Saturday, July 30, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


SuperAntiSpyware (4.56.1000) Official Change Log From http://www.superantispyware.com

Posted: 29 Jul 2011 09:10 PM PDT

Dear Readers,

Here Is The Official Change Log From http://www.superantispyware.com

SuperAntiSpyware (4.56.1000) ………………..07/29/2011

Technology Changes

  • New product update system to upgrade to 5.0 when released the first week of August 2011
  • Important Note : You MUST install this to upgrade to 5.0 automatically.

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Till The Next Update,

Remy "Se7en"



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New Skype (5.5.0.112) Version Is Now Available To Download

Posted: 29 Jul 2011 06:48 PM PDT

Dear Readers,

Ok, everyone there has been a very minor update to Skype out this past June 16th, 2011 and this would be version (5.5.0.112) for all of us who are still keeping track.

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Link To Download Skype: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/windows/

—————————-

Till The Next Update,

Remy "Se7en"



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EPD 52: Fan Mail Friday’s (07/29/2011)

Posted: 29 Jul 2011 04:40 PM PDT

Dear Kirbe,

What do you think of the new FireFox builds (all the ones after 3.6) ?

Sent in By "Old School Fox Fan"

—————————-

What do you think of the new FireFox builds (all the ones after 3.6) ?

Reply: Holy Fan Mail Friday's. I actually got a Q directed at me. Way cool…… :) Anyhow…..now on with the reply.

Again, like always.  I can't speak for the rest of the team. But I can say I strongly feel that the path Firefox is on is ill advised. Because it makes the jobs of the 3rd party add-on publishers/programmers life way more difficult,That is if they want to stay relevant and up to date with the latest rapid release version of Firefox.

That is probably why if you visit the Firefox Plug-in's/Add-ons site (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/i/). Your are a lot more likely to see a lot more of them asking for much needed donations to stay on top of this new rapid release timetable they are on.

So to conclude I tried both Firefox 4, 5, and I really disliked it a lot. I love my old school 3.6 version of Firefox. And I still feel that this new rapid release timetable they are on. Hurts both their user base and programmers a like.

I know there are you Fox fans out there that love the new stripped down look, feel and increased speed.

**I say to you Mozilla FireFox please if wish to convert me or people like me. Please make it easy to make the new Firefox product updates have the ability to look, feel and function more like the old school 3.6. Because then any only then. Will you have me and so many other converted.

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Return To The Main Features Page

——————————————————————

Till Next Friday,

Kirbe



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Friday, July 29, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


AVG “Family Safety” (Parental Control Software) – Full Review

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 06:38 PM PDT

The Rating Scale Breakdown:

  • 0  – 0.5 – Abysmal
  • 1 – 1.5 – Terrible
  • 2 – 2.5 – Poor
  • 3 – 3.5 – Average
  • 4 – 4.5 – Great
  • 5 – 5.5 – Excellent

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Price: $19.99 CAD per year for 3 PC's to activate this just newly added option. But it covers unlimited profiles. So you can have just one or two kids or 11 kids and your good. Provided it is only used up to 3 PC's.

**Is AVG Family Safety Worth Your Money ? - Yes 100%. It has to be one of the most comprehensive and more economically wise choices.

1. Installation AVG5.0 "Excellent" – Very quick and painless

2. Un-installing AVG5.0 "Excellent" – Very secure you need your password and username to un-install. Even the desktop icon. Which is great for a parental control software

3. Ease Of Setup3.5 "Average" – It took a bit of time to set-up the prime setup for the young one.

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4. Stability Of Program5.0 "Excellent" – We had absolutely no issues what so ever.  In all our test this program never stalled or crashed

——————–

5. Interface4.5 "Great" – Very clean and simple. Maybe difficult for first time users.

6. Was AVG "Family Safety" Easily Compromised By Any Of Our 5 Youth Testers - 5.0 "Excellent" – Nope, absolutely not

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A. Speed Of Program Start-Up4.5 "Great" – Very quick on most computers.

B. Speed Of Program Shut Down4.5 "Great" – Very quick on most computers.

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C. Speed Of Computer Start-Up5.0 "Excellent" – Very quick on most computers.

D. Speed Of Computer Shut Down4.0 "Great" – A little on the slow side

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7. Does AVG "Family Safety" Do Automatic Updates By Itself Without IssueUncertain - I actually saw no option to update this program at all. It was even hard to find what version it was.

