Stories by Emru Townsend

5 movies starring computers

Computers are all over movies these days, from the ones behind the scenes that create gosh-wow special effects to the ones on screen that are the constant targets of ridiculously good-looking hackers. What's rare is finding movies where computers and...

New FireWire spec is good to go, go go

Recently the 1394 Trade Association approved the FireWire S1600 and S3200 formats, with the final spec to be published in October.

Five groovy sites for free music downloads

Short of "free food" and "free beer," "free music" is one of the sweetest phrases you can hear. But getting tunes gratis doesn't have to mean ending up on the RIAA's Most Wanted list. These five sites will let you easily fatten up your music collecti...

The top 15 vaporware products of all time

The tech industry has had more than its fair share of products that infamously failed to take off. Some fit the classic definition of vaporware, and were all hype and no substance. A few were simply too far ahead of their time. And others were merely...

5 gadgets that make you seem artistic

"Everyone is an artist." Those are the words of the controversial German artist Joseph Beuys, and I happen to agree with him.

Beatles Music Inching Ever Closer to iTunes

It's been almost two years since we first reported that the Beatles were digitally remastering their music catalogue in anticipation of making it available on iTunes and other digital music services.

Coming Soonish: USB (and FireWire) for Speed Freaks

Anyone remember the old days of USB 1.1? I do, every time I plug my thumb drive into an older computer and find myself waiting interminably for that 800 MB file to copy -- usually just before I have to catch a train.

Sony, iPod make beautiful music together

Sony <a href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/sony-introduces-a-pair-o-docks-for-ipod-279697.php">unveiled</a> a pair of iPod devices Thursday: the ICF-C1iP and the ZS-S2iP, a clock radio and boom box, respectively.

You bet your drive

Can't get enough of poker? The Memorex USB flash drive should tide you over between games. The drive's protective cover is styled to look like a small stack of red poker chips, and the drive itself comes preloaded with a Texas Hold 'Em game. Unlike s...

iPod shuffle plays in the big leagues

iPod Shuffle owners no longer have to feel like second-class citizens of the iPod nation. Though the Shuffle's tiny size has led to some interesting accessories (my favorite is the headgear) there hasn't been a convenient way to enjoy all the iPod do...

Your iPod Is good to the last drop

iPod owners might have felt left out when I <a href="http://blogs.pcworld.com/digitalworld/archives/2007/04/this_player_sin_1.html">wrote about</a> the Noritz Juke Tower, which lets you listen to MP3s in the shower, provided they're on a thumb drive....

Opponents to chow down Pac-Man championship

Flex those chomping muscles, retro gamers: the Pac-Man World Championship goes down starting next week on Xbox Live Arcade.

The new Internet menace: Wilfing

If there's one thing that I can't stand, it's cutesy new acronyms tied to questionable studies -- like "wilf," a curiously incomplete abbreviation for "what was I looking for," which refers to the apparently epidemic practice of getting distracted by...

Another new flash memory format debuts

Do we really need another new flash format? Actually, some people might.

We'll have custom blinktones?

Getting mobile phone calls at work can mean one of two things: either the ringing bugs people around you (honestly, did you have to download the "Bolero" ringtone?) or the thing vibrates itself right off your desk and onto the floor, possibly in two ...