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The first legalised home computers have gone on sale in Cuba, but a ban remains on internet access. This is the latest in a series of restrictions on daily life which President Raul Castro has lifted in recent weeks. Crowds formed at the Carlos III shopping centre in Havana, though most had come just to look. The desktop computers cost almost $800 (£400), in a country where the average wage is under $20 (£10) a month. But some Cubans do have access to extra income, much of it from money sent by relatives living abroad.

Cannot get YouTube at all here in my computer. I have Comcast Hi-Speed Internet here in Southern Maryland. Every other page downloads properly. I have my YouTube in my "Favorites", so I have not been misspelling it. Comcast says it's a problem with YouTube. What gives? Are we in the USA or in Pyongyang?

? brand new visionman 'puter. worked for a week, but now when i turn it on the light and fan comes on, but then it turns off. is there something i don't know? thanks ken

How can I remove system integrity scan wizard from my system? Since yesterday, this keeps popping up. I have run my Professional AVG AV software as well as Adaware and this is the one thing that I am unable to get rid of. Is there a free online program that will remove this? Thanks!!

If/when someone does, please post the link here... Thanks! (sorry for vanity)

WMAL just updated and improved their web site last week. Next to the "What's Hot" red tab section, there's an "Insider Central" red tab on the right side of the screen. I see nothing inside that Insider Central box, which is perhaps 2" x 3", except a blank powder-blue colored box. I was told that I should see a 7-tab slide show under "Insider Central". In the "What's Hot" box I see all kinds of things going through -- Top News, Local News, G&A, Chris Plante & Insiders ( a 5-tab slide show). I contacted Comcast customer service (I have...

Barely three weeks ago, Seagate CEO Bill Watkins simultaneously pronounced solid state drives (SSDs) to be toys for a niche market and then threatened to start suing people if it appeared that flash-based storage might become a threat to the magnetic storage industry. That date has apparently arrived. Seagate filed suit against US-based STEC today, claiming that the SSD manufacturer is in violation of four patents covering solid-state memory storage, memory backup, and a drive's ability to scan/test itself in order to check for errors. Watkins has already issued a statement "reassuring" the public that this is simply a case...

Ladies and gents, I have a problem. I've posted here for years, and I've let it slide until now. I should have asked these questions before, but I was too lazy/indifferent to bother. Anyway, it's gotten to the point where I can't take it anymore. I can't post pictures. I can't italicize the text that I want to respond to. I can't post links. I can't post text in different colors or fonts. I've tried tinkering with the settings on Free Republic. I've tried tinkering with my web browser. Can someone out there give me an idiot-proof explaination of what...

Hackers have a lot of fancy names for the technical exploits they use to gain access to a company's networks: cross-site scripting, buffer overflows or the particularly evil-sounding SQL injection, to name a few. But Johnny Long prefers a simpler entry point for data theft: the emergency exit door. "By law, employees have to be able to leave a building without showing credentials," Long says. "So the way out is often the easiest way in." Case in point: Tasked with stealing data from an ultra-secure building outfitted with proximity card readers, Long opted for an old-fashioned approach. Instead of looking...

SEATTLE (AP) — The format Microsoft Corp.'s Office 2007 programs use to save documents was approved as an international standard Tuesday, a step the company touted as proof it is willing to make once-proprietary technology work openly with competing programs. But the International Standards Organization vote didn't quiet some opponents, who argued that the Office Open XML standard still locks out competitors and gives Microsoft customers no choice but to keep buying its programs forever. The decision was made public on the Web site of a European standards organization, Ecma International, on Tuesday. ISO is expected to formally announce the...

Anybody...I have a donated PC I am making inmto an arcade machine, and it has somebody's old XP setup on it.

March 2008 (Cambridge, MA) Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney Deb Bercovitch is prosecuting one of the most unusual child pornography cases you will ever come across. Bercovitch is internationally known for her infamous trespassing convictions against two schoolkids who were caught building a snow fort in Framingham, MA while on school property. Now Bercovitch is pressing felony child pornography charges against a New Hampshire man in an improbable case pitting the alleged "victim" squarely against the prosecution. The defendant faces a May 1st jury trial in Cambridge Superior Court. The defendant faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted....

Graphene is a single planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. It can also be viewed as an atomic-scale chicken wire made of carbon atoms and their bonds. The carbon-carbon bond length in graphene is approximately 1.42 Å. From a physicist point of view, graphene is the basic structural element for all other graphitic materials including graphite, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. For a chemist, graphene is an infinitely large aromatic molecule, an extension of a family of flat polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons called graphenes. University of Maryland physicists have shown that in...

