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Ad-Aware's efficacy remains questionable

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation has been well-justified. The latest version adroitly addresses some user concerns, yet performance-based annoyances remain.

Review:

Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review for Ad-Aware 9.5 Free.

Ad-Aware 9.5 Pro Internet Security continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in the previous version. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first started changing … Read more

Ad-Aware's efficacy remains questionable

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation has been well-justified. The latest version adroitly addresses some user concerns, yet performance-based annoyances remain.

Review:

Ad-Aware 9.5 continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in version 8. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first started changing Ad-Aware's protection engine more than a year ago in version 8.1, when it introduced Genotype. This heuristics-based technology identified … Read more

Diskeeper 2011 defrags with ease

Diskeeper 2011 automatically takes care of hard-disk fragmentation as it occurs, making the manual defragmenters we're all accustomed to a thing of the past. For any Windows users experiencing a lag in hard-disk performance, this hassle-free tool is a fantastic option.

Shortly after installation, Diskeeper analyzes all the volumes on your computer. The data it collects is used as a baseline for the Performance Reports it generates from that point on. These reports let you know how many fragments the program has eliminated as well as how, exactly, it has improved your PC's performance. While most users won'… Read more

E3 2011: BioShock Infinite impressions

It takes a lot to excite three seasoned gaming writers independently at a single show, and it looks like Bioshock Infinite has pulled the trifecta. Big, bold, and highly hyped, Irrational and 2K Games' prequel to the Bioshock universe is undoubtedly one of the most exciting games at all of E3 2011. Here's why.

Scott: I'm rarely excited about E3 games. I hate genre repetition. I don't like the endless flow of shooters and racers and fighters, the summer-movie-cliche money-shot explosions, the tacky dialogue.

However, once in a long while, a game comes along that has a big imagination. So big that it seems to challenge the perceiver, and bend the mind. Consider my mind bent, because BioShock Infinite seems to get ever more bizarre, epic, and richly detailed every time I see it.

The E3 closed-door demo of the game is hard to describe. We couldn't play the game--we only watched a 20-minute controlled playthrough--but what we saw had the scope, drama, and surprise to rival most of Hollywood's output. Early 20th century floating isolationist city in an alternate steampunk universe. Psychic powers, mechanical robot birds, gangs of political deviants, roller-coaster rail systems--yes, check. There are also endless clever and creepy historical details akin to what filled the original BioShock, such as a decaying gift shop filled with presidential forefather marionettes, dangling their decaying limbs from the ceiling.… Read more

Ad-Aware 9 Pro review

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware 9 Pro's reputation is well-justified. The latest version continues the publisher's tradition of adroitly addressing user concerns, yet some annoyances remain.

Review:

Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review for Ad-Aware 9 Free.

Ad-Aware 9 Pro continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in the previous version. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first … Read more

Win $1 million for perfect game in MLB 2K11

Loosen up your arm and take to your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3--there's $1 million on the line.

Starting tomorrow, Take-Two Interactive and Major League Baseball Properties are kicking off the Major League Baseball 2K11 Perfect Game Challenge, which will award $1 million to the first gamer to throw a perfect game in the recently released MLB 2K11.

A perfect game is one of the most impressive feats in baseball. A single pitcher takes the mound and retires all 27 batters without a single opposing player reaching base. Just 18 pitchers in the modern era have thrown a perfect … Read more

Serena Williams' sexy video game ad 'unauthorized'

So you work for a video game company. Say it's called 2K Sports. You are about to launch a game called "Top Spin 4."

Now, tennis isn't quite the most popular sport in the world. And you need to persuade, oh, young, happily hormonal men to buy your game.

You hold a brainstorm that takes at least some minutes. You decide you need to make your game sexy. "Serena Williams is sexy," someone says. "Yeah, yeah," someone else replies.

Your minds then hotfoot it to an ad concept in which Williams looks … Read more

Video game showdown: MLB 2K11 vs. MLB 11: The Show

With spring training under way, it's time to brush off the cleats, dig into the batter's box, and step into another season of baseball video games.

The usual suspects are at it again: 2K Sports' MLB 2K11 and Sony's MLB 11: The Show. Both games introduce some new features and gameplay, so let's go head to head to see which game hits for the cycle.

As it's been for some time now, Xbox 360 owners will only have one choice for a baseball game: MLB 2K11. Because MLB 11: The Show is developed by a Sony property, the game is only available on PlayStation 3.

MLB 2K11: If you're one of the millions of players last year who didn't win a million dollars pitching a perfect game in MLB 2K10, the contest is back again this year, though we wouldn't be shocked if the promotion ends before this post goes live.

Marketing strategies aside, MLB 2K11 does make a few noticeable tweaks in presentation and gameplay to improve the overall realism of the experience. Fielders will respond a bit more lifelike this time around, though there still were a few unnatural-looking instances that just didn't make sense.

Regardless, it's clear that a fair amount of attention was devoted to correcting some of last year's fielding issues, and we're happy to report things are much better in 2K11.… Read more

Avoiding the cost of entanglement

Modern IT is very focused on economics. We talk endlessly about cost. We debate capital costs vs. operational costs--CAPEX vs. OPEX, in the lingo. We look at Total Cost of Operations (TCO) and we try to calculate our projects' Return On Investment (ROI). But even with all of these economic metrics, we miss an enormous source of costs: Our long-term entanglement with the products, technologies, and approaches we choose.

Long ago, we had a bright idea. "We could represent the year portion of dates with just two digits--that would save space!" We happily did that for a few … Read more