We recently showed you a clip from the Buzz Report on CNET saying the iPhone “sucks”. (Find that at http://go.cosmicthings.com/iphonesucks) Here is some commentary from CNET users about that episode. Which side do you take? Do you like or not like the iPhone? Tell us below. [quicktime width=”530″...
Read MoreOpenDNS, announced SmartCache, a new DNS record handling technology invented by OpenDNS that allows users of its service to access Web sites when they are inaccessible everywhere else on the Internet. SmartCache is the latest in a series of major innovations to the Domain Name System (DNS) made by OpenDNS, and introduces one of the most significant reasons yet to switch to the service. For businesses, schools, libraries and other organizations for which uninterrupted access to the Internet is of supreme importance, SmartCache will fast become a vital part of their network set-up. “DNS is the great Achilles heel of the Internet, and authoritative DNS outages are particularly troublesome because they represent single points of failure in most Web infrastructures,” said Daniel Golding, Vice President and Research Director of analyst firm Tier-1 Research, a division of the 451 Group. “The ability to extend DNS’s normal caching functionality to cover outages is a creative way of resolving a troublesome DNS issue.” SmartCache uses the intelligence of the OpenDNS network at large, now providing DNS service to millions of people around the world, to locate the last known correct address for a Web site when its authoritative nameserver is offline or otherwise failing. A common occurrence, authoritative DNS nameserver outages often take major Web sites offline for hours or even days at a time, making them inaccessible on the Internet. One...
Read MoreReports have been saying the Steve Jobs could return to Apple by the end of the month. “He was one real sick guy,” an unnamed source told the Wall Street Journal. “Fundamentally he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn’t digest protein. But he took corrective action.” According to this source — who is said to have seen Apple’s CEO in recent weeks — Jobs’ recovery “is coming along” and he should be able to return to work before the end of June, as scheduled. The same source says that some Apple directors have been getting weekly updates on Jobs’ health from his physician. Jobs has come to Apple headquarters occasionally since his medical leave began, according to the Journal. Independently, the Italian website setteB.IT reported last week that several people spotted Jobs entering the main gate of the Apple Campus on May 27 to attend a...
Read MoreIf you were told by Sears that they’d pay you $10 to install a program that tracks your “online browsing,” would you do it? Lots of people did, but that was a mistake. According to the FTC’s administrative complaint, while Sears told consumers the software would only track their “online browsing,” the software also monitored their online secure sessions — including sessions on third parties’ Web sites. That meant everything from online bank statements to drug prescription records to the sender, recipient, subject and size fields of Web-based e-mails. The software also tracked some computer activities that were not related to the Internet, according to the FTC. Under the proposed settlement, Sears would agree to “stop collecting data from the consumers who downloaded the software and to destroy all data it had previously collected,” the FTC said in a release June 4. “In addition, if Sears advertises or disseminates any tracking software in the future, it must clearly and prominently disclose the types of data the software will monitor, record or transmit. This disclosure must be made prior to installation and separate from any user license agreement” and customers must be told if “any of the data will be used by a third party.” Come on, Sears and K-Mart, play it nice. Don’t get yourself shut down by the government. [poll...
Read MoreA $49 upgrade to 7 Home Premium? I think Microsoft deliberately leaked this, trying to find out if the public would like this price. If the response is good, they will price it that way for a while, and possibly think of other ways to entice you to part with your dollars. Of course, people who buy computers after July 1 will get a copy free, but as others have cited, what will be the tale to tell is how many XP users will be willing to change over to this new kid on the block. With the lessened specs needed for hardware, many people running XP will only need to upgrade their video card, as driver support for many of the popular XP era cards has stopped. While many will not be lured by the many flavors of Windows, a good number will, and pricing, after that introductory period, is what I’d rather know about. If Microsoft wanted to make a real dent, they could offer a family pack, similar to the one Apple offers. Though they might make a lot less per copy, they would likely make entire families change, bringing many more people into Micrsoft Windows’...
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Robert Schaeffer, Senior Editor
Jamie Welch, Senior Editor