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Is this the face of the iPhone 4G?

2010-02-27T00:57:00.000-08:00

Is this the face of the iPhone 4G?

from Engadget by Paul Miller

There's very little to go on at this point, just a series of photos posted to a forum by a device repair company, but if their suspicions are correct, this could be the front panel of the presumably upcoming "iPhone 4G." iResQ claims to have obtained the sample part from a "reputable source" that has provided genuine parts to it in the past, parts which iResQ uses for repairing products -- even if those products don't exist yet. Interestingly, the LCD is factory glued to the digitizer on this 4G wannabe (like on the original iPhone), as opposed to them being separate elements on the 3G and 3GS, meaning higher replacement costs. But most notable about this face part is the fact that it's roughly 1/4-inch taller than previous generations. Your guess is as good as ours as to why it's taller, since the screens themselves seems very similarly sized. We're also incredibly curious as to whether this here face would line up with that supposed 4G midboard we saw a little while ago. So, elaborate scam by iResQ to get its name up in lights? Prank played by a fun-loving parts supplier? Earth shattering iPhone form factor change unearthed? And just what is that "reflective surface" supposed to be for? Beats us. The flip side of the screen can be seen after the break.

CubeMe for Google Chrome lets you pretend you're browsing on an iPad!

2010-02-20T01:04:00.000-08:00

CubeMe for Google Chrome lets you pretend you're browsing on an iPad!

from Download Squad by Lee Mathews

There's a very good chance that Chrome OS tablets -- unlike the iPad -- will support Adobe Flash. Google is, after all, one of Adobe's partners in the Open Screen Project.

Suppose, however, you share the Jobsian distaste for Flash and the CPU abuse perpetrated by carelessly crafted .SWFs. What if you actually want those little blue Legos all over your browser? The answer is simple: there's an extension for that!

Just install CubeMe, and your Google Chrome will take on a mobile Safari approach to Flash, displaying the mystery block wherever an embed would normally appear. Don't go expecting configurable blocking like with Flashblock -- you'll get blue Legos, and you'll bloody well like it!

On a practical note, CubeMe will speed load times on certain sites -- though it does make goofing off on ArmorGames a whole lot more complicated..

Worst airline ad ever

2010-02-17T01:08:00.001-08:00

Worst airline ad ever

from haha.nu by hahanu

Google Buzz copied FriendFeed’s worst features, why?

2010-02-17T00:34:00.000-08:00

Google Buzz copied FriendFeed’s worst features, why?

from Scobleizer by Robert Scoble

OK, now I’ve had a bit of time to play with Google Buzz and everywhere I look I see a badly-executed copy of FriendFeed.

With two important exceptions:

1. Google Buzz actually has a lot of users and much better information flowing through its veins. There’s a reason that FriendFeed doesn’t have many users: it has some very anti-user features that retard user adoption (back when I was excited about FriendFeed I kept hoping that FriendFeed was going to fix some of their issues).
2. It has pretty nice location features built in, especially if you use Google Maps on Android.

But, they made some horrid mistakes. Let’s detail them:

1. They are infatuated with real time flow (items flow down my screen) but unlike FriendFeed they didn’t give you an option to turn that off. For users who are following a lot of people, like me, that makes Google Buzz unusable.
2. They love comments, but that leads to the chat room problem I talked about earlier. But Google Buzz actually made comments worse than FriendFeed did. They didn’t give us moderation capabilities. They don’t let you block people right from comments like FriendFeed did.
3. Unlike FriendFeed they don’t let you group your friends into lists. This makes using it with more than small groups very frustrating and pushes me back to Twitter where list support is an important part of my experience now.
4. They didn’t give us any filtering capabilities. FriendFeed got very close to having good filtering with its real time search engine that let you do things like “show me all items with the word ‘Obama’ but only show me items that have four likes or more.” That was very powerful, Google hasn’t even tried yet to do real time search or filtering like this.
5. Adding friends is frustrating, especially for someone who is getting added by hundreds of people a day. Google could really have innovated here, but they didn’t add anything Twitter or FriendFeed doesn’t have.
6. On Google Buzz, as with FriendFeed, A-list users get too much engagement and attention and that keeps putting their posts at the top of the feed. Google copied FriendFeed’s worst feature, that where items that get engagement keep popping to the top. I desperately want a strict reverse-chronological feed so I can just see items once, and not 300 times as they get engaged with.
7. They copied FriendFeed’s like feature, but didn’t do the most important thing: let me see all the likes by a single person. Over on FriendFeed I can see what Mike Arrington has liked, or commented on. I can’t do that in Google Buzz.
8. I turned off bringing Tweets and FriendFeed items into Google Buzz. Why? Because unlike on FriendFeed my readers can’t turn off just my Tweets. That makes Google Buzz very noisy.
9. They copied FriendFeed’s second worst feature: that comments bring people into my view that I don’t know, don’t care about, and Google Buzz gave me even fewer ways to control or moderate that. I wish there were a way to hide all comments until I want to see comments, for instance.
10. They also copied FriendFeed’s lack of curation features. For instance, Google Buzz has no way to bundle their items together into a single URL.
11. They copied the worst part of FriendFeed’s UI: the boring look but didn’t copy FriendFeed’s best part of the UI, the clean and simple feed. I keep getting boxes and other crap in my feed which reduces the number of items on my screen.
12. They copied the photo feature from FriendFeed, but, like FriendFeed, didn’t give me any control over size of images or anything else, either.

As I type this I’m at 37,000 feet and watching CNN. On CNN they showed off that Google Buzz is hard to use. Well, duh. They copied FriendFeed’s worst features and didn’t innovate.

And I won’t even get into all the privacy issues others had with earlier versions of Google Buzz.

So, Google, why did you copy FriendFeed’s worst features? Is there any way we can work together to find a better system? I really find Twitter and Facebook lacking too, and keep hoping someone brings out a dramatically better system but haven’t seen it yet.

The world needs a curation system, for instance. But until you stop copying other systems’ worst features I don’t feel you’ll even understand what users want.

FCC Wants 100Mbps Broadband in 100 Million Homes [Broadband]

2010-02-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

FCC Wants 100Mbps Broadband in 100 Million Homes [Broadband]

from Gizmodo by Brian Barrett

Almost a year after the FCC first announced their National Broadband Plan, some new details have started to emerge. Specifically: A "100 Squared" plan to give 100 million households 100Mbps broadband. Just for starters.

Of course, there's only so much of that process that's actually in the FCC's control, which is why the agency's chairman gave Google a shout out in his presentation for their plan to deploy 1Gbps fiber internet to 500,000 lucky souls. But there are some steps the FCC can and will take to encourage broader, faster broadband adoption:

· A recommendation for improving the highly successful E-Rate program — which made Internet connections in America's classrooms and libraries a reality — so that kids and teachers can have a 21st century educational experience that is the envy of the world.
· A recommendation to modernize the FCC's rural telemedicine program to connect thousands of additional clinics and break down bureaucratic barriers to a telehealth future.
· A recommendation to take the steps necessary to deploy broadband to accelerate a smart grid.
· A recommendation to develop public/private partnerships to increase Internet adoption, and ensure that all children can use the Internet proficiently and safely — with programs like NCTA's new A+ program playing a helpful role.
· A recommendation to free up a significant amount of spectrum in the years ahead for ample licensed and unlicensed use.
· A recommendation for lowering the cost of broadband build-out — wired and wireless — through the smart use of government rights of way and conduits.
· A recommendation for creating an interoperable public safety network to replace the currently broken system.

If that seems general and vague and imprecise, well, that's because it is. Getting US broadband up to speed is going to be a huge undertaking, and it's not going to happen any time soon. But just seeing the intent there is an incredibly important first step. Now it's a matter of implementation. [FCC via Electronista]

Which is the Best Linux Distribution for your Desktop?

2010-02-16T00:33:00.000-08:00

Which is the Best Linux Distribution for your Desktop?

from Digital Inspiration Technology Blog by Amit

Linux today comes in several different flavors or distros as they are known in Linux circles.

Some Linux distributions are light-weight (they’ll run just fine on your old laptop), some are targeted at people who just want to try out Linux without replacing their main OS while other desktop distros (say Ubuntu) include a more comprehensive collection of software applications and also support a wide variety of hardware devices.

Choose the Right Linux Distro for your Desktop

Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Xandros, Knoppix, Fedora, openSUSE etc. are just some of the popular Linux distros but you’ll be surprised to know that there exists over 650 active distros in the world according to DistroWatch, a site that tracks the popularity of various Linux distributions.

Determining the perfect Linux distribution that will meet your requirements can therefore be a difficult task so here’s a handy guide that lists different scenarios and the Linux distros that will be the most appropriate for each of them.

1. For people who just want to try Linux out

Live CD distributions like Knoppix boot directly from the CD-ROM so you can try out Linux without you having to install anything on your computer. The user can run many different software applications and he may also save documents / files created during a Live CD session to persistent storage like a hard disk or a flash drive.

A Linux Live CD can also be used in situations when your windows has crashed and you want to save your existing data on another media before reinstalling windows. The only problem is that such distributions tend to run slower than fully installed Linux distributions.

If you aren’t too happy with the speed of a Live CD, you can use a Wubi to install the Ubuntu Linux distro on your Windows desktop. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu on your computer just like any Windows application. As compared to other Linux distributions, Ubuntu has got a fixed release cycle and support period and a wealth of both official and user contributed online documentation.

There’s another interesting option as well – you may install Linux in a virtual environment and run it alongside other Windows /Mac applications. Virtualization software like Virtual PC (Microsoft), Virtual Box (Sun) or VMare can be easily used for this purpose. Just download the Linux ISO (or use the Linux installer CD if you have one) and follow the wizard to set up your new Linux virtual machine.

2. For people who are new to Linux

Among the GNU/Linux desktop distributions, Linux Mint provides an ease of use and elegance not seen in other distributions. Linux Mint is is based on Ubuntu (which itself is based on Debian) so users have a large collection of software programs and packages to choose from. If something works for Ubuntu or Debian, it’ll probably work on Linux Mint as well.

Linux Mint CD comes with a utility called mint4win that will let you install Linux on your Windows computer on other partition without touching any of your existing setup. The performance won’t be that great but you can easily uninstall Linux from your Windows PC using the Add/Remove applications tool within Windows.

Ubuntu (Desktop edition) is also a great choice for Linux users who are beginners. It supports a wide-variety of hardware devices, has a standard release cycle (every six months) and, if you don’t have a great Internet connection, you can ask Ubuntu to ship you installation DVDs for free anywhere in the world.

OpenSUSE (Novell) and Fedora (Red Hat) are other popular Linux distros for the desktop that are both free and user-friendly.

Among the commercial distros, Xandros Home Edition is perhaps the most useful Linux desktop operating system for newbies. Xandros includes CodeWeavers CrossOver so you can easily run Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop and many other Windows applications inside Xandros.

3. For installing Linux on old computers

Puppy Linux is a Live CD distribution that has a small installer and will run just fine on computers with RAM as little as 64 MB. Puppy Linux can boot from several media including USB flash drives, CD or a zip drive. Puppy Linux will run totally in RAM so make sure you save the modified personal files to a disk else you’ll lose the changes when the system shuts down.

Xubuntu, a variant of Ubuntu is also a possibility. Xubuntu uses xfce, a desktop environment that uses less system resources than GNOME that comes with the Ubuntu distribution. Xubuntu versions are released twice a year, coinciding with Ubuntu releases.

antiX is another good choice for old computers – it should run on systems that were considered slow when Windows 98 was released (like the Pentium II series). Damn Small Linux and Zenwalk are other variations that have minimal hardware requirements.

4. For using Linux at work

Redhat Enterprise Linux and and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (formerly known as Novell Linux Desktop) are the front runners in the business category of Linux distros. Traditionally though, Redhat has concentrated more on the server market than the desktop market. Xandros Desktop is another choice except that Xandros is a small company and most business organizations would prefer to deal with large stable vendors.

