filter

Collection simplification

Collection managers are databases optimized for collectors. Tian's GCstar is a free tool that can not only help you manage your collections but also keep track of items you've loaned to friends and neighbors and even update your records automatically by fetching additional information online. It's an open-source project, but it's not some half-app work-in-progress.

GCstar opened with its main interface and a New Collection dialog showing numerous default selections. GCstar can manage any collection, which is to say a collection of anything, from digital snapshots on your hard drive to vintage cars in your garage. … Read more

FarmView filter in Chrome

FarmVille is one of the most popular real-time simulation games on the Web and the most popular app on Facebook, with more than 60 million active users worldwide and nearly 25 million Facebook fans. Google's free Chrome browser isn't quite as popular yet, but it's gaining fast, with a growing number of cool extensions. FV Feed Filter is a free Chrome extension that lets you view and filter your FarmVille feeds in the Chrome interface.

We opened Chrome and logged on to Facebook. We then opened a new tab and downloaded and installed FV Feed Filter, which … Read more

Combine and organize your e-mail accounts

I'll wager you've got mail waiting for you right now--probably in several different inboxes.

Gone are the days of having only two e-mail accounts: one from your boss for work and another from your ISP for everything else. Now you're likely to have a Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, or other free Webmail account--and maybe two, three, or more such addresses--in addition to or in place of your work and ISP accounts.

You can avoid having to open multiple programs or browser windows to view all your messages by forwarding mail between your active accounts. That way you've … Read more

People feel safer on a PC than on a mobile device

If you feel safer online using your PC instead of your mobile phone, you are not alone.

A majority 87 percent of people polled for a new study think their home PCs offer better defense against viruses, malware, and hackers than do their mobile phones. Released today by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec, the study (PDF) also discovered that people may be overconfident in the power of their computers to protect them as less than half are using full security software.

Though only 24 percent of those polled said they feel very safe using their home computers to … Read more

Kidtops: Best Buy to sell Toshiba Satellite L635

Whether you believe in a kid-oriented laptop probably depends on whether you have kids, and whether you like the idea of them fiddling with your own computer when you're out of the room. Accordingly, your reaction to the Satellite L635 will probably vary.

Toshiba's Best Buy-exclusive Satellite L635 feels at first glance like a larger-scale version of the education-oriented Netbooks we've seen from Intel and others. A ruggedized look, bright colors, and a easy-to-clean keyboard create that impression most of all, but in reality this is a full 13.3-inch-screen laptop that isn't much different under the hood from the low-end doorbusters you might see in retail circulars. We got to check one out recently, and it seemed pretty much like many entry-level Toshiba Satellites we've used before, except for its rubberized keyboard.

Besides size and capability, another key difference lies in its target audience: this is meant for home use, whereas many of the educational Netbooks we've seen, such as the Intel Classmate and HP Mini 100e are institutionally targeted, many of them never even seeing the light of a retail store. The Satellite L635 will be at Best Buy starting September 26. … Read more

Priority Inbox sorts Gmail

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: Priority Inbox sorts Gmail MySpace gives into Facebook iTunes song previews double NASA signs up for Flickr 10-inch Android tablet arrives

Safe and sound

The Internet is a wonderful thing, but not all of the content available online is appropriate for every user. This fact can be particularly anxiety-inducing for parents who want to give their kids access to the fun and educational aspects of the Internet but are wary of adult content, online predators, and other dangers. Integard Home is an extremely powerful and customizable program that prevents all kinds of problematic content from being viewed.

We've seen programs like Integard Home before, but none of them have been quite so comprehensive. The program offers six preconfigured profiles--young child, young teenager, late … Read more

Microsoft: IE8 barred 1 billion malware downloads

Internet Explorer 8, with the help of its SmartScreen Filter, has "blocked 1 billion attempts to download malware," Microsoft product manager James Pratt said in a blog post Friday.

The SmartScreen Filter evaluates URLs and their associated servers. If the software recognizes a server as containing malicious content, it displays a warning, saying it's unsafe to browse to a respective site that could cause harm on the user's computer. The user is then given the option to continue to the page or go back to their home page without downloading any content.

According to Microsoft, the … Read more

China's Green Dam may be ready to collapse

China's Green Dam software-filtering project has been staying afloat without government funds for the past year, but the project may now be in danger of collapse, according to a story in Tuesday's Beijing Times as covered by BBC News.

The project was launched last year in response to demands from the Chinese government to block pornography and other Internet content considered objectionable. Beijing initially wanted the software to be installed on all computers sold in China, but it provided project funding only for the first year, from 2008 to 2009.

The lack of funding since then has forced … Read more