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Take online widgets offline with Amnesty Generator [Video]

This post has been updated from the original. Added: Hands-on video with Amnesty Generator.

For those early adopters out there with Windows Vista, you might be struggling to get some widgets from the Web onto your flashy, new sidebar. To help you out is Amnesty Generator, a small and free app that converts nearly every type of online widget into the 'gadget format' that's compatible with Vista's new desktop toolbar. Using the program requires no coding experience; it's as simple as pasting in the embedding code, and the program does the rest.

Amnesty generator works with Google homepage widgets, … Read more

Old desktops get Bluetooth boost

Contrary to popular belief, we at Crave don't buy a new computer every month. In fact, our desktop is so old that it doesn't even work with Bluetooth. (It may have been made before we'd even heard of Bluetooth, come to think of it.)

So we read with great delight on Crunchgear about a simple USB device that can magically bring our ancient PC into the modern wireless world, finally allowing us to get a Bluetooth mouse or other peripherals of the 21st century. The best part of all about Trendnet's compact adapter is the price: $… Read more

Nvidia's certified Vista driver finalized, SLI support still in beta

Good news for everyone but SLI owners. Nvidia just released a Windows Vista-certified 100.65 graphics card driver for its GeForce 8800 cards. You can find the driver on Nvidia's site. That's great for those of you running Vista and a single GeForce 8800 card. For anyone who has an Nvidia SLI mode of any flavor, you're still stuck in beta mode for now. We haven't played with the new driver yet, so we can't say just how beta the SLI support is. Nvidia's driver notes indicate that full SLI support will come in … Read more

Help Nvidia help you

We've already reported this week on Nvidia's issues with its GeForce 8800 cards and their lack of fully cooked Windows Vista driver software. Yup, it's a bummer. The good news is, you can help. Last night, Nvidia introduced a Vista Quality Assurance Page, which lets you, the GeForce-owning, Windows-Vista-running public, report your bugs directly to Nvidia. The page asks for reports on issues with Vista and any GeForce card, so just because you don't have a newer Nvidia card doesn't mean you're off the hook. But let's keep this on topic, folks. If … Read more

Nvidia responds to Vista driver dust-up

If you've followed PC-related Vista transition news, you'll know that Nvidia still doesn't have a fully functional graphics driver for its GeForce 8000-series graphics cards. The best you can do under Windows Vista is run a single GeForce 8800 with only half of its typical option settings available. Running two 8800's in SLI mode in Vista is out entirely. I find it irritating that Nvidia made a bunch of grand Vista-related promises with these next-gen cards when they were released in November, and hasn't delivered yet. My irritation is mild, though, compared to the folks … Read more

Extra, extra! Vista Ultimate extras go live

If you've been playing around with a prerelease version of Windows Vista Ultimate (millions of people have been testing different versions of the new OS for months), you might have been wondering about all the extra features promised in the highest-end Ultimate edition.

Instead of the usual "no extras are currently available" message, users can now download two new features. The first is Hold 'Em Poker, a basic single-player poker simulator. The second is a series of enhancements that make it easier to use the BitLocker hard drive encryption system.

It may not be the most awe-inspiring … Read more

Apple joins the 802.11n revolution

We saw this news over on Crunchgear this morning, and sure enough, the Apple Store has a download enabling 802.11n wireless networking on the majority of its current desktops and laptops. It'll cost you $1.99 (nickel and dime much, Apple?) but for that affordable price you can upgrade an Airport Extreme-equipped Mac Pro and every Core 2 Duo-based MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac (minus the 17-inch, 1.83GHz model). We're disappointed the MacMini didn't make the cut, but then it still uses Core Duo (note the missing "2"). Perhaps when/if the little … Read more

Why would you want a folding PC?

Because it costs less, that's why. If you're the type of rugged individualist who builds computers from scratch (well, almost), then you know that shipping can be the difference between a bargain and a waste of time. So Aopen Asia is making tower cases that fold up and save space, resulting in lower packing and shipping costs, according to OhGizmo. This way, the company says it can fit twice as many cases in a standard shipping container. There are no guarantees, of course, that the savings will be passed along to the consumer. (We can be so cynical … Read more