Red Hat Enterprise Server, SUSE Enterprise and Ubuntu Server are possible contenders for deploying Linux on server machines. Some factors that go in favor of Red Hat are extensive security updates schedule (7 years), large number of new packages included in the distro and a strong training and certification program which is very useful for organizations that do not have in house skills.

5. Linux for Netbook computers

Netbooks are like your regular notebook computers but with small screens, they consume less power but also have less powerful hardware. Linux distros that are suitable for running on netbooks include Ubuntu Netbook, Moblin and Jolicloud.

Ubuntu Netbook requires an Intel Atom processor. If you already have a Ubuntu installer, you can install the desktop version of Ubuntu on your netbook, change the default repository to point to Ubuntu Network Editor repository and then install the relevant packages.

Jolicloud is suitable for running on low-powered computers that don’t have enough memory or storage space. The interface of Jolicloud is gorgeous and different from all other Linux distros. It is based on Ubuntu so any app that works with Ubuntu will run on Jolicloud as well. You may install Jolicloud alongside your Windows OS or download the ISO to install Jolicloud on a separate partition.

Moblin, another Linux distro from netbooks, was initially a project of Intel but is now part of the Linux Foundation. You can run Mobile from a live USB image or you install the OS on to the netbook. Going forward, Moblin and Maemo* will merge into MeeGo and will be available for download in Q2 ‘10.

[*] Maemo is Debian Linux based software platform from Nokia.

6. For power users who want control

Arch Linux is a recommended distro for power (experienced) users as it allows them to create a customized Linux installation built from the ground up. It does not have a graphical install interface.

Once the Arch Linux installation is done, there is no post-install account creation or login manager screen. Instead, there is a screen full of configuration files that have to be tweaked to suit the network and system configuration. This allows the user to tailor the system from the ground up as compared to a ‘user-friendly’ distro where one would get a standard set of packages and will have to remove the ones that are not needed.

Slackware is another distro that deserves mention in this context. As compared to Arch Linux, Slackware Linux provides more stable packages and is thus more conservative. However, Arch Linux provides a more usable package management system that takes care of dependencies.

Slackware third party packagers on the other hand, have to ensure that everything is included in the package or available for download from the same web page. It is the oldest surviving Linux distribution. Since Slackware philosophy is to use vanilla packages, it tends to run faster than other distros.

References and Resources:

List of Linux distributions – We only touch a dozen Linux distros but this Wikipedia article will provide you detailed information (including screenshot images) of all popular Linux distributions.
Netbook Distros – Detailed comparison of netbook oriented Linux distributions.
Linux Distribution Chooser – This is a web based wizard that will help you find the right Linux distribution for your needs.
Comparison of Linux distributions – You can compare the various Linux distros from a technical point of view like what processors they support, what is the base distribution, etc.
Linux Releases – This page tracks the upcoming releases of various Linux distros.
Linux Gaming – If you use Linux for playing games, this article has a list of popular video games that are currently available for Linux.

Which is the Best Linux Distribution for your Desktop?

Originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal.

Iron Man 2 And Star Wars Rule Hasbro's Toy Fair Gala [Toy Fair]

2010-01-17T00:53:00.000-08:00

Iron Man 2 And Star Wars Rule Hasbro's Toy Fair Gala [Toy Fair]

from io9 by Cyriaque Lamar

io9 was at Hasbro's Toy Fair showroom yesterday, getting an exclusive first look at the toymaker's upcoming Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Marvel, and Transformers lines. And no, the life-size Bumblebee in the lobby sadly won't be hitting shelves anytime soon.

What's big for Hasbro? A whole slew of Iron Man 2 toys, a new Vintage line of Star Wars figures to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, a remodeled Cobra H.I.S.S. tank, and the release of the Transformers: War For Cybertron video game. io9 was on the scene yesterday, checking out all this resplendence in plastic.

The crown jewel of the Iron Man 2 line is the remote-controlled Iron Man armor. It can walk, talk, shoot repulsors, charm the pants off of models, and scare the bejeezus out of your cat.

Tony Starch, the Invincible Iron Mash.

Armani suit + one of these detachable suction-powered arc reactors = easiest Tony Stark Halloween costume ever.

No Iron Man toy line would be complete without a helmet. This one flips open.

Mickey Rourke as Whiplash.

Iron Man Operation (liver transplant not included).

The Iron Man repulsor.

A 19" light-up, talking Galactus, for all your planet-consuming needs.

An RC flying Millennium Falcon. Again, another toy that will put your cat into conniptions.

I'm not going to lie - this Firefighter Droid action figure was my favorite toy of the show.

Team-up your Cloud Car Driver with C-3PO for an adventure of mildly thrilling proportions.

General Grievous' rotating lightsaber.

Mandalorians are so in this season.

I take it back, the Star Tours action figure set might have been my fave of the day.

The giant AT-AT walker for the ESB 30th anniversary.

The RC Hailfire droid.

The electronic Boba Fett helmet.

Bounty hunter Dengar and a very dapper Han Solo. Note the Vintage Boba Fett mailaway.

The remodeled Cobra H.I.S.S. tank.

Snake Eyes and his dog Timber.

Attendees saw gameplay from the upcoming Transformers: War for Cybertron video games.

Use Better Tools to Be a Better Student in 2010

2010-01-17T00:12:00.000-08:00

Use Better Tools to Be a Better Student in 2010

from Lifehacker: Top by Jason Fitzpatrick

Despite the proliferation of laptops and netbooks, the vast majority of students still use their computers like $500 typewriters. Stop working so hard and be a better student by leveraging some clever computer tools to your advantage.

Photo by Brad K..

Every semester I get a new wave of college freshman into my classroom, most of them armed with laptops. For the last several semesters, I have been informally tracking how they use their computers. I always assumed that my students were using their computers to their full potential to help them with school, research, and such, but almost all of them were simply using their laptops as extremely expensive typewriters and instant-messaging terminals.

What good is all the computing power of the pre-1960s world sitting on your lap if you're not using it to make college life easier? The following is a guide for students everywhere that want to spend less time on the tedious stuff, and more time on the things like study and research that actually produce results.

Never Do Anything Yourself That Your Computer Can Do For You

Never, ever, do something the hard way without checking to see if any easy way exists. Applications come in every shape and form to automate tasks on the computer. Never undertake a tedious task on your computer without first visiting a search engine and searching for a method of automating it. Whether you're resizing photos for a class project, renaming files, or crunching numbers in a spreadsheet, check for the simple—and automatic!—way first. Photo by striatic.

File Renamers: Renaming tons of files has to be one of the most boring and grinding tasks you can undertake. Never waste time renaming files. If you're on a PC, check out the powerful Bulk Rename Utility for a dashboard of options and the less-overwhelming but still effective Ken Rename. If you're on a Mac, you can download specialty apps like File List, but it pays to become acquainted with Automator, which can do so much more than simple file renaming.

Text Replacement: Unless you're writing the next great American novel, chances are you type a fair number of things with a high degree of frequency. Your email address, common phrases you use, formatting you find yourself typing over and over again when working on papers or taking notes, and so on, it might not seem like much but you can easily save hours over the course of a semester by using text replacement. How does text replacement work? Each text replacement tool handles things a little bit differently, but nearly all of them have two basic methods: instant replacement and hot keys.

With replacement, you tell your computer to replace every instance of a string with another string—like notes1 becomes your favorite bullet-list format for taking notes, or mymail becomes your full email address.

Hot keys allow you to assign a phrase to a bit of shorthand plus a hotkey. For example, I have a phrase that is XXX+TAB. Typing it takes only four key strokes but it types out a phrase that would require 53 keystrokes if I typed it manually.

If you're on a PC, you can try out our home-grown text replacement tool Texter, or other capable tools like Phrase Express. Mac users should check out TextExpander or become more familiar with the built in text-replacement tools in Snow Leopard, and Linux users can give AutoKey a whirl.

Regardless of what you're trying to do, you'll almost always be able to find a tool online to automate or at least make that task easier. Get in the habit of always asking yourself, no matter what the task, "Could the computer do this faster and with less input from me?". Over time you'll build up a set of tools for quickly completing common tasks.

Keyboard shortcuts

Learn the keyboard shortcuts for everything: your word processor, your note-taking tools, your email client. Slinging the mouse around for tasks that can be accomplished with a keystroke or two is a really inefficient way to work, and far less comfortable. If you're furiously taking down notes in class do you really want to break your stride to dig around in the toolbar or menus for something like a bullet point activation? You can find shortcut lists for every operating system and application under the sun; hit up Google with a search query like "myapplication shortcut list" to find more shortcuts than you knew existed. Photo by John A. Ward.

Take Better Notes

Note taking is an art form, and it is most definitely not simply writing down everything your professor says or that is in bold print in your textbook. How you take notes is a highly personal thing and heavily influenced by your learning style, but everyone can stand to improve their note taking with a tip or two. Photo by D'Arcy Norman.

Study Note-Taking Techniques: We've shared tips with you on how to take more effective notes and how to utilize different note-taking styles and you'll find no shortage of resources elsewhere on the web for being a more effective note-taker. You can further hone your note-taking skills by researching subject-specific note taking techniques—how you take notes in Medieval Literature won't be the same way you take notes in Organic Chemistry.

Ditch the Pen:

People who love to take handwritten notes love to take handwritten notes, and we don't expect to dissuade the everything-looks-better-on-a-Moleskin crowd from abandoning their pens. For the rest of you, taking paper notes is, quite literally, so last century. It's 2010, and there is no reason for you not to have dynamic, media-rich, cross-indexed, and always available notes. At the end of the semester, do you really want to pick through a hundred pages of hand written notes looking for specific bits of information? No, you don't. You want to be able to search through your notes quickly and efficiently the same way you use major search engines like Google.

Two extremely popular note-taking tools are Microsoft OneNote and Evernote—so popular, in fact, we faced them off in a reader poll last year. The awesome features of the two applications are beyond the scope of a paragraph, but suffice to say they both have excellent systems for searching (with handwriting recognition!), organizing, and accessing your notes—I use OneNote for everything from graduate school to teaching to writing for Lifehacker. You can check out our overview of OneNote here and Evernote here.

Use the Computer to Network

We're not talking about Facebook-ing everyone in your class. We're talking about actively using online study and collaboration tools to interact with your classmates. Sharing notes, discussing assignments and class topics, and collaborating on group projects are but a few of the ways you can take advantage of the hyper-connectivity the information age has brought about. Photo by krossbow.

Share Your Notes:The first objection I usually hear to the idea of sharing notes is that people don't want to share their hard work and they don't think that other people should benefit from it. Fair enough, how you deal with who participates in your class-centered groups and note sharing sessions is your business but as an instructor I can tell you this: the kind of person who doesn't bother to take their own notes isn't exactly the kind of person you're going to have to fight for the top grade in the class.

You can share notes and collaborate in quite a few ways but it would help your cause to stick with methods that have a low barrier to entry—most people don't want to sign up for a bunch of services just for a class. Google Notebook and Documents are great tools since having a Gmail account is nearly universal. You could also set up your own wiki with free tools like Luminotes or customize MediaWiki into your own personal collaboration server.

Build a Contact Web: Whether it's a group on Facebook, an email list, or a list of phone numbers for text messaging, it's wise to create a way you can quickly communicate with other students. Many times you have a question about an assignment, something that happened in class, or what you missed when you were absent and sending out an email to your fellow students will result in a faster response than waiting to hear back from the professor. It also helps you build a contact list of your peers—not as important in a freshman Psychology 110 course, but by the time you're in at the end of your schooling you'll be taking more focused classes and meeting people in your career path you'll want to stay in contact with.

Backup, Backup, Backup

You have no excuse for not backing up your data—none. The number and methods for backing up data, especially the small volume that constitutes text-based research and class notes, are so numerous that there simply is no excuse for doing something foolish like keeping all your hard work on a single hard disk or flash drive. Photo by Jeff Wilcox.

Dropbox: It's free, the basic account can more than hold a semester's worth of work—short of a film school project—and it syncs to all your computers and to the web. "I accidentally deleted my homework" wasn't a very good excuse ten years ago and it's an unforgivable one now. You can sync your passwords, your OneNote notebooks, and access your favorite portable apps from anywhere.

