Parallels Update Installs Unrelated Daemon Without Permission

Calibax writes “Parallels recently released version 9 of Parallels Desktop, their popular hypervisor application for Mac. They also released a new product named Parallels Access that offers access to Windows applications from an iPad for $80 per year. Access has received less than stellar reviews. When a user upgrades Parallels Desktop, he is asked if he wants a free six-month subscription to Parallels Access. Even if he says no, the product is installed on his system and the application is started each time the system is rebooted. It is installed with ancillary files scattered around several directories in the system and Parallels has not supplied an uninstaller or listed the steps to fully uninstall the application, despite a number of requests. In other words, Parallels has decided it’s a good idea to silently install a difficult to remove daemon application on the system, even if the user has explicitly stated they do not want it. They have not provided an uninstaller or a list of files installed or instructions on how to remove the application files. These are scattered to at least four Mac OS X OS system level directories.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Parallels Update Installs Unrelated Daemon Without Permission

Drug Enforcement Agency Seizes First Bitcoins From Silk Road Dealer

The Drug Enforcement Agency has seized 11.02 Bitcoins —about $800—from a drug dealer in South Carolina who had been using Silk Road. It’s the first (known) time the government has taken control of the virtual currency like it were property or real-world cash. Read more…        

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Drug Enforcement Agency Seizes First Bitcoins From Silk Road Dealer

Ex-Valve Engineers’ Crazy AR Glasses Put Tiny Projectors On Your Face

Want some more tech to put on your face? Neither full-on goggles like the Oculus Rift nor slender no-AR-yet specs like Google’s Glass , CastAR takes a whole different approach to modified-reality tech by slapping tiny projectors on your face, and The Verge got to take a peek . Read more…        

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Ex-Valve Engineers’ Crazy AR Glasses Put Tiny Projectors On Your Face

GE Is Freeing Up ‘Thousands’ Patents to Fuel Your Imagination

Today, at an event in New York, GE announced that it will open up “thousands” of patents from its library of some 20,000 to inventors using Quirky’s crowdsourced product development platform. That means that if you’re bright enough, you can use a GE patent to invent something. GE will still collect royalties on your brain power, but they promise not to sue you. More »        

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GE Is Freeing Up ‘Thousands’ Patents to Fuel Your Imagination

Peterbilt’s New “Super Truck” Gets 10 MPG—Double the National Big Rig Average

More than two million semis travel some 120,000 miles apiece along America’s arterial highways every year at an average efficiency of just 6 MPG. Six. Miles per gallon of diesel—not even Hummers are that wasteful. However, a new “Super Truck” design by Peterbilt has shown it can go the same distance for half the gas. More »

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Peterbilt’s New “Super Truck” Gets 10 MPG—Double the National Big Rig Average

Roku 3 Review: The New Best Streaming Box

How many Roku models are there? Like, twelve? But it doesn’t matter: the newest one is here, and thankfully (predictably?) it’s the best one yet. So good that you’ll stop using other crap you own. So good you’ll use your cable box less. That good. More »

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Roku 3 Review: The New Best Streaming Box

Virtual Router Plus Turns Your Windows 8 PC Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Windows: If you need to share your computer’s internet connection with the wi-fi only devices in your house—say, if you don’t have a wi-fi router—Virtual Router Plus will turn your computer into a wi-fi hotspot. More »

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Virtual Router Plus Turns Your Windows 8 PC Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot