Egypt Turns Off its Internet–How? And Why?

Normally I stay away from headline news, just because I don’t have to keep up with it anymore want to. But, this Egyptian Revolution has caught my eye…mainly because the government shut down the Internet. How could they do what Iran could not do almost two years ago. And could it happen here or anywhere else for that matter?

The Internet has changed all our lives with its ability to communicate news and common people’s views instantaneously. It’s scary when any government has the ability to turn off the flow of information. I read this morning that China may censor all news coming out of Egypt so their people won’t get any ideas.  The good news is that any government that does things like this will eventually lose the battle and the people who want changes will eventually get them. I hope the change coming in Egypt is for the better and not like Iran in 1979. - JRC

Egypt cuts Internet links

The internet and mobile-phone data service appeared to be cut across Egypt on Monday as authorities braced themselves for demonstrations backed by both the country's biggest opposition group and newly returned Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei.

How Egypt did (and your government could) shut down the Internet

How hard is it, exactly, to kill the Internet? Egypt seems to have been able to do it. But Egypt's situation isn't exactly the same as that in the Western world. And even though Egypt only has four big ISPs, the fact that everything went down after midnight local time suggests that it took considerable effort to accomplish the 'Net shut-off. After all, it seems unlikely that President Hosni Mubarak ordered the Internet to be shut down as he went to bed; such a decision must have been made earlier in the day, and then taken hours to execute.

IE9 To Be Released on February 10?

According to Microsoft invitations to an event in San Francisco on February 10 were sent out today: "Members from the Internet Explorer team (and some special guests) will be visiting San Francisco in two weeks to share some important news. I know it's an extremely busy news week already, but we're hoping you can join us."

Thomas Edison's (Mostly Correct) Predictions of 2011 Tech

In June of 1911, The Miami Metropolis published an article describing what technological marvels await humanity in the amazing year two-thousand-plus-eleven as predicted by one of that era's greatest minds, Thomas Edison. As it turns out, Edison hit the mark on many of his tech forecasts. Though most of his predictions are less in the far-out sci-fi realm than they were following the existent engineering trends of the day to inevitable conclusions. A fun read.

System Optimize Expert 3.1.3.8 For Free

System Optimize Expert is the real expert in scanning, cleaning, and optimizing your system for free. It keeps you away from the hassle of continuous system crash and sluggish performance.

Facebook Changes You Should Know About

If you are a Facebook user, be sure and read the two included articles as they should be of interest to you. One is good, one is…well…perhaps not so good. But, in any case you need to be aware of them.

And, check out the free software from Ashampoo.  Some good software here for free (I used their DVD/CD burning software. Excellent)…but hurry. The offer won’t last much longer. In fact, it will expire any day now. - JRC

Facebook to let advertisers use your posts in Sponsored Stories

Can't stop gushing about your favorite new gadget or your latest album purchase? If you're posting about it on Facebook, there's a chance your words could wind up used by advertisers without your knowledge. Facebook has begun allowing companies to re-post endorsements from users as "Sponsored Stories," and there's no way for you to opt out at the moment.

Facebook offers HTTPS browsing, but not yet by default

Facing a wave of criticism for not offering a secured browsing option, Facebook has finally added a new feature to browse the popular social network on a secure connection (https). However, the https:// browsing is not turned on by default and must be manually activated from an “Account Settings” page on Facebook.

The State of Windows 8

Only Microsoft knows how the next version of its Windows operating system will look and what it will be called, but big changes could be ahead for the OS that observers refer to as "Windows 8." At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 will support system-on-a-chip architectures using ARM processors. In other words, Windows won't be just for laptops and desktops anymore.

138,000 Holocaust-related photos now online, powered by Google

Because the collection seems to be based on Picasa galleries, all of the usual social functionality is built-in. You can comment on photos, and you're encouraged to share stories if you find the photo of someone you know.

Get $130 Of Ashampoo Apps For Free

If you're a fan of Ashampoo's apps for Windows, the company's Christmas giveaway is still running. This brings up up to 5 of their apps for free, including Burning Studio, Home Designer, Snap (screen capture), WinOptimizer and Photo Commander.

Hate Web Ads? We Might Have Some Answers For You

If you are like me, you hate to have your Web browsing interrupted by stupid advertisements. Well some possible answers to that conundrum may just be at hand.  Check out the two stories below.

Also, advance study on the Stuxnet Worm reveals that both Israel and the U.S. collaborated on this attack of the Iranian nuclear program.  Is this the start of a new kind of warfare?  Stay tuned…JRC

Stuxnet: Cyber attack on Iran 'was carried out by Western powers and Israel'

The Stuxnet computer virus, created to sabotage Iran's nuclear program, was the result of collaboration between at least one Western power and the Israeli secret service, a British cyber security expert has found. Tom Parker, a US-based security researcher who specializes in tracing cyber attacks, has spent months analyzing the Stuxnet code and has found evidence that the virus was created by two separate organizations.