Online Backup: While Dropbox is great for syncing files, if you want to go all out you'll definitely want to check out some full-fledged computer backup tools like Mozy and Carbonite. Check out our Hive Five on best Windows backup tools to get more information.

6 Reasons Why You Should Be Your Own Boss

2010-01-16T00:13:00.000-08:00

6 Reasons Why You Should Be Your Own Boss

from PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement by Mark Foo

If you’ve decided that you’d like to be your own boss, it doesn’t have to remain a dream forever. In fact, with some proper planning on your part, you can become your own boss in no time.

If you want to be your own boss you need to start your own business. Being self-employed will more than likely seem overwhelming in the beginning, but in the end many people feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs. So start brainstorming some business opportunities!

Here are some reasons why you should be your own boss:

1. You’re in Charge of Your Income. This can be seen as a pro or a con at first, but eventually the sky will be the limit as you develop your business. In the beginning, seeking self-employment might not make you as much as you used to, and you also may have to worry about issues like individual insurance coverage. The huge advantage is the fact that you keep every dime that you make and your salary is not capped by your employer.

2. You Have Creative Control. You get to make all of your decisions, no one else is telling you what to do. This is huge because many people run into boredom issues at their jobs. If you can choose the business you want, you can also pick and choose the types of jobs you accept. You do what you want, when you want.

3. You’re Responsible for Your Success. If you’re self-employed you can truly make a difference when you start your own business. This is because the success of the business lies on your shoulders. When you work for a large corporation, it’s easy to mix in with the rest of the employees and feel like it doesn’t even matter whether or not you show up to work. While you’ll still have to work hard when you’re self-employed, you really matter because you are your business.

4. You Set Your Own Hours. Setting your own hours is a huge advantage. You know yourself best and you’ll be able to build a schedule that’s most efficient for you. If you want to work really hard one day, and take a half day the next day, that’s perfectly fine when you’re self-employed. You can work all night and sleep all day if that’s your personal preference!

5. You’ll Be Challenged. Most people will find that they not only reach a salary cap when they work for someone else, but they also reach a point where they’re no longer challenged. When you embark on this new journey for yourself, it’ll be a risk and it’ll be a challenge. Also, as you keep gaining experience and income, you’ll continue to be challenged as you reach higher and higher levels.

6. You Can’t Get Fired. This is a great reason in itself. In the self-employment world you can’t get fired! You can change your mind about certain business opportunities, but that would just be shifting the focus of your business, you’d never be firing yourself. This takes a certain amount of burden off your shoulders because you don’t need to worry about someone suddenly taking away your income just because of cutbacks even if you’re doing a superb job.

Remember that there’s always a certain amount of risk associated with making a major change in your life. It’s never easy when it involves income and the future of your family. However, if you want to be your own boss, you can certainly do so. It may end up opening many doors to better your financial future.

Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

2010-01-15T00:10:00.000-08:00

Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

from Lifehacker: Top by Gina Trapani

The new Nexus One is a sleek, awesome handset, but the most important ingredient in touchscreen smartphones is software. The screen is just a canvas that software paints on, and Android 2.1 is a work of art.

Coming from the chunky G1, the thin and flat Nexus One hearkens back to my iPhone days. (In my pocket it doesn't make my thigh look fat, and it doesn't require a holster—it gets lots of vanity points there.) The screen is huge and crisp; the dual noise-canceling microphone action is sweet; the true headphone jack is much-appreciated, and the glowing trackball is a nice touch.

Still—the best part of the Nexus One is Android 2.1, and if all goes well, many existing Android users will get that update even if they don't get a new handset. After spending just a few hours with my new phone, here are a few of my favorite Android 2.1 features, in screenshots.

Click to enlarge each image to actual size (including the image of my current home screen, shown here).

First off, Android 2.1 has some satisfying eye candy that doesn't necessarily make you more productive, but does make the phone more fun to use.

The application menu button has been replaced with a button that looks like a grid (see bottom of the first screenshot). When you tap it, your application icons fly into place to take over the desktop in their own grid, and you can scroll them back and forward as if they were on a 3-D cube, shown here.

Android 2.1's Live Wallpapers are pulse in different ways when you touch the desktop—again, not strictly useful, but they make the phone feel as if it is alive in your hand and responding to your every action. Two new desktop widgets come in way handy: One offers one-click toggle of your most important settings (GPS, Bluetooth, screen brightness, and Wi-Fi on/off), and the other has top news stories for idle browsing when you're on line at the grocery store. I'm not a widget gal—I trashed that big old clock first thing when I set up Android 1.5/6—but these two, along with the Google search box, are keepers.

Every single text area in Android 2.1 is speech-to-text enabled, which means you can say your text messages, emails, tweets, notes to self, whatever.

It works like Google's voice-enabled search box does. You tap the microphone button on the keyboard, speak, and then the spinner grinds away at the recording, translating it to text.

The conversion takes a few seconds, depending on how much you said, and it requires a decent internet connection to complete. In a spotty area I got a few "Connection error" messages when I tried to speak my first tweet from the Nexus One using Seesmic. (That was disappointing.)

The results are hit or miss.

Sometimes they're pretty decent. Here I said, "Every text area is speech-to-text enabled so you can speak your email, text messages, or tweets." I didn't say the punctuation, and you can see it borked the "is," and missed the "so." Not bad.

Not all results are that close, though. This is another set of results I got, saying the same exact thing as above.

Android continues to offer the best Gmail mobile client available on any platform. The latest version of Google's Gmail Android app supports "Undo." When you archive, label, or delete a Gmail conversation, you get the option to Undo the action. (Great for when you accidentally tap something you didn't mean to.)

The upgraded Gmail app also supports multiple accounts, so you can get mail from your work, personal, and moonlighting Gmail accounts in one interface.

Another "oh, that's cool!" Gmail discovery: if you tap the dot next to a contact's name, you get a popup with one-click access to that person's information with their photo.

Contact photos are a powerful thing on a mobile device, and Android 2.1 ships with the Facebook application, which can sync your contacts' Facebook photos into your contact list. LOVE IT.

New to me (but not Droid owners) is Android's new Car Home screen, for navigational purposes on the road. I haven't had the chance to try this out yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. (My trusted Android informant Kevin at Lifehacker gave it his thumbs-up.)

It was great to see that Google Voice came pre-installed on the Nexus One, and telling GVoice to handle my new mobile number's voicemail was literally a one-click affair. (Hopefully no one will ever even know my new mobile number, since I hope to go completely Google Voice from here on in.)

Speaking of, setting up this phone in general was dead-easy. You simply sign into your Google account on the phone and instantly your contacts, email, calendar, and Google Voice calls/history are on the phone—no syncing or importing necessary. The only reason why I connected it to my computer was to take screenshots for this post, and later, to move some music onto it.

I'm still very much on the Nexus One/Android 2.1 honeymoon, but I do have two minor gripes. First, you still can't take screenshots on the device itself. WTF. (I had to jump through a bunch of developer hoops just to get screen caps for this post.) And second, I've accidentally tapped the Nexus One's search and home buttons while reaching for the spacebar on the touch keyboard more than twice. The touch keyboard in general is going to take some getting used to.

Riding The Nexus One Wave, Google Releases The Android 2.1 SDK

2010-01-13T00:03:00.000-08:00

Riding The Nexus One Wave, Google Releases The Android 2.1 SDK

from TechCrunch by MG Siegler

One of the key features of the Nexus One has nothing to do with its hardware. The latest and greatest Android phone also is the first device to come with the new Android 2.1 OS. And while other phones, like the Droid, are going to get it too (likely later this month), for now, if you want to play around with it, you’ll need a Nexus One. Or, starting today, you can also download the Android 2.1 SDK.

As noted on the Android Developers Blog, the team is releasing it before most devices have it so that developers can play around with and build for the new features introduced in 2.1. Though Google calls 2.1 a “minor platform release” over Android 2.0, there are a number of new elements such as voice recognition, live wallpapers, a new launcher, more home screens, and some WebKit changes. Those who have ported it over to the Droid note that the new OS is also faster.

Google also notes that there is a new USB manager available through the SDK Manager that supports the Nexus One. This may or may not be related to the new services that it seems like Google wants to include with the device, such as a new docking station for backing up your data.

Pharmaceutical company funds documentary about over-eating

2010-01-11T23:56:00.000-08:00

Pharmaceutical company funds documentary about over-eating

from Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker

GlaxoSmithKline is financing a documentary about over-eating, in the hopes that it will boost sales of Alli—their over-the-counter drug that blocks your body from absorbing some of the fat you eat. (Fun game: Read the recent Science Question from a Toddler on poop and see if you can guess what the common side-effects are.)

Glaxo says they won't have control over the content of the film and won't even be pushing to make sure Alli gets mentioned. They simply want to educate Americans about the fact that they eat too much.

The partners say they hope to emulate "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's celebrated 2006 documentary on climate change. It cost an estimated $1.5 million to produce and sold $50 million in tickets worldwide. Ms. Ferdinando summarized the film as "the 'Inconvenient Truth' of mindless eating," with the story taking a "behind-closed-doors, fly-on-the-wall" approach that highlights unhealthy relationships people have with food.

Artistically, the problem I see here is that successful documentaries—and really documentaries in general—are usually about challenging popular perception and either making a case for a viewpoint that's counter to "common-sense" or informing people about a situation that's mostly being ignored. The thesis "Fat People Eat Too Much" does not exactly fit into that mold.

New York Times: Glaxo, diet drug maker, to pay for film on eating

Image courtesy Flickr user yukariryu, via CC

Your Passwords Aren't As Secure As You Think; Here's How to Fix That

2010-01-09T00:06:00.000-08:00

Your Passwords Aren't As Secure As You Think; Here's How to Fix That

from Lifehacker: Top by The How-To Geek

If you allow applications to save your passwords, anyone with physical access to your PC can decode them unless you're properly encrypting them—and chances are pretty good you're not. Let's walk through the right and wrong ways to store your passwords.

For the purpose of this article, we'll assume that the people you allow into your house are trustworthy enough not to hack your passwords, and your laptop has been stolen instead—but the tips here should apply to either scenario. Regardless of how you choose to save your passwords, you should make sure to use great passwords and even stronger answers for security questions.

Once You Click "Remember Password" It's All Over

Almost any application that requires you to login to something will also provide an option to save your password, and once you've done that, your password may as well be plain text. Behind the scenes, even if the application encrypts the account information, it's doing so with a static key that can be easily deciphered through some reverse engineering, and somebody not only can, but already has created a utility to recover those passwords.

It doesn't even matter all that much if you've got a tough Windows password; anybody with physical access to your PC can use an Ubuntu Live CD to copy all of your data onto an external drive without modifying anything, and crack your files on another machine whenever they please (assuming you don't have your entire hard drive encrypted). If they had a little more time, they could use Ophcrack to figure out your password, or they could just be mean and use the System Rescue CD to change your Windows password.

Once that person has access to your files, they can recover your passwords with free tools easily—you can recover passwords in a few clicks from Outlook, Instant Messenger, Wi-Fi, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or any number of other applications. All it takes is a quick Google search to find even more cracking utilities.

Pidgin Stores Passwords in Plain Text

That's right, your favorite open-source, multi-protocol instant messenger client stores your passwords in plain text. If you don't believe me, just open up your %appdata%\.purple\accounts.xml file in your favorite text editor, and you'll see your passwords right there for anybody to read.

The decision to store the passwords in plain text is a deliberate one that's been thoughtfully considered, and while you might initially think it's a terribly insecure way to handle security, keep in mind that you can simply download any number of utilities like Nirsoft's MessenPass and recover the passwords from AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Trillian, Miranda, Google Talk, Digsby, etc. The Pidgin developers point out that their option is actually the preferred method for security:

Having our passwords in plaintext is more secure than obfuscating them precisely because, when a user is not misled by a false sense of security, he is likely to use the software in a more secure manner.

