Save Your Data With One of These Top Backup Programs - Part 03

Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal

Paragon's disk-imaging application, Drive Backup 9.0 Personal (price $40, as of 7/15/2008), may still be a feature or two shy of competitor Acronis True Image Home 11, but you probably don't need whatever is be missing. DB9's newfound ability to back up and restore individual files and folders, in addition to imaging whole drives and partitions, makes the two programs nearly equal. If the restore implementation were a little simpler, you could throw out the "nearly"; still, Drive Backup 9's friendlier, configurable GUI and its $10 price advantage make it a difficult choice between the two.

While Paragon makes selecting individual files and folders for backup easy, selecting them for restore is harder. When you browse, instead of seeing a separate window with the files listed, you have to navigate a tree in the same browser you used to select the archive. If you're restoring from a long-path network location, this approach becomes unwieldy. The other, more serious problem is that you can restore a file only to its original location. This is a pain when you want to recover an older version of a file without overwriting the newer one.

The other major new feature in this version is the rescue media builder's ability to write its recovery image to a thumb drive as well as to CD. Flash USB drives boot much faster (on newer PCs whose BIOS supports booting from a USB device), and they're easier to carry around. Also, as always, if you own the company's Partition Manager the abilities of that program are added automatically to the recovery media. That makes for a very nice all-around emergency toolkit/boot disc.

The other changes to Drive Backup 9.0 Personal are minor: bug fixes, more drivers, and better support for various operating systems, including Apple's dual-boot Boot Camp for both Mac and PC support. In the end, for straight disk imaging, DB9 is as good as it gets. But the company needs to make restoring individual files and folders easier; and in light of NovaBackup 10, which has imaging as well as a host of other backup features, Paragon should also lower the price.

Download Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal (Price: $40; 30-day free trial)

Titan Backup

Having reviewed literally dozens of backup programs, I'm not easy to impress. But I was impressed with Titan Backup (price $40 as of 7/15/2008). Though it lacks the ability to back up open files and has no imaging capability, it has just about everything else you could wish for in a backup program. The interface is also one of the best I've seen--an intuitive combination of tabbed dialog and step-by-step wizard that I have only minor quibbles with.

Titan Backup's performance and abilities were pretty much on a par with other second-tier backup programs. You can opt for plain file backup, backup to a zip file, or backup to an executable zip (with a 4GB size limit--a zip limitation). Options include 256-bit AES encryption, the ability to run other programs before and after the backup, and user-name or password entry for backing up to protected network locations. The password didn't work with my Synology DS508 NAS box when the destination was a password-protected folder, but I'm inclined to blame this on the NAS box, which has a somewhat odd security implementation. There were no problems backing up to public folders, hard drives, a flash drive, CD/DVD, or via FTP.

Other features include e-mail notifications (with account settings), syncing of folders, a comprehensive scheduler, command-line execution, and some very nicely written help files. There's no support for tape, but on the consumer level, this is a not an issue these days.

As to those GUI quibbles, they were as petty as wishing the company had put the "Edit Task" button on the upper toolbar with "Delete" and "Import Task" configuration buttons instead of with the primary operational "Start" and "Restore" buttons on the side panel.

Download Titan Backup (Price: $40; 15-day free trial)

*** From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/148765-3/save_your_data_with_one_of_these_top_backup_programs.html

Save Your Data With One of These Top Backup Programs - Part 02

EMC Retrospect 7.6 Professional with Continuous Data Protection Professional Add-in

Though I'd love to say that for version 7.6, EMC has revamped Retrospect's rather obtuse interface, such an overhaul hasn't actually occurred. I can report only that the most feature-packed file-based backup program on the planet is now even more powerful, albeit just slightly.

EMC Retrospect 7.6 Professional with Continuous Data Protection Professional Add-in ($129 plus $29 for continuous data module; price as of 7/15/2008) can't be matched for breadth of file-based features: super-flexible scheduling; disaster recovery; plain file copy; support for remote clients, tape drives, the Mac, and PCs...you name it. If it fits the traditional, file-based backup role, it's in here.

Version 7.6 has two additions: support for Mozy online backup and the company's $29 Continuous Data Protection (CDP) add-in. Alas, while they sound notable, neither is truly integrated; they can only roughly be categorized as new Retrospect features. You can launch CDP from within Retrospect, but it's otherwise a separate entity complete with its own system tray app sitting alongside Retrospect's monitor/scheduler.

