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Track Apple refurb deals at RefurbMe

The words "deal" and "Apple product" rarely appear in the same sentence, which is why I continue to be fan of buying refurbished Apple gear whenever possible.

While some refurbs prove to be junk, Apple gives you like-new hardware -- complete with a same-as-new warranty. It's the only way to go.

But how do you know when a particular product hits the Apple Store? Short of checking online every day, there's no easy way. Until now: RefurbMe catalogs all the latest Apple Store refurbs and can notify you when price and/or availability changes.… Read more

Audacious audio editing to go with Audacity Portable

Audacity is one of our favorite audio tools, so we were interested in seeing Audacity Portable, a fully portable version from PortableApps. Like the installed version, Audacity Portable edits your MP3s, WAVs, and other digital audio files. You can remove long intros, extract clips, and change the pitch, tempo, and other parameters of your song files or any audio recording. But, as the name indicates, Audacity Portable is completely portable, which means it runs as soon as you click the program's executable file without having to be installed. You can carry Audacity Portable with you on a USB drive, … Read more

Do Not Track browser standard: Back on the rails

It looks like development of Do Not Track, an effort to create a standard that'll let people tell Web sites not to track their online behavior, has resumed after a months-long logjam.

Peter Swire, the newly appointed leader of the World Wide Web Consortium's work on Do Not Track, has been attempting to find common ground among very different constituencies including privacy advocates and advertisers. But there's been progress, he said in a blog post.

"Over the past two days, the group has successfully managed to identify a path toward fulfilling our W3C charter: we now … Read more

Barbie gets digital makeover at Toy Fair

It's playtime for CNET Update:

When it comes to the tech at Toy Fair, Apple steals the spotlight. Many tech-related toys at the 2013 Toy Fair integrate with an iPad or iPhone. Mattel is diving into this growing trend with several toys that offer an augmented reality experience using iPad apps. But it also wouldn't be a Toy Fair without a few cool robots.

Toys featured in the video include:

- Tomy's BattroBorg: Players use Wii-like controllers to throw punches and wirelessly control the arms of tiny boxing robots. A robot will deactivate after five hits to … Read more

Google sued by iPhone users in U.K. over Safari tracking

Riding on the heels of the recent U.S. lawsuit against Google for Safari tracking, Apple users in the U.K. have now launched their own similar case against the Web giant.

Peeved that their online privacy was violated, roughly a dozen people are suing Google in a class action suit, according to The Guardian. The case alleges that Google secretly tracked their Internet habits via cookies in the Safari Web browser. The lawsuit revolves around the way Google may have sidestepped Apple's security settings on the iPhone, iPad, and desktop versions of Safari.

"This is the first … Read more

WishPlz tracks price drops so you don't have to

You've got your eye on a solid-state hard drive. Or a MacBook Air. Or one of those cool Star Wars Force FX Lightsabers. Just one problem: you haven't saved up quite enough cash.

Sure, you can keep checking to see if the price has dropped, but that's a time-consuming hassle. What you need is a tool that will notify you when an item goes on sale.

Wishful thinking? Not if you sign up for WishPlz, a free service that tracks your favorite items and tells you when their prices drop.

WishPlz works a bit differently than other … Read more

Tobii Rex: Control a Windows 8 PC with your eyes

Whatever you may feel about Windows 8, it's sparked a number of interesting hybrid designs. Now you can count the Tobii Rex, an eye-controlled interface for Windows 8, as another innovation that works with Microsoft's latest operating system.

First seen at last year's CES, the Rex is an eye-tracking peripheral that works with Tobii's proprietary Gaze interface to navigate around a Windows 8 computer. The stick-like device attaches to the base of your computer screen and connects via a USB port. … Read more

Go anonymous with Easy-Hide-IP

Your IP address gives advertisers, your ISP and even the police tons of information about you. If you want to hide your surfing behavior, Easy-Hide-IP can issue you a new IP address whenever you want a change. It helps you stay anonymous on the Web, but isn't a totally comprehensive solution like a VPN or more powerful proxy.

Despite touting easy setup, the download takes longer than most because of registration. You have to give up your email address and then wait for a product key before you can start using the program. Then, if you want more than … Read more

How to prepare yourself for Friday's apocalypse

I know that many wise organizations, including NASA, have declared that the world will not end -- as some Mayans had predicted -- next Friday.

NASA has even released an advance, advanced video (embedded here), explaining why this will not happen.

We at Technically Incorrect tend to be a little more sanguine. There is a 50 percent chance that the world will end. Because, well, there are only two options: either it will or it won't.

I'd hate you to be blind-sided by apocalyptic inconvenience. So I have searched high, low and lower in search of useful steps … Read more