tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76413258147546983212024-03-13T22:24:08.446-07:00Spy for FunVirgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-38974130840666593562010-09-17T00:53:00.000-07:002010-09-17T01:16:35.338-07:00Samsung launches Guru E2152 in India, priced Rs 3550<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/TJMjt-6VIkI/AAAAAAAADjE/1NEwHEzyjb0/s1600/0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/TJMjt-6VIkI/AAAAAAAADjE/1NEwHEzyjb0/s400/0.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517793241347727938" /></a><br />This dual SIM device comes with a dedicated music button and support for nine regional languages.<br /><br />Samsung has extended its "Guru" range of low-cost cell phones in India with the launch of its latest model, the Guru E2152.<br /><br />The E2152, like most other Guru branded handsets, is a budget device which is targeted at first time phone buyers and at people who are on the look out for a basic phone on a shoe string budget.<br /><br />The E2152 is a dual SIM device and is the latest addition to Samsung's already strong line up of dual SIM phones in the country. As for the features on the device, it boasts of a 2-inch 128 160 display, a very basic VGA camera and support for FM radio. The phone also has a capable MP3 player and supports microSD cards for memory expansion. A 100mAH battery powers the phone and promises a long 11 hours of talk time. Other interesting bits include a dedicated music button and support for 9 regional languages.<br /><br />The Guru E2152 is priced at Rs. 3,550, and is now available across the country.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-30258094522769900472010-09-12T07:49:00.000-07:002010-09-12T07:53:31.285-07:00How can you get robbed using Facebook Places?<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/TIzpTBm7IaI/AAAAAAAADh8/RCKfH5F0JBs/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 234px; height: 173px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/TIzpTBm7IaI/AAAAAAAADh8/RCKfH5F0JBs/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516040156680495522" /></a><br />With location-based services on the rise, and given Facebook's popularity, its recently launched Facebook Places location check-in feature should make it a good choice for you to let friends and others know where you are. The problem is, when others--those who aren't your friends--know where you are, they also know that you're not home and can burglarize your property. <br /><br />From what seemed to be urban legend to actual incident, the town of Nashua New Hampshire discovered just that: don't broadcast your whereabouts on Facebook, Foursquare or other such services as it could get you robbed. Fifty robberies had occurred in Nashua and local police have caught up with the burglars to discover over $100,000 in stolen property.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-77164632671525157102010-09-12T06:21:00.000-07:002010-09-12T06:59:05.217-07:00This Laptop can stream everything to your HDTV<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/TIzchuqewGI/AAAAAAAADhk/pYdPn2RwJ48/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/TIzchuqewGI/AAAAAAAADhk/pYdPn2RwJ48/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516026115642015842" /></a><br />We’re not kidding. Thanks to Intel’s Wireless Display technology, or WiDi, this 14-inch notebook can stream your favorite online content to an HDTV near you. We have to admit this particular feature ranks high in our neat-o-meter. Where it usually takes an Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processor for support plus a standalone adapter box connected to your TV with an HDMI cable, the CR420 offers all this and more.<br /><br />Other specs worth mentioning include a chiclet keyboard (mmmm, chiclet) beneath a 14-inch 16:9 LED display framed by a posh exterior. When it comes to hardware, you can start with a Core i5 processor that supports up to 4GB of DDR3 memory. Additional specs include HDMI and VGA input, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a couple of USB 2.0 ports and an extra eSATA/USB port.<br /><br />That’s not all. There’s still a 1.3MP webcam, Bluetooth and your choice of hard drive. Be it humble 250, larger 320 or massive 500GB. The 6-cell Li-ion battery is also impressive. In case you’re all about energy efficiency, the CR420 offers five power management levels to preserve battery life.<br /><br />If you find this attractive, the clincher is we don’t know when it’s coming out nor how much it’ll retail. Let’s just say MSI forgot to mention it on the press release.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-80543126005668961712010-08-28T04:19:00.000-07:002010-08-28T04:23:58.808-07:001 TB LaCie External Portable Hard Drive announced<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/THjxxMr-WvI/AAAAAAAADgc/E_v-WtGRQZk/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 245px; height: 350px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/THjxxMr-WvI/AAAAAAAADgc/E_v-WtGRQZk/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510419971609352946" /></a><br />LaCie recently announced the release of their 1 TB portable, external hard drive. Its named Rikiki Go. It has aluminim casing, supports USB 2.0 and is available for $150.