Lack of integration aside, Retrospect CDP works well. It differs, however, from many of its competitors (including Memeo Autobackup and NTI Backup 5 Advanced, which is reviewed on the next page) by not allowing you to select a directory such as My Documents for backup. Instead, CDP selects files via what are referred to as protection policies, more commonly known as filters. For instance, select a filter (policy) to back up all Word documents (*.doc, *.docx) and another to back up all JPEG images. It's an easy-to-understand approach for less technical users, but I found it restrictive in practice.

What's decidedly not restrictive is CDP's ability to back up to several different locations. For instance, you can keep constantly updated copies of your data on a thumb drive, in a network folder, and on an external hard drive. You also have the option to back up only when a file is saved or periodically even when open files have not yet been saved.

Online backup integration isn't nearly as seamless. I was hoping that I could simply specify my Mozy online backup account as the destination for a backup job, but for now, Retrospect can only launch the Mozy client or, for first-time users, whisk you to a Web page where you can sign up. (The first 2GB at Mozy are free; you get unlimited personal storage for $5.) I use and recommend the service, but it's not truly a feature of Retrospect itself.

Other Retrospect 7.6 improvements include a Mac client that now runs in native mode (not emulated) on both Power PC and Intel-based Macs; better support for 64-bit operating systems; and the ability to back up a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 operating in a two-node Windows Server 2008 Cluster environment.

Retrospect 7.6 Professional is $129, which includes two client licenses for backing up other PCs or Macs over a network. Additional client licenses are $39. The upgrade to version 7.6 is free for registered 7.5 users.

Download Retrospect for Windows 7.6 and CDP (Price: $129 for Retrospect, $29 for CDP; 30-day trial)

The Traditionalists

NTI Backup 5 Advanced

NTI Backup 5 Advanced (price $70 as of 7/23/2008) is by far the most complete backup solution NTI has ever released. It brings continuous data protection (CDP), file-based backup, and what the company calls drive-based backup (otherwise known as disk imaging), all under one extremely friendly roof. It also solves a long-standing problem for NTI--the inability to back up open files.

Backup 5 Advanced uses the same impressively intuitive interface that has been its trademark for several years, with the more polished look that was introduced last year. The step-by-step buttons on the left and the relevant options and selectors on the right are the perfect blend of easy-to-learn and easy-to-use. Many wizardlike interfaces get in the way once you know them, but this one doesn't.

The imaging module includes adjustments for compression level, encryption, and verification. You can get more granular with your tweaks for Backup 5 Advanced's file-based and CDP backup. For CDP, you can back up by filter or location (choose a directory), as well as back up your "profile" (e-mail, desktop settings, address book, Outlook .pst file, and the like). All three types of backup can be scheduled at any time, and you may instruct the PC to go into standby, hibernation, or power-down modes after a job completes. You can also have the program notify you by e-mail upon the completion (or failure) of a job, though it lacks a provision for running programs before and after a job.

Broadly speaking, NTI Backup 5 Advanced worked extremely well for me. Its backups were flawless; however, I had a couple of minor operational gripes. To back up to a network location, I had to first map the destination as a drive within Windows Explorer--a rather odd approach considering the program allows you to select an FTP site as your backup destination. Also, while you can schedule daily backups, you can't set them to run on alternate weeks to different media as you can with Retrospect. I discovered a very minor bug where the drive-based backup wouldn't show the drives on my system while an internal 100MB IDE Zip drive was attached. This was most like a conflict with the ASPI layer used by NTI for low-level drive access.

Backup 5 Advanced is the first NTI backup product I can wholeheartedly recommend: It's a solid, reliable performer, its file-based backup is more than adequate for typical use, and it offers CDP and imaging as well. Alas, at $100 it's twice the price of NovaBackup 10, a product that's nearly as friendly--and more powerful.

Download NTI Backup 5 Advanced (Price: $70; 30-day free trial)


*** From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/148765-2/save_your_data_with_one_of_these_top_backup_programs.html

Save Your Data With One of These Top Backup Programs - Part 01

We test five new apps that make saving--and restoring--your vital data a lot easier than tools you've tried in the past.

Jon L. Jacobi

Saving files on your hard drive is the easy part; choosing how to back up those files can be more difficult.

And why do you need backup software? If you ever have a hard drive fail, or get hit with an impossible-to-remove virus, you'll find that a complete backup--including your files, drives, and operating system--is the simplest way to get things back to normal. Not having backups is like flying in a combat zone without a parachute.

