Accelerate Your Web Experience With Google Web Accelerator

Well, I found this when I landed on Google's site. They were advertising the New Google Web Accelerator so I thought,"What the heck, let me see what it does."

It's actually pretty cool. I'll explain how Google Web Accelerator works and how you can tell that it does.

Okay, so I downloaded the thing and before I ran it I read up on how it works.

It works by using more than one method.

• It sends pages that you request through special machines specifically used for Google Web Accelerator traffic.


• It stores copies of pages you view frequently.


• It downloads an upload of a web page only if a change has occurred.


• It prefetches web pages on your computer in advance.


• It manages your internet connection to reduce delays.


• And Google Web Accelerator compresses data before it is sent to your computer.

But Google Web Accelerator will not speed up pages that are over a secure connection and speed up pages viewed over a dial-up connection, because

I have hi-speed lite (for those who don't what that is it's a connection that dial-up but not as good as high-speed).

I noticed a slight improvement in speed, however, since it is meant for those with a DSL or Cable connection you probably will see a big improvement.

Google Web Accelerator tells you how much time you saved by adding a toolbar in your browser window like so:



You can also see the performance data which tells you how many pages you have viewed and how much time you have saved since you installed Google Web Accelerator.



I notice a boost in speed and you probably will too. Download Google Web Accelerator and speed up your Internet browsing experience!

(See: webaccelerator.google.com )

Technorati Tags: Google, Internet,technology,accelerate.

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iPod Gets Slimmer With the iPod Nano

Well, Apple has done it again. They have taken a great product and made it better.

The sleek design of the iPod nano is salivating enough. When I watched the ad on TV, I couldn't believe how thin this thing really was.

Today, I'm going to take a look at the iPod nano and tell you what makes this such a hot product.

The iPod Nano is just so sleek. - almost as thin as a pencil. On top of that it has a beautiful LCD color screen.

The iPod nano can store up to 3 days of music or 1000 songs. The battery life lasts a good 14 hours before it needs recharging.

The screen, (which measures 1.5" diagonally) displays both the title and the album art in full color.

The iPod nano weighs only 1.5 ounces (42g) and has the following dimensions: 3.5" x 1.6" x 0.27".

Finally, the iPod nano goes for $199 for 2GB of disk space (500 songs) and $249 for 4GB of space (1000 songs).

However, everything hasn't been so hunky dory with the iPod Nano.

TheBusinessOnline.com is reporting that it found complaints on forums that the iPod nano is flawed.

People have complained that the color screen gets scratched easily, even though the owners had nothing in their pocket with the nano.

Here's what some said:

"This is unbelievable. I have taken every precaution to prevent it and it still happened it's completely covered in scratches. I've never had anything else in my pocket with it. I clean it with a micro-fibre cloth and polisher but it is still a mess."

"You could almost feel violated with this: 200-plus bucks for something that costs less than a hundred to assemble and then by simply using it it's scratched. The scratches make it look like I threw it across a parking lot."

The iPod nano is a beauty. Is their a flaw with the screen?

I guess we'll have to wait and see if Apple finds that it affects the majority of nanos. If it gets recalled I'm sure Apple will figure a good way of fixing the problem.

Either way the sleeker, slimmer iPod nano is playing a tune music fans are liking.

(Source: Apple.com)

Technorati Tags: gadgets, technology, apple, iPod, nano.

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Google Earth Beats Archaeologists to Roman Villa

Well, this Roman Villa was found without the aid of archaeologists. In fact, it was a computer programmer in Italy that discovered the villa while using Google Earth.

Google Earth is a popular tool that people can use to view satellite images. In this case Luca Mori was viewing his town of Sorbolo when he noticed what appeared to be a villa in a nearby river bed.

"At first I thought it was a stain on the photograph, but when I zoomed in, I saw that there was something buried under the earth.", he revealed to London's Daily Telegraph.

Luca Mori then contacted archaeologists over the Internet and they said that the find could be a man made structure that is buried in the river bed.

