Feb 15, 2011 | Computer technology, General, internet
Google is being sued by a company VoIP inc. for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to an online voice technology. Apparently this stems from a contract signed in 2005 in which VoIP agreed to provide Google with its patented ?Click to call? technology. This technology is supposed to give users the ability to contact companies and advertisers with a click of a button. As of right now VoIP could use the money as they are currently going through Bankruptcy.
It seems that Google entered into a joint venture with eBay and Skype in 2006 related to the type of service that VoIP was supporting Google with. Google did break the agreement in 2007 claiming they had breached the nondisclosure agreement by mentioning that Google was their client. However VoIP said that by them terminating the agreement was ?a pretext? to give the company an opportunity to exploit VoIP?s confidential information. This included source codes, algorithms and the ?know how? for monetizing internet calls in the dealings with eBay and Skype.
If you want to know the latest on the case it filled under the New York Supreme Court, No. 650380/2011. We will see if the Google giant can withstand this lawsuit. Only time will truly tell.
Feb 10, 2011 | Computer Repair, Computer technology, General, Software, Uncategorized
It just about that time for Microsoft to start doing what it does best, fixing issues with its operating system that didn?t have time to fix before they launched. Now don?t get me wrong, we also have some cool updates to go along with it but the service pack also provides fixes for your Windows 7 OS that you may need.
The update I am most excited about that comes along with SP1 is the Remote FX. What the Remote FX does is it provides 3D graphical updates. This will allow for full remote experiences including multiple displays. So the RemoteFX is able to do these renderings of the 3D graphics by locally rendering the screen image on the remote PC after being compressed and sent down to the remote host. This will help improve video streaming across remote sessions which right now is a major issue of virtualized computing.
Now that Windows 7 is over a year old it is about time for the SP1 to launch and I am actually very happy to see that they have added something as significant as RemoteFX. This will surely improve the experience of people who remote into desktops from home or work. Thank you Microsoft for adding a nice improvement to Windows 7 in SP1.
Feb 9, 2011 | Computer technology, Entertainment, General, internet, News
Sony is making an aggressive attempt to go after anyone who has posted or is ?distributing? the first ever jailbreak code for the Playstation 3 console. The company is not just going after these people but they are going as far as demanding Google give the IP addresses and any other information they may have of people who have either viewed or commented on the jailbreak video that is on a private youtube page.
This aggression stems from a lawsuit against George Hotz, 21 years old from New Jersey. He published a video about a month ago showing code that would make the PS3 able to play pirated games. Currently the video has been taken off the site as a U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered it to be removed. It does seem Hotz has breached the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
So DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) has been created for a civil or criminal offense to traffic in wares meant to circumvent devices protecting copyrighted works. However, one of the more interesting things about the DMCA is not what is in the act but what is not. If you were to perform the same type of hack to a mobile phone it would be completely legal. It seems that over the summer the U.S. Copyright Office exempted cell phone jailbreaking from being covered by the DMCA (somebody must have gotten slammed with overages). So if you have a mobile phone you can run the apps of your choice on a mobile phone without fear of being criminally or civilly liable for a breach of the DMCA. It does make you wonder why the government would let you jailbreak a phone but not other types of digital devices. One has to wonder the logic behind letting mobile phones be jailbroken but keeping a strong hold on devices like the Playstation and XBOX. Maybe the government doesn?t like their cell phone plans and just wants to torture the mobile phone providers?
Feb 2, 2011 | Computer technology, General, internet, News
Google and Microsoft have been battling over search results for quite sometime now. Google accuses Microsoft of stealing its search results for Bing. Microsoft says it doesn?t steal Google results. A lot of discussion ensues?most of it comical. The main thing to take away from this battle however is that Bing matters.
There?s no way Google would care how its public results were being used if it wasn?t concerned about Bing. Now the Google vs. Microsoft spat is extremely public, slightly entertaining and makes for great headlines. One of the biggest issue with this whole battle is that it?s a bit fuzzy where the inspiration started and where the theft began. But Google?s accusations and Microsoft?s denials and explanations are certainly notable. After all, this is the tech industry, a place where everyone builds on the ideas of someone else in some cases you could even say copied.
Here are just a few ideas that have been replicated over the years:
* Google?s business model came from Overture.
* Google?s Android army is arguably a rip off and attempted enhancement of Apple?s iPhone.
* Microsoft?s Windows franchise was born as an answer to Apple?s Mac to most. The reality is both Microsoft and Apple got their inspiration from PARC from Xerox. Both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs went to PARC and got inspired to copy a UI (User Interface).
* Google has a multitude of social experiments that look like Facebook and Twitter imitations.
* Isn?t Google Docs inspired by MS Office?
* Microsoft?s Xbox is the result of the Sony PlayStation success.
* Zune is an iPod replication.
* Microsoft?s Office got its start by emulating the likes of WordPerfect and Lotus Notes.