8. Online Protection - 5.0 "Excellent" – Very very comprehensive

9. AVG Support - Not Tested – But there is both e-mail support and phone support.

My Final Verdict : This is a no brainier. So if you are in the market for a really good and economically viable options as compared to the $80 plus version of similar software. That is generally much harder to use.

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My Overall Score: 46.5 /55

84.5 % = A

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Return To The Main Reviews Page

——————————————————————

Till The Next Review,

Remy "Se7en"



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Thursday, July 28, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


AVG Internet Security 2011 (10.0.1390) – Full Review

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 02:40 PM PDT

The Rating Scale Breakdown:

  • 0  – 0.5 – Abysmal
  • 1 – 1.5 – Terrible
  • 2 – 2.5 – Poor
  • 3 – 3.5 – Average
  • 4 – 4.5 – Great
  • 5 – 5.5 – Excellent
  • Undetermined – Too soon to tell or lacking evidence to provide a solid answer
  • Not Tested - Has yet to be requested or there is some limitations to prevent accurate test results
  • Currently Being Tested - In the process of testing feature and have yet to finalize results 

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Price: $54.99 USD

A. Installation AVG3.5 "Average" – Slower then AVG claims.

B. Un-installing AVG4.0 "Great" – Way slower then most other anti-virus programs.

——————–

C. Stability Of Program4.0 "Great" – We have received absolutely no e-mails about the lack of stability with AVG 2011 free and or paid (This time around).

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D. Has AVG Free Been Compromised By Hackers Or Virus5.0 "Excellent" – AVG Internet Security 2011 has not been compromised or disabled.

E. Speed of Scan5.0 "Excellent" – Very quick on most computers. Also now you can decide how much memory you want to take up during each system scan.

F. Does AVG Free Do Automatic Updates By Itself Without Issue5.0 "Excellent" – Yes, and this time around there seems to be no stalling and or hanging. When we manually update AVG. As we have seen in older versions of AVG Free 2011.

G. Internet Browser Cookie Detection Rate And Removal Test2.5 "Poor" - Getting better. But you are way better off with SUPERAntiSpyware or CCleaner to remove your Internet cookies.

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1. Anti-Virus Detection Rate Test -

1A. Windows XP - 3.5 "Average"

1B. Windows Vista3.5 "Average"

1C. Windows 73.5 "Average"

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2. Anti-Spyware2.0 "Poor" – AVG still seems to miss very common and not so common spyware/adware. You are much better off with SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot as your adware, spyware, malware protection.

3. One Click Fix4.0 "Great" – I really like this idea. But I am not a fan of the idea that if I want to de-activated a service. Such as the Link Scanner that AVG should still show it as not being fully protected.

4. Anti-Spam - 3.0 "Average" - GMail has better spam mail protection. 

5. FireWall - 4.0 "Great" — Not the best Firewall I've tested. But it does do what it is suppose to.

6. Link Scanner - 3.5 "Average" - Can be very very useful to some.

7. AVG Safe Search ToolBar3.5 "Average" - Not a fan of any toolbars. The AVG toolbar is way to hard to get rid of. It also seems to slow down most Internet browsers.

8. AVG SideBar Gadget3.0 "Average" – Love it and have it on both my Vista and Win 7 sidebars. But it is way to large.

9. Residential Shield Test3.0 "Average" – I find that AVIRA and or AVAST still seems to grab the virus way before AVG does.

10. Family Safety - 4.5 "Great" - Cost $19.99 CAD per year for 3 PC's to activate this just newly added option. But it covers unlimited profiles. So you can have just one or two kids or 11 kids and your good. Provided it is only used up to 3 PC's.

11. LiveKive - Not TestedThis option has just been added to AVG Dashboard. But it cost money to activate. -See below for cost to activate said option-

*Cost $49.99 CAD for 25 GB of storage per year.

*Cost $79.99 CAD for Unlimited  storage per year.

12. E-Mail Scanner - 3.0 "Average" - It's ok, But I find it is way more difficult to set-up then it needs to be.

13. Update Manager5.0 "Excellent" – No issues here at all. And it even updates faster then past AVG versions, such as 8.5 and 9.0.

