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With huge annual revenues, Google has the spare cash to try out all sort of different (often high-cost) experimental ventures. That's been demonstrated by the company's decision to dabble in health records and home energy. In both cases Google says ... the problem was a failure to scale: in other words, not getting enough users to make the fixed running costs sustainable. In Google's case, scale isn't just a financial issue though: as its search success has shown, more users means more data and thus more lessons that can be learned. (Source: blogspot.com ) Medical Records Tracked Interactions ... (view more)

An unspecified number of email users may be indirect victims of a recent data breach at a major marketing company. The breach was at Epsilon, which operates online mailing lists for many major companies, including seven of the ten largest firms in ... America. It's rumored that "millions" of email addresses may have been compromised in the attack. (Source: forbes.com ) The data theft means users should be on high alert for so-called email " phishing " attempts. Massive Data Breach a Gold Harvest for Online Scammers Epsilon says the breach involved the data relating to 2 per cent of its ... (view more)

Update 2012/01/16: : The 37% discount expires this coming Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 @ 11:59PM EST. Reserve your copy before the deadline and you'll also receive System Tweaker software as a free bonus! Satisfaction guaranteed for 30 days or your ... money back. Details at the end of the review. Are you looking to speed up your computer, but are on a tight budget? Do you enjoy learning about computer hardware and how it interacts with software? If so, you'll find this software review highly informative. -- I get asked all the time, "Dennis, what can I do to make my PC faster?" The simple answer ... (view more)

Update 2011/11/23: We've contacted PCTools and were able to finagle a generous 30% discount for Registry Mechanic 2011 (PC optimizer) for our Readers. This offer expires Wed, Dec 07, 2011 at 11:59PM EST, so don't wait! This most excellent deal ... includes a 3 PC license (you can use it on 1, 2, or 3 Windows PCs: both 32 *and* 64bit supported). An fantastic bargain, indeed! Proceeds from this sale support our website. Access the 30% discount here , or continue reading the review below. The Registry Mechanic 2011 download + 30% discount link are also at the end of the review. Excellent news for ... (view more)

With over 30 years in computing experience, I'm often asked my opinion about computer hardware. Questions like, "What can I do to speed up my computer?", or "What type of laptop should I buy?" and things of that nature. Like anyone else, I love a ... good deal. In order to find the best deal possible, sometimes I spend an entire day shopping online to compare prices and features of similar components. Unfortunately, many of the "recommendations" I've read recently appear to be forged for the sake of making a sale, which means there's an awful lot of time wasted wading through ... (view more)

Facebook has confirmed that user details have been revealed to advertisers inappropriately. Unlike many previous privacy disputes on the site, this appears to be a genuine error. The issue involves applications, the add-on games and tools that run ... on the site but are controlled by third-party companies. The most popular examples include games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars. Generally, when users install such an application, they grant specific permissions for the app's creators to access their accounts in some fashion; for example to automatically post on the user's page when they achieve a ... (view more)

Google will soon offer content from the Associated Press (AP) on its news site. While the deal makes business sense, it's something of a surprise given that the two companies have publicly disagreed over interpretation of copyright rules. The full ... details of the deal, and specifically the financial arrangements and the duration of the license extension included, are being kept under wraps. MarketWatch figures suggest that, given Google's size, the fee is likely worth more than $1 million US dollars per year. The Associated Press has revealed that the deal will mean closer collaboration rather ... (view more)

Microsoft has identified a potential security risk in the Help function of Windows XP. But there is some controversy over the way the issue has come to light. This bug involves XP's Help and Support Center, and specifically a style of link which ... routes a browser to a help page built into Windows rather than a web page. Such links begin hcp:// rather than the more familiar http:// and are a way of making it easier to give online help and advice by allowing writers to include smooth links to Windows' own help pages. Whitelist Help Pages Spoofed Tavis Ormandy, an information security engineer ... (view more)

Update 2011/06/16: We've managed to finagle yet another amazing deal for our readers! Act now and save a whopping 60% off Ashampoo Burning Studio 9 until June 28, 2011 (regular price $39.99 now only $15.99) -- proceeds support our website. This ... fabulous program is used to make CD, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs using your PC and is especially GREAT for beginners / intermediate computer users because it's SUPER EASY to use. A full 30 day money back guarantee is offered if you're not completely delighted! The full review of Burning Studio 9 is below. Details and link to discount offer are at the bottom ... (view more)

A security researcher claims a virus probably led to the compromising of 30,000 email passwords. However, most other sources continue to blame phishers. The email details appeared in two lists published by a user on a legitimate website designed for ... developers to share code. The first list included details of 10,000 Windows Live Hotmail accounts , while the second boasted 20,000 . Mary Landesman of ScanSafe says that while investigating a piece of malicious software in August she discovered the people controlling it had around 5,000 Hotmail user names and passwords which appeared to have been ... (view more)