Computer Overhauls: Digital Utopia for an Imperfect World

Adware and Spyware Removal Tips

So you’ve gone around visiting some shady websites promising free stuff or serial keys, and now karmas come to bite you in the ass in the form of malicious adware. Whether it has installed an annoying popup that forces you to download a shady antivirus program, or a hidden tracking program that sucks up your resources, malware is annoying.

Malware is probably one of the biggest reasons why your computer “feels” slow. Your once blazing computer that started excel in 4 seconds did not suddenly forget how to do things quickly. It’s most likely that there are things that are slowing it down. Malware is generally picked up by browsing through shady websites. Websites that offer free serial keys for legitimate programs such as photoshop/games are notorious for being a haven for malware. Random junk email also has the potential to infect your computer with a nasty Trojan or a virus.

So you’ve gone and infected your poor computer. What can you do? The best step is to install some basic programs that get rid of spyware/adware/viruses. Many of these programs are free. SuperAntiSpyware or Adaware do pretty well in keeping most of the nasty stuff from crippling your computer. An even better way to clean your computer is to run your computer in safe-mode and then run these programs. To run your computer in safe mode, click on the start menu; go to the “run” icon, and type “msconfig” without the quotes. Once the msconfig menu comes up, go to the tab that says boot.ini, and check the box next to /SAFEBOOT. After you run the programs and get rid of any malware, just go back into msconfig and uncheck /SAFEBOOT to boot back normally.

Running Anti-virus is also a good idea to keep your computer running smooth and uninterrupted. AVG is a good free alternative that you can run to remove any major problems.

Some viruses/malware are particularly destructive, and will prevent you from running an antivirus program, or the anti-virus program might not even pick up on your specific problem. The best way to deal with this? Google. Even typing a general description of the problem into Google will probably yield you 10 answers from people who have already gone through the same virus as you have. The world is full of people who are diseased so don’t be afraid to seek help on Google.

If all this fails, you can reformat your computer which will guarantee that your computer returns to the pristine state that it came in; provided there are no hardware issues. If you’re not sure, grab the nearest geek, or bring it to a computer service firm. Maybe even ours.

iPhone Review and Impressions

After a long break, we're back to updating our lovely blog. So without further ado, heres a quick review of the new iPhone 3GS.

It’s a little bit late, but here’s my take on the new iPhone 3GS.

The 3GS is virtually identical to the 3G. There is no fancy “S” that brands it as the newer phone, no new trim, nor are there any weight/size cuts. The 3GS is actually a tiny bit heavier than the 3G, but the difference is negligible. Side by side, they are identical, but 3GS users can still snicker at their 3G buddies because while there are no differences in physical appearance, there are still significant changes that are hidden from plain sight.

The first noticeable change regards the new screen that the 3GS uses. Called an oleophobic screen, it is essentially a screen that is impervious to the sweaty, oily fingers that assault it every day. Granted fingerprints still do show, but with one swipe of your t-shirt, the screen is magically clear. Gone are the smudges that plagued 3G users. This devil magic is explained in all of its scientific glory by Bill Nye the Science Guy on Gizmodo.com. Unfortunately for the 3GS, it still uses the same back cover as the 3G which still attracts fingerprints like crazy. Why they didn’t go with a matte color option I’ll never know.

Now for the meat and potatoes of the 3GS. The “S” as you probably know by now stands for speed. Both the CPU and GPU for the 3GS have been upgraded. The CPU goes from 400mhz to 600mhz and the ram has increased from 128 to 256. Couple that with a new GPU architecture, and you get a much, much quicker iPhone. Webpages using wifi loaded more than 2x as quickly as the 3G, and apps that require heavy preload were noticeably faster as well. Look around the web, and you have many developers salivating at the chance to test the 3GS’s power. Already there are videos on youtube where the 3GS is seen playing a Final Fantasy VII rom at a buttery smooth 60fps. Using spotlight search (left flick from home screen), queries came up much faster, and the phone in general feels like it’s been reformatted afresh. The 3GS also comes with support for AT&T’s eventual upgrade to their 3G network (up to 7.2mbps).

