Microsoft's new anti-virus does well

Sales have been good for Microsoft's anti-virus package.

I'm very surprised that it has taken them this long to come out with this kind of product, considering that they seem to have products in so many categories of software.

Check it out.... yet another option for your computing security.

(ZDNet news article)

Technology brings new political campaining methods

Check out this story...

It wasn't quite the candidate's doing, but I believe that they obviously saw the value in the exposure.

(CNN story)

Movies may be distributed as downloadable soon

I had read on how the movie industry was thinking of offering movies as downloads.

The payoff could be huge for them, depending on how they package this.... they could and likely would get a huge cut of the movie rentals industry.

You want to watch a movie, download it for a few bucks. I imagine it could vary.. can play once, twice, three times...whatever.

Possibilities are very interesting.

One thing I wonder is just what the service providers will do... because millions of movies being downloaded for DVD is major bandwidth.

Interesting to see how this develops.

(CNN article)

AOL gives out 5GB of storage.

Ok... back to blogging... it's been a while.

AOL announce that they are going to give out 5GB of storage space to anyone who has an AIM account. That's pretty neat. This service is something that has been charged for for quite some time. This is being offered through XDrive.

Check it out here

Google Checkout getting closer

That's right...

Google's answer to Paypal is getting closer and closer...

I have a Paypal account, but have never really used it...

Always interesting to see the new products and services coming out.

(Article here)

CPU speed record

Just imagine...

Some of you are likely reading this on a P4, 2+ GHz CPU.. Maybe a laptop with a Centrino chip..

Maybe some of you are viewing this with a PIII or PII....

At any rate... can you image your computer running at speeds of 500 GHz??

Apparently, a computer has hit those speeds.. but, it was cooled at 451 degrees below zero....

Just what did they run on it??

Windows??

(Article here)

Mind reading computers

It seems like some scientists in England are working on the creation of "Emotionally aware" computers..

Computers that can read your mind.

Now, is this practical or scary??

I suppose there would be practical uses... but at the same time, just how far would or should we want to go?

I know the answer is that we (humanity of course) will go as far as possible.

(Article here)

Google VS eBay?

Looks like the two may be going head to head....

eBay is launching a text ad system similar to Adsense and Google is going in the direction of GBuy.... putting them in direct competition with Paypal as a payment gateway.

(ZDNet blog article)

CBS selling shows on iTunes

CBS is starting to sell some of their TV shows on iTunes... which is very cool.
(Article, Associated Press on Yahoo)

But something that I would really love, is to be able to buy older TV shows through a service like iTunes, or Google video...yahoo video...

Like, Old Columbo shows, or McMillan and Wife.... I used to love watching them when they were on A&E all the time.

I love watching old stuff.

Big software companies lobby for net neutrality

In my opinion, this debate doesn't really make much sense....

The ISP's are lead by a pure "speculation" on increased profit margin.

A two tier internet, where users + businesses must pay for certains "levels" of internet access really does render the internet useless in my opinion.

As bland as some cable TV packages.

Do you know who I feel about certain TV packages? Probably not, so I'll tell you.

I really don't care that I can be offered 60 channels.. because for every 9-10 channels, there is only usually about 1 that I wouldn't mind having... and if I want to get another channel that I find interesting, then I have to pay for a package laced with more uninteresting channels. (Maybe this has started to change with different digital cable vendors)

An internet that stops me from accessing say small business sites, or sites where I discover new music, information that I'm researching for my profession (such as technical blogs...etc) is really utterly useless for me.

The main appeal for me and that has inspired countless big business models is the freedom that the net provides... if you have an online service you are selling, you're potential market is huge.

If I can't get the blogs, the independant artist sites, the web forums....etc.

I'm not going to even have an internet connexion any longer. Unless my employer pays for it. And it's only purpose would be to monitor local area network ressources or something of that nature.

Honestly, for the ISPs, I think in the long run.... it's very short sighted.

It's like shooting yourself in the foot.

But, like this article reads, Google, Microsoft and other large software heavies are against this two tiered system. Google profits, because I do alot of research for my job. So does Microsoft, Yahoo and a host of others.

So... I'm really not sure how they could actually do this without spoiling what they actually have.

(Article here)

Google spreadsheets

Google is again moving into new territory... They are set to unleash online spreadsheets...

Where up to 10 users will be able to simultaneously share a spreadsheet through their app..