CompUSA, now "The All-New CompUSA" and TigerDirect (both are "Systemax" companies) are running promotional photos on their Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (see, the "X" in "X300" makes it cool, get it?) sales pages (US$2,799.99) that show the machine in an, uh... interesting sleeve: MacDailyNews Take: Copying Apple is no substitute for innovation. This goes for hardware, software, and even advertising. Obviously, CompUSA and TigerDirect are employing a rather unique sales tactic: "We think our customers are idiots." CompUSA and TigerDirect got that right, at least.

Ashley Qualls doesn't sound like a typical high school student. Maybe that's because the 17-year-old is the CEO of a million-dollar business. Ashley is the head of whateverlife.com, a website she started when she was just 14 — with eight dollars borrowed from her mother. Now, just three years later, the website grosses more than $1 million a year, providing Ashley and her working class family a sense of security they had never really known. It all started with capitalism 101, the law of supply and demand. Ashley became interested in graphic design just as the online social networking craze...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, March 14, 2008 – Their school’s infrastructure may be behind the times, but education has been thrust into the modern era at an Iraqi school for girls. Army Sgt. Amanda Timmer of the Wasit Provincial Reconstruction Team in Iraq, talks with students at the Kut Girls Secondary School after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Internet center March 10, 2008. The center features 10 new computers and furniture. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Stacy Niles, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thanks to the Wasit Provincial Reconstruction Team, the Kut Girls Secondary School...

SAN JOSE, CA (TDR) - Hundreds of angry programmers took to the streets burning Indian flags, and chanting anti-Indian slogans after Wednesday morning production meetings. The protesters - mostly young males - have reached a boiling point after years of technological imperialism and failed Indian programming policies. Busy midday traffic came to a halt as this once proud high-tech mecca was transformed into raging, socially-challenged powder keg of humanity...

My computer is infested with this crap and I can't get rid of it. None of the free services can solve the problem, and I might even pay for such a service, except that all of them seem to be just folks willingly to take advantage of you and charge you more money, and possibly infect you more. Has anyone here seen this? How should I and anyone else deal with this?

ANNAPOLIS — Senate budget leaders said yesterday they will not repeal the new taxes imposed on computer services, despite an all-out protest by business leaders during the 2008 General Assembly session. The lawmakers said they will need the additional revenue to help close the budget shortfall. "We don't have a replacement for $200 million," said Sen. Ulysses Currie, Prince George's Democrat and chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee. Opponents of the tax — including Republicans, Comptroller Peter Franchot and other Democrats — said the increase was slipped into a broad tax bill during the special Assembly session in November....

Counterterrorism technology we can use more of http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=19332461&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=638428&rfi=6

Machines will achieve human-level artificial intelligence by 2029, a leading US inventor has predicted. Humanity is on the brink of advances that will see tiny robots implanted in people's brains to make them more intelligent said engineer Ray Kurzweil. He said machines and humans would eventually merge through devices implanted in the body to boost intelligence and health. "It's really part of our civilisation," Mr Kurzweil said. "But that's not going to be an alien invasion of intelligent machines to displace us." Machines were already doing hundreds of things humans used to do, at human levels of intelligence or better,...

I have three computers and need more than one hooked to the net but with blocking for the kids. I also need a line to a computer in a different room. I am spending over 200 per month on various telecom and am not sure I need it. I need to figure out what is needed where. Who or what should I call and how much should I expect to spend? I thought of calling a Best Buy guy who lives in our town. Is this a good idea?

Three years ago a team from Bell Labs took on a very daunting challenge – put an optical networking system on a commercially manufactured silicon chip, load it with a smorgasbord of sophisticated opto-electronic devices in a combination that’s never been done before, and make it easy to mass produce. The project is part of a U.S. DARPA-funded program (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) to develop technologies and design tools necessary to fabricate an application specific, electronic-photonic integrated circuit (EPIC). This program is led by BAE Systems in partnership with MIT, Applied Wave Research, and Bell Labs, through Alcatel-Lucent’s LGS...

A recently released tool that allegedly was designed to help al-Qaeda supporters encrypt their Internet-based communications is a well-written and easily portable piece of code, according to a security researcher who has analyzed the software.

Un-authorized programming must come to an end. To argue that "it can't be done" or "it's not cost-effective" is to concede either (a) incompetence, or (b) indifference, or (c) dis-honesty Suggested reading: GEEKONOMICS, David Rice

I was just commenting on another thread when some of my lower case keys were moved or transposed. E.g. open and close brackets were swapped. The division slash was a period. I figured my system was messed up and figured I would have to reboot. But when I canceled out of that instance of IE and went to another ap I was fine. And now everything is fine as I'm typing here. Very strange! ML/NJ

I run Ubuntu on several machines. 7.04 Feisty, 7.10 Gutsy, and 8.04 Hardy, running Gnome on all. I'd like to hear viewpoints on the merits, or lack of merits, on the various Desktops others use and have experience with.

