Tech N Life

Some Safety Tips On Properly Erasing or Destroying A Hard Drive

2010-03-19T19:12:36Z

: Image via CrunchBase

Take a moment and think about all of the sensitive data kept on your computer. Account passwords, addresses, phone numbers, access to bank accounts and other financial services, and maybe even your social security number. Almost every aspect of your identity is kept on this little machine. Now imagine you want a new one. So, you go out and buy a shiny new laptop. What do you do with the old one? Just toss it, right?

Wrong! If you just throw out your old computer, all of that personal information is still available to any tech-savvy thief. Merely deleting a file in the traditional fashion will not truly “delete” it. With a few techniques, a file sent to the recycle bin and emptied can be recovered if the deletion was recent enough.

So how can you erase a hard drive completely? Well, there a few techniques that anyone can employ to protect their identity.

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that the following software and techniques will ERASE your hard drive and you will not be able to get your data back. That’s the whole point.

Formatting

Most people’s first instinct would be to just reformat their drive to get rid of data. But there are all sorts of formatting that can be done.

First, you can perform what is called a high level format. Sometimes, this is referred to as a quick format. This method is not secure seeing as it only erases the boot sector and partition table, thus leaving all of the other files intact and accessible through purpose built software.

There is also low level formatting, referred to officially as “disk reinitialization.” This process goes through your disk and sets values to zero and will erase a hard drive completely.

For more advanced users, you can also change the number of passes that the format goes through. The more passes, the more secure it will be because the format goes through the disk the specified number of times and writes over the information with junk.

As you would expect, more passes take more time, but more passes means your data is better scrambled and harder to recover.

This process sounds like it would do the trick, but there are some catches. If you use a different file system than the one used to originally format the disk, or if you have multiple partitions, not all of your data will be thoroughly erased.

Thus, formatting the disk is not the preferable way to really, securely erase your data. Instead, there are some freeware tools you can use to make sure your information is gone.

If you do want to go the reformat route, MakeUseOf already has some good articles on how to do that here and here. You may have to use your OS disk, or software that came with your drive to perform the format you want.

Darik’s Boot And Nuke

If you checked out Varun’s article linked above, you’ll notice he mentions Darik’s Boot and Nuke. Let’s take a closer look at that tool.

DBAN, as it is shortened, is a nice little application that lets you completely erase your data. You can download it for Intel/AMD machines and Apple Power Mac machines by clicking “Downloads” at the top of the home page. You should see the following.

Download the ISO for your system and burn it to a disk. Next, pop the disk into your hard drive and boot from it. This may require you to press F12 at the BIOS screen (the first screen you see when your computer boots up) and choose to boot from your CD/DVD drive. After the CD boots up, you should see the following.

Hit Enter and the program should boot a few things up before settling on the next screen.

Hit Space when the arrow is pointing at the disk you want to wipe and hit F10 to start the process. The process will start and you should see something like this.

Let it run through the whole process and you should get a screen letting you know the process was successful.

DBAN is easy and performs well. There are other options to get rid of your data for good.

Get Physical

The absolute best way to make sure your data is completely gone is to just destroy the drive. Clearly, this is only an option if you are going to dispose of the drive afterwards.

There are a few ways to go about this. You could get some high powered magnets and wipe the drive a few times with them. This scrambles all the data that is written magnetically on the disk.

Another option is to wail on the drive a few times with a hammer. Please remember to wear proper safety accessories such as safety glasses when using tools.

Finally, you can always take the drive apart to make sure the disk gets completely demolished. To do this though, you will probably need a special T9 torx screwdriver. Or, you can try to simply pry the thing apart, but please, as before, use proper safety measures.

On top of making sure you completely sure your information is gone, this can work out to be a good stress reliever.

Now you have the tools to make sure your identity is safe if you want to get rid of an old hard drive. Know of any other tools or methods? Let us know in the comments below.

: Image via CrunchBase

via MakeUseOf

Remove Malware With Sys Internals Autoruns

2010-03-18T18:53:39Z

There are many anti-malware programs out there that will clean your system of nasties, but what happens if you’re not able to use such a program? Autoruns, from SysInternals (recently acquired by Microsoft), is indispensable when removing malware manually.