The best answer, of course, is to not allow your IM client to store your passwords at all—but if you must store them, you should at least use the built-in Windows encryption, if not a full-blown TrueCrypt setup. Either option would be better than the pseudo-protection most other applications provide.

Password Managers Are the Only Secure Storage

The only truly secure way to store your passwords is to use a password manager to securely track your passwords, combined with a a great master password to protect the rest of your saved passwords—if you use an easy password for your password manager, it would be easy to crack with a brute force attack. Don't lure yourself into a false sense of security by just using one—your password manager password should be at least 10 alpha-numeric characters if you really want to be secure.

You've got a number of great password managers to choose from, like reader favorite Keepass, a cross-platform tool which has many plugins that help you master your passwords and make using a password manager easier to deal with. And, of course, let's not forget that Firefox has a full password manager built right into the application.

Use a Firefox Master Password (With More Than 8 Characters)

If you want to use Firefox to save the passwords for all your web accounts, you should make sure to enable a Firefox Master Password by heading into Tools –> Options –> Security and checking the box for Use a master password.

Once you've done this, Firefox will store all of your passwords with nearly unbreakable AES encryption—providing you use a password with more than 8 alpha-numeric characters and at least one capitalized letter. If you used a weak and pathetic password like "secret", it could be broken in a matter of minutes with a brute force cracking tool, but a decent 8+ random character password will take at least 73 years for a brute force attack.

Each time you start Firefox and go to a site that requires a saved password, you'll be first prompted for your master password. By default, the master password authentication will be active for the entire session, but you can use the Master Password Timeout extension to lock your master password again after a certain interval, which is handy if you walk away from your desk without remembering to lock it with Win+L.

Use TrueCrypt to Encrypt Everything

Rather than deal with password managers or whether or not to save your passwords, you could simply create a separate, encrypted TrueCrypt drive, and use portable versions of your applications to keep everything totally secure. If you're even more paranoid, you can use TrueCrypt to encrypt the entire hard drive—you will be prompted for a password every time you boot, but you can relax knowing that anything you do will be encrypted, even if you use scripts with your passwords stored in plain text. If TrueCrypt isn't your thing, you can use the built-in encryption functionality in Windows—just keep in mind that if you change your password your data will be inaccessible, and your Windows password can be cracked, giving them full access to your files.

How to Create the Habit of Daily Meditation

2010-01-08T23:58:00.000-08:00

How to Create the Habit of Daily Meditation

from PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement by Mr.SelfDevelopment

Someone e-mailed me the other day with the following question, they said:

“I would love to start meditating daily, but I can never seem to find the time. After I get home from work, I have dinner, one thing leads to another, and I never get to meditate; any suggestions?”

I want to answer the above question in this particular article. However, let me begin by defining “meditation.” After I define meditation, I’ll explain the benefits of daily meditation as well as how you can easily form this very important habit.

What does it mean to meditate?

To meditate means to purposely engage in “thought” or “contemplation,” it means to think, especially in a calm and deliberate manner. My favorite definition of the word “meditate” is to plan in the mind, or to intend. I like that, to plan in the mind, or to intend something; to lay a blueprint in your imagination.

The Benefits of Meditation

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.” – Buddha
Meditation is a way of clearing your mind; it offers you the ability to enter new levels of relaxation, it’s also a technique that can help you conceive new ideas.

I believe everyone should practice meditation daily in order to recharge their body and reignite their focus. Meditation is a way to get clear on what you really want from life, and if you meditate on your desires long enough, you will discover a way to manifest them.

Meditation (as far as I’m concerned) serves four main purposes:

It serves to clear your mind
Relax your body
It also serves as a way to generate new ideas, and
It helps you manifest your intentions

1. Let’s discuss the first purpose of meditation, which is to clear your mind. After a long day at work, it’s essential that you take time to relax your mind and reduce your stress. I like to say, time-out is better than burn-out. Meditation affords you the ability to significantly reduce your stress-levels because it gives you a much needed break from the hustle-and-bustle of life.

2. Meditation also relaxes your body. Through meditation you can leave your suburb or apartment and transcend to the shores of Hawaii. Just doing this for a few minutes a day will give you a higher-quality of life by relaxing your body and changing your mood.

3. The third purpose of meditation is to generate new ideas, if you’re struggling with a particular problem; meditation is a great way to come up with new ideas to solve your problem. How do you do this? Just think about your particular problem for a second; then begin to generate ideas in your mind to solve that problem, let your mind run free until it finds a solution to your problem.

4. Finally, meditation is a way to create your future. If you can believe what you see in your mind, your mind will also give you the instructions on how to attain your vision. Meditation is a great way to attract the life you intend to live.

Finding the Time to Meditate

You don’t need to meditate for hours, although that would be nice. You can accomplish everything that I mentioned above with just 15 minutes of daily meditation. We all have 15 minutes to spare!

Here’s what I suggest you do. Tomorrow after you get home from work, following your “first” major activity (maybe it’s having dinner, et cetera.), dedicate fifteen minutes to meditating in a quiet place. You can:

· Clear your mind of all distracting thoughts and go away to a beautiful island (in your mind), or

· You can imagine your future the way you would like it to be, or

· You can focus your mind on a problem that you would like to solve, et cetera

Fifteen minutes a day is a small enough commitment to convince yourself that you have the time to do it (if you have time to go to the bathroom, you have time to meditate). Once again, you should meditate immediately after your first major activity upon arriving home; you’re going to do this for two reasons:

1. So that you don’t postpone the task any further, and
2. So that you can connect this new habit to an existing habit

Forming the Daily Habit

In order to experience the benefits of daily meditation, you need to first form the habit of daily meditation. It may be a little tough to start the habit initially, so here’s what I suggest:

“Force yourself into the habit for the first week. Just do it. Commit to meditate for 15 minutes a day as soon as you get home from work, or at a convenient time that works for you (be sure to setup a reminder as well).”

Often times we have the time to meditate, but because we’re not in the habit of doing it, we don’t. Just go ahead and “swallow that frog.” If you can just spend fifteen minutes a day meditating, you’ll quickly find that you want to spend more time in this meditative state. However, start with fifteen minutes (it’s an easy commitment) that will help you form the habit.

Some psychologists suggest that over 90 percent of what we do everyday derives from our habits. From the way we brush our teeth, to the way we eat our dinner, including the activities we perform after we finish our dinner. If you start spending fifteen minutes a day meditating after dinner, daily meditation will be become second nature to you. Soon, you will be experiencing a more relaxed and fulfilled life.

In closing, daily meditation is a life-changing experience so be sure to do it.

Thank you for reading!

64 Things Every Geek Should Know

2010-01-06T03:39:00.000-08:00

64 Things Every Geek Should Know

by Blair Mathis from laptoplogic.com

If you consider yourself a geek, or aspire to the honor of geekhood, here's an essential checklist of must-have geek skills.

The term 'geek', once used to label a circus freak, has morphed in meaning over the years. What was once an unusual profession transferred into a word indicating social awkwardness. As time has gone on, the word has yet again morphed to indicate a new type of individual: someone who is obsessive over one (or more) particular subjects, whether it be science, photography, electronics, computers, media, or any other field. A geek is one who isn't satisfied knowing only the surface facts, but instead has a visceral desire to learn everything possible about a particular subject.

A techie geek is usually one who knows a little about everything, and is thus the person family and friends turn to whenever they have a question. If you're that type of person and are looking for a few extra skills to pick up, or if you're a newbie aiming to get a handhold on the honor that is geekhood, read on to find out what skills you need to know.

1. The Meaning of Technical Acronyms

USB - Universal Serial Bus

GPU - Graphics Processing Unit

CPU - Central Processing Unit

SATA - Serial ATA

HTML - Hyper-text Markup Language

HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol

FTP - File Transfer Protocol

P2P - Person to Person data sharing

2. How to Reset RAM

If you rolled your eyes here, that is a good thing. If not, you have many things to learn, young padawan. It's amazing how few people know how to do this. If you're unsure, hit up the link below to find out how:

http://www.yousaytoo.com/sudjarwo/how-to-reset-ram-in-a-computer/29133

3. Identify Keyloggers

Internet cafes are the most likely place you'll find them, followed by library, perhaps, and maybe even you own house if you've some unscrupulous friends/family. Identity theft groups warn about keyloggers and advocate checking out the keyboard yourself before continuing. Can you identify a keylogger, however, if one is plugged into the back of the system?

Here's what one looks like:

Hit up this link for excellent info on keyloggers on public computers and how to protect yourself:

, http://www.ghacks.net/2007/06/28/how-to-defeat-most-keyloggers-on-public-computers/

4. Surf the Web Anonymously

We won't make any assumptions about why you may need this particular skill, but the fact remains that every geek should know how to traverse the Internet with the highest amount of security possible.

Aside from the safest method--which is using a connection that is not yours--you will need the ultimate in proxies...Tor. Tor is an onion-routing system which makes it 'impossible' for someone to find out who you actually are.

5. Bypass a Computer Password on All Major Operating Systems

Obviously you shouldn't use this to gain unlawful access to a computer. If you're a geek, however, you'll eventually end up in a situation where someone forgets their password, you acquire a machine with an operating system you cannot access, or similar situation.

See this tutorial for info on how to bypass the password on the three major operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

http://www.joetech.com/2009/01/29/how-to-crack-the-account-password-on-any-operating-system/

6. Find a Users IP Address on AIM

Knowing someones IP address is actually pretty useless in this case, but most people don't realize that. If someone is harassing you via AIM and you can't get them to stop, discovering their IP and sending it to them--with a nicely worded threat of law enforcement involvement should they not stop--is likely enough to send them scamping away with tail between legs.

http://www.elitehackers.info/forums/archive/index.php/t-2827.html

7. Hide a File Behind a JPEG

So you need a nice spot to hide your blackmail personal files. You could, of course, bury them deeply within a series of random, useless folders, but there's always the chance of them being discovered. A password protected RAR is the best choice, but it's a bit obvious despite the most boring title you could give it.

A sneaky person would hide the important file behind a completely random and boring family reunion photo, where no person in their right mind would shift through.

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/hide-file-in-picture/

8. Crack a Wifi Password

This is one of those things you don't need to do (hopefully), but that you still need to know just for the sake of knowledge. A strong WPA password is very secure, but most people don't want to bother learning a convoluted series of letters, numbers, and symbols, instead opting for random everyday words.

A good overall tutorial on wifi and cracking can be found here: http://docs.lucidinteractive.ca/index.php/Cracking_WEP_and_WPA_Wireless_Networks

9. Monitor Network Traffic

The Internet is a vast place with a bit of everything. Whether you're curious about what your roommate is downloading, your kid is getting into, or any leeches living around you who've unscrupulously breached your wifi, knowing how to analyze network traffic is an invaluable skill.

Here is a list of dozens of network analyzers, as well as some general info to get you started: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/xorg/nmtf/nmtf-tools.html

10. Recover Master Boot Record

A virus or other problem can lead to an MBR error, which will make it impossible to access install. Many users would simply become frustrated and reinstall, but not you! Every geek should know how to recover the master book record.

Here is an excellent guide to get started: http://www.ntfs.com/mbr-damaged.htm

11. Retrieve Data off Hard Drive

There will come some point in your life when a hard drive craps out sans warning. It could be due to a number of reasons--physical damage, file corruption, etc. There are computer service centers that would be happy to extract the data for a (hefty) fee; a true geek would be the one working at center, not taking his or her drive there.

To find out how to retrieve data off a damaged hard drive, read here: http://laptoplogic.com/resources/5-ways-to-retrieve-data-off-a-crashed-hard-drive

12. Load Rockbox onto an MP3 Player

The firmware that comes on your average mp3 player is intended for those who are scared of advanced features; often, the only audio settings available are a few prearranged EQs. If you're an audiophile--or simply frustrated with the lack of control over your music settings--Rockbox is the firmware for you. Open source and free, it can be installed on several different types of players and enables full control over what you listen to.

http://rockbox.org

13. Unbrick a Smartphone

No geek can resist the allure of flashing the newest beta firmware onto their shiny smartphone. The byproduct of that is sometimes a bricked phone, which would leave many sobbing into their pillow at night. To avoid rendering your $400 gadget into a door stopper, learn the fine art of unbricking and then flash away.

