Your iPhone is tracking your every move.... Coverage of the iPhone tracking "feature" has ranged from concern to outrage.... We take a look and tell you what you can do about it.

How to See the Secret Tracking Data in Your iPhone

Microsoft's record-setting security update next week (April 12, 2011) may patch a large number of vulnerabilities in the Windows kernel, researchers said today.

On Thursday, Microsoft announced that next week's monthly security update will feature a record-tying 17 bulletins that patch a record 64 vulnerabilities, 15 more than the previous largest-ever set in October 2010....

Microsoft Readies Patch Tuesday Deluge

Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, released the latest version of its free and open source Web browser to the public on Tuesday (March 22, 2011).

The browser boasts a number of improvements over past iterations, including a new look and feel, and increased privacy and security features. One security upgrade, “Do Not Track,” will allow “users to set a browser preference that will broadcast their desire to opt-out of third party, advertising-based tracking,” Mozilla said.

The new Firefox also promotes interactive capabilities with HTML5, a Web programming language that provides full interaction without the need of external plug-ins like Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight....

Mozilla Releases New Version of Firefox Browser - NYTimes.com

Also see this ABXZone thread:

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/f168/f...-83257-45.html

Well the reviews of the new Radeon 6990 are in and we have a new single card leader.

While the benchmarks speak for themselves its obvious the card is a little loud compared to previous solutions:

As Anand puts it:
And here’s where it all catches up to us. The Radeon HD 5970 was a loud card, the GTX 580 SLI was even louder, but nothing tops the 6990. The laws of physics are a cruel master, and at some point all the smart engineering in the world won’t completely compensate for the fact that you need a lot of airflow to dissipate 375W of heat...

Our first massive roundup is going to talk about 26 different thermal grease choices that can be purchased individually, without the cooler itself. We are going to find out which ones rock and which ones fail....

The effect of thermal interface should not be underestimated in the world of CPU and GPU coolers where much effort is spent to lower the temperature of electronic chips by even one or two degrees. Coolers have gotten so sophisticated nowadays that we cannot expect a dramatic breakthrough in their performance. A new model can only be expected to win 1, 2 or, rarely, 3°C against its predecessor, but just as likely there can be no improvements at all. This is why we must not disregard the efficiency of thermal grease which can often provide more benefits than a replacement of the cooler proper.

Thermal Interfaces Roundup: Retail Products - X-bit labs

Today (February 28, 2011) Intel announced their SSD 510 Series of solid state drives. This is the first SATA 6Gb/sec offering to come from Intel, and has been eagerly awaited by the industry. These units come in the standard 2.5" x 9.5mm form factor, in capacities of 120 and 250GB ....

Supporting data transfers of up to 500 megabytes per second (MB/s), the Intel SSD 510 doubles the sequential read speeds, and at up to 315MB/s more than triples the sequential write speeds of Intel’s current 3Gbps SSDs ....

PC Perspective - Intel Releases 6Gb/sec 510 Series Solid State Drives

Intel on Thursday [February 24, 2011] plans to roll out Light Peak, a high-speed connection technology that Apple is also likely to adopt, according to an industry source familiar with the details of the event....

Maybe not coincidentally, Apple is expected to roll out new MacBook Pros--and possibly other products--on Thursday.

Intel has been working on Light Peak for years and recently said the initial version would be based on copper, as time-to-market realities necessitate more conventional technology. Light Peak is significantly faster than even USB 3.0, carrying data at 10 gigabits per second in both directions simultaneously. Connection speeds will not be affected by the transition to copper, according to Intel. In the future, Light Peak may scale to 100 gigabits per second, according to Intel.

Intel to roll out 'Light Peak' tech Thursday | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

New high-speed connection tech due from Apple | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

Intel's Light Peak May See the Light This Week - X-bit labs

Announced by a team of researchers from Harvard University ...
...and it's being described as nothing short of a "quantum jump forward in the complexity and function of circuits built from the bottom up."...

... a chip that's just 960 micrometers (or less than 1 millimeter) square ...

Story here

That is just awesome!

The groundbreaking prototype computer system, described in a paper appearing today in the journal Nature, represents a significant step forward in the complexity of computer circuits that can be assembled from synthesized nanometer-scale components.

This work represents a quantum jump forward in the complexity and function of circuits built from the bottom up, and thus demonstrates that this bottom-up paradigm, which is distinct from the way commercial circuits are built today, can yield nanoprocessors and other integrated systems of the future...

The Santa Clara, California, company said the defect was discovered after it shipped more than 100,000 of the chips to computer manufacturers getting ready to sell new PC models with the Sandy Bridge processor, which Intel touts as its biggest-ever leap in processing power.

Had the problem gone undiscovered, about 5 percent of PCs using the new chipsets could have failed over a three-year period, Stephen Smith, vice president and director of PC Client Operations at Intel, said on a conference call.

Intel discovers chip flaw in midst of major launch

Also see the ABX Sandy Bridge thread, for additional good links provided by some of our members.

Whether you're a professional tech support specialist or simply the go-to tech guru for your family and friends, you know how frustrating it can be to try to fix people's PCs. The task is even more difficult when you're not physically sitting at the system you're attempting to troubleshoot, and you have to rely on verbal explanations from a nontechie to figure out what is going on. The Problem Steps Recorder tool in Windows 7 resolves such issues and simplifies remote troubleshooting....

How to Troubleshoot With Windows' Problem Steps Recorder