Just a few days ago, Walgreens announced they would sell genetic-testing kits that can tell people whether they’re likely to get breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, become obese or suffer from a range of other maladies. The FDA spoke up against this idea, along with a host of other people and organizations. Tests such as these are not necessarily 100% accurate. FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley issued a statement saying that “The claims have limitations based on existing science, and consumers should not be making important medical and lifestyle decisions based on these tests without first consulting a health-care professional.”

Today, the popular chain store agreed with the FDA and reversed their decision to sell the kits. Dr. Stephen St. Jeor is a professor of microbiology and immunology who has weighed in on this issue, and helped to change the company’s mind. He says there are genetic markers for many diseases. However, most people would need a professional to interpret the results from tests such as the one Walgreens had planned to sell. Dr. St. Jeor worries that results could scare you into thinking you’re headed towards a bout with a deadly disease, when the information might not even be 100 percent accurate.

What are your thoughts? Would you trust a home DNA kit to give you accurate results that you could easily understand – and use to help you make informed decisions about your health and lifestyle?

• Steam is giving your Portal at no cost on both the Mac and Windows platforms until May 24th.
• Do you want privacy on Facebook? Then you should likely be quiet.
• What can we blame the rise in food allergies on?
• Mobile phones are becoming even larger targets for hackers.
• HTC is counter-suing Apple claiming patent violations.
• Would you return an iPad after buying it?
• Could Diaspora be a Facebook replacement?
• Do you feel that Internet Explorer is improving?
• Will Steam be the app store for Mac?
• In the war of cell phone plan carriers, who will win?
• What is the easiest way to create a website?
• When does social networking become antisocial networking?
• More than a year later, one blogger is still receiving negative comments about Kodak printers.
• KeyScrambler is Scrambulous!
• How do you get rid of a line in a Word document that refuses to delete?

You don’t need a test kit to help determine what the best software is for your machine.

Walgreens Reverses DNA Test Kit Decision

If you’re a music fanatic, I bet you’ve griped many times about the lack of space for tunes on your Apple device. With the release of the new version of iTunes today, those rants will hopefully be relegated to the past. Apple has added a feature to reduce the size of the music files on your iPod or iPhone by converting the bit rate to 128 kbps. Most of you will never notice a difference in the quality of what you’re hearing when playing back your selections.

Install the update and begin your sync. Make sure to check “Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC” when you plug in your device. The sync will take longer than usual, because the application will need to convert all of the media to the new specification. You will be rewarded for the wait, though. Your iPhone or iPod will now be able to hold up to twice as many individual tracks as before.

This feature has been available on the iPod Shuffle for a while now, and many of us are happy to see that it has been extended to other popular Apple gadgets. Keep in mind that your original files in iTunes will not change. They will still have the same high quality as they had prior to the changes on the device.

What tech developments have come to your attention today? If you have anything to pass on that we may have missed on this blog, feel free to drop us a line.

• Google is making Chrome flashy.
• Why are debit cards a nightmare?
• How do YOU deal with popups?
• Should you upgrade to Internet Explorer 8?
• Will Apple pass Microsoft in valuation?
• What things should you not do if you care about your privacy?
• What happens when your Search function becomes disabled in Windows?
• Morgan Stanley predicts that iPad sales will reach 6 million before the end of the year.
• What would a new Mac Mini mean to you?
• Do you use a Microsoft keyboard?
• Is Microsoft being obtuse?
• Would you prefer to run Ubuntu or Windows 7 on a netbook?
• How can you view your Revision History in Microsoft Word 2007?
• How do you get organized in the Google era?
• Hey Linux fans… what happens when your S.M.A.R.T. disk suddenly acts dumb?
• What is said in YouTube comments DOES matter, and can even send you to jail.
• Will the iPhone trump the Android on Verizon?

Ramp up your computer with the latest software found on the Web.

How to Add More Music to Your iPod or iPhone

Chris | Live Tech Support | Video Help | Add to iTunes

http://live.pirillo.com/ – A word processing application allows you to write some text and save it. A question came in about compatibilities between different version of Microsoft Word, and other word processing programs in general.

Word to your mother! Excel to your father. Powerpoint for your sister! And uhm, Access to your brother? Yeah, anyway…

My first word processing ‘appliction’ was an electric typewriter. Yes, I remember those days well. Slow to start, slow to respond. Kind of gave a whole new meaning to the term “rough draft”. Do teachers still use that in school? No matter. On with the answer!

It’s actually easy to make old Microsoft Word documents compatible with the new version of Word 2007. The problem is in going in the opposite direction. It’s not always so simple to save a document in Word 2007 and then open it in an older version. There are many new features in Word 2007, and several plug-ins you can obtain to make the cross-compatibility easier on yourself. But to save a document in Word 2007 and then open it in another program altogether? Not so easy.

My recommendation is to save your documents in the .rtf (Rich Text Format) format. If you’re not doing much other than simple text, maybe some bold or underlining… this is the way to go. Saving a document this way assures you that you will be able open it using other programs, or older/newer versions of Microsoft Word easily. Of course, if you have a lot of formatting or design in your document, this option won’t work. Another good reason to save your documents in .rtf format is that they are much less likely to be hit by a virus.

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Word Document Compatibility

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Someone asked Chris what a DOCX file was. Well, here is the answer.

If you have a DOCX file you need converted (or almost any other file, for that matter), why not try Zamzar?

Zamzar is dedicated to helping you transform your songs, videos, images and documents into different formats. Our mission is: “To provide high quality file conversion for as many file formats as possible” We are intent on bringing order to your filesystem by offering you a one stop solution for all your file conversion needs. Like others we were fed up with having files in all sorts of formats, and no easy way of converting between them – the quest to find a better way led to the birth of Zamzar.

What is a DOCX file?