Microsoft Security Essentials is officially out for the public. If you haven't heard, this is free anti-virus, anti-spyware, and nti-malware software from Microsoft. I have been using Avast for years and have finally switched when it became available. I decided to switch because reviews have been generally positive, especially since it uses very little resources such as disk space and ram, and it works just as well as any other anti-virus software out there.
However, the auto-update mechanism has to be tweaked when it comes to new virus defintion files. I'm sure that it does auto-update. I'm just not sure what the schedule is since I don't leave my computer on all the time. I would prefer for it to check whenever it comes out of standy/hibernation, or when it boots/reboots, which Avast has already implemented (in my experience). This is something that must be implemented by Microsoft if they hope to have it widely adopted as the primary malware protection of users.
It can be downloaded at the Microsoft Security Essentials page.
One last thing. Your copy of windows must be validated in order for you to download the software.
20091003
flip minoHD review
i have used a flip minoHD for a few months now. the video quality is terrific if you have adequate lighting. with 1280x720 resololution, the quality is definitely better than that of the iphone or the new ipod nano. there's 8GB of flash memory, good enough for an hour of recording.
on the negatives, there is no memory expansion slot if you need more recording time. you simply have to offload video to a computer to gain more recording time. and there is one more negative aspect of this recorder that i consider to be huge for me. in order to charge the recorder, you have to connect it directly to a usb port on your computer. this isn't bad per se. but if it's the one and only way to charge it, then i would say it's a bad thing. to be fair, they do sell a separate charger that you can plug directly into a wall socket. however, that's another $30 on top of the $200 i've already spent.
since it charges exclusively via usb, i thought that a usb hub with its own independent power supply would be able to charge it. but it won't. i also tried an ipod power adapter. no go. then i have a griffin power block, made for charging devices that charge via usb. this charges my ipod and every other device i have that charges via usb. but it won't charge the minoHD. since all three of these options that i have available to me supply its own power, i don't understand why it won't charge. the blinking light indicates that it is charging, but it's not. and not only will it not charge, but it actually drained power from the minoHD. that's right. according to the battery indicator, i started out with a half-charged battery. leaving it plugged in overnight drained it completely.
the only explanation i can come up with is that the flip minoHD has some kind of built-in circuitry that prevents you from charging without a computer. but they do sell that charger as an accessory. so the conclusion i have come to is that they did it on purpose just so that you have to buy their charger, designed to bypass this no-charge circuitry, if you want the option of charging without a computer. what a racket.
yes, i can always use a computer. but think about this. the power needed to charge this device is miniscule. but it forces me to waste a lot more power by using a computer. i do not leave the computer on 24/7. that's just a waste of power and perhaps shortens the life of its components and i don't understand why people do it. i turn it on when i need to use it, then it's off when i'm done.
it takes just 2.5 watts to charge the flip minoHD, but the power source is using up anywhere from 30 watts (let's say a netbook) to 300+ watts (full desktop), which puts efficiency under 10% at best. how would you like it if the company providing your electricity charges you 100 watts for every 10 watts of light your light bulb outputs?
on the negatives, there is no memory expansion slot if you need more recording time. you simply have to offload video to a computer to gain more recording time. and there is one more negative aspect of this recorder that i consider to be huge for me. in order to charge the recorder, you have to connect it directly to a usb port on your computer. this isn't bad per se. but if it's the one and only way to charge it, then i would say it's a bad thing. to be fair, they do sell a separate charger that you can plug directly into a wall socket. however, that's another $30 on top of the $200 i've already spent.
since it charges exclusively via usb, i thought that a usb hub with its own independent power supply would be able to charge it. but it won't. i also tried an ipod power adapter. no go. then i have a griffin power block, made for charging devices that charge via usb. this charges my ipod and every other device i have that charges via usb. but it won't charge the minoHD. since all three of these options that i have available to me supply its own power, i don't understand why it won't charge. the blinking light indicates that it is charging, but it's not. and not only will it not charge, but it actually drained power from the minoHD. that's right. according to the battery indicator, i started out with a half-charged battery. leaving it plugged in overnight drained it completely.
the only explanation i can come up with is that the flip minoHD has some kind of built-in circuitry that prevents you from charging without a computer. but they do sell that charger as an accessory. so the conclusion i have come to is that they did it on purpose just so that you have to buy their charger, designed to bypass this no-charge circuitry, if you want the option of charging without a computer. what a racket.
yes, i can always use a computer. but think about this. the power needed to charge this device is miniscule. but it forces me to waste a lot more power by using a computer. i do not leave the computer on 24/7. that's just a waste of power and perhaps shortens the life of its components and i don't understand why people do it. i turn it on when i need to use it, then it's off when i'm done.
it takes just 2.5 watts to charge the flip minoHD, but the power source is using up anywhere from 30 watts (let's say a netbook) to 300+ watts (full desktop), which puts efficiency under 10% at best. how would you like it if the company providing your electricity charges you 100 watts for every 10 watts of light your light bulb outputs?
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