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As a Core 2 Duo laptop that’s less than 0.65-inches thick, the Adamo is much more powerful than other new slim systems such as HP’s 12-inch Pavilion dv2 (with a new AMD Athlon Neo CPU). It’s also much more expensive, starting at $1,999 and running to $2,699.

We previously got an exclusive early hands-on look at the Dell Adamo, the new luxury 13-inch that’s one of the most buzzed-about new laptops of 2009. That was a pre-production model in black (Dell calls it “onyx”) and now our final shipping version of the Adamo has arrived, and this is the white “pearl” version.

Unboxing the Dell Adamo (Pearl)

No, it's not white, it's "pearl."

We’re running our benchmark tests on the Dell Adamo right now, so stay tuned for a full review. In the meantime, check out these new pics of the new white Adamo and our original first look video.

This is, it turns out, remarkably easy.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.

If the computer is using OpenDNS, the message reads: “You’re using OpenDNS. Thanks! You are now navigating the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliably than ever before.” See a full size image.

As I did this myself for a number of machines that I maintain, the question arose of verifying the change. That is, how can someone, particularly a non-technical computer user, ensure that their computer is configured to use OpenDNS?

In response to the recent DNS problems on the Internet I had earlier suggested changing some network configuration parameters to use the free OpenDNS service.

If the computer is not using OpenDNS, the message reads: “Start using the world’s largest and fastest-growing DNS service. Make your network safer, faster, smarter and more reliable. It’s free.” See a full size image.

Go to www.opendns.com. At the top of the home page, just under the tabs, there will be a message whose content depends on whether the computer is using OpenDNS or not.

Update: According to the company, this should work for all operating systems.

Or would they decide that wouldn’t be good for business?

I have no reason to believe that the folks at comScore and Nielsen Online are anything other than well-meaning, dedicated but imperfect professionals.

There are allegations that comScore’s and Nielsen Online’s figures tend to discriminate against, for example, foreigners and MacOlytes.

I’m just asking.

comScore and Nielsen Online are in the business of creating some very soundbiting headlines indeed. (FACEBOOK OVERTAKES MYSPACE!!! OHMIGOD!!! I NEED TO WRITE A SONG ABOUT THIS!!!)

Why would the research companies allow for this sort of speculation?

You see, I only have a MacBook and I’m feeling ignored.

If the Internet abacus company sees its readings suggest a significant conclusion, it releases the information in an interesting and digestible form.

For so many people in the advertising business and beyond, who have their prejudices too, it is the headline that matters. They present in headlines. They talk about themselves in headlines. They need news.

Being 21st Century humans whose budgets are shrinking, attention spans are short and careers even shorter, they sometimes eschew analysis for today’s news currency, the soundbite.

comScore has done a wonderful job.
Of marketing comScore results.

The book is at its strongest in describing just how deeply most human beings want to find information that most closely confirms their own prejudices. And how they shut out information that counters those prejudices.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s CEO, Randall Rothenberg, these companies are “still relying on panels, a media-measurement technique invented for the radio industry exactly seven decades ago, to quantify the Internet”.

Which leads me to the headline of this post.

(Credit:
misocrazy)

However, I understand that both comScore and its frats-in-stats at Nielsen Online are having their audits audited by the Interactive Advertising Bureau after mlb.com declared that Nielsen Online’s score for its site of 6 million was a “conScore.” The real figure, according to mlb.com, was actually 19 million. (the results of the audit’s audit are due at the end of this year.)

What prejudices do research companies have? Is it, perhaps, important for them to have their research come up with newsworthy results? Are their methodologies actually primed to achieve that?

As I was thinking about this, a book wafted beneath my nose that tended to crystallize some human instincts about facts, something that numbers purport to be.

Would they publicize these findings, as a declaration that they need to work harder, to find better methodologies in order to reveal more accurate truths? (Oh, there are so many inaccurate truths out there..)

Why would they allow for the perception that someone on a
Mac in Krakow, Poland, is nothing more than a hanging chad?

Wait a minute, they’re using panels? Does everyone know about this? Do the people who use their numbers know about this?

But there seems to be a big difference between 6 million and 19 million.

Mr. Manjoo performs an enjoyable analysis of some recent political controversies, such as the allegations that the elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen by devious and surprisingly organized Republicans. (His conclusions seem to suggest that Mr. Gore was hard done by, Mr. Kerry was not.)

It’s called “True Enough: Learning to Live in A Post-Fact Society” by Farhad Manjoo.

But what if the conclusion of the IAB audit is that the figures from companies such as these have been wildly inaccurate?

What would their PR people do with that?

I try to leave discussions of numbers to intelligent people.

commentary

This is my first trip overseas with my
iPhone, and it’s hard to express in polite language how disappointed I am with Apple’s international data roaming packages. I say “Apple’s” instead of “AT&T’s” because with my old Blackberry on AT&T I didn’t have the problem, so I’m laying the blame at Apple’s feet.