<br /><br /><strong>Press Release from LaCie:</strong><br /><br /><strong>Tiny Metal Hard Drive Now in 1TB</strong><br /><br />August 24, 2010 -- Today, LaCie announces the smallest 1TB hard drive in metal – the LaCie Rikiki Go. Measuring a mere 155cm3, its high capacity and portability make it a perfect companion for keeping your digital world close at hand.<br /><br />Outfitted with an embedded USB 2.0 cable, Rikiki Go connects instantly with your PC or Mac®. Simply remove the cable and plug it in – you're ready to store and share your favorite media with high–speed performance. Additionally, the Rikiki Go is encased in sturdy aluminum, giving it a resilient form factor that protects your media from everyday blunders.<br /><br />Rikiki Go comes with a simplified software suite for quick setup and easy–to–use backup management, enabling complete configuration in just a few clicks. It also offers USB Boost software for enhancing speeds up to 33% (Windows® only). Completing the software offering, the Rikiki Go comes with an additional 10GB of Wuala Secure Online Storage.<br /><br />"We are thrilled to introduce 1TB capacity in this ultra–small, durable form factor," said Quitterie Lescarret, Consumer Product Manager, LaCie. "Today's on–the–go consumers need to access vital media quickly and dependably. With its industry–leading capacity, Rikiki Go provides users with the ultimate data storage and mobility, at a competitive price."<br /><br />Three models of the popular LaCie Rugged mobile hard drive also offer 1TB capacity. No matter what your needs are – be it USB 3.0 speeds, FireWire connectivity or biometric encryption – LaCie users can benefit from a 1TB solution. The LaCie Rugged triple interface and LaCie Rugged Safe are the world's only 1TB mobile hard drives with FireWire.<br /><br /><strong>Availability</strong><br /><br />The LaCie Rikiki Go is available in 500GB and 1TB capacities through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Corner, and LaCie Reseller+ starting at $89.99. For more product information, visit www.lacie.com.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-59403499355801779312010-08-27T03:21:00.000-07:002010-08-27T03:23:17.479-07:00Now your smartphone can sense dangerous chemicals<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/THeR-Afje8I/AAAAAAAADfM/4g_mLKgh28w/s1600/0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 187px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/THeR-Afje8I/AAAAAAAADfM/4g_mLKgh28w/s400/0.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510033163581356994" /></a><br />Jing Li, a scientist in California's NASA Ames Research Center, has designed a smartphone plug-in device that could sense chemicals from the environment. Current prototype of the device works with the iPhone, and plugs into the handset's bottom connector. The device can detect chemicals in ambient air such as methane, ammonia and chlorine gas. It's designed to connect to a network through WiFi or a regular phone connection in order to send alerts to other phones also equipped with the device. According to Li, a previous prototype of the device was the size of a soda can - this iteration, however, is touted as one of the smallest complete sensing-device in the world. <br /><br />The device contains a silicon-based sensing chip with 64 nanosensors. Li and colleagues had to work on making a chip that can contain all those nanosensors and yet is compact, high-speed, low-power and low-cost. The chip consumes 5 milliwatts, and can last for 100 hours when ran continuously. Although connected to a bottom connector and draws power through it, data communication is routed through the audio input jack due to restrictions imposed by Apple upon third-party developers. There might be a chance that the second phase of the device's development could be made for a smartphone other than an iPhone. Whether this happens or not, Li envisions future prototypes to be used by fire fighters and other kinds of emergency responders.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-90924973177769980492010-08-26T08:45:00.000-07:002010-08-26T08:47:14.244-07:00Divine iPhone lets a man watch his home getting robbed live<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/THaMUgdBHKI/AAAAAAAADd0/DEurmyK9DQI/s1600/iphone-robbery.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 333px; height: 247px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/THaMUgdBHKI/AAAAAAAADd0/DEurmyK9DQI/s400/iphone-robbery.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509745478071295138" /></a><br />For Dallas resident Vince Hunter, the $4.99 he paid for his iCam iPhone app proved to be more than worth it when he was notified about motion sensors going off in his house and then watched in real-time as burglars broke through his windows.