big

X-Ripper is an intuitive program that lets users extract and save files of a particular type from a specific directory. There's not a lot to it, but it does work as advertised.

The program's interface is simple and easy to understand. Users select the source and destination folders they want to use and then select the file type(s) they're looking for. Users can select graphics, video, or audio files only, or hand-pick from among 19 file types. Once the desired file types are selected, the program goes to work searching for them in the specified location. … Read more

Want some good deals on software and popular national services, plus do some good for the world, to boot? Then check out this great deal from TrialPay called The Big Bundle. In exchange for a $29.99 donation to the American Cancer Society, visitors to The Big Bundle Web site will receive more than $700 worth of products and services from participating companies.

Get software deals from Trend Micro, Skype, Corel, Siber Systems, Evernote, WinZip, Foxit, PopCap games, and many more, all as a part of this affordable package. You also get bargains from Zagat, Shoebuy, 1800Flowers, SmugMug, Picnik Premium, … Read more

We have a very special guest this week, Mr. Jeff Sparkman. Jeff gained notoriety previously by being named CNET's nerdiest employee. Soon after, it was a fast life of drugs, women, and comic books. We discuss at least one of those subjects with him.

Also in this episode, we talk about fighting with the Vulcan nerve pinch, Dong getting beat up by a girl, and Eric crying like a baby while watching "The Lord of the Rings."

Tech this week, we take a look at Lucid's soon-to-be-released tech. Also, Dong schools us on using Windows Media … Read more

Shutterstock, a "microstock" company that sells royalty-free photographs for relatively low prices over the Internet, has acquired rival BigStockPhoto and a new sales method along with it.

Shutterstock had offered its photographs and videos through a subscription payment plan, but BigStockPhoto sells its individually with credits. Both rely on a large pool of photographers to supply them with stock photography used in everything from corporate PowerPoint presentations to tourist brochures.

"This addition will enable Shutterstock to better satisfy the diverse payment preferences of stock photo buyers worldwide," said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock, in … Read more

Last year I reported on the Lucid Hydra 100. For details on what Hydra is and how it works, check that post.

This week Lucid is announcing an upgraded solution, the Hydra 200. Hydra allows two video cards to simultaneously be used in a single system.

Before clicking the Back button, yes I know Nvidia and ATI have been doing this for years with their SLI and Crossfire solutions, respectively.

The twist here is that the Lucid technology will allow you to mix and match both ATI and Nvidia cards. According to Lucid, you'll even be able to use … Read more

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has demoed its Precision Urban Hopper robot, a wheeled ground unit that can leap over 25-foot-tall obstacles and keep on truckin'.

Seen in the video below, released last week by the Sandia National Laboratory, the shoebox-size Hopper easily takes on a chain-link fence, bounces a bit after landing, and then keeps rolling. It seems that a piston-fired leg makes it fly.

The Precision Urban Hopper is being developed by Sandia and Boston Dynamics, creator of the famously creepy BigDog robot, for surveillance operations in urban terrain. Guided by GPS, it is designed to "… Read more

SOUTHBURY, Conn.--IBM's "green" data center here is kind of like a techie version of the "This Old House" television show. But in this case, the project was to build a showcase for energy-efficiency computing, rather than construct a new addition for a suburban home.

IBM's main problem was data center sprawl. Five years ago, internal IT staff could barely keep up with growing demand for computing resources from employees, causing an expansion from one data center location to four--a situation that was costly and inefficient.

Now, those four data centers have been consolidated … Read more

More than a few technology sectors seem to be turning up the volume on "big data" and the enormous challenges and opportunities that enterprises face in managing and analyzing their data and system resources.

There are a number of hip technologies and frameworks like Apache Hadoop, which is used to store, process, and analyze massive data sets, enabling applications to work with thousands of nodes and petabytes of data.

One area that provides never-ending data analysis fodder are log files. For those not aware, log files are usually automatically created and updated whenever a machine or machine user … Read more

Even as billions of dollars are being spent around the world to modernize the electricity grid, the systems to delivery fresh water are also in desperate need of a 21st century upgrade.

IBM is developing a portfolio of IT-related water management technologies, a business that it estimates can total $20 billion within five years. At a water conference next week, IBM and Intel will be forming a working group to study how information and technology can be used to improve water management, according to IBM.

The goal is to sketch out the technical architecture required to more efficiently use fresh … Read more