There are a few reasons why you may need to remove viruses and spyware manually:

Perhaps you can’t abide running resource-hungry and invasive anti-malware programs on your PC
You might need to clean your mom’s computer (or someone else who doesn’t understand that a big flashing sign on a website that says “Your computer is infected with a virus – click HERE to remove it” is not a message that can necessarily be trusted)
The malware is so aggressive that it resists all attempts to automatically remove it, or won’t even allow you to install anti-malware software
Part of your geek credo is the belief that anti-spyware utilities are for wimps

Autoruns is an invaluable addition to any geek’s software toolkit. It allows you to track and control all programs (and program components) that start automatically with Windows (or with Internet Explorer). Virtually all malware is designed to start automatically, so there’s a very strong chance that it can be detected and removed with the help of Autoruns.

We have covered how to use Autoruns in an earlier article, which you should read if you need to first familiarize yourself with the program.

Autoruns is a standalone utility that does not need to be installed on your computer. It can be simply downloaded, unzipped and run (link below). This makes is ideally suited for adding to your portable utility collection on your flash drive.

When you start Autoruns for the first time on a computer, you are presented with the license agreement:

After agreeing to the terms, the main Autoruns window opens, showing you the complete list of all software that will run when your computer starts, when you log in, or when you open Internet Explorer:

To temporarily disable a program from launching, uncheck the box next to it’s entry. Note: This does not terminate the program if it is running at the time – it merely prevents it from starting next time. To permanently prevent a program from launching, delete the entry altogether (use the Delete key, or right-click and choose Delete from the context-menu)). Note: This does not remove the program from your computer – to remove it completely you need to uninstall the program (or otherwise delete it from your hard disk).

Suspicious Software

It can take a fair bit of experience (read “trial and error”) to become adept at identifying what is malware and what is not. Most of the entries presented in Autoruns are legitimate programs, even if their names are unfamiliar to you. Here are some tips to help you differentiate the malware from the legitimate software:

If an entry is digitally signed by a software publisher (i.e. there’s an entry in the Publisher column) or has a “Description”, then there’s a good chance that it’s legitimate
If you recognize the software’s name, then it’s usually okay. Note that occasionally malware will “impersonate” legitimate software, but adopting a name that’s identical or similar to software you’re familiar with (e.g. “AcrobatLauncher” or “PhotoshopBrowser”). Also, be aware that many malware programs adopt generic or innocuous-sounding names, such as “Diskfix” or “SearchHelper” (both mentioned below).
Malware entries usually appear on the Logon tab of Autoruns (but not always!)
If you open up the folder that contains the EXE or DLL file (more on this below), an examine the “last modified” date, the dates are often from the last few days (assuming that your infection is fairly recent)
Malware is often located in the C:\Windows folder or the C:\Windows\System32 folder
Malware often only has a generic icon (to the left of the name of the entry)

If in doubt, right-click the entry and select Search Online…

The list below shows two suspicious looking entries: Diskfix and SearchHelper

These entries, highlighted above, are fairly typical of malware infections:

They have neither descriptions nor publishers
They have generic names
The files are located in C:\Windows\System32
They have generic icons
The filenames are random strings of characters
If you look in the C:\Windows\System32 folder and locate the files, you’ll see that they are some of the most recently modified files in the folder (see below)

Double-clicking on the items will take you to their corresponding registry keys:

Removing the Malware

Once you’ve identified the entries you believe to be suspicious, you now need to decide what you want to do with them. Your choices include:

Temporarily disable the Autorun entry
Permanently delete the Autorun entry
Locate the running process (using Task Manager or similar) and terminating it
Delete the EXE or DLL file from your disk (or at least move it to a folder where it won’t be automatically started)

or all of the above, depending upon how certain you are that the program is malware.

To see if your changes succeeded, you will need to reboot your machine, and check any or all of the following:

Autoruns – to see if the entry has returned
Task Manager (or similar) – to see if the program was started again after the reboot
Check the behavior that led you to believe that your PC was infected in the first place. If it’s no longer happening, chances are that your PC is now clean

Conclusion

This solution isn’t for everyone and is most likely geared to advanced users. Usually using a quality Antivirus application does the trick, but if not Autoruns is a valuable tool in your Anti-Malware kit.

