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Software

deals

Dealzmodo: 91% Off Microsoft Office Ultimate

Here's how you take money from Microsoft's pockets and put it into your own. First, you need to want to buy Microsoft Office Ultimate. Second, you need a .edu email address. It doesn't matter that you graduated in 1994 and the last time you stepped foot in a classroom was 1993, all you need is an .edu address. That'll cut down the atrocious $680 price tag to a more manageable $60. You have until May 16, a week from now. After that you'll have to go back to BitTorrenting it like you always do. [The Ultimate Steal via NYT via Lifehacker]

google

Google Street View Becomes Google Bag View in Alaska

One of the occupational hazards of Google Street View is, I guess, having the camera obscured by something. It could be a pterodactyl, perhaps, flying low for a closer view, it could be a giant Monty Python-style animated brogue homing in on the car as if it were a roach ripe for the squishing. Or it could be a plastic bag. One minute it's dancing around, American Beauty-style, the next it's spread-eagled over the camera rather like an over-amorous spinster at a barn dance. This is what Minnie Street in Fairbanks, Alaska, looks like, according to Google Street View. [Google Maps via Google Sightseeing]

gps

Dash Express GPS Updates Traffic Models, Software Update Coming

The Dash Express GPS just received its first historic traffic model update using the live Dash data gathered by users. That'll help predict traffic in areas where no Dash or other trusted data sources have been in the last 15 minutes. By end of month, a software update is coming with tweaks in performance, stability and routing. As for today's historic update, Dash recommends all users download the patch by Wi-Fi. Let's hope that more updates come often as this one, and with more features using that internet connection.

nintendo wii

Nintendo Wii's Nintendo Channel Screenshot Tour and Hands-on

The Wii's "Nintendo Channel" just went live, giving you a way to both watch trailers of current and upcoming Nintendo games, and feed Nintendo information on what games you play. What's the latter for? So Nintendo can better customize the trailers of games to recommend to you, thus making you buy more games and completing the cycle by feeding THOSE stats back to them. How good is it? Okay, I suppose. The other stuff, like downloading DS demos and finding game information (how many players, whether the nunchuck is supported) is more useful. Hit the jump for a huge gallery tour.

More »

tunewiki

TuneWiki Music App Gets Ported to Android

The fantastic TuneWiki app, which was previously seen on iPhone/iPod Touch, just got a port to the not-yet-released Android. The idea is the same: play back songs and it'll automatically download lyrics and album art if you don't already have it. More »

bittorrent

How to Check if Your ISP is Throttling Your BitTorrent Traffic

Our ISP is currently Comcast, which is probably definitely throttling torrent traffic in this area, but how can we know for sure? Here's how. There's now a website that runs a little test, determining whether your ISP is throttling all traffic, all traffic on well-known BT ports, only BT traffic on well-known BT ports, or nothing at all. The full test takes seven minutes, but it's seven minutes well spent to find out whether you need another ISP. Or if you need to cut down on your PureTNA downloads. [Max Planck Institute via TorrentFreak via LifeHacker]

iphone sdk

iPhone SDK Beta 5 Now Up: Bug Fixes, Updated OS Support

Besides supporting the latest iPhone OS version, beta 5 doesn't do a whole lot else besides throwing in small tweaks to the UI, tweaks to the developers tools and some bug fixes. No big feature addition like last time, but you gotta update if you're making iPhone apps. You just gotta! There probably won't be very many more of these before the next iPhone's out. More »

question of the day

Question of the Day: Which Company Has The Worst Computer Tech Support?