<br /><br />While vacationing in Connecticut, Hunter received a text message on his iPhone. It was an automated message from an app called iCam, alerting him that motion sensors had been activated from his home security system.<br /><br />He then launched the app, which enables users to watch their security camera footage live.<br /><br />"I check the footage, and see in real time guys in this area, and they're kind of hunched over. They'd just broken the glass. I said holy cow, I gotta call 911," said Hunter in an ABC News interview.<br /><br />As he continued to watch, aghast at the real-life crime unfolding in front of his eyes, he saw the burglars throw a brick through his living room window, and then run away as security alarms began to sound. Police arrived on the scene later, which Hunter also watched on his phone.<br /><br />It's pretty good publicity for iCam. Hunter commended the app, saying, "You know, it was surreal. It really was. The first thing I couldn't believe is that we could do this on our cell phone. Really? A cell phone?"<br /><br />The burglars are assumed to be the same ones who robbed a nearby house just minutes before Hunter called police. That victim was able to record details of the getaway car. Combined with Hunter's captured footage, they will hopefully be caught.<br /><br />Hunter lives in a crime-riddled neighborhood so he invested in a high-tech security system. Apps like iCam sound really cool in theory, but it's fascinating to hear a story of it actually working so perfectly.<br /><br />With things like iCam and OnStar, it's becoming tougher and tougher to be a criminal these days.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-41666085079754480432010-02-04T05:15:00.000-08:002010-02-04T05:24:57.398-08:00Mischa Barton in Madrid - 11 picsMischa Barton at the photocall of the New Collection of Cristian Lay in Madrid. Complete picture gallery below. Enjoy!<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKm120IxI/AAAAAAAADPU/GAVBL-wRD9k/s1600-h/rs11136412665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKm120IxI/AAAAAAAADPU/GAVBL-wRD9k/s400/rs11136412665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434378669016752914" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKB7plVII/AAAAAAAADPE/QPRSyb8Ndx4/s1600-h/rs16946712665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKB7plVII/AAAAAAAADPE/QPRSyb8Ndx4/s400/rs16946712665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434378034916709506" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKBe6mV6I/AAAAAAAADO8/bS_8tgQEBos/s1600-h/rs20957912665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKBe6mV6I/AAAAAAAADO8/bS_8tgQEBos/s400/rs20957912665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434378027203450786" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKBHd-vMI/AAAAAAAADO0/cQ3aslGWBto/s1600-h/rs23247812665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKBHd-vMI/AAAAAAAADO0/cQ3aslGWBto/s400/rs23247812665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434378020909399234" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKAlVWDrI/AAAAAAAADOs/fMmI8I11aJc/s1600-h/rs36661612665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKAlVWDrI/AAAAAAAADOs/fMmI8I11aJc/s400/rs36661612665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434378011746373298" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKALPqmkI/AAAAAAAADOk/yXy7Nd_N6IU/s1600-h/rs45005812665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rKALPqmkI/AAAAAAAADOk/yXy7Nd_N6IU/s400/rs45005812665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434378004743232066" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJvqZ6TtI/AAAAAAAADOc/iMvObujvByw/s1600-h/rs51522512665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJvqZ6TtI/AAAAAAAADOc/iMvObujvByw/s400/rs51522512665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434377721049927378" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJvGVue1I/AAAAAAAADOU/yP4Ws74mY3w/s1600-h/rs65100812665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJvGVue1I/AAAAAAAADOU/yP4Ws74mY3w/s400/rs65100812665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434377711368698706" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJuwrrkrI/AAAAAAAADOM/PiHsF4r0vf4/s1600-h/rs74615612665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJuwrrkrI/AAAAAAAADOM/PiHsF4r0vf4/s400/rs74615612665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434377705555202738" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJubK3UYI/AAAAAAAADOE/NFTNVp7Aj3o/s1600-h/rs84645612665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJubK3UYI/AAAAAAAADOE/NFTNVp7Aj3o/s400/rs84645612665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434377699780415874" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJuOYEbtI/AAAAAAAADN8/6jN8TPn76qo/s1600-h/rs88031412665281.