protection posts

Filed under: Security, Utilities, Windows

AVG releases version 9 - Free version to drop on October 15th

by Lee Mathews Oct 5th 2009

AVG 9 is finally here -- and like other 2009/2010 antivirus suites the emphasis in the new version is on speed, performance, and minimizing the impact on system resources.

Even the install process has been streamlined, with developers reducing the number of tedious, finger-numbing mouse clicks from 22 to 11. Thank you, AVG, for doing this. It's a little thing, but no techy enjoys tapping "next" nearly two dozen times.

Grisoft says scanning speeds have been increased by as much as 50% and that version 9 also reduces Windows boot lag by 10 to 15%. The firewall is more intuitive and has been made less intrusive -- another small but welcome change.

The paid versions are available now through the AVG web site, and we've been told that the much-loved free version will be good to go in ten days.

If you're a believer in free antivirus, your preferred version will be up for grabs on October 15th. Keep your browser tuned to free.avg.com -- that's where the download will appear when it goes live. Of course, you'll also be able to read about the release here at Download Squad.

Tags: antimalware, antivirus, avg, protection, secutiry, trojan

Filed under: Internet, Security, Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Free Comodo Internet Security is here - screenshot tour

by Lee Mathews Oct 30th 2008

As a long-time fan of Comodo Firewall, I was glad to see the company developing a more complete Internet defense application. On October 28th, they released Comodo Internet Security.

Why the move? To quote from the press release, Comodo's president Melih Abdulhayoglu believes that "Safe computing on the Internet should be a right, not a privilege." He continues, "We are offering an advanced, intelligent Internet Security package at no charge in order to promote a safer, trusted Internet for everyone."

So far, I'm every bit as impressed with Internet Security as I was with their standalone firewall. Apart from rolling the usual antivirus and firewall features, Comodo's new product sports a number of interesting features and very low resource utilization.

The program's main window is uncluttered and informative, providing a vitals like the status of protection systems and updates, and the present level of network activity. It also features links to quickly lock down your system or set the program to install mode (which tells it ramp down the activity alerts temporarily).

Tags: antivirus, comodo, firewall, internet security, InternetSecurity, malware, protection, safety, trojan, virus

Filed under: Design, Fun

Urban Retro Gelaskins for your notebook - Today's Mod

by David Chartier Jun 18th 2007

While these protective skins from Urban Retro might might not have much to do with software, we thought we could take a few liberties with today's mod since it can be done to the machine that runs your software. Besides, the designs on these notebook skins are darn slick, especially since they feature some pretty unique style from artists and designers the world over. Made in sizes that should fit most Mac and PC notebooks, they also feature what seems to be standard-issue 3M adhesive for the ultimate in "woops I changed my mind" removing the skin should you ever need to pass your notebook on to a new user, or if you simply change your mind about the decoration altogether.

Even though these Gelaskins are only available for pre-order (they ship later this month), a healthy selection of designs and styles is already available to chose from.

[Update: As DLS reader Derek points out, these Gelaskins are actually made by a U.S.-based company, aptly named Gelaskins. If you live in the states, you don't have to wait to get your hands on these, since they've already available in the U.S.]

Tags: covers, gelaskins, notebooks, protection, skins, urban retro, UrbanRetro

Filed under: Audio, Utilities, Windows, Freeware

MusicForMe cracks AllOfMP3's MusicForMasses DRM

by Jordan Running Oct 24th 2006

Last week I reported on MusicForMasses, a new program from questionable Russian online music retailer AllOfMP3 that lets you download and listen to every song in their expansive library for free, provide you use their very limited Windows player that requires a net connection. Well, as I predicted in that post, it didn't take long for someone to figure out how to get around MusicForMasses' DRM. The cheekily-named MusicForMe is a program that strips out whatever protections AllOfMP3 is using on its free MP3s and turns them into plain old MP3 files that you can play in the player of your choice. Now, given that AllOfMP3 is of questionable legality in the first place, using MusicForMe is undoubtedly all kinds of illegal, not to mention of entirely unknown origin and infested with who knows what, so under no circumstances do I recommend that you download it from this link. I did try it out myself, though--in the name of science, of course--and it seems to have worked flawlessly. One caveat is that the resulting files have names like "00E117A8.mp3," but their ID3 tags are intact and accurate, so an MP3-renaming program should make short work of them. Seriously, though, MusicForMe is probably totally illegal and possibly dangerous, so use it at your own, not insignificant, risk.

[Thanks, Josh!]

Update: As a number of readers have point out, the original download link is busted. The author has released an updated version of MusicForMe, which includes the MusicForMasses program. Reader Josh says that this program does the same thing as MusicForMe, but works better. I haven't tested either program, much less screened them for viruses, so as always use at your own risk and don't blame me if things go south.

Tags: allofmp3, audio, break, crack, drm, hack, mp3, mp3x, music, music for masses, music for me, MusicForMasses, MusicForMe, protection

Filed under: Business, Internet, Video

DivX to go public this week

by David Chartier Sep 17th 2006

DivX, the little video compression software company that could, is aiming to go public this week, CNET is reporting. The company has almost matched last year's annual revenue of $29.3 million in the first 6 months of 2006, and after adding copy protection to its software which helped it land in over 50 million DivX-certified devices to date, the company is now shaking hands with its former enemy: Hollywood studios. DivX is hoping to strike it big with said studios in a lucrative web distribution deal for films, though as far as we can tell, no deals are itching to be signed just yet.

Tags: business, copy, divx, drm, hollywood, offering, protection, public, revenue, software, stock

Featured Time Waster

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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