Keep in mind that some malware is harder to remove than others. Sometimes you need several iterations of the steps above, with each iteration requiring you to look more carefully at each Autorun entry. Sometimes the instant that you remove the Autorun entry, the malware that is running replaces the entry. When this happens, we need to become more aggressive in our assassination of the malware, including terminating programs (even legitimate programs like Explorer.exe) that are infected with malware DLLs.

Shortly we will be publishing an article on how to identify, locate and terminate processes that represent legitimate programs but are running infected DLLs, in order that those DLLs can be deleted from the system.

Download Autoruns from SysInternals

yoU NeEd ThiS Tip – How To Force A Printer To Cancel A Print Job

2010-03-18T18:32:44Z

There are two big annoyances with Printers, one is when Windows cannot kill the print job and second is when the paper is stuck. In both situations hitting the Cancel button is useless, since Windows can in fact never kill the print job while the temp file is created and the job is still in use.

To fix this issue, you need to first open the task manager, stop spoolsv.exe service, and then delete everything inside the following directory,

C:\windows\system32\spool\printers\

Now open Run dialog box, enter spoolsv.exe and hit Enter. Doing this will run the spoolsv.exe service again.

If you face this problem frequently, why not create a simple batch file which can perform all these actions for you? To do so, copy the following text in the notepad and save it as “AddictiveTipsFixPrinter.bat”:

@echo off
echo Stopping print spooler.
echo.
net stop spooler
echo Erasing Temporary Junk Printer Documents
echo.
del /Q /F /S “%systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers\*.*
echo Starting print spooler.
echo.
net start spooler

To make it easier, we have provided the batch file below. All you need to do is to double-click it and try printing again.

If you have Lexmark printer, you need to add the following code after the “net stop spooler” command:

sc config spooler depend= RPCSS

This is important because Lemark printer can seriously mess up the services and makes it impossible to start the print spooler. Thanks goes to Print Flush for the code.

VIA Addictive

Google To Bring Out Their Own TV Set Top Boxes

2010-03-18T18:35:50Z

We knew vaguely that Google was looking toward the living room, but the NYTimes has the details on Google TV, an ambitious platform to deliver web content to Android-based set-top boxes and TVs through partnerships with Sony, Intel, and Logitech.

Google hopes that the new platform will succeed where dozens of lesser efforts have failed—to truly and seamlessly integrate web content onto TVs, bringing services like Twitter and sites like YouTube, in addition to games, webapps, and, of course, Google’s search, to the big screen. The Google TV software reportedly includes a version of Google’s Chrome browser for doing some light surfing, as well.

The Times says Google TV will be delivered on set-top boxes that use Intel Atom chips and run an Android-based platform, though the technology will also reportedly be built directly into Blu-ray players and TVs from Sony. Additionally, Google is working with Logitech to built a keyboard-equipped remote control for the platform.

Though spokespeople from the companies wouldn’t comment on the project, the Times notes that Intel and Logitech have recently put out job listings for programmers with Android experience.

Television is a relatively unexplored frontier for Google. It’s one of the few spaces left in which the company it is yet to extend its services (as well as its advertising.) But Google TV is far from a sure thing. Many companies have struggled to figure out the right user interface to finally make web on TV make sense. Google’s interfaces tend toward the functional, rather than the beautiful, but on a big screen, the sexiness factor cannot be ignored.

Bringing web content to TVs is a role that’s still very much up for grabs. If Google TV, which has reportedly been in works for months, is the right solution for the problem—Gmail was for web mail, Buzz was not for social networking—then it could very well could be the platform that finally brings the power of the internet to the realm of the couch-potato. [NY Times]

via Gizmodo

And Tech N Life Has Moved To A New Home!

2010-03-15T01:50:54Z

OKAY, honestly, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, a lot of websites made out that moving from one server type to another was very difficult.

I moved from an IIS Windows server to a Linux based server and did it in 4 steps.

I just have some last bits of tweaking to do and then its ready.

UPDATE

Thats all I can do for now. There a few bugs and missing images. Please let me know if you find any. I will fix them asap. Hopefully you find the site a little faster from here on in.

Tech N Life Closing Whilst Being Moved

2010-03-14T21:21:30Z

The time has finally come to move to a steady host. By the time you read this on your RSS readers and emails, the blog will be offline and hopefully moved to a new host.