Windows 7 and SSDs: just how fast are they?

Does a solid-state drive make a difference in the performance of Windows 7? In a word: Yes. Conventional hard disks are typically the biggest bottleneck in any computing environment. If you can speed up disk activity, especially reads, the effects on system startup and application launch times can be breathtaking.

Top 10 inkjet multifunction printers

These printers start at around $100 and combine a printer, scanner, copier and (sometimes) a fax machine.

Mozilla offers do-not-track tool to thwart ads

Mozilla, acting on a U.S. Federal Trade Commission proposal, has offered a detailed mechanism by which Firefox and other Web browsers could prevent Web pages from tracking people's online behavior for advertising

Google's Chrome browser gets do-not-track feature

Google just released a new extension for its Chrome browser that will make it easier to avoid ads on the Web.

Windows 7 SP1 Around the Corner

Microsoft releasing Windows 7 SP1 soon

If you’ve been holding off upgrading to Windows 7 until Service Pack 1 arrives then your wait may finally be coming to an end. That’s right folks, Windows 7 SP1 is on its way, likely within days.

Mozilla blocks Skype's Firefox-crashing add-on

Mozilla has barred a Skype extension for Firefox, accusing it of causing 40,000 browser crashes a week and of dramatically slowing page-load times.

Wireless Providers Target Final Frontier: Seniors

A slew of cell phones and wireless options are cropping up geared to the last untapped wireless horizon: senior citizens. Though senior-friendly phones aren't new, their lower prices and variety are. A recent price skirmish among wireless companies means that seniors can get an easy-to-use cell phone along with cheap service to go with it.

For tablets, does size matter?

Are 10 inches better than 7? Or are they just too much to handle? Conversely, are 7 inches too few to do the job well? The debate rages on as the world prepares for an onslaught of Android tablets and the RIM PlayBook tablet this spring, a year after the iPad shipped and created a whole new category of computing.

Free Calorie Counter, Diet & Exercise Journal

This is a free web service and application called My Fitness Pal to help with your weight-loss goals. Don't let the lame name fool you; this is a really great tool. If you tend to be a little obsessive-compulsive like me, you'll love being able to keep all the details about your food intake and exercise program organized and at your fingertips. You can create an account and join up for free.

Intel’s and AMD’s Newest Chips Compared

Intel's Sandy Bridge vs. AMD's Fusion: A Comparison

The two biggest processor manufacturers released their next-generation designs last week, and for once the news is more about how they're alike than how they're different. Both Intel's second-generation Core (aka, Sandy Bridge) CPUs and AMD's Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) combine formerly disparate systems within the same processing die, promising capabilities and communication beyond what we've seen before. So you might be wondering how the two compare.

What Would Apple Be Like If It Loses Steve Jobs?

The latest medical leave for Apple CEO Steve Jobs has observers wondering if he will return. And if Jobs doesn't return, could COO Tim Cook fill his influential shoes? The stock market isn't sure, and an analyst said Jobs "wouldn't leave if it wasn't serious." Without Jobs to strike fear in Apple employees, some will want to do things differently.

Netflix downgrades app experience by dumping DVD option

A small change to the Netflix service over the weekend generated some negative feedback from customers - something that shouldn’t come as a surprise, given how consumers tend to resist any change to products or services that they already like. But this time around, the company deserves the criticism, mostly because the change downgrades the user experience instead of making it better.

Confessions of a Windows 7 pirate

In the interest of research, I've been digging into message boards and forums run by unabashed Windows enthusiasts who are intent on breaking Microsoft's activation technology. I've had these forums bookmarked for years and stop in every once in a while just to see what's new. This time I decided to drop by and actually try some of tools and utilities to see if I could become a pirate, too. Unfortunately, I succeeded.

Send to Kindle Pushes Web Articles from Chrome to Your Kindle

Chrome: If you prefer spending more time reading on your Kindle than in your browser, you can quickly push content from your browser to your Kindle with Chrome extension Send to Kindle. Instead of relying on Instapaper as the middle-man to sync articles, Send to Kindle syncs the article of your choice immediately.

More Good Info on Smartphones

I keep hearing how the focus of today’s technology has moved from the desktop to the portable world…i.e. Cell phones, iPads, tablets, laptops, and netbooks. While I still believe most of us do our work on desktop computers (or portable computers), I will cover this new world in this blog, perhaps a bit more than I have in the past.

Cell phones have turned into portable computers. That is good for many of us. Frankly, I have a smartphone (a Blackberry), but don’t use the Internet portion of it very much. Of course, I am retired and don’t feel the need to be on the Internet 24-7. But many of you make more use of the smartphones than me.  So, I will keep that in mind when I put together this blog. - JRC

How AT&T and T-Mobile conjured 4G networks out of thin air

What AT&T and T-Mobile did was to re-brand their enhanced 3G networks (sometimes called 3.5G) by simply renaming them “4G” networks. Voila! In other words, this is mostly a marketing ploy.

