The summer heat is here!

Computers generate a lot of heat from CPUs, video cards and hard drives. If the fans and vents in your computer are blocked or not functioning properly, you may start experiencing computer lockups, errors, or even permanent damage!

Bring your computer in today for a Tune Up. Along with cleaning out the cooling vents and fans (and recommending replacement if needed) we will make sure your Windows is running in top form as well - checking for the latest updates and making sure no virus or spyware is slowing you down.

Come celebrate Millville's 100th birthday with us! We have great deals on new computers and accessories that are sure to put a smile on your face.

Specials end May 31st, so hurry in before these deals are history.

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A blossoming trade in Apple iPods and other digital devices preloaded with movies, TV shows and thousands of songs is raising alarms and legal questions.

For the past couple of years, people have sold their used iPods and other music players filled with music on eBay and other auction sites with little notice. But lately, a new breed of seller has popped up, touting like-new iPods jammed full of content - for prices hundreds of dollars more than the cost of an untouched new iPod.

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The United States Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the maker of the BlackBerry in the long-running battle over patents for the wildly popular, handheld wireless e-mail device.

The high court’s refusal to hear Canada-based Research In Motion Ltd.’s appeal means that a trial judge in Richmond, Va., could impose an injunction against the company and block BlackBerry use among many of its owners in the United States.

The justices had been asked to decide on whether U.S. patent law is technologically out of date in the age of the Internet and the global marketplace.

At issue was how U.S. law applies to technology that is used in a foreign country and allegedly infringes on the intellectual property rights of a patent-holder in the United States.

RIM was challenging a ruling by a federal appeals court that found that the company had infringed on the patents held by NTP Inc., a tiny northern Virginia patent-holding firm, because its customers use the BlackBerry inside U.S. borders. The panel said it did not matter where the relay station is located.

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Microsoft Anti Spyware, currently in Beta, has been updated.

The new version of the software now expires July 31, 2006. Versions currently installed will expire December 31, 2005 so it is recommended that all users of this software go to Microsoft's website and download this updated version.

Download Updated Microsoft Anti Spyware Beta 1

There have been many interesting twists and turns regarding Sony's installation of "root kit" software on the computers of persons listening to certain music CDs (original story here):

Sony's DRM (Digital Rights Management) software in question was designed to (as Sony claims) protect the copyright status of the artist's music found on the CD, however this article explains how Sony's software itself appears to breaking copyright law.

Associated Press reports how the backlash from this fiasco may end up costing more than any losses from potential piracy.

An article at Security IT Hub indicates that, contrary to statements by Sony, there is a version of the copy protection software that installs under Mac OSX.

This Yahoo News story tells how the state of Texas is suing Sony on the grounds that its much-maligned XCP anti-piracy software included on numerous recent releases has left customers' computers open to attacks.

The "open to attacks" part of the previous article is explained in better detail here.

Microsoft's Genuine Windows Validation process now works in Firefox and other Mozilla browsers. Firefox users can manually install the Windows Genuine Advantage validation Firefox plug-in available on Microsoft's website to complete the Windows validation process.

Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage program is an online validation process that enables you to verify that your copy of Windows XP is genuine (non-pirated). You are prompted to validate your copy of Windows if you request a genuine Windows download from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update. The WGA Plug-in for Mozilla Firefox provides the same Windows validation as the IE ActiveX control.

Brad Graziadio of Windows Genuine Advantage team stated that the primary reason for porting the Windows Validation application to Firefox was Customer Feedback. Microsoft customers, running genuine Windows, wanted access to Microsoft Download Center even from Mozilla browsers.

In what is sure to be 2005's hottest story yet, Sony has been found to be installing illegal Trojan horse-based digital restrictions management (DRM) technology. The software installs itself as a rootkit on Windows PCs.

Users who purchase certain Sony Music CDs from online stores like Amazon are subject to this rootkit being installed on their machines. According to Sysinternals' Mark Russinovich the kit installs itself in hidden directories and attempts to mask its existence as "Essential System Tools".

The biggest problem is that attempting to remove the rootkit with common tools will render a Windows XP machine useslesss. "Users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files," Mark wrote in an online blog entry yesterday.

So what exactly is Sony playing at? Installing rootkit software that's not identified in its EULA and rendering machines useless if users try to remove the software!

A Microsoft patch meant to fix critical security flaws in Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 is causing trouble for some users, the company said Friday.

The patch was released Tuesday to fix four Windows flaws, including one that experts predict will be exploited by a worm in the coming days. The flaw, tagged "critical" by Microsoft, lies in a Windows component for transaction processing called the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator, or MSDTC.