As the method used to fix a phone will vary, this is the best place to start looking for answers: http://www.howardforums.com/

14. Replace a Laptop Keyboard

Keyboards get gummy after awhile. If you use yours a lot (aka: all day), then you probably eat over it at some point. Crumbs get into the keys and things are sticking, and before you know it, you need a new keyboard.

http://www.refurbished-laptop-guide.com/how-to-remove-a-laptop-keyboard.html

15. Rip Streaming Videos

Streaming videos are officially in vogue. We're not going to make any assumptions about what type of videos you are streaming and may want to keep, but no matter what it is, any geek could rip them while sipping a Red Bull and watching the latest episode of BSG.

Here's a hint to get you started: http://applian.com/download-videos/

16. Strip Windows DRM

DRM is incredibly annoying. With many online stores now offering DRM-free mp3 audio files, it would seem it's not as big of an issue as it used to be. That is not not the case, however, with all videos bearing a DRM as well as music of a higher-quality than MP3.

Stripping Windows DRM is not legal. If you're a geek, your probably don't care: http://undrm.info/remove-DRM-protection/FairUse4WM-freeware-DRM-removal-Windows-software-Strip-copy-protection-from-WMV-ASF-WMA-Windows-Media-Player.htm

17. Homebrew Hack Game Systems

Gaming consoles are notorious for having features you can't use simply because the manufacturer decided to lock them down. As a geek, you can't just be satisfied with the features they decided to give you. No, you have to crack that case open and take a peek inside. Every geek should know how to homebrew hack their system and unlock it's full potential.

18. Find a Website IP Address Without Web/Command Prompt Access

Some school admins think they're being sneaky when they lock down the command prompt and block all major IP search websites and block all the websites you actually want to visit. Of course, that is child's play for any geek.

First, to get a new command prompt, open Notepad and type: command.com. Then, save as "cmd.bat". You now have a command prompt.

Now, open the command prompt and type "ping http://www.website.com/" to find the IP address of that website.

Enter the website into the browser and you will officially have impressed all your friends.

19. Bypass School or Work Website Blocks

What is a horrific situation for an average computer user is a simple irritation for an everyday geek. To bypass a website block/filter, simply enter that websites IP address in instead of the actual site address.

20. Screw with Wifi Leeches

Nobody likes a wifi leech. At best, they're simply using up your valuable bandwidth. At the worst--and far more likely, they're stealing your identity and watching your activities. After watching your network and identifying the leech, use this trick to flip their browser upside down and let them know you don't appreciate the intrusion.

http://tech.nocr.at/hacking-security/baffle-wifi-leeches-with-an-upside-down-ternet-2/

21. Hexadecimal and Binary Number Systems

Everyone knows the normal, everyday digit system used. It takes a special--possibly psychotic person--to also know hexadecimal and binary number systems.

Here is an excellent interactive tutorial on learning the two systems: http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/index_tj.asp?objID=DIG1102

22. How to Hot Wire a Car

If your family always turns to you any time their computer hiccups, their DVD player needs fixed, or their home security system doesn't activate, it's only a matter of time before someone asks you how to hot wire a car. Wouldn't it be great to be able to answer them?

To learn this unique skill, read here: http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Hot_Wire_Your_Car

23. Increase Wifi Range

With so many small portable gadgets gaining more and more sophisticated web browsers, in addition to gaming systems like the PSP and DS, getting the most use out of your wifi is practically a geek necessity.

Here is a good guide on extending your wifi's range: http://www.mavromatic.com/archives/000451

24. Carrying a Computer Cleaning Arsenal on Your USB Drive

A good geek prepares for their friends stupidity. No matter how many times you tell them to stop downloading porn, they keep doing it until their machine is so infected it can't drag itself into a grave. An arsenal of portable malware cleaners, a portable task manager, anti-virus, etc, will make those impromptu purging sessions all the easier.

25. Running an Operating System from a USB Thumb Drive

Most people don't even understand what the magical operating system is. As a geek, you should transcend that basic knowledge and have a small operating system on your thumb drive handy for those times you need computer access but don't know the password to a nearby computer.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

26. Understand What "There's no Place Like 127.0.0.1" Means

A lot of geeks wear this shirt as a short hand code for their computer finesse--or maybe just to screw with other people who stare but cannot figure out what it means. No matter the reason, if you'd like an answer, check out the link below.

http://www.tech-faq.com/127.0.0.1.shtml

27. Read 1337 At Normal Speed

Sure, everyone knows about it and it's no longer cool, but if you're going to proclaim yourself as a geek, you should be able to read it full speed. Who wants to choke in front of the wannabe that learned to read it full speed and flaunts it in your face?

http://www.wikihow.com/Read-and-Write-in-1337

28. At Least One Fictional Language

And not only should you know a fictional language, but you should use it to say something about yourself. Do you choose Klingon or Quenya?

Here's a list of constructed languages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_constructed_languages

29. How to Survive in a Linux Argument

Linux is gaining an all around higher standing in the geeksphere, and it's bound to enter a conversation at some point (which will invariably end up turning into an argument). If you want to keep up, you'll need to understand the basic points of Linux, as well as the general info of all basic things.

Here's a good place to read and gain a foothold: http://www.linux.com/articles/feature/

30. Identify Major Constellations

For those times you venture from the air-conditioned, computer filled basement of your parents house (or something like that), look up at the stars and have yourself a Galileo moment. The stars may just be dots to many people, but with the handy website below, you'll be stopping man-belts and lions in no time.

http://www.sky-watch.com/astronomy-guide/major-constellations.html

31. Use a Camera in Manual Mode

Sure, you could just use auto mode like everyone else too afraid to learn what some letters and numbers mean, but then you wouldn't be much of a geek, would you? The oft-ignored dial on a camera is the key that unleashes the best quality photos possible, and every geek should be a whiz at using one.

http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-camera-modes

32. Who Mulder and Scully Are

It seems that in the plethora of geek websites, there always appears a joke about Mulder and Scully, the two main characters from the X-Files. If you don't know who they are, you'll be left in the dark, alone, contemplating what exactly it was you were doing in the 90's that you wouldn't understand the joke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulder_and_Scully_(song)

33. Javascript

HTML is running the world (not really). Everyone knows some HTML and it makes them feel empowered. As a geek, you want to transcend that basic knowledge others share and know a little more. JavaScript is the answer--it is easy to learn if you're not actually interested in web programming, but simply curious, and it looks scary to anyone who doesn't know it.

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/javascript/basicjavascript.html

34. How to Unlock an iPhone

Sure, most geeks wouldn't be caught dead with an iPhone, but what about your friends? You're the smart techie, they'll expect your to know how to unlock it.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/137223/how_to_unlock_an_iphone.html

35. How to Install Mac OS X on a PC

Just because you don't want Mac on your PC doesn't mean you shouldn't know how to do it. Knowledge is power, right? Go ahead, use this to stump your friends and family.

http://dailyapps.net/2007/10/hack-attack-install-leopard-on-your-pc-in-3-easy-steps/

36. Build a PC

If you purchase a ready-made PC, you can be sure of one thing--you're paying more than you should. Assembling your own PC isn't too hard, and is the first thing you should be aiming to accomplish as a geek.

Here is a massive article on assembling your own PC: http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/

37. Tethering a Smartphone

Nothing like a little wifi on the move, eh? Tethering a smartphone means using the Internet on your laptop/netbook via your cell phone. Of course, the method to do this depends on your phone, but here's an article to get your started:

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2276/smartphones_bb_treo_tether_modem_usa_carriers/

38. Wiring a Home Theater System

Home theater systems used to consist of a TV and a chair. Gone are those days of simplicity, however, and setting up a modern system can be pure mind-boggling horror. Where does the modulator go, why does the DVD player have no video and the cable box no sound?

Here's a tutorial, including excellent diagrams, to show you how: http://www.prillaman.net/ht_info_8-wiring.html

39. Replacing a Laptop LCD

Laptop LCDs are vulnerable to many different mishaps: accidental pressure spots, shadows, airsoft pellets.... No matter, there will come a point when you need to swap your LCD for a new one. Now, as a geek, you probably don't have an extended warranty. If that's the case, here are some excellent pages and pictures on replacing the display:

http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop_4.htm

40. Make a Laptop Cooling Pad

Can you believe these cost $50?! A geek will need one, because data crunching/DVD ripping/videos playing/rendering at the same times tends to cause excess heat. Instead of shelling out your hard earned dollars, make your own like so: http://www.instructables.com/id/Lazy-mans-laptop-cooler/

41. Unleash a Laser Pointer's full potential

A normal person uses a laser pointer to drive their dog crazy. A geek uses it to melt butter for their grilled cheese sandwich. To unless a laser pointer's full strength, crack open the case, fry the resistor with a hot soldering iron, then snap it back together and keep it away from flesh/eyes/airplanes. The pointer will burn out after a few hours, but what a fun few hours they will be.

Note: this is dangerous. Don't do anything stupid.

42. Keyboard Shortcuts

This will depend on your operating system and the apps you use, so there's no tutorial available. However, that is irrelevant--you're a geek, you can find them yourself. Shortcuts are the difference between a slow computer user and a geek. The geek will always will out in a speed contest, because they do practically everything from their keyboard.

43. Soldering Glasses Together

Nerds use tape on broken glasses; geeks use solder. 'Nuff said.

44. How to Execute a Shell Script

If you're a true geek, you'll need to do this at some point. Below are instructions on how to do so. Remember: always be cautious when running a script, you don't want your computer to turn into a door stop, now do ya?

http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/unixhelp/scrpt/scrpt1.2.html

45. How to Hack a Pop Machine

Okay, so stealing isn't cool. Still, hacking is simply a misunderstood art, right? So hacking a pop machine isn't really stealing, because it's not about the pop, it about the pleasure of getting your way. Or something like that. (Newsflash, it is illegal, don't do it.) If you want to try your fingers at getting a free Coke, check out this link:

http://skattertech.com/soda-machine-hack/

46. Turn a Laptop into a Digital Picture Frame

So you want to show off pictures of your dog and that girl you once met, but you want to do it in an uber geeky way. Any schmuck can go to Walmart and buy a digital picture frame for a grossly inflated price. But you...oh, you're too smart for that. No, instead you'll find an old laptop on eBay for $5 and turn it into a true work of art.

http://repair4laptop.org/notebook_picture_frame.html

47. How to Mod a Flash Drive Case

All the geeks are doing it.... Whatever. The case your flash drive came in is probably weak and most certainly plain. Why not jazz it up with your own unique style?

Here's one such case mod, and dozens of related projects: http://www.instructables.com/id/Metal-USB---Flash-drive-case-mod/

48. Do Cool Things to Altoids Tins

People are obsessed with these things. Altoids tins are durable, small, and just begging to be filled with LEDs, mp3 players, audio amps, and maybe some snuff. A good geek will find millions of uses for these little metal wonders. If you need a mental boost, however, here's some interesting links:

http://www.squidoo.com/altoids-tins

49. Convert Cassette Tapes to Digital Audio Files

If your geekhood started in the 90's, then you probably have a least a few (dozen) cassette tapes still sitting around. Why not breathe digital life into them before they fall ill to mortal fate?

http://lifehacker.com/software/mp3/alpha-geek-how-to-digitize-cassette-tapes-222394.php

50. Lock Your Computer with a USB Drive

You don't want anyone getting into your files while you're gone. A normal password would be enough to keep most people out, but what if you got super-secret X files on your computer? You can lock your machine down with a USB drive via these instructions:

http://lionjkt.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/how-to-lock-your-computer-with-usb-drive/

51. Run Your Own Ethernet Line

Wifi has taken the place of a wired connection in many homes, and with good reasons--you can go anywhere, no cables necessary. What about those...sensitive...activities that you'd rather the neighborhood script kiddie didn't see on your wifi? An Ethernet cable is your solution.

