Dropbox any folder without moving it...finally!

Wow, Windows 8 will actually be affordable, for now

Microsoft has announced that, for a limited time only, Windows 8 Pro upgrades will cost just $39.99 via download, or $69.99 for a boxed DVD from retail outlets. Download customers will be able to buy a backup DVD for $15 plus shipping and handling. Between its launch—whenever that will be—and January 1st, 2013, users of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 will be able to buy the cheap upgrades to Windows 8 Pro. Windows 8 Pro is the higher of the two mainstream Windows 8 SKUs, and it includes features such as BitLocker, Hyper-V, and the ability to join Windows domains. The new Windows 8 pricing undercuts the equivalent promotional pricing for Windows 7 upgrades. During the Windows 7 promotion, upgrades to Home Premium and Professional were available for $49 and $99, respectively. In Windows 8, the Media Center product is separate from the main operating system, and buyers of new systems will have to pay for it. Anyone upgrading with this promotion will, however, be able to install the Media Center add-on for free, avoiding the forfeiture of features that they currently use. Only Windows 7 users will be able to upgrade their entire operating system in-place, with applications, settings, and data all preserved. When upgrading from Windows Vista, only settings and data will be preserved. Upgraders from Windows XP will only keep their data. For those not upgrading, there will be Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro System Builder versions. Redmond has not yet disclosed pricing or availability for those however.

AAA Scrap Metal

If you are looking for a decent used basic system (ie. windows xp), check out these great recyclers at 2908 Smallman Street in the strip district. A tower will set you back less than $50 with a mouse and keyboard. Check them out at www.aaascrapmetal.com. Oh yeah, they recycle your old stuff as well

Comcast sued for excessive Broadband Rates....no.....really?

Yes the sarcasm is there and apparently to the government, so is the rip-off.  Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV operator, has settled a complaint brought forth by federal regulators for failing to comply with certain conditions of its NBCUniversal acquisition. As part of the settlement, Comcast will fork over an $800,000 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury and offer broadband Internet access as standalone service "at reasonable prices and with sufficient bandwidth" without requiring a subscription to cable video service. 

Specifically, Comcast is ordered to offer standalone broadband services with a download speed of at least 6Mbps for no more than $49.95 for three years, according to the agreement. Comcast is prohibited from raising prices for two years, and must also "visibly offer and actively market" its standalone Internet service.  Yep, we'll see how long they comply with this.  Keep the lawyers on hand..

What can you do about Facebook's Facial Recognition?

Did you know that Facebook uses facial recognition software to tag every photo uploaded?  One aspect of this that you may not think of is that if a friend uploads a picture with you in it, Facebook, by default will tag you in the photo and make it public to anyone who sees it.  This stinks if you want privacy on the site, even if you update your privacy settings for your profile.  So what can you do about it?

Sadly, you can't.

But what you can do is prevent Facebook from using its facial recognition database to suggest to your Facebook friends, when they upload photos of you to the site, that the pictures should be tagged with your name.

This doesn't mean that Facebook won't learn about what you look like and associate it with your likes and friendships - but it does mean you can opt out of Facebook using the data it has collected on your appearance.

If you don't like the idea of Facebook suggesting your name when your friends upload photos, here's how you disable the option.

• Go to your Facebook account's privacy settings.
• Go to "Timeline and tagging" and click on "Edit settings".

• Choose "Who sees tag suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded?".

• Select "No one" if you don't want Facebook to tell your friends when it has recognised your face in a photo they have uploaded.

• Press "OK".

Unfortunately, Facebook doesn't believe in "privacy by default" - which would mean that users' express permission would be required ("opt-in") before information about them could be shared. (By comparison, Google+ does ask you to opt-in to facial recognition).

If Facebook's facial database is such a great concept - why doesn't the company present its arguments to users as to why they should want to participate in it, and invite them to "opt-in" to being included in the huge collection of faces?

How dumb are some posts on Facebook?

We now know thanks to a new site called "We know what you're doing" .  The developer, Callum Haywood, of the site has aggregated some of the choicer, or more to the point, dumber content for us, delivered courtesy of Facebook via its Graph API,.  

He's focused his attention on these four buckets of Facebook status update embarrassment:

• Who wants to get fired? Haywood's tool populates this category by searching status updates for phrases such as "hate my boss."
• Who's hungover? Searches for "hungover" in updates.
• Who's taking drugs? Searches for words such as "cannabis."
• Who's got a new phone number? Searches for phone numbers.

Do these people want this information to be posted on a Facebook status update aggregator devoted to pointing out how oblivious so many people are to privacy settings?  Of course not, but hey, you posted it and didn't set your security settings appropriately, so it's all fair game.

We know what you're doing isn't the first social media aggregator launched with the express purpose of showing how people don't think before posting.

Please Rob Me is one such. Launched in Feburary 2010, the site uses checkin data from the location-based Foursquare social network that's subsequently posted to Twitter.