Blackbox

Scheming teenagers, wayward spouses, and other sneaky computer users sometimes inspire someone to keep an eye on them. BlackBox Security Monitor Express can do this task for you, keeping track of the Web sites, keywords, and text that are entered by each computer user. Whether or not you should be snooping is something we'll refrain from weighing in on; all we'll say is that this program works.

The program's interface is plain and pretty easy to figure out. A wizard walks you through the process of selecting which users or computers are to be monitored; these can … Read more

CNET would need an army of headphone reviewers to be able to get to every set available on the market today, but despite this saturation, we never tire of newcomers trying their best to break into the public awareness. Phitek Systems isn't a newcomer in the strictest sense--the company is responsible for the technology behind other companies' designs (Audio-Technica's ATH-ANC7, for example)--but the OEM is now trying its hand at its own brand with the Blackbox line of noise cancellation headphones.

It's clear that Phitek knows what it's doing. The compact C18 earphones certainly don'… Read more

It's not difficult to get your hands on a good pair of full-size noise-canceling headphones, but if you prefer earbud-style 'phones, finding this technology built in is a bit more of a challenge.

Such sets do exist, though. One example is Phitek Systems' Blackbox C18 Noise Cancellation Earphones, a $129 pair that combines passive sound isolation with active noise canceling. The headphones offer very good sound quality and superior noise-hushing capability, but the lanyard-style design may not appeal to all users.

Read the Blackbox C18 review.

The cubist period for speakers seems to be alive and well, whether we like it or not. As a reflection of its widening influence, the latest example comes from the U.K. with Gear4's "BlackBox Micro."

As the second half of its name implies, it's the little brother of Gear4's larger wireless BlackBox system. As the first half implies, it's a black box.

The smaller sibling isn't wireless, unfortunately, which is one reason the traveling speaker goes for about $40, as quoted by Electronista. Gear4 claims that the USB device has unusual quality … Read more

No, I am not talking about something that's for or from an airplane. It's simply a network attached storage device from VOX. The full name--don't hold your breath, you've already read the creative part--is BlackBox Dual Bay Gigabit RAID Shared Network Storage. As if the naming it BlackBox were not sensational enough, VOX decided to paint the device silver.

Other than the confusing, yet very telling name, the device is actually straightforward. It's a dual bay NAS device that supports RAID 0 and RAID 1. It's always nice to have the option of using … Read more

Wires and wired connections are for old people, the mentally challenged and the Amish--all the cool people are using wireless stuff. Wireless technology is the connectivity of choice in today's prisons since, unlike Ethernet, it's virtually impossible to kill yourself using Wi-Fi.

OK, fine, wires are actually better than wireless for most things until 802.11n and WiMax (or similar) become mainstream. But Bluetooth has a high adoption rate and Gear4 is exploiting this ubiquity to the max. Its most recent Bluetooth speaker system, the Blackbox, is a rectangular, touch-controlled, 24W, glossy black speaker system.

Along with having … Read more