Daniel A. Begun
Daniel A. Begun
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Perhaps this comes as no surprise, but almost half (46 percent) of e-mail users claim to be addicted to e-mail. Merriam-Webster OnLine defines "addicted" as "to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively." We definitely know some people like that--in fact, present company included. In conjunction with Beta Research,...
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First Microsoft brought its multi-touch interface, Surface, to tabletops. Next, Microsoft demonstrated how the interface could be taken vertical to walls. Now it looks like Microsoft's Surface technology is ready for global domination--16 to 72-inch globes that is. This week at Microsoft's...
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Pundits argue that the computer is quickly on its way to becoming the primary source of delivering audio-visual entertainment. Others will argue that it's already happened. With over 12 billion videos watched online in the U.S. during the month of May, its hard to argue against the ubiquity of...
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Id Software has had minimal success developing games for cell phones. It ported its popular Doom title over to the cell phone platform with Doom RPG, as well as developing two original Orcs and Elves games for phones. Ultimately, the three titles sold only a combined two million copies. The...
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Microsoft and Yahoo aren't the only companies looking to compete with Google in the search business. In fact, this morning a new startup called Cuil opened its virtual doors for the world to start using its search engine. So, on this morning we ask, how is Cuil different from all other search...
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In the latest results from market research company, Ipsos's quarterly study of the U.S. online video market, Ipsos found that most users are willing to accept advertising within free, online video content. The percentage of folks who find the inclusion of advertising in their free streaming or...
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We recently reported on a teenager who is using GPS technology to try to get out of a speeding ticket. Website, Njection wants you to avoid getting speeding tickets in the first place by using your GPS navigation device. Njection features a tool it calls a "Speedtrap Mashup." The tool uses map data from Microsoft Virtual Earth and overlays...
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October might officially be National Cyber Security Awareness Month, but based on the online security reports that have come out this July, it appears that Cyber Security Awareness is actually being promoted a few months early this year. First McAfee released its report on the lack of security measures being taken by small and medium...
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Much to the chagrin of teachers and librarians, Wikipedia has become a primary source of research and information for many seeking answers to questions with just a few quick key presses and mouse clicks. Since its debut in 2001, Wikipedia has outgrown other objective informational sites, such as About.com and Encyclopedia Britannica Online...
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When it comes to high-end gaming rigs, few companies have been able to achieve the stellar reputation that VoodooPC had with its enthusiast desktops and laptops. VoodooPC had a penchant for building speedy systems with the latest high-quality components, and packaging it all together in sexy looking designs. It's no wonder that HP acquired...
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One of the biggest laments iPhone users have about the iPhone is that it lacks voice dialing. How and when that key missing feature gets added is still open to speculation, but the engineers at AT&T Labs Research have at least been cooking up a way for developers to easily implement voice...
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Perhaps it is just a coincidence that we're starting to hear a lot more about electric cars these days now that gas prices have hit record highs. Coincidence or not, automobiles that offer alternatives to traditional fossil-fuel-based, internal combustion engines are gearing up to hit the...
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While cyber attacks on large business often make the headlines of tech publications, security company, McAfee wanted to know if smaller businesses were any less susceptible to cyber security breaches as a result of their smaller size. So McAfee surveyed 500 companies in the U.S. and Canada...
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Last month CinemaNow conducted a survey on its Website about consumers' viewing habits. One of the more entertaining tidbits to come from the survey was that the majority of those surveyed thought that of all the actors who played Batman, Christian Bale looked the best in his Batman outfit...
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Google is calling it a beta, but we're calling it a breath of fresh air (depending on where you live, of course, your air might a bit more fresh than the air we breathe here in New York City). Today, Google has added walking directions to its popular Google Maps page. Whenever you use Google...
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Apple Computer has nearly always kept its Mac computer platform an in-house-only proposition. Other than a few sanctioned (and unsanctioned) clones in the platform's early days and a two-year span in the mid-1990's, legitimate Apple computers have only come from Apple. That's not to say others haven't tried (for an interesting look at the...
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While there is no shortage of low-power, inexpensive, Linux-based desktop PCs on the market today, few seem to offer a compelling enough solution to make the modest investment worth it. Either the processing power is too little, storage capacity is too meager, or the operating system is too...
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Update: We incorrectly reported that that Shaun Malone was found innocent of speeding. As PressDemocrat.com reports, the trial is still ongoing and is scheduled to resume on October 3rd. The judge "is expected to issue a ruling after hearing additional testimony in October, including from both sides' experts." While an 11-year...
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As the price of gas continues to rise, fewer folks are buying automobiles--especially gas-guzzlers like trucks and SUVs. Throw in a limping economy, record job losses, and a crippled housing market, and it's amazing anyone drives anywhere other than to work and the grocery store. There's also the growing environmentally conscious crowd who...
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Security company Finjan recently proclaimed that it detected over 1,000 different Website domains had been compromised during the first two weeks of June by a known malware toolkit, "Asprox," which has been around for over a year (according to Symantec). "… a new round of mass Web attacks has...
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Amazon customers, watch your e-mail inboxes carefully today. You might be one of the select few who get invited to try out Amazon's new Video On Demand Service, which is scheduled to rollout today for a limited, invitation-only debut. The rest of us schlubs will have to wait until later in the summer to check it out. Unlike Amazon's Unbox...
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Perhaps those of us who live the United States take our freedoms for granted. We can complain all we want about inappropriate content in Grand Theft Auto IV, but we'll stand behind the right of Rockstar Games to sell it. We might not want our children surfing for porn, but we have no intention...
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