Lagarith codec: Preserving video file quality like it was lossless
Video editing can be a destructive business, especially when carried out over multiple sessions. Every time you save your movie with a regular lossy codec, the quality degrades just a little, and it'll only get worse over time.
You could get around this by saving the videos uncompressed, of course, but the resulting files would be huge, and slow to load and save. It's a much better idea to install and work with a lossless codec, instead -- and Lagarith is one of the best.
Mac Guard assails teen girl's computer
Lots of people are dismissing blogs and news stories about Mac Defender, and the Mac Guard variant, as frivolous reporting. Reasoning: There are hundreds of thousands of Windows PC viruses and Trojans and just the one for the Mac. I disagree. This Trojan is the first Mac malware to widely spread in the wild. That makes it news.
Early this afternoon, Eastern Daylight Time, I had my first encounter with someone whose computer was infected by the Trojan. That's personal confirmation about the malware being in the wild. One of my daughter's friends called saying that she had received pop-warnings about her vintage-2008 15-inch MacBook Pro being infected with virus. She had been presented with option to purchase MacGuard to fix it. I gave her the laptop about six months ago.
Software Assurance makes Microsoft less competitive
Seventh in a series. Microsoft's volume-licensing upgrade plan locks Microsoft in as much as it does customers. Businesses choosing Software Assurance commit to paying for upgrade rights typically in three-year contracts. They're obligated to pay Microsoft 29 percent of the software's value annually. While Microsoft benefits from getting this money upfront, Software Assurance makes it difficult to reduce prices in response to competitors.
Software Assurance is a Drug
Safely save drive space with Auslogics Duplicate File Finder 2.1
Just how fast does your hard drive appear to be filling up these days? It doesn't matter if you purchase the latest terabyte monster or are running a more humble 80GB drive, it's amazing how quickly all that space can quickly disappear.
If you're the kind of person who finds himself or herself making multiple copies of files for whatever reason, a lot of that space can be reclaimed simply by searching for, and deleting, those redundant files. But it can be a risky business. What if you delete the wrong file? That's where Auslogics Duplicate File Finder comes in, bounding to the rescue. Version 2.1 of the program, released May 27, promises improved stability, an end to memory leaks and better memory optimization.
Want to sync bookmarks across browsers? Xmarks the spot
These days, an increasing number of browsers, including Chrome and Firefox 4, make it easy to access the latest version of your bookmarks from any computer you own thanks to built-in sync. The problem is that these proprietary sync technologies will only work with the browser they're designed for.
If you're wanting to switch from one browser to another, or you don't want to tie yourself to a single browser, you'll need a third-party solution in order to keep your bookmarks in sync across all machines and browsers. That solution comes in the form of a free add-in called Xmarks, which is available for various browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer.
Will someone please develop an anti-texting-while-driving app?
Texas Street is one of the steepest and longest driving inclines in San Diego, Calif. Cement dividers separate the cars, which also must contend with exhausted riders pushing, rather than peddling, their two wheelers up the narrow and close-to-traffic bike lanes. It's essential that cars keep their lanes. Last night, one next to me didn't, forcing my Toyota Yaris into the bike lane. When I reached the stoplight at the top of the hill, at Madison, and looked over at the driver, she was texting and driving.
Texting while driving is the plague. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Distracted Driving website, distraction accounts for 16 percent of all fatal crashes -- 20 percent for injuries. Cell phones are involved in "18 percent of fatalities in distraction-related crashes." The problem isn't just teens, contrary to popular belief. "Of those drivers reportedly distracted during a fatal crash, the 30-to-39-year-old drivers were the group with the greatest proportion distracted by cell phones."
Could 70 percent of you be running Windows 7?
That sure is hell what I want to know after looking at poll results for a question about Internet Explorer 10. In April, I asked Betanews readers if you cared that Internet Explorer 10 beta runs only on Windows 7. One conclusion to draw from the 3-answer poll -- 69.33 percent do (well, those responding) use Microsoft's newest operating system.