Mr. Mori contacted the National Archeological Museum of Parma and they sent archaeologists to investigate the sighting.

Mr. Mori talked about the archaeologists thoughts after they viewed the find:

"At first they thought the site might be Bronze Age, but a closer inspection turned up ceramic and stone pieces that showed it was a Roman villa built some time just before the birth of Christ." (From China View Website)

archaeologistss are looking at digging the site but they must wait for approval of local authorities and residents.

Luca Mori's blog received so many hits that he has dedicated a websiteto let everyone know of the latest news around his discovery.

(Source: RedHerring.com)

Technorati Tags: google,archeology, news, technology.

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Opera Goes Ad-less

If you haven't heard of the web browser Opera I recommend that you at least check it out. I spoke about the benefits of Opera in a previous post.

Opera contained small ads in it's free version. The ads really weren't intrusive and didn't take up that much space so surfing the Net wasn't a problem.

You could pay to have Opera remove those ads, however, Opera has now decided to go ad-less and free in Opera version 8.5.

In a meeting within the offices of Techtree.com, they told Opera's CEO, Jon S. von Tetzchner, that to make Opera more popular they had to make the browser free and completely ad-less.

People didn't feel like paying $40 for a better experience online, TechTree.com states. That is true.

I think this move will start Opera down a path where it could rival Firefox.

The features on Opera are amazing and I'd go as far as to say that they're better than most browsers out there.

Follow the link if you'd like to download Opera (You will be taken to Opera's website).

(Source: Techtree.com)

Technorati Tags: opera, technology, Internet, browsers.

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Symantec: Firefox More Vulnerable Than Internet Explorer

Symantec has reported that Mozilla browsers, such as Firefox, are more vulnerable than Internet Explorer.

They do admit that hacker's are more focus on exploiting Internet Explorer than Firefox.

The conclusions come from the amount of confirmed vulnerabilities both browsers have had.

During the first half of this year Mozilla browsers have had 25 flaws - 18 of which were critical.

Internet Explorer on the other hand had only 13 confirmed flaws- 8 of which were critical.

One thing to note however is the way that Symantec confirms a flaw. It is confirmed only if it is done so by the vendor.

Another security company, Secunia, said that Internet Explorer has 19 unpatched flaws, while Mozilla browsers only have 3.

So, take your pick. Which is more secure. I'd still wager it's Firefox.

(Source: CNET.com)

Technorati Tags: symantec,internet, firefox, IE, virus.

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Samsung SPH a860

I recently bought a the Samsung SPH a860. This phone is just your average phone that has the capabilities to be a whole lot more.

Now a lot of features depend on which company and specifically which company's plan you want to be on.

So let's begin. When the phone is closed (i.e. not flipped up) you can see a display screen.

On that screen things such as the time, date, signal strength, battery indicator and the like. There is also an antenna which you can extend if you wish.

When you flip open the phone, as seen in the image above, the display screen is much larger here.

Again similar things are shown such as the date, time, battery indicator and signal strength.

On top of that this screen becomes useful to tell you if you've missed calls, received a text message and so on.

You can also add a headset to this phone if you desire.

The Samsung SPH a860 contains the following features:

• A Mobile Browser providing access to the Internet which then allows you to download ring tones, games or screen savers.


• The Messaging section allows you to send a text message to a friend.


• The organizer allows you to schedule upcoming events.


• The Samsung SPH a860 also allows you to store up to 500 phone numbers.

So, in conclusion it's a pretty good phone, but it's not very high tech or fancy. If you are new to buying a cellphone I would recommend something like this.

I also would suggest that you go in person to see how the phone looks and play around with it a bit while you are there. Above all, read the manual!

It makes it easy to understand what the tiny icons mean and how to use your Samsung SPH a860 to it's fullest.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, technology, cell phones, cellphones, Samsung.

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Google Unleashes Google Blog Search

Well, Google just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. Google has launched its beta blog search.