* Internet Explorer was an answer to Netscape?s Navigator.
Funny how that works, don’t you think? But that?s the tech industry. Most likely, Bing is going to emulate Google results. Google is the top search engine on the web at the moment. So what we take from this is that no matter how hard you try someone will always be around take your idea and mold it some how to their benefit. It just looks like Google is going to have to come up with new stuff to keep Bing at bay.
Jan 12, 2011 | Computer technology, General
Here at Geek Choice we try to help the people who might not be so computer-savvy or people who are new to using them. At this blog, that is our mission: to instruct, to teach, and to educate everyone who is interested in knowing certain tips, tricks, and general information from everything to viruses and security to basic functions.
For today, let’s look at taking “Control” of your computer. The key located directly at the bottom left of your keyboard has the letters CTRL on it. This little button lives up to its title, as it controls many short, quick actions to help you move around the computer more efficiently.
Below is a list of the CTRL functions you can use:
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert
Copy the highlighted text or selected item.
Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert
Paste the text or object that’s in the?clipboard.
Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y
Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would re-do the undo.
Ctrl + F
Open the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current page.
Ctrl + P
Print what’s currently being viewed in programs such as Microsoft Word or your Internet browser.
Ctrl + Left arrow / Right arrow
Move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you wanted to highlight one word at a time you can hold down Ctrl + Alt and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word.
Ctrl + Home / End
Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a document.
Page Up / Space bar and Page Down
Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet pressing the space bar will also move the page down one page at a time.
Alt + Tab or Alt + Esc
Quickly switch between open programs.
F1
Open help for the program you’re in.
Now that you know how what the pro’s know, let’s move on to programs that everyone should have downloaded to their computer.
Anti-virus and malware protection
Anti-virus: Avast! or?AVG
Malware / Spyware protection: Malwarebytes
Browsers
Although Microsoft Internet Explorer comes pre-installed on Windows computers, there are several excellent free alternatives that everyone should try. These free alternatives can often be faster, have more options, and in many cases be more secure than Internet Explorer. Try?Mozilla Firefox or?Google Chrome, you will be impressed.
Backup
There are dozens of free and commercially available backup programs for computers. Unfortunately many of those backups are stored locally, meaning if your house were to catch fire, get robbed, or if you simply lost your backup discs all your data would be lost. This is why when dealing with important data we suggest users use online backup services.?Mozy or?Dropbox are two options that give you the necessary solutions to make sure that accidents don’t turn into disasters!
Jan 1, 2011 | General
Since Windows 95 the incorporation of the Taskbar into the Personal Computer has made the interface much easier to navigate and use. Starting to the left is the Start Menu, which enables the user to click on and enter into recently opened programs like your internet browser or Word document, see what programs you have installed, and where they are stored in various folders. This is a great enabler of performing tasks fast and easy. To the right of the Start Menu is the Quick Launch, from this one click will get you where you want to go, it is?customizable to suit your needs as well. Next to the Quick Launch is the open view of how many programs you have running, these are called Tabs, which give the user the ability to move around to different pages by selecting the right tab. The last items are displayed on the right hand side of the taskbar, and this is where the trouble begins.
Many people do not know what is going on inside of their computer, behind the scenes, because if they cannot see it then it must not exist. This leads to the build-up of crap that slows the computer down to a pathetic speed which in turn pisses the people off. What is the problem? I do not download much, I only use email and the internet, how can my PC be so damn slow?
The answer is in the “Task”bar, the place where programs are visibly shown as running, or taking up space your computer. If you click on the little button that is marked by an icon “Show Hidden Icons”, and you see 10 programs that you do not?recognize? Chances are that your PC is close to breaking down because it cannot take the heavy load of all those programs.
These are “hidden icons” that you can now make unhidden by deleting them. Right click on them to exit the program and free up some memory. You will see the name of the program after clicking on it, make not of it and make sure you delete this program off the list. What list?
The list is over at the other end of the taskbar, in the Start Menu, located in “Programs” under “Startup”. Click on the Startup folder, what do you see? Is there a list of programs similar to the ones in your taskbar? This is a common problem that can lead to disastrous consequences if left unchecked. Take action and delete all those P2P sharing programs, random programs, ones you never heard of programs, so that your Startup folder (i.e. your boot-up folder) is empty. This will allow for your computer to use its memory for useful tasks upon loading, not stupid tasks like LimeWire or other programs that eat up all the space.
So the question is posed: is the taskbar all that it is made up to be? That being it is easier, faster, and overall better than other bars that Apple uses? Well it is up to you. It is all those things if you allow them to be in the correct use, such as regular upkeep and using the taskbar to perform tasks. If you let it go and do not care about how your PC runs, then no it is not such a wonderful tool that this whole blog was written about and devoted ?to.
The taskbar is not too much to ask, if gives us all the answers, what is there to ask now that you know the truth?