What’s the problem? The cost. With my old Blackberry, I paid an additional $9.95/month for unlimited data while roaming internationally. With my iPhone, I pay $24.99 per month for just 20MB. Scratch that: Last night I upgraded to the only other plan Apple/AT&T offer: $59.95 per month for 50MB of data (on top of the $40/month I already pay for domestic data).

Sound like a lot of MB? Nope. I hit nearly 10MB in just one day, and that’s with Saturday email traffic (not much) and very, very little web browsing. No pictures or attachments.

Apple fan that I am, I’m trying to think of a good reason why it should be so much more expensive to access email and browse the web internationally on my iPhone than it was with my Blackberry. (Same sites, same email volume.) It has put a huge crimp on how I use my iPhone. I’m actually frightened to use it at all, lest I go over the 50MB limit (when overage prices hit $5 to $20 per MB(!!!)).

I love my iPhone, Apple. I’d just like to be able to use it internationally. On the plans you currently offer through AT&T, I can’t.

P.S. Don’t tell me this is AT&T’s fault. Apple has had so much control over everything to do with the relationship that if international roaming is ridiculously pricey, it’s with Apple’s blessing or direction.

On Monday, JanRain, which makes the clever multi-service OpenID login box, OpenID Selector, is expected to announce a security improvement for its own MyOpenID service. The new system, CallVerifID, uses your mobile phone to perform an extra security measure before it will authenticate you on its service. It works like this: When you want to authenticate a site using MyOpenID, first you sign on as usual, with your user ID and password. Then the service calls your phone at the number you’ve given it. All you have to do is pick up the phone and press # to confirm. If you don’t, sign-on fails.

The addition of the phone as a new security factor means that even if someone steals your password, they won’t be able to get into your OpenID-protected accounts unless they also have access to your phone. Furthermore, if you get an authentication call from MyOpenID that you’re not expecting, it serves as an immediate warning that your password has been compromised.

Way better than carrying around an RSA token card: CallVerifID uses your phone as the second factor in two-factor security.

Of course, if you have turned on phone authentication and you forget your phone (or are in an area with no mobile service), and you want to get into a protected account, you’re up a creek. And you will definitely want to use your mobile with this service, since you can have only one number per account–it won’t call multiple numbers (like home and work).

The system doesn’t identify the site that kicked off the authentication request, which is also a bit of an oversight.

The CallVerifID service is optional. If you’re a MyOpenID user but don’t want this level of security, you don’t have to use it at all. However, I recommend it. One of the scary things about OpenID is that if someone gets access to your account through your password, they immediately get access not just to all the accounts that you access via OpenID, but a roadmap to each of them as well, via your OpenID authenticator site’s dashboard. This system, while incompletely implemented, gives OpenID a big security boost, at only a small penalty in convenience.

A few months back my roommate’s rare house plant was dying. In a last ditch effort to bring it back to life, he enlisted my help. We scoured various message boards and Q&A sites with little success to get help identifying the plant (he got it as a gift).

The plant ended up going to that big greenhouse in the sky. The experience made me realize there’s a pretty basic need for sites, such as PicAnswers, which lets anyone upload a picture and ask a question about it. Interestingly, the amount of high profile Q&A services that don’t let users do this is surprising. One of the few to allow it is the AOL-owned Yedda, while sites such as Yahoo Answers, Microsoft’s QnA Live, and Amazon.com’s Askville are limited to text.

This looks like a toy gun but it's actually cable tie gun, which was correctly ID'd by the Q&A community at PicAnswers.com

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

Like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk project, PicAnswers is driven by humans. People upload their photos, and other users chime in if they can answer the query. A lot of the questions posed on the site range from simple identification issues like “what the heck is this?” to advice about what to do about a problem posted in the picture.

Here are a couple of my favorites so far:

Toothpick or food skewer?

My chili is yellow

Is there any Chinese poison in this toy?

Despite its simplicity, PicAnswers is missing two very helpful components: a way to vote on other user’s answers to help filter down the best responses, and a karma system that makes it worthwhile to answer other people’s questions. As it stands, you’re left to sort through the answers yourself and answer out of the goodness of your heart. I’m hoping the site’s creators add these soon. In the meantime, it’s definitely worth bookmarking for the next time you unearth something that needs photo identification.

(Credit:
Digital Recordings)

If you occasionally experience “ringing in the ears” after exposure to loud sounds or concerts, you may be losing your hearing. To find out where you stand check out Digital Recordings’ hearing test CD. It can be used to set a baseline of your hearing, and if you’re geeky enough, retest yourself the day after attending a loud concert, working with power tools, or riding a snowmobile. A few hours or even a day later your hearing acuity will be significantly reduced. It’s kinda like a preview of what’s to come, if you don’t stop abusing your ears.

That short-term deafness is sometimes referred to as Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS). But repeated episodes of temporary hearing loss, with insufficient recovery times between exposures will eventually lead to permanent hearing loss. At that point there’s no need to keep reading the Audiophiliac blog.

