Another week, another Google service and this time its music that has been incorporated into the worlds most popular search engine. Although it doesn’t supply music downloads directly, once you type in the artist of your choice into the special toolbar you will be given links to merchants for ordering and downloading. The search will also pull other informat ion about the music including track listing, lyrics and artwork.

The Google machine rumbles on and this new addition will certainly add to the growing animosity they have been receiving recently. A world of Google everything would certainly be scary, yet it’s hard to knock them when they continue to provide useful and free services like this.

Initial merchant partners include iTunes, RealNetworks Rhapsody, eMusic, and Amazon.com.

Check it out here.

The kind people at National Geographic have decided to make 16 pictures of the natural world available as free downloads. From tigers and giraffes to the great pyramids of Egypt - there's bound to be something to tickle your fancy. The files come in PDF format and each section of the image is split over 10 pages - simply print off each page and assemble on your wall. The image resolution is'nt exactly amazing but at least it will be kind to your printer. The end result is still impressive but for those who are slightly more technically minded, there is the option of importing each individual pdf into Adobe Photoshop. There you cans stich them together, re-size them and basically do anything you want with them.

Get them here.

Whether your extremely busy or just plain lazy, Brutus will help shave off the seconds when it comes to shutting down, logging off or restarting Windows.

This small freeware application places the shutdown icons, normally found in the start menu, on your desktop or quick launch menu and will activate with just one click. There are four separate shutdown options, ranging from a ‘classic’ exit to ending all applications automatically.

The laborious three click process may now be thing of the past, just think about all the time you could save! However, be careful not to hit the icons accidentally; getting back those two hours spent on a piece of work may take a while.

Download it here.

Firefox today announced the first security flaw for its recent 1.5 version release.

Security guru’s Packet Storm published a proof-of-concept code that adds large entries into the ‘history.dat’ file of the browser, causing it to crash and freeze the next time it’s launched.

Firefox is generally considered to be the daddy of safe browsers, and the actual fault doesn’t seem that sinister. However, it does leave itself open to Malware which can automatically install unwanted programs masquerading as anti-spyware software, which in turn dually dupes users of their credit card numbers.

Thankfully, fixing the problem isn’t too much bother; you can either erase the file manually or simply set the number of history days saved to zero.

Easy.

To start off, we thought it would be best to address one of the main evils of modern day computing - the wickedness and immorality that is Spyware and Adware.

With Microsoft’s recent claim that over two thirds of computers don’t have any Spyware or Adware protection, it’s clearly something that needs to be addressed. Thankfully, protecting yourself is generally straightforward and painless.

Follow these simple steps and you’ll find your computer will be faster, won’t shut down or freeze as easily, and generally do the things you want it to do.

• Install the software – there are a plethora of programs out there, some good, some bad and some that will infect rather than cure. The most effective are Ad-aware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Spyware Blaster. All three are free and having all of them increases your chances of eliminating threats.
• Stay updated – Simply having them is not enough so make sure you check for updates regularly. Prevention is always better than cure.
• Avoid unsavoury sites – Those sites you stumble across with a thousand pop-ups and those offering freeware programs such as screensavers and games are often jam packed with threats. Having the latest updates for your browser and operating system will give you a good idea of which sites you can trust.

Sadly, the battle against Spyware and Adware will be always be ongoing. By following the simple steps above, however, you give yourself a good chance of staying clean.

For a more detailed overview of this menace, go here.

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