With 500+ visitors per day, my little home server cant hack it. Well, it can if I stopped downloading torrents, but thats another story. It has gotten so bad that to write even this post, took about 10 attempts to load the page.

Victim of its own success I guess…

Anyway, talk soon…..

More Details And Pics Of The Dell Mini 5 Tablet – The Streak!

2010-03-10T10:44:53Z

Recently we looked a little at the pending release of the Dell mini 3. Here is its big brother the Mini 5 or possible release name of the Streak. Here is a little more detail from apparently “leaked” documents. Either way there are some pictures to get you motivated.

Current Specs We Know Of

5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen,
5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash,
capacitive touch front buttons,
front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting)
the 30-pin docking connector
Colours to choose from
launch with an Amazon content partnership

So if it does launch with all this loveliness and along with a built Amazon MP3 and eBook store then it is sure to fly. No price or date yet.

via Engadget

Sub $200 7″ Tablet From Freescale – Made For My Kitchen Wall

2010-03-10T10:31:01Z

I saw over on Engadget this new tablet made by Freescale. It is capable of running Android, Chromium OS and Linux. This screenshot isn’t really a great example cause the colour is UGGGLY!!!

Specs

7 inch Screen
Multi-OS compatibility
ARM Processor
$200

But the other colours are fine. I am so putting one of these on the kitchen wall. How cool is that? Anyway there is a geeky video for you to watch, to see it in action showing “not the most rehearsed” presentation, but still you’ll get the idea. The biggest concern is that in the video it demonstrates a resistive touch screen in stead of the normal Android friendly capacitive touch screen. This may mean the Android version may be more expensive.

Cook Your Own Roms For Android – RelentlessAppz ROM Roaster Review

2010-03-15T15:05:51Z

I recently told you about RelentlessAppz and their fantastic software called Relentless Command Centre. Well shortly after that was released, Sean Marsh contacted me about his newest “invention”. I have been playing with it for a couple of weeks. Its called RelentlessAppz ROM Roaster. Cool name, huh?

The idea is really simple. If like me, you are constantly on the look out for a decent ROM for your Android handset. You will find that every ROM you try is almost right. Just not exactly how you like. For example, being in Ireland, it always annoys me that I have to re-enter my APNs to get my data connection going whilst most others have them preset. Or when I reflash, the most essential app for me is Titanium Backup. Some chefs add them, some don’t.

Well, if you relate to all that and feel like having a little fun, then this is for you.

Relentless Appz ROM Roaster

This is a review of the software. Later I will write, not so much a how to as its pretty simple, but more of a tips and tricks of the software. Whilst Sean doesn’t get a gold star for his Photoshop skills , he does get bonus stars for making something that is usually out of the reach of the everyday user in to a simple click click affair.

Features

Add your own APN list
Add a custom boot screen and Launcher
Add your own fonts
Enable APPS2SD
Choose where apps get installed
Install specific keyboards
Add Social networks, Music apps and File sharing apps
Fine tune control over what apps get added at the beginning
Add superuser app
GREAT FUN!!!
32b Compatibility Mode -E.g Use a Hero ROM on a Dream/Magic

This is your control centre.

You need a base ROM to work with and load that into the interface. Then as you move along you add and remove features that not completely your liking. When you are done, you hit the turkey and flash your device.

If you need reminding on flashing devices just use the search button on this site.

PRICE: £4.99

Welcome To Our Latest Sponsor – Sunbelt Software

2010-03-15T02:13:52Z

This is a quick to shout out to say thanks to Sunbelt Software who are advertising their anti-virus software called Vipre. Its thanks to these guys that make this blog happen and I’d like you guys(readers) to hit their link on the side to see what they are doing.

Also, later this week I will have a review article on the anti-virus software package they have and comparing it to Microsofts Security Essentials.

Vipre Antivirus

New Feature – Ask A Tech Question, Get An Answer

2010-03-15T15:07:14Z

Ok, I am back on track today after a small set back between me and my dental surgeon. . I have not been writing much this past week but I have been finishing some features on the site.

I want to let you know about a new feature that is in development and will hopefully be finished today. Either way, it is now useable by you and I am just going to tidy up the page.