If you have ever dealt with tech support for a computer issue, chances are you have a story or two that recounts a very frustrating experience. With much of the tech support industry working overseas and the seemingly infinite amount of things that could go wrong, it really should come as no surprise when things don't run smoothly. That having been said, which of the following computer companies has the worst tech support? Feel free to recount your experiences in the comments—and check out who Consumer Reports ranked as #1 this year. More »

software

Updates for Vista, XP Cleared by Microsoft After Delays

It looks like Microsoft has sorted out the issues that came up with its new Service Pack for Windows XP as well as Vista SP1. XP SP3 has been sent out to Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft has also resumed automatic distribution of Vista SP1. Try to remain calm; I know it's exciting. [Microsoft]

zune update

Zune 2.5 Update Screenshot Tour

If you haven't yet gotten the chance to update to Zune 2.5, here's a screenshot tour that takes you through the new and notable changes. A lot of the stuff is the same—it's only a point update and not one to change the fundamental features—but there are great updates in the social portion of the software. Hit the jump for the full tour.


gadgets

Harmony Universal Remotes Get Unofficial Linux Support

If you absolutely refuse to let either a Mac or Windows inside your Penguin home, but still want to use a Logitech Harmony universal remote, there are now two solutions for you. The first is Concordance, a cross-platform application that runs on Linux to let you program your remotes without having to run any icky, icky corporate-backed operating system. The second is to get some therapy, because being so adamant about absolutely not using Windows or OS X even for 10 minutes to program a remote is probably signs of deeper problems. [Phil Dev via Hackaday]

windows vista

Microsoft Pulling Vista SP1 Off Automatic Software Update

Microsoft's not only delaying Windows XP SP3 temporarily, but they're also pulling off Windows Vista SP1—which has already been pushed out to automatic software update—because of potential incompatibilities. Most of us don't need to worry about it since this is just an issue with MS's SQL Servers that affect Microsoft Dynamics Retail management systems. Unless you're running a SQL database at home to track the chore distribution for your family, you can go ahead and manually fetch the update and install it yourself. [PCWorld]

windows xp

Windows XP SP3 Officially Delayed

It's April 29, and Microsoft has to make the unfortunate decision of delaying Windows XP SP3 due to compatibility issues between it and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, something none of you should be familiar with unless you work in retail. If you don't, the service pack has been unofficially available for a couple days now and you can go ahead and install it, but the final final version won't be ready for a little bit. [PCMag]

software

SlingPlayer Mobile Gets Updated For Windows Mobile and Symbian

Sling's just rolled out new versions of their SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile (both versions) and Symbian S60. It's a free upgrade for current users and adds support for new handsets (Nokia N95, Samsung i760, Treo 500v, etc.) and improves streaming quality (Sprint Mogul) on others. We went to a car wash this weekend and had 10 minutes of downtime. TEN MINUTES! This should ensure that never happens again. [Sling]

software

iPhone Getting iTunes Remote Control App?

TUAW's tipsters tell it that, based on code found in the latest iPhone SDK beta, Apple's working on an app called iControl to hook up with iTunes libraries. Their guess is that it'll enable your iPhone to connect wirelessly to your iTunes and play back music, videos and podcasts (supposedly on the phone). That's interesting and all, but we're hoping it's more of an actual "controller", as specified in TUAW's headline and image. This way we can use the iPhone as a remote to adjust playback on our iTunes and Apple TVs. This is the one that makes sense to us. [TUAW]

shenanigans

Dell to Sell XP after June 30, Microsoft to Pretend They're Selling Vista to Save Face

While we've heard Microsoft hint at keeping XP on store shelves longer than they initially stated due to the, well, boatload of people who want nothing to do with Vista, Dell is the first retailer to confirm having plans to sell the faithful ol' OS past the end of June. But it isn't because Microsoft's gone and changed their policy; it's because Dell is taking advantage of a loophole in Vista licensing that lets Microsoft pad their Vista numbers even when people avoid it like the plague. More »

software

First iPhone Video Recorder Software With Audio

Here's some iPhone software that is supposedly the first to record audio on top of video, at 128kbps sound and 320 x 416 video res. That makes it good fix for the iPhone's official lack. In 2 months, when official third party software goes live, will anyone be able to replicate such a feat and access the hardware at such a low level using Apple's SDK? Will it matter if an iPhone part deux already has the feature? Either way, better now then never. You can install it via installer.app. [mytriniphone]

iphone sdk

iPhone SDK Beta 4 Hints at Support for Background Tasks

According to MacNN, support for the UI Application delegate class on the newly released iPhone SDK build could indicate that running background processes is possible. That would be cool, but nothing has been made official yet. [macNN]