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Post by Spider on Oct 29, 2008 12:26:27 GMT -5
Source & Chart Online Retailers See Drop In VisitorsOctober 28, 2008
By: Steven Musil
Reflecting consumer pessimism toward the current economic climate, online retailers experienced a decline in visits for the eighth straight week, according to a report released Tuesday.
Traffic to a custom collection of 500 retail Web sites monitored by analyst Hitwise declined 3 percent for the week ending October 25 compared with the same week a year ago.
The declines mirror the overall decline in consumer spending the past couple of months. Visits to Hitwise's Retail 500 Index were up 14 percent from June through August compared with the same period in 2007, but then declined 4 percent in September.
"These declines have strong implications for the upcoming online holiday season as well as offline sales," Heather Dougherty, research director at Hitwise, said in a statement. "Everyone is aware of the role that the Internet plays to influence offline sales through research, so this slowdown may indicate a further ripple effect in sales in retail locations."
Online music retailers saw the greatest year-over-year traffic decline for the week of October 25, dropping 21 percent. Computers saw the second greatest decline at 18 percent, followed by ticketing at 12 percent. Toys and hobbies saw a decline of 10 percent, as did video and games, according to Hitwise.
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Post by Spider on Nov 6, 2008 13:05:45 GMT -5
Source & LinksObama-Themed Malware On The RiseNovember 5, 2008
Posted by Robert Vamosi One of the spam messages using Obama's election to entice people
to download malware. (Credit: Sophos) Within hours of settling the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, spam seen worldwide began incorporating the name and image of Barack Obama, according to various security vendors. The U.K.'s Sophos reported 60 percent of all spam seen by the lab on Wednesday was in some way Obama related. One piece of spam alleges to contain a link to video of Obama's acceptance speech. If you follow the video link within the e-mail message you will be taken to a Web page where you'll be asked to update your Adobe Flash Player with a file, adobe_flash9.exe, first. This is not an official Adobe update file and downloading this file may in turn infect your computer with a Trojan. Sophos named the Trojan Mal/Behav-027. F-Secure named it W32/Papras.CL. Sunbelt Software also has a blog about this particular piece of spam. Meanwhile, Websense is reporting a separate threat. An e-mail appears to be an interview with the new president elect. The e-mail features embedded links to a video site that attempts to install a file, BarackObama.exe. Downloading this file may infect your computer with a Trojan. _____________
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Post by Spider on Nov 11, 2008 13:47:42 GMT -5
Source Forensic tool detects Pornography
in the workplaceBy: Marc Weber Tobias | 43 comments [/color] Screenshot from one of the menus in the forensic-software system for analyzing images for pornography.  (Credit: Paraben)Pornography in the workplace can pose a serious problem for employers because
a significant amount of material is downloaded by employees during business hours. [/center] The viewing of porn at work can result in lost time, creativity, productivity, and employer profitability. More importantly, it can help create a hostile work environment and can be considered sexual harassment, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Naturally, corporations want to avoid the potentially serious legal consequences and protect their bottom line. On Sunday, Orem, Utah-based forensic-software maker Paraben plans to introduce a unique piece of enterprise software developed to detect and analyze images on workplace networks and computers for suspect content. The system looks for a number of sophisticated parameters and grades images at three levels, based upon their correlation with criteria that have been programmed into the system. The software, according to CEO Amber Schroeder, will also aid in the development of evidence for internal or criminal investigations in such cases. It's expected to cost about $17,000 for 500 computers. I interviewed Schroeder last week, during the Techno Forensics seminar at the headquarters of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), near Washington D.C. From personal experience, I can attest to the difficulty in analyzing large hard drives. Searching terabytes of data is incredibly time-consuming and difficult, so this software should provide a welcome tool for administrators and investigators. Schroeder told me that the program cannot discriminate between child and adult pornography, but it is extremely effective at rapidly identifying suspect images, either online or offline. The system is capable of providing an effective real-time monitor, as images are downloaded to individual workstations, and can definitely aid in shielding employers from extremely costly lawsuits. Even more importantly, such a program can help protect employees from the kind of invidious and offensive conduct that has been ruled as actionable by the courts, she said. While the Paraben software has been designed for the corporate environment, it isn't prepared to examine other problem areas: cell phones, PDAs, and any other device that provides access to the Internet. ____________
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Post by Spider on Nov 14, 2008 15:00:44 GMT -5
 Video Game Sales Soar in OctoberNovember 13, 2008
By: Steven Musil
Despite a slowing economy, sales of U.S. video games and hardware soared 18 percent from the same month a year ago, according to data released Thursday by market researcher NPD Group.
