Below are our latest results; a short clip promoting RenovateRite, Inc; a Pittsburgh based remodeling and renovation company. This won’t be the final version but until then, check it . . . → Read More: Having Fun with After Effects]]> We’ve had some opportunities come our way lately and as a result we’ve been spending considerable time re-learning Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects.

Below are our latest results; a short clip promoting RenovateRite, Inc; a Pittsburgh based remodeling and renovation company. This won’t be the final version but until then, check it out and let us know what you think.

Whether you just want to brush up on your skills or are just learning how, this is a definite must read for anyone wanting to learn how to really use Google Search to it’s fullest potential.

Well, maybe you don’t but at TECH Incorporated, we certainly do. But there’s always been one problem; normal football tees just don’t cut it when it comes to Geek Appeal … Until now.

Want to grab one for yourself? Visit our Zazzle . . . → Read More: Steelers Fans Love Linux]]>

Well, maybe you don’t but at TECH Incorporated, we certainly do. But there’s always been one problem; normal football tees just don’t cut it when it comes to Geek Appeal … Until now.

Want to grab one for yourself? Visit our Zazzle Store.

Last week Android Police reported that the Official Support Documentation has appeared on Verizon’s site. A “giving tipster” was also nice enough to . . . → Read More: Official Verizon Gingerbread for the HTC Droid Incredible]]> There has been a lot of talk lately as to whether the HTC Droid Incredible would be getting Gingerbread or not and it’s time to put it to and end.

Last week Android Police reported that the Official Support Documentation has appeared on Verizon’s site. A “giving tipster” was also nice enough to provide them with an exclusive leak of the Gingerbread RUU that according to their site, is believed to be the final build as it shares the same version number as Verizon’s documentation (4.06.605.2), and the same baseband (2.15.10.07.07).

According to the Verizon Documentation, Gingerbread brings the following features and enhancements to an already rock solid phone:

Download Manager App:

• New App to manage all of your downloads from web browsing, email attachments & other apps.
• App & Power Management Details: Under Manage Applications, a new “Running” tab displays a list of active applications and the storage & memory being used by each.
• Improved Word Selection & Copy Functionality:  New capability to select a word via press-hold. A second press of the selected word copies the selected characters.

Messaging

• MMS messages send correctly.
• Properly save audio files from MMS messages.
• Successfully play audio files from a message.
• Send Vcard through a SMS message.

Connection

• Internet connection via Bluetooth® now enabled.
• VZ Navigator™ now operates over Wi-Fi.

Additional Features

• Change songs in the Music widget by tapping the forward button.
• Camera functions successfully without inserting SD card.
• City ID app fixed.

For those experienced with flashing firmware and BIOS’s the Installation Instructions from Android Police’s site are as follows.

• Download this file (Mirror) (MD5: 096d841530dd2f223ef4a1b701c7d429)
• Rename the file to PB31IMG.zip.
• Drop it on the root of the SD Card.
• Boot into the bootloader by holding down the VOLUMEDOWN key and pressing the Power button.
• Flash as usual.

Please ensure you have backed up your SD card and formatted it as FAT32 prior to copying the file or the flash will not be successful.

For more information on Gingerbread for the HTC Droid Incredible and Android Phones in general, please pay the people at Android Police a visit.

Please be advised that TECH Incorporated is not in any way responsible if you should damage, brick, or destroy your device.

H.R. 1981 – The Internet Snooping Bill

Last week the US . . . → Read More: Protecting Your Privacy Part 1: The Internet Snooping Bill – PCFIPA of 2011]]> This is part 1 of a series on protecting your privacy online. In the next few posts we hope to educate you about the threats your privacy is now facing, particularly online, and to show you what you can do to protect yourself.

H.R. 1981 – The Internet Snooping Bill

Last week the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would require all commercial Internet Providers to store customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and temporarily-assigned IP addresses for a period of one year.  An identical bill has been introduced in the Senate and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary committee for hearings.

To make it difficult for those who politically oppose the bill, supporters have named it the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 (H.R. 1981/S.R. 1308), but the logs collected would be available to police in any criminal investigation and, possibly, lawyers in cases like divorce & insurance fraud.

According to CNET News, Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who led Democratic opposition to the bill said it represents “a data bank of every digital act by every American” that would “let us find out where every single American visited Web sites.”

Civil Liberties groups and privacy advocates oppose the bill outright and the ACLU is calling it a direct assault against Internet users.