14. Online Shield - 3.5 "Average" – Still not really sure how really effective this option is.

15. Anti-Root Kit4.0 "Great" – Very hit and miss. But can be very useful if there is a reason to believe you may have a deep rooted virus. Never hurts to run this every few weeks just to be on the safe side. And AVG has it as a completely separate dedicated scan option as well (Which makes it way quicker to run and it uses much less system resources.)

16. System Tools3.5 "Average" – Great idea but very poorly execution. Now the information is there but it is very very hard to decipher even for the more Computer Savvy of us.

17. Identity Protection3.0 "Average"- A very useful feature that lets you know when you maybe at risk for identity theft and or other important information maybe at risk. Such as with Peer 2 Peer programs and certain add-ons and or toolbars

18. PC Analyzer0.5 "Abysmal" – If you don't mind that you only can fix your errors for free once then great. But if you are like me and you probably feel this options is both somewhat misleading and out right bait to buy this extremely expensive add-on. Then you are probably with me on my conclusion.

** On a side note I fully expected with the paid version of AVG Internet Security 2011. That the PC Analyzer would be an included as a usable option.

19. AVG Support - 1.5 "Terrible" – Even with e-mail support and phone support. AVG remains as one of the worst main stream software companies for help with their paid version of their software. And yet again this is very disappointing and said thing to report as AVG is in the top 3 Anti-virus solutions out there.

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My Final Verdict Part 1: There has been very little improvement in this very minor update to AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011. But there is still some work that needs to be done. Overall only some very minor changes that most people won't even notice..

My Final Verdict Part 2: The fact that still remains unavoidable to me is that there are not many overwhelming differences. That I can see between AVG Internet Security 2011 and AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011 to get me to recommend the almost $60 USD price tag. But I still highly recommend it if you don't already have another virus program or you have the older AVG paid program. I would highly recommend that you at least upgrade to the newer AVG 2011 (Regardless of what I said in the above review. You are indeed still better off with the AVG 2011 version. As compared to AVG 8.5 or 9.0 versions).

If you still want to try AVG Internet Security 2011. Then I highly recommend the trailware version of AVG Internet Security 2011 first. Before you decide you want to buy it out right. That way you will know what you are getting into and won't have any mis-conceptions of what AVG Internet Security 2011 does and does not do.

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My Overall Score: 95/135

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Here are 2 links to download the 30 day trailware version of AVG Internet Security 2011:

1. http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download.prd-afh#tba1 (AVG Main Site)

2. http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Internet-Security-2011/3000-2239_4-10710160.html?tag=mncol;3 (Via download.com/Cnet)

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Return To The Main Reviews Page

——————————————————————

Till The Next Review,

Remy "Se7en"



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New Spybot – Search & Destroy Definition Update Available (2011-07-27)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 12:37 PM PDT

Dear Readers,

Hello and welcome to my post that will be continuing to following all of the Spybot – Search & Destroy weekly definition updates.

Here is the full list of updates:

2011-07-27

Malware

- ClaroMultimedia

- Fraud.SecuritySW

- Fraud.Sysguard

Trojans

- Win32.AVKill.nw

- Win32.FraudAVI.in

- Win32.Jorik.co

- Win32.Muollo

- Win32.Ramnit.E

- Win32.Swizzor.Gen

- Win32.ZBot

Total: 2455281 fingerprints in 773788 rules for 6279 products.

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To see the full list in it's original glory. Please use the following link: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html

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If you would like to download Spybot – Search & Destroy please use the following link: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

————————————–

Till The Next Spybot Update,

Remy "Se7en"



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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011 Version (10.0.1390) – Freeware Review

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 02:32 PM PDT

The Rating Scale Breakdown:

  • 0  – 0.5 – Abysmal
  • 1.0 – 1.5 – Terrible
  • 2.0 – 2.5 – Poor
  • 3.0 – 3.5 – Average
  • 4.0 – 4.5 – Great
  • 5.0 – Killer
  • Undetermined – Too soon to tell or lacking evidence to provide a solid answer
  • Not Tested – Has yet to be requested or there is some limitations to prevent accurate test results

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A. Stability Of Program 4.0 "Great" – We have received absolutely no e-mails about the lack of stability with AVG 2011 free and or paid (This time around).