Hardware sales were up 5 percent to $494.7 million, led by Nintendo's Wii game console. Wii held onto the top spot by selling 803,000 units in October, up from 687,000 in September. The Wii, which has been plagued by shortages, has sold more than 13 million units since its release in November 2006.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 held onto the No. 2 spot by selling 371,000 units, a 7 percent increase over September following a price cut that month. Sony's PlayStation 3 came in third with 190,000 units sold, an 18.2 percent increase over the prior month.
Software sales were up 35 percent to $696.8 million, led by Microsoft's Fable II, which sold 790,000 units. Second place went to Nintendo's exercise game Wii Fit, which sold 487,000 copies.
Meanwhile, sales of portable video games were down 14 percent. The video game industry faces a tough holiday shopping season, following a bankruptcy filing by retailer Circuit City and a revenue warning from rival Best Buy. ____________________ 'S'
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Post by Spider on Nov 21, 2008 14:29:50 GMT -5
Source USB Devices Spreading VirusesNovember 20, 2008
By: Elinor Mills
USB thumb drives are convenient, popular and often free and
they're spreading viruses like sailors on shore leave.* The US-CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) issued a warning on Thursday that malicious code is increasingly propagating via USB flash drive devices. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense has temporarily banned the use of thumb drives, CDs, and other removable storage devices because of the spread of the Agent.bzt virus, a variant of the SillyFDC worm, according to Wired. We've seen this before with portable external storage devices. Floppy disks were the culprit in the early 1990s, followed by CDs. The fact that USB thumb drives are being used by so many people makes them an attractive target for virus writers. "The bad guys are intentionally developing new flavors of malware designed to propagate through USB devices," said Gunter Ollmann, chief security strategist for IBM's ISS security division. "They are today's floppy drives." But USB drives are even handier. Their small size makes them easy to slip into a pocket or carry on a lanyard around your neck. A common swag item in the tech industry, they also are mainstream consumer storage devices. They literally litter my desk drawers. There are a couple of ways USB thumb drives can be used to spread viruses and other malicious software. An infected computer can spread a virus to a clean USB thumb drive that is inserted. That USB drive will then be spreading the virus onto other computers if the operating system on those machines has an AutoRun-type feature enabled. The AutoRun function in Windows launches installers and other programs automatically when a flash drive or CD is inserted. The Mac has an equivalent function, according to Ollmann. For that reason, people should disable any AutoRun features and manually launch programs when using a flash drive, he said. CERT has information about the dangers associated with AutoRun here, as well as tips specific to the safe use of USB drives here. A virus also can be embedded in what looks like a normal file on a USB device, so that even if AutoRun is disabled, the computer will become infected when the file is opened. Thumb drives aren't the only culprits; any device that plugs into a USB port--including gadgets like lights, fans, speakers, toys, even a digital microscope--can be used to spread malware, Ollmann said. The devices can be infected during the manufacturing or supply chain process if quality control measures are not adequate, he said. In addition to disabling AutoRun, Ollmann suggests that people use an antivirus tool to scan their USB devices before opening any files from them and be cautious with files on devices even if they come from trusted sources. There's also the danger that the small devices can be lost, exposing the data on them to whoever happens to find them. A Swedish soldier was recently convicted of negligence after leaving a USB flash drive with classified information on it in a computer at a Stockholm university, according to an Associated Press report. And a British tax agency was forced to shut down its Web site after a contractor lost a flash drive containing confidential passwords and source code in a pub parking lot last month. So, feel free to carry a USB memory stick, but be very careful where you stick it.
*My sincere apologies if I offended anyone with this lead sentence.
I struggled to find an analogy that works for infections
spread by physical contact and which involve mobility,
and airborne medical outbreaks just didn't work.
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Post by Spider on Nov 25, 2008 13:36:30 GMT -5
Nov 25, 2008 | Read Full Story  [Chrome Logo]Why I switched from Firefox to ChromeBy: Stephen ShanklandI didn't set out to switch. But while using Chrome, it felt as if some friction had been removed from the Web. Now it's my default, despite its shortcomings.  Off-Color Remarks:Here's what's keeping me an active Firefox user, though: Chrome's lack of support for color profiles.