Unfortunately, there are only 975 responses, and they don't exactly jive with an earlier poll (not that they need to). But I'm wondering, and even optimistic about percentage of readers running Windows 7, so I'm asking again. Please answer the poll below about what is the primary operating system running on your primary PC (whether work or home).
Software Assurance punishes some loyal Microsoft customers, encourages others to skip upgrades
Sixth in a series. In the decade since Microsoft announced Software Assurance, many customers have found it cheaper to skip upgrades rather than pay up front for the rights to them. Essentially, the licensing program does the opposite of its design.
The "Good Enough" Problem
16 exciting downloads you may have missed this week -- get them now!
With software developer's updating their applications on a daily basis, it's easy to miss an important update or a minor, but essential, hotfix. We've rounded up some of the key new releases from the last 7 days.
Skype suffered a major outage this week, with some users unable to reconnect. As a result, an urgent "hotfix" was released. Skype for Windows 5.3.0.116 is this hotfix and is essential for anyone who is still unable to connect to the Skype network.
Foxit PDF Reader 5 better fits with Office 2010 and Windows 7
Foxit Software has released version 5 of its popular, lightweight PDF viewer, Foxit Reader. Version 5.0 now boasts XFA electronic form-filling capability, the ability to fit a document to the width of the page and split the screen into two or four panes, and a redesigned interface that includes an option to mimic the ribbon used in Office and Windows 7.
Other highlights include the ability to view thumbnail previews of PDFs in Internet Explorer and previews of PDF file attachments in Microsoft Outlook. Foxit Reader 5.0 also includes additional customization tools, including the ability to skin the application, plus an enhanced search tool.
The meat Mark Zuckerberg eats is you
I've been amused reading reports that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will only eat meat he kills. The amusement isn't about Zuckerberg's behavior but bloggers, reporters or anyone else treating it like something new or quite odd. Zuckerberg has been eating the meat he kills for years, and it's really cannibalism. The meat he eats is you.
"The only meat I'm eating is from animals I've killed myself," says Zuckerberg. Looking at the founding of Facebook, and some of the controversy surrounding it, Zuckerberg certainly is the hunter. It seems like the one activity where he is sure of himself -- hunting game.
Registration begins for 15th annual QuakeCon gaming fest
Registration for QuakeCon 2011, the annual PC gaming convention and LAN party is now open, and seats are filling up quickly.
QuakeCon is considered one of the United States' largest bring-your-own-computer (BYOC) PC gaming festivals and it grew from an event with fewer than one hundred attendees to one with just under ten thousand. The focus of the convention has always been the id Software franchise Quake, and since 2008, most of the convention's gaming events have centered on Quake Live.
Russian payment firm could be behind Mac Defender scam
Evidence is mounting that a Russian payment processing firm may be behind the Mac Defender malware scam that has suddenly brought the issue of Mac viruses into the limelight. Security researchers at Microsoft noted that the software shares some similarities to fake antivirus products intended for Windows machines.
Security researcher Brian Krebs has also been able to trace back the application to ChronoPay, a firm that has been involved in scareware scams in the past. Krebs scanned the WHOIS information of domains that victims were being sent to, and found contact e-mails matching that of other ChronoPay-linked domains.
If Windows Phone fails, Microsoft can still profit from Android's popularity
One year ago, Microsoft announced it had signed a licensing deal with Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC where Microsoft would receive royalties for every Android phone HTC made.
This week, a report from Citigroup analyst Walter Pritchard said that royalty fee amounts to $5 per Android phone.
Hollywood's 28-day delay for Redbox and Netflix is now Blockbuster's only advantage
National video rental chain Blockbuster went bankrupt because of the high price of running video stores when its principal competitors were shipping DVDs by mail, streaming movies online, or operating out of tiny, ubiquitous kiosks.
After being sold off to Dish Network, Blockbuster announced on Friday it is switching its pricing model to one nearly identical to competitor Redbox.
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