To wire your own Ethernet, hit up this link: http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html

52. Set Up a Streaming Media Server

With digital files becoming the ultimate medium, many people have hundreds of gigabytes worth of music, videos, and pictures. You could keep them on a portable hard drive, but then you're have to take it everywhere, and only one person could use it at a time. The solution is a streaming media server, something no geek can live without.

http://www.n00tz.net/2008/07/vlc-media-server-ubuntu-hardy/

53. Setting up a VPN

If you're like most geeks, you can't live without your computers. They store your life in some poetic fashion, holding files you feel a personal connection with.... Anyway, if you are at work and suddenly realize you left an important picture at home (or you need blackmail material pronto), having a VPN ready to go will save you big time.

http://www.computernetworkinghelp.com/content/view/41/1/

54. Turn Webcams into Security Cameras

Is someone stealing your Netflix DVDs? Do you suspect it is a fat hairy man in his boxers taking them each morning? If so, you can get your proof using a couple webcams and a bit of software.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/09/27/how-to-use-your-pc-and-webcam-as-a-motion-detecting-and-recording-security-camera/

55. Control Your House Lights with a Computer

Controlling the lights in your house via computer is a great way to freak out the neighborhood kids ding-dong-ditching (assuming you wire up a Halloween scream motion sensor, also). If you reasons are less nefarious, you simply use it to turn on and off lights without having to life ye butt from thy seat, which is a good reason in itself.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Control-lights-in-your-house-with-your-computer/

56. Play Retro Games without Retro Consoles

This applies to the geeks who enjoy gaming. Setting up an emulation PC on your TV is a great way to relive those games of old.

57. Put LEDs Inside a Lightbulb

The days of hot incandescent and mercury-laden fluorescent are gone, and in are the days of long lasting, low heat, low consumption LEDs. As any good geek, you want to be able to say "I was doing X long before it became mainstream." Here's your chance--the following link will show you how to put an LED inside a lightbulb, something sure to stump your friends the same way Grandpa's ship-in-a-wine-bottle used to stump you.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/06/make_a_led_bulb.html

58. Create Music with Keyboard

How awesome is KeyBored? This little app gives all of your QWERTY keys a piano note. When you type, it sounds like an infant monkey punching a keyboard. If you've got some musical chops, it won't take you long to figure out the Star Wars theme or find a hidden musical message in Counter Strike control buttons.

http://agdoa.net/ [edit:link updated]

59. Make Your Office Ergonomic

Face it--you spend a lot of time at your desk. You might even have a few extra pounds and pallid skin to show for it. While those things are temporary, far to common and more serious is the carpal tunnel, eye strain, and back problems you'll develop from having a poor workspace.

Hit up this link to create a body-friendly workspace that will keep you limber and flexible: http://www.ergotron.com/tabid/305/language/en-US/default.aspx

60. Adding a Third Monitor

Studies show that dual monitor increase work productivity by 30%. As a geek, you'll need a third monitor to equal the dual setup of a layman (if that makes sense). While any hack with a VGA port can add a second monitor, it takes a true geek to add a third (or more). This will vary based on graphics/OS, so hit up Google for a tutorial or two.

61. How to Convert a DVD to x264 (or XviD or DivX)

It might seem like child's play to you, but many individuals do not understand the fine art of converting a DVD into a digital file, let alone the careful skills it takes to achieve a happy balance between size and quality.

Here is an excellent tutorial demonstrating how to rip a DVD with the multi-platform free software Handbrake: http://howto.diveintomark.org/ipod-dvd-ripping-guide/

62. Flash System BIOS

Ya gotta do it some time, so stop putting it off and man up. Flashing the BIOS on your laptop might seem scary (as it should--fear keeps you on your toes and prevents mistakes), but it's not (actually, it is, but if you even understand why you need to do this, you've gotta have at least a few chops by now). Warning--you can seriously bork your computer doing this!

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1605

63. How to Irrecoverably Protect Data

TrueCrypt, my friends. Learn to use TrueCrypt. If you have ask why, you don't need it.

64. The Fastest way to Kill a Computer

It's said that you have to get into a killers mind to understand their weaknesses, right? Same goes for the unfortunate boobs who always kill their laptops. Here's a list of all the different ways you can accidentally kill a computer--arm your family and friends, and save yourself grief (because it's surely you they will call when something goes horribly, horribly wrong).

Access Any Website Or Forum Without Registering

2010-01-04T03:30:00.000-08:00

Access Any Website Or Forum Without Registering

By Nakodari from addictivetips.com

Visit any forum or website to find something useful and they will ask you to register. Every time a forum asks me to register, I simply close the site. You would probably do the same. But this time, lets face it.

Before I begin, you should know how things work. All websites and forums will block unregistered users, but they won’t block Google Bot. What we will do is to switch our User Agent to that of Google Bot and freely browse any website or forum without registering.

First grab the add-on for Firefox called ‘user agent’ here and install it. Now go to Tools > User Agent Switcher > Options and then again to Options.

Select User Agent from the left sidebar and click Add. Now in the description field type:

crawl-66-249-66-1.googlebot.com

and in user agent field type:

Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html)

as shown in the screenshot below.

Select Google Bot as your User Script by going to Tools > User Agent Switcher.

Now browse any website or forum without registering. Alternatively you can also check out BugMeNot, it is a free online service where people share login information of thousands of websites and forums. Enjoy!

Goodbye

2010-01-02T04:16:00.000-08:00

Goodbye

Another day started…. Gateway goes up, and I could feel the hot sun. Aaahh, this is life; a very cool breeze comes in , and….

Open the door, open the doors, clean the floor..hurry up! He shouted as every morning…

I was standing ,,,, it was long time I was standing , I just got bored; I wish today someone will come and take me out ; out to see the real life !

The people started passing…. Some of them were looking at me for some seconds, and some were gazing on me! And that time.… I was shouting from bottom of my heart: come, come and take me, pleaseee’’

But nothing happened,

I have to tell you that, at the same time I got friend with my neighbor, he was very handsome, we were spending all of our time with each other, talking, laughing, …. He always keeps me happy.

But at that day he was very sad, I asked him: what happen? Why you are not talking with me?

And just say: I can’t say Goodbye’’

Hahaha.. I laughed: but I’m here, still here with u, we will live together … we will go out together ( and I felt doubtful !)

……….

It was almost dark, and we were just watching the people passing by….

Suddenly , I heard a sound: I like the red bag! I like it mamaaa..i want the red one!

I came to know that someone is staring at me….and finally the shopkeeper took me out,

He took me out!!! I shouted huurraaaa… I was so happy. The girl was looking from my top to bottom, she was crying and forcing her mother : I love this one, I want just this

Ohh my God; she loves me…it was really a different feeling, I was flying…but!

But suddenly I look at my friend , he was still sad and I could hardly saw his tears coming down

Ohhh..noooooo… I don’t want to get a part of my friend… I started crying and requesting to buy the blue one also… take the blue one!!!!

But, the lady was paying the money and she couldn’t hear me… within a second , I was out of the shop.

I was on back of a beautiful girl…

It was the last time I saw him.….just by passing from the shop and saying Goodbye!

HOW TO: Use Facebook Privacy Controls on Your Fan Page

2009-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

HOW TO: Use Facebook Privacy Controls on Your Fan Page

from Mashable! by Mollie Vandor

Mollie Vandor is the Product Manager for Ranker.com and Media Director for Girls in Tech LA. You can find her on Twitter and on her blog, where she writes about the web, the world and what it’s like to be a geek chic chick.

Lately it seems like Facebook changes its privacy options more often than most people change their statuses. Late last week, Facebook rolled out yet another set of new privacy settings, replacing regional networks with concentric circles of connections. Before, Facebook’s default privacy settings were largely location-based — people who lived near you, or went to the same college as you, were able to see more information about you. Now, access is all about who you know and who knows them.

The new Facebook publisher privacy controls are a core component of this change. Now, instead of simply posting something to your entire network, you can choose to specify who sees your posts. It’s pretty easy to figure out how to use these changes to your advantage when handling your personal Facebook page — those happy hour pics should probably only get posted to people who are actually your friends. But figuring them out for fan pages is a very different proposition, especially because privacy settings for Fan Pages are still all about location, location, location.

What Are the Fan Page Publisher Privacy Controls?

The publisher privacy control is the icon that, ironically, looks a little bit like the MySpace logo. You can find it on the publishing area of your Fan Page, right next to the share button. When you hover over it, you should see a prompt that says “Everyone.” This is the default, so if you don’t do anything to change it, your posts will automatically go out to all your fans’ feeds. However, if you click on the privacy control, you can customize your posts so that they only go out to fans who speak a certain language, fans who live in a certain country, or even fans who live in certain cities and states.

You can also create combinations of customizations by sending the post out to people in multiple cities, multiple states or multiple countries. There are some limitations — at the moment it doesn’t appear that you can specify certain cities and states within a country and also share that same post with certain cities and states within another country. You can, however, share with multiple countries at once. Using the controls is pretty easy. The hard part is figuring out why you would want to use them in the first place.

Spread the Good Stuff Out

There’s a thin line between engaging your Facebook fans and annoying them. Target and time your content correctly, and you’ll get all the clicks you could possibly want. Don’t, and you’ll either miss the boat or make your fans want to throw you overboard. That’s where the privacy controls can really come in handy.

Say you’ve got a great piece of content that you want to promote, and you want it to reach as many of your fans as possible. If your fans are spread out into multiple time zones, you’re going to run into issues trying to time the post for a window when everyone’s likely to be checking Facebook. And you definitely don’t want to post the same piece of content over and over — that’s a recipe for really annoying your fans. Now you can target your posts by time zone, so you don’t waste your best content by throwing it into the feeds of fans who are probably asleep. Just use the publisher privacy controls to roll that good content out region-by-region throughout the day and you’re all set.

Get Tested

What better way to test the web waters than with a good A/B experiment? Post two different pieces of content to two different (but demographically similar) regions. Once your posts are up, there are plenty of ways to measure engagement and find out which one worked and which didn’t.

Even if a post fails, your Facebook fans will likely be more forgiving than the audiences on most other major social media platforms. Unless it’s outrageously offensive, bad content on Facebook tends to just get swept away in the stream, which makes the publisher privacy controls the perfect way to find out if your fans want to follow you in that new direction you’re contemplating.

Control for Culture

With 350 million users and 70 different translations, it’s no wonder that Facebook is a whole world unto itself. Your Facebook fans could be coming from any corner of the globe. Unless you’re selling something that everyone in the world is interested in, there are probably some posts that will entice one group to click through and another to click away. That’s the perfect publisher privacy control situation.

First, you should know the demographics of your users. If you don’t, there are plenty of great tools to help you track and triangulate them. Once you do, it’s relatively simple to figure out which regions of fans will want which types of content. By targeting your posts to particular regions, you can avoid offending certain fans. But, more importantly, you can post more content more often. Because you won’t be posting every piece of content to every fan, you can post a higher volume of content, so you get more information into the Facebook stream and more relevant content to each region of your user base. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Take on the Trends

Let’s face it, what’s cool in California isn’t necessarily blowing up in Burma. The world is a big place, and the World Wide Web is too. While there are some memes that make their way around the globe, there are many trending topics that take off in particular places, or for particular groups of people. And I’m not just talking about the topics people are tweeting about. From major events to sporting matches to local news, there are all sorts of bandwagons your fans could be jumping on. And if the people you want to communicate with are on the bandwagon, shouldn’t you be there too?

Of course, you don’t want to cram content about every single trend into every user’s Facebook feed. That’s why you should use the publisher privacy controls on your Fan Page. Target your post to the place your topic is trending. That way you can jump on all the bandwagons you want, without causing content overload for all your fans.

Conclusion

When it comes to managing your Fan Page, the publisher privacy controls let you post more content, more intelligently. By targeting your posts to specific people, you can post more often without saturating the streams of all your fans, and you can pinpoint the people who are most likely to respond to and engage with every piece of content you post. Use the new privacy controls to pick the perfect demographic for a particular piece of content, test new types of content, and time your posts for maximum return. Controlling where your content goes helps you better control your brand and build your user base. That’s an awful lot of power for one puny little privacy button.

