that with the aid of special glasses could show 3D movies. Both brands used the same technology in the accompanying glasses: active-shutter. The same went for models from manufacturers like Samsung and Vizio that followed.

Flash forward to 2011: While many of the heavy hitters … Read more

Active Power is offering an updated version of its flywheel generator specifically designed for backing up microprocessor-based equipment, the company announced today.

Its CleanSource UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system is available in 480-volt (300 kVA and 600 kVA) and 400-volt (250 kVA and 500 kVA) configurations.

"Designed based on customer feedback, the G-Series is an enhancement to our current generation of UPS technology and is a cost and feature optimized solution for the 300 to 600 kVA power range," Active Power CTO Uwe Schrader-Hausmann said in a statement.

A flywheel generator uses electricity from the electric grid to … Read more

Binding to an Active Directory or Open Directory domain is done in many work environments to centralize computing usage policies and increase network security. One of the common policies that may be enforced by Active or Open Directory domains is that passwords will need to be changed every so often.

When this happens, the system will warn you in advance of when the password is going to expire, and in some cases you might be bugged continually if the password expiration warning is set at an interval that is close to the domain's requirement for password changes.

For instance, … Read more

Welcome to CNET's predictions for the TV hardware category at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. For previous shows--most recently CES 2005, CES 2006, CES 2007, CES 2008, CES 2009 and CES 2010--I've placed not-so-bold bets on buzzwords like "1080p," "LCoS," "iDCR," "xvYCC," "LED," "Green," "Internet TV" and, yes, "3D." My first bet for 2011: Don't expect to see any major new technology acronyms this year.

The most prominent trends of 2010 were the introduction of 3D--the biggest, … Read more

As Apple continues to make its case for the iPhone (and iOS) being a better business phone solution, bugs in iOS 4.2.1 are causing problems for people using Microsoft Exchange 2003.

The issue arises specifically when using the Calendar App for events. When accepting or creating a calendar event invitation, users find that the invitation e-mail will not send to the intended recipient. TiPb reports that the problem seems to lie with the ActiveSync system on Exchange 2003.

Also problematic is the fact that some calendar events (whether accepted or created), when added to the Calendar App on … Read more