Damox's Technology Blog

Alienware To Sell Curved Wraparound Monitor

2008-01-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

Gamers are going to love the latest product from Dell gaming brand Alienware: a curved monitor that boasts an amazing 2880x900 resolution and a response time that blows most other advanced gaming monitors away. It will go on sale later this year. No word yet on price.
CES 2008: Alienware's Monster Wraparound Gaming Monitor | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

Sharp to sell 108-inch LCD TV

2008-01-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

The 100+ inch TV will no longer just be a concept product demonstrated at trade shows. Sharp will be selling a 108" LCD television set this year. That's a 9 foot diagonal length, for those who aren't so good at math. You can be sure that every celebrity will be adding these TV's to their homes so they can show them off on a future episode of Cribs.
Sharp to sell 108-inch LCD TV this year | Technology | Reuters

UPDATE: Amazon.com's Shipping Problem

2007-10-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

It seems that the Amazon.com shipping address problem is worse than I previously had realized. As I reported earlier, the problem comes when people add a new address to their account and try to tell Amazon that it's their primary address. When placing an order, Amazon will sometimes switch the address back to the original shipping address.

What's really strange is that addresses can be deleted from the account, but they apparently are not deleted from Amazon's servers and have been known to "come back" at seemingly random times and appear as the account's primary address.

I wonder how many colleges across the country have stockpiles of packages from Amazon.com that were sent to former students who haven't attended the school for years but couldn't get rid of the college address from their account. I'll be reporting more on this situation, and hopefully a response from Amazon, very soon.
Amazon Animosity

The Amazon.com Shipping Nightmare

2007-10-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com has been the internet's leading retailer since the early days of Web 1.0. Their employees are hand-picked from top schools and are considered some of the top programmers and logistics personnel in the world. So why does Amazon.com still have major problems shipping packages to the correct address?

The story has been told before: a customer moves to a new address, adds the address to the Amazon.com shipping profile, and then tries to delete the old shipping address. Everything looks fine at first, and only the new address shows in their account information. The problem comes when they try to place a new order, especially if they use one-click ordering. They will often find that the old address is back in their account, and their order has been shipped to the old address.

This is not the kind of problem that a major online retailer like Amazon.com should still be having. I'm sure it's somehow related to using redundant servers and not propagating account changes across all servers, but I'm not a tech guy, so who knows. What I do know is that Amazon.com NEEDS to fix this problem, because it's causing some serious customer frustrations.
Major Online Retailer Refuses To Admit Major Problems With Shipping Script

Fark's Drew Curtis Catches Fox Reporter Hacking Fark Servers

2007-08-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

When people think of TV newsmen, they tend to think of shallow, ignorant talking heads whose only qualifications are cleaning up well and the ability to read. It turns out some newsmen are also hackers during their free time

Fark.com founder Drew Curtis used his server logs to prove that Darrell Phillips, a media manager at WHBQ Fox12 based in Memphis, tried to install a trojan on Fark servers that would allow him to access the site's source code. On at least one occasion, he or one of his associates were able to access the code.

Why would a TV newsman care about the source code on a social news website? Because he wanted to know how to build his own social news site, of course. Phillips' station recently launched OnMemphis.com, a news aggregator.
Exclusive: Fark founder accuses Fox newsman of hacking - Valleywag

A New Record for Solar Cells: 43% Efficiency

2007-08-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Scientists have nearly reached 43% in energy efficiency with solar cells, a new record. The technology uses various components to split light into high, medium, and low energy light. The components then extract electrons from the photons they have absorbed.
42.8% Efficiency: A New Record for Solar Cells (TreeHugger)

The Web 2.0 Companies That Matter

2007-07-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

CNN has come up with a list of Web 2.0 companies that might actually be useful, and have a shot at real profitability down the road. I've got to admit that I use very few of these sites right now, but I'm a late adapter to certain web fads (my friends had to fake my MySpace page because I was the only one who didn't have one).
It's a Web, Web, Web 2.0 world - Joost (1) - Business 2.0

AT&T Prepares Legal Fight With Google Over Wireless Spectrum

2007-07-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Google announced last week that they were bidding on the 700MHz wireless spectrum. Their statement was filled with Googlespeak that is uncommon in the corporate world. Every sentence seemed to have passed through Google's own "do no evil" filter to check for compliance. Google was clearly appealing to its users, not its shareholders. That same strategy has helped Google grow to one of the biggest companies in the world, rewarding early shareholders with 5-fold performance.

AT&T is not happy about Google's bid. Google is trying to gain some control over the distribution of its massive amounts of information. Competitors like AT&T don't want Google to have any of that control. In addition, they want to charge Google more than the market rate for access to its information transmission systems.