January 29, 2008 (Computerworld) A popular urban legend debunking site has stopped serving up adware downloads after the practice was criticized by security experts and users, according to one researcher. Snopes.com, a site that exposes urban legends, had until yesterday been funding its operation in part with revenues from a pop-up ad that posed the question "Do you want to block Junk emails?" That pop-up, said Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software, in turn shilled ad-serving software from Zango Inc., a well-known adware distributor that settled with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in late 2006 over charges it used unfair...

Microsoft released Windows Vista to the world one year ago with ads likening the new PC operating system to such awe-inspiring moments as the first American spaceflight and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Charles Walling just wants it to work with his printer. The retired Seattle warehouseman has spent hours on the Dell tech support line, installed all the drivers and, yes, double-checked all the cords and plugs. No luck. The cause of the problem isn't clear, but Walling knows one thing: The same printer worked with Windows Vista's predecessor, Windows XP. "You can see the frustration," Walling said...

Please excuse the vanity, but I know many of you have very definite (and often informed) opinions about PC v. MAC. I have an opportunity to upgrade my home desktop and laptop with designated funds from work. In other words, somebody else’s money, enough to seriously soup up a Mac Pro desktop and a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. If I choose PC, then I'll upgrade only my laptop. No need to upgrade my PC desktop - the drudgery of re-installing software far outweighs the little jump I'd make in PC desktop technology. If knowing about my PC use is...

Just got my first laptop a few days ago. Today somebody told me that always keeping the laptop plugged in will drain the battery. Is this true?

Bush Order Expands Network Monitoring Intelligence Agencies to Track Intrusions By Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post Staff Writer WASHINGTON, DC: President Bush signed a directive this month that expands the intelligence community's role in monitoring Internet traffic to protect against a rising number of attacks on federal agencies' computer systems. The directive, whose content is classified, authorizes the intelligence agencies, in particular the National Security Agency, to monitor the computer networks of all federal agencies -- including ones they have not previously monitored. Until now, the government's efforts to protect itself from cyber-attacks -- which run the gamut from hackers to...

On January 22, 1984 during the Super Bowl, Apple ran their famous "1984" commercial. The voice-over intoned: Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology. Where each worker may bloom secure from the pests of contradictory and confusing truths. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own...

What would a dog say if it could talk? "Stranger", "fight", "walk", "alone", "ball" and "play", according to scientists who have developed a computer programme to translate dog barks. The special programme analysed more than 6,000 barks from 14 Hungarian sheepdogs in six different situations. In a series of tests the team of scientists, from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary led by Csaba Molnár, discovered that a computer could recognise whether a dog was in a stranger, fight, walk, alone, ball or play scenario. Computer can tell what kind of situation a dog is in by how it barks The...

Having a weird issue with the internet on my laptop. Have an HP laptop that I bought last April, new. Running Vista. Have Norton 360 running in the background. The problem I am having is intermittent internet connectivity. I will surf for a while and then suddenly Internet Explorer and Firefox cant' find any pages. At the same time, I am still able to get email and the other laptop in the house has no problems connecting to the Internet whatsoever. Internet will go away for anywhere from 5-20 minutes and then will be back. Any ideas on what could...

Hi, Does anyone remember the "Vector Graphic" computers from the late 1970's and early 1980's? I just restored one and have gotten interested in their history. If anyone has one, remembers using one, has parts they'd like to sell or just discuss using these vintage computers, please reply here or contact me. Thanks! Andrew Lynch

Boeing has been ordered to ensure passengers on its new 787 Dreamliner jet cannot hack into the flight system and take control of the plane. The ruling has come from America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is concerned that the plane's computer system may be vulnerable. Boeing said it was in constant dialogue with the FAA to resolve the issue. The US giant will start to deliver the mid-sized planes from November. British Airways has ordered 24 Dreamliners. Rival UK carrier Virgin Atlantic has orders for 15.

NEW YORK: Noting that just having a computer in classroom is not enough for imparting quality education, the United Nations has developed new guidelines to help instructors use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in a better way. The new guidelines "ICT Competency Standards for Teachers" was developed by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in cooperation with technology giants Cisco, Intel and Microsoft, as well as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). ....The agency noted that the standards go beyond just addressing ICT skills, and...

Video Professor? I remember seeing infomercials for The Video Professor years ago. He sells computer instructional material. I never would have guessed he's still in business. But after reading this, I know why: A Visit to the Video Professor's 'Classroom'. For 20 years, John Scherer, otherwise known as the Video Professor, has advertised on cable TV the wonders of his educational software. "I am so confident that I'm going to give you one free disc," he says on his "limited time offer" advertisements. But in actuality, it appears impossible to just get one free disc. Instead, it is a packaged...