I think that service based solutions such as these are excellent. It really does beat installing software on your PC or laptop... especially if you don't need all of the ressources available in the desktop software suits.. sometimes, for me anyways it's just overkill.

This way, all I need is my already installed web browser.

(CNN article)

Your old PC could help cure a disease

That's right....

If you've got an old PC that you're just gonna get rid of.... or sell for $20, why don't you considered giving it to someone like this:
(Article here)

Research teams that use old computers for the computing power needed to come up with (hopefully) answers to complex questions.

This is a great cause.

Adobe VS Microsoft suit?

Looks like Adobe may file suit against Microsoft for the use of Adobe's PDF formats in MS Office.

Check it out

Two tier internet?? Bad!!

I found this an interesting article.
(Article link is below)

I know there have been much talking in the US about changing how the internet is presented. Basically, you pay you get.. different levels of access, different levels of advertising power...etc.

I think that essentially, this kind of internet is a terrible idea. I understand the principal of corporations making money. It's what a business is there to do.

Providing me with a bland internet where I can't find people or information that I find interesting or slowing down access to these sites (like say community based sites) would literally take me away from my PC or laptop.

Gotta try and make a buck off everything right??

(Article here)

Google and Dell deal

Looks like Google may have won an upper hand in the PC software world...

They have recently announced a deal with Dell to include their PC search software on Dell systems.

(Article here)

MySpace - Attempted extortion

This was an interesting article...

Two guys found a vulnerability in the myspace.com website and hacked it to acquire the user's private information...

They then attempted to extort myspace.com for $150 000.

But, they got caught.

(Article here)

New technology could lead to 'super drives'

That's right.

Some research at Drexel university may have found a way to increase hard drive space.... dramatically..

Imagine if your USB thumbdrive could hold 32.6 full length DVD movies!!!

Impossible??

(Read on!)

Apple buying Adobe?? - Rumor mill

I found this quite interesting.

Apple buying Adobe, shortly after Adobe acquires Macromedia.
Apple would possibly be in a stronger position to compete with Microsoft.

(Robert Cringely)
(Remote Synthesis)

One huge storage device!

Fujitsu has launched the world's largest storage array.


This thing has 2760 drives! All 500GB!
1.3 Petabytes in all... 1.36 million Gigabites!

This thing can come with up to 16 3.6 Ghz dual processors.

Ouch!

(Check it out)

RIAA goes a little deep

The RIAA has been filing lawsuits against many people, for all of the filesharing that has/is going on.... they have filed many lawsuits, some of which made news reports..

This one, in my opinion deserves a little attention.

Apparently, they have filed a lawsuit against a man and his family for copyright infringement that had taken place (several mp3 tracks)...

There's one major problem.

This family doesn't own a computer.

(Article here)

Burst.com suing Apple

Burst.com is suing Apple over patent infringement over iTunes and the iPod.

(ZDNet article)

The internet - Powerful trading tool

That's right.

Check out this story.

A guy who starts with a red paper clip, and wants to try and trade it up until he has a house. The story would be unbelievable. But, this guy is really getting closer.

Imagine trading a red paper clip for one years free rent in a house.

That is where this guy is at!

(CNN article)

Great freeware list

If some of you are like me, you likely enjoy finding useful 'freeware' for certain tasks that you want/have to do with your computer.

Here is an excellent list of freeware.

Check it out!

Ever wonder how lucrative web search services are?

This is kind of an interesting article over at BBC's website.
(Article here)

I have wondered before, just how much money a company like google could make with a seemingly free service they provide like web searching.

An interesting read on the subject of searches....

Still anticipating Writely

As I believe I wrote earlier, I can't wait to see what will come of Writely the online word processor.

As some of you may know, Writely is now in the Google family.

Writely is now 'locked' in beta... so they are not accepting any new sign ups, as is the case with many of the popular Google projects.

I personally like the interface. And, honestly, I could likely do most of my word processing office duties with it. Which means, no need to pay for MS Office (although, I will readily admit you can do more with it), and no more installing software on my laptop. Which eliminates some of my "need" for OpenOffice , but.... I must say I am still in love with OpenOffice!

Anyways, in my opinion, Writely and apps such as Writely have a very practical use. Free software that you don't install on your PC/Laptop and carries no spyware.
(Unless of course they somehow load something in the background)

Anyways.... enjoy.

Some history of 'computing'

Last night I was spending some time surfing the net, just for fun... something I rarely do.

