memory

With the arrival of Mac OS X Lion, a lot of folks are going to discover that Apple's latest operating system is more of a memory hog than Snow Leopard and that a little RAM boost may be required.

Regardless of whether you're upgrading to Lion or not, upgrading your RAM is good idea because it's one of the most affordable--and easiest--ways to speed up your machine. Also, for anybody looking to buy a new iMac, we strongly recommend upgrading the RAM yourself, because you can save a good bit of money by not ordering extra RAM … Read more

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Friday, July 15.

• The social network wars continue. Google is taking on Facebook and its using its philosophy of openness to convince users to stay. Facebook hasn't been making it easy for users to export their data. With the Google platform, users can take their data elsewhere with just a couple of clicks.

• The U.S. International Trade commission ruled that HTV violated two of Apple's patents. In other related Apple news, Apple's A6 chip is in … Read more

If someone plotted out your life over the past five or so years, what would it look like? What if you could revisit every comment you've posted, every tweet, every photo you've uploaded or was tagged in, and recall every expression of the ups and downs you've made on the Net...all on a single timeline?

Memolane is a Web app that makes walking down memory lane visually interactive and borderline effortless. It extracts each moment you've shared with your online accounts from popular services such as Facebook, Last.fm, Twitter, Foursquare, and more and combines them into one visual timeline. Each tweet/photo/post/scrobble is organized by its respective tag dates, drawn from APIs and then posted as "memos" under each day.

Once you sign in with your various online accounts, Memolane will lay out your content as memos dating all the way back to the first day you activated your account. (Mine dated back to 2005, which was when I first started using Facebook.)

The Memolane timeline can be controlled either by mouse or keyboard. You can swipe through memories by clicking and dragging the memos left and right or by clicking on a timeline segment located at the bottom of the page. Playing with the HTML5-driven interface felt tabletlike and smooth. … Read more

We've been told that social networking can make us depressed, envious, and filled with self-doubt, not to mention mess with our marriages.

Now, a new study out of Columbia University suggests another Internet-related side effect: All that Googling we're doing may be impacting our memory (which might not be a bad thing if it helps us forget all the scary things our online lives are supposedly doing to us).

The good news is our dependence on Internet searches isn't necessarily shrinking our cerebral cortexes or making us forget where we put our car keys. Instead, it's changing the way our brains organize and retain information, according to the study.

"Since the advent of search engines, we are reorganizing the way we remember things," Betsy Sparrow, a Columbia University assistant professor of psychology, said in a statement. "Our brains rely on the Internet for memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member, or co-worker."

In other words, the Internet has become a primary form of what psychologists call "transactive memory," or externally stored recollections that we know where to access when we need to. … Read more

Tackling RAM problems in computers is not the easiest of tasks. While RAM is a relatively easy concept and simple to replace in the system, identifying problems with it can sometimes be daunting.

RAM is basically a huge grid where the system and active programs store active work space information (things they are currently doing). If part of a RAM chip is bad, the chip may still work fine until a specific application runs into the bad areas, and then that process will not be able to store items properly and will either hang or crash.

Unfortunately it is not … Read more

Memory Trainer stimulates your brain with a targeted program of scientifically developed exercises. According to the app's developers (who reference several studies in their descriptions), consistent training is proven to improve your memory over time and even help lower your risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Now, we can't say for sure that Memory Trainer did all that, but we can say that the app is fun, it gets progressively more challenging, and it's strangely addictive. You can engage with Memory Trainer either through a mapped-out 20 session program or through individual targeted exercises including TileFlip, Numberz, Sequencer, … Read more

Recently my folks returned from an amazing overseas trip. At a welcome-home dinner, we wanted to look at their photos, but my dad didn't have the cable needed to connect his camera to the TV.

Thankfully, my always-prepared uncle had just the solution: a memory card reader with TV-out capabilities. It's a great little item to keep on hand, either at home or in your travel bag. (When you're on vacation, it's always fun to gather around the TV to look at everyone's snapshots from the day.)

An outfit called Ankaka.com has the TV Card Player 17-in-1 Memory Card Reader for $18.37, … Read more

The latest developer's build of Firefox launched today, bringing hope to the small but vocal minority of Firefox stable users who have been plagued by the browser's persistent memory and performance problems that Mozilla is not ignoring their complaints. Firefox Aurora 7 can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and includes changes that Mozilla said in a blog post announcing the release will result in 30 percent less memory use "for many users."

Another big memory usage change comes to the "garbage collector" process, which, when working properly, cleans out from your system … Read more

Upgrading the memory in your computer is still one of the best ways to boost system performance. Here's how to upgrade the memory in your MacBook Pro:

Step 1: Shut down your MacBook Pro and disconnect the power adapter and any other cables connected to it.

Step 2: Turn your MacBook Pro over so you can access the bottom of the case. Most recent MacBook Pro models require the removal of 10 screws, while some older models will require you to remove the battery to access the screws. Our MacBook Pro (15-inch, mid-2010) has 10 … Read more