Five Reasons Not to Buy a Verizon iPhone 4

For those suffering with an iPhone tied to an AT&T contract, switching to Verizon on February 10th seems like a no-brainer, but here's why you should look before you leap.

Mozilla Firefox 4 Expected by Late February

The faster, leaner, HTML 5-ready Firefox 4 web browser is inching closer to release. Mozilla official say they're just down to bug fixes. Learn more about what you'll see in February in this report.

How to Use Excel More Effectively: 10 Great Excel Tips & Tricks

I'm not a numbers guy, but I use Microsoft Excel all the time. I use it for story calendars, budgets, analysis and more. It's a great app, even for people who, like me, don't enjoy working in spreadsheets. One of the ways I make Excel work for me is by using as many shortcuts as possible. That's why I love these tips. By the way, they're not designed for experts. Instead they're built for people just like you and me. Enjoy.

Two great security tools get free updates

Two outstanding security apps, Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 and Secunia Personal Software Inspector 2.0, are now available. The original versions of these programs were great, but the new versions are even better; they're must-have software — and they're still free!

The iPhones Finally Arrives at Verizon

Verizon's iPhone news: Is it a dealbreaker without 4G?

The iPhone is finally coming to Verizon Wireless - and just days after Verizon Wireless made a huge splash at CES over the wonders of a blazing fast LTE 4G network, it appears that the world’s most popular smartphone won’t be running on it.

FAQ: What you need to know about the Verizon iPhone 4

The Apple smartphone has some variations for its new U.S. network compared to what's available for AT&T

Microsoft to fix Windows holes, but not ones in IE

Microsoft said today that it will release two security bulletins next week fixing three holes in Windows, but it is still investigating or working on fixing holes in Internet Explorer that have been reportedly exploited in attack.

Office 2010: a deeper dive

In every sense of the word, Microsoft Office is huge. Hundreds of millions of people use at least one of the programs in the Office family every day—in enterprises, small and medium-size businesses, homes, and schools. When Microsoft released Office 2010 to manufacturing on April 15, it kicked off an upgrade cycle that will last for several years.

Desert Moon is an impressive tower defense Time Waster

One genre I almost never cover is tower defense games. I guess I normally don't enjoy them all that much – it's purely subjective. But this is one thing that makes Desert Moon all the more remarkable: It's a tower defense game, but I actually had fun playing it.

Consumer Electronic Show Recap

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas wrapped up yesterday…and thank God it did as I am going to Las Vegas in a couple of days. Regardless of that, it was an interesting show, perhaps more so than usual. So, I present to you the best articles I could find to help you sort through all the happened.

I’ve also included an article on the tragedy that occurred here in Tucson on Saturday and the part that social media played it it. Very interesting reading. I will have more to say about it in my “Postcard” blog, later today. - JRC

Best of CES Awards

Here are the products that won the best products awards at this year's Consumer Electronics Show

CES 2011: Five Essential Trends

What a difference a year makes. Last year's CES was remarkable mostly for its complete lack of remarkableness. I have trouble remembering a single product I saw and everyone seemed depressed. The mood at CES 2011 was akin to the vibe in a locker room on game day or backstage at a big performance: Excited, energized and maybe a bit edgy.

CES 2011: The biggest winners and losers

The Consumer Electronics Show is the Super Bowl of the technology industry. As much as industry analysts and the tech press whine about CES being too big and being a relic of a bygone era, there's no better place for tech companies to make a big splash that will be remembered throughout the year, and in some cases for years to come.

The Giffords Tragedy and Social Media

Most everyone in the wake of the Giffords shooting wants to “do the right thing” in their online behavior. But in this instance, social media and tragedy reveal monstrous behavior.

Google Picasa 3.8 Review & Rating

There are lots of apps that help you edit and organize you photos, but nothing matches the features and functionality of Picasa. When you want to serious photo management or just want a place to dump photos when you take them off your camera, Picasa delivers. And best of all, it is 100% free. Read our full review for more info.

CES Rolls On Plus Angry Birds

The latest and greatest at CES

Here is a very long list of new products now being shown at CES in Las Vegas. Click on a product that sounds interesting to you and read more about it.. You may notice that it's raining tablets at CES. Fans of the slate-style computer have much to drink in from the likes of Dell, Samsung, Sharp, and many others. This Web page is continually updated so check in frequently.

The key mobile trends emerging from CES 2011

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, it's all about mobile -- and mostly about Android. Srictly speaking, that's not true; there were also plenty of HDTVs, stereo speakers, and other home entertainment wares on display, but the main events have all been about mobile.

