Semo.net Weblog

In the past, to read a PDF file, you would need to go through a lengthy installation process and wait for an annoying splash window to disappear just to open a PDF document. Moreover, if you want to annotate a PDF document, you have to pay US$299 to buy certain PDF software.

Now with Foxit Reader 2.0, you don’t have to endure such pain any more.

Foxit Reader is a small, fast program that allows you to read and annotate PDFs without needing a standard PDF reader.

Download Foxit Reader from foxitsoftware.com

Take control of your voice messages with GotVoice. Get the convenience of your home, cell & work voicemails emailed to you, or access them online from anywhere, at anytime. Or when you need to get the word out immediately to everyone, use GotVoice to broadcast a new voice message out to everybody instantly. You can ring their phones at the same time, or slip the voice message silently into their voicemail. Even add your favorite MP3 music as a background track to your voicemail greeting. Whatever your need, GotVoice delivers.

GotVoice is the only service which effortlessly integrates with all major mobile and landline networks for sending and receiving voice messages, or instantly updating personalized voicemail greetings. Without requiring either you or the phone networks to change anything, GotVoice is the quickest, easiest and most powerful voice message service and it’s 100% FREE! There are no hidden call forwarding fees, you don’t need a new number and there is no software to install.

link

A computer that carries out calculations using tiny bubbles instead of electricity has been developed by US researchers.

The “microfluidic” computer performs calculation by squeezing bubbles through tiny channels etched into a chip. It can perform all of the logical operations needed to make a general-purpose computer.

In practice, such a computer would be much bigger than a PC and about a thousand times slower. Nevertheless, the bubble-based computer could lead to improved microfluidic technology for chemical analysis, say its designers…read more

After 36 years and billions of sales, the floppy disk is to join the video player, cassette deck and film camera on technology’s scrapheap.

The 9cm piece of plastic will no longer be available from Britain’s biggest computer retailer.

PC World announced last night it would stop selling the disks when stocks ran out.

via Metro.co.uk

Sending and sharing files is a daily routine. If you have the need in your working, or personal, life to send and share large files easily without tying up your email, senduit could be a service for you to try out.

The senduit service allows users to upload up to 100MB of data, and create a unique URL to share in two steps. This data is then given an available time frame in which users can access it. So if it’s somewhat private or sensitive material you can set it to be available for 30 minutes, and all the way up to one week of availability. A better known provider of this type of service includes yousendit, who allows for sending sizes up to 2GB with a subscription.

via Web Worker Daily

Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. cellphone carrier, passed on the chance to be the exclusive distributor of the iPhone almost two years ago, balking at Apple’s rich financial terms and other demands.

Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president. “We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn’t reach a deal that was mutually beneficial.”

Verizon’s decision to pull the plug on talks sent Apple into the waiting arms of Cingular, which will be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone. The multifunction device is expected to ship in June and cost about $500.

Via USA Today

Renkoo solves a problem we’ve all had: how does a group of friends decide on a place and time to get together (and maybe also an activity to enjoy)? Preferably without completely filling up your email box or spending all day on the phone :-)

Renkoo is a free, easy way to plan your social events, send out invitations and organize your outings.

For more information, go to renkoo.com!

Woot.com is an online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap.They sell one item per day (24 hour period), and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Cool gadgets are sold at insanely cheap prices, so log on to www.woot.com every day to see what they are featuring.

Each woot.com product is discontinued at 11:59pm central time, so don’t wait too long!

Windows Vista is coming, what should the average user expect from Microsoft’s latest operating system?

USA Today: It is the countdown to Microsoft’s most important product launch in at least five years and Microsoft has sky-high hopes. It expects Windows Vista to be its most successful PC operating system yet.

But the sheer size of the next-generation software — it packs dozens of new features — and lingering questions over security have caused anxiety among some business and home users. On Jan. 30, the software giant will make Vista available to consumers. It will also unfurl the 2007 versions of Microsoft Office, a suite of software programs that includes Word, Excel and Microsoft Exchange Server, an e-mail messaging server.

Vista presents plenty of new technology options, and as many personal choices: Is it wise to install the beefy operating system on your current PC now, wait a few months, or bite the bullet and buy a shiny — and pricey — new PC loaded with Vista? As one of the most significant days in Microsoft’s history approaches, consumers have some important things to consider…read more

Link to USA Today story

Windows Vista Official Site

If you feel like your inbox is suddenly overrun with spam again, you are right.

Not long ago, there seemed hope that spam had passed its prime. Just last December, the Federal Trade Commission published an optimistic state-of-spam report, citing research indicating spam had leveled off or even dropped during the previous year.

Instead, it now appears spammers had simply gone back to the drawing board. There’s more spam now than ever before…

Read Full Story

Fight Spam!