TechByter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) with Bill Blinn

Adobe Creative Suite 4 is out and I'm trying to get my mind around this gigantic product; this week, I'll take a look at Bridge. A couple of phishing e-mail arrived this week; they were dumb and dumber. In Nerdly News, the end arrives for Jerry Yang and approaches for the print edition of PC Magazine. And chip maker Transmeta has been sold.

The newly released Open Office 3 might be "good enough", particularly in trying economic times. Some memory prices have dropped by more than 99% in 7 years. I'll tell you about the 3 precincts I was responsible for in the election (website only). In Nerdly News, a Washington Post reporter helped pull the plug on a San Jose hosting service that was the source of about half of the spam sent from wit...

Every day I receive about 1600 spams, but most are stopped by my first line of defense. Some of this week's spams are, to nobody's surprise, playing on election results. If you like to know what's going on around the world, RSS Owl can help you find various points of view. In Nerdly News, the upcoming Patch Tuesday will be quiet, Yahoo now wants Microsoft to buy it, and WiFi may be coming to TV ba...

The fraudsters are out in force and trying to take advantage of confusion about bank mergers. The election coming on November 4 and I'll again be working for the Board of Elections. It's going to be a long wait for Windows 7. In Nerdly News, the first newspaper to go Internet only and the importance of being patched.

Make sure your computer has been updated with an emergency patch from Microsoft. Chrome seems not to have very much chrome and that might be good. WinZip his version 12 and continues to improve. In Nerdly News, something new from NetFlix and layoffs from Yahoo.

Sometimes we miss the obvious and the most obvious large story that was missed during the recent Olympics in Beijing was that the Internet didn't melt from all the streaming video. What's in the future? While I was watching a movie last week, I started wondering why Hollwood can't get technology right. In Nerdly News, another browser threat appears and Apple releases a $1000 notebook.

If you're looking for an easy way to create a memorable and secure password, I have some suggestions for you. We'll take a look at another scare-spam that wants to put malware on your computer. I explain political comments that were out of place. In Nerdly News, new notebook computers coming from Apple and yet another misguided attempt to halt file sharing.

Adobe has a real winner with Lightroom 2, a new group spreads fear and paranoia, and in Nerdly News, phishing attempts are up and text messaging figures into a deadly train crash.

The power outage that kept me in the dark for nearly a week was little more than an inconvenience, but what about people in Texas? In Nerdly News, I have the Google phone and hacking Sarah Palin's e-mail account.

What is Microsoft's future in terms of operating systems? Good question! I have some thoughts. Carbonite picks up some new venture capital funding and plans to start advertising on radio and television. In Nerdly News, goodbye to a cracker and say hello to your new television.

Did Google make a mistake in releasing its browser for everyone to see? We continue to buy more memory for fewer dollars. The stupid spam of the week plays on curiosity. In Nerdly News, we have stories about Yahoo and Google and about SanDisk and Samsung.

Problems with AVG Antivirus almost convinced me to drop it, but I didn't. Safeguard Firefox and Thunderbird settings with MozBackup. What's the future of technology reporting? In Nerdly News, Comcast sets limits and I discover a cheap way to replace a dead cell phone.

Sony's Sound Forge is the best Windows audio editor, but do you need that much power? Fake news alerts are big among spammers these days. In Nerdly News, another nail in DRM's coffin and lines in Poland for Iphones.

A listener wondered what I do to track those redirects when I talk about spams. Well, I'll tell you. Despite some annoyances, UltraEdit is still my favorite text edit. Nerdly News has the story of the Netflix meltdown and legislation aimed at halting text messaging while driving.

I make another attempt to scam the scammers and come up empty. Your next CDs may come from Viet Nam. The long wait for Windows. In Nerdly News, AMD moves toward outsourcing and some credit card crooks are indicted.

If you want your data to be someplace, it had better be at least 2 places. A new search engine takes on Google. A spam telling me the FBI is watching brought back some memories. In Nerdly News, a look at intellectual property from a couple of vantage points.

The latest version of SnagIt is a winner, but there are some things to watch out for. I'm not sure which is worse, Skype's security or its tech support. No more dirty words from me. And, in Nerdly News, PC Magazine calls some technology great flops and Samsung has some real wow-factor screens.

Nero 8 makes CDs and DVDs easy, we'll take a look at some spam subject lines, there's a sideways glance at medical technology, and in Nerdly News, Apple sues a competitor and AOL tries to peddle itself.

Covering the waterfront: From open source software to Model T automobiles on the freeway to lions in my house. In Nerdly News, Linux on Wall Street and 1.5TB on your desktop.

Grisoft has changed its name to AVG Technologies and has released a new version of its flagship antivirus program. A scammer spammer tells me that I've won 1.5 million British pounds. In Nerdly News, Firefox sets a new "world record", Blu-ray starts to take off in Japan, and Blockbuster drops its bid for Circuit City.

Sometimes spam appears to come from companies that are generally regarded as legitimate and, sadly, often it seems that these companies really are the source of the spam. Could you live without Microsoft? If you create an easy test, you might be surprised. In Nerdly News, you may not be surprised by the fact that Palm continues to falter and the RIAA says that a judge should have ruled in its favo...

Do you want Windows XP SP3? Yes, you probably do and I'll tell you why. This week's stupid spam of the week offered me a credit card, but I declined. This week "I" sent a lot of spam, but not really. In Nerdly News, there's the Firefox upgrade and a new approach for scammer/spammers.

When I ran across some drawings that represent what a botnet looks like, all I could do was stop and stare at the beauty and the horror. Microsoft has resolved a problem with Excel; the problem caused some calculations to display incorrectly and served to embarrass Microsoft. I've resolved a problem that Apple caused on my Windows machine. In Nerdly News, the Mozilla folks are about to release Fir...

Pinacle makes it easy to watch HD television on your computer and record programs, too. In warning someone about a problem with AOL, I'm told that I disrespected the service. A couple of unrelated spams caused a bit of mirth. In Nerdly News, Acer starts to push Linux and Verizon plans to acquire Alltel.

Corel Graphics Suite X4 continues the long tradition of providing amazing value but also continues the more recent tradition of ruthlessly eliminating bugs before shipping the product. If you have a Vista computer, you'll want SP1. What has dropped in price from $95 to just a few thousandths of a cent? In Nerdly News, a glance at some antiques and another Network Solutions blunder.