Damox's Technology Blog

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Saturday, May 19, 2007 

Top 10 HDTVs

If you're looking to buy a new HDTV, make sure you don't buy a piece of junk. Tech.co.uk has reviewed the top 10 current high definition television sets, so you can avoid getting the run-around from some sleazy salesman at Best Buy or Circuit City.

Here's a quick list of the top 5:
1. Sony Bravia KDL-46X2000
2. Panasonic TH-65PX600
3. Philips 42PF9831D
4. Sony Bravia KDL-46V2500
5. Sony KDS-70R2000
Technology reviews and news - Tech.co.uk | Top 10 high-definition TVs


Friday, May 18, 2007 

Dell Shows Off Super-Slim Display Port LCD Monitor

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Dell, the company that takes good advanced computer parts and turns them into cheap, run-of-the-mill crapware, has come up with a nifty looking LCD flat panel monitor. The monitor will also have the audio, mic, and panel I/O running through a single cable, eliminating a lot of the cord clutter modern offices and dorm rooms are notorious for. The prototype of this monitor was just half an inch thick, allowing for more desk room. That means more paper on your desk at the office and more beer and pizza in the dorm room.
Dell Shows Off Super-Slim Display Port LCD Monitor - Gearlog


Wednesday, May 16, 2007 

Engadget Knocks $4 billion off Apple Market Cap on Bogus iPhone email

Here's the scenario: Engadget, the popular tech website, gets an email claiming the Apple iPhone would be delayed a few months. They immediately fact-checked the story... oh nevermind, they took the story and ran with it on the front page. Only later would they learn that the email was a hoax, and the story was removed.

No harm, no foul, right? Well, not exactly. Engadget is read by many industry insiders and investors. It seems that after the story ran, some very big investors, likely hedge fund managers, dumped Apple stock, causing a brief dip in the stock price. The tip from nearly $108 per share to about $103.50 is the equivalent of $4 billion in market share wiped off the table.

While the stock price did recover, many investors were likely hurt by the dip. Some people have their brokers (or software acting like a broker) sell their stock if it dips to a certain point. They do this to avoid being hurt in a big crash. Those people may have come back from lunch today and checked their stock portfolios only to find that their Apple shares were gone, sold for several dollars less than the current market price.
Engadget Knocks $4 billion off Apple Market Cap on Bogus iPhone email


Tuesday, May 15, 2007 

uTango Offers Rewards For Customer Loyalty

How many stores do you shop at regularly? I bet there are at least half a dozen stores or more that you stay loyal to over a long period of time. How much is that loyalty worth to the store? The answer is "a lot," and a website is finally recognizing that and finding ways to reward those loyal customers of various merchants.

The utango rewards program is a fairly simple concept. You sign up (it's free), and then you make your regular purchases from stores like Nordstrom, Barnes & Noble, or Target through the uTango.com website. There are currently 250 different merchants working with uTango. For each purchase, you get Tango bucks that can be redeemed for annual cash rewards or what they refer to as Life-Stage Cash Rewards.

With regular purchases, those life-stage cash rewards can be huge. How huge? How about $10,000 after 10 years of membership, or $100,000 at 20 years, or $1,000,000 at 30 years. Think of it as a nice way to supplement your retirement fund.

uTango Rewards Program offers more to its loyal members than any other rewards program on the internet today. Think of it like your credit card point rewards system, except you don't get crushed by a massive penalty when you can't pay your monthly bill because uTango is not a credit card company. uTango is just a simple way of being rewarded for the purchases that you probably make anyway on a daily or weekly basis.


 

A Look At How Botnets Work

A botnet is a collection of computers, working together on a specific task. The term is usually used when these computers are being controlled by a malevolent piece of software. In other words, they are zombie computers, often without the actual owner knowing anything about it.

Once a computer has been commandeered by the owner of a botnet, it is used to send out spam and other malicious software to computers all over the internet. There is actually software out there for people who control botnets. Zunker has a clean interface that hides its nefarious intent. It makes spamming the internet a simple task that even a young teenage could pick up in a matter of minutes.

PandaLabs Blog : Zunker Bot

To protect your computer from becoming part of a botnet, use up-to-date antivirus software. In addition, run anti-spyware programs regularly and use a firewall on your computer and routers. There are various firewall programs out there that can work alongside the Windows firewall that comes with XP and Vista.