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B. Has AVG Free Been Compromised By Hackers Or Virus5.0 "Killer" – No issues reported thus far

C. Speed of Scan5.0 "Killer" – Very quick on most computers. And now you have the option to choose how much Memory/Ram you want each scheduled scan to take up.

D. Does AVG Free Do Automatic Updates By Itself Without Any Issue5.0 "Killer" – Yes, and this time around there seems to be no stalling and or hanging. When we manually update AVG. As we have seen in older versions of AVG Free 2011.

E. Internet Browser Cookie Detection Rate And Removal Test2.5 "Average" - You are way better off with something like SUPERAntiSpyware or CCleaner that is more dedicated to removal of Internet cookies. AVG Internet cookie detection rate is terrible even with the option active and checked off.

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1. Anti-Virus Detection Rate Test:

1A. Windows XP3.5 "Average"

1B. Windows Vista3.5 "Average"

1C. Windows 7 - 3.5 "Average"

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2. Anti-Spyware2.0 "Average" – AVG still seems to miss very common and not so common spyware/adware. You are much better off with SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot as your adware, spyware, malware protection.

3. One Click Fix4.0 "Great" – I really like this idea. But I am not a fan, of the idea. That if I want to de-activated a service/component. Such as the Link Scanner, that AVG should still show as not being fully protected. But that just might be me.

4. Link Scanner - 3.0 "Average" - Not a fan. But it can be very very useful to some.

5. Safe Search - 3.0 "Average" - I love this option and find it very very useful. Especially for all thous people that are unsure about certain websites (including myself).

6. Family Safety4.5 "Great" – Cost $19.99 CAD per year for 3 computers to activate this just added feature -But it covers unlimited profiles. So you can have just one kid or 11 kids and your good. Provided it is only used with up to 3 PC's

7. LiveKiveNot Tested – This feature has just been added to AVG Dashboard. But it cost money to activate. -See below for cost to activate feature-

*Cost $49.99 CAD for 25 GB of storage per year.

*Cost $79.99 CAD for Unlimited  storage per year.

8. AVG ToolBar - 3.0 "Average" - This toolbar can cause crashes on a number of Internet browsers. And it is really hard to un-install. We also noticed it caused some strange behavior when dealing with WordPress.

9. AVG SideBar Gadget 3.0 "Average" – I don't really see the point of it and it is super bulky. (Taking up way to much space) And + I already have my side bar full of way more useful widgets/gadgets.

10. Residential Shield Test - 3.0 "Average" – I still find AVIRA and AVAST seems to grab the virus way before AVG free does. But there is indeed some major overall improvements here yet again.

11. E-Mail Scanner - 2.5 "Poor" - I already have e-mail protection from another program. + I find it is way more difficult to set-up then it needs to be. 

12. Update Manager5.0 "Killer" – No issues here at all. And it even updates faster then past AVG versions, such as 8.5 and 9.0.

13. Anti-RootKit4.0 "Great" – Very hit and miss. But can be very useful if there is a reason to believe you may have a deep rooted virus. Never hurts to run this every few weeks just to be on the safe side. And AVG has it as a completely separate dedicated scan option as well (Which makes it way quicker to run and it uses much less system resources.)

14. PC Analyzer0.5 "Abysmal" - If you don't mind that you only can fix your errors for free once then great. But if you are like me and you probably feel this options is both somewhat misleading and out right bait to buy this extremely expensive add-on. Then you are probably with me on my conclusion.

15. Identity Protection 3.5 "Average" – A very useful feature that lets you know when you maybe at risk for identity theft and or other important information maybe at risk. Such as with Peer 2 Peer programs and certain add-ons and or toolbars

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My Overall Score: 73/110

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My Final Verdict: There has been very little improvement in this very minor update to AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011. But there is still some work that needs to be done. Overall only some very minor changes that most people won't even notice.

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Here are 2 links to download AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011:

1. http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download.prd-afh#tba1 (AVG Main Site)

2. http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-2011/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?tag=rb_content;main (Via download.com/Cnet)

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Return To The Main Reviews Page

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Till The Next Review,

Danny



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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


Mozilla FireFox (3.6.19) Is Now Available To Download

Posted: 25 Jul 2011 12:11 PM PDT

Dear Readers,

**Just a quick note: Yep, I am indeed super late on posting this (As it was available WAY back on July 11th, 2011). Mainly because I figured they stop supporting Mozilla FireFox v3.6.xxx.  But also it seems my Firefox won't update by it self anymore. (If anyone know how to fix that please by all means let me know.)

