triple

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about cleaning up a Mac to keep it optimized, external drive permission errors, increasing the number of recent documents stored in the system, and options for triple-booting OS X with Linux and other operating systems. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: How to clean up a Mac to keep it optimized MacFixIt reader Angel asks:

How can I get … Read more

The 404 1,021: Where we're laced with Cinavia (podcast)

Stupid Andy sits in the guest seat and he has a bone to pick with Cinavia today. I'm warning you that this discussion is technically the first time we've nerded out about DRM systems so hard, but it's relevant in terms of resale, personal file backups, and the rumor that the next PlayStation console won't allow used games.… Read more

Comcast, Time Warner preparing to bid farewell to Clearwire

Cable providers Comcast and Time Warner Cable will stop reselling Clearwire's 4G wireless service following their agreement to hand off their unused mobile spectrum to Verizon Wireless for $3.6 billion, CNET has learned.

Part of the Verizon deal gives the cable companies the right to resell Verizon's wireless service, which will become the cable providers' exclusive partner once the spectrum aspect of the agreement goes through, said Time Warner Cable spokesman Alexander Dudley.

Both companies will slowly wind down their Clearwire business over the next six months, and plan to move their existing customers to other options. … Read more

Scrabble is better when it's bigger

Scrabble for iPad is a faithful adaptation of that classic board game much beloved by logophiles, with tons of cool extras and several easy options for multiplayer games.

What Scrabble for iPad does best is simulate the look, feel, and even sound of the original game, with sharp HD graphics, gratifying sound effects (letter tiles pop into place with a subtle click), and an interface that will put Scrabble-lovers right at home, including a virtual tile rack that lets you rearrange letters. (And in party play mode, individual players can even use their iPhones and iPod Touches with the free … Read more

The 404 804: Where we understand your plan (podcast)

It's Natali Morris' penultimate episode and National High Five Day! Wilson's back on the show after yesterday's trip to the New York auto show, and today we're chewing the beef between Lady Gaga and Weird Al Yankovic and chatting about a 3D porno topping box office records in China, a dispute over Apple's environmental footprint, and a pair of 2D glasses that just makes things more natural.

The 404 Digest for Episode 804

Today is National High Five Day! 3D porn movie beats "Avatar" box office record in China. 2D glasses make 3D movies more natural. Turns out Apple ain't that green.

Episode 804 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Strategy game pack

Strategic board games let players test their generalship in wars of conquest. TripleA is a free, open-source, Java-based pack containing several strategy games with single-player, multiplayer, and online modes, with more available online. Players manage vast armies of men and weapons, including ships, planes, tanks, and transports, supplies, and other resources. Rolling virtual dice simulates the random element in battle, but different values for various elements mean that strategy trumps chance, at least for skillful generals.

TripleA downloads and installs normally but requires the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) to open, but that's free, too, and easy to install. TripleA'… Read more

Comcast sales, income ride customer growth

With its acquisition of NBC Universal finally done, Comcast today reported a boost in both sales and earnings for its fourth quarter.

For the quarter ended December 31, the cable carrier earned $1.02 billion, a gain of 6.6 percent from the $955 million earned in the prior year's quarter. Sales grew by 7.2 percent to reach $9.72 billion compared with $9.07 billion a year ago. Both results managed to beat the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, according to Reuters, and prompted the company to lift its annual dividend by 19 percent.

With … Read more

Jack White's triple-decker LP

Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather) has a cool video demonstrating his "triple-decker," three-records-in-one 12-inch single, "Blue Blood Blues." You have to watch the video to see exactly how the technology works, but let's just say for now it's a 7 inch 45 rpm single glued to one side of a 12-inch single; but the 12-inch can be pried open to retrieve another 45! It's a limited to 300 edition so I'm sure it'll sell out quickly. The Triple-Decker Record is a Jack White invention; and it's assembled by … Read more

Sharp announces first 100GB Blu-ray disc

Blu-ray disc capacity just jumped substantially.

Sharp, a member of the Blu-ray Association, announced Monday that it's going to be the first optical disc maker to launch a new Blu-ray format that offers 100GB of storage space.

The existing dual-layer Blu-ray format offers a cap of 50GB per disc. The new format, called VR-100BR1, will use a new triple-layer standard that enables even more data to be squeezed onto the same amount of physical space.

According to Sharp, the VR-100BR1 disc is made based on the new BDXL format specification introduced by the Blu-ray Disc Association in April. This … Read more