I’ve been visiting the Microsoft Download Center since, well ever since it existed. I can’t believe what I saw today. Ads. Are you freakin’ kidding me?
Tacky, tacky, tacky.
[Read more…] about WTF? Ads Come To Microsoft Download Center
Computer News
Goodbye Geeks.com?
Geeks.com has closed its virtual doors, at least for now. Inevitable I guess but still sad.
From the wording of the announcement it seems to me they may be looking for a buyer or partner.
I’ve ordered from them many times over the years with positive results. I wish the staff good luck.
Random Friday Stuff
Short version today. I’m off to watch the Redskins practice!
Paul Thurrott has an interesting take on Windows 8 usage:
“So over 1-in-3 Windows 8 licenses sales were downgraded (or not otherwise used).”
Slightly surprising but understandable given many peoples feelings about Windows 8.
For those who are interested, here is How To Downgrade Windows 8.
Puran File Recovery 1.1 released. “Version 1.1 Added support for multiple languages” Those guys really need a blog or Twitter page, or something. My review here.
Hope y’all have a safe and happy weekend!
The Security Realm – Microsoft Medieval Style Infographic
Thought this was cool looking. Would make a great Geeky poster. [Read more…] about The Security Realm – Microsoft Medieval Style Infographic
Random Friday Stuff
You hardcore overclockers should head over to Ninja Lane. They reviewed the beautiful Gigabyte Z87X OC and they liked it.
Apple fanboys are excitedly parroting the news that Apple was named “brand of the year“. To the rest of us it affirms the moniker iSheep.
Houses and cars are predictably being hacked. I’ve always wondered why “critical systems” are connected to the outside world. For you and me our houses and cars are about as critical as it gets.
“Tweak and Customize”. These are synonyms dude. Just sayin’. 😉
Windows NT is 20 years old!
“XP Retirement Party”. This infographic made the rounds this week with many Windows pundits saying good riddance. The poster was really just cry for you to buy Windows 8. While Microsoft and many Geeks agree that folks should move on, perhaps they should ask, “why the resistance?” Maybe, just maybe, they should give folks what they want and stop trying to tell them how they should be using their PC. Start menu anyone?
Sir Mick Jagger turned 70 today. How he made it that far is beyond me. Cheers Mick (hope you get a Little T&A). :clink:
Hope you all have a great weekend! I’m headed out to a Redskins Rally for a beer or two (checking out the cheerleaders too 😉 )
Tuesday Random Stuff
Random Tuesday morning news from around the web.
Ed Bott is at it again: The Metro hater’s guide to the Windows 8.1 Preview
Tom’s Hardware has tested 31 USB 3.0 Thumb Drives. Their “winner” is the SanDisk Extreme 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Model SDCZ80-064G-A75. A comment to the article led me to check out the Newegg reviews in which 45% gave this drive one star (as of this writing). Faster isn’t always better.
Wanna know what wi-fi would look like?
Do not mess with Kevin Rose’s dog!
New pics from NASA of the Earth from 898.414 million miles (1.445858 billion kilometers) away.
Random Saturday Stuff
I got busy and didn’t get around to posting yesterday. To me, it was a pretty boring week news wise. I really couldn’t give a rip about the Microsoft re-org which seemed to be the major headline this week.
Not new and certainly not concise but the Makeuseof Best Of Apps is the best I’ve seen.
The How-To Geek has a handy article up: How to Easily Transfer Files Between Nearby Smartphones
Not news. This week several sites mentioned an article where the author discovered that if Firefox is running slow it may help to disable hardware acceleration. This “new discovery” has been known by Geeks for some time thanks to the Mozilla support page and 2 year old articles like this one. :rolleyes:
System Ninja 2.4.3 is out. It is another good system cleaner brought to you by the same folks who do CCEnhancer.
One change to Android Apps I Use. I had to switch from AdFree Android to AdAway as it was causing too many issues navigating sites.
PC Sales Drop 5 Straight Quarters
PC sales see ‘longest decline’ in history
Unlike many Geeks and tech pundits, I do not think Windows 8 is a major reason for most people not buying computers. I’m not saying it isn’t a factor, just not a major one.
My take on why PC sales are down:
1 – Money is tight. Most folks don’t have the extra cash to spend on a new computer.
2 – Little or no performance benefit. Truth is many folks only use a fraction of their computers potential. Unless you are a gamer, that 3 year old computer probably does everything you want it to do with room to spare.
3 – Smart phones and tablets (obviously). Within the aforementioned group is a group of people who have no need for a computer at all. Email, social networking, and surfing the web can all be done with their gadgets. Gadgets have replaced the need for multiple computers in many homes.
The PC market is never going to be what it was. Today it is all about mobility and convenience. Having earlier stated that I did not believe Windows 8 was a major factor in people not buying PC’s I also do not believe Windows 8.1 will be a factor in helping sales. The retirement of XP may help though. The biggest factor that I believe will help PC sales is an economic rebound.
Monday Musings
The weekly curse that is Monday is upon us. Hope your weekend went well. On with some Geek-ish news…
AnandTech and [H]ardOCP both looked at the Corsair Carbide AIR 540 case and liked it.
TeamViewer has been updated. Download Changelog
Ask Slashdot: Good Tracking Solutions For Linux Laptop? had both good answers and funny comments:
“Put a Windows 8 sticker on it. Nobody will touch it.”
:rotfl:
Twitter has updated their apps making direct messaging and search better.
Posted all over the web: Windows 8.1 RTM hits in late August.
Site News
Site comment system has been switched to Disqus by request. :clink:
Did you know TweakHound.com has a mobile version? Been trying a new version of WPTouch Pro but they can’t seem to get the menus to work on Android so the old version will have to work for now.
Follow me on Twitter. Please.
Random Friday Stuff
It’s been kinda a short week here in the U.S. due to the Independence Day holiday. A day that most of us Americans prove that we all have a little Redneck in us my grilling meat, drinking beer, and watching stuff blow up. 😉
Geeks already knew Reddit was popular. This week the press found out.
Something tells me our fellow Geeks over at Dropbox won’t be dating this coworker. 
IZArc got a minor update to version 4.1.8.
Metallica at Comic-Con? Wish I could be there 😥
I hope y’all have a happy and safe weekend!