NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Hewlett-Packard’s $8.8 billion writedown of Autonomy on Tuesday slammed a deep crater in HP’s balance sheet, but it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to some of the epically disastrous tech mergers of the past decade. …….(read the whole story)
Sometimes, malicious and other potentially unwanted software, including rootkits, try to install themselves on your PC. This can happen when you connect to the Internet or install some programs from a CD, DVD, or other media. Once on your PC, this software might run immediately, or it might run at unexpected times. Windows Defender Offline can help remove such hard to find malicious and potentially unwanted programs using definitions that recognize threats. Definitions are files that provide an encyclopedia of potential software threats. Because new threats appear daily, it’s important to always have the most up-to-date definitions installed in Windows Defender Offline. Armed with definition files, Windows Defender Offline can detect malicious and potentially unwanted software, and then notify you of the risks.
Read the full story and download the free tool here.
Kodak has announced its plans to sell off its Personalised Imaging and Document Imaging businesses. The Personalised Imaging business includes still camera film products, photographic papers, retail print solutions and souvenir photo products sold at theme parks and other venues. The Document Imaging business provides a portfolio of scanners, capture software and services to enterprise customers. In future, Kodak intends to focus on its commercial, packaging and functional printing solutions and enterprise services, while retaining its Consumer Inkjet, Entertainment Imaging, Commercial Film and Specialty Chemicals businesses. Discussions continue on the company’s digital imaging patent portfolio, which may be sold or retained……..(read the whole story)
Microsoft Corp unveiled its first new logo in 25 years on Thursday as it looks to unify its branding ahead of a clutch of new product releases this year.
The world’s largest software company is introducing a dash of color in its first logo redesign since 1987, using a new multi-coloured square next to a plain rendering of its name in Segoe font, replacing its well-worn Helvetica Black Italic-style logo.
Whoever said nothing in this world is free hasn’t spent a lot of time at Google Play, the online store with more than 600,000 apps for Android devices — many of which can be downloaded at no cost or close to it.
Now, Toronto’s Clickfree – a company best-known for its external hard drives that back-up your computer’s important files – has launched a free app called Clickfree Automatic Backup . As the name suggests, it can make a secure back-up of your Android smartphone or tablet, just in case something happens to your portable device. And no PC is required. …………(read the whole story)
At first glance, it may look like Microsoft disabled recording of internal—or “what you hear”—sounds in Windows 7. Well, they didn’t. It’s a little trickier, granted, but this is (often) a quick fix.
To enable it:
1. Right click on the speaker icon in the system tray (bottom right).
2. Choose Recording Devices
3. In the empty white space, right-click and choose Show Disabled Devices. You should see Stereo Mix appear in the list.
4. Right click on Stereo Mix and choose Enable.
5. Right click on Stereo Mix again, and choose Set as Default Device.
Now you can record anything you hear through your speakers.
If your USB keyboard does not work when plugged in a USB port, it is logical to think there could be a problem with the port itself since wired USB keyboard is such a simple and universal device. Upon careful examination, evidences often point to a different direction. First of all, the keyboard actually works when the system is booting up (or in BISO setup); the problem only surfaces after Windows takes over. Secondly you may find that the keyboard is not working no matter which USB port it is plugged in. The chance of having all ports fail at the same time is not impossible but very slim.
By this time, you are almost certain this is a driver issue. This is what happened: when a keyboard, wired or wireless (via its receiving adapter), is plugged into a USB port, Windows will automatically install the following drivers under Human Interface Devices after the device is recognized:
USB Human Interface Device and HID-compliant device
You will need to update the driver for HID-compliant device and force it to be a HID Keyboard Device (don’t let Windows automatically install the driver; instead, choose yourself and select a compatible driver to install). Once the driver is successfully installed, the keyboard would start to work even without restarting the system.
The MP3 encoder that comes with Windows Media Player (since version 10) has problems ripping certain CDs. The tracks may play perfectly in the media player; but you may experience skipping or other problems when playing the ripped MP3s, especially for CDs with less-than-perfect physical conditions.
The audio quality of the encoded MP3 is also not up to par with other MP3 encoders (free or commercially available). If you are concerned with the above-mentioned issues, look for other replacement MP3 encoders such as this one from Cyberlink.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A landmark court battle between Google and Oracle has begun — and its result will shape the future of the Android ecosystem fueling most of the world’s smartphones.
Silicon Valley’s power players are always in the throes of nasty patent fights against each other, but this one is especially potent. Oracle claims that Google’s Android violates two patents plus several copyrights that Oracle holds on its Java software, a ubiquitous programming language powering everything from phones to websites.
(…………..read the whole story)
The Royal Canadian Mint wants to get rid of pocket change — and it’s enlisting hacker-types for help. Less than a week after the government announced the penny’s impending death, the Mint quietly unveiled its digital currency called MintChip.
Still in the research and development phase, MintChip will ultimately let people pay each other directly using smartphones, USB sticks, computers, tablets and clouds. The digital currency will be anonymous and good for small transactions — just like cash, the Mint says.
To make sure its technology meets the gold standard in a world where digital transactions are gaining steam, the Mint is holding a contest for software developers to create applications using the MintChip.
The old-fashioned prize? Solid gold wafers and coins worth about $50,000. It’s such an unusual move from the crown corporation, which has been in the coin-making business for more than 100 years, that Hacker News questioned whether it was an “elaborate hoax.”……..(read the whole story)