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The ViewSonic VX2460H-LED is a 24-inch monitor with a 1080p resolution and dual HDMI ports. With a price of only $200, the aforementioned specs alone are enough to recommend it to those looking for a general-purpose monitor. Luckily, it also has a bit more to offer.

The monitor's default settings don't do it any favors in the performance department, but the five color temperature presets and inclusion of full RGB adjustments mean you won't have to settle for what you're given.

Once tweaked, the VX2460H-LED provides appropriate colors and contrast for general-purpose tasks and surprisingly good … Read more

Immigration is a hot topic in Congress at the moment, and the tech industry is determined to have its say.

According to Reuters, a number of tech firms are lobbying to raise the official cap on H-1B visas, which allows citizens of other countries to stay in the United States for up to six years.

In order to secure such a visa, you need to have a "specialty occupation," advanced skills or a degree in a field which is lacking local talent. Demand has soared for the visa, which has an annual cap of 85,000. Because of … Read more

Perhaps your laptop, like mine, fights strange intrusions every day.

Some ads attempt to outwit pop-up blockers, as if it's a bizarre episode of "Survivor."

Yet it seems that some companies might be attempting even more irritating ways of not only attracting your attention, but detracting from the tone of Web site you're looking at.

Would you, for example, want to see a banner ad from H&R Block besmirching the pristine pages of Apple.com?

This is allegedly what happened to computer science Ph.D. student Zack Henkel. As Ars Technica reports, Zenkel was … Read more

Of the three 3D printers I've used so far, the $1,599 Afinia H-Series H479 is my favorite. That doesn't mean it's perfect, but it's a more precise, and more flexible machine than 3D Systems' first-generation Cube printer, and it's significantly easier to use than the first-generation MakerBot Replicator.

The high price of this printer will remain an issue for many consumers. Post-print cleanup with certain materials can also be a hassle. The fact that you can achieve good prints so easily and so quickly, though, makes the H479 easy to recommend. If you're … Read more

Most audiophiles' first "serious" speaker is a small, two-way monitor, so whenever I come across a little one that strikes my fancy I share it with my readers. The Teac LS-H265 is such a speaker, and priced at $199 a pair, it's definitely in the affordable price range.

The LS-H265 measures just 7.1x11.5x10.2 inches and weighs 9.7 pounds. It has a 1-inch dome tweeter and a 5-inch woofer. I can't get over how gorgeous the piano-black finish is; the LS-H265 looks better than a lot of $600 and $700 speakers! The speaker … Read more

The nascent WebRTC standard for video communications on the Web has become a technology battleground pitting Google against Nokia.

The reason for a war not just of words but also of actions is a lowly technology called a codec, which compresses video for efficient networking and compact storage. Google wants the Net to embrace its royalty-free, open-source VP8 codec, but Nokia is trying to quash VP8 by refusing to license patents it says are required to use it.

Google, meanwhile, has come to the aid of Android phone maker HTC in a Nokia patent-infringement case that involves VP8.

Why the … Read more

A Google patent-licensing deal two weeks ago dramatically improved the fortunes of its VP8 video technology, but Nokia has added a barricade to what has already been an arduous road to adoption.

VP8 is a codec -- technology to encode and decode video or audio data for compact storage and efficient network streaming. Despite passionate debates about VP8 vs. the incumbent codec, H.264, most people need never care about video codecs.

But as video becomes ever more deeply embedded in the Net -- TV entertainment, chatting with friends, videoconferences for business, online schooling for children -- the video codec … Read more

Silicon Valley firms are presenting a rare united front in an effort to end a political logjam that has blocked high-tech immigration reform.

In an unusual show of support that underscores how important the topic has become, executives from Facebook, Google, eBay and other major tech companies sent a letter today to President Obama and congressional leaders asking them to fix immigration law by the end of 2013. The current system is broken, they say, blaming visa shortages, long waits for green cards, and difficulties bringing spouses and children to the United States.

"Because our current immigration system is … Read more

Taxpayers with simple returns have had lots of choices when it comes to preparing and filing their taxes online, including free options. But you get what you pay for, generally speaking, and those whose taxes require a bit more work have been forced into more-traditional (and expensive) options such as a visit to the offices of a professional tax preparation service or expensive, complex tax software that sometimes still involves CPAs and service fees. H&R Block's online service, H&R Block At Home, offers several options for taxpayers, including a free service. The Deluxe service costs $… Read more