I guess this was the next logical step after they acquired Pyra Labs (Blogger/BlogSpot's parent company) back in 2003.

The search results are interesting. I typed in "Tech Guru" and while my blog doesn't show up in the results (it is new) I was showing in the Related Blogs section at the top.

Blog Search is a neat feature. I only wonder how Google will make this different from the hundreds of blog search engines out there.

Most likely it will just become popular just because Google is the Microsoft of search engines.

Technorati Tags: google, blogs, news, technology.

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Blogs Attacked By Comment Spam!

Spammers have attacked every avenue of the Internet. From our e-mail accounts to hijacking forums spammers are becoming a serious pain in the you-know-where.

In a previous post I ranted about how I hate spam. Well, I'm not going to do that here, but I will inform you on a newer type of attack that is going on, perhaps hidden to you or maybe open and naked if you have seen this before.

Many of us write blogs. Blogs (Online diaries that vary on topic from bird watching to politics) have taken off within the last couple of years.

Hey, you're reading this right? As the owner of a blog we enjoy getting comments (be it good or bad) about what we have written.

Spammers though have hijacked this avenue. They now post comments that vary in length from a couple of sentences to almost half a page long that talk about pharmaceutical pills, manhood extenders and any topic not related to the blog.

That's why bloggers (including myself) have had to put in tougher measures such as word verification to ensure that the comment is from a reader and not a spammer.

I find it sad that my readers or skimmers :) have to take that extra and sometimes annoying step when leaving a comment.

I hope that those who read this will continue to contribute to blogs and leave meaningful comments.

It is always the good and innocent that pay the price. The spammers wreak the havoc but it's you out there who are inconvenienced.

Technorati Tags: spam, technology, blog, spammers.

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Mozilla Issues Firefox Workaround

Mozilla has responded to a serious hole in it's Firefox browser and has issued a temporary work-around.

This temporary fix protects users from an attack of a flaw that can allow malicious code to be run on a victims computer.

Mike Schroepfer, the director of engineering at Mozilla said that the problem resulted from the manner in which Mozilla deals with International Domain Names (IDN's).

A domain name is something like: www.pepsi.com. An international domain name is one which contains characters of a foreign language.

You can download the fix from Mozilla's website.

(Source: News.Com)

Technorati Tags: browsers, internet, mozilla, firefox.

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Creative Labs: MuVo Micro N200 (256MB)

Hey everyone, I have another great mp3 player showcased for you today. Creative's MuVo Micro N200 256MB is jam packed with so many extra features this is amazing.

I got the MuVo Micro N200 with a cellphone deal (I'll talk about the cellphone in a future post).

With 256 MB that gives you plenty of room to add a decent amount of music.

What makes this really great is that it's not only an mp3 player (it also plays WMA files) but also works as a USB drive.

That means you can store files (presentations, images, videos) along with your music.

The MuVo Micro N200 also allows you to record your voice and this is possible with a tiny (Look at the image. See that black dot above the words "MuVo". Yea, that's the microphone.)but very powerful microphone.

I tested this baby. With normal mike's you gotta basically kiss the thing to record any sound.

Well, not this baby. When I did that (so we smooched what's the big deal) I almost blasted my earbuds.

I then put my radio on really soft in my room and recorded the sound as I got walked slowly farther and farther away.

On playback I was able the sound and heard it all (I did have to turn the volume to max but the I clearly understood what was being said).

The MuVo Micro N200 is incredibly tiny.

Weighing only 8oz (without AAA battery) and its dimensions are a slim 1.32" W * 2.58" H * 0.51" D it's amazing how they packed so much into such a small space.

The AAA battery will last for about 15 hours which isn't the best, but it is definitely reasonable.

Creative's MuVo Micro N200 also comes with an FM radio so you can listen to your favorite radio station without skipping a beat.

The scroller on the side of the player is easy to use and allows one to scroll through the menu and choose the appropriate action.

All in all it's a powerful little item, making any music fan drool.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, technology, mp3, music, Creative.