I came across a neat video on YouTube.

This video was shot in 1984 (I believe) and they discuss technology,computing and gaming consoles. It's almost funny to see now... ok, it is kind of funny.

Computers and technology have come so far now that it's pretty hard to recognize just what kind of leaps and bounds they were making back then with personal computers and game consoles.

This video also made me think back to the days when I had one of these puppies.


A Gemini gaming console...... man, I remember the day my father brought it home... they had all kinds of cheesy commercials on TV to advertise these things.

Memories.

I think I still have this thing in a box somewhere.

Purchase downloadable movies, it's coming soon

I'm surprised that this isn't very common as of yet.

Maybe, it's due to bandwidth concerns... but apparently movies will soon be available for purchase VIA the internet... by download.

Like iTunes and the other popular digital music services, movies will soon be online.

I think that it's about time....

(CNN article here)

Yahoo joins to PC to Phone arena

Yahoo have released their new PC to Phone services...

$2.99 per month.

I've used Skype quite a bit before... for PC to PC calls, I found that Skype was amazing. I've also used Skype for business calls... PC to Phone..

When it came to PC to Phone calls, I found that there was a delay that was quite noticable and anoying.. but I will admit that I haven't tried to do PC to phone calls for some time.. I imagine the newer versions of Skype are far better than the old.

The Yahoo service is quite interesting to me. I'll have to check it out...

The communications landscape has changed quite a bit in the last 10 years, and the next 10 years will surely bring more of the same.. especially with more big companies like this jumping in to the mix.

(Yahoo article)

Introducing the American Chopper PC

Here's a little ditty that might interest you if you're a biker or a fan of the latest "trendish" custom bike building shows....

I used to ride.... I wouldn't personally buy this... but it is kind of neat.
;-)

(Gearlog article)

For you music fans!

For all you music fans out there.... maybe you've dreamed of learning (or maybe you actually did learn) to play the electric guitar, bass or maybe keyboards..

Well, imagine playing the digital trumpet!

This is pretty wild.

(Gearlog article)

Google Mars!

Do you like playing with Google Earth? (Or maybe an equivelent)

Well.. there is a Google Mars!

Check it out!

Google acquired Writely

Some time ago, I had checked out Writely, an online document maker... and free at that.

I was very impressed with the site and service.

Well, Writely has officially joined the Google family of products.

I'm sure we'll see some great ideas come to life with this project.

(ZDNet article)

Software as a service like this has gotten a bit more popular. Something that really attracts me to this type of software, is that I need not install any more software on my laptop or PC. I only need an internet browser.

If you don't have that..... you can't read this.

Apple announces the end of the iMac G5

I've just read that it's official.... the iMac G5 is now discontinued by Apple.

(MacWorld Article)

There is even word in that article that if they run out of stock prior to filling the orders for the pre-bought items... the orders may be cancelled.

Google's GDrive

Google is planning on releasing online storage services.

"Infinit storage". :-)

(CNN Article here)

Imagine if you have many files on Google's system. Analyzing the type of data you store would also help them in their advertising products.

It's a good fit. For them anyways....

;-)

Intel's new cooling system

Check out Intel's new cooling system..

It's liquid cooled! In a computer. Pretty wild indeed.

Overclocking CPUs shall now begin.

(bit-tech.net article)

Screenshots - Google's new CL2 calendar

To view some screen shots of Google's new CL2 calendar system.

Check it out here

Part of IBM going Linux??

This is neat.

And, this is complete hear-say on my part (as is most of the net)...

But, I found this.

Basically, according to a presentation IBM Germany is not going to migrate to Microsoft Windows Vista, but instead will move towards Linux systems.

I heard of something like that a couple of years ago... a company, maybe Verizon (can't remember) had moved (in part) to linux operating systems for their desktops.

I've always been a fan of linux, having worked mostly with servers, I've found them to be very stable.

For the record though, I must say that the 2 Windows 2003 servers that I manage are also very stable running systems.

Competition is good.

Firefox passwords

Hey there.

I just found this and thought it was important.

If you use Firefox, the web browser... and if you use it on a shared computer... that other people have access to, then you should be aware of this.

Seems that if you use Firefox's password saving options, then your passwords are available for the other people to see.

(Read here)

Web users - 6 site average

I found this article quite interesting.... according to the article, the average web user frequents 6 web sites.

