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A DVR comes in to the lab and there’s not a single label on it. No identifying marks, labels, nada. The owner has no clue where it came from, nor any manuals or documentation. Sweet.

Well, in the past, one of the tricks of the trade was to take a photo (or two) and drop it in to Google image search. With any luck you stumble upon one that looks just like it. Success! Not so fast zippy, it’s rarely that easy, but I thought the following was worth pointing out.

Bing has now joined the image search game too, so the next time you’re in a similar pickle, be sure to give them both a shot at it. Good luck!

Imagine, if you will, business travelers gallivanting across the globe with nary a care in the world -- secure in the fact that should they lose their laptop by hook or by crook, they can disable it with a simple text message. Well, the dream is now a reality as Intel has put its third-gen vPro technology in Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 business chips, giving users the ability to lock down and reactivate a PC remotely via SMS.  

Full story:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/08/intel-brings-vpro-to-sandy-bridge-cpus-makes-losing-your-work-l 

Recently I received the official announcement from Avid that the Liquid line has reached End-of-Life, and Avid is offering all Liquid customers an upgrade discount to Media Composer.  Certainly not a surprise, as there haven't been any major releases of Liquid since shortly after Avid acquired Pinnacle, but the official announcement made me a little sad just the same.  I've really grown to love my Liquid Pro systems at home and they've served me well. 

Avid will provide phone support for the next two years and will replace hardware still under warranty for as long as supplies last(?).  View the official announcement via the link below:

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The new Xbox 360 dashboard released earlier this week is a total overhaul with a bunch of new features, most notably the on-demand streaming HD video via Netflix. Yeah, the new design layout is "cool", the new Wii like avatars are neat, the Xbox LIVE Party feature somewhat interesting, copying complete games to your hard drive could be handy, yada, yada, yada. The Netflix integration and partnership is definitely the new killer ap for the Xbox, and quite possibly a saving grace for Netflix.

Posted on behalf of the City of Eugene, Oregon.

Application period: August 1 at midnight - Oct. 10, 2008

FORENSIC ANALYST
City of Eugene
$25.41-$32.40 / Hour (*salary currently under negotiation)

Performs a variety of complex and specialized technical tasks collecting, preserving, and identifying criminal evidence at the crime scene and/or analyzing evidence in the laboratory; analyzes evidence in conjunction with investigation activities and provides expert testimony in court on methods and results of analysis. One year of general work experience required. Work experience in an analytical or forensic laboratory is preferred. Requires a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Biochemistry or Forensic Science.

When Canonical broke the news recently that Ubuntu 10.10 will include uTouch 1.0, a multitouch and gesture stack, it caused a flurry of excitement about the Linux release's potential for use in tablets.

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I gave up my dream of one day owning a single remote control that could replace my basket of "universal" remotes several years ago. As you can imagine I lived in extreme sadness for quite some time, constantly criticizing myself for being so naive to believe such a device existed. As time passed however, I forgave myself for setting such an unrealistic goal and eventually moved on. Then yesterday the delivery man arrived, unknowingly carrying the answer to this long-forgotten dream.

Okay, to be honest, I haven't actually gone out and bought any universal remotes until just the other day. With that said, each time I've replaced a component in my entertainment system I end up with another "universal" remote that just doesn't cut it. Either it won't even work with one or more components or, as is more often the case, you lose a ton of functionality and have to keep the original remote close by anyway. While advanced universal remotes are nothing new, in my opinion finding one within a reasonable price range (below $100) is. If you're willing to invest $80-$100 in a universal remote that will actually replace all of your other remotes, so far I am very pleased with my Logitech Harmony Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360.

I frequently get asked by friends and family about how to protect their PC or what software they should use to improve performance.  I've posted about some of the free software tools I use on my home PCs for this in the past, mentioning CCleaner, Advanced System Care, and other freeware tools...and I always recommend they be used in conjunction with a good anti-virus program and software firewall, of course. 

Despite all of the tools I use regularly to guard against malware, I recently stumbled on some pretty stubborn malware that I just couldn't get rid of with the tools I typically use, so I tried IObit's Security 360 Free and it worked like a charm.  Security 360 is designed to remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, bots and worms from 32bit and 64bit Windows  PCs (2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7) and is free for non-commercial use.

If you happen upon some stubborn malware give it a shot.  Hopefully it'll work as well for you as it did for me.  Have a happy & safe 4th of July everybody!

The Ontario Provincial Police recently announced a Forensic Identification Video Analyst opening in Orillia, Ontario. 

For further information visit http://www.gojobs.gov.on.ca:80/Preview.aspx?JobID=8163

It looks like Sony is on a roll with discontinuing legacy recording formats. First it killed the cassette Walkman last year, a few weeks ago it stopped producing MiniDisc Walkmans and now the company announced that it will no longer support the 8mm video format. The video cassette format that was popular way back in the 1980s will no longer get any new Sony hardware to run on.

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On Wednesday, March 9th at 10:00 AM PST (1:00 PM EST) I will be hosting a LIVE online tour of the members area.  This brief tour is to provide new and long-time members with a quick overview of navigating the members area and locating the multiple resources within.  The tour will last approximately 10-15 minutes and be followed by a short Q & A session, if necessary.  Seating is limited.  If you are an active member that is interested in participating, please register through our EVENTS calendar.