How to protect your privacy

So, by now your probably asking “What does this have to do with me?” and “How can I protect myself from this?”

During this series on Internet Privacy we will show you how to protect yourself from Mandatory Data Retention laws and keep your personal data private.

In part 1 we talk about using VPN’s to protect your security while online and introduce you to ibVPN, an affordable VPN solution with over 8 years in the industry and a solid reputation for being among the best personal VPN services.

What is VPN?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Networking and is a secure and reliable way to access the internet. A VPN acts as a “middle man” between you and the internet by encrypting and redirecting your traffic through your VPN provider’s secure servers. This hides your IP address and prevents prying eyes from learning your location, operating system, browser, and reading private network packets.

VPN’s are useful for a number of reasons:

• Hide your IP address to protect your identity and location
• Secure your internet connection when using public wi-fi and hot spots
• Create a safe, secure environment for banking or shopping
• Your company or school blocks Skype
• You are visiting, work, or live in a country that monitors and censors internet traffic
• You want to use a service that is restricted in your area

ibVPN is just one of many personal VPN providers but because they have been in business for 8 years, and have a great reputation, it is the VPN service I will be focusing on in this post.

Some of the features included with ibVPN are:

• VPN servers in multiple countries including; US, CA, UK, DE, NL, IE, FR, CH
• Access Hulu, BBC Iplayer, Pandora, Zattoo, Netflix anywhere
• Secure payment options
• Surf the web safe and anonymous
• PPTP, L2TP and OpenVPN available
• Unblock VOIP Applications

ibVPN offers a free account that allows you to try the service out for two hours from the moment you sign up. If you like it, you can then sign up for one of their Standard, Premium, or Multi packages.

The features of the Standard and Premium packages are the same, with the Premium package offering access to servers in more countries. At the time of this writing, the Standard package costs $4.95/month and the Premium package costs $7.95/month. They also offer a Multi package for families and businesses who would like to connect more than one computer simultaneously.

ibVPN works on any PC and is compatible with:

• Windows XP and Windows Vista
• Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/Windows 7
• Mac OS X 10.2 and higher
• Android, WM Smartphones, iPhone, iPad
• Linux
• Any PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN compatible device/software
• VPN client available for PPTP users as well

After you’ve signed up for an account and downloaded the client, installation is a snap. For detailed installation and setup instructions check out their knowledgebase.

If your looking for a free VPN solution take a look at VPN Reactor.  Free accounts are restricted by a 30 minute time limit per connection and outgoing emails (SMTP) are blocked.

Join us for Part 2 in our series about privacy where we explain how to configure and use TOR and talk about how to remove your name and information from Background Check websites.

For more information on Mandatory Data Retention and how it affects you, check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Tell your Representatives to oppose the Data Retention Bill

Pidgin is a free, open source, universal chat client that can connect to a variety of chat networks at once like; Facebook, Google . . . → Read More: Don’t like Facebook’s new chat feature? Try Pidgin IM]]> It’s been a couple weeks since Facebook launched their redesigned chat interface and I still can’t get used to it. In fact, I think it’s horrible. Thankfully there’s Pidgin instant messenger.

Pidgin is a free, open source, universal chat client that can connect to a variety of chat networks at once like; Facebook, Google Talk, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and many others. Pidgin is available for Windows, MAC OS X, and Linux.

In this post we are going to show you how to configure Pidgin to work with Facebook.

The first thing you want to do is download and install the latest copy of Pidgin. While Pidgin is a cross platform application, we will be focusing on getting it installed and configured in Windows.

The latest version can be found HERE.

The install is VERY straight forward. Select your language, and after reading and agreeing to the GNU General Public License, continue the install with the default options selected. Once finished, you will be asked if you want to start Pidgin now. Put a check in the box and click Finish.

When you launch Pidgin for the first time you will see Welcome Screen. To get started, click Add.

The “Add Account” window opens and you are presented with several options for adding a new account.

The first thing you want to do is select the chat Protocol you want to use. Since we are connecting to Facebook Chat, we will select Facebook (XMPP).

Next enter your Facebook Username. You can find this by logging into Facebook and clicking on your profile name. Your user name will then appear in your browser’s address bar. Example: http://www.facebook.com/USERNAME.

If you haven’t already setup your Facebook username, from within Facebook, go to Account > Account Settings to enable it.

Your Password is the same one that you use to log into Facebook.

Once you have all the necessary information entered, click ADD. The Pidgin chat interface will then appear displaying your Facebook friends.