Ask A Techie

You’ll see on the top menu, there is an option for Ask A Techie. This is how it works. You add a comment on that page and we will respond with an answer either in the comments or in a full blown article or guide. Completely free and unlimited. So have some fun, ask those questions you were to embarrassed to ask your IT guy.

You can ask anything from how do I turn on the the stupid computer? to how do I install a network?

This feature came from the amount of email Tech N Life gets with very specific questions, which we will always encourage.

Use Your Speakers/Mic For Sonar Controlled PC’s

2010-03-04T20:55:26Z

Windows/Linux: Sleeping your computer is a useful way to save energy, but free utility SonarPM takes power management an awesome step further: It puts your computer to sleep automatically when you walk away from your desk—using sonar.

Almost any computer with speakers and a microphone can take advantage of this software, so most laptops are good to go. It works by emitting an inaudible frequency from your speakers, and detecting echoes with your microphone, determining whether you are sitting at your desk or not. If you get up, your computer will see that you have done so and automatically put your computer to sleep. Sure, you could always just use a hotkey, but this requires literally no energy on your part—and it’s sure to be a heck of a conversation starter.

The program is open source, so if you’ve got some tinkering skills, you can make it do all sorts of things when you walk away (as described in the video above by Tinkernut). If you just want the sleep functionality, you can still download and install the package and use it as-is (if you’re a Windows user, that is—Linux users need to compile from source—check the instructions on the site if you need help doing this). It doesn’t necessarily work with every microphone and speaker equipped computer, so test it out to see if it does with yours—you may need to calibrate it a few times before it works well (it took me a few tries and a little bit of waiting afterward before it started working in Windows on my MacBook Pro).

Sonar Power Manager is a free download for Windows and Linux systems. Sleeping your computer whenever you walk away seems a little heavy handed (do I really want to put my computer to sleep when I’m going to get a glass of water?), but the possibilities are endless, and if you are interested in bending it to your will, Tinkernut’s guide is an excellent place to start.

Sonar Power Manager [via Tinkernut] [via Lifehacker]

Photostage – Simple Photo Slide Shows For The Novice

2010-03-02T12:19:41Z

Photostage Slideshow Software

Create your own photo slideshow movies for free.

Creating a slideshow from your digital photos has never been easier. Photostage brings your pictures, images and video to life and lets you share your favorite memories with family and friends in an interesting and portable way.

The brief – make a slideshow program so easy to use that your Grandma could do it.
The result – Photostage.

With incredibly powerful features at your fingertips, Photostage lets you set your photos to a soundtrack, record your own narrations and overlay text captions.

PhotoStage is completely free.

Designed to be very easy and intuitive to use, Photostage will have you up and running within minutes. Simply download now and install. We make this software free in the hope you will like it so much you will try our other related software.

Completely Free Slideshow Creator

Full of effects! Includes zoom, crop and fade effects
Cool panning and zooming effects brings your photos to life.
Easy to share! Burn and present on TV, PSP, Mobile Phone and more…
Burn your slideshow to DVD for playback on TV, or as a standalone video file for enjoying on web and portable devices.
Enhance your photos! Easy to use photo enhancements
Touch up or enhance your photos and videos with ease.
Vista compatible! Add up to 1000 photos
Create up to 1000 photos in a slideshow, and it is fully compatible with Windows 2000 / XP / Vista

Slideshow Features

Stunning Transition Effects Panning and zooming effects let you bring your photos to life. Fade transition effect gives your slideshow that professional touch. Preview the effects in real time. Customize the duration of the effect.
Complete Photo Optimization Fine tune brightness, saturation and color for photos and video. Add your favorite photos with a click of a button. Crop, rotate and flip photos easily and preview the changes in real time. Add text captions to individual slides. Add video clips for a complete slideshow presentation.
Amazing Audio Tools Add music tracks to your slideshow. Record narrations with the click of a button. Import pre-recorded narrations Mix multiple music tracks together using our powerful MixPad Audio File Mixer
Share With Your Family and Friends Burn to DVD and watch in your living room on TV. Show off your latest pics and clips on PSP, iPod, iPhone, 3GP mobile phone or Pocket PC. Explore the most advanced way to burn HD DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. Output video files and share your creation with more friends on computer or through Internet.

Supports Many Media Formats

Input Formats:
- Image: bmp, gif, jpg, jif, jiff, jpeg, exif, png, tif, tiff, psd, tga, pcx, jp2, wmf, ico
- Audio: wav, mp3, mp2, mpga, m4a, ogg, avi, mid, flac, aac, wma, dct, au, aiff, ogg, raw, msv, dvf, vox, cda, atrac, gsm, dss, sri, shn, dss, msv, wmv and many more.
- Video: avi, mpeg, wmv, divX, Xvid, mpeg1, mpeg2, mpeg4, mp4, mov, asf, vob, ogm, .3gp, H.264, RM and many more.
Output Formats:
- Disc export: DVD, CD, Blu-ray Discs, HD-DVD
- Video export: avi, wmv, asf, mpg, 3gp, mp4, mov, iPod, iPhone, PSP, Mobile Phone, Pocket PC

System Requirements

Works on Windows 7 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008

Download Photostage Slideshow Creator

Once download is complete run the file “pstagesetup.exe” to install Photostage. When the file has installed, please select Help to view (or print) the complete manual.

Are Cheaper Mobile Internet Bills On The Way? EU Says So!

2010-03-02T09:12:45Z

EU moves to prevent ’shock’ mobile internet bills

Brussels wants people to more happy to access the internet when abroad

A new Europe-wide rule to prevent mobile phone users from building up large bills for surfing the internet via their handset has come into force.

Customers can now require their phone firm to cut them off when their bill reaches a certain level after accessing the internet in other European nations.

If users do not put in place a limit by 1 July, it will automatically be set at 50 euros ($65; £45).

The phone firms will have to warn users when their bill hits 80% of the limit.

Accessing the internet via your mobile phone while abroad is called “data roaming”.

European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, said: “Protection against data roaming bill shocks is a useful step towards building customers’ confidence to use mobile networks to surf the internet when travelling around Europe.

“Such confidence is essential if people and businesses are to use the internet to its full potential.”

The Commission added that if service providers did not honour people’s set spending limits, national regulators would deal with complaints and impose any necessary sanctions.

Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said the move was likely to reduce the cost of data roaming across Europe.

“This measure is likely to bring down the cost of data roaming, because if people stick to their own cash limits and find they don’t get much access to the internet for their money, the tendency will be to bring down prices so you get more surfing for your money,” he said.

Google Rolls Out New Gmail Features Today

2010-03-02T09:08:41Z

One of the lesser-known features of Gmail is its ability to help with multitasking. Frequently, I find that I need to find an old message while I’m composing an email. When this happens, I click on the “new window” icon to pop my compose area into its own window:

There’s only one problem — it’s been slow! Today, we’re rolling out a change that will fix this (reload your account to make sure you get this change). Now, popping out a window is much, much faster. No more “Loading…” progress bar.

There are a number of places you can pop up new windows in Gmail.

In chat, there’s the little upward arrow in the title bar:

When writing a message, hold the “Shift” key while you click on the Compose Mail, Reply, Reply All or Forward links and you’ll get a new window for your new message. (Holding the “Shift” key while typing the keyboard shortcut — in other words typing “C” “R” or “F” — has the same effect.)

When you’re reading your mail, hold the “Shift” key while you click on a message to open the conversation in a new window. (Same holds true for the “Shift” key and the “o” or “Enter” shortcuts.)

If you’re reading an email and want to save it for later, you can click the “New window” link in the upper-right hand corner of the conversation view:

Keep in mind that the popped out window does not outlive the closing of the original Gmail window, although we’re working on a way to make that better. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make this work in Internet Explorer, so to see the speed-up, you’ll need to be using Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, or Google Chrome.

Its Not You, Its Us – Playstation Network Down

2010-03-01T19:33:57Z

Sony PlayStation Network Outage Could Last 24 Hours

It may be some time until Sony PlayStation 3 owners can resume their usual online activities, according to a new blog post from Sony revealing it could take 24 hours to fix the glitch, which hit numerous users yesterday.

Sony has gone so far as to advise PS3 owners “do not use [their] PS3 system” until a fix has been issued.

News of the problem — which only affects owners of older PS3s — started to emerge yesterday. PlayStation has been keeping users updated via its Twitter feed.