REDMOND, Wash. — When he was chief executive of Intel in the 1990s, Andrew S. Grove would often talk about the “software spiral” — the interplay between ever-faster microprocessor chips and software that required ever more computing power. The potential speed of chips is still climbing, but now the software they run is having trouble keeping up. Newer chips with multiple processors require dauntingly complex software that breaks up computing chores into chunks that can be processed at the same time. The challenges have not dented the enthusiasm for the potential of the new parallel chips at Microsoft, where executives...

Sixty years ago three scientists in the US invented the transistor - the tiny switches at the heart of all silicon chips. Now they are found in everything from cars and aircraft to MP3 players and mobile phones. Analyst Malcolm Penn looks back on the phenomenal growth of the industry. Following the transistor's invention by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley at Bell Labs in 1947, no one really knew quite what to do with the invention. Little more than a laboratory curiosity, it was not until manufacturers realised that the tiny switches would enable products to be built...

ASUSTEK wants to release an eco-friendly laptop made out of bamboo. The Asus Eco Book has a case made out of laminated bamboo strips. Since there is a lot of bamboo in the world and it grows fast it makes it an ideal renewable resource for making PCs out of, thinks Asustek. The processing does mean a few toxins get into the mix, but generally bamboo makes for an eco-friendly alternative. An early version has been shown to hacks at Reuters and engineers are checking to see if the bamboo can take the heat. Asustek has made a leather computer...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2007 – Many deployed servicemembers have received a morale boost thanks to computers donated by a Michigan-based organization. “We are a group of volunteers (who) rebuild laptop computers and supply them to deployed units for (morale, welfare and recreation), education and entertainment,” said James R. Payne, a Vietnam veteran who’s president of JDS Computer Donations. The group accepts laptops, which it refurbishes and donates to nonprofit groups, public schools, and most recently, to deployed servicemembers. Nearly 500 of the refurbished machines already have been sent overseas to help servicemembers keep in touch with their loved ones...

For the last couple of months my computer has periodically been freezing up when not in use. It locks everything, even the clock. I've not added any new programs. I even have uninstalled Symantic and went with Avast/Spybot/Windows firewall. When it happens I can't even use ctrl/alt/del. (It's a Windows XP OS.) I have to manually shut down the computer and reboot. Any suggestions? Thanx.

Consumer electronics retailer CompUSA says it will close its stores after the holidays. CompUSA closed more than half its stores this spring.

IBM on Thursday unveiled a technical advancement related to the use of light to carry large amounts of data quickly among cores within a microprocessor, taking the company closer to developing a chip that may one day run notebooks with the horsepower of today's supercomputers. The breakthrough revolves around a device used to transform electrical impulses into beams of light. The device, called a modulator, is similar to what's used today in optical networks built by telecommunication companies. IBM scientists say they have found a way to shrink the modulator to a size where it can fit within a multi-core...

A couple of weeks ago, we featured the Sony Vaio TZ21 range of ultra-portable notebooks. Little bigger than a sheet of A4 paper, the TZ21 series is perfect for mobile workers and "hot-deskers", because it's packed full of applications, and fits easily inside a briefcase or a handbag. The only downside is price: at almost £1,500, there's a premium for its tiny proportions. The Eee PC Small but perfectly formed: Asus's Eee PC But what about those people who already have a desktop computer, or perhaps a chunky but reliable laptop that works perfectly well at home but causes hernias...

INDIANAPOLIS - Police are investigating the theft of 3 computers from the Veterans Administration hospital in Indianapolis. Officials say 1 of the computers contained files on about 12,000 patients. The VA says the computers were stolen from locked offices at the Roudebush VA Medical Center on Saturday. VA officials say patient information is protected by passwords, but patients whose information may have been stolen are being contacted. The Department of Veterans Affairs is also offering one year of free credit monitoring to those affected. Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer says he's upset that the VA has failed to comply with its...

I'm at work and I am operating Windows XP Professional version 2002 with Service Pack 2 on an Intel Pentium 4 CPU with 2.6GHz and .98GB of RAM. I keep getting the error message, after my computer has been on a while, even after I'm closed out of most of my programs, that states: Network drive:\ not accessable. Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service. And other times I get an error message that there isn't enough memory to complete the command/operation.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Intel Corp. plans to roll out its newest generation of processors Monday, flexing its manufacturing muscle with a sophisticated new process that crams up to 40 percent more transistors onto the company's chips. The world's largest semiconductor company expects to start shipping 16 new microprocessors -- which also boast inventive new materials to stanch electricity loss -- for use in servers and high-end gaming PCs . The most complex chips being launched Monday have 820 million transistors, compared with the 582 million transistors on the same chips built using the current standard technology. Intel's first chips,...