All Posts by Paul

RIAA wins the battle!!

Paul

RIAA wins first-ever file-sharing case to go to trial, awarded $222,000
The first RIAA file-sharing case to go to trial just wrapped, and sadly, the outcome isn’t a positive one. Regardless of the incredibly asinine and consumer-hostile comments made by Sony BMG’s head of litigation the other day, the jury fournd Jammie Thomas, a single mother from Minnesota, liable for willful copyright infringement and awarded the RIAA plaintiffs $222,000 — that’s $9,250 for each of the 26 songs she was alleged to have made available on Kazaa, for those of you keeping track at home, and probably something like, oh, say, $222,000 more than she should have had to pay, since the RIAA plaintiffs weren’t required to show that Thomas had a file-sharing program installed on her machine or that she was even the person using the Kazaa account in question. Of course, this is just one case and there’s always the possibility of appeal, but anything that emboldens the RIAA’s litigation team is never good for the general public.

read more | digg story

I don’t see how they could of won a stupid case like this, the Jury should of seen how hard it is to validity of the case!

Razer announces Lycosa keyboard, Piranha headset

Paul

If Belkin’s new Razer-powered SpeedPad keyboard is a bit too unfamiliar for you, then perhaps Razer’s own new Lycosa keyboard will be more to your liking. As you can see, it boasts a full complement of keys to handle those odd non-gaming tasks, although its not without its share of gaming-minded amenities as well. Those include backlighting on the all-important WASD key cluster, a non-slip rubber finish on all the keys, and support for up to 10 different software profiles which you can switch between on the fly. Those looking to stick with Razer for all their gear will also soon be able to get their hands on the company’s just-announced Piranha headset, which boasts a noise-filtering microphone, an in-line remote with volume and microphone-muting controls and, of course, that trademark blue glow. Look for it to be available sometime this month for $80, with the keyboard set to follow in November for the same price.

Nice little keyboard. I think it would be great for gaming plus the headphones. All I can say is Nice!!

Gathering ‘Storm’ Superworm Poses Grave Threat to PC Nets

Paul

The Storm worm first appeared at the beginning of the year, hiding in e-mail attachments with the subject line: “230 dead as storm batters Europe.” Those who opened the attachment became infected, their computers joining an ever-growing botnet.

Although it’s most commonly called a worm, Storm is really more: a worm, a Trojan horse and a bot all rolled into one. It’s also the most successful example we have of a new breed of worm, and I’ve seen estimates that between 1 million and 50 million computers have been infected worldwide.

Now is it me or is something going on with Russia doing all of this? I know I get a lot spam from Russia, is this the new silent war?

Duracell’s Mobile Charger Juices Batteries, USB On The Go

Paul

Duracell’s Mobile Charger not only has a USB port so you can power your iPods and Zunes, but there’s even a slot to put AA/AAA batteries into so you can charge them via wall or car outlet. Those AA batteries work the same way in reverse as well—you use them to charge any USB gadgets you plug in. The charger comes for $24.99, which could be worth it as an emergency phone/music charger that you can use while you’re out or in the car. [Earth Times via Electronista]

Wow this might actually be useful for me!! I will have to go and find it!

Update Large Files with PatchOnClick

Paul

Windows only: Freeware application PatchOnClick updates large files by creating patches from the new file and applying those patches to old files with a dead simple interface. At first blush, this may seem like a tool that a normal user has very little use for, but FreewareGenius explains its usefulness perfectly:


I thought this program was a really nice touch to add. Go download it and play around and check out the full story at Life Hacker.