Along with an upgrade to the CPU/GPU, the 3GS also gets a camera upgrade. It now sports a 3.0-megapixel camera that you can auto-focus by tapping on the screen. The 3GS also better compensates in terms of white/color balance and exposure. Unfortunately, low light conditions still can trip up the 3GS just like the 3G. The 3GS also comes with video recording. Although it can’t record in HD, it still pulls a respectable 30fps video (perfect for youtube). With the ability to directly upload to youtube, as well as on the spot video trimming (no splicing), the 3GS will satisfy most of the demand for a functional/basic video recorder.

The 3GS also comes with a compass. Although not as sexy as an accelerometer, the compass shows some extremely useful qualities particularly with google maps. After google maps finds your position, you can tap the find me button once again, and it will show you a “pov cone” that points in the direction you’re facing. It also reorients the map so that it shows you exactly what part of the map you are facing. When you’re walking around a city with grids like NYC, or coming out of a subway, this can easily save you a ton of time should you happen to get lost, and get forced to walk down a block just to see where you are. Unfortunately, the compass seems to lose its accuracy when you’re in a car. Whether it’s due to interference, or just the speed, the compass loses its bearing easily and just spins around.

Along with the 3GS release is the release of OS 3.0 for all iPhones/iPod Touches. The most significant addition to the OS was support for copy/paste, and it works gloriously. Selecting entire paragraphs is just as easy as selecting one word. Now that the iPhone has native support for video recording, and copy paste, Apple is probably trying to discourage any more people from trying to jailbreak their iPhones. With AT&T promising support for MMS and tethering within a couple months, it should eliminate some of the most compelling reasons for users to jailbreak their phones.  Apple has already released a beta version of 3.0.1 which when released fully, will address some of the battery life issues that 3.0 seemed to bring. The new OS seems to drain battery life much more quickly than the older OS. However, even if the new OS drains the battery quicker, the new 3GS has improved battery life when it comes to wifi use as well as audio playback and 3G talk time.

The 3GS also comes with voice control support that works pretty well, but is probably limited to car use. Personally, I don’t see myself talking out loud in the middle of a street commanding my iPhone to call or to skip a track, but if that’s your thing more power to you.

All in all the 3GS is one hell of a phone. If you’re looking for a smartphone that can act as your one stop multimedia machine, the 3GS has just about everything you could ever need. If you’re a first time buyer, there is no question that you should drop the extra 100$ to buy the 199$ 3GS over the 99$ 3G. There is also good news for existing 3G users who are not eligible for the “early upgrade” price. Even though you are not yet eligible for an upgrade, AT&T has offered to subsidize the 3GS for all existing 3G users up until September of 09. So instead of paying the 399$ to purchase the 3GS, 3G users will be able to purchase at the same early upgrade cost as the others. This is great because it sets the stage for those 3GS users who might want to upgrade when the next generation iPhone comes out in the future. Because let’s face it, once you use an iPhone, it’s hard to ever go back to a regular phone.

The Cuil Search Engine really sucks. (but don't tell the MSM)

Have you heard about the new "Google Killer", the Cuil search engine?  Well, the main stream media (MSM) sure has.

Ex-Googlers reinvent web search
Ain't It Cuil? New Search  Engine Challenges Google
Will Cuil Kill Google?
How cool is Cuill?
Former Employees of Google Prepare Rival Search Engine
Google This--Rival Search Engine Launched Today

But Cuil is horrible.  It fails at basic things like finding "mexican restaurants 11232" and more complex things like "how many days are in a year" (note the sarcasm, and yet Cuil returns 0 results).

