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iPad launch

iPads Available

The iPad WiFi model is here. At the Clarendon Apple Retail store in Arlington, Virginia, there was a line for the opening. But by mid-morning, you could walk right up and buy one, even without a reservation.

My informal survey shows that nearly half the people are waiting for the 3G version instead of buying the WiFi-only model available today. The 3G model costs $130 more, allows the option to connect to AT&T’s 3G data network, and includes GPS.

These launch events appear to be our generation’s version of Woodstock, which doesn’t say good things about society. Still, the gadget lover in me feels like a kid in a brand new candy store.

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AntiVirus Bootable CD

Bootable CDs to the Rescue

Some viruses are so bad that they lock you out of your computer’s administrative controls. When that happens, consider using a bootable CD that can clean the hard drive of viruses. This often fixes things enough to let you get into Windows and make further repairs.

AVG Rescue CD

My favorite is the free AVG Rescue CD. It can be installed onto a CD or a USB stick if your computer allows booting from USB drives.

The AVG Rescue CD is a small version of AVG Anti-Virus that boots up using Linux. It does not load anything onto your hard drive so it is completely non-destructive. It offers you the option to download virus definition updates, which you should definitely do. This typically requires an ethernet cable connection to work.

Other Bootable CDs

There are many free bootable AntiVirus Resuce CD options that you can try. Let me know what your favorite bootable antivirus tool is.

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Organize Your Mac Desktop

A couple of Mac desktop defaults that I like have changed with OSX Snow Leopard. The icons no longer default to a grid and the Hard Drive icon is gone. Here’s how to change it back.

Putting back the Hard Drive:

  1. In the Finder, choose Finder -> Preferences.
  2. Click the General icon on the toolbar.
  3. Select Hard disks in the Show these items on the desktop section.
  4. Close the Finder Preferences window.Show Hard Drive on Desktop

Making your icons align to a grid:

  1. In the Finder, choose View -> Show View Options
  2. Choose Snap to Grid from the Arrange by drop list.Finder View OptionsNotice that this is also where you can change the icon size, grid spacing, and text size.
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Google Stops Censoring Search Results in China

Google ChinaFollowing up on Google’s promise from January 12th, Google China just moved its web servers for China to Hong Kong so that they can be run without censorship. Now it is up to Chinese authorities to decide to shut off all or partial access to Google.

Although Google is not the largest search engine in China*, Google’s many services (web search, mail, documents from Google Docs, photos, etc) are heavily used. If Chinese authorities shut off access to the servers completely, there would be a lot of pissed off Chinese geeks.

* Traffic market share of search engines in China, August 2009, China Internet Network Information Center:

Baidu: 51.5%
Google: 32.9%
Sohu: 4.6%
Sina: 4.0%
Yahoo: 3.7%
Others: 3.3%

Google blog post announcement of decision.

From the Washington Post:

Google stops censoring search results in China by Ellen Nakashima and Cecilia Kang

Google announced Monday that it had stopped censoring search results on its site in China and redirected users to an unfiltered search based in Hong Kong.

The company said in January that it was holding talks with authorities in China to determine whether “it could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.” On Monday, Google said the government in Beijing “has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement.”

The announcement Monday effectively represented an attempt by Google to sidestep China’s demands for self-censorship on its Chinese-language site, google.cn.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and operates its own economic and political systems. By redirecting Chinese search traffic through servers in Hong Kong, to google.com.hk — the firm said it had effectively transferred the jurisdiction of its search business off the mainland.

“This move is entirely legal by Chinese law and Hong Kong law and that is important to know: that we are abiding by the law,” a source at Google said on condition of anonymity.

In its announcement on its Web site, the firm said that it belived its new approach was a “sensible solution.”

“We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services,” Google said.

The company said it will also monitor access issues and publicly disclose any time the services Google offers are made unavailable in China.

It remains unclear whether the world’s largest Internet search firm will leave China entirely, as it has said it might be forced to do. The company said it has no plans to pull staff from the country.