Ten Must-Have Tech Gifts for the Holidays

If you want a crack at getting any of these tech gifts for the holidays, you better hope you end up on Santa's "nice" list. These products made a recent top 10 list of buzz-worthy tech products compiled by HighBeam Research. To come up with the list, HighBeam calculates the amount of media mentions that the gadgets generated over the last six months. Predictably, the latest success from Apple--the iPhone 5--ranks #1, and two other Apple products made the cut as well. But there is also healthy representation from a "Who's Who" of companies behind some genuinely cool stuff, including Amazon, Motorola, Google, Samsung, Sony and Nintendo. So get your list ready and check it twice to make sure you include at least a couple of these goodies. HighBeam Research offers more than 80 million documents and articles dating back to more than a quarter of a century, with content updated daily.

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Facebook User Policy Vote Ends With a Whimper

Though some 668,000 users voted, it was nowhere near the 300 million votes that were needed to keep user policies as they are.

Facebook's one-week voting period to gauge user reaction to proposed changes to Facebook's user policies ended Dec. 10, and according to early results, Facebook won the right to make changes as it sees fit. That means Facebook members will no longer be voting on proposed user policy changes as they have done in the past since the Website began.

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Ten True Confessions of Telecommuters

If you've ever wondered what your telecommuting colleagues are really doing when they're working at home on the company clock, then consider the following findings from a recent survey from TeamViewer. Yes, a large percentage of telecommuters actually do work in their pajamas, and they will check off items on the household to-do list while phoning into a client conference call. (Hopefully, they'll keep the mute button activated if they're washing dishes.) But the more significant revelations from the survey indicate that telecommuting actually works on multiple levels: It makes for a healthier, more productive employee, while also reducing traffic on the roads and eliminating the downtime of commuting to and from an office. To remain highly productive, however, these professionals need more advanced tech tools to better manage their hardware and e-files. An estimated 500 Americans who work from home either full- or part-time took part in the research, which was conducted by uSamp...

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How to Buy the Best Tablet

Whether you opt for an Apple iPad, one of many Androids, or a Windows RT slate, choosing the right tablet isn't necessarily a snap. Here's what you need to know before you hit the store.

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MICROSOFT Acquires Christmas

From: Buddy
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 11:46:09
Subject: MICROSOFT Acquires Christmas




NORTH POLE (API) - MICROSOFT announced an agreement with Santa Claus Industries to acquire Christmas at a press conference held via sattelite from Santa's summer estate somewhere in the southern hemisphere. In the deal, Microsoft would gain exclusive rights to Christmas, Reindeer, and other unspecified inventions. In addition, Microsoft will gain access to millions of households through the Santa Sleigh.

The announcement also included a notice that beginning Jan 1, 1995, Christmas and the Reindeer names would be copyrighted by Microsoft. This unprecedented move was facilitated by the recently aquired MS Court. Microsoft stated its commitment to "all who have made Christmas great," and vowed to "make licensing of the Christmas and Reindeer names available to all." It is believed that the guidelines for licensing these names, due before Halloween, will be very strict.

When asked "Why buy Christmas?" Bill Gates replied "Microsoft has been working on a more effecient delivery mechanism for all of our products for some time, but recognized that the Santa Sleigh has some immediate benefits. We'll use it first for the release of Windows95 and Office 95."

In a multimedia extravaganza, the attendees were shown a seamingly endless video stream of products that make up the deal. It ended with a green and red version of the Microsoft logo, and a new Christmas 95 trademark, leading into the announcement of the first product from the deal.

Vixen, the new Director of Holidays and Celebrations said, "The first step is to assimilate Christmas within the Microsoft Organization. This will take some time, so don't expect any changes this year." She continued, "our big plans are for next year, when we release Christmas 95. It will be bigger and better than last year." She further elaborated that "Windows 95 users who sign up with MS Network will get sneak previews of Christmas[95] as early as November first."

Christmas 95 is scheduled for release in December of 1995, though one unnamed source said that it is dangerously close to the end of the year and may slip into the first half of 1996. An economist at Goldman Sachs explained that a slip would be catostrophic to next year's economy and the nation's tax revenue, possibly requiring the IRS to move the deadline for filing income tax returns to three months after Christmas, whenever that was. "But it could be good in the long term," he explained. "With Microsoft controlling Christmas, we may see it move to May or June, which are much slower months for retailers. This may serve to even out the economy over the year."

When asked if other holidays are being considered, Mr. Gates explained that "Christmas is the flagship of holidays, so wewanted to start there. Not all holidays are available for sale, and the remaining will have to show a good long-term business," suggesting that holidays with a short history may not be in the plans.

Though specific terms of the agreement were withheld, a Santa official confirmed that the deal was "sizeable, even for a man of Santa's stature." Some analysts think that Santa has saturated the Holiday market, and is looking for a means to expand his business to year 'round products and services. Others contend that the Jolly Red Man is looking to retire in Redmond.

A spokesperson for the most famous Reindeer could not be reached for comment.

Bitdefender Leads in Dynamic Antivirus Test

AV-Comparatives has run extensive Whole-Product Dynamic "Real-World" Protection tests with help from the University of Innsbruck and some funding from the Austrian government, and Bitdefender leads the pack. Check the story to see how all the big security players did--and whether they agree with PCMag's own results.

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Apple, Google Apps for Kids Aren't Playing Nice: FTC

Apps from Google and Apple could help third parties create profiles on children, says an FTC report that found a number of troubling practices.

A majority of seemingly kid-friendly apps in the Google Play store and Apple App Store aren't playing nice, according to a new survey of youth-oriented apps performed by the Federal Trade Commission.

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