Doesn't sound like much eh? Considering the site claims there are about 76 million to choose from.
(Web-User article here)

So, if you've stumbled upon this site... thanks for coming!
;-)

I know for myself, there are a few sites that I frequent regularly. I actually frequent more email lists then websites (I think)... programmer's email list, support lists for stuff like that.

I've signed up for many forums of different subject types. But to participate in all of them would be a full time job. The thing about the internet is that there is a vast amount of information and products at the finger tips but to some extent time still dictates just how much of it you will get to know (about).

Some Windows Vista Starter edition screen shots

I found these screen shots of the Vista Starter edition of Windows.

Check it out.

I think it's always fun to see the new stuff when it comes out (and before)...

AT&T is buying BellSouth

They are going to be huge once this deal goes through.

AT&T is buying BellSouth for a reported $67 BILLION!

They estimate that the combined company could generate $130 Billion in sales!

That's insane.

From my point of view.... and I say that because revenue like that is far more than I'll ever see.

(ZDNet article)

A new energy source from mother nature

Ever hear about the possibilities of getting methane gas from Cow dung??

Well, some scientists in Japan have taken that one step further....

They have created gasoline from Cow dung. They have extracted 0.042 ounces of gasoline from 3.5 ounces of cow dung.

I'm not sure how efficient it actually is to make this... I wonder how much energy was taken to extract that amount of gasoline from the dung.

(Yahoo article here)

The article states that Japan alone creates 551 155 tons of cow dung per year. It would be interesting to see the Math involved!

If you are a big spender!

Ok.... check it out.

What would you do if you had a ton of money... and presumably.. you have a thing for technology... gadgets, computers.. whatever.. (what else would it be... this is Tech Watcher!.... ok sorry...)

Well I've found something for you big spenders out there... this is the ultimate.... well maybe but here goes...

A $3500 USB memory stick!!!

WHAT!!!!

I'm serious...

Gold plated, diamond added USB memory stick!!!!

Check it out here on Gearlog.

Man.

Blackberry has been saved!

The patent dispute over the Blackberry devices has finally been put to rest....

Research In Motion and NTP have settled for $612.5 million.

The Blackberry services continue.

(Great story on ZDNet)

PDA virus??

This is an interesting article and actually, I believe we should take note of the possibilities.
(Article by ZDnet news)

With the virus now appearing on PDAs and the talk of how the future could bring "smart kitchens" etc... basically household appliances would all be computerized and networked together... working together..

Just imagine a peice of software that would mess up your house!

TV, Media center, stove, toaster, coffee maker, refrigerator....etc...

At some point, gadgets and technology are pretty neat, we do so much more because of it... but at the same time the potential for disaster increases.

What do you think?

Microsoft maps - pictures maps.... new

Microsoft's online mapping system is very neat.

http://preview.local.live.com/

You can actually move around as if you were touring the city (Seattle or San Fransico at the moment)...

This is very neat... If I was in a hotel room, wanting to find a certain place, I could look for visual cues and hike, if it's not to far of course.... but hey I have walked long distances before... but that's another story.

On this site, you can choose to change the view, to "walk", "race car" or "sports car"... that is a little bit of a gimmick.. but what the heck.

I am impressed with the idea that this presents. Although, it is possible that this could also be used by some people as a tool to be a pest.

Know what I mean???

Google Base

Google recently released a new online service, basically a payment gateway...

This article talks about the possible threat to Ebay.

http://base.google.com/

It's a bit of an all purpose classified board really... you can post jobs, stuff for sale....

Google is always ready to move into new territory.

;-)

Windows to release 6 new versions of windows

Microsoft is schedualed to release 6 new versions of Windows later this year.
(Article here)

Vista Home premium, will have some of the functionality that the Media center versions of windows had.

I'm anxious to try these new windows systems out... to see how good they are with ressources like RAM and CPU...

The new ask.com - formerly Ask Jeeves

The new version of Ask Jeeves, the search engine, has been released.
www.ask.com

An alternative to the most popular engines... their mapping system is also quite good.

I will have to admit to you though, when it comes to a search engine and mapping system, I am a google junky.

;-)

ITunes passes the one billion song sold mark

That's right... it was announced today.

Itunes has sold more than 1 000 000 000 songs online.

That's alot of music.

The lucky buyer of this song (the one billionth) gets some goodies... nice surprise I would say.
An IMac, 10 IPods and a card worth $10 000 in downloads from ITunes.
(Story by TechWeb)

That's a mighty fine reward for buying a song!

