forum

Intuitive e-mail enhancer

PostSmile is a silly but fun program that allows users to insert emoticons, quotes, and signatures into their e-mail. The program's content is kind of ridiculous, but we really like the way it works.

The program's interface is kind of ingenious. The content--including animated smiley faces, quotes, jokes, and more--is arranged in tabs. Inserting everything into e-mail is a simple matter of dragging and dropping things into the body of the message. Using the program was simple and fun. Whether you'd actually want to use the program's content is another matter entirely. There are five tabs … Read more

Intel's Moblin 2.1 to compete with Windows

Could Intel's new Moblin 2.1 OS make a dent against Windows in the mobile and desktop markets?

At this week's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the chipmaker debuted a beta version of its Moblin 2.1 open-source operating system targeted to run on a variety of devices, including smartphones, Netbooks, nettops, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and in-car systems.

Moblin 2.1 will compete with other open-source operating systems like Google's Android and bump up against Microsoft in the burgeoning nettop arena.

Originally developed for Netbooks, Moblin 2.1 (short for mobile Linux) will come in three flavors--one for handhelds, another for Netbooks, and a third for nettops.

In the market for handheld gadgets such as smartphones and MIDs, Moblin 2.1 will run on Atom chip-based devices. The beta demoed by Intel at IDF showed off capabilities for touch-screen and gesture input. The new interface will also let users switch among different open applications and will provide shortcuts to social-networking apps.

The Moblin 2.1 Web browser will also support Flash and Microsoft's Silverlight 3 technology to run interactive Web-based apps.… Read more

IDF 2009: Intel plays to its strengths

At the annual developer forum, Intel shows off what it can do with silicon and what to look forward to from systems built around its chips.

Intel's Moblin 2.1 to compete with Windows The upcoming Moblin 2.1 operating system will run on mobile devices, Netbooks, and nettops, putting it in competition with Windows. (Posted in Crave by Lance Whitney) September 25, 2009 8:43 AM PDT

Sights from the Intel Developer Forum IDF is overrun by people in blue shirts and beige khakis, but there are still visually interesting sights at the event. (Posted in Full Frame … Read more

Intel brings Nehalem to notebooks, makes light of cables

SAN FRANCISCO--Intel has moved its latest desktop and server chip architecture to the laptop with the announcement of its 45nm Core i7 mobile processor, based on its new Nehalem microarchitecture.

Officially launched at the Intel Developer Forum here Wednesday morning, the chip is initially available in two standard and one Extreme Edition versions. Formerly known as Clarksfield, the quad-core chip combines Intel's Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading technologies.

"It's a 2GHz chip, but with Turbo Boost it can go up to 3.2GHz," said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of Intel's PC Client Group. … Read more

Apple digging into iPhone 3GS battery issues, users say

Battery issues with the iPhone 3GS have led Apple to contact some customers to get first-hand reports on what may be causing premature draining, according to users on Apple's forums and the iPhone Blog enthusiast site.

Apple's discussion boards have been buzzing with users complaining about poor battery life with the iPhone 3GS, which was released in June.

In some cases, users on the forums say the battery is draining while the iPhone is on standby. Other users say that after charging the battery overnight, it mysteriously drains after sending a couple of text messages or e-mails. Turning … Read more

NY mayor: Info to the people will improve gov't

NEW YORK--The state senate in Albany was in a bit of a shambles Monday. So instead of speaking in-person at the Personal Democracy Forum as planned, NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg used Skype to make his keynote address.

"Through the miracles of modern communication, we're essentially together," Bloomberg commented to the audience at the Frederick P. Rose auditorium here in midtown Manhattan. He then spoke about how New York is using the assets of the digital age to make more information available to the city's residents--something that Bloomberg can pitch well, considering he made a fortune as … Read more

Global broadband access on the rise

More people throughout the world are hopping onto the high-speed bandwagon.

Global broadband access jumped by 16.6 million lines in the last quarter, reaching a total of 429.2 million lines throughout the world, says a report released Tuesday by industry group Broadband Forum.

Despite the sluggish economy, growth was slightly higher in the latest quarter than over the prior three months, according to the report.

In this past quarter, broadband access grew by 10 percent in 20 different countries. The biggest gainers were India at 13.4 percent, the Ukraine at 15.2 percent, Egypt at 10.6 … Read more

On the security road to 'de-perimeterization'

I first heard the term "de-perimeterization" back around 2004. This expression was attributed to the Jericho Forum, a group of chief information security officers and industry leaders who anticipated a new business requirement and security challenge. Jericho Forum knew that ubiquitous global connectivity spelled the end of the network "walled garden"--private corporate networks protected by perimeter devices like security gateways and firewalls. As more and more organizations opened their networks, developed externally focused applications, and welcomed new, untrusted users, information security was bound to get a lot more difficult.

According to ESG Research, the 2004 … Read more

Plum Groups: Another way to bring your social circle online

Introducing the latest spin on microblogging: Plum Groups, which lets you create your own private stream of bite-size content to share and collaborate with a select group. You can add status messages much like Twitter posts or Facebook status updates, or you can share links, videos, files, or photos. Basically, it puts the ever-popular "stream" slant on the private group niche (you know, like Google Groups).

"Services like Facebook and Twitter are powerful ways to broadcast to large groups of people, but they stop short of keeping real-world groups like families, close friends, schools and co-workers connected … Read more

Symantec creates havoc with unsigned Norton patch

Symantec released a diagnostic patch for some of its older Norton products on Monday night that did not identify its origin and thus triggered alerts on user firewalls, the company said Tuesday.

The patch for 2006 and 2007 versions of Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus, a program dubbed "PFST.exe," (Product Information Framework Trouble Shooter) was distributed to collect anonymous statistics on matters such as how many computers are using the products and what operating system they are running, Jeff Kyle, group product manager for Symantec consumer products, said Tuesday.

Because it was unsigned--a result of human … Read more