Most images on the Web are encoded with a color scheme called sRGB, but there are others out there including AdobeRGB and Microsoft's scRGB that can show a much broader range of colors. I'm a photography buff with an eensy-weensy photo business, so I prefer images to look as good as possible on the Web.
Apple's Safari was the pioneer for color management, and Firefox added color profile support with version 3.0 if users manually enable it. With version 3.1, Firefox applies color profiles for images that have been tagged with one. As a result, images on my high-gamut monitor at home look fine in Firefox, but in Chrome they're hideously garish and oversaturated. It's a showstopper for me when I'm doing anything photo-related on the Web.
I recognize my color preference is at odds with Google's performance push. Mozilla programmers found that supporting color profiles slowed Firefox 20 percent to 30 percent, though they reduced that number 4 percent to 5 percent with testing. Eventually, to get it lower, they went with a third way, applying color profiles only for tagged images, which caused only a 1 percent performance hit.
But Google hasn't even gotten to the stage of evaluating performance effects. "I don't see how any sites could depend on this feature if it's missing/disabled for 90 percent of users," said Chrome Program Manager Mark Larson in a response to a request to add color management to Chrome, referring to the fact that color management is missing in Internet Explorer and not enabled yet in mainstream Firefox. "I'm all for it, but it's definitely not a release priority."
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Post by Spider on Dec 4, 2008 15:52:29 GMT -5
Source   Billionth Logitech Mouse
scampers off assembly line
By: Leslie Katz [/b] Hunting down mice isn't my personal idea of fun, but this mouse mission might not be so eek-worthy. Logitech has launched a contest inviting people to track its billionth mouse shipped, a milestone announced Wednesday. A PR stunt to be sure, but also a nice chance to reflect on Logitech's 20-plus highly successful years in the mouse-making business (check out this cool PDF of Logitech mice that never made it out of the lab--hockey puck design, anyone?). But back to the billionth mouse. The milestone mouse's journey will be chronicled on Logitech's blog, Blogitech. Each day, the notable mouse (named Billie, naturally) will post online mouse-related questions. Get a question right and you can enter a daily drawing to win a Logitech product. Founded in a Swiss farmhouse in 1981, Logitech introduced its first retail mouse in 1985 and reached the 100 millionth mouse mark in 1996. Today, it says it sells mice in more than 100 countries worldwide and manufactures an average of 376,000 mice per day and 7.8 million every month. The company timed its billionth-mouse announcement to coincide with the upcoming 40th anniversary of the first public demonstration of the computer mouse (which, coincidentally, some might also peg as the 40th anniversary of RSI). Of course, with input methods like touch screens and gesture recognition becoming more common, it'll be interesting to see how many more mice from Logitech (and others) roll off the assembly line in years to come. [/color] |
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Post by Spider on Dec 12, 2008 17:37:19 GMT -5
 White House opposes FCC's free Internet planDecember 10, 2008
By: Steven Musil The Bush administration opposes a Federal Communications Commission plan for free, nationwide wireless Internet access, according to a report Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. The FCC has been considering auctioning 25 megahertz of spectrum in the 2155MHz to 2180MHz band. As part of the rules for using the spectrum, the FCC plans to require license holders to offer some free wireless broadband service. The FCC sees the idea, which is based on a proposal submitted to the FCC by M2Z Networks in 2006, as a way to provide broadband Internet service to millions of Americans who either can't afford or don't want to pay for high-speed Internet access. However, in a letter sent to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez expressed the administration's opposition to the idea, which could be voted on as early as next week, according to the report. "The administration believes that the (airwaves) should be auctioned without price or product mandate," Gutierrez wrote, according to the Journal's report. "The history of FCC spectrum auctions has shown that the potential for problems increases in instances where licensing is overly prescriptive or designed around unproven business models." An FCC representative told the newspaper that it had received Gutierrez's letter and was reviewing it. "We agree that market forces should help drive competition, but we also believe that providing free basic broadband to consumers is a good thing," the representative told the Journal. The FCC essentially threw its support behind the idea in October with the release of an engineering report that dismissed concerns about interference for existing providers. Existing providers like T-Mobile USA, which spent $4.2 billion in 2006 acquiring spectrum in an adjacent band, said that opening up this spectrum would cause interference and disrupt service. The report, however, concluded that spectrum could be used as planned
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Post by Spider on Dec 26, 2008 15:14:09 GMT -5
LG's new reflective display consumes up to 75% less power 
Leveraging LG Display’s “Backlight Data Signal Switching Technology”.