You can now use Pidgin to chat with your Facebook friends.

Adding new accounts is just as easy. In the main chat window, go to Accounts, and select Manage Accounts. A new window will open with options to manage existing accounts or add a new one. Click Add, this will open the Add Account window. From the Protocol drop down, select the type of new account you would like to add.

Interested in integrating Facebook chat into Firefox? Check out the Facebook ChatBar+ add-on.

  . . . → Read More: Pitcairn Elementary Closes – Candlelight Vigil]]> June 8th 2011 at the closing of Pitcairn Elementary. Speakers are Former Pitcairn Council Member Clair Thomas; Former Mayor of Pitcairn Frank Rizzo, Current Mayor of Pitcairn John McCreary, Council Member Elect John Bova, Gateway Teacher Mark Wallace, and students and teachers of Pitcairn Elementary.

Light Graffiti, or Light Painting is the practice of creating long exposures while you “draw” or “paint” with light. The result are photographs that contain glowing objects and shapes. Light . . . → Read More: Light Graffiti: A fun family evening activity for a long weekend.]]> Looking for something to do this Memorial Day weekend? Why not grab the kids, get out of the house and try some Light Graffiti.

Light Graffiti, or Light Painting is the practice of creating long exposures while you “draw” or “paint” with light. The result are photographs that contain glowing objects and shapes. Light Graffiti is completely legal, non-destructive, easy to do, and a lot of fun.

To get started you will need the following:

1 Digital Camera – Digital SLR’s work best but any digital point and shoot with a manual mode and the ability to set exposure time will work. All these photos were taken with a canon PowerShot SD790IS.

A Tripod or other way keep your camera still. – Because of the long exposure time, it is necessary to keep your camera as still as possible.

An assortment of flashlights, LED lights, glow sticks, etc. – Grab some lights in assorted shapes, sizes and colors. This is what you will be “painting” with. We’ve even used lights from our cell phones and smart phone users can download a variety of apps made specifically for Light Graffiti.

You will also need a dark environment.

Now that you got all your supplies, it’s time to set up your camera and get started.

All camera’s differ in features and functionality but what you want to do now is place your camera on the tripod , set it to about ISO 100 and close the aperture to it’s smallest setting (F22). You also want to make sure the flash is turned completely off. If you don’t know how, consult your camera’s manual. If you don’t have your manual, you can try looking at the Camera Manual Library HERE.

Next you want to set your camera’s exposure between 10 and 30 seconds and focus it on the area where you will be “painting”. We’ve found this is easiest to do if you have someone in that area already with a light shining on themselves.

Once that’s done you’re ready to start. Just stand in the area you focused your camera on, have a friend snap the picture and begin drawing with the different lights you have gathered. Each type of light creates it’s own effect so don’t be afraid to experiment.

Tips & Tricks

If you have a timer or remote for your camera, use it. This allows you to get into place and ready before the picture is taken.

Experiment with adjusting your ISO settings and opening your aperture. We have been able to take some decent photos in very well lit areas this way.

Try “painting” over water and reflective surfaces to get some interesting “mirrored” effects.

Most importantly, have fun. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to create Light Graffiti.

To view more of TECH Incorporated’s Light Graffiti photos, Visit our Flickr Set

In honor of those . . . → Read More: National Police Week 2011 – 25% Labor Discount for ALL Law Enforcement Officers]]> In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week following that date to be Police Week. Each year, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from across the globe visit Washington, DC in honor of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

In honor of those fallen Officers and those who continue to serve, TECH Incorporated would like to extend a 25% discount on labor* for all of our Home and Small Business computer services to all Police Officers and their immediate families. For those of you who are outside of our service area, we are also offering a 25% discount on all of our remote services.

The discount is valid May 15th through May 21st, 2011. To take advantage of it give us a call at 1-412-350-9708 or 1-888-301-0307. You can also fill our form HERE.

To learn more about National Police Week visit:

National Police Week 2011

Concerns Of Police Survivors

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Thank you,

TECH Incorporated

*Offer valid for Law Enforcement Officers and their immediate families. 25% discount applies to labor and remote services only and does not apply to hardware or software purchased through TECH Incorporated.

A permit is required to use the dumpsters. These can be obtained free of charge . . . → Read More: Pitcairn Community Cleanup Day 2011]]> Saturday April 16th, 2011 is Pitcairn Community Cleanup Day. Come out and join your friends and neighbors in cleaning up our town.