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

Beginning today, Steam for the Mac became available from the folks at Valve. This is a move that has been long-awaited by thousands of people, and one that is much welcomed by all of the Mac gamers in our community. The first collection of titles released all demonstrate “Steam Play.” This lets users buy a game once and then play it on any Steam-supported platform.

Every Wednesday, new titles will be available. All of them will be designed to highlight specific functionalities of Steam for your Mac. Portal will be the first of Valve’s Source engine-based games released (and is apparently FREE for a limited time!), along with Torchlight. According to gamers who were a part of the beta-testing group, the games play much as they did on Windows machines. If you love the game on your PC, you’ll love it on your Mac as well. The best news of all is, again, the Steam Play feature. If you’ve already bought these two games for your Windows system, you already own it to play on your OS X machine.

According to the folks at Valve: “In addition to bringing the online functionality of Steam to the Mac, Valve will also make the Steamworks suite of dev tools available on the Mac platform. These include product key authentication, copy protection, auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, and more. The features and services available in Steamworks are offered free of charge and may be used for both electronic and tangible versions of games.” This is excellent news for developers and those of you who like to understand how things work under the surface.

Since I’m not a hard-core gamer, I don’t know yet if I’ll try out any of the Steam offerings on my Mac Pro. You just never know, though. You may one day see me enjoying a game of Torchlight.

Steam Launches for Mac

Steam for Mac went into Beta today. The program appears to be similar to the Windows version. It retains the same dark color scheme of Valve. You can access all of your games in the Library, and browse the Store.

In early March the company said Portal 2 will be Valve’s first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows when it ships during the holidays this year. According to Portal 2 Project Lead Josh Weier: “We’re always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac.”

I know that many of you in our community are avid gamers, and a large majority of you have lamented over the fact that Steam wasn’t available for the Mac. Are you looking forward to this release?

Better yet, are any of you in the private beta testing group? If so, we’d love to hear your thoughts so far on the new client.

Steam for Mac has Finally Hit Beta

Yahoo! has posted its list of the hottest desktop and laptop computers of 2010. Reading through the list, I had to shake my head in complete amazement. I agree with much of it, But a few of these items seem to have come from out of left field! I can’t help but wonder who in the heck made this list up, exactly, and what their computer qualifications are!

Check out the list for yourself, and leave me a comment with YOUR list of hottest computers for this year. Which brands have hit the nail right on the head, and which ones are falling a tad short?

What interesting things have you come across in your travels around the Internet today? Have you checked out what others in our community are up to?

• One man committed a heinous crime in a movie theater, and then finished watching the movie with his family!
• If your GPS unit is stolen, a thief can track you back to your home.
• Why won’t the stupid task scheduler just WORK?
• Is having a valid license really necessary to fly a plane?
• Sorry to say… but desktops are here to stay!
• Acceleration incidents are cited on repaired Toyotas.
• WeatherBug is rolling out several bug fixes – and program enhancements! – during March.
• Keep your information private!
• Does your education suck?
• Happy World Book Day!
• Avoiding dairy products due to lactose intolerance is usually not necessary.
• Are your social messages giving too much away?
• Wanted: an air traffic controller who is at least five years old!
• When will operating system “wars” end?
• Twitter is using trickery to make sure your account is searchable by phone number.
• What are your thoughts on Microsoft Office 2010?
• Valve is teasing a Steam client – and games – for the Mac!
• What does it cost to heat your home?
• Are there any decent Web site building sites out there?
• How do you deal with being the only computer geek in your entire family?

Don’t forget to stop by our software center to see what great new freeware and shareware apps we have for you today!

What are the Best Computers of 2010?

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You all know I’m a casual gamer. I’m so casual, I’ve never even played Desktop Tower Defense, even though many of you have. If you like that kind of game, you’ll like Defense Grid. It was just released today on Steam and Direct2Drive. You see, I know all about this game, because I have an inside track. The CEO of Hidden Path Entertainment (the game company that created this game) just happens to be my next-door neighbor, Jeff. I’ve never played any type of Tower Defense game at all, even though it’s apparently its own genre! There’s like 80 or so of these around now. So today, we have the newest addition to the crew, Defense Grid. It’s a strategy game, mixed in with a puzzle game, as well.

Defense Grid: The Awakening is a strategy game where players place defense fortifications (towers) to stop invading aliens from stealing power cores from their bases. It is up to the player to select the towers, placement, and timing to best protect the base. This mix of strategy and puzzle gameplay is very fun and engaging.

Defense Grid promises to combine clever mechanics and great visuals with a ton of replay value, at a bargin bin price. If you’re a fan of tower defense games, strategy games, or just hate aliens, make sure you grab this game as soon as possible.

I’m not sure how well I did at playing the game, but I had a lot of fun. I am already sucked into Defense Grid. I’m sure I’ll see you on the leaderboard.

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Desktop Tower Defense with Defense Grid