The use of selective reflection plates in existing backlight panels enables the switch from reflective mode in a high luminance setting (sunlight) to transmissive mode in a low luminance setting (indoors and at night). This is the first LCD panel to allow users to easily switch from backlight use (transmissive mode) to outdoor reflective mode with the touch of a button.
(Click) Wow, its just like a mirror ...
(Click) Wow, now its an ultra bright monitor
*Cool Indeed*
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Post by Spider on Jan 25, 2009 14:08:15 GMT -5
 First Look:
Windows 7 beta By: Tom Merritt, Executive editor, CNET.com
Windows 7 beta has been out for a couple of weeks now and we've had a chance to look under the hood. I did an episode of The Real Deal podcast about it with Rafe Needleman. Seth Rosenblatt from Download.com is working up a video on how to install it. I have a slew of quick tips coming, as well. But if you just want to see the thing in action, Seth has a First Look for you. It gives you a good overview of what's new (and what's not) in Windows 7.
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Post by Spider on Jan 26, 2009 8:05:04 GMT -5
 Test drive: Windows 7 on a NetbookJanuary 15, 2009
By: Dan Ackerman Still semi-jet-lagged from Las Vegas, one of the very first items on our to-do list was to install the now widely available Windows 7 beta on a Netbook. From off-the-record conversations with PC makers during CES, we heard that Windows 7 played well with systems powered by Intel's Atom CPU--which is something we generally can't say about Vista. (Although it's also worth noting that Vista, while making for a somewhat sluggish user experience, actually performed reasonably well in benchmark testing on Sony's new Vaio Lifestyle PC minilaptop, which combines an Atom with a more appropriate 2GB of RAM.) We quickly installed the 32-bit version of Windows 7 on a typical Netbook. The installation went smoothly, and the OS seemed to run well at first glance, but our wireless card wasn't detected initially. We eventually got that sorted out, and ran our iTunes benchmark test for a quick speed comparison (our test system had an Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and an 80GB 5,400rpm HDD). As the iTunes test is CPU focused, we weren't totally surprised to find similar scores, with XP completing the test in 743 seconds, and both Vista (with graphics options set for Vista Basic) and the Windows 7 beta hitting 760 seconds. (Note: lower scores indicate better results.) While our quick benchmark testing did not show a Win 7 advantage, we can say that in anecdotal use, the Windows 7 interface responded quicker and hung less frequently than Vista, where just opening the Start Menu or My Documents folder can be a slog. We're cooking up some additional tests right now, and will report their results shortly. It remains to be seen if Windows 7 is really a viable candidate for Netbooks (although Microsoft is purportedly working on a Netbook-specific build of the new OS), but if it is, this may finally give Microsoft the excuse it needs to retire the long-serving XP operating system. In the slide show below, you can see some photos of Windows 7 up and running on our test Netbook. Test Drive: Windows 7 on a Netbook _________________________________ 'S' |
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Post by Spider on Jan 28, 2009 14:56:39 GMT -5
 10 Firefox keyboard shortcutsCNET's Tom Merritt shows how to speed up your browsing with some quick keyboard tricks. See Video______________ 'S'
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Post by Spider on Feb 10, 2009 9:40:10 GMT -5
This is a neat idea Google Latitude keeps tabs on friends' locationsBy: Stephen Shankland | 41 comments[/size][/b]
Google Latitude shows your friends on a map--as long as they've agreed to share their location.[/center] Just because the Internet has broken down geographic barriers,
don't assume that Google doesn't care about geography. The company plans to launch software called Latitude on Wednesday that lets mobile phone users share their location with close contacts. Google hopes it will help people find each other while out and about and to keep track of loved ones. "What Google Latitude does is allow you to share that location with friends and family members, and likewise be able to see friends and family members' locations," said Steve Lee, product manager for Google Latitude. For example, a girlfriend could use it to see if her boyfriend has arrived at a restaurant and, if not, how far away he is. To protect privacy, Google specifically requires people to sign up for the service. People can share their precise location, the city they're in, or nothing at all. "What we found in testing is that the most common scenario is a symmetrical arrangement, where both people are sharing with each other," Lee said.  Google Latitude lets you contact somebody who's close by. (Credit: Google)_________________ 'S' [/color] |
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Post by Spider on Feb 27, 2009 17:34:58 GMT -5