It appears that there is still another update for Mozilla FireFox available to download right now. And for all of those people who are interested here is the list of some of the fixes and improvements in the (3.6.19) version…

Firefox 3.6.19 fixes the following issues found in previous versions of Firefox 3.6:

  • Turned off downloadable font support for users running Mac OS X 10.7 due to an underlying platform bug. We hope to enable them again in the future

You may also be interested in the Firefox 3.6.18 release notes for a list of changes in the previous version.

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Till The Next 3.6.XXX Mozilla FireFox Update,

Remy "Se7en"



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Monday, July 25, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


i-Say Survey Panel – Survey Site Review (July 2011)

Posted: 24 Jul 2011 09:15 PM PDT

Name: i-Say By Ipsos Survey Panel (Use to be Ipsos i-Say Survey Panel)

Link: http://www.i-say.com/

Who Is Eligible: Everyone

Type of Award Or Payment: Cash (points) / Gift Cards / Charity Dollars / Instant Prize / Sweepstakes / Aeroplan miles

(500 point = $5.00 CDN/USD) Must have 500 points = $5.00 CDN/USD To Cash Out

Points Or Cash Normally Earned Per Survey: 0 – 50 points

Sign-Up Time: Not Very Long

How Many Surveys To Expect Per Week: 0 – 10

How Long Does It Take To Collect A Reward Or Cash Out: Varies quite a bit based on target demographic of the month. But often it will take  most people way longer then they really would want to wait to cash out.

Do They Spam You: No

Number of Survey I Have Received Over The Past 10 Years Since Joining: Lost Count

Overall Score: 1.5 out of 5 – There is still a real lack in overall surveys FOR MOST PEOPLE. Personally I have only had 2 surveys since my (April 2011) review of i-Say. I-say seems to have a truck load of new options to cash in and redeem with your points. But I still feel that even with a new lower 500 point level for a $5 CAD/USD cash out. i-say will still take you some serious time to achieve even at the new lower $5 for 500 points level. Which is still insane to say the very least. When your not even getting 1 survey a week (Unless you are really lucky).

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Return To The Main Reviews Page

——————————————————————

Till The Next Review,

Remy "Se7en"



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Sunday, July 24, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


Blog Update #175 – This Week (CSW) Will Be Bringing You AVG Anti-Virus 2011 Reviews + A Special AVG 2011 “Family Safety Program” Review

Posted: 23 Jul 2011 09:10 PM PDT

Dear Readers,

This week (CSW) will be bringing you AVG Anti-Virus 2011 reviews. And a very special AVG Anti-Virus 2011 "Family Safety Program" review…….

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-Between July 18th 2011 – July 24th 2011-

—————————————–

Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog News Post

- AVG Free Anti-Virus 2012 Beta – Is Now Available To Download Via AVG Free Anti-Virus Beta Testing Program

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Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog Feature

- Scam Watch: JustAnswer.com Is It A Scam ? Or Is It Just A Really Bad Investment ?

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Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog Review

- AVIRA Free Anti-Virus (10.0.0.650) Vs. AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011 (10.0.1388) – Side by Side Review

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Till The Next Blog Update,

Remy "Se7en"



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Saturday, July 23, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


EPD 51: Fan Mail Friday’s (07/22/2011)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 08:03 PM PDT

Dear Computer Savvy Weblog Team,

What do you guys think of the new FrostWire 5.0 build ?

Sent in By "Mr. FrostWire Freezer Burn"

—————————-

What do you guys think of the new FrostWire 5.0 build ?

Reply: I can't speak for the rest of the team. But WTF !?! Frostwire Guys. You guys went from a Napster / Limewire type of program to a really complicated version of of a torrent client/platform.

Now, that I have gotten that out of the way. I can understand why they decided to do such a dramatic move. It all leads to not wanted to be sued and get dramatically dragged kicking and screaming through the court system. (Pardon, my spelling guys it's been a really late night)

Will I be using the new 5.0 build of FrostWire ? Not very likely. But the good news is it appears the old (4.21.8) version of FrostWire still works at least it did last time I checked.

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Return To The Main Features Page

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Till Next Friday,

Danny



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