Traditional backup programs help you organize, schedule, and maintain your backups, and their newest versions make doing so easier than ever. However, tradition is quickly accommodating new realities. Two of the products we tested--NovaStor NovaBackup and EMC Retrospect Professional--recognize the increasing role of online backup in users' backup strategies.

Online backup is easy, secure, and safer than local backup (by virtue of being off-site, and being stored on drives that are themselves backed up regularly by your online service provider). Nevertheless, it isn't appropriate for everyone; most users have relatively slow upload speeds over their online connection, so online backup can be considerably slower than backing up to a local or ethernet hard disk. With a large collection of digital photos or multimedia, you're talking several days, literally.

Ideally, all backup programs would offer seamless access to all online backup services, but most don't. In the case of NovaStor and EMC, both companies also offer separate online backup services (NovaNet-Web and Mozy, respectively), which made tighter integration between the software and the online service a natural progression (NovaStor does a much better job at this than EMC, which offers basically a band-aid solution).

And while online backup is clearly the wave of the future, don't wait for the future to add a backup utility to your list of must-have applications now. A delay could be one of the costliest mistakes you'll ever make in your computing life.

The backup programs discussed on these pages are all available as downloads--see the link at the end of each review.

Online and On Your Hard Drive

NovaStor NovaBackup 10 Professional,

If you're wondering what happened to NovaBackup 9, so am I: The company, oddly, went straight from version 8 to version 10. However, if my hands-on testing is any indication, the program simply may have been that much improved.

While the $50 NovaBackup 10 (price as of 7/15/2008) has many major changes under the hood, the obvious improvement to this package is its infinitely friendlier user interface. This interface mimics one of the best, Microsoft Office 2007, and its big-button file menu. Perhaps even more important, NovaBackup's layout and workflow are immaculate--a rarity among the comprehensive backup applications that NovaBackup competes against.

Another huge improvement is the addition of disk imaging--backing up drives and partitions in their entirety. Since version 10 marks NovaStor's initial attempt at a disk imaging capability, I expected a primitive first-time solution; but NovaBackup's implementation, courtesy of Farstone, is more than adequate for most users, and will likely satisfy many professional users.

You can back up and restore entire drives or single partitions, restore individual files and folders, and even search within individual images--a feature lacking in the top dedicated disk-imaging solution, Acronis True Image Home 11.

I enjoyed my hands-on trials with NovaBackup 10 tremendously--especially the seamless integration of online backup storage. If you have an Amazon S3 or NovaStor's Digistor, you can simply add the service as a device, enter your user info, and then select it as the destination for any of your backups. Not that the backup clients for other online services are bad, but using NovaBackup's advanced options and GUI simply make it that much easier. It also allows you to apply the same settings to your local backups so that you're always sure you have everything backed up to each location.

NovaBackup includes a free, one-year, 2GB DigiStor account, though you need to provide credit card information to use it; the account will be cancelled, not automatically renewed, if you don't want to keep it.

NovaStor claims that it's reworked many of NovaBackup's internal routines so that backups transpire faster. In my hands-on testing, backups of every kind were as quick as, or quicker than, the competition's, but the program itself was a bit slow to boot, and the disaster recovery (imaging) module was especially slothful enumerating drives--it took up to 30 seconds to recognize them all. Because no progress bar appears during the enumeration, the first time it occurred I was nearly convinced that the program was locked up. Blinking drive lights told me it wasn't, but the experience is just that slow.

As improved as NovaBackup's interface may be, the software still has few rough spots. I was darned if I could figure out a way to save a script that I created using the backup wizard, which actually says "Create a script to backup your data" (using "backup"--one word--as a verb is their mistake, not mine). Secondly, interface glitches came up when I used the disaster recovery module on my system with XP SP2 set to Large Size (120 DPI) display mode. Until I switched to Normal Size (96 DPI), the module was unusable.

These glitches are easily fixed, and NovaStor has promised to make them quickly. Overall, the program is easy to use and highly capable, with file-based backup, support for tape drives, open-file backup, plain backup and restore of files, seamless online backup, integrated antivirus scanning, and disk imaging--all for just $50, undercutting much of the competition by more than half.

Download NovaStor NovaBackup 10 Professional (Price: $50, 15-day free trial)

(CONTINUE...)