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Australian Court Finds Kazaa Guilty of Copyright Infringement

An Australian court has found Kazaa, a popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing service to have infringed copyright law.

A P2P is a network in which people can exchange files, most often music without paying for them.

The court has given Kazaa two months to install special filters prevent users of Kazaa to infringe on copyright.

Sherman Networks which owns Kazaa says it will appeal the decision.

If the ruling stands it will allow music companies to sue for damages. That would make the situation very interesting in the music industry.

The judge stated:

“The respondents have long known that the Kazaa system is widely used for the sharing of copyright files,”

“Far from taking steps that are likely to effectively curtail copyright file-sharing, Sharman Networks and Altnet have included on the Kazaa web site exhortations to users to increase their file sharing and a web page headed ‘Join the Revolution’ that criticizes record companies for opposing peer-to-peer file sharing,” he added.

Even though this ruling has taken place it seems that more and more people have begun to download music legally.

The fear of being sued or paying for the illegal music has shaken some off the illegal method. Others have become fearful of how easy viruses and worms can spread through a music file.

Here in Canada, a few months ago a court ruled that peer-to-peer networks were legal and were not violating copyright law.

It is an interesting sight for the music industry. They took down Napster. So, the logical question is: will Kazaa be next?

(Source: RedHerring.com)

Technorati Tags: kazaa, music, downloading, technology

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Sony's SRFH11 S2 Sports® AM/FM Headphone Radio

Do you love listening to the radio? Are you an active person participating in jogging, walking or working out?

Well, if you answered yes to any or all of those questions you may want to take a look at Sony's SRFH11 S2 sports® AM/FM headphone radio.

The beautiful thing about this radio is that it's all wireless.

You don't need to connect headphones to aportablee radio - the radio is embedded in the headphones.

That means no messy wires allowing you to run, jog, or work actively with all the freedom you want.

Sony's SRFH11 S2 sports® AM/FM headphone radio requires 1 AAA battery which lasts for hours.

The radio looks sleek and is well-built. The radio also is water resistant so it can keep out water and dirt from the radio. It even has a rear reflector so you can be safe while you jog at night.

Sony's SRFH11 S2 sports® AM/FM headphone radio costs around $69.99(CAN) or $56(US).

Click the link for more information on Sony's SRFH11 S2 sports® AM/FM headphone radio.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, technology, radio, sony, exercise,

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Leaked Information on Apple's Announcement

Well, as is often the case things get leaked in the tech world. Apple was set to announce some big news on September 7th.

Information has been leaked that states that it is going to be a mobile phone that allows the playing of iTunes music.

Apple is predicted to announce (along with partners Motorola and Cingular Wireless) that the new Motorola E790 will include a program that is able to download iTunes music from your computer.

Apple isn't saying anything.

This iPod phone will be available in two models: 512MB and 1GB. The 1GB model being able to hold as many as 240 songs.

The downside of this product is that you have to download the song to your computer before putting it on your phone.

(Source: www.bestsyndication.com)

Technorati Tags: gadgets, technology, apple, iPod, iTunes, motorola,

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HMV to Get Into Legal Music Downloading Market

HMV, the music giant, announced on Thursday its new downloading service. The new service will be competing with Apple and Virgin.

The new service, called HMV Digital, is only going to be available in the UK. It launches on Monday, September 5, 2005.

As for the cost of each download, music can be downloaded for as low as ($1.06 US). However, for the cost of $27(US) per month you can have unlimited downloads.

But, get this: songs downloaded under that plan are wiped out if the subscription isn't renewed.. Crazy stuff.

I think they don't want people cheating them. That is using that as a one time thing so they can download 10,000 songs.

In the future HMV Digital is hoping to add video.

How good or bad will this service be? Well, they have come late into this market so they did have the time to see how they could improve service.

In reality, we'll just have to wait and see.

(Source: MSN Money)

Technorati Tags: technology, music, hmv, downloading.

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