There's no feeling in computing quite like when you're trying to delete a file to fix a problem but can't because the file is open and won't close because of the very same problem you're trying to fix. Help is available in the form of KillBox, a small program that attempts to terminate and delete open and running files.
KillBox is portable freeware, meaning you can park the downloaded program file where you like and run it with a click. Also known as Pocket KillBox, this is indeed a compact program, at 90 KB, with … Read more
Sure, laptop batteries have had a tendency to explode. I even had a Handspring Visor that randomly went pop and spilled smoke on a table next to me. But there aren't that many stories going around these days about smartphones exploding, except the curious case of Aron Embry, who claims that his Motorola Droid exploded in his ear as he was using it.
On one hand, it's hard to doubt him: he showed his injuries, as well as the cracked and blood-splattered phone, to the local news in Dallas Fort-Worth. On the other hand, some of us were skeptical, as you don't typically see that kind of behavior in smartphones. Embry seemed sincere, but we thought there might be something else going on. The phone, said to be post-explosive, still worked.
But then Gearlog caught word from an anonymous Motorola employee who says the phone in question didn't explode.
The theory is that Embry dropped the phone, which shattered the glass, and then put it up to his ear without first looking at it, likely when answering a call. The shattered glass then simply gashed his ear.… Read more
Updated at 2:12 p.m. PT, with additional comment from Microsoft.
Microsoft has joined the ranks of Apple and Google in placing what, to some, is considered a controversial security measure into its mobile application platform.
Built into Windows Phone 7, and the apps made available through the included marketplace application, is a layer of security that lets Microsoft disable or remove entirely an application from a user's device. The safety feature, it turns out, was also included in Windows 6.5 through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
The bottom line: A new name heralds some big changes for Trend Micro's Titanium suites. The overhaul to Titanium Antivirus+ 2011 brings users a faster suite with a smaller system impact. However, Trend Micro's new security engine is too untested to be able to recommend it.
Review: Trend Micro's updates for 2011 bring a substantially overhauled suite, from the name down to its detection engine. The new version brings a new interface, new cloud-based detection engine, and new features that, on whole, are changes as impressive as those that Norton has gone through the past few years. … Read more
One of the first things you learn when you start using Windows is Control+Alt+Delete, that magic combination of keys that brings up the Task Manager and lets you kill programs and processes that are frozen or otherwise running amok. Sometimes, though, even the Task Manager isn't up to the task. KillProcess is a simple utility that, as its name implies, can knock out pesky processes that Task Manager can't handle.
The program's interface is fairly intuitive, displaying a list of active processes and, across the bottom, several buttons for dealing with them. Users can kill … Read more
Adobe's Anup Murarka talks with us about mobile Flash, Android 2.2 begins rolling out to select phones, and the Kindle Android app is finally released. Plus, we review the cloud music service MSpot and share a timely tip on speeding up Flash sites on Froyo. Josh Lowensohn guest hosts.
Turns out the iPhone grip of death is simply a "fact of life" with all wireless phones. If holding your phone makes your iPhone 4 signal drop dramatically, Apple would like you to know you should either hold it a different way or buy a case. From them. That sounds logical, right? Right. No, thanks. Also, introducing Rafe's new side project, oneleggedgoat.xxx. Enjoy.
Today's episode of The 404 Podcast begins with a conversation about a new bill that would give President Obama the ability to shut down the Internet.
Proposed by Senator Joe Lieberman, the "Internet kill switch" would, in the event of a "cyber-security emergency," suspend access to popular search sites like Yahoo and Google, in addition to placing Internet service providers under the control of the White House.
The bill's biggest opponent is a tech lobby group called TechAmerica, which argues that the law would give President Obama absolute power to silence free speech under … Read more
HOUSTON--Last Wednesday, five weeks into the worst oil spill in U.S. history, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward locked himself in a room on the third floor of the British oil giant's U.S. headquarters in Houston.
For the next five hours, Hayward, BP executives, senior engineers, and the U.S. Energy Secretary and Nobel Physicist Steven Chu, who had flown in two days earlier, grappled with the latest plan to stem the thousands of barrels of oil a day gushing from a broken well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
The scheme was called "top kill" and involved pumping heavy drilling fluids, known as drilling mud, into the blown-out well to stifle the flow of oil and allow the top of the well to be sealed with concrete. The technique had worked to seal other wells, but never one out of control in 5,000 feet of water. There was a risk that the extra pressure caused by pumping in mud could rupture the top of the well, and increase the amount of oil gushing into the sea.
Even so, Hayward and his team gave the plan a 60 to 70 percent chance of success. Quietly, they hoped an end to the devastating leak--and BP's five week-long, media-saturated nightmare--might be within sight.
The room they worked in measured about 30 feet by 30 feet and is normally used for training sessions. BP's crisis unit had commandeered it and renamed it the "intervention room" soon after the leak began. Cables wrapped in yellow tape with the word "warning" written on it, snaked from the ceiling to the cheap, white laminated tables, which were crammed with laptops. Maps of the Gulf and diagrams of the equipment on the seabed covered the thin walls.
Next door, in an almost identical space called the "containment room," a separate group of engineers worked on strategies to capture the oil that had already leaked.
The team in the intervention room pored over the results of tests to see if the well could take the pressure. The mood was "intense," BP's director for the Americas Bob Dudley told Reuters in the narrow, artificially-lit corridor outside the room during a break in deliberations. "It's kind of like NASA and the Apollo 13 mission in there." … Read more
TGIF!TGIF!TGIF!TGIF!TGIF! Before you take off for the weekend, be sure to check out today's episode of The 404 Webcast, where we're reintroducing the Semi-weekly Beck's Beer Audio Draft! Today's featured artist is Family of the Year, an up-and-rocking folk(ish) band from Los Angeles. The sextet mix together Fleetwood Mac-style rock guitars with a tinge of country that make for a perfect end of summer soundtrack, and we're very psyched to help them promote their new EP release called "Where's the Sun."
The two tracks on today's show are titled "Let's Go Down" and "Psyche or Like Scope," both available as a streaming preview on their MySpace page.You can buy it on their Web site at a sliding scale, meaning you can throw down however much you want. Give $1, $5, whatever you can afford, but keep in mind that all the earnings will be put toward the expenses of their upcoming CMJ tour. You can also buy a signed postcard from the road with a personalized inscription from the members themselves! Give them a listen, buy the album, and check them out in a city near you. Who knows, they might even stop by The 404 studio the next time they're in town...*hint* *hint* *nudge* *nudge*
Plenty of stories to get to today as well, including a story about some fool trying to extort money from David Letterman for a little fling he had several years ago with his assistant. In our eyes, the king of late night can do no wrong. It's not like he's, oh I don't know, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; can we all just let the guy live? Keep doing what you're doing, Dave, and if you want to come on The 404 for an exclusive interview, we'll be more than happy to oblige.
What's the #1 music streaming-app for iOS? Who wins in an iPhone v. S4 faceoff? We've got it covered with iPhone news, rumors, app recommendations, and more.
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