*** From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/148765/save_your_data_with_one_of_these_top_backup_programs.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/148765-2/save_your_data_with_one_of_these_top_backup_programs.html

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Dangerous malware infects via P2P music

New worm aimed at music sharers

Jeremy Kirk

Music fans running Windows are being targeted by new worm-like malware that attacks those who download tracks from peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.

Playing an infected music file will launch Internet Explorer, and load a malicious web page which asks the user to download a codec, a well-known trick to get someone to download malware.

The actual download is not a codec but a Trojan horse, which installs a proxy program on the PC, according to David Emm, senior technology consultant at Kaspersky. The proxy program allows hackers to route other traffic through the compromised PC, helping the hacker essentially cover their tracks for other malicious activity, Emm said.

"The possibility of this has been known for a little while but this is the first time we've seen it done," said Emm.

The malware has worm-like qualities. Once on a PC, it looks for MP3 or MP2 audio files, transcodes them to Microsoft's Windows Media Audio format, wraps them in an ASF container and adds links to further copies of the malware, in the guise of a codec, according to another security analyst, Secure Computing.

The '.mp3' extension of the files is not modified, however, so victims may not immediately notice the change, according to Kaspersky.

Most savvy PC users are aware of the codec ruse, but the style of attack is still effective since many media players do need to receive updated codecs occasionally in order to play files.

"Users downloading from P2P networks need to exercise caution anyway, but should also be sensitive to pop-ups appearing upon playing a downloaded video or audio stream," Secure Computing said.

Users on a digital audio enthusiast site differed over the danger level of the malware.

"I never allow programs to choose which codecs I use to play back media," wrote JXL on the Hydrogen Audio forum "I research it and get the codec bundles off of sites I know to be trustworthy and even then I still scan them and check to make sure they are what they are. I honestly don't feel that this malware has a very good chance of spreading fast."

*** From: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=13781&

Spam coming from free email providers increasing

by Dancho Danchev - ZDNet

After analyzing three weeks of spam data between June 13 to July 3, 2008, Roaring Penguin Software Inc. foundSpam coming from free email providers increasing evidence that spam originating from the top three free email providers (Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail) is increasing, with spammers in favor of abusing Gmail’s privacy preserving feature of not including the sender’s original IP in outgoing emails:

“Spammers are increasingly using free e-mail providers to avoid IP address-based reputation systems. These systems track mail sent by various IP addresses and assign each IP address a rating. Some anti-spam software operates largely or exclusively on the basis of the IP address rating.

Roaring Penguin’s data shows that over the three weeks from June 13 to July 3, 2008, the percentage of US-originated spam originating from the top 3 free e-mail providers (Yahoo, Google and Hotmail) rose from about 2% to almost 4%. Roaring Penguin believes that spammers are using Google’s service in particular to send spam, relying on the fact that blacklisting Google’s servers is impractical for most organizations. According to their data, the probability that an e-mail originating from a Google server is spam rose from 6.8% on June 13 to a whopping 27% on July 3.”

Spammers and phishers are not just interested in the clean IP reputation of free email providers, they are also interested in taking advantage of the trust they have established among themselves through the use of DomainKeys and Sender ID Frameworks, and by abusing this through the bogus accounts that they’ve automatically registered by breaking the CAPTCHA based authentication, reach the widest possible audience and ensure the successful receipt of their spam/scam.

How are they managing to efficiently abuse these services, and is CAPTCHA breaking for the purpose of automatically registered bogus accounts to blame? The broken CAPTCHAs are only part of the problem. It all starts from the basics, in this case, the companies themselves admitting there’s a problem and how committed they are in not just fighting incoming spam, but also, outgoing spam.

The whole quality and assurance process applied by spammers is nothing new, in fact phishers and malware authors have been putting more efforts into coming up with easier ways to measure the return on investment (ROI) for themselves, and to present clear performance data to those taking advantage of their services. Just because someone has successfully sent several million spam emails, doesn’t mean that the messages didn’t got filtered, and when they did, what number exactly. Coming up with in-depth spam campaign metrics, and processes for verification of delivery, are becoming a top priority for everyone involved in this underground ecosystem.