Want a flying SUV?

That's right... a flying SUV!!

Some grad students from Massachusetts institute of Technology have been working on the design with Terrafugia, an aviation and manufacturing company.

Read here

Imagine flying around.... by the year 2009!!!

Now, I'm under the assumption that the highway safety boards would have to create a new class of license for this thing..... clipping power lines could be hazardous.

And, the estimated price is only $148 000!!!

;-)

Yahoo reverses Allah ban

Yahoo has reversed it's decision to not allow (and disable) any accounts with 'allah' in the username after a bit of a backlash.

While banning 'allah', they did continue to allow 'jesus', 'god' and a host of others.

You can read a bit of a personal account here.

Safari security risk

Patches and updates are a great necessity.

There has been a new security risk reported to Apple a couple of days ago. And reading about it confirms the severity. Basically, someone could attack you (If you are running the software of course) by you browsing their website... there is an "Open safe files" option in Safari that should be disabled.
(Eweek article here)

Update, update, update.

Windows servers sell more than Unix servers

I found this rather interesting.
(article)

First time since 1996.... tells you how repected the Unix platform is.

I've never worked with a real Unix server... but having worked with Linux servers, I know that they perform super well.

I've also had the pleasure (yes, pleasure) of working with a couple of Windows 2003 servers. And from my experience with those servers... they also perform very well.

The only thing that I honestly found a little weird was creating FTP accounts with the new IIS.

I wonder what the numbers would be if Linux systems were also calculated in those numbers.

I may look for some stats.

What's next with Oracle

With the acquisition of Sleepycat Software, Oracle now owns a competitor.

Berkely DB is the open source database server that Sleepycat was behind... and now 'belongs' to Oracle.

Something to take note of....

There are reports that Oracle is on the move to also purchase JBOSS and Zend.

I know that Oracle had come out with more initiative to support PHP some time ago. What could this combination mean for Oracle?

They are looking at acquiring a fairly diverse set of products... I would say it's a possible move.

Zend is the company that 'takes care of PHP'... so you could have a majorDB vendor less some competion and controlling a very popular server scripting language in PHP..

Keep your eyes open. You just never know.

Amazon in the MP3 race

Amazon will soon be releasing it's online music service... similar to Apple's Itunes (from what I gather).
(Read Wall Street Journal's article)

I think competition is good.

One thing that is very cool is that if a new album comes out, I can preview it, and buy whatever song I wish. Instead of blowing some extra bucks for sub-par tunes (I now some of you have had that experience... I certainly have).

Online media is big buisness.

Remember Commodore?

Hey,

You remember the old Commodore computers?

I do (ok, that's the hint as to how old I am)... well, it seems that the Commodore name is resurfacing after it's demise so long ago.

This article gives a bit of history. Interesting.

I remember using Commodore 64's when I was quite young (ok, I'm not THAT old).... playing some old basketball game... like Bird VS Dr J (or something like that).

Ah yes... memories.

Creating documents with Writely - Online

I recently found this online service. These kinds of things were what I envisioned as being a big part of the future of computing in years past. Computer software, delivered online.

Writely website

There are several companies developping or currently have such software deployed.

This little peice of software is nice. It looks very friendly (in my opinion) and does much of the basic tasks that you would do with either MS word or OpenOffice writer.

One thing that this does as well is allow you to post to your blog (supports a few APIs such as Blogger).

It also allows you to share your document with others. Which can be a very nice feature. One of the biggest assets to these apps is the possibilities that they open up with access. You work with a team... maybe you are all in different locations.. no big deal. You can share your files.

You and your co-worker can also work on the same documents and your modifications are sync'd. I have not personally tested that aspect of the software.

Certainly something to look at, can be a useful tool.

New Sony playstation delays

I've seen a few posts on this.

It seems as though the new Sony Playstation 3 will have a delay in it's launch. I've read reports that the cost of each PS3 would be $900.

If the cost of the needed technologies go down... so will the price of this monster.

But, if Sony can't deliver this in response to the new Xbox, just how much of their market share will they loose? And delivering the product at such a high price would certainly be disastrous (in my opinion).

Their stock market shares have also been shaken quite a bit by these troubles.

Articles:
Guardian Unlimited Business
Yahoo

Yahoo Mail bans use of word 'allah" in email service

If you attempt to create a new email address with the letters "allah" in the email address, it may not be accepted according to this report:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/20/yahoo_upsets_religious/

It seems that with all the stuff that has gone on, that Yahoo has decided to take some steps in a direction.