10 Must-Read eBooks for Social Media Lovers

2009-12-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

10 Must-Read eBooks for Social Media Lovers

from Mashable! by Christina Warren

We’re big fans of eBooks. You can read them on multiple computers or devices, add annotations, and search for specific words and phrases. Plus, an eBook doesn’t take up tons of room like physical books, which is great for the road warrior.

In the last few years, publishers have finally started to embrace digital publishing and now lots of books on lots of different topics are available for various eBook platforms. If you’re into social media (and who isn’t?) check out these ten can’t-miss eBooks!

1. Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

Most people are familiar with the sanitized history of Facebook: Harvard kid starts a web site in his dorm room, ends up changing the world. Although that’s part of the truth, and is certainly compelling in its own right, Mezrich’s take on Facebook’s founding and its behind-the-scenes legal battles is like something out of Hollywood. In fact, Accidental Billionaires is the basis for the film, The Social Network, which is due to arrive in theaters in October 2010. If you use Facebook and are curious about its history‚ or if you just love a good, gripping soap opera ‚ don’t miss this book!

Format: Kindle, Nook, others

2. The Art of Community by Jono Bacon

Bacon is the Community Manager for Ubuntu, one of the largest open source software projects on the planet. In this book he talks about the ins and outs of building, cultivating and managing a community from the ground up. This is a must-read for anyone interested in community development. In a truly community-friendly effort, you can download the entire book for free and share and modify it under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike Non-Commercial license.

Format: Free PDF, Kindle, Nook, others

3. The World According to Twitter by David Pogue

New York Times columnist David Pogue got into Twitter in late 2008 and decided to use the service as the basis for this book. Every day, Pogue asked his followers questions and compiled the best, most interesting and funniest responses. This is a great example of just how much can be shared in 140 characters.

Format: Kindle, others

4. Content by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow, one of the voices behind the uber-blog Boing-Boing, is well-known for his opinions on technology, DRM and the future of content. Content is a collection of some of his best work and is an insightful read. Truly a man that practices what he preaches, the book is available for free in multiple formats.

Format: Free download

5. Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk is one of those people that absolutely bursts with energy. Whether he’s talking about wine, talking about marketing or just talking about people, Gary is passionate. Gary has built his business on the back of that passion and is a shining example of what can be accomplished when you push yourself and dedicate your life to what you love.

Format: Kindle, others

6. Free by Chris Anderson

The author of The Long Tail released his follow-up earlier this year, called Free. In it, Anderson argues that the best price is often no price, instead offering freemium models or incentives and services to make money, rather than charging for the “product” itself. It’s an interesting idea, and even if you don’t buy all of Anderson’s assertions, it is still worth a read. Ironically, Free is no longer available for free.

Format: Kindle, others

7. The New Community Rules by Tamar Weinberg

Mashable’s own Tamar Weinberg wrote this fantastic book about how to use, understand and leverage social media to market your product, your service or yourself. By focusing on the importance of community and joining the conversation, Tamar does a great job getting to the heart of why social media is so interesting and game-changing.

Format: Kindle, others

8. Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki is a legend. At Apple, he helped spread the word about the Macintosh and keep the community engaged (even when the community and the company were fading), almost single-handedly creating the job category of “brand evangelist” and as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, he’s seen what works and what doesn’t. In his latest book, Guy does what Guy does best: he lays out the facts and ideas that seem like common sense (until you realize how often they are ignored) about building community and the power of networking.

Format: Kindle, others

9. Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Chris Brogan is one of those guys who really walks the walk. He doesn’t just talk about how to build influence and the power of the conversation, he’s always part of the conversation. No matter how successful he gets, Chris is still Chris, and he’s still there to talk and listen. His book on building reputation and earning trust on the web is genuine, just like he is.

Format: Kindle, others

10. What Matters Now by Seth Godin and others

Seth Godin’s latest book, which features essays by himself and a host of other brilliant minds is available for free. In What Matters Now, each essayist focuses on something that matters to them. Think of this as your New Year’s Resolution in an eBook.

Format: Free download

New International ROBIN HOOD Trailer

2009-12-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

New International ROBIN HOOD Trailer

from Collider » Entertainment by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub

If you’re the kind of person that needs dialogue in a movie trailer, the new international Robin Hood trailer is for you. Because unlike the first trailer (from last week) which featured almost no dialogue and a lot of music, this new one is a more straight forward selling of the movie.

While the story of Robin Hood has been told a million times in movies and on TV, I’ll admit to being very excited about this new version. After all, with Ridley Scott directing and a cast featuring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Danny Huston, and Max von Sydow, how can you not be? Also, as a huge fan of Gladiator, I’m extremely excited to see Crowe and Scott team up again on an action film.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. Robin Hood gets released May 14, 2010.

Trailer via Yahoo UK

Here’s the synopsis:

‘Robin Hood’ chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion, a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff. With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure. This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.

Web Based Twitter Clients – Which Is Right For You?

2009-12-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

Web Based Twitter Clients – Which Is Right For You?

from The Next Web by Alex Wilhelm

With all the news about Chrome OS, netbooks, and the move to the cloud that seems to be going on all around us, desktop applications are beginning to feel passe.

That said, without TweetDeck what would you do? If you had only a browser and a hookup to the tubes, what would you use to tweet?

Take heart, TNW has done the work for you. Below, the best web-based Twitter clients.

Seesmic Web:

Seesmic is the everywhere Twitter client. Mobile? It’s got that. Air application? Has that too. Often overlooked, is that Seesmic also has a killer web application for Twitter. No download needed.

Of course, you can login with Twitter, if you fear password theft, and then the delights begin. You are started off with a standard incoming tweets, and @ mention columns, and can with single clicks add in a stream of your updates (something that I love, given that I tweet a bit, I need to see what people are responding too), and your favorites.

Seesmic web also integrates lists, letting you open a new column for each list that you follow. I heartily recommend this list, if you get the time.

Seesmic also tracks trending topics, and with a single click you can add search columns for each trend. Seesmic is fast, accurate, full featured, and well designed. Even for the hardened TweetDeck user, such as myself, Seesmic web impresses.

Brizzly:

Brizzly takes a radical approach to Twitter: one column. If you have become used to using a number of columns to keep things straight, get over it. Brizzly does a number of things very well, including treating DM’s like conversations, and automatically making images viewable, right in your stream.

If you were, or perhaps still are (there are 7), a heavy FriendFeed users, Brizzly is for you. It mimics a number of familiar FriendFeed elements, making the switch very simple.

Brizzly recently became open for general use, after an extensive beta period. It is growing like a weed, for a reason.

CoTweet:

CoTweet is the industrial strength Twitter application, for the dead serious user. If you are managing a brand, or corporate account, CoTweet is for you.

Built into every tweet, the ability to change the time of posting. The ability to assign updates to account managers? It does that. Multiple accounts? Of course.

CoTweet is built for the corporation, and it shows. Can you use it a personal client? Sure. It is not designed for endless updating, you have to click “Post An Update” just to get a place to tweet. But, if you are mostly a listener or trend watcher, CoTweet can be very powerful.

If you are running a high volume corporate account with several managers, CoTweet is a godsend. For the average Twitter user, it is too much built for something else.

HootSuite:

HootSuite, which is tied to the ow.ly shortener, is packed with powerful, simple to understand features. It integrates lists, Facebook, LinkedIn, multiple columns, tabbed groups of columns, tweet delaying, and built-in analytics if you are an ow.ly user.

HootSuite also has the “Hootlet,” which is a browser bookmarklet, which for the avid sharer will be a god-send. HootSuite also manages multiple accounts simply, and has a system (something akin to CoTweet), allowing different users to interact over various accounts. I have not tested this.

HootSuite is a top contender for me, if I was to move to the browser full-time.

TweetVisor:

TweetVisor is something of a lovely disaster. Do you know the effect of watching your slice of apple pie ooze into a blob with ice cream on top? Still tastes lovely. That is TweetVisor, the little app that could.

TweetVisor is a multi-column application that has a boatload of capabilities. Lists, saved searches, favorites, trending topic management, even the ability to create lists inside of TweetVisor.

All that and you get to pick what the application looks like, myself opting for the familiar TweetDeck feeling “Deck” theme. Tweetvisor also keeps a running tab of your follower/following and update counts at the top of the application, letting you track your success in, well, real-time.

TweetVisor does not feel as polished as the other applications, but it gets the job done in a major way. Some people are going to love it.

TwitHive:

The Linux of Twitter apps. You start with, well, nothing, and build “channels” for the incoming streams that you want. If you are tired of catered solutions, this might be for you. Updating requires opening a box, making power-tweeting difficult. If you built your last computer and are running Ubuntu, this might be just the thing for you.

Twitter.com:

An incomplete version of Twitter, that lacks the standard features that we are all accustomed to. Twitter.com only has three things going for it: access to full following/followers lists, the horrible new retweet function, and the ability to leave it be.

In Depth: 20 classic Apple App Store rejections

2009-12-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

In Depth: 20 classic Apple App Store rejections

from Techradar

There's no denying the App Store's success. With over 100,000 apps (some of which are actually rather good), there's plenty of choice, and the store's easy to use.

However, Apple's gatekeeper approach, requiring all apps - and even updates to approved apps - to be reviewed manually, can cause headaches.

At best, the process means critical bug-fix updates may take a week or more to reach the store. At worst, an app ends up in limbo, unavailable to the public while a developer tries to convince Apple their app's not doing anything wrong.

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice-president for worldwide product marketing, recently defended the review and approval process during a rare interview for BusinessWeek, and he claims the vast majority of App Store rejections are down to technical problems, rights infringements, and improper API usage.

However, since the App Store's launch in July 2008, Apple's also made outrageous, strange and flat-out bizarre decisions. Here are some of our favourites.

1. 0870

Simon Maddox's app automatically converts 0870 numbers into landline equivalents, leading to cheaper mobile calls. Although currently on the App Store, it was initially rejected, Apple claiming it "circumvent[ed] carrier features and policies".

2. Bobble Rep - 111th Congress Edition

Apple found to its cost that making a MAD artist mad is a mad thing to do. On rejecting the Tom Richmond-illustrated congressional representative bobble-head app, for the usual 'blah blah blah, objectionable, blah, offensive' reasons, a storm of protest rained on Apple's parade. Apple swiftly changed its tune.

3. Chess Wars

After sitting in the review queue for six weeks, an update to this chess app was rejected. Actually, what really happened was nothing at all, and after six weeks the dev ranted online, got some press, and caused Apple to wake up and contact him. And, no, Chess Wars didn't include naked chess piece orgies with machine-gun bloodbaths - its crime was chat bubbles too much like those in Apple's SMS app. Apple's advice: make them "less shiny". We're not kidding.

4. Convertbot

You'd think a unit conversion utility wouldn't fall foul of an App Store review, especially if several previous versions had made it to the store unscathed - but you'd be wrong. An eagle-eyed reviewer deemed the Convertbot Time icon too similar to the Recents icon in Apple's Phone app, and claimed users would get confused. We agree: after all, we often use unit-conversion apps to try and access our recent calls list. The app eventually returned and there was much rejoicing.

5. C64

Manomio's C64 emulates a Commodore 64 home computer from the 1980s. After several slightly dubious rejections due to Apple considering emulators against App Store policy, citing a clause in the SDK agreement that states apps may not "launch other executable code by any means," compromises eventually led to C64's acceptance. It was swiftly booted when Apple discovered you could access C64 BASIC via a workaround and, presumably, use it to hack into the Pentagon. An update is now online and BASICless.

6. Drivetrain

As everyone knows, BitTorrent is the most evil thing, ever. Or so Apple must have decided when it rejected Drivetrain, even though the app's merely a remote for BitTorrent client Transmission. Apple specifically reasoned: "This category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights," and so it's a good job all Macs don't come with built-in DVDRs that can be used to, say, infringe third party rights.