The problem of spam and phishing coming from free email providers, has had its peaks in the past two years, prompting popular spam blacklists such as SORBS and Spamcop to blacklist entire Gmail servers due to their inability to obtain the real sender’s IP. It’s a signal from the anti spam community, and since Gmail will continue not revealing the real sender’s IP, something they’ve received a lot of criticism from anti spam vendor, but a lot of applause from privacy fighters, the best they can do is balance their incoming VS outgoing spam fighting strategy. Here’s a comment from an anti-spam vendor commenting on the problem back in 2006 :

“Gmail has taken an extreme position on privacy that inhibits the antispam community from doing their job, and it’s ticking people off,” says Tom Gilles, co-founder of IronPort. Some 10% to 15% of the spam IronPort sees comes from free Web-mail accounts, too big a slice to turn a blind eye to. “From time to time, Gmail mail is getting blocked because spam is leaking out of their service,” Gilles says. “Sometimes the babies get thrown out with the bath water, and that is the rub.

It’s difficult to gauge how widespread the problem of missing Gmail is, since no blocking records are available, though experts worry it’s growing along with the Gmail service. Gmail had 6.7 million visitors in February, up 4.1 million from a year ago, according to measurement firm comScore Networks, a jump that suggests lost email has yet to hurt the service’s growth. Yahoo Mail is still nearly 10 times bigger, hosting 64.6 million visitors last month, and AOL and Hotmail are also orders of magnitude larger. The situation reveals again how the studiously iconoclastic search engine is wrangling with where to draw the line on Internet privacy. As in other recent cases, Google is taking a harder line than its peers.”

Moreover, the abuse of the authentication at these free email providers, by either breaking the CAPTCHA images automatically, or outsourcing the process to human CAPTCHA breakers who earn cents to authenticate the registration process for the spammers to abuse, is clearly making an impact. For instance, underground services offering hundreds of thousands of pre-registered bogus accounts are popping up like mushrooms these days, and their maturity into a customer-tailored proposition offering everyone the possibility to pre-register bogus accounts at services and web sites that they are not currently targeting, speaks for the confidence they’ve built into their ability to deliver the goods. The most recent one which I covered in a previous post is continuing to automatically pre-register accounts with its inventory emptying and filling itself automatically in between the customer’s feedback indicating the quality of the service. Here’s a sample of their inventory as of the last five minutes :

* Yahoo.com - 270,565 pre-registered accounts
* Hotmail.com - 167,013 pre-registered accounts
* Gmail.com - 159,892 pre-registered accounts

These is just the tip of the iceberg, with many other such services offering different inventories and using different tactics in the registration process. And while the companies themselves are keeping track of the latest developments in this ongoing abuse of their services, it’s all a matter of drawing the line at a particular moment of time. For instance, a known to be malware infected IP that has repeatedly attempted to send hundreds of thousands of phishing and spam emails on behalf ot the botnet its participates in, shouldn’t be trusted in any authentication or registration attempts if you’re to take the radical approach, or have the end user warned about what’s going on and why is she not allowed to use the site’s services unless action is taken. The point is that, preventing automatic authentication abuse as a process is very similar to preventing click fraud, and fighting spam in general with the only different in the shift of perimeters from applying the techniques on incoming emails, to the authentication process in general.

Most of the human CAPTCHA breakers, and the automated programs will either abuse malware infected hosts as open proxies, or use open proxy lists in order to change their IP on every several registrations. Considering that the majority of malicious activity comes from well known bad parties are often blocked by default at the email gateway without even bothering to inspect the content in email messages coming from their networks/IPs, the same approach, activity from malware infected hosts should be challenged more aggressively than it is for the time being.

The increasing spam and phishing emails originating from legitimate email service providers is prone to increase, and fighting incoming spam should be balanced with fighting outgoing spam. Moreover, email spam is so Web 1.0, that the possibilities for abusing the joys offered by Web 2.0 services are slowly starting to materialize, with spammers being a step ahead of the filtering solutions.

*** From: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/wp-trackback.php?p=1514

The Best Web Sites for Movie Fans - Part 3

11. Flixster

http://www.flixster.com

Just over two years old, the social networking site Flixster has grown into a vast online database of over a billion user-generated movie ratings. To rate a movie, simply click on the Rate Now button next to that particular film. Amuse yourself with the quiz questions, polls, actor bios, photos, movie trailers, and more. Create lists of movies to share with friends, or vote on the top news stories of the day.

- Best Feature: Flixster Wiki, which lets you add or edit content on the history of movies.

- Worst Feature: Some users may be wary over the site using their e-mail account's entire address book in order to send a Flixster invitation to all of their contacts.