Softbank is launching a promotion (For the next time you are in Japan)that involves giving away an 8GB iPhone 3G with a new contract. [/b][/size]  [/center]The 8GB iPhone will be free to new subscribers who sign up for a plan starting on Friday, likely to disappoint those who paid the equivalent of $235 (22,782 yen) in the recent past, according to CrunchGear. Softbank is also reducing the price of the 16GB version from $350 to $118 as part of the new "iPhone For Everybody Campaign". Softbank also cut the cost of its maximum data plan rates as part of the new announcement, from $62 a month to $45.60 a month. Voice calls and texts are free among Softbank customers, but if your friend or colleague is an NTT DoCoMo customer, charges can start to accumulate quickly at 20 cents for a 30-second call. AT&T's most expensive iPhone voice and data plan checks in at $129 for unlimited usage. Japan always seemed like it would be a tough market for Apple to crack. Unlike in the U.S., where data-capable touch-screen phones are a relatively new idea, Japanese mobile phone users have been playing around with advanced devices for years. In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Japanese iPhone sales were slower than expected, and there's no sign that anything has picked up since then. There's no clear indication that Softbank is cutting prices in response to demand, but Apple COO Tim Cook noted during last month's earnings conference call that the company considers the price of the iPhone "clearly elastic," meaning that every time it has dropped the price, demand has increased. Softbank might have the same idea in mind. _________________
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Post by Spider on Mar 2, 2009 14:40:22 GMT -5
 HEURISTICS
New Antivirus Software
looks at Behaviors, not Signatures
March 2, 2009
By: Elinor Mills It could be argued that security vendors are losing the battle with online scammers whose programs sneak onto computers and drop malicious programs, opening the computers up to remote attacks and turning them into zombies in botnet armies.  (Credit: AVG) The problem is that most computers today rely on antivirus software that blocks malware by checking the code in a file against a database of signatures of known viruses. With thousands of new viruses arriving each day, many of them encrypted in part or otherwise disguised with modification, the signature lists require frequent updates and many new viruses slip through undetected. As a result, security providers are turning their attention to behavior-based approaches for identifying new viruses, with software that focuses on watching for suspicious behavior, such as a program trying to write data to an executable program. Two security companies are set to make announcements on Monday that follow this trend. Antivirus provider AVG is introducing AVG Identity Protection, software that analyzes the behavior and characteristics of programs running on a computer and shuts down activity that looks suspicious. The software is based on technology the firm acquired when it bought identity theft specialist Sana Security in January. "The antivirus companies are flooded with malware to add to signature databases," with 20,000 to 30,000 new unique samples coming out every day, said Roger Thompson, chief research officer at AVG. "It's time to do something different."  (Credit: Damballa) Meanwhile, Damballa is releasing its Failsafe 3.0 appliance that is designed to discover botnet malware on computers by listening for communications between compromised systems and command-and-control nodes controlled by attackers on the Internet. As much as 5 percent of computers in a corporation are compromised with targeted attack type of bot malware, even with up-to-date antivirus and intrusion detection software in use, said Bill Guerry, vice president of product management and marketing at Damballa. Of a sample of more than 200,000 malware samples scanned by a leading antivirus tool over six months, the average gap between the release of the virus and its detection was 54 days, with almost half going undetected on the day received and 15 percent still undetected after 180 days, according to a Damballa study. Another company, Triumfant, announced behavior-based software last week that protects companies against zero-day attacks that arise from exploits of security vulnerabilities in software that has not yet been patched. Triumfant Resolution Manager looks for changes in attributes of the computer, such as registry keys, security and port settings, and performance statistics, and removes code that is suspicious. [/color] |
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Post by Spider on Mar 14, 2009 14:45:29 GMT -5
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Post by Spider on Apr 24, 2009 4:14:24 GMT -5
 Forget Your Password?
Use Your Phone.April 19, 2009
by Elinor Mills
FireID was set to announce at RSA 2009 on Monday technology that allows people to access multiple Web sites on their mobile phone without having to remember all the passwords.