Just kidding, but other than hearing aids there’s no “cure” for deafness. Blasting your ears with ear buds day after day may in the long term do your ears in. You’ve been warned. And that’s why using noise blocking or reducing headphones is so important–since they block outside noise you can listen at much lower volumes. Your ears will thank you. Check out my review of the Etymotic ER-6 noise blocking headphone here.

The ER-6 may save some part of your hearing

(Credit:
Etymotic)

The Digital Recordings’ Audio CD–Hearing Test is more comprehensive than the standard audiologist listening test that uses a fairly narrow range of test frequencies, from 125–8,000 Hertz. Properly used, the Audio CD test extends to the full range of frequencies humans can hear, 20– 20,000 Hz. All you need to perform the test is a CD player and a good set of headphones.

I’ve used the CD many times over the years and I remember my first impression was that it was easy to useand highly accurate. I say that because every time I repeated the test, the results were essentially the same. It’s a great tool and for us audiophiles it’s especially nice to know we’re not going deaf.

Legendary video game designer Will Wright’s new game Spore, which has been in the works for years, is almost out. But just how well will it fare in the wild? CNET News’ Daniel Terdiman explains.

If you build it, it appears they will come…eventually. That’s what CNET News’ Ina Fried wrote earlier today–and she examines why, only now, this technology is coming into its own.

If you’re a James Bond fan–and c’mon, who isn’t?–there are lots of high-tech toys you can buy. But how about one that also offers real-world applications: (And no, it won’t explode if it falls into the wrong hands.)

Listen now:

Download today’s podcast

Today’s stories:

Google’s translation center: humans helping the search machine?

Can ‘Spore’ meet its lofty expectations?

Corporate giants push into clean-tech venture investing

Bumpy start for China’s homegrown 3G

Sony Ericsson’s newest secret agent–the C902

The MSI Wind comes in white, black, and, pink.

(Credit:
Expansys)

MSI put out a vague news release today that details some, but not all, of the specifications of its upcoming and unfortunately named Wind mininotebook. At the top of the release, it states the 10-inch notebook will “feature the new Intel Processor,” but it fails to explain what that processor might be. An Intel Atom processor is a safe bet; the chips are expected to be released this summer.

The only mention of pricing in the release states that MSI Wind configurations will start at less than $500 in early June. The MSI Wind is available, however, for preorder at Expansys, which lists a $560 price for a Linux-based model and a $605 price for a Windows model (and a ship date of June 24–decidedly late June). Expansys lists the processor as a 1.6GHz Intel processor. I’d hazard a guess that the Wind will use the 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 chip. Available colors for the models on Expansys are white, black, and pink.

The MSI Wind news release does reveal that there will be two configurations, one based on Novell Linux and another based on Windows XP Home. Both models will feature a 10-inch, LED-backlit screen with a 1024×600-pixel resolution, the Intel 945GMS chipset, and an 80GB hard drive. Common features also include three USB ports, a card reader, an integrated Webcam, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.

The Linux version serves up 512MB of RAM and a three-cell battery, which MSI estimates will run for 2.5 hours. The Windows version doubles the memory to 1GB and the battery to a six-cell unit, which it equates to 5.5 hours of running time. The Windows version also adds Bluetooth. With its smaller battery, the Linux-based MSI Wind weighs 2.3 pounds to the Windows version’s 2.6-pound weight.

Asus offers the both versions of its Eee PC 900 at the same $549 price, but it supplies a larger hard drive in the Linux version–your bonus for skipping the fee for the Windows license. MSI is taking a different approach, outfitting the Windows version with better specifications and more features, which means the sub-$500 price it quotes will almost certainly apply to only the Linux model.

Perhaps the most interesting detail included in the release was how MSI arrived at the Wind moniker. Wind = Wi-Fi Network Device.

Twitter largely reminds me of when people started to register their own names for domains, turning the Internet into a giant customized license plate. It’s somewhere between self-expression and mental onanism.

I use it to track several news sites but following other “people” often makes me feel weird. Most of the content seems like therapy for those who don’t spend enough time with others. From a technology perspective, I find it really interesting and useful to an extent. But is this online stream of consciousness a marketing tool?

There are some great users like the guys from RedMonk (monkchips, cote, sogrady), who have gotten so used to Twittering everything that it’s like having them in the room. And their content is interesting and funny. It’s a great branding tool for them and theoretically should be for others as well.

Personally, I use Twitter (daveofdoom) to entertain my other idiot friends, and I forced our marketing team (mulejockey) to do it too as an experiment. It’s definitely not a replacement for a blog even if you can communicate anything with just 140 characters.

Over on Mashable, Andy Beal outlines “5 Twitter Tactics for Building a Stellar Brand”:

1. Start conversations with notable peers
2. Share valuable industry news
3. Build your blog audience
4. Stay connected at conferences and trade shows
5. Monitor your Twitter reputation

Conversation or crap? You decide.