MOVIE BLOGS:

12. /Film

http://www.slashfilm.com

Launched in August 2005, this popular film blog offers news, news, and more news for cinema-obsessed fans.

13. Cinematical

http://www.cinematical.com

Operated by the Weblogs Network, Cinematical is jam-packed with interviews, reviews, news, photo galleries, movie clips, and more.

14. FEARnet

http://www.fearnet.com

Raised from the dead on Halloween 2006, FEARnet is the ultimate destination for horror flick fans. Peruse the site's news and reviews, movie library, online games, and free Web movies, such as Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror and Evil Dead 2.

15. io9

http://ww.io9.com

Can't get enough of sci-fi? Neither can the staff at io9.com. Part of the Gawker Media Network, io9 is a new blog dedicated to reporting on the latest sci-fi films, gossip, and more.

*** From: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2320864,00.asp

The Best Web Sites for Movie Fans - Part 2

MOVIE FACTS:

6. MovieMistakes.com

http://www.moviemistakes.com

At first glance, MovieMistakes.com isn't much to look at, but look deeper, and you'll see that the site is chock full of the worst movie goofs in recent history. Did you know that there are already 66 found mistakes in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? For example, "In the chase scene around the campus, Mutts' motorcycle has a belt drive. Harley Davidson did not make belt drive bikes until two decades later." Currently, Apocalypse Now holds the record for the most goofs, with 396. There's also a list of the "best" movie mistakes, the most mistakes of 2008, movie trivia, best movie quotes, and even TV mistakes.

- Best Feature: Who knew laughing at someone else's mistakes would be so entertaining?

- Worst Feature: The underwhelming site design.

7. IMDb

http://www.imdb.com

No site can match the extensive information that the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) provides its 57 million monthly users. Moviegoers can look up film release dates, watch trailers, and read movie news. But most fans use IMDb to search for films and learn about the cast and crew, nominations and awards, trivia, recommendations, and more.

- Best Feature: The breadth of information available.

- Worst Feature: The addition of celebrity news. I don't want gossip mixed with facts!

MOVIE TRAILERS/SPOILERS:

8. Apple Movie Trailers

http://www.apple.com/trailers/

Want to watch movie trailers without news and reviews taking up screen real estate? Apple's Movie Trailers site offers a slew of current and upcoming movie trailers, including the comedy Get Smart, the Disney/Pixar film WALL-E, and the drama August. Sort by Just Added, Exclusive, Just HD, Most Popular, Genres, or Movie Studio. Users can view the trailers on their computer screens or download them to their iPods.

- Best Feature: All the movie trailers you can handle.

- Worst Feature: All the movie trailers you can handle.

9. The Movie Spoiler

http://www.themoviespoiler.com

Warning: Unless you don't have the time to watch this summer's blockbusters, or you're crazy enough to read about a film's ending before seeing it, The Movie Spoiler will definitely spoil the ending for you. Relying on user-submitted content, the site is broken down by weekly box office film earnings and a plot-by-plot guide of that particular movie. Visit the archives for even more spoilers from 8 Mile to Zoom.

- Best Feature: A simple, albeit ugly, site to navigate.

- Worst Feature: Ads galore.

SOCIAL NETWORKING:

10. Criticker

http://www.criticker.com

With Criticker, rate movies on a 1 to 100 scale, and you'll be matched with other users who share the same cinematic interests. In order to give each film you've seen a rating, page through the randomly generated lists of movies or search the site for specific films. Once you've ranked at least 10 films, you will generate what the site refers to as The Taste Compatibility Index (TCI): a measure of the similarity between two users' tastes in films.

- Best Feature: The Facebook, MySpace, and iGoogle widgets to show others what films you dig and don't dig.

- Worst Feature: The site's TCI ranking system is a bit confusing.

(CONTINUE...)

*** From: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2320864,00.asp

The Best Web Sites for Movie Fans - Part 1

Get ready for summer blockbuster season with these 15 movie sites and blogs, offering a daily fix of news, reviews, spoilers, and more.

by Jennifer L. DeLeo - PC Magazine

When to comes to watching movies, there's nothing like the movie-theater experience: the overflowing tub of popcorn and fake butter, the awesome surround sound, and the humongous screen. Escaping into an air-conditioned movie theater to enjoy the latest blockbuster is one of the joys of summer.

Even before hitting up the local cineplex, though, moviegoers tend to already know which movie they're going to see. According to the Motion Picture Association of America's Theatrical Market Statistics 2007 report, 73 percent of moviegoers use the Internet to research films before going to the theater. Consequently, they are more likely to see a movie on opening weekend and go to the theater more often, too.

So what kinds of Web sites and blogs are moviegoers frequenting to learn about current and up-and-coming films? PC Magazine explored the various resources available on the Web and combined them into a handy moviegoer's guide. Our search is divided into six dedicated categories: reviews, news, facts, trailers/spoilers, social networking, and blogs.

Check out our favorite movie sites and blogs before heading out to the first blockbuster of the summer. And don't forget the extra butter!

MOVIE REVIEWS:

1. Rotten Tomatoes

http://www.rottentomatoes.com

Rotten Tomatoes has gone through several changes over the years, but it remains one of the best resources for movie reviews. Seven million monthly readers flock to Rotten Tomatoes to read more than 850,000 movie reviews, which are aggregated from various media outlets such as Hollywood Reporter, Newsweek, and Variety. Film buffs can also get their daily fix of movie news, movie trailers, photo galleries, and more. Currently in beta, Rotten Tomatoes will expand its site to include more video, a faster-loading homepage, and a better assortment of photos.

- Best Feature: Each film is scored by the "Tomatometer," which Rotten Tomatoes describes as a system that "summarizes the opinions of respected film critics into an easy-to-use percentage," from fresh to rotten ratings.

- Worst Feature: Some elements of the site load slowly.

2. RogerEbert.com

http://www.rogerebert.com

There's no more thorough and honest film critic than the Pulitzer Prize-winning Roger Ebert. On his own comprehensive Web site, Roger Ebert shares his more than 5,500 reviews written for the Chicago Sun-Times, the most recent being for The Incredible Hunk (2.5 out of 4 stars) and The Happening (3 stars). Every other Sunday, Ebert looks back at films that he deems Great Movies, and re-reviews them.

- Best Feature: Roger Ebert's movie criticisms, what else?

- Worst Feature: The site isn't as intuitive as it could be.

3. The Four Word Film Review

http://www.fwfr.com

What's unique about this movie reviews site is that no more than four words can be used. Some example reviews of Kung Fu Panda are: "Slacker Black repels attack," "Bear is grasshopper," and "Saving Valley? Panda fu!" The site has over 272,000 reviews and features over 25,000 films. An amusing element of the site is the clue balloon in the upper right hand corner. From the four words provided, guess which movie it is describing. Click on Clue if you need some help.

- Best Feature: The addictive nature of brainstorming four-word reviews!

- Worst Feature: The forums could use a little more life.

MOVIE NEWS:

4. Film.com

http://www.film.com

Owned by media service provider RealNetworks, Film.com is a tabloid-like site for movie fans. From the latest entertainment news and gossip, to fun articles like Adam Sandler's best movies, to Film.com's audio movie reviews, it's easy to spend a whole afternoon on the site. Peruse the DVD section for what's new on DVD, what's coming soon, and which DVDs the staff is talking about. If you're a TV buff, get all of your TV news here, too.

- Best Feature: The "What We're Talking About" section under Movies offers a candid look at the best and worst movies.

- Worst Feature: It's difficult to find movie news.

5. First Showing

http://www.firstshowing.net

A 2007 PC Magazine Top 100 Undiscovered Web site, First Showing is offers a complete list of movie release dates, movie news from various sources, and an archive of reviews written by the FirstShowing.net staff. Interviews with the likes of director Peter Segal and actor Ben Stiller also make the site an interesting read.

- Best Feature: Stay on top of movie releases by adding them to your Google Calendar.

- Worst Feature: The list of theater events is restricted to the Colorado Springs area only.

(CONTINUE...)

*** From: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2320861,00.asp

Microsoft sets Windows XP SP3 automatic download for Thursday

The latest service pack for Windows XP will be pushed to Automatic Update at 7a.m. EDT on July 10

By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

The vague timetable that Microsoft gave Monday for pushing out Windows XP SP3 to most users got specific Tuesday as the company quietly said it would release the upgrade on Thursday at 10 a.m. PDT.

Microsoft will add Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to Windows Update at that time, and trigger its automatic download and installation for users who have left the operating system's update service at its default "Automatic (recommended)" setting.

"Updated applicability rules and updated metadata to target the update to Automatic Update channel," read a Microsoft support document revised Tuesday after the company unveiled its monthly security patches . "The Automatic Update change will be published at 10:00 A.M. on July 10."