Hackers find new way to cheat on Wall Street -- to everyone's peril

'Side-channel' attack on high-frequency trading networks could net a hacker millions of dollars in just seconds -- and leave everyone else that much poorer

Four free programs to help control Windows 7

Windows 7, like all powerful operating systems, can seem a bit overwhelming and give you the feeling you've lost control. Fortunately, there are some great utilities for taming Windows 7.

Download Angry Birds For Windows XP / 7

I'm not sure how a game that involves using a slingshot to launch birds at pigs became the hit of the year, but it seems everyone I know who has an iPad is addicted to Angry Birds. Millions of copies have been sold through Apple's App Store, and Rovio Mobile, the Finnish company that developed it, also released Android and Symbian versions last year and started the new year with a version for the Playstation 3. Now you can play it on your Intel-powered Windows XP or Windows 7 netbook, too - if you're willing to spend five bucks.

CES Opens Tomorrow–What to Expect

The annual Consumer Electronics Show open tomorrow for a 4-day run in Las Vegas. It is now the biggest electronics show of the year, featuring computers, TV’s, smartphones, tablets, e-readers, and much, much more. This is where the majority of all new products are introduced for the first time. I will do my best to keep you informed of all the great products coming out of this 2011 show. Stay tuned….JRC

CES 2011: What to Expect

CES 2011 begins tomorrow. Tablets, smart appliances, 3D, robots, candy tech and more will mark 2011's massive Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas.

Demand Net neutrality as a basic right

All free speech is converging on the Internet. Can speech still be called 'free' if access to it is controlled by a profiteering few?

Consumer Reports — AT&T Is The Worst Wireless Carrier In United States… By Far

Consumer Reports has released findings from a member survey which, as we’ve been saying for years, ranks AT&T as the worst wireless provider in the country when it comes to voice, value, and data performance. AT&T scored the lowest possible score in 8 of 9 total categories, only scoring the second to the worst score in texting.

10 great 'Do these first' tweaks for Windows 7

It's that time of year when many PC users are buying new machines and — ready or not — making the leap to Windows 7. Get off on the right foot: save time, trouble, and frustration by performing these 10 simple Win7 tweaks.

WinMP3Packer Decreases the Size of Your Music Library with No Quality Loss

If your music's starting to take up an uncomfortable amount of space on your hard drive (or small MP3 player), you can decrease the size of it by converting all your songs to Variable Bit Rate with WinMp3Packer (free).

Net Neutrality and Intel’s New Chips in the News

Happy new year to all of you. After the Christmas/New Year’s holidays, I am back bringing you all the computer news that’s fit to print, or something like that.

Maybe with the start of the new year, I should re-explain my goals for this newsletter. I write this blog/newsletter mainly for computer non-nerds…in other words, most of us that just want to get the most out of our computers without going into all the heavy-duty tech stuff. We just want it to work! But sometimes having a little background on what is happening now in technology keeps your computing knowledge current enough to make informed decisions about the computers you buy and the best software to use to be productive.

I recommend interesting Web sites, and software (usually free) that you may find handy. And, I also report important stories that affect all of us, like the Net Neutrality stories today. Again, I hope you find this blog/newsletter to be interesting and of some use.

So, without further ado, here is this year’s first blog: - JRC    

What Do the FCC's Net Neutrality Rules Mean for You?

Net neutrality is in the headlines again, but what does it mean for you? Is this just some wonky, inside-the-Beltway chatter that won't have an impact on our daily lives or an issue that will affect how we access the Web in the future? The short answer is: both.

Most don't want the FCC to regulate the Internet

Among the 1,000 "likely U.S. voters" questioned, only 21 percent said they'd be in favor of the Federal Communication Commission regulating the Internet. A majority 54 percent said they're opposed to government control of the Net, while 25 percent were left undecided.

Intel Officially Introduces Sandy Bridge Microarchitecture

Intel’s latest design in chips is released for sale today. In Sandy Bridge, the memory controller, the PCI Express (PCIe) controller, and video functions are all located within the processor die and can share data and power much more easily than before. And the microarchitecture has been designed in such a way that it will scale all the way from the smallest netbooks to the biggest servers.

Hulu adds playlists and streamlines navigation

If you're a fan of streaming TV and movie site Hulu, you just got a little holiday present: a playlist feature and a new navigation bar. The plus symbol near each video brings up the option to add that video to your queue or add it to a playlist, and the playlist option will prompt you to create a new list or pick an existing one. At long last, watching episodes or movies back-to-back on Hulu is a relatively frictionless experience.

Disk Investigator 1.5 (Windows)

Disk Investigator helps you to discover all that is hidden on your computer hard disk. It can also help you to recover lost data. Display the true drive contents by bypassing the operating system and directly reading the raw drive sectors.