Hamburg  - Generic USB sticks are often not worth buying mainly because they often take so long to record data, the German computer magazine Computer Bild reported recently.

A test of 43 USB memory sticks with eight to 16 gigabytes (GB) of storage space, showed that the five generic sticks, all purchased online, were significantly lacking in speed and had no particular price benefits.

Hamburg  - Firefox is eroding Internet Explorer's reign as the most popular internet browser. An online study conducted by marketing research firm Fittkau & Maass showed that 38.4 per cent of German-speaking internet users browse either with Firefox version 3. x or 2. x.

The Internet Explorer 7. x version accounted for 37.2 per cent of the same group, while the previous version, 6. x, had 16 per cent.

Hamburg  - If you're one of those people who can never find anything good on the radio, it might be time to check out web-based radio and expand your music collection free of charge.

There are thousands of internet radio stations out there. Many of them focus on niches such as jazz from the 1920s or Puerto Rican salsa.

Streamripper, Screamer Radio, clipinc, Phonostar Player and Nexus Radio are all programmes to help listeners sort through the stations. Some allow listeners to legally transfer individual songs to their permanent collections.

Hamburg  - DSL connections are often slower than the speeds claimed by the DSL providers. That's why Hamburg-based Computer Bild magazine recommends that customers test the speed of their internet connection.

A cost-free test can be run using the tool provided on http://dsl-speedtest.computerbild.de. Make sure you turn off all programs including virus scanners before running the measurement. The test should also be repeated at various times of the day to provide a meaningful, average value.

Hamburg  - Card games have tended to translate badly into computer games in the past. Nonetheless, a new game called Battleforge, which is due out in March, will try to meld real-time strategy games with virtual playing cards.

Battleforge is just one of many new games hitting shelves this month. It stands out, though, in the way it tries to break away from classic gaming setups.

Hamburg