Archives for News

Detroit Auto Show Opens to the Public Through Jan. 24

NAIAS 2010 Logo

It’s Detroit’s annual moment in the spotlight and this year there is a hopeful buzz surrounding the show.  Visit this site for daily updates. This week the world’s auto pundits will weigh the recovery and the future of Detroit’s once proud auto industry.


Read More

Google Launches Nexus One Superphone

Google Nexus One Smartphone

Pity poor Google.  They are just the 500 lb. gorilla of the Internet and when they try and launch a cool new smartphone, the Nexus One, they look like the local high school sophomore chemistry class trying to explain a really cool experiment they did!  Oh well, we can’t all be as cool as Apple when it launches game-changing technology, but just for the record they are calling it a “superphone” so there is not confusion with the “smartphones” like the iPhone and/or Blackberry products, etc.  Full press conference

Google Nexus One Superphone


Read More

2009: Year of the Social Networks

You know the game is changing when grandpa asks to “friend” you on Facebook!  Social networking sites are not just expanding in shear numbers but are also growing more mature because of a broader and more sophisticated group of users spanning wider and wider age gaps.  Ironically the paper and pen generation may be bringing a level of depth and utility to the realm of college and high school blabbermouths that was unexpected.  More importantly, they may be driving the financial clout that will finally make these networks pay for themselves.  Full Story


Read More

Apple is a Good Pick

Seems that Santa had something very nice for Apple stock holders this year: Amid speculation about a forthcoming tablet computer, the company’s shares have risen 145% this year.  he stock surged $6.94, or 3.4%, on Thursday to close at a record high of $209.04. That topped the previous closing high of $207 on Nov. 17.  Full Story


Read More

Big Search Engines Not Immune to Scammers

A recent experiment showed that Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing search engines could be suckered into giving high search rankings to scammers.  Google didn’t fall for the ploy but admitted that the hackers are getting really clever at fooling search engines along with faking other websites.  Moral of the story: Never give up your personal information to a site that solicits information from you and always double, double check websites before you get on board any kind of program they advocate.  Full Article (Ed Rudel)


Read More

10 Best Websites of the Last Decade

There was a lot of lively discussion around this topic during our marathon show Dec. 5.  Check out this article from About.com and see what you think of their choices.  We had a few extras thrown in during the Dec. 5 show and you can hear them throughout the podcasts of the show.  Vince Chmielewski of VC WebDesign nominated www.mint.com as the best place to aggregate all your financial information and the two digital divas, Carrie Hensel and Catherine Hayes, who live on their computers at InnerCircle Media, just felt that they couldn’t survive without the distraction of www.icanhascheezburger.com


Read More

Comcast Wants to Buy NBC/Universal

There goes the neighborhood.  Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, has just announced its intentions to buy a controlling interest in NBC/Universal Studios.  What will be the consequences of a single provider controlling both the content and the delivery of that content to millions of Americans?  Serious concerns are being raised that a critical barrier has been breached that will further limit independent content providers and also give Comcast huge control over how much we pay to view our favorite shows.  Full Story.


Read More

New AVG 9.0 Free Version Arrives

Long time listeners to the Internet Advisor know that Gary, Ed and Foster have all used AVG free anti-virus protection to keep their systems clean for years.  AVG has just released its newest version of its respected free anti-virus but beware: it’s part of a huge security suite.  Free doesn’t pay the rent so it’s not surprising AVG has turned, along with other faithful free friends like Zone Alarm and Avast, to creating huge, all encompassing security suites that offer complete protection.

You can always make a good case for paying $50/yr. for a good security package but now even the free versions come with all sorts of bells and whistles of their own.  The protection is still free if you look hard enough for it but it also comes with so much baggage that make you think that there really isn’t a free lunch anymore.  Download Free version of AVG 9.0 here.


Read More

Seattle Team Takes Home $900K Prize for "Space Elevator"

Things are looking up for a group of scientists from Seattle after winning $900,000 from NASA

The contest is intended to encourage development of a theory that originated in the 1960s and was popularized by Arthur C. Clarke’s 1979 novel “The Fountains of Paradise.”

Space elevators are envisioned as a way to reach space without the risk and expense of rockets.

Instead, electrically powered vehicles would run up and down a cable anchored to a ground structure and extending thousands of miles up to a mass in geosynchronous orbit — the kind of orbit communications satellites are placed in to stay over a fixed spot on the Earth.


Read More

20 Goofy USB Gadgets & Gizmos You'll Love

This is what  your IT department does when no one is looking! LOL  Everything USB you’ve ever wanted, from stink-busters to toasters that print the morning news on your breakfast.


Read More