freezing

System Preferences not opening properly

Several users have experienced an issue where System Preferences will not open properly or freeze when opening in Snow Leopard. Users are required to Force Quit the System Preferences window most of the time they attempt to access it.… Read more

iMacs having problems booting and waking from sleep

A number of users have found a problem with recent iMac models where the systems seem to hang at the grey boot screen with the Apple logo. Additionally, if these computers are put to sleep they sometimes will not come out of sleep, requiring a hard reset of the computer.… Read more

Limited options

While we love the idea of free TV (who doesn't?), it never seems to be quite what we hoped. FreeZ Online TV is no exception. The channel selection is unimpressive and user guidance is nonexistent.

The most confusing things about the program are the links that appear on the initial screen when the program is opened. We mistakenly believed they might provide more guidance for the program but instead directed us to two different sites promising free online TV. Both require additional downloads, and weren't related to FreeZ Online TV.

That said, once we explored those two false … Read more

Palm Pre: A Pre-tty disappointing start

With my Sprint contract running out and having been frustrated with my HTC Mogul--more like Windows Mobile 6--it was clearly time to upgrade.

Our smartphone senior editor Bonnie Cha pointed me in the direction of the Palm Pre since I was adamant about having a touch-screen and physical keyboard. I was also drawn to the Pre because of the new WebOS operation system and Synergy functionality.

After having waited in line for almost two hours outside a Sprint store in downtown Manhattan, I was thrilled to get home and start playing around with my new Palm Pre.

A … Read more

iPhones Crashing After Restore

Upon restoring iPhones and iPod touches, some users have experienced a problem where the device will not startup past the Apple logo.

Apple Discussions poster Solivern writes:

"Hi all, I was trying to restore the iPod's os because I'm selling it and wanted to clean it up, and the iPod just froze with the apple logo on the screen. If I restart, it just goes back to the apple logo and freezes there. The problem is now I can't even get iTunes to recognise it, so I can't even re-restore it."

For some users, … Read more

A burger in hand, three in the freezer

There are few foods that stack up against a good ol' hamburger. There are even fewer foods (tuna salad does come to mind) that benefit more from homemade customization. While ordering a burger from your favorite burger joint may be great, there is no comparison to having one made just the way you like it. You get to put in the mix exactly what you want, from onions to green peppers, with only your pantry (and imagination) limiting the type of toppings to pile on to your personal creation.

Whether you enjoy them fried or grilled, first you gotta make '… Read more

A really cool cook top

At first glance, the Anti-Griddle from PolyScience looks more like a science fair project than something that you would use to create culinary masterpieces. It's about the size of a large microwave, and has a 1-square-foot cook top. The Anti-Griddle's cook top isn't your run-of-the-mill cooking surface: instead of heating up for sauteing, grilling, and frying, it cools down to a frigid -30 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in treats with frozen shells and soft, creamy centers.

If you're trying to figure out why an arctic chill "cook" top would come in handy, then you can … Read more

Employment outlook gets murkier at tech companies

With Microsoft having, at the very least a "hiring chill," we decided to check in with other big tech giants on their hiring plans.

It's a little hard to get a clear picture of what other companies are doing--in part because so many have already announced plans to cut jobs. Intel's workforce is down thousands from where it was a couple years ago. Hewlett-Packard has already said it plans to shave 24,000 jobs as part of its EDS purchase, while Dell and others have also been cutting back.

Yahoo, already under pressure from competitor Google … Read more

Microsoft denies companywide hiring freeze

Microsoft on Friday said it is reviewing its hiring plans amid the economic uncertainty, but denied a report that it has instituted a companywide hiring freeze.

IDG News Service reported Friday that Microsoft had instituted a hiring freeze, citing a source who had seen a company memo. A source close to the company said that report is not correct, but said Microsoft did send out guidance this week that it plans to tighten up hiring amid signs of a weakening economy. The company still expects to add jobs overall, however.

CEO Steve Ballmer spoke last week of a certain "buoyancy" … Read more