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filters

Featured Freeware: The Filter

The Filter is a multijukebox plug-in for Windows and Mac that uses artificial intelligence and the All Music Guide database to create custom iTunes, Winamp, and Windows Media Player playlists based on a variety of user inputs, such as a few songs of your choice, specific artists, or music genres. It also works for video, including movies, TV shows, and Web-only videos.

Upon start-up, The Filter scans your entire music library, which takes considerable time if you have more than 10,000 tracks. It compares the metadata for those files against the All Media Guide database, as well as your … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 850: Cooley hates space

We try to get all sentimental about the demise of the Mars Phoenix lander, but Brian Cooley ruins it with his outlandish assertions about the uselessness of space. Plus, he loses his mind about the crappiness of the BlackBerry Curve. In sum, a good time is had by all.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 850

Mars Phoenix Lander completes its mission http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10092897-52.html http://www.urbanhonking.com/universe/2008/11/interview_marsphoenix.html http://gizmodo.com/5082385/this-is-my-farewell-transmission-from-mars

Flat-panel TV shipments begin their decline http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10093153-1.html

FCC OKs digital workaround for … Read more

Hot or cold filtered water at the touch of a button

Everybody loves water. In fact, it's one of those things that you pretty much need to love. Except, there are those few people who don't like "the taste" or find it "boring". (Yes, you know who you are). Regardless, for the rest of us "normal" folk, we are left to decide between tap, filtered, bottled, or delivery (even bigger bottles).

Municipal water is regulated by the EPA and is held to a stringent set of standards. (Bottled water, FYI, is safeguarded by the FDA). However, many people opt to add an extra … Read more

Windows 7 security: An overall improvement?

Since Monday, I have been running a prebeta copy of Windows 7, the next operating system from Microsoft.

At first glance, build 6801 of Windows 7 appears very much like Windows Vista; that's because enhancements to the look and feel part of the operating system typically come late in the development process. Right now, the core programming is being set, and there are already some changes in how Windows 7 will handle computer security.

Gone is the Security Center, introduced in Windows XP SP2. Instead, there will be an "Action Center" that incorporates alerts from 10 existing … Read more

The Filter returns with a wider net

We last took a look at the iTunes plug-in The Filter way back in 2006, so it's high time to see what this alternative to the Genius playlist is up to. Of course, when it first came out there was no Genius playlist, nor a Mac version--now that there's both, does it hold up?

Certainly the most obvious benefit is that although you do need to register to use the playlist, you don't need to hand over your credit card number to this Peter Gabriel-supported plug-in. These days many people probably don't care, but to … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 833: Adobe, the mad wizards of Orthanc

Anything that nerdy had to come from Tom. And it did. Rafe Needleman joins the cast today to discuss waiting for Windows 7 (Steve Ballmer says it's OK), the fury over FireWire being omitted from the MacBooks reaches a fever pitch--so much so that Steve Jobs himself sends an e-mail in response. His response? A fairly typical, "Sorry, suckers. Upgrade."

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 833

Ballmer: It’s OK to wait for Windows 7 http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10067641-92.html

Microsoft Considers “Instant On” Windows http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/1710207… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 824: I am the thumb

In today's show, featuring co-host Dan Ackerman, we discuss the benefits of being an independent musician (Dan says it's a great time!), the increasingly furious-yet-futile fight between the MPAA and RealDVD, Delta preemptively filtering porn on planes, and Kid Rock finding a home on the Web, regardless of whether we want him there.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 824

eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000 http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10058660-92.html

Judge temporarily halts sales of RealDVD in wake of lawsuit http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081005-judge-temporarily-halts-sale-of-realdvd-in-wake-of-lawsuit.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10058574-93.html… Read more

B+W infrared filters for digital cameras

B+W Filters, made by Schneider Optics, earlier this month released two infrared filters for digital cameras, the B+W IR 092 and the B+W IR 093. The IR 092 is nearly opaque and allows a small amount of visible light through, similar to a No. 25 Wratten gel. The IR 093 is completely opaque, allowing only IR light to pass through, similar to a No. 87 Wratten gel. Both filters are available with screw-on mountings in 35 sizes from 19mm to 77mm to fit a variety of lenses.

While most digital cameras have an infrared blocking filter built-in, … Read more

Clorox on Brita cartridge recycling: Not so easy

Drinking filtered water may save plastic bottles, but what happens when you need a new filter cartridge?

Last year, cleaning-product maker Clorox, together with bottle maker Nalgene, launched a campaign that struck an environmental chord with consumers.

In the Filter for Good campaign, the companies appealed to Americans to "take the pledge to reduce bottled-water waste." By investing in a reusable Nalgene bottle and drinking tap water filtered with Clorox's Brita products, they hinted, Americans could avoid littering the planet with 38 billion water bottles each year, thus saving the 1.5 million barrels of oil used … Read more