Newmark's Door

"How to Get Rid of a Virus (Even When Your Computer Won’t Boot)"

I'm saving this for reference. 

"How to Make Your Own Security Toolkit"

"If you're the designated tech expert in your family or circle of friends, anybody who suffers a virus attack will come to you for help. Helping needn't be a chore, as long as you put the right collection of tools on a USB drive and keep it on your keychain."

"The Best 3D Printers On The Planet"

I'll wait for prices to come down, but if you're an early adopter . . . 

"Are Apple and Google in Race for North Carolina's 'Black Gold'?"

Manure. Pig manure, that is. 

HP's acquisition of Autonomy has now set a record for financial stupidity

Joe Nocera, James B. Stewart (thanks, Michael!) New York Times;

The dubious title of worst corporate deal ever had seemed to be held in perpetuity by AOL’s acquisition of Time Warner in 2000, a deal that came to define the folly of the Internet bubble. It destroyed shareholder value, ended careers and nearly capsized the surviving AOL Time Warner.

The deal was considered so bad, and such an object lesson for a generation of deal makers and corporate executives, that it seemed likely never to be repeated, rivaled or surpassed.

Until now.

"The Windows 8 Sales Data Is In, And It's Bad News For Microsoft"

Unsurprising. (There were many warnings.)

See also Philip Greenspun, "Christmas gift for someone you hate: Windows 8".

Two on why online retail is beating the brains out of brick-and-mortar

"This is the Modem World: Fear and loathing in the local bike shop".

"Why Amazon Beats Wal-Mart: A tale from Black Friday".

"Fly Through Space with 100,000 Stars"

New from Google.

This is a lovely browser-based app that plots the nearest 100,000 stars to the Sun in 3-D space. You can zoom in and out, fly around, and get more info on specific stars by clicking their names as they pop up. You can even zoom way out to see where our solar neighborhood is with respect to the rest of the Milky Way galaxy (though that part is not using actual data for visualization).

"Revealed: The Grubby World of Comment Spam"

I've had to deal with this a little and it's annoying. 

"10 Startups That Will Change Your Future Life"

Electric Imp, YourMechanic, Amiigo, and Space Monkey all sound promising.