So far investors have thrown more than 33 million dollars into Cuil.  No doubt too many of their dollars went into slick packaging and the marketing hype, but hype should not be mistaken for "buzz".  Buzz is always product driven (think the iPhone), and hype is marketing driven (the Segway, Cuil).  Consumers are smart enough to parse out the differences and Cuil is already generating backlash from consumers and the media alike after the hype (like it so often does in cases like this) failed to meet the product on the ground.

So how did this happen?  How did so many people get tricked into believing that this new search engine would in any shape or form challence Google?  Part of the answer is the media's reliance on corprorate spokepeople for access.  If the media wants a juicy quote or information they can't go about pissing off the people who give them that access.  This is inherent to the business and is unfortuetnly a neceassary evil.  But at some point it seems that healthy skepticism (epsecially when non-tech writers write about new tech) mostly has gone out the window. 

In this case all the media needed to know was that two ex-Google employees with big money behind them had created a search engine to challenge Google -- facts (i.e. that it sucks) were not part of the narrative.  Or they were part of the narrative, but an inconvenient one.

The lesson of course of that skeptiscm remain at the forefront of good journalism, just as it's at the foreront of smart consuming. 

Xbox 360 Price Drops

The not so secret 360 price drop has hit retailers, and the 20GB version with HDMI and an updated cooling system (important for addressing the reliability issues of previous generation 360) can now be had for only $299.

Buy.com has the refurbished "premium" system for only $222 shipped, although it lacks both hard drive and HDMI.  Although it's easy to add a hard drive, the increased reliability of the new units going for $299 makes them a better long term buy.

Buyers' Guide for Late Year 2008 and the Holidays

There are only two times to buy technology: now or never -- with a few caveats!

Mid Summer is always an exciting time for technology as the manufacturers rush to get their products to market before the crazed Holiday shopping season.  This year is no exception, as Intel is rushing to get their new Nehalen processors out, ATI and Nvidia churn out their next generation of graphics, and Google spars with Apple as they try and get out their Android phone before Christmas to compete with the iPhone 2.0.

For tech consumers, it's an exciting time but also a confusing one, filled with trepidation about buying a product that might not look so hot as soon as the latest gadget comes out to replace it.  Last year, anyone who purchased a HD-DVD player was almost immedietely slammed with a case of buyers' remorse as Blu-Ray quickly overtook HD-DVD as the next format of choice for all the major Holywood studios.  Muddying the waters, it wasn't at all clear, even with a good amount of research, exactly what type of DVD player was going to win. 

This year doesn't have any epic battles like HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray, but as always, it's best to do your homework before making any major decisions.  Regardless of what you purchase this year, remember to always follow this creed: the time to buy tech is now or never.  There will always be a better product down the road, and waiting and waiting and waiting is an endless feedback loop that will always leave you unsatisified.  It's best to do your research and pull the trigger immediately.

Here are a view general tips on making good decisions as the holiday season approaches:

All the Computer $1000 Can Buy

I thought I'd post some pictures of my now complete new computer.  Everything I put together myself after much time and thorough research.  Everything except the monintor was Newegg.  Everything except the video card was purchased before New York got their greedy paws into online commerce and taxed online purchases.

Specs:

SHUTTLE SG31GS2 BAREBONES (~$230)
Intel e8400 3.25GHZ (~$200)
4GB G-Skill PC6400 5-5-5-25 DDR2 RAM (~$85)
Western Digital WD6400AAKS (~$110)
EVGA Nvidia 8800GT (Overclocked 725/2000) (~$169)
16x SATA DVD-RAM (Took it out of Dell Vostro LOL) (FREE OH YEA)
Vista 64 Ultimate (UH, YEA.)
I-Inc 19" LCD (~$159)

 

Saving Lives one Protein Fold at a Time

Despite all the efforts of modern medicine many diseases such as cancer and Altzheimer's dissease continue to riddle even our most advanced and best methods of treatment.  Solving these problems and curing these diseases remains a lofty goal -- but there is a way you can help just by donating some of your computer's processing power.

The Folding Project at Stanford  takes advantage of distributed computing (breaking up complex tasks among millions of computers using the Internet) to greater understand the complexities of protein folding.

