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Tip of the Day -

Wake Up and Do Something Useful

We all know that we can set our PCs to shut down automatically at a preset time, or after a period of inactivity. But would you like your PC to switch on from Standby or Hibernation mode, all by itself, then do something useful, like download your emails or play your favourite tunes? If you like the sound of that then say hello to a little freeware utility called WOSB or Wake On Standby. When it’s done what you’ve asked, it can be set to switch the PC off again. The download is tiny, it’s really easy to use, and you can’t get cheaper than free (though the author isn’t averse to donations if you find it useful…

02/07/09

Do you have a tip or tweak for Windows that you would like to share with other PC users? If so we would really like to see it, jot it down and email it to us at: PCTopTips

News Briefs

News Brief Archives 2006, 2007 2008 2009

Morro Beta Test Underway

Rumours that Microsoft were getting into the anti-virus business have been floating around for some time and it was finally confirmed late last year when Microsoft released details of a security suite with the codename Morro. It’s a comprehensive package, designed to protect PCs against all current nasties, including viruses, malware, spyware, rootkits and Trojans and the intention was for it to be free, and available in the second half of 2009. Well, everything appears to be more or less on track, and the name is now Microsoft Security Essentials. The first beta release is now available for download, but don’t get too excited. This is a strictly limited trial, available to just the first 75,000 volunteers, and then only to Windows users living in the United States, Israel (English only), People's Republic of China (Simplified Chinese only) and Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese only). You’ll also need to go through the Genuine Advantage validation hoops, and there’s no telling what info will be sent back to the mothership, but first reports are quite positive. If you want to get in on the act early keep an eye on the download page as the beta is often made more widely available a week or two after the initial release.

0207

Sound of the Void

I am still not sure if this is for real but in case you were wondering what on earth this is, it’s a record player, called ‘Void’, from a Korean designer called Rhea Jong. The idea is the record is supported on a saucer that in turn is levitated by a magnetic field – so far so good. Now this is where it gets a bit suspicious, the little red ball contains a stylus and amplifier and speaker and by some unexplained means, rolls around the record groove, picking up the sound and playing it back through its speaker. One thing I can say with some certainty, if it does work it will sound dreadful, but who cares, it looks brilliant!

2906

Memory for the Next Millennium

The big problem that few people ever bother to think about is how long will documents, photos, videos and so, stored as digital data, last? The short answer is no one knows. It depends how it is stored, and the bad news is that none of the storage mediums we current use are good for more than around 50 years, some a lot less, but even that’s just an educated guess because they haven’t been around long enough for anyone to find out. That’s only part of the problem, though; even if a storage device can guarantee data integrity indefinitely, can the same be said of the equipment needed to retrieve the data? Which brings us DRS Memory, a memory system that Tech-On reports was developed by researchers at Keio and Kyoto Universities, in collaboration with Sharp. DRS stands for Digital Rosetta Stone and it’s claimed that it can store large volumes of data for more than 1000 years. It’s a solid-state device, using stacked semiconductor wafers; with the data it contains recorded using direct electron beam writing technology. A stack of four 15-inch wafers can apparently store up to 2.5Tb of data, the data can be read off the stack using wireless systems. Of course at this stage it’s all conjecture and whether or not anyone will be around in 3009, with a working wireless laptop to see if they were right is another matter…

2406

News Brief Archives 2006, 2007 2008 2009