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Computers and hardware

Budget shopping tips: MP3 players

If you're on a budget and shopping for a new MP3 player, here are a few general tips for locking down a good deal.

First and foremost, do some math so you can get a realistic idea of how much storage you'll need for all the music, photos, and video you want to take on the go. The less storage you need, the cheaper the price. If an MP3 player includes a slot for memory expansion, you can always increase the capacity down the road.

Also, be realistic about the features you need. MP3 players that support video … Read more

How to move an iTunes library to an external drive

Updated August 18, 2011.

If you're an iTunes user (download for Windows|Mac) whose appetite for music, movies, and podcasts is outstripping the capacity of your computer, it might be a good time to think about offloading that library to an external hard drive or a separate internal drive. If you do it right, the process is relatively simple, although the transfer time could take an hour or more, depending on the size of your media library.

To walk you through it, here are a step-by-step video and slideshow tutorial on how to move your iTunes library to an … Read more

How to family-proof your PC

Editor's Note: Article updated on May 8, 2009. Original article published September 8, 2006.

Every family has at least one member whose risky computer behavior is asking for trouble. You know whom we mean: the kid brother who can't resist those dodgy downloads; the spouse who clicks on suspicious pop-up ads and updates without a second glance; or the cousin who returns a borrowed laptop riddled with malicious software. You have two options: become a paranoid misanthrope with motion-sensor alarms rigged to your PC, or take a few minutes to establish these four security precautions. They're not foolproof against the most persistent of malicious software magnets, but these basic tips should give novices some ideas.

Step 1: Create multiple user accounts

A no-brainer, perhaps, but creating multiple user accounts is one of the surest ways of restricting a guest's risky activities without breathing down their neck while you supervise each mouse click. Families can generate an account for each member, an especially proactive move if there have been problems in the past. Enact it thus and you, the uber-administrator, can limit others' capabilities to install programs and make systemwide changes, a move that could prevent your errant relations from executing tainted programs. To sweeten the deal, each account-holder's capability to customize their own desktop could help mow down weedy sibling rivalry. Consider adding a password-protected log-in to help maintain privacy.

In most versions of Windows, you'll simply click the Start menu, open the Control Panel, and select "User Accounts" to get started. For each intended user, click "Add" in the Users tab, enter a name, and then select the user type--either power-user status, which allows administrative rights, or restricted-user status, which does not.

Make sure the "password at login" feature is enabled, so everyone who accesses the computer will be required to provide their username and password. The nuisance of compelling returning users to log in after each idle period is easily outweighed by the security benefits of maintaining multiple accounts. Besides, you can always adjust your idle-time settings to minimize the frequency of logging in anew. Here's another tip--setting up an unpassword-protected guest account on a laptop means your friends can borrow it to easily get online or use core Office functions, while the password protection on your account acts as a deterrent. … Read more

Are Old iPhone Update Files Hogging Your Disk Space?

Thanks to an apparent lack of clean-up on iTunes' part, many users have oodles of disk space that is being unnecessarily occupied by old iPhone and/or iPod touch software updates.

As described reader Doug Eldred:

"I have 10 files, ranging from 150 MB to 250 MB for my iPod touch, and much smaller files for two other iPods, one of which I no longer own. They total well over 2 GB! Now, if I really need to keep restore files back to version 1.0, I will, but I'd be happy to pitch the older ones." … Read more

How to create audiobooks in iTunes

Digital audiobooks come in all shapes and sizes. You can purchase them online from sites like Audible, eMusic, and iTunes. You can download free audiobooks from places like Archive.org. Or, you can rip audiobooks to your computer from CD. Unfortunately, no matter where your digital audiobooks come from, getting iTunes and your iPod to treat them as an audiobook--not some random playlist of songs--can be a struggle.

If you've ever purchased an audiobook through iTunes, you may have noticed that the file appears in a separate audiobook tab in your media library. Keeping your audiobooks separate from your … Read more

Cyborg tech predicted as next big disruptive technology

The next explosive growth in the microprocessor industry, according to chip guru Levy Gerzberg, won't be powering a consumer electronics device. It will more likely be planted somewhere in our own bodies, under our skin, delivering critical information and executing actions that can quite literally prolong our lives.

Speaking at a forum at the Consumer Electronics Show on disruptive technologies, Gerzberg, the CEO of microprocessor designer Zoran, said that by definition a "disruptive technology" is one that changes our lives in a drastic and positive way. With that in mind, there can be no greater disruptive technology, … Read more

Facebook: We still believe in the social ad

Little over a month since Facebook's Beacon advertising service came under fire over privacy concerns, the company's chief revenue officer has said that the "social ad" will remain a key focus for the social-networking site.

Owen Van Natta, chief revenue officer at Facebook, told an audience at the Consumer Electronics Show that most Facebook users are comfortable with sharing information about the products and services they consume.

Facebook's Beacon is an advertising service which posts messages on users' Facebook profiles about any purchases they make on Facebook-affiliated e-commerce sites. These social ads expose to other … Read more

Lenovo takes brave step back into consumer PC's

PC industry watchers have long figured that Lenovo, which holds number one market share in China for consumer laptops, would make another play at the consumer market in advanced countries like the US and Australia, markets IBM had abandoned well before it sold its PC business to the Chinese manufacturer.

Even the most dedicated long-time IBM veterans say that IBM "really failed" in the consumer business in the nineties before it abandoned it in 1999. Upon acquiring IBM's PC division, says David Nichol, director of Lenovo's small business and consumer line for Australia and New Zealand, … Read more

Intel CEO predicts a more 'personalised' Internet

In a visionary speech to the CES trade show in Las Vegas, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini predicted the rise of a more "personal Internet" - one which will be proactive in serving users the information and entertainment they need in a more intuitive and personalised way.

Today's Internet, he said, is a "go-to" Internet.

"The Internet reacts to our requests rather than anticipating them," he told the conference at the Venetian Hotel and Casino.

In the future, he predicts Internet services will be more proactive, predictive and context aware.

"The Internet … Read more

Gates gets rock star treatment for final CES keynote

Bill Gates would never have guessed way back when he dropped out of Harvard to start a software company that he might wind up his career with the status of a rock star.

But that was precisely the atmosphere in Las Vegas tonight as he both opened this year's CES conference and closed a final chapter of his career.

Thousands of journalists and technologists queued for some four hours in snake-like lines that wound around several floors of the Venetian Hotel and Casino to hear him give his tenth and final CES keynote.

In just under six months, Gates … Read more