Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Today…Half News…Half Tips and Downloads

I always try to find a balance between important tech news and useful tips and quality downloads. Well, I am not sure if you could call it balanced, but they are divided equally…and I think all of them have some relevance.

My balanced coverage of Windows 8 continues with some good info on the new operating system. Also, last week I mentioned my fear of the future for Android operating systems and tablets…well the not-so-good news on that subject continues to unfold. If you are like me and undecided between and iPad or an Android tablet, this article is well worth a read.

In the tips department, if you use G-Mail, be sure and check out the simple tip on making your e-mail better. I did it and it is quite good. And if you want to check out the new Photoshop 6, its free to download now (beta, of course). Whatever your interests, I am sure I have something here for you…-JRC

Richard Clarke: China has hacked every major US company

Cybersecurity advisor Richard Clarke is warning the U.S. that its major companies are being regularly infiltrated by Chinese hackers employed by the Chinese government to steal R&D.

Google Drive expected to launch in April: Is it too late?

Google is expected to launch an online storage service dubbed Google Drive, or GDrive, as soon as the first week of April, according to GigaOm. Considering how strong a leader Google is when it comes to cloud-based productivity solutions (Google Apps), it's a little surprising that the Goog hasn't introduced a bona fide cloud storage service yet.

Windows 8 Beats Windows 7 In Performance Tests

Windows 8 has been greeted with mixed reviews, some users just aren’t happy with the new Metro Start Menu, but one things for sure, they won’t be complaining about the performance increases. PCWorld have been carrying out some benchmark testing of their own and in all but one test, Windows 8 was quicker.

Windows 8 will support Retina-class displays

If manufacturers follow suit, Windows 8 tablets and hybrids will sport displays that rival, or exceed, the Retina Display on Apple's newest iPad. Writing in Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog, Steven Sinofsky directly addressed the new iPad's screen and discussed upcoming tablets with dots-per-inch (DPI) densities of at least 135. "Much higher than many of us are used to," he wrote.

Survey: 'Ice Cream Sandwich' can't stop Android fragmentation

Despite Google's release of the Android 4.0 OS last year, which was supposed to provide a unified platform for both tablets and smartphones, developers are still throwing their hands up dealing with fragmentation in the Android realm

Mandela's vast personal archives brought online

Thousands of handwritten documents, photographs and videos of Nelson Mandela have been digitized and placed online Tuesday in a massive archive of the life of South Africa's first black president.

A Very Simple Gmail Tip

Here’s a dead simple way to make your life in Gmail much, much better.

Photoshop CS6 Beta is a Free Download Packed with Content-Aware Improvements, Video Editing, and More

Adobe has released a free public beta of Photoshop CS6. It comes packed with all the features of the potential retail program which include improvements to the handy content-aware system, an expanded video editing tool, and more.

Download the Audio Pronunciation of English Words from Google

Here’s a little tip that some educators and students may find useful. You can directly download the audio pronunciation files of English dictionary words from Google and practice pronunciation on the go.

Fresh wallpaper, updated automatically

It's back! Due to popular demand, Microsoft is relaunching this free Windows 7 theme that sends you two new photos from Bing every week, updated automatically through an RSS feed.

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