Techbyter Worldwide (formerly Technology Corner) With Bill Blinn

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 favor even though the evidence didn't suppport the case.

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 Firefox 3 and the band AC/DC won't sell its new CD online; if you want it, you'll have to get it from Wal-Mart.

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.

The latest version of Ubuntu Linux is easy to update and surprisingly easy to add to a Windows computer, but still acceptance is low. Now is the time for publishers to give serious consideration to providing some books electronically, without a paper version. I'll take a look at some spam subject lines and in Nerdly News, Firefox 3 is at release candidate status and Microsoft tries to buy search customers.

A new version of Carbonite raises the bar for online backup while retaining both its ease of use and its surprisingly low price. Recently I installed Skype to conduct an online interview and then discovered that by default Skype is a security disaster waiting to happen. This week's stupid spammer a lot writes like speaks Yoda. In Nerdly News, we look at Blu-ray sales and at the CBS acquisition of CNet.

Some things are inevitable and it seems to me that open source software is one of them. That will leave Microsoft on the wrong side of a tipping point. If you want to move your accounts, addresses, and e-mail from Outlook Express to Microsoft Mail in Vista, it should be easy. I have an offer from a Russian company to run a denial of service attack and I'll show it to you. In Nerdly News, we look at running your car on water and at failed Microsoft attempt to buy Yahoo.

Instead of paying someone for a degree from a "prestigious non-accredited university", I decided to make my own. In less than an hour I had 3 new degrees, so I must be a genius. We get a second opinion on Vista from a computer builder's perspective. Thirty-eight years ago on May 4th, something horrid happened. In Nerdly News, Windows XP SP3 arrives, a judge kicks sand on the RIAA, and last month's spam count exceeded 7000.

Firefox 3 (beta 5) looks promising on Mac, Windows, and Linux, but there are still some bugs. After examining spam closely for a couple of days, I've decided that the subject lines can provide a bit of no-cost humor. Apple continues to try to sneak Safari onto my Windows computer and continues to fail. In Nerdly News, Samsung promises some astonishing displays and Seagate ships its billionth hard drive.