| Say sheesh! Best Buy digital photo frame harbors virus
Talk about spoiled cheese. A digital picture frame made by a gadget brand belonging to Best Buy is thought to carry a virus, and the big-box retailer is warning owners to contact customer service for instructions. The frames at issue are 10.4-inch in diameter and made by Insignia. They carry the model number NS-DPF-10A, and according to the warning posted by Best Buy on its Insignia site, the virus slipped in during manufacturing. But the company did not explain how that happened. Best Buy says the frames were pulled from stores and retail websites as soon as it knew of the problem, but some still made it to the public. Customers who believe they have one should call the Insignia customer care line at 1-877-467-4289. The virus wasn't described, but Best Buy insists that it's old and can be removed with current, up-to-date antivirus software.
Quest for Knowledge
No tour would be complete without a visit to the beautifully renovated Coptic Museum (Tel: +2 (02) 362-8766), with its collection of manuscripts, icons, crosses, statues and mosaics rescued from ancient monasteries. While an impromptu walkabout of the area makes for a decidedly eye-opening experience, for a better informed tour, book with any of a number of agents specializing in pilgrimage holidays. South Sinai Egypt (Tel: +2 (02) 418-7310) organizes trips to Christian sites, perfect if you want to follow the trail of the Holy Family in Cairo. One of the most-visited stops on the trail is Mataria, where, it is believed, the Family rested beneath a balsam tree that is used to this day to prepare holy oil. There are also a museum and a Catholic Church with gorgeous paintings of the angel Gabriel appearing to Joseph.
2008 Predictions: Macworld's annual forecast of the year ahead
Usually, they wind up just making wild guesses. So without further ado, here's this year's edition of our fearless forecasts from four Mac observers hoping to be able to say the sweetest words in the English language by this time next year: I told you so. Dan Frakes, Macworld senior editor A Mac subnotebook: Apple will (finally) reintroduce a smaller, lighter laptop made for road warriors. Like older entries in this market, such as the PowerBook 2400c, the new model will forgo an internal optical drive to achieve a smaller size, but it will also feature new technologies that let it slim down while providing better performance and improved battery life, such as a solid-state hard drive, an LED screen, and a low-power processor. A new desktop: Apple will (finally) give us a midrange, screenless Mac—something in between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro—for people who don't want an all-in-one desktop system.
Rock Stars in the Greenroom
I wasn't able to spend much time the greenroom today because I was on-set filling in for Gretchen. So, I temporarily deputized Maureen (fellow Jersey girl/make-up artist extraordinaire) and Jeisohn (famed hair stylist) to record all the behind-the-scenes action. Here's what they tell me: Brian Welch has a lot of tattoos. (Actually, I could see that for myself). The former lead guitarist of the heavy-metal band Korn is covered head-to-toe in them. Believe it or not, he got most of them after quitting the band, quitting drugs and finding God. Brian told Maureen that his favorite one is a picture of his daughter Jennea on his left arm. It took three months to get all of the ink done on that tat ... but he says that wasn't even the most PAINFUL one. That would be the flames on the top of his hands.
Gilmore's gold in first round
WORLD champion Stephanie Gilmore swooped into the new season as the pacesetter in round 1 of the Roxy Pro surfing tournament on the Gold Coast yesterday. The 20-year-old Snapper Rocks board rider posted 15.84 points, the day's top heat score, which included the best ride in good 1.2m waves at Duranbah Beach. Gilmore was the outstanding surfer of the 2008 world tour launch, beating 15-year-old Hawaiian prodigy and Roxy Trials winner Carissa Moore. She said she was relieved to finally don a contest shirt after a blur of commitments as world champion. "It's been a bit crazy with all the awards and activities and stuff, but it felt good to get back in the water," Gilmore said. "I guess I was a bit rusty at the beginning, but I started gaining more and more confidence throughout the heat and felt pretty good by the end." Local knowledge helped Gilmore pick the best waves and take command of the heat.
Thinking About Tomorrow
In fact, they'll be able to do even more, as mobile gadgets increasingly come equipped with global-positioning-system gear that can track your every move. As you drive around, for instance, you might get reviews of nearby restaurants automatically delivered to a screen in your car -- maybe even projected onto the windshield. The spread of GPS hints at another big change on the horizon. We're going to be under a lot more pressure to make our personal information public -- everything from where we surf online to where we're standing at a particular moment. Companies will offer us special deals and other incentives so that we'll let them track our activity. That information, in turn, will let the companies present us with a steady stream of intensely focused marketing whenever we go online, turn on our cellphone or even walk into a store.
Anniversary 'Thriller' CD can't beat original
Such bonuses would have been ideal for the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller, which doesn't even come with liner notes. The state-of-the-art-remastering job of the original album is nice, revealing just how intricately layered the production is. But previous digital versions of Thriller, which won a Grammy in 1983 for best-engineered non-classical album, were fine.
The new remixes do absolutely nothing to buttress the album's legacy. The retooled songs - especially "The Girl is Mine" by will.i.am and "Billie Jean" by West - are unimaginative with generic hip-hop beats and pointless rapping (that would be from will.i.am) added to Jones' already superlative tracks. And Akon's slowed-down version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" sounds as nasally and overly processed as any of his own hits.
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