Topic: Hard Drives

Pi Day: five fun facts about 3.14

March 14, or 3.14, is Pi Day. Get it? Pi Day celebrates all things related to the mathematical constant that measures the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Here are five things you should know about π. 

Encrypt your computer, get out of jail free? Not quite.

An appeals court ruled last week that in certain cases, handing over the password to an encrypted hard drive is a form of giving testimony, and is protected under the Fifth Amendment. But that doesn't mean criminals can use password protection to hide evidence -- decryption is only protected if prosecutors don't know what's on the drive.

Stocks gain modestly on consumer confidence

The Dow rose 32 points to 11555 as a jump in US consumer confidence and new efforts from European leaders to find more aggressive cures for the region's debt crisis encouraged investors

Laptops: Seagate boosts speed with hybrid drive

Laptops get up to three times speedier access to data with next-generation Seagate flash memory/hard drive. Seven manufacturers will ship new laptops with the Momentus XT drive.

Thailand floods: Bangkok flood defenses are holding

Thailand's prime minister expressed cautious optimism Saturday that the flood threat to Bangkok may be receding. But flooding from high tides may still pose a problem for a city just six feet above sea level.

MacBook Pro gets faster processor, better graphics

MacBook Pro gets update from Apple as competition for MacBook Pro heats up from Dell and others.

Is the iPod Classic being retired?

Is the iPod Classic getting a pink slip? Apple hasn't updated it in years. Either way, the iPod Touch line is still growing.

Apple rumors point to cheaper iPhone 4

New Apple rumors say a less expensive, 8GB iPhone 4 could arrive within weeks. Reports suggest that the model will appeal to lower income families and countries. But what's behind these latest Apple rumors?

Apple preps cheaper iMac for students

Apple's cheaper iMac offers schools a discounted desktop computer. But some question if Apple's cheaper iMac has the specs to match the price tag.

Give up cable TV for Internet TV? A couple shows how.

Brandt and Ashley Malone made the switch from cable TV to Internet TV to save money. They also made transition from cable TV gradually.

Election 101: Ten questions about Newt Gingrich as a presidential candidate

The former speaker is a masterful strategist with a brilliant political mind. But a rocky marital record and a penchant for flame-throwing may jeopardize his candidacy.

Where will bin Laden 'mother lode of intelligence' lead?

It's 'the mother lode of intelligence,' a US official said of the materials found with Osama bin Laden in Abbattabad, Pakistan. Here's a look at what was discovered, where it is now, and what it might reveal.

Eight low-tech ways to revive broken gadgets

Mouthwash. Rice. A handful of quarters. What do these household items have in common? They constitute the perfect emergency-repair kit for gadgets. When device disasters strike and warranties turn their backs on you, it's time to get in touch with your inner MacGyver. So, here are eight low-tech solutions to high-tech disasters.

R&D spending: Here are the Top 10 firms

Apple, Google, and 3M may top Bloomberg’s list of the world’s most innovative companies, but they’re not the biggest research and development spenders – not even part of the Top 20. Out of 1,000 publicly traded companies with the highest R&D spending in 2009, here are the Top 10, according to a survey by management-consulting firm Booz & Co.:

Apple event brings MacBook Air, OS X Lion, and FaceTime for Mac

At its Oct. 20 event, Apple rolled out two new MacBook Air laptops, a slew of updates for its iLife suite, and a sneak peak at the next OS X upgrade, Lion.

This new coat of polish for Apple's computer line comes at a time of rapid growth for the Mac. In the last few years, Apple has transitioned from a computer company that made mobile devices to a mobile-device company that makes computers. Last quarter, Apple shipped 14.1 million iPhones, 4.1 million iPads, and just 3.89 million Macs. Still, Mac sales have grown 2.5 times faster than the rest of the PC industry, according to the company.

Wednesday's event tried to reassure Mac fans that the company stands firmly behind its computers, and convince mobile converts that many of the things they love about iPhones and iPad will soon appear in computers. Click the blue arrows to learn how.

Kinect controller for Xbox 360 will cost $150, says Microsoft

Kinect buyers will be set back $150, when the motion-sensing Xbox 360 controllers goes on sale Nov. 4.

Xbox 360 Slim: Is it any good?

Xbox 360 Slim is out, a svelter version of Microsoft's popular gaming console. How does it perform?

E3 2010: Microsoft Xbox 360 'Kinect' will launch in November

E3 2010: Microsoft Xbox 360 debuts the new 'Kinect' game technology in November, 2010.

SEC watching porn instead of financial industry

Wonder why they missed the financial crisis? Or Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme? A government report obtained by ABC News reveals that SEC employees were focused on something else: porn.

Three easy ways to save your computer from an early retirement

Clean up and tune up – your PC needs love. Dust bunnies, junk files slow you down.

How to fix the Splinter Cell: Conviction freezing problem

Gamers are reporting that there's a Splinter Cell: Conviction freezing bug. Here's the solution.

PS3 price cut by $100; slimmer model to come

Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will cut the price of the currently available 80 gigabyte PlayStation 3 effective immediately, to $299. It is also launching a slimmer, lighter model with a 120 GB hard drive in early September; that version will also cost $299.

Physics is always a work in progress

Column: From Newton to Einstein to Chen, science is writing new laws all the time.

The basics: How cloud computing works

Many people are already using it to store files on the Web.

Read this before you sell or recycle your computer!

Even rocket scientists forget to wipe their hard drives. Here’s how to do it.