I wonder how many companies may follow this direction in the future.

Linux / PHP worm

A linux worm exploits security flaw in PHP.
(The Register)

This would be particularly nasty to anyone working with Linux servers (of course).

Second OS X worm

There has been another Mac OS X virus discovered.

(article here)

Microsoft releases a version of their new "Office Live"

Microsoft have made a release of their new "Office Live" which is aimed at small american businesses (10 employees or less).

Office Live

Oracle buys Sleepycat Software

Oracle, the database giant, has just bought out an opensource DB company Sleepycat Software.
(read here)
Oracle is certainly trying to grab a bigger share of the DB software pie by trying to acquire opensource database vendors.

They were also reported trying to buy the popular MySQL database vendor.

Lawsuit against "Grand Theft Auto" game

A lawsuit was brought forward against the makers of the video game "Grand Theft Auto" for hidden sexual content.

(Story here)


It seems that the hidden features are quite explicit.

If a child gets a game, the parents should know what is in the game. The child will surely find whatever codes he/she needs to access the hidden features. As it is in many cases (that I know of) the youth will master the technology's use before the parent....

It wouldn't surprise me if individual suites were to follow from the public. Because it is quite a deception involved.

New MAC OS Virus

Here is a report from http://www.theage.com.au about a new virus aimed at the MAC OS.
(Story here)

They report it as the first known MAC OS virus to come along.

Computer viruses are never nice to see. It strikes me as amazing that so many are targeted towards windows systems... even thought I am well aware that the windows OS is so much more common there are core groups of MAC users and also Linux users out there.

New video recorder to be released

Sanyo is to release a new "pocketcorder" soon.

Nice write up on CNET.

High definition video for your pocket.

Free image manipulation software?

Since my college days, I had worked with Adobe photoshop. Which, in my opinion is an awesome piece of software.

But, when I became self employed, I noticed that I constantly had to take my small budget into consideration. When having to work with image files, I started to look around at what was "out there". Then I found Gimp.

Gimp is a freely distributed image manipulation program. It has many features that allow you to produce professional quality graphics.

You can use it to touch up pictures, make poster or whatever else it is you need to do... maybe, it's designing a new webpage.

I have been using Gimp on and off for some time. Gimp also runs on different platforms.
There is Gimp for Linux (which is packaged in many cases), Gimp for windows and Gimp for OS X.

For more information on Gimp:
The Gimp Manual
Gimp Screenshots
Gimp downloads
Gimp for Windows

A free approach to office based software

Being one who has worked with computers for a good number of years now I've always been interested in trying new software packages and finding new stuff that I had never before used.

I've used a host of office based software over time and one that I have been using for quite some time is OpenOffice.

If you are someone looking for office based software such as a text editor, spread sheet program, presentation (like PowerPoint) , database software and have a limited budget, OpenOffice may be a good fit for you.

The cost of OpenOffice is a simple download.

And it is compatible with many office suite softwares on the market, which is quite important. So if you happen to receive an MS Word file or WordPerfect file, you can use it.

There may be differences in format, but generally it's not to bad.

You can find a host of information on the software and support here:
New to OpenOffice.org?

Nintendo's DS

Nintendo's DS... a handheld gaming device may soon be used to view the internet and/or television.

Later this year, the DS will have an add-on card with the Opera internet browser...

RIAA against CD ripping

The RIAA are against ripping CDs.
(Article to read here)

Obviously, there can be some damages if it's abused. Many lawsuits have come from such circumstances.

But obviously, the user's right to make a backup copy of a CD is important also.

Here's a scenario I encounter. I have CDs that sometimes make it in my car. Once they get in my car, they may be handled by myself, my wife or kids. The level of care delivered to the CD will vary depending on who handles the CD.

Making a backup and using it in the car saves my bought copy. I've been wanting to do this, but still haven't gotten around to it.

Makes sense to me, and I believe that is one legit use of a backup copy.

Microsoft warns of flaw in Media player

Microsoft released a couple of days ago (february 15th, 2006) that they found a new flaw in the Windows Media player, and that it could also affect Internet explorer.

Basically, this flaw would allow the execution of other files on your computer.

Always update your PCs. Windows systems all have automatic updates built in to the operating system, automatic updates is definately a nice feature to have.

You can find more on automatic updates here:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx