I must admit, I'm a fan of the Windows Metro interface, albeit not the way it's tacked onto Windows 8. That might predispose me to like Genie Timeline Backup 2012 Free, which has embraced the Metro look and feel big time. However, I'm actually predisposed toward the program because when I previously reviewed the pay version, Genie Timeline, I found it to be solid, effective, efficient, and easy to use.

Windows 8, Windows Metro, Windows Phone 7--if you like those interfaces, you'll like Genie Timeline Backup 2012 Free's GUI.The free version of Genie Timeline Backup has all those attributes--though being free it is somewhat limited compared to the $40 Home and $60 Professional versions. You can't change the scheduling or set email notifications. There's also no disaster recovery, and the program is limited to a single backup job. Nor can you set a limit on revisions, or cull them, so a backup could eventually grow very large.

What you can do with Genie Timeline Backup 2012 Free is select any files or folders you want backed up using Computer tab. Or you can rely on the program's wisdom and use the numerous filters under the Smart Selection tab (the default view) that automatically select files for you. The list of smart selections includes email, the Desktop, the My Documents folder, office (not just Microsoft) files, financial files (Quicken, etc.), iTunes music, Blackberry files, pictures, video, music, bookmarks, ebooks and pdfs, and even compressed and ISO files. Genie Timeline recognizes the extensions of the files, but won't let you define your own selection filters.

I do have one nit with Genie, in that the company occasionally uses the phrase "real time" in its advertising. Timeline Backup 2012 does not do real-time backup, which is monitoring and saving files immediately as they change. NTI Shadow does that. Genie Timeline merely backs up changes at predefined intervals: every eight hours with the free version, as little as every 30 minutes with Home, and every 3 minutes with Pro. You can call this CDP (Continuous Data Protection), but not real time.

As a simple file backup program to augment Window's own disaster recovery, Genie Timeline Backup 2012 Free is just what the doctor ordered. It doesn't even bug you with ads outside of the upgrade button in the main Window. Give it a whirl.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

--Jon L. Jacobi

Worlds Daily

In an e-mail Sunday, Twitter is alerting its members to changes to its policies on privacy and service usage, including support for Do Not Track, as well as informing them about a new weekly digest of interesting news and items from their feeds.

"New things are always happening here at Twitter HQ," the e-mail says. "We're growing at a rapid pace, and our commitment to simplicity, transparency, and reaching every person on the planet continues."

In the service's privacy policy, it's offering more detail -- in plain English -- about what information it collects.  Not only does it collect information when you register with Twitter, but also profile information you post to your account.

"Our Services are primarily designed to help you share information with the world," Twitter explains. "Most of the information you provide us is information you are asking us to make public. This includes not only the messages you Tweet and the metadata provided with Tweets, such as when you Tweeted, but also the lists you create, the people you follow, the Tweets you mark as favorites or Retweet, and many other bits of information that result from your use of the Services."

Twitter also collects "log" information about you when you use the service or its widgets. That includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring web page, pages visited, location, your mobile carrier, device and application IDs, search terms, and cookie information.

Log information is purged after 18 months of collection, Twitter says; and after a maximum of ten days, Twitter will start to delete or aggregate your widget data, a process that's usually instantaneous, but can take up to a week.

The service also noted that it is supporting the Do Not Track (DNT) function found in a number of web browsers. Browsers supporting DNT include Firefox 5.0+, Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0+, Apple Safari 5.1+, and Chrome 17.0+ with a third-party extension.

When DNT is activated, Twitter will stop tailoring your account based on the places you visit on the Web that have Twitter buttons on them. What's more, tailoring will be shut off by default if you have DNL activated when you join the service or if it was activated before the tailoring feature was launched. You can also shut off tailoring manually through your account settings.

Twitter clarifies its explanation of how it shares data. For instance, it will share data you give it permission to share, or when the data is not private or personal.

It will also share data to protect the safety of a person, to counter fraud and protect system security, and to comply with requests from law enforcement and regulators.

However, that doesn't mean the service will roll over for the law whenever it comes knocking at the door, as is being illustrated in a recent case involving a protester in New York City. In that case, Twitter is refusing to turn over to prosecutors the tweets of Malcom Harris, who was among a group of demonstrators arrested in October 2011 for marching on the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge. Twitter has been ordered by a court to turn over the tweets, but it's appealing that decision.

Twitter's weekly digests

Twitter also notes in its letter to members that it will be rolling out over the next few weeks a feature that sends weekly digests of tweets from your Twitter feed that the service thinks you may have missed and will be interesting to you. Also in the digests will be the "most engaging tweets" seen by the people you follow.

The digests will be interactive. You'll be able to click a headline in the digest to go to its source online, for example, as well as view the details of an item, retweet or "favorite" it, or view the conversation it's in.

Given how overwhelming Twitter feeds can become, the digests, if the algorithm that creates them truly identifies worthwhile content, could be a welcome addition for many Twitter users.

Follow freelance technology writer John P. Mello Jr. and Today@PCWorld on Twitter.

Worlds Daily

LOS ANGELES — Pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke connected for his first major league homer, a go-ahead, three-run shot in the seventh inning against his father’s former team, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.

Kyle Lohse allowed three runs and 11 hits over 5 2-3 innings with four strikeouts and left with a 5-3 lead. But rookie Elian Herrera started the Dodgers’ winning rally with a one-out single against Victor Marte, and Bobby Abreu greeted Mark Rzepczynski (0-2) with a single.

Van Slyke, whose father is former All-Star Andy Van Slyke, swung at a 3-0 pitch and drove it into the left field bullpen after Andre Ethier struck out.

Javy Guerra (2-3) got the win, which completed a three-game sweep for the Dodgers and improved the best record in the majors to 28-13. Los Angeles is 15 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2009 season and leads San Francisco by seven games in the NL West, the Dodgers’ biggest margin of the season.

Kenley Jansen retired the side in order in the ninth for his fifth save.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley gave up five runs — three earned — and eight hits in six innings and struck out seven — including World Series MVP David Freese all three times he faced him. The right-hander is 0-3 over his last seven starts with a 5.20 ERA.

The Cardinals placed first baseman Lance Berkman on the 15-day disabled list before the game because of an injured right knee, and purchased the contract of Triple-A first baseman Matt Adams. The rookie smoked the first pitch he saw in the big leagues to center for a single in the second inning for the first of his two hits and started an inning-ending double play in the first after fielding Adam Kennedy’s grounder in the hole.

The Cardinals turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Daniel Descalso led off with a single and Rafael Furcal reached on an error by Billingsley, who went to cover first base on Furcal’s grounder in the hole and took the throw from James Loney with his foot off the bag on a bang-bang play.

Skip Schumaker followed with a two-run triple into the right field corner, then scored the go-ahead run when Carlos Beltran beat the relay to first from shortstop Justin Sellers on a potential inning-ending double-play grounder to short after a walk to Matt Holliday.

The Cardinals should have had runners at the corners with no outs in the sixth, but third base umpire Alfonso Marquez called Yadier Molina out on a single by Adams that center fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. chased down. TV replays confirmed that Kennedy’s diving tag was late, but Furcal came through with a two-run bloop single that made it 5-2.

Ethier opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single, his NL-leading 37th RBI. Abreu led off the fourth with a single and scored the Dodgers’ second run on Loney’s double-play grounder with the bases loaded.

Notes: Dodgers team doctor Neal ElAttrache told Dodgers manager Don Mattingly that 2B Mark Ellis, who underwent emergency surgery Saturday to drain blood and fluid and relieve pressure in his injured left leg, could have lost his leg had he been brought to the hospital six or seven hours later than he was. Mattingly, who visited Ellis along with bench coach Trey Hillman after Saturday night’s game, lauded the team’s training and medical staff for their efforts. Ellis was injured Friday night when Tyler Greene upended him with a hard takeout slide as he attempted to turn a double play. ... Van Slyke was born in July 1986 during his dad’s fourth and final season with the Cardinals. Andy hit 164 home runs in 1,658 big league games. ... Ethier didn’t get his 37th RBI last season until his 270th at-bat, 121 more than it took him this year to reach that total. ... Freese struck out all four times up and is 3 for 29 over his last nine games — lowering his average from .309 to .259. ... Loney’s RBI single in the sixth was the 2,000th regular-season hit Lohse allowed in his 12-year career.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Worlds Daily

China-based Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and U.S.-based Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) confirmed Sunday night they have reached a definitive agreement with multiple stages that will allow the two online media giants to eventually go their own ways.

The first stage will have Alibaba pay an estimated $7.1 billion in cash and preferred stock to Yahoo.

Because Yahoo currently owns about 40 percent of Alibaba, this first stage centers on Alibaba's repurchase of as much as one-half of Yahoo's stake, according to the U.S. company's announcement of the deal, which has been the subject of a significant amount of speculation.

The purchase price will be based on a valuation of Alibaba to be determined through equity financings that the company intends to use to fund the transaction, subject to a floor valuation of about $35 billion.

Assuming the minimum purchase price and the initial repurchase of the full 20 percent stake, Alibaba would pay Yahoo about $7.1 billion, composed of at least $6.3 billion in cash and as much as $800 million in newly issued Alibaba preferred stock.

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The agreement also creates a framework for Yahoo to monetize the rest of its interest in Alibaba in second and third stages, as follows:

-- When Alibaba conducts its anticipated initial public offering, the company will be required either to repurchase one-quarter of Yahoo's current stake at the IPO price or to allow it to sell those shares in the IPO.

-- After such an IPO, Alibaba will cooperate with Yahoo as it disposes of the balance of its shares, at times of its choosing, following a customary lock-up period.

"Today's agreement provides clarity for our shareholders on a substantial component of Yahoo's value and reaffirms the significance of our relationship with Alibaba," Ross Levinsohn, Interim CEO of Yahoo, said in a statement.

In the same statement, Jack Ma, chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, said, "The transaction will establish a balanced ownership structure that enables Alibaba to take our business to the next level as a public company in the future."

Yahoo intends to return substantially all of the aftertax cash proceeds under the first stage of this deal to shareholders following the closing of the transaction. The company's board accordingly boosted Yahoo's share-buyback authorization by $5 billion concurrently with this transaction.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

UBS Investment Bank acted as lead financial adviser to Yahoo, while Allen & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. also served as financial advisers. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as lead legal counsel to Yahoo, while Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP also acted as legal counsel. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP acted as legal counsel to the Yahoo board of directors.

Credit Suisse acted as lead financial adviser to Alibaba. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as lead legal counsel to Alibaba. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP acted as counsel to Alibaba on certain financing and Hong Kong legal matters, while Fenwick & West LLP acted as counsel to Alibaba on intellectual-property matters.

With its headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo will host a conference call to discuss the Alibaba agreement on Monday at 5:45 a.m. PDT (8:45 a.m. EDT). The company will host a live webcast of the conference call, together with a supplemental presentation concerning the transaction, on its investor-relations website.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: To contact the editor, e-mail:

Worlds Daily

Commentary

Cardinals' veteran outfielder showing that when he's healthy, he can be great

Originally Published: May 20, 2012

By Tim Kurkjian | ESPN The Magazine

That guy you see gliding through the outfield, and tearing holes in the sky from both sides of the plate, and going first to third with such grace, is a familiar face. He no longer has the word "overpaid'' preceding his name, or the letters DL following his name. He is Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran, and although he never really left, he is definitely back.

If it weren't for Matt Kemp, Beltran, 35, would be the most valuable player in the National League six weeks into the season. If it weren't for the remarkable Josh Hamilton, May would have been all about Beltran. Not only has he replaced the 2011 production of Albert Pujols in the Cardinals' lineup, he has greatly exceeded it while helping take St. Louis to the front of the National League Central, all while dazzling his new teammates.

[+] Enlarge

David Welker/Getty ImagesCarlos Beltran, 35, is in the first season of a two-year, $26 million contract with the Cardinals.

"When I ran out on the field with him the first time in spring training,'' said Cardinals third baseman David Freese, "I knew he was the most complete player I'd ever played with.''

Beltran is leading the NL in home runs with 13; he's tied for second in RBIs (32) and he's also second in slugging (.634). In one game, he hit two homers, a double and a triple, which was never done by the great Stan Musial (who had 103 extra-base hits in 1948), and had been done by only one other Cardinals player -- Johnny Mize -- in their rich history. In one week, Beltran hit two homers in a game batting left-handed, and hit two homers in a game batting right-handed, which had never been done in a three-day span in major league history.

We have seen this act before. In the 2004 postseason while with Houston, Beltran suddenly became Mickey Mantle, hitting eight home runs, playing center field with an elegance and skill rarely seen, and running the bases with the greatest of ease. It was that postseason that got Beltran a seven-year, $119 million contract from the Mets, a deal which brought highlight moments but only one playoff appearance and multiple trips to the disabled list.

"I was sitting on the other bench in 2006, and he was the best player I have ever seen,'' said Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker. "Now that he's on our team, I realize how smooth he is at everything he does: defense, running the bases, hitting. It is so effortless. It is so fun to watch. He is the complete opposite of me, where everything is so forced. He is so impressive. You don't know how good he is until you see him every day. And it's everything he does, even the way he catches a fly ball. It's like Andruw Jones and Ken Griffey Jr. in their prime, it's just so effortless. You never, ever see him look bad.''

The snapshot of Beltran in New York is the called third strike he took on a curveball from Adam Wainwright to end Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series. Now he is Wainwright's teammate. "Really good? He's really, really good,'' said Wainwright. "He is so smooth. The way he goes after a fly ball, and catches it down by his waist, with his glove almost closed, you don't even think there's enough room in there for the ball to go in. He makes it look ridiculously easy. His swing is the same way. He has hit a lot of bullets right at people this year. He's hitting .300, but if feels like he's hitting .600 because every time we need a hit at a big time, he gets one [Beltran is 6-for-11 with 13 RBIs with two outs and runners in scoring position]. He is a freak.''

Cardinals first baseman Lance Berkman, who was a teammate of Beltran in Houston, seemed mildly amused by the discussion of Beltran's hot start. "He's just a really good player, and always has been,'' Berkman said. "It's funny. An elite player has some things happen to him for three or four years, like injuries, then he becomes an elite player again, and people ask, 'What's going on here?' Just look at the back of his baseball card. He is as complete a player as I've ever played with. He does everything well, and he looks good doing it. When you look at what a player is supposed to do, he's about as good as it gets.''

When you look at what a player is supposed to do, he's about as good as it gets.

” -- Cardinals first baseman
Lance Berkman on Beltran

Indeed. With two more stolen bases, Beltran will join the 300-homer, 300-steal club, of which the members include Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Andre Dawson, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley. After receiving the NL Player of the Week award for the week ending May 13, Beltran was appreciative, but not overly impressed with the remarkable production he has had this season. "For me, it has always been a health issue,'' he said. "When you are healthy, you can do the things that you are used to doing. When I am healthy, I feel very comfortable when I am at the plate. It really helps hitting in this lineup, we can do damage 1-to-8 in the order. That's a great thing for a hitter when you don't feel like you have to have a great game for the team to win that game.''

The Cardinals have scored the most runs in the NL this year in part because Beltran's signing as a free agent has given the Cards one too many everyday players, meaning they have a really good hitter getting a rest every night, be it Beltran, Berkman, Matt Holliday or Allen Craig. Beltran's knee has been a little tight of late, so he's played sparingly in the last week. But if can stay healthy, there's no reason to think he won't remain highly productive.

Freese was asked recently how things were going with the Cardinals. "All is good," he said, smiling. "We have Carlos Beltran.''

• Senior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com
• Analyst/reporter ESPN television
• Has covered baseball since 1981

Worlds Daily

WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg hit his first major league home run and struck out eight in five innings to carry the Washington Nationals past the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 Sunday.

Strasburg sent an 0-2 pitch from Wei-Yin Chen into the Baltimore bullpen in the fourth inning to put the Nationals ahead 5-3. After dusting off his home run trot and returning to the dugout, Strasburg responded to a curtain call by waving to the crowd of 41,918.

The hard-throwing Strasburg singled and scored in the third inning, then followed a shot by Jesus Flores with one of his own in the fourth.

Known more for his pitching than his hitting, Strasburg (4-1) excelled at both. The right-hander allowed three runs, one earned, four hits and a walk in his first career appearance against Baltimore. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Since returning from elbow ligament replacement surgery last September, Strasburg is 5-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 14 starts.

Danny Espinosa also homered, and Bryce Harper drove in two runs and scored three to help the Nationals avert a three-game sweep by their regional rivals.

Chen (4-1) yielded six runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings for his first major league loss. The Taiwan native was vying to become the first Baltimore starter to begin his Orioles career with five straight wins since Jimmy Key in 1997.

DETROIT — Max Scherzer struck out 15 — the most by a Detroit pitcher in 40 years — and the Tigers rallied with three runs in the seventh inning to beat Pittsburgh.

Scherzer (3-3) threw 115 pitches in seven innings and was done for the day when the Tigers came back from a 2-1 deficit while he was still the pitcher of record. Alex Avila hit a two-run single through a drawn-in infield to put Detroit ahead.

Pittsburgh scored a run in the ninth off Joaquin Benoit, but he held on for his first save.

Kevin Correia (1-5) allowed three runs in six-plus innings.

Mickey Lolich had 15 Ks for the Tigers in 1972 and set the club record of 16 in 1969.

CLEVELAND — Josh Johnson twice worked out of jams to earn his second straight win and help Miami win an interleague series with Cleveland.

Johnson (2-3) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings as Miami took two of three from the Indians and improved to 14-5 in May, the best record in the majors this month.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Worlds Daily

One day after telling his friends via email that he planed to seek treatment, Nick Stahl entered rehab, his wife, Rose, confirms to E! News.

The actor, 32, was reported missing Monday. Rose had last seen her husband May 9, and she'd perviously filed court papers expressing concern about the actor's suspected drug use.

PHOTOS: Celebrity meltdowns

"He wants to be well," Rose tells E! News. "He's a good man and we want him home so we can help him."

PHOTOS: Star mugshots

Rose adds that her husband was "really working hard" at his sobriety at the time of his disappearance.

Stahl is best known for his role as John Connor in 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Worlds Daily

One day after telling his friends via email that he planed to seek treatment, Nick Stahl entered rehab, his wife, Rose, confirms to E! News.

The actor, 32, was reported missing Monday. Rose had last seen her husband May 9, and she'd perviously filed court papers expressing concern about the actor's suspected drug use.

PHOTOS: Celebrity meltdowns

"He wants to be well," Rose tells E! News. "He's a good man and we want him home so we can help him."

PHOTOS: Star mugshots

Rose adds that her husband was "really working hard" at his sobriety at the time of his disappearance.

Stahl is best known for his role as John Connor in 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Worlds Daily

Breaking news from Facebook land: According to the Facebook statuses of Mark Zuckerberg and (former) girlfriend Priscilla Chan, the couple officially wed today in a private ceremony behind Zuckerberg's Palo Alto, California home.

The ceremony was so small, so private, and so surprising, that the 100-or-so guests in attendance initially thought they were coming out for a graduation ceremony for Chan, who just graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, this past Monday – Zuckerberg's 28th birthday.

Some week for the new family, eh?

Zuckerberg and Chan had been dating for approximately nine years. They both met at Harvard at a fraternity party during Zuckerberg's sophomore year in 2003. In February of 2004, Zuckerberg launched Facebook as a Harvard-only web application before branching the service out to a small list of other schools, including Stanford, Yale, and Columbia.

According to reports, Zuckerberg designed Chan's ruby wedding ring himself. The ceremony was catered by a few of the couple's favorite area restaurants, with desserts coming from L.A. Burdick Chocolate – which the couple is reported to have enjoyed on their very first date together.

Chan wore a traditional, sleeveless white wedding dress – no designer has been disclosed – and Zuckerberg wore a dark blue suit (instead of an all-black hoodie).

Facebook officially went public this past Friday, hitting a trading volume of approximately 580 million shares and a final valuation of just around $104 billion. Zuckerberg's stake in the company is worth approximately $16.9 billion.

For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

Worlds Daily

Android smartphones rock, but whether you use Avast, Lookout, the new Sophos, or another freebie antivirus/security app, you better lock and load to protect your Android before you become a victim and a stat.

Android, once dubbed a "cyber menace," is too popular, too juicy and potentially too lucrative of a target for malware writers to ignore. In fact, a new F-Secure report suggests malware writers are getting craftier by creating Trojanized apps that can defeat antivirus detection. F-Secure released its latest mobile threat report [PDF] concerning the first quarter of 2012 and Android malware has grown exponentially. Since a year ago, the number of new malware variants have quadrupled and the number of malicious Android application package files (APKs) had a "staggering" increase of "139 to 3063 counts." (See also "Tips for a Malware-Free Android Smartphone."

According to F-Secure:

Today what we're seeing are malicious Android applications that have bundled legitimate apps such as Rovio's Angry Birds Space. First the malicious "wrapper" tricks and manipulates the user into granting permissions that allow the malware to subscribe to premium rate services. But then....then malware actually does install a working copy of the promised game. At this point, there is little to be suspicious of and nothing to troubleshoot. The user gets the game that he was promised.

Avast put together this comparison chart of free antivirus Android apps.

After identifying a fake antivirus scam making the rounds on Twitter, GFI blogged about the growing Android malware threat; if this rogue antivirus APK file is downloaded, it shows the Kaspersky logo. "Such Tweets are equally accessible to computer (desktop, laptop, and tablet) and smartphone users. There is no doubt, however, that smartphone users on Android**are particularly targeted by these spam."

A new NSA mobile risks fact sheet [PDF] said the newer generation of smartphones are more resistant to cyberattacks, but also listed the attack categories against mobile devices, including vectors, sophistication level of effort required to deliver the mobile cyberattack, and mitigation. 

Screenshot of the free Sophos security app

Meanwhile the Sophos Mobile Security team announced, "To help you better safeguard your Android phone and tablet, Sophos just published Sophos Mobile Security for Android [BETA] in Google Play."

The Privacy Advisor comes with three different filters which can be turned on individually or all turned at once to list apps "that may cause costs, harm your privacy, and access the Internet." The scanner protects against malicious apps "and other risks" and detects "even the recent fake antivirus nasty, which attempts to send expensive SMS messages to premium-rate services." F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen warned about this type of mobile malware two years ago in "You will be billed $90,000 for this call."

The loss and theft portion of the Sophos app requires Sophos Mobile Security to be activated as the device administrator to locate or lock a lost or stolen Android. When asked about permissions, Graham Cluley explained:

Some folks have asked why the app requests rights to send SMS messages and access your contacts. When you do a remote lock or locate, the app sends you an SMS with latitude/longitude or confirmation that the lock was successful. Access to contacts is required because the user specifies from which other phone numbers they might wish to remotely lock/locate their missing Android. You can choose those numbers from your contacts.

Do you use a freebie antivirus app to protect your Android smartphone or tablet?

Besides Sophos Mobile Security Beta, which currently has a 4.9 average rating from 18 users, of the freebies, Lookout Security & Antivirus has a 4.5 average rating and is installed on 303,730 Androids.

I liked Lookout but the privacy and safe browsing are not free.

avast! Mobile Security has a lot of free features that most security apps do not.

Google Play lists it as having an average rating of 4.7 from 47,590 Android users. The firewall only works for rooted mobile phones. It's like some kind of unpleasant mantra that mobile malware is on the rise and Android smartphones are dead-center in the crosshairs.

See also Antivirus and Security apps PCWorld's Downloads section.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2011 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.

Worlds Daily

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has had quite a week! Not only is he now worth a cool $19 billion after the Facebook IPO, but he also got hitched to long-time girlfriend, Dr. Priscilla Chan, in an intimate wedding on Saturday. Of course, the announcement became official when Zuckerberg changed his Facebook status to "married" and uploaded a wedding picture of the young couple.

Facebook became a public company on Friday in the second largest IPO in financial history, with shares selling at $38 each.

If that wasn't enough pressure for a week, Zuckerberg took the big plunge when he swapped out his signature hoodie and jeans for a dark blue suit and tie for his surprise nuptials with Priscilla Chan, his girlfriend of nine years. The couple met at Harvard, when Zuckerberg was still developing his infamous social network, and have been an item ever since.

Despite Zuckerberg's rockstar status with fans and users alike, the technology mogul has led a significantly low-key life. His weekend ceremony included approximately 100 guests, including family and friends, none of whom had any idea they were attending a wedding. They were invited under the pretense of a graduation party for Chan, who also had an eventful week after graduating from medical school. Once everyone had gathered, it was announced the couple was finally tying the knot.

According to reports, Zuckerberg designed a simple ruby ring for his lady love, who looked elegant and chic in a vintage-inspired lace gown. Guests dined on the couple's favorite foods, including mouse-shaped chocolates — a treat the couple shared on their first date.

Share your well-wishes for Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan in the comments!

Worlds Daily

If reports from Taiwan are to be believed, hardware manufacturers are struggling to create Windows 8 on ARM (Windows RT) devices that are competitively priced against Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The reason? According to Digitimes, OEMs have to pay Microsoft $90-100 for a Windows 8 license.

While that $90-100 figure sounds a little bit on the high side (Microsoft historically charges OEMs around $50 for desktop licenses and $30 for Windows Phone 7 licenses), it doesn’t really matter: Even at $10 or $20, Microsoft (and OEMs) would be hard pushed to compete with Amazon and Apple on price. Apple effectively gives iOS away (it’s a hardware company, after all), and Amazon gets Android for free. Microsoft has to charge for Windows 8 and Windows RT because it’s a software company; if it didn’t, it wouldn’t make any money, which shareholders might see as a bit of a problem.

The other important thing to bear in mind is that it’s virtually impossible for OEMs to create a tablet that’s comparable to the iPad, for the same price. Apple’s design, supply chain, and manufacturing dominance is so stellar that the iPad is actually one of the cheapest tablets to produce. Famously, the fat, plastic-body, WiFi-only HP TouchPad cost more to manufacture ($318) than the 3G iPad 2 ($310). Once you factor in the additional cost of a Windows license, there simply is no way for similarly-outfitted Windows tablets to compete on price. (As an aside, this is the same reason that OEM ultrabooks are struggling to match the MacBook Air’s specs.)

Where does this leave Windows 8/RT tablets, then? Well, for a start, Apple applies a huge markup to its tablets: The original $310-to-produce 16GB 3G iPad 2 sold for $629 (this is why Apple is the second most valuable company in the world). Windows OEMs can always undercut that price, but once they factor in license fees the profit margins will drop precipitously. It will also be interesting to see if Intel can price its SoC Atom parts (Medfield and Clover Trail) to compete with ARM. It is due to the double whammy of Intel and Windows “taxes” that Dell, HP, and other desktop PC makers only have a profit margin of around 5% (while Microsoft and Chipzilla laugh all the way to the bank with margins of 20-30%).

As long as someone is willing to take a hit to their profit margins, then, it should be possible for Windows ARM tablets to compete with the iPad and Kindle Fire. Of course, all of this speculation doesn’t take into account the fact that Windows RT could be more desirable than iOS; users might actually be willing to pay a premium for Windows tablets. For that to happen, we’d need hundreds of thousands of Windows RT apps, though, and so far it doesn’t look like that will happen. We should also remember that Apple could quite easily block the entrance of Windows RT by dropping the price of its iPads, and still remain healthily profitable.

Read about my $200 Windows 8 tablet — which seems more like a dream every day

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The Big 12 baseball tournament is set up as a hybrid between a bracket and pool play. There are two divisions set up with their own four-team bracket, and which ever team makes through from each side will play in the title game.

Here is the first round matchups and bracket:

Game 15/23 10:00 AMOklahoma State (#5)
Oklahoma (#4)

Game 25/23 1:30 PMKansas State (#8)
Baylor (#1)

Game 35/23 5:00 PMKansas (#7)
Texas A&M (#2)

Game 45/23 8:30 PMMissouri (#6)
Texas (#3)

Game 55/24 10:00 AMLoser, Game 1
Loser, Game 2

Game 65/24 1:30 PMLoser, Game 3
Loser, Game 4

Game 75/24 5:00 PMWinner, Game 1
Winner, Game 2

Game 85/24 8:30 PMWinner, Game 3
Winner, Game 4

Game 95/25 4:00 PMWinner, Game 5
Loser, Game 7

Game 105/25 8:00 PMWinner, Game 6
Loser, Game 8

Game 115/26 10:00 AMWinner, Game 7
Winner, Game 9

Game 125/26 1:30 PMWinner, Game 8
Winner, Game 10

Game 135/26 5:00 PMWinner, Game 7
Winner, Game 9

Game 145/26 8:30 PMWinner, Game 8
Winner, Game 10

Game 155/27 2:00 PMWinner, Bracket 1
Winner, Bracket 2

For more on the Big 12 baseball conference tournament make sure to check SB Nation Houston often for updates.

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There's something strange about the thought of Hollywood reconstructing Steve Jobs' early Los Altos, California home on a backlot somewhere in Southern California. Thankfully, for Apple purists, filming for one of the two Steve Jobs movies currently in production will make use of the real-world home where Jobs grew up and, more importantly, co-founded his company.

According to the latest release from Five Star Feature films, principal photography for jOBS will start in June and early scenes will be shot in the very Los Altos house and garage that played such an instrumental role in Jobs' early Silicon Valley life. The famous "Apple Garage" is the site where Jobs and Wozniak assembled a good chunk of the first 50-unit order for Apple-1 computers – a $50,000 order that set the stage for the eventual incorporation of Apple (in preparation of the launch of the Apple II system) in 1977.

The film has been in the works since August of 2011, the exact month of Jobs' resignation as Apple's longtime CEO. Ashton Kutcher's taking the helm as Jobs himself, and early shots of the star in Jobs' trademark blue jeans and black turtleneck ensemble have already hit the Web. Director Joshua Michael Stern – who has directed all of two releases prior to jumping on board the jOBS film – will present the "major moments" and "defining characters" that made up Jobs' life between 1971 and 2000.

"The film covers Jobs from his early years as an impressionable youth and wayward hippie, through his initial successes and infamous ousting, to his storybook return and ultimate triumphs as a man who set out to change the world and did just that," reads the release.

jOBS is expected to hit theaters later on this year. But it won't be the first and only Steve Jobs-related film to reach the silver screen. Sony just recently announced that the screenplay for its competing unnamed film based on Walter Isaacson's official biography, "Steve Jobs," is all in the hands of "The Social Network" writer Aaron Sorkin.

However, Sony has yet to fill the actual role of Steve Jobs for its big film. Early rumors have brought up either George Clooney or "Pirates of Silicon Valley" star Noah Wyle as possible contenders for the role.

For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

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Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has had quite a week! Not only is he now worth a cool $19 billion after the Facebook IPO, but he also got hitched to long-time girlfriend, Dr. Priscilla Chan, in an intimate wedding on Saturday. Of course, the announcement became official when Zuckerberg changed his Facebook status to "married" and uploaded a wedding picture of the young couple.

Facebook became a public company on Friday in the second largest IPO in financial history, with shares selling at $38 each.

If that wasn't enough pressure for a week, Zuckerberg took the big plunge when he swapped out his signature hoodie and jeans for a dark blue suit and tie for his surprise nuptials with Priscilla Chan, his girlfriend of nine years. The couple met at Harvard, when Zuckerberg was still developing his infamous social network, and have been an item ever since.

Despite Zuckerberg's rockstar status with fans and users alike, the technology mogul has led a significantly low-key life. His weekend ceremony included approximately 100 guests, including family and friends, none of whom had any idea they were attending a wedding. They were invited under the pretense of a graduation party for Chan, who also had an eventful week after graduating from medical school. Once everyone had gathered, it was announced the couple was finally tying the knot.

According to reports, Zuckerberg designed a simple ruby ring for his lady love, who looked elegant and chic in a vintage-inspired lace gown. Guests dined on the couple's favorite foods, including mouse-shaped chocolates — a treat the couple shared on their first date.

Share your well-wishes for Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan in the comments!

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A Babe Ruth New York Yankees jersey has set the new world record for sports memorabilia items, drawing $4.4 million at auction.

The road jersey worn by the Sultan of Swat during the 1920s sold for $4,415,658 during the auction held by SCP Auctions in California. The jersey features "New York" across the chest with the Bambino's name -- Ruth, G.H. -- written inside the collar.

The sale price surpasses the $4,338,500 raised by Soetheby's in 2010 for the original rules of basketball written by Dr. James Naismith, who invented the game in 1891. The winner of the Ruth auction has chosen to remain anonymous, according to the New York Daily News.

Ruth wore the jersey shortly after joining the Yankees from the Boston Red Sox. Only a handful of vintage sports memorabilia items have ever drawn more than $1 million at auction, including a Honus Wagner tobacco card that drew $2.8 million at an SCP auction in 2007.

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If you’re arrested around London anytime soon, watch out: the Metropolitan Police has distributed kiosks to 16 borough precincts that will allow them to extract data from your mobile device within minutes.

Officials hope this will enable them to respond quicker to situations like last July’s riots. Police suspected that Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Messenger was used as the communication medium of choice among riot ringleaders. While RIM did cooperate with authorities in allowing access to the network, that cooperation did little for those in the field attempting to quell the unrest and respond proactively to situations.

UK-based mobile forensics company Radio Tactics is supplying the system. Called ACESO (pictured below), the device works much like the units used in retail outlets to transfer data between your old and new mobile phone. ACESO downloads call logs, pictures and video, text messages and social networking data. This speeds up the analysis of mobile devices suspected to be involved in the commission of a crime, which previously had to be sent to a forensics lab.

Privacy advocates are sure to be concerned with the use of such a system, and the potential for misuse. It is not clear when and how police officers would use these units. Are devices confiscated and searched before a person is arrested, or will police only use the device once the suspect is arrested and charged with a crime?

Another issue is data storage. The Metropolitan Police are mum on what happens to the data if charges are dismissed. We all expect these police officers to do the honorable thing and delete that data, but there’s quite a few of us out there who have a distrust of law enforcement, and believe that we’re being watched regardless. It seems necessary for the agency to come out and address these concerns.

It’s worth noting that the Metropolitan Police have already had some problems when it comes to the mishandling of property: last month a member of its staff was arrested for the theft of confiscated electronics, some of which included personal data. Officials say they have “rigorous” procedures in place to protect your privacy, though.

Regardless of the procedures in place, what we know so far does not address the obvious issues. A simple suspicion of a crime appears to be enough to trigger the usage of this system. Given the fact that there is often quite a bit of personal data that should be of no interest to police on these phones, privacy advocates are sure to find it intrusive.

There is also the potential for abuse here too. While we’d like to think our police officers are upstanding, some go a bit too far in their efforts to investigate a crime. What protections are our governments giving us to prevent overuse or misuse of this system? So far, there isn’t an answer to that question from what I can see.

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In an e-mail Sunday, Twitter is alerting its members to changes to its policies on privacy and service usage, including support for Do Not Track, as well as informing them about a new weekly digest of interesting news and items from their feeds.

"New things are always happening here at Twitter HQ," the e-mail says. "We're growing at a rapid pace, and our commitment to simplicity, transparency, and reaching every person on the planet continues."

In the service's privacy policy, it's offering more detail -- in plain English -- about what information it collects.  Not only does it collect information when you register with Twitter, but also profile information you post to your account.

"Our Services are primarily designed to help you share information with the world," Twitter explains. "Most of the information you provide us is information you are asking us to make public. This includes not only the messages you Tweet and the metadata provided with Tweets, such as when you Tweeted, but also the lists you create, the people you follow, the Tweets you mark as favorites or Retweet, and many other bits of information that result from your use of the Services."

Twitter also collects "log" information about you when you use the service or its widgets. That includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring web page, pages visited, location, your mobile carrier, device and application IDs, search terms, and cookie information.

Log information is purged after 18 months of collection, Twitter says; and after a maximum of ten days, Twitter will start to delete or aggregate your widget data, a process that's usually instantaneous, but can take up to a week.

The service also noted that it is supporting the Do Not Track (DNT) function found in a number of web browsers. Browsers supporting DNT include Firefox 5.0+, Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0+, Apple Safari 5.1+, and Chrome 17.0+ with a third-party extension.

When DNT is activated, Twitter will stop tailoring your account based on the places you visit on the Web that have Twitter buttons on them. What's more, tailoring will be shut off by default if you have DNL activated when you join the service or if it was activated before the tailoring feature was launched. You can also shut off tailoring manually through your account settings.

Twitter clarifies its explanation of how it shares data. For instance, it will share data you give it permission to share, or when the data is not private or personal.

It will also share data to protect the safety of a person, to counter fraud and protect system security, and to comply with requests from law enforcement and regulators.

However, that doesn't mean the service will roll over for the law whenever it comes knocking at the door, as is being illustrated in a recent case involving a protester in New York City. In that case, Twitter is refusing to turn over to prosecutors the tweets of Malcom Harris, who was among a group of demonstrators arrested in October 2011 for marching on the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge. Twitter has been ordered by a court to turn over the tweets, but it's appealing that decision.