AT&T will be appealing to the FCC in an attempt to block Google's bid. Without payments from big corporations like Google, dinosaurs like AT&T would have trouble surviving. You would think AT&T would be happy with that steal of a exclusivity agreement they made with Apple for the iPhone. I still think they drugged Steve Jobs before he signed the contract.

Google wants the 700MHz wireless spectrum, and it wants to open it up, demanding the FCC adhere to the four principles of open access. That's the way the wireless spectrum should be, and the fact that Google wants to play fair with consumers is the reason AT&T is so upset about Google's bid. AT&T is a company built around screwing the consumer. The government even agreed with that point when they ruled that the company needed to be split up because they had an unfair monopoly that was bad for consumers. Now AT&T wants to keep the wireless spectrum closed off to everyone but the top communications companies. Google has the money to get in the door, but Google wants to hold the door open for everyone else. They are the lottery winner that wants to invite the whole trailer park to the country club. That's great news for us (unless you own a communications company, you are part of the trailer park), but bad news for the elitist telecoms who would prefer to price gouge us for eternity.
Google Fear Hits AT&T Square In The Jaw | WebProNews

Multi-touch video iPods to arrive in August

2007-07-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

The touchscreen iPod, which at one point was the hot rumor in town before the iPhone stole its thunder, is in development and will be on store shelves in a matter of months. The next generation iPod will likely include all of the features of the previous iPod, but with a touchscreen interface.

Hopefully they'll think about increasing the storage capacity. They ran short of the 80GB models during the previous generation, and I don't think even that will be enough considering that they can store and play movies. I'd like to keep a large collection of movies (like 500+) on one device, and this just might be that device if they can get maybe 120GB of storage in it.
AppleInsider | Multi-touch video iPods to arrive in August - report

Apple Planning Cheaper Nano iPhone

2007-07-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

Apple is planning to release a cheaper and smaller version of their popular iPhone, calling it the iPhone Nano for the moment. The mobile phone will cost somewhere around $300, accord to preliminary reports.

If other mobile phone companies fail to come out with better products soon, expect to see Apple dominating the market within a year. The iPhone Nano will not necessarily be under the same AT&T service contract as the iPhone, which could open up Apple to many new customers.

The phone business could be an absolute windfall for Apple. They don't make money on the phones, but on the various accessories and upgrades that people buy for them, including music collections and ringtones. A single 15 second ringtone can cost a dollar or more.
Apple plans cheaper, Nano-based phone - Wireless World - MSNBC.com

iPhones Already Dominating eBay

2007-07-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

The iPhone has only been out for a couple days, but they are already flooding onto eBay in numbers not seen since the release of the Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3. Unlike with the video game releases, the iPhone is available in most places in very abundant supplies. That has not stopped the onslaught of iPhones on eBay with over 6,000 auctions at last count. Some sellers are offering as many as 20 of the popular cell phones in one auction.

This actually might be a good way to buy an iPhone. Prices are not inflated as they were with the very rare video game systems, so many no reserve auctions may end with a price lower than retail, possibly much lower.

Blockbluster Backs Blu-ray

2007-06-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hammer another nail into HD-DVD's coffin. Blockbuster, the movie rental company that has a dominating share of the rental market, has decided to back Blu-Ray in the battle of the next (current?) generation high definition formats. For the technologically challenged, that means the high definition movies you rent from Blockbuster will work in your Playstation 3, but not in your XBox 360, even if you've got all the necessary upgrades to allow it to play movies.

This is great news for Sony, which has been pushing the Blu-Ray format harder than Ron Popeil pushes those stupid mini-ovens. It's terrible news for Toshiba, which owns a big chunk of the rights to HD-DVD, and Microsoft, which backed that format for their XBox 360 video game console. Their system still costs hundreds less than Sony's PS3, but it looks like it now has one more inferior feature.
Blockbluster Bravely Backs Blu-ray

Top 10 HDTVs

2007-05-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

If you're looking to buy a new HDTV, make sure you don't buy a piece of junk. Tech.co.uk has reviewed the top 10 current high definition television sets, so you can avoid getting the run-around from some sleazy salesman at Best Buy or Circuit City.

