filters

Befuddling lotto program

PowerPlayer for Pick 3/4 2008 helps users select lottery numbers for pick-three and pick-four lotteries based on the results of previous drawings. Or at least, that's what it's supposed to do. We found the whole thing so confusing that we're not sure what, if anything, the program actually does.

The interface is a disaster, a jumble of columns, numbers, and check boxes. It was easy enough to select our local pick-three from the list of available lotteries, but after that, we were stumped. A visit to the built-in Help file was practically worthless. Even the sections … Read more

BOL 1027: What's your major smellfunction?

On today's episode, we invent a new word that we hope will show up on a show like "The Hills" sometime soon. Plus, we get fired up, make terrible jokes about monkeys controlling computers with their brains, and actually work in a tiny bit of news. For example, Apple's doing a tablet and music labels are trying to sell some new weird digital album thing. You might like the "fired up" part better.

Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video) EPISODE 1027

Apple partners with music labels for interactive content for new netbook -- Sept

Microsoft in new EU browser offer

Confusion at Best Buy over rumors of a $99 Palm Pre

Installing Pre homebrew apps: now even easier

Netflix Prize: And the $1 Million Winner Is...?

ATandT blocks 4chan

AT&T said to block 4chan; pranksters fight back

Wi-Fi on ordinary cell phones

Aussie Net filtering trial deemed a success despite problems

Nissan's Forest AC blows wild scents through your ride, keeps you alert

Monkeys and scientists develop persistent "plug and play" control over brain-to-computer interface… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1005: I'm Bill Gates, this beer is warm

Bill Gates is part of a team that has patented a new beer keg. Sure it could be used for other things. But the point was we're pretty sure he came up with the idea when drinking warm beer in Africa. We also talk about porn on the iPhone and new Windows pricing.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video) EPISODE 1005

Microsoft Windows 7 pricing revealed: pre-orders kick off June 26th http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-windows-7-pricing-revealed-pre-orders-kick-off-june-26th-2547957/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10272703-56.html

AT&T’s 3G upgrades to … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1004: We have come for your units

Dr. Kiki from This Week in Science joins us to talk tech and science, and we realize that we will all soon wear solar-powered Gundam suits and travel the Earth. That is until they become self-aware and eject us and kill us all. We also take NASA to task and tell you when to get a new Windows PC.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video) EPISODE 1004

HTC Hero running Android and Sense UI http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/24/htc-hero-details-begin-leaking-from-htcs-own-website/

China not backing off despite filter code post … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 999: Gosh darnit to heck, AT&T!

Natali got a little flustered when we learned that AT&T is changing the subsidy so that folks who thought they would have to pay more might not have to. But it's OK: if you preordered, the company will refund the difference. So she calmed down eventually. We also discuss China backpedaling on the filter software, and the need to encrypt.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video) EPISODE 999

iPhone OS 3.0 wide release coming Wednesday http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10265918-37.html http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/17/stop-hitting-f5-iphone-os-3-0-release-still-hours-away/… Read more

Bing modified to enable porn filtering

After plenty of coverage about how its Bing search engine makes it all too easy for kids to find and view porn, Microsoft has made some changes that will make it easier for parents to block or monitor what their kids are viewing on the site.

In a blog post, Microsoft announced that it is making two changes the company thinks will help address the issue.

According to the post, "explicit images and video content will now be coming from a separate single domain, explicit.bing.net. This is invisible to the end customer, but allows for filtering of … Read more

Yahoo Mail gets in-box filtering by contact

Yahoo has added a small but useful feature to its Web mail service that lets users filter the contents of their in-box to see only the messages from their contacts. This means that if someone's not on your contacts whitelist, you don't see their message.

Short of Yahoo Mail's built-in filters and its connections sorting, this is one of the simpler ways to cut out any in-box clutter from people you don't know. However, there's some work involved on your part to build that list of contacts. To enable the feature, users must first create … Read more

Parents beware: Bing previews video porn

Microsoft's new Bing search engine has a highly touted feature that some parents may find troublesome. Bing's video search tool has a preview mode that lets you view and listen to part of a video simply by hovering over it with your mouse. Trouble is, it works with porn as well as "family friendly" videos.

I tested this feature quickly and with great caution on board a Virgin America WiFi equipped flight, being careful to shield the screen from fellow passengers and crew.

When I searched for a word that was sure to bring up porn, … Read more

A decade of drinkability

When I lived in Colorado, I drank water from the tap with abandon. It wasn't until I tried tap water from other places that I realized I had taken the crystal clear and fresh-tasting Rocky Mountain tap water for granted. I clearly remember drinking tap water that tasted like dirt once on vacation and recoiling in horror.

Now that I live in a big city with areas that are notorious for polluted water or old plumbing systems, I stand confidently behind my tap-mounted water filter and my filtered water pitcher. My complaint about the screw-on tap filter is that … Read more

Blocks too well

Web Site Zapper claims to block questionable Web sites from view, but it worked a little too well and blocked us from sites we indicated were acceptable.

Once activated, the program appears in your taskbar, but we found a lag time whenever we tried to access it. A tiny window appeared with very vague instructions such as Learn Bad Sites and Learn Good Sites. The Configuration menu lets you add sites you wish to block and sites you wish to allow. We entered URLs into each category, but when we tried to surf the Web, we were blocked from any … Read more