Monday, a Microsoft manager said only that XP SP3 would be automatically downloaded and installed "shortly," but did not specify a date.

Microsoft delayed the distribution of Windows XP SP3 twice this spring, but the July 10 date seems firm; it was included in the cumulative list of all updates available via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), the server-side update tool many businesses use, as well as via the client-side Windows Update (WU) and Microsoft Update Web-based services.

A Microsoft spokeswoman, however, was not able to immediately confirm that July 10 will, in fact, be XP SP3's automatic update debut.

In late April, Microsoft postponed the release of XP SP3 because it found a compatibility bug between the operating system and the company's Retail Management System (RMS) point-of-sale software. It also stopped the automatic installation of Windows Vista SP1, which had already been pushed to some users.

A few weeks later, Microsoft added a filter to WU to block AMD-powered PCs susceptible to an "endless reboot" problem from seeing Windows XP SP3 as an available update. In late June, Microsoft crafted a fix and added it to the WU list. Users who had WU set to automatically grab and install updates presumably have this patch already in place.

However, it's not clear how the automatic distribution of XP SP3 will affect users running AMD-equipped machines that haven't been updated with the June fix.

The announcement that Microsoft would release XP SP3 to Automatic Updates came just a week after the company started the operating system on its road to retirement by halting sales of the operating system to retail outlets and barring major computer makers from installing it on most new PCs.

People who want to block the automatic deployment of Windows XP SP3 can either modify the Windows Update settings, or download and use the Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit , which provides several tools for stopping the service pack from reaching client PCs until at least April 2009.

*** From: http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07 /08/Microsoft_sets_Windows_XP_SP3_automatic_download_for_Thursday_1.html

Fresh BlackBerrys for Everyone - Part 2

T-Mobile

BlackBerry Pearl 8120
One excellent reason to go with T-Mobile is the company's Hotspot@Home service, which lets you make Wi-Fi calls in any hotspot for free. This leaves your monthly minute total untouched, even if you exit the hotspot halfway through the call; the phone will roll back to T-Mobile's cellular network. The 8120 also lets you browse the Web over Wi-Fi. (Note: bargain hunters can snap up the non-Wi-Fi-capable, original Pearl 8100 for just $99—it's available in White, Sapphire, Ruby, Gold, and Black at that price.)

BlackBerry Curve 8320
Of all of T-Mobile's Hotspot@Home-capable phones, this one performed the best in our Wi-Fi calling tests. It's also a great performer otherwise, with a 2-megapixel camera and full-featured MP3 and video options. Frustratingly, it lacks a GPS radio and (like all T-Mobile handsets to date) 3G capability. The 8320 is available in Titanium and Pale Gold.

BlackBerry 8820
The 8820 was T-Mobile's first Wi-Fi equipped BlackBerry; it lets you browse the Web at higher speeds whenever you're in a Wi-Fi hotspot and now supports Hotspot@Home as well. It also features the roomier, recessed keys of the 8800 series, instead of the slightly smaller, raised keys that the Curve offers. It lacks a camera and standard size headphone jack, but throws in a GPS radio. This one is only available in Black—perfect for enterprise mavens.

Verizon

BlackBerry Pearl 8130
Now that Verizon has finally enabled RIM GPS radios, you can use the 8130 with the carrier's VZ Navigator software for turn-by-turn directions. It's also EV-DO capable, and can function as a miniature media center with its video capability and quality 2-megapixel camera. Get yours in either Silver or Pink.

BlackBerry Curve 8330
Verizon's version of the Curve is silver with black keys. If you're already used to having a QWERTY keyboard on your current phone, and you see yourself doing a lot of messaging (ok, we'll come right out and say it – if you're over 30), you'll want this model. It essentially duplicates the 8130's capabilities and adds a full-blown keyboard and larger screen. It lacks the Sprint version's superior IM client and mobile TV options, however.

BlackBerry 8830 World Edition
The 8830 is a great choice if you're planning on traveling overseas, since its built-in GSM compatibility will let you keep using the phone in Europe; you can even keep your phone number while you're there. The slot is locked, however, so you're stuck paying roaming charges and can't pop in a low-cost, locally-obtained SIM card. As usual, the 8830 has no camera—which may be a good thing for some business settings. The 8830 is available in silver and a gleaming red (both with body color keys).

*** From: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2317315,00.asp