A few months ago I started shopping around for a NAS that I knew would be reliable, but at the same time I wanted it to be affordable since it was just going to be used at home. The reason I wanted it was because I needed a central unit in my house that all my computers could use to back up to and for general file storage.

I've been playing around with one of the leaked Windows 8 builds (7955), which out-of-the-box doesn't feel all that different from Windows 7. You've likely seen some interesting stuff floating around the Internet about Windows 8 though, which is because most of the screenshots are from hidden features that people have managed to uncover.

These days computers are becoming more and more of a media hub for users to watch movies or television shows on. For awhile I've switched between a handful of media players including VLC, KMPlayer, and GOM. All of those are excellent in their own way, and now I think I'll also have to add SPlayer to the list.

Recently I started to look into ways to make my home a "smart home." I've been wanting to do it for awhile, but had never taken the time to research how easy or complex it was. For some odd reason I had it set in my mind that it would require a lot of additional wiring in my house to get it done, but boy was I wrong.

For many of us instant messengers have become an important part of our daily lives, and in some cases IM'ing has begun to replace email communication. That's why I'm always on the lookout for the best messenger application, and for awhile I gave that crown to Digsby...

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about.

It's not often that I write about iPhone apps, but there are a few reasons why I want to point out SimplyTweet [iTunes links: free or paid]. First, I have to say that it hasn't gotten nearly the amount of recognition that it deserves. It has one of the largest set of features out of any of the Twitter clients on the iPhone.

SiteAdvisor started out as a really good idea. Whenever you went to a site, the SiteAdvisor label would turn green (safe), yellow (shady) or red (dangerous) to indicate the safety of that site.

It's not often that I write about my personal experiences with customer service, but this is one that I thought was worth sharing. I've owned a MacBook Pro for about a year and a half now (it was my first Mac), and the computer has held up amazingly well.

It was a tough decision, but I decided to upgrade my iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS. I wasn't sure if the new features would be enough to justify the purchase, but I figured I should be able to sell my iPhone 3G on eBay and recoup a good chunk of the cost. So I pre-ordered the phone, and got it delivered to me last Friday morning.

When Opera introduced Speed Dial into their browser I didn't realize quite how big of a hit it would become. Now most browsers are shipping with some sort of iteration of this feature that is capable of showing thumbnail previews for the sites you frequently visit. It's basically a visual way to view your favorite sites.

Mozilla is working hard on Firefox 3.1 which is slated for release later this year, and with it will come several improvements. For starters it will include a Control+Tab replacement that makes switching between tabs a bit more fancy. It will also come packed with numerous improvements to the address bar to help please those of you who don't like how it currently handles itself.

Yesterday we announced the new Firefox extension that we launched called CyberSearch (our homepage for CyberSearch). It is based on the original version of AwesomeSearch (now called Searchery), and the reason I decided to create the extension was because I saw how it could make me more productive. Hopefully what I've come up with can be useful for you as well.

Many of you probably sit in front of a computer for much of the day, and type the same things over and over again. That's why the free PhraseExpress for Windows has quickly become one of our favorite apps.

It's been a year and a half since Mozilla shipped Firefox 3 Alpha 1, and what we saw initially wasn't very breathtaking. For this first milestone release Mozilla focused on backend improvements that would, in the long run, make the browser a better competitor in a world that is largely dominated by Internet Explorer.

I enjoy taking digital pictures, but the part that I don't like is copying them over to the computer. The file names are always such a mess, and are typically along the lines of DSC000022.JPG which doesn't help at all when trying to identify a photo. One of the first things that I do after transferring the photos over to the computer is rename them in bulk.

Firefox extensions are often lauded for the additional features and functionality that they bring to the browser. Some of them can save you crazy amounts of time, while others are more about beautifying Firefox.

There were some doubts about how real the Psystar Open Computers were, but reviews are starting to pour in from the gadget sites that have received the machines. That's definitely good news since it adds some reassurance to those who purchased the computer, but it looks like some quirks are already starting to come out of the wood work.

It seems as though Apple has been getting a lot of good publicity lately, and it's definitely got to be helping their sales. The latest example is a benchmark and usability test done by the reputable Popular Mechanics lab.

We've been receiving quite a few requests from our readers wanting to know what we think about Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, and whether it is worth the upgrade. I downloaded and installed it shortly after it was released yesterday, and the total installation time on my Vista machine took around 4 or 5 minutes. There were absolutely no problems upgrading to IE 8 from IE 7.