“We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system,” explains Sony in the blog post.

As we’ve reported, the problems are related to the PlayStation Network, Sony’s online gaming service and store. As well as changing the PS3’s date, the bug signs users out of the PSN service, fails to display trophy data and also affects video playback.

“We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience cause,” says Sony. We will keep you updated with news on the fix.

How To Manage Your Child’s Geek Tendancies

2010-03-15T15:21:26Z

I have a daughter, aged 1.5 years. I guess watching me play with my phone, on my desktop clicking and tapping, on my laptop doing the same, all resulting in beeps and screen flashes captures a child’s interests and imaginations. So what can you do when they are this young but insist they need to use the PC. Lots, actually. And none of the solutions damage your settings or files. After all you want to encourage them as much as possible.

First up, BabySmash!

This is a program that gives them instant gratification for all their random and wild clicks on the mouse and taps on the keyboard. It takes up the full screen and locks them out of any of the desktop items.

Features

Smash on any keys
Draws letters, shapes, numbers
Keeps babies happy
Won’t harm your computer
New features added often

It offers a settings dialog so you can tune the “experience”. You may need to buy a new keyboard after a while though if your child is like mine. Or dig out an old one for them.

Its really good for hand-eye coordination. She is learning to control the mouse movement better and realize each key is different for a reason.

Soon she will be writing on the blog.

Its a free download and you can get it here – Baby Smash!

Secondly, Animal Sounds for Android

The desktop is only one part. So you need something for your phone too. I use Animal sounds to teach her the spellings, sounds and images of a particular animal. It doesn’t lock out the screen but has taught her what a touch screen is and how to use it with swipes.

Its an effective way of keeping her entertained and learning at the same time.

There is of course an options screen, again where you can fine tune things a little. Especially the sound control.

To get it, search for Animal Sounds on the market place and its free.

Here is their website – Linkedin Profile

Thirdly, Baby Go for Android and Blackberry

This one is good because it locks out your mobile screen so they can only learn and play. The creators website is fantastically designed. Below are the feature differences between the paid and free version. For me the free version is enough for now. I am sure she will grow out of it though and I will have to get the super version.

The site doesn’t indicate that its available for Android but a market search will show it up.

Feature	Baby Go – Free	Super Baby Go
Download here
Cost	Free	7 day Free Trial $5.99 USD
Keeps your child entertained and engaged	Yes	Yes
Protects your phone by intercepting all keys	Yes	Yes
Sends incoming phone calls directly to voicemail	Yes	Yes
Letter blocks with spoken letter names	Yes	Yes
Letter blocks with spoken names in French	Yes
Alphabet Zoo (Animals with names)	Yes
Number blocks with number names in English	Yes
Number blocks with number names in French	Yes
Cartoon numbers with number names (English and French)	Yes
Additional activities regularly added	Yes

I hope these have been useful and if there are some better ones out there, let me know in the comments.

Two New Archos Tablets Coming Soon

2010-03-01T12:40:22Z

Archos has just announced its brand new 7- and 8-inch Home Tablets, which both run Android and cost €149 ($203). For that layout, you’ll get a 600MHz ARM 9 processor, which won’t be breaking any (positive) records, but the Archos 7 you see above is a very svelte 12mm thin and weighs only 350g, making it an ideal web reading device if not a particularly potent multimedia consumer. You also get WiFi, 2GB of integrated memory on the cheaper versions and a battery that will last for seven hours of video or 44 hours of audio playback. The Archos 8 (pictured after the break) comes with a huge old bezel, hinting at its ability to double up as a picture frame, while sharing the 7’s other features, including price and thickness. The smaller device will be coming out in Europe this April, to be followed by its larger sibling in May.

via Engadget

Support Sunday: Upgrade Windows 7 RC To The Release Version

2010-02-28T16:44:25Z

You are most likely reading this article because you’ve install Windows 7 RC way back when and now have one day left. If you’ve tried to install the full retail/oem version and failed with the message below, then this guide is for you.

The Problem

Windows 7 checks whether or not the current version you are running is a pre-release copy, and prevents you from upgrading further. For reference purposes, this is the error you’ll see when you try and upgrade.

The Solution

The solution is to edit a file inside the Windows 7 DVD—which you’ll have to extract to the hard drive to proceed.

If you are using an ISO image for the installation progress, you can use the awesome 7-Zip utility to extract the ISO to a folder on the drive.
If you are using an actual DVD, you can simply copy all of the files from the DVD to a folder on your hard drive.

Once you’ve extract the files, browse down into the “sources” folder to find the cversion.ini file.

Once you’ve opened up the cversion.ini file, you’ll notice that the MinClient line has a value of 7233.0, and since the Windows 7 RC release is build 7100, you can understand why it’s not working.

All you need to do is change the MinClient value to something less than the current build you are using. For the RC release, you can change it to 7000.

Now you can simply launch the setup.exe file from within the folder, and do the upgrade directly from the hard drive. Once you’ve started the setup, click Install now.

Once you get to the type of installation screen, choose to Upgrade the existing install.

Once you reach the Compatibility Report screen (if it doesn’t show up at all, be happy about it), you’ll see the list of applications that probably won’t work once you upgrade. Realistically most of these apps will work just fine, but the important thing is that you’ll be able to upgrade.

Note: You could always smooth the upgrade process by removing any apps that have compatibility problems, before you do the upgrade.

At this point, the upgrade should start working, and will take a rather long time.

Important Notes

There are a few important things to keep in mind when you are upgrading to the final version:

The Windows 7 beta or RC releases were Ultimate edition, so you’ll only be able to upgrade to the RTM (final) if you are installing Ultimate Edition.
Whenever possible, you should really backup your files and do a clean install. There are less headaches this way, and you get the benefit of a nice clean profile.

Happy upgrading!

VIA HowToGeek

“It’s Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Android” – Nokia’s New Interface

2010-02-26T16:29:09Z

….Or iPhone for that matter. Symbian S60 v4 will be here in the next six months with handsets being released in the Q3-Q4 of 2010. They have made the much needed changes to the interface and this is, in my opinion, Nokia’s last chance to wow us. Why? Well around the exact same time, Microsoft are releasing their flagship ground breaking OS. Or will it be?

That’s a lot of pressure for both companies, especially given the ground Apple and Android have gained so quickly. With that in mind, it will a regular feature to see both companies “leaking” videos of each stage of development to keep interest. Here are two videos.

Tech N Life

Some Safety Tips On Properly Erasing or Destroying A Hard Drive

Formatting

Darik’s Boot And Nuke

Get Physical

Remove Malware With Sys Internals Autoruns

yoU NeEd ThiS Tip – How To Force A Printer To Cancel A Print Job

Google To Bring Out Their Own TV Set Top Boxes

And Tech N Life Has Moved To A New Home!

Tech N Life Closing Whilst Being Moved

More Details And Pics Of The Dell Mini 5 Tablet – The Streak!

Current Specs We Know Of

Sub $200 7″ Tablet From Freescale – Made For My Kitchen Wall

Specs

Cook Your Own Roms For Android – RelentlessAppz ROM Roaster Review

Relentless Appz ROM Roaster

﻿Features

Welcome To Our Latest Sponsor – Sunbelt Software

New Feature – Ask A Tech Question, Get An Answer

Ask A Techie

Use Your Speakers/Mic For Sonar Controlled PC’s

Photostage – Simple Photo Slide Shows For The Novice

Photostage Slideshow Software

Create your own photo slideshow movies for free.

Completely Free Slideshow Creator

Slideshow Features

Stunning Transition Effects

Complete Photo Optimization

Amazing Audio Tools

Share With Your Family and Friends

Supports Many Media Formats

System Requirements

Download Photostage Slideshow Creator

Are Cheaper Mobile Internet Bills On The Way? EU Says So!

EU moves to prevent ’shock’ mobile internet bills

Google Rolls Out New Gmail Features Today

Its Not You, Its Us – Playstation Network Down

Sony PlayStation Network Outage Could Last 24 Hours

How To Manage Your Child’s Geek Tendancies

First up, BabySmash!

Features

Secondly, Animal Sounds for Android

Thirdly, Baby Go for Android and Blackberry

Two New Archos Tablets Coming Soon

Support Sunday: Upgrade Windows 7 RC To The Release Version

“It’s Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Android” – Nokia’s New Interface

Features