Twitter's weekly digests

Twitter also notes in its letter to members that it will be rolling out over the next few weeks a feature that sends weekly digests of tweets from your Twitter feed that the service thinks you may have missed and will be interesting to you. Also in the digests will be the "most engaging tweets" seen by the people you follow.

The digests will be interactive. You'll be able to click a headline in the digest to go to its source online, for example, as well as view the details of an item, retweet or "favorite" it, or view the conversation it's in.

Given how overwhelming Twitter feeds can become, the digests, if the algorithm that creates them truly identifies worthwhile content, could be a welcome addition for many Twitter users.

Follow freelance technology writer John P. Mello Jr. and Today@PCWorld on Twitter.

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Once upon a time, it was considered insane to compete against eBay. If you sold custom-made goods like clothes or jewelry, you sold at flea markets on weekends, and eBay the rest of the time. The idea that anyone would shop anywhere else for your handmade merchandise was silly.

But anyone who’s shopped on eBay knows how tough it can be to find certain goods. A search for “vintage t-shirt” may turn up more than 300,000 results, very few of which are either vintage or t-shirts. As a merchant, sellers find themselves competing with a huge number of competitors, ranging from junk resellers to mass producers peddling knockoffs.

Sensing an opportunity, Etsy launched quietly in 2005 and has carved out its own little empire in the form of an alternative marketplace devoted to the sale of handmade (and vintage) items only. Without all the riff-raff, sellers have a better opportunity to stand out--and hopefully make more sales.

While it’sWith more than 300,000 t-shirts for sale, what are the chances an eBay customer will find the one you have for sale? quite large, Etsy’s 12.3 million listings are dwarfed by eBay’s 300 million. In the relatively small realm of homemade and vintage sales, however, Etsy has become a juggernaut in its own right--and is attracting competition of its own. For now, though, Etsy remains considerably larger than all its major competition combined.

We looked at five marketplaces--both big and small--for sellers of homemade, handcrafted, and vintage items. Here’s how they measure up, and which ones are where you might consider offering your personally carved tiki idols and handmade bridal veils to the masses. And don’t forget: No rules prevent you from cross-listing items on several sites--you don't have to choose just one.

Etsy

Etsy has the longest track record for selling handmade goods online.If you’re a crafter, Etsy should need no introduction. More than 875,000 merchants run shops on the site, with 12.3 million products available at any one time. Visit Etsy, and you’ll find getting around is pretty easy. A list of major categories (Candles, Quilts, Geekery) runs down the left rail, while a selection of hand-picked, curated items can be found in an ever-evolving grid on the home page. Listings are clean and easy to understand, and shipping costs are clear and visible. A variety of checkout systems are supported, including Etsy’s newest, homegrown payment processing option. And if you want to go mobile, Etsy has both an iPhone app and a Web-optimized version of the site ready.

Etsy has set the bar for what is and isn’t allowable for sale on most sites for handmade goods, and most of the sites we looked at follow Etsy’s lead pretty closely. Merchandise falls into three main categories: handmade items, vintage items, and crafting supplies that can be used to make items in the first category. While it’s not a major focus of the site, food sales are also allowed (consisting primarily of cookies).

Etsy is the only site in this roundup to charge listing fees, but at a flat 20 cents per item, they aren’t significant unless you’re selling very inexpensive merchandise. When the sale is complete, Etsy collects an additional 3.5 percent commission.

The bottom line: Etsy is clean and easy to use, and it’s obviously beloved by both shoppers and sellers. If you’re selling handmade merchandise, you almost certainly need to be on Etsy.

DaWanda

Although it's based in Germany, DaWanda has grown to be the second largest player in this market.DaWanda, based in Germany, is the second-largest marketplace in our comparison: It features 130,000 registered merchants, compared to Etsy’s 875,000. While there is certainly a critical mass of shoppers from all over the world here, you’ll note that all items are priced in euros, not dollars--even if both buyer and seller are in the United States. That may be a plus if you’re trying to build a European audience, but it will probably turn away domestic buyers concerned about getting hit with foreign currency charges on their credit card.

DaWanda has no listing fees--though the company says it will be adding them this year--but it does charge a 5 percent closing fee on sold items, which is considerably higher than the 3.5 percent you’ll pay at Etsy.

As Europe’s largest marketplace for handmade items, DaWanda is a growing company with an expert understanding of the complicated legal, taxation, and business considerations of the Euro region. That might not matter if you just want to sell baby bibs to Midwest moms; but if you’re a crafter with your eyes set on a bigger prize, it’s worth a look. After all, what business--large or small--doesn’t want to “go global” these days?

Bonanza

If your merchandise gravitates to the high end of the market, Bonanza might be a good showcase for it.Heavily focused on higher-end clothing and fashion, U.S.-based Bonanza has just 25,000 registered businesses. But its 4 million listed items put its total inventory at about a third the size of Etsy. Even though that means your store might have more trouble standing out, that’s good news for shoppers, as deep racks may keep customers browsing the site longer. Just as in the real world, no one wants to shop at a store where the merchandise looks thin and picked over.

Bonanza supports copious checkout options and has no listing fees, but it does charge a 3.5 percent closing fee. Another option unique to Bonanza is its Managed Merchant program, which the company describes as “a valet service for your booth.” Sign up for it, and Bonanza will do some of the heavy lifting of creating listings for you, adding metadata such as color, brand, and material information.

Next page: More on Bonanza, plus Zibbet, iCraft--and site stats and data.

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