7. Eucalyptus

A harmless eReader that can only access the text from out-of-print titles on Project Gutenberg. Surely that would be safe from the reviews process? Nope. Someone found Eucalyptus could access the text from Kama Sutra, presumably went round screaming "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!", ignored the fact the text was accessible in dozens of other apps, including Safari, and smacked Eucalyptus with the reject-o-hammer. The app was eventually approved, but only with a ridiculous 17+ rating.

8. I Am Poor

A parody of $999.99 app I Am Rich, Catamount Software's I Am Poor took a staggering 11 months to be approved. Apple's argument centred around the app not providing user-accessible functionality, and in no way had anything to do with Apple not wanting further press regarding its iffy decision to remove I Am Rich from the App Store.

9. Macworld's iPhone and iPod Touch Superguide

When IDG created a digital app for their iPhone and iPod touch guide, little did they know Apple would say no to the app - for having 'iPhone' in its title, despite it, you know, being about the iPhone.

10. Murderdrome

Reportedly the first digital book to be banned by Apple, Murderdrome was in fact a future-sports comic that wouldn't have looked out of place in 2000 AD. Although all Apple apps can now have ratings, Murderdrome remains absent from the App Store.

11. nin: access

Supposedly, nin: access got rejected because 'The Downward Spiral' was within a podcast that could be streamed from the app. The volume of Reznor's music is nothing compared to the synchronised face-palm of thousands of iPhone-owning NIN fans who heard this news. The app was later approved entirely unchanged.

12. Ninjawords Dictionary

To be fair to Apple, there's more to the Ninjawords story than Apple rejecting the dictionary due to it including offensive words, which was the claim at the time. Schiller later said Apple actually took offence at 'urban slang' terms the app unearthed due to the open-source nature of its content. Still, the episode left a sour taste regardless, and the app's 17+ rating seems over the top.

13. Party Trampoline

"You can't have Obama and other politicians bouncing about on a giant trampoline - it's offensive," said Apple. "What if we cover their heads with huge paper bags?" asked the developer. "Sure - that'd be just dandy," said Apple, presumably as forty billion irony machines exploded in the background.

14. Pocket God

Surprisingly, even Bolt Creative's regularly updated Pocket God once suffered a rejection. It was twelfth time unlucky for the app when Apple decided the Something Fishy update violated Apple branding. It turns out an icon for 'gravity' - a simplified iPhone - was the cause. Replacing the icon got the app through, albeit too late for an amusing April Fool's Day gag to be relevant.

15. Podcaster

One of Apple's oddest rejections, podcast manager Podcaster didn't get the nod because Apple claimed it "duplicated functionality" - but of the desktop version of iTunes. The developer's since worked on RSS Player (depicted), version 2 of which is, ironically, in review at the time of writing.

16. Pull My Finger

Initially rejected due to "limited utility," Apple later relented and allowed Pull My Finger on to the App Store. About fifty billion fart apps have subsequently been approved, and we therefore somewhat sympathise with Apple on this one.

17. South Park

Oh my God, Apple killed South Park! Back in 2008, the app was rejected twice for being "potentially offensive," unlike, say, the seasons of South Park for sale on iTunes, or the South Park movie for sale on iTunes, which boasts the memorable song 'Shut your F**king Face, Uncle F**ker'.

IMAGE CREDIT: Boing Boing

18. Start Mobile Wallpaper Gallery

What's that? You think Apple would be fine with an app on its store that has a pocket-sized version of the Obama 'Hope' image that hangs in the Smithsonian? Nope. It was rejected, hilariously, for "ridiculing public figures". Clearly, the Apple reviewer hated art, Democrats, or both. The app was eventually approved via 'expedited review'.

19. StarTime

This Star Trek homage clock was beamed up to the sin-bin for "resemblance to a well-known third-party mark," despite using no official imagery nor using the phrase 'Star Trek'. It was eventually approved with minor changes.

20. Tweetie

An update for this Twitter client had the bad luck to get reviewed when a rather rude word was trending on Twitter. It was therefore booted due to offensive content - content every other Twitter client (and Safari) could access that day. Approved after resubmission and a swift lesson to the App Store review team regarding Twitter trends. Tweetie has since been superseded by Tweetie 2.

45 Breathtaking Examples of Slow Shutter Speed Photography

2009-12-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

45 Breathtaking Examples of Slow Shutter Speed Photography

from smashingapps.com

For today’s post, we have piled up dazzling slow shutter speed photos that will take your breath away. Using slow shutter speed photography can be a totally different phenomenon if you get it right. You can use it to inspire others, or to capture light painting, or may be some smooth water effects, or it can be anything else. So here it is an amazing collection of slow shutter speed photography for your inspiration. This is an introductory post on this style of photography, hope you’ll like this.

Niagara Falls by Night

Amusement Ride

Fire and water

Super S.

Summon Light

Forest Portal

Fruit

Circuit Of Iridescence

Serenity 2

Light Effects

Flowers

Xavier Rey

Tribal

Serenity

Crossover

Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

L’ echelle

Slide

Slow Shutter

Shanghai – Bund Sightseeing Tunnel

Araluen Creek

Gummy Bear

Waterfall

Racing Stars

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

A Better Day

Venizia in Malaysia

Play Land

Flame Wall

Jesse Suchoff

Diego Haristoy

Bronxville Falls

Derek Carpenter

Light streaks

Super Spinning Streaks

Light Effect

The Yellow House Session

Wagner Rides

Dusk

Knapp’s Castle, Electrified

Long

Disney – Illimunations

The Starseed Lure

Öxarárfoss

15+ great Google Chrome extensions

2009-12-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

15+ great Google Chrome extensions

by Lee Mathews from downloadsquad.com

We've already mentioned other ways to power up Google Chrome. Before extensions arrived on the developer channel, Userscripts and bookmarklets were your only options. Both are still great ways to add some kick-ass functionality to Chrome. If you're running the stable or beta builds, you may want to stick to them for now.

10 handy Userscripts for Google Chrome users
15+ handy bookmarklets for Google Chrome (and other browsers, too!)

Now, onto the extensions!

If you have a favorite that I left off, feel free to share it in the comments!
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The big three

AdBlock+ [click to install]
Probably the most frequent reason users say they won't switch from Firefox is "No ABP for Chrome." Check again. It's available, and while it doesn't have quite the same amount of element-blocking-fu that the Firefox version does, ABP for Chrome is still awesome. There are two things you need to know:

The button may be blank. As you can see in my screenshot, there's no visible icon. If this happens, just mouse around to the left of the wrench menu icon until the AdBlock+ tooltip appears.
Ads aren't blocked until you subscribe to a list.
To subscribe click the icon and select preferences, pick a list, check the box marked convert and use blocking rules, press the subscribe button, then click save under the global filters textbox. All done, click close at the bottom (or close the tab itself).

FlashBlock [click to install]

My personal preference is to not use adblockers. After all, those adverts allow us to pay writers for the content you read here on AOL. I do, however, roll with FlashBlock - because I don't like have page load times killed by oversized Flash animations. Add FlashBlock and Flash elements won't play unless you click them.

LastPass [click to install]
LastPass was one of my favorite extensions for Firefox, so I was thrilled when Joe Siegrist at LastPass told me he had a Chrome Extension ready to test.

LastPass is, simply put, one of the best secure password managers and generators around. You can see the Chrome extension in action in my previous post. It rocks, and I wouldn't surf without it.

Xmarks [visit the Xmarks beta site to register & download]
Xmarks has become an incredibly popular bookmark syncing tool. It's a longtime favorite of Firefox users and the Chrome version - though only in alpha testing - looks like it will be every bit as good.

Two options worth knowing about:

Encryption: by default, Xmarks only encrypts logins. In the options screen, you can tell it to encrypt all communication.
Automatic sync: want your extension to periodically update changes in the background? Set this option so you don't have to perform manual syncs.

Eleven more worth trying out!

SmoothScroll [click to install] Yet another Firefox favorite that users demanded for Chrome. If you find Chrome's default scrolling a bit too choppy, this extension will be a welcome addition.

Session Saver [click to install]
Sure, Chrome can automatically restore the tabs from your last bit of web browsing, but what if you want the ability to restore a sets of tabs from a specific session? Session Saver allows you to manually save an entire set of Chrome windows and tabs (or just the current window) for easy restoration at any time.

Google Reader Checker [click to install] [Chrome 4/developer only]
For the sake of productivity, I do my best to keep Google Reader closed until I have a minimum number of unread items. Otherwise, I find myself checking it all too often. Google Reader Checker adds a button with an unread count to Chrome - making it easy for me to see when I need to catch up on feed reading.

Minimize to Tray (Windows only) [click to install]
Want some extra room on your taskbar when you don't need Chrome front and center? Install Minimize to Tray and the Chrome is discretely tucked away in the system tray.

Vince's Clock [click to install]
The browser in Google Chrome OS is going to have a clock somewhere on its interface. Want one in Chrome right now? Vince's Clock adds one to your bookmarks toolbar. This is also useful if you set your taskbar to autohide but still want the time displayed somewhere prominent. Hover over the analog clock, and the extension also displays the current date.

With certain themes the clock is a bit hard to see -- hopefully the developer will add an option to customize the font color.

gPDF [click to install]
Another feature of Chrome OS is that the browser will intercept certain document types and display them using Google's own web-based viewer. gPDF can add that functionality right now -- at least for Adobe Acrobat files.

The extension looks at links on your current web page and rewrites the links to add the necessary bits to open them Google Viewer. This actually adds a bit of security to your browser -- since you're not opening files locally using a potentially vulnerable app like Adobe Reader.

Mouse Stroke [click to install]
Wish Chrome had mouse gesture support? Wish no more! Grab this extension and you can perform a variety of browsing maneuvers using only your mouse.

Tablet and touchscreen users: you may also want to take a look at ChromeTouch. It's made to let you take advantage of your screen's touch fu.

Click & Clean [click to install]
HotCleaner provides browser add-ons for Firefox, IE, and now Chrome that add 1-click cleanup of your cookies, browsing and history. Click & Clean sports several options, including the ability to launch an external application when you click the TP roll icon.

Bubble Translate [click to install]
A number of the blogs I read link to non-English sites. Unfortunately, like Corbin Dallas my linguistic skills are mostly limited to English and Bad English. Well, that and Spanish.

Bubble Translate taps into Google's multilingual conversion engine and translates selected text on any web page into your selected native tongue (set it in the extension's options screen). You can also customize the bubble and text color to your liking.

WOT/ WebOfTrust [click to install]
This is another extension I was glad to see arrive on Chrome. WOT provides community-powered trust and safety ratings for web pages. Not only will WOT mark links for you as safe and unsafe, it'll also block potentially harmful pages with a large, red warning screen if you happen to wind up on one.

Tabs to the Front [click to install]
You can always just hold down shift + control + click to force links in a new tab to load in the foreground, or you can install this extension. If keyboard-free browsing is your style, Tabs to the Front is a nice extension to add.

All-In-One Credit Card

2009-12-14T04:21:00.000-08:00

All-In-One Credit Card

from Yanko Design by Radhika Seth

Quite a few of us use multiple credit cards and every time one card expires, its plastic adds to the trash. So do the numerous receipts that we accumulate after swiping our CC. The fundamental of the One Card Electronic Card is quite simple; it wants to eliminate the trash (and resolve issues like identity theft via discarded expired CCs) by proposing to be this all-credit-cards-in-one device. On one end of the gadget is a Memory Card Slot that will help the user upload their various CC Details.

The other end has a turning-knob that allows one to choose the appropriate Credit Card to be swiped. The display on the device reflects an identical copy of the CC front, while the strip on the back mimics a CC’s magnetic strip. Once the transaction is completed, the receipt generated is displayed on the device (no paper receipt) and the info gets stored on the memory card.

The concept is pretty clear in what it wants to achieve, namely combine all cards that a person uses under one umbrella, reduce generation of paper/plastic trash, identity security etc. The only block is the compatibility with various banks and the willingness of people to rely on a gadget for daily CC transactions. Yes, we do use online, virtual services, but something like this is quite different.

Designer: Kim Young Suk