Here's a quick list of the top 5:
1. Sony Bravia KDL-46X2000
2. Panasonic TH-65PX600
3. Philips 42PF9831D
4. Sony Bravia KDL-46V2500
5. Sony KDS-70R2000
Technology reviews and news - Tech.co.uk | Top 10 high-definition TVs

Dell Shows Off Super-Slim Display Port LCD Monitor

2007-05-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

Dell, the company that takes good advanced computer parts and turns them into cheap, run-of-the-mill crapware, has come up with a nifty looking LCD flat panel monitor. The monitor will also have the audio, mic, and panel I/O running through a single cable, eliminating a lot of the cord clutter modern offices and dorm rooms are notorious for. The prototype of this monitor was just half an inch thick, allowing for more desk room. That means more paper on your desk at the office and more beer and pizza in the dorm room.
Dell Shows Off Super-Slim Display Port LCD Monitor - Gearlog

Engadget Knocks $4 billion off Apple Market Cap on Bogus iPhone email

2007-05-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Here's the scenario: Engadget, the popular tech website, gets an email claiming the Apple iPhone would be delayed a few months. They immediately fact-checked the story... oh nevermind, they took the story and ran with it on the front page. Only later would they learn that the email was a hoax, and the story was removed.

No harm, no foul, right? Well, not exactly. Engadget is read by many industry insiders and investors. It seems that after the story ran, some very big investors, likely hedge fund managers, dumped Apple stock, causing a brief dip in the stock price. The tip from nearly $108 per share to about $103.50 is the equivalent of $4 billion in market share wiped off the table.

While the stock price did recover, many investors were likely hurt by the dip. Some people have their brokers (or software acting like a broker) sell their stock if it dips to a certain point. They do this to avoid being hurt in a big crash. Those people may have come back from lunch today and checked their stock portfolios only to find that their Apple shares were gone, sold for several dollars less than the current market price.
Engadget Knocks $4 billion off Apple Market Cap on Bogus iPhone email

uTango Offers Rewards For Customer Loyalty

2007-05-15T19:50:00.001-07:00

How many stores do you shop at regularly? I bet there are at least half a dozen stores or more that you stay loyal to over a long period of time. How much is that loyalty worth to the store? The answer is "a lot," and a website is finally recognizing that and finding ways to reward those loyal customers of various merchants.

The utango rewards program is a fairly simple concept. You sign up (it's free), and then you make your regular purchases from stores like Nordstrom, Barnes & Noble, or Target through the uTango.com website. There are currently 250 different merchants working with uTango. For each purchase, you get Tango bucks that can be redeemed for annual cash rewards or what they refer to as Life-Stage Cash Rewards.

With regular purchases, those life-stage cash rewards can be huge. How huge? How about $10,000 after 10 years of membership, or $100,000 at 20 years, or $1,000,000 at 30 years. Think of it as a nice way to supplement your retirement fund.

uTango Rewards Program offers more to its loyal members than any other rewards program on the internet today. Think of it like your credit card point rewards system, except you don't get crushed by a massive penalty when you can't pay your monthly bill because uTango is not a credit card company. uTango is just a simple way of being rewarded for the purchases that you probably make anyway on a daily or weekly basis.

A Look At How Botnets Work

2007-05-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

A botnet is a collection of computers, working together on a specific task. The term is usually used when these computers are being controlled by a malevolent piece of software. In other words, they are zombie computers, often without the actual owner knowing anything about it.

Once a computer has been commandeered by the owner of a botnet, it is used to send out spam and other malicious software to computers all over the internet. There is actually software out there for people who control botnets. Zunker has a clean interface that hides its nefarious intent. It makes spamming the internet a simple task that even a young teenage could pick up in a matter of minutes.

PandaLabs Blog : Zunker Bot

To protect your computer from becoming part of a botnet, use up-to-date antivirus software. In addition, run anti-spyware programs regularly and use a firewall on your computer and routers. There are various firewall programs out there that can work alongside the Windows firewall that comes with XP and Vista.

How Important Is Data Security To You?

2007-04-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Just yesterday, I was reading about another leak of important customer information from a corporate computer of a major American company. This information will likely be sold to nefarious spammers and other evil-doers who will use it to rip people off and make their life one big headache. So, how are you protecting your data?

SecureZIP is a new solution for desktop security. It offers all the great benefits of compression software, while at the same time providing file level security. SecureZIP integrates with Microsoft Outlook to protect your emails and their attachments. With more and more people doing their banking online, this type of security system on their files becomes crucial.

SecureZIP is offering free downloads for a limited time. The process is about as easy as clicking on a link. SecureZIP - The next generation of ZIP takes the decades-old idea of data compression and combines it with the relatively new idea of secure personal data.

By the way, I thought I should add that SecureZIP works well with other security solutions, and it only makes minimal changes to current processes, so you won't have to shut down a bunch of programs just to get it to work. Although it was designed to be powerful enough to protect information on powerful corporate computers, it will also work great on your home computer or on a small business computer. It's especially good for people who do a lot of work with confidential information and also do a lot of work from home. Chances are your home network does not have the same security, especially at the hardware level, as the corporate offices. This will make sure that your neighbors aren't spying on things that aren't their business.

MySpace News Launches

2007-04-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

MySpace has launched a community news service that will compete with the likes of Digg and Reddit. It's not clear how the service will work, or if it will be based on community voting/ranking, as Digg and Reddit are.

MySpace obviously gets a lot of traffic, and this new service could attract a lot of viewers. It might be easily gamed by unscrupulous website publishers who will undoubtedly try to promote their site using the service. Or it could be like Netscape, and have so many restrictions on user control that nobody wants to use it.
MySpace News

San Andreas Multi-Player Video

2007-04-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

I realize that I need to split this site so I can have tech news and video game news separated, but for now you'll have to deal with both at the same place. Deal with it. I found this great video of a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas multi-player demo. The only thing missing from the GTA series that would really make it amazing is multi-player. I don't know if it would be possible to do a massively multi-player game from this series without making some serious changes, but it still would be unbelievably fun. Imagine hundreds of players running around a city shooting everyone, crashing cars, and blowing things up. It would be like living in Detroit!

San Andreas Multi-Player - Click here for more free videos

6 More Geek Squad Manuals

2007-04-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

If you've ever wanted to learn what's behind that evil group of people calling themselves the Geek Squad, The Consumerist has just the ticket for you. They've managed to obtain several guides used by the Geek Squad, including an interview guide that will help you get on the inside of this secretive tech cult.
LEAKED: 6 More Geek Squad Manuals - Consumerist

World Market Systems - Internet Business Made Easy

2007-04-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

Ever since the dot-com boom, people have been looking for ways to make money with a website. Most of them will give up, using the excuse that it's too complicated, or the whole thing is just a scam.

The truth is, it is very possible to make a lot of money online without using scam tactics. You don't have to spam, you don't have to be involved in any shady dealings. www.worldmarketsystems.com has been around for 5 years, helping would be dot-com moguls find their place on the web. They have fully featured websites that will make anyone look like they know what they are doing.

I know, I know, you want to actually know what you're doing. You will, but not at first. You've got a lot of learning ahead of you, but you need to learn from the right people. There are techniques that anyone can use to build traffic and convert it to sales or leads, and they can be completely legal and ethical. Don't believe the hype that others are selling. Use people like those at World Market Systems and study the techniques of those who have found success in the business.

Zune Could Drop DRM

2007-04-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

DRM, or digital rights management, is world that conjures up fear in the tech world. Just saying it causes it a reaction like making a reference to Nazis. Microsoft has been one of the leading companies in supporting DRM, especially with their new Zune player.

The tide has been turning against DRM in recent months. People have been buying more DRM-enabled devices, and they tend to get angry when they find out they can't used them the way they intended. It's not just the world of geeks that's affected by this anymore.

Microsoft may have hinted today that they are trying to move away from DRM with their Zune player. I think this is a logical move, because the Zune has not been doing as well as they expected. It's certainly no iPod killer. The main fault in the device is the DRM. It absolutely cripples it. Let's hope Microsoft follows through and finally frees up their little music player that really could be a nifty piece of technology.
Zune the next to drop DRM? - Engadget

Ellen DeGeneres Becomes Shill For Microsoft

2007-03-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

I don't care when celebrities become spokesmen for products. I really don't. They are well-known, and they know they can use their fame to make a little money on the side. I do have a problem when celebrities don't disclose that they are shills for a company, and overhype a product with a lot of lies.

Ellen DeGeneres recently gave out Microsoft Zune players to members of her studio audience. While describing the product, her helper mentioned that the Zune could talk to other Zunes and even grab music from other players. Zunes cannot talk to each other. They can share music wirelessly, but that music can only be played 3 times. Make no mistake, the Zune is the bastardized, retarded cousin of the iPod. Here's the clip from the Ellen show:

Digg, Delicious, Netscape & Technorati Hacked ~ mybeNi websecurity

2007-03-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

Some of the most popular Web 2.0 sites have been hit by a XSS worm that will do many things like auto add links and even add friends to user's profiles. This worm has been executed to demonstrate the security flaw, but it has not been used for malicious intent, yet.

If scriptkiddies get possession of this script, it could be a serious hit to Web 2.0 as we know it. Social bookmarking sites rely on the genuine interests of their users. If one user starts spamming hundreds of links at a time, people will have to sort through all that crap to get to the good links from real users. That's not what people want to do. That's why those people are using sites like Digg and Netscape, because they want to avoid all that spam crap that shows up on Google.

This is a very touchy situation, and I hope someone out there will be able to help out by providing a way to plug this security hole.
Digg, Delicious, Netscape & Technorati Hacked ~ mybeNi websecurity