kill

Three U.S. senators who want to give the president emergency powers over the Internet are protesting comparisons with the "kill switch" highlighted by Egypt's Net disconnection.

In a statement yesterday, the politicians said their intent was to allow the president "to protect the U.S. from external cyber attacks," not to shut down the Internet, and announced that they would revise their legislation to explicitly prohibit that from happening.

"Some have suggested that our legislation would empower the president to deny U.S. citizens access to the Internet," said the statement from … Read more

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.

According to a PC Pro interview with Todd Biggs, Microsoft'… Read more

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.

InterviewAnup Murarka, director of technology strategy for the flash platform.

News stories

Google issues Android 2.2 to Nexus One phones

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.