The FireID universal personal authenticator app turns any phone that runs Java into a one-time password generator and generates the password directly on the phone instantly so there is no risk of it being intercepted and no waiting for an SMS like with other password-generator systems, said Jenny Dugmore, chief executive of FireID.
The system also works with multiple applications and creates a unique encrypted password for each session. It identifies the app and the make and model of the phone and downloads a version of FireID that is specific for that phone rather than a generic version.
The only password the user needs to remember is the one to access FireID.
FireID runs on any phone that can run a Java app, and the technology is compliant with the open authentication standard so organizations using key fobs can use it too, Dugmore said.
There is a Blackberry version of the FireID app. Apple is testing it on its iPhone and FireID is in talks with Google, said Dugmore.
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Post by Spider on Jun 5, 2009 13:14:52 GMT -5
 Sony Ericsson Plans To Make All Phones Green
By: Mats Lewan
June 4, 2009Swedish-Japanese phone maker Sony Ericsson on Thursday announced targets for reducing CO2 emissions. The initiative, part of its pre-existing GreenHeart program launched in September 2008, is intended to reduce emissions by 20 percent across internal operations and by 15 percent over the full life cycle of its products by 2015. Sony Ericsson plans to roll its green strategy into its entire portfolio over time, which is different from focusing on individual green products, such as Nokia's Green 3110 or Motorola's Renew W233. "We would rather have mainstream models that we sell in large quantities than one particular green model," Jon Mulder, who heads the company's product marketing in North America, told CNET News. "Our customers should first and foremost be able to buy a great phone, and--by the way--find that it's a green phone, too". One of three new products launching under Sony Ericsson's GreenHeart program is the C901, shown here.  (Credit: Kent German/CNET)Methods for cutting emissions include providing e-manuals for products to reduce paper usage, and using smaller packaging to decrease the transport-related CO2 footprint, recycled plastics, low-power chargers, and water-based paint that uses local water in the manufacturing process. Sony Ericsson is launching Three Products initially: the C901 GreenHeart, a new version of the Cybershot phone C901; Naite, a basic GSM and 3G phone; and the MH300 GreenHeart headset. Sony Ericsson's approach is pragmatic and low profile, Mulder said. There will be no GreenHeart logo on the hardware, only indications in some of the software. Sony Ericsson was ranked No. 3 out of 17 manufacturers of electronics in Greenpeace's latest version of its Guide to Greener Electronics from March 2009, earning 5.7 out of 10 maximum points. The company slipped from its No. 1 position with 5.1 points in June 2008. In March the same year, Greenpeace awarded Sony Ericsson's T650 the greenest rating among 37 products at the Cebit international electronics fair in Hannover, Germany. _________
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Post by Spider on Jul 7, 2009 21:46:07 GMT -5
By now you've undoubtedly heard the news: Until July 11 (or while supplies last), you can preorder the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99.
After the deal expires, that same upgrade will cost you $119.99. Needless to say, if you're interested in Windows 7, now's the time to buy.
My advice: buy two. Then, after Windows 7 ships (on October 22), turn around and sell your spare copy for $100. Obviously that's $20 less than the list price, meaning you should have no trouble moving it on eBay, Craigslist, or wherever.
At the same time, you recoup 100 percent of your investment and get Windows 7 to boot (literally).
Risky? A gamble? Perhaps, but to this day upgrade copies of Vista are selling on eBay for $100 and more. And that's two years later. The only real downside is that you're out $100 for about four months. Worth it? Let me know in the comments.
In the meantime, keep in mind that if you're a Windows XP user, there's no automated way to upgrade your system to Windows 7--not without wiping your hard drive. (Vista users, however, can upgrade directly.)
That means you'll need to back up your drivers, data, and the like, install Windows 7, restore your stuff, reinstall your applications, etc. It's a hassle, but in the end you'll have an outta-the-box-fast PC with a spiffy new OS.
 And a free one at that.__________________ Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog. ____________
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Post by Spider on Feb 6, 2010 5:54:42 GMT -5
 SecurityRestore Your PC's PerformanceNORTON.Com
By: Jennifer Martinez
Over time, you may find yourself wondering if your PC is running slower.
Here’s why it might happen and what you can do about it.[/size] Causes of System Slowdowns__________
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And a free one at that.