The science is a bit complicated but very simplified proteins are the building blocks of life.  "Folding" is the process by which proteins for more complex molecules (such as enzymes and antibodies) are formed.  The process happens amazingly quickly and it takes an average computer about a day just to simulate the amount of protein folding that takes place in 1 nanosecond!

But when the engineers at Stanford link millions of computers across the planet they can harness enough power to simulate folding at a much faster pace -- speeding along the cures for cancer and other deadly diseases.

If you'd like to get involved and feel good about helping a good cause vist the Stanford Folding Projects's website and start folding today!

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Vista

PROS:

• Aero Interface makes using PC a much more elegant experience
• Directx10 support for next generation games and multimedia
• More intuitive file organization and hardware integration
  

CONS:

• Requires a high-end PC to run properly
• Expensive for most useful "Ultimate" 64 bit edition
• Requires re-learning some features to use efficiently

I used to hate the whole idea of Vista -- a unnecessarily bulky operating system from Microsoft that didn't offer much if any advantages to make it worth the price and hassle of upgrading.  In short: just another garbage Microsoft product.

I still think most Microsoft products are garbage -- but Vista isn't one of them.  At least not the Vista I'm running: 64 bit Vista Ultimate SP1.  I couldn't imagine running the 32 bit versions (which limit the amount of RAM to well under my 4 GB), or the non heavily patched (SP1) version I'm running.  Vista was the wild wild west for compatibility when it was released -- but now driver and software support has caught up and the 64 bit version of Ultimate allows the power craving Vista the advantages it needs to to show off its shine.

My Vista Desktop -- the background is a looped movie!

Sure, the UAC, a feature that asks permissions for the silliest things (say, installing anti-virus software) is horrible and the first thing I did was disable it.  Sure, it's still not was pretty as Leopard (Mac's latest) or as ruthlessly cool and efficient as the free and open source Unbuntu (Linux'  current darling): but it's loads superior to XP -- as long as your machine has the hardware to run it with no slowdown.

The good news is that now is a great time to buy a new PC and cost of a plenty powerful Internet and Multimedia powerhouse is shrinking.  I recently assembled a budget Vista buster (and fairly heavy gaming system) for under $800.

My specs:

Processor: Intel e8400 3.0GHZ (overclocked to 3.2GHZ)
RAM: G-Skill PC6400 800MHZ DDR2
Hard Drive: WD-CAVIER SE16 640GB
Video: XFX Nvidia GeForce 8800GT

With these specs the Vista experience score gives me a max 5.9 rating on everything except processor, where I score a 5.7 due to the limits of the dual core. (But don't be fooled, the Intel e8400 is a great buy for myriad other reasons than just raw power, although maybe a quad core is in my near future!)

Still, with all other areas maxed out the system flys along even with heavy multi-tasking.

So, Can You Still Exchange Those HD-DVD Players?

According to this excerpt from the New York Times, HD-DVD is as good as dead:

Variety is reporting that the last two major studios backing HD DVD — NBC Universal and Paramount — are opening the door for a  switch to Blu-ray....(Earlier) Warner Brothers, which had been issuing movies in both formats, decided to go exclusively with Sony’s Blu-ray format....So what appeared to be a stalemate may, with one relatively small move by Warner, now turn out to be a quick victory for Sony.

It's the death of a salesman for Toshiba and Microsoft.

So that's that.  This confirms the "format war" never was going to be about PS3 or Xbox 360 sales, or even superior consumer utility -- it was about which format had more media.  And now that format is Blu-Ray -- and it's not even close.

Not surprisingly, HD-DVD players can now be had for as low as $129.

 

Computer Classes! (Learn Something Son!)

Computer Classes for January have been scheduled.  You can access the online syllabus and schedule by clicking here.




Everyone who has purchased a laptop from us is invited for FREE.  If you're a novice, intermediate or even a beginner come on down to learn, relax with your peers, and even have some fun.