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2rJuOYEbtI/AAAAAAAADN8/6jN8TPn76qo/s400/rs88031412665281.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434377696346140370" /></a>Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-92147574109230076372010-01-31T04:25:00.000-08:002010-01-31T04:31:52.787-08:00Anne Hathaway - Harvard University Hasty Pudding Club’s 2010 Woman of the Year - 10 pics<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4HoduZjI/AAAAAAAADJ0/HCvptnJAHxE/s1600-h/rs158004385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 345px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4HoduZjI/AAAAAAAADJ0/HCvptnJAHxE/s400/rs158004385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880598008882738" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4G9PwcJI/AAAAAAAADJs/EROMs8AOO6Y/s1600-h/rs368675385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4G9PwcJI/AAAAAAAADJs/EROMs8AOO6Y/s400/rs368675385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880586407571602" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4GeZp-II/AAAAAAAADJk/Xj32lGz3Xtc/s1600-h/rs451280385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4GeZp-II/AAAAAAAADJk/Xj32lGz3Xtc/s400/rs451280385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880578127591554" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4GBxldxI/AAAAAAAADJc/WJPk5hTeNgY/s1600-h/rs571667385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4GBxldxI/AAAAAAAADJc/WJPk5hTeNgY/s400/rs571667385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880570443331346" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4Fnsy1jI/AAAAAAAADJU/D4ssGTL3R_Y/s1600-h/rs572568385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V4Fnsy1jI/AAAAAAAADJU/D4ssGTL3R_Y/s400/rs572568385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880563443914290" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3v4XXRHI/AAAAAAAADJM/P6wMVFkViCk/s1600-h/rs687008385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 311px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3v4XXRHI/AAAAAAAADJM/P6wMVFkViCk/s400/rs687008385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880189960307826" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3vuEA3lI/AAAAAAAADJE/5RwOWn1lubk/s1600-h/rs742528385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3vuEA3lI/AAAAAAAADJE/5RwOWn1lubk/s400/rs742528385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880187194793554" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3uvvtCyI/AAAAAAAADI8/2Zdt_NufaTA/s1600-h/rs809394385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3uvvtCyI/AAAAAAAADI8/2Zdt_NufaTA/s400/rs809394385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880170466609954" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3uWE6xcI/AAAAAAAADI0/27mWTRu6_tU/s1600-h/rs936399385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3uWE6xcI/AAAAAAAADI0/27mWTRu6_tU/s400/rs936399385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880163576268226" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3tybOkjI/AAAAAAAADIs/nQfgICM9P_E/s1600-h/rs952214385466165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2V3tybOkjI/AAAAAAAADIs/nQfgICM9P_E/s400/rs952214385466165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432880154006164018" /></a>Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-77929163470588511352010-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:002010-01-29T09:05:19.985-08:00iPad Doubts - A Gamer's Problems With Apple's Wonder Machine<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2MUYcXkbYI/AAAAAAAADFw/qyMOL3nS_Jc/s1600-h/0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2MUYcXkbYI/AAAAAAAADFw/qyMOL3nS_Jc/s400/0.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432207985703415170" /></a><br />The Apple iPad may be great for web-browsing. It may be the best slate on which to list half of the 10 Commandments since solid rock. But, for gamers, well, thou shalt have some legitimate doubts about this thing.<br /><br />Why might the iPad not become the next great player in games?<br /><br />Bear in mind, we've now played games on the iPad.<br /><br />Uh, It's A Giant iPod Touch: If our man in San Francisco is sitting at Apple's press conference, waiting for Apple to announce a revolutionary way to play games via the iPad, well, I hope he lifts his feet when the janitors come by to sweep the floors. The wait could be long.<br /><br />As best we could discern from today's announcement, the button-less, tilt-sensitive, touch-screen iPad offers no game-controlling interface improvements over the button-less, tilt-sensitive, touch-screen iPod Touch. In fact, the iPad doesn't appear to even have a camera, which has been supported by some iPhone games. The iPad just shows games bigger. It shows them Beautifully, of course, but Nintendo convinced the world a few years ago that graphical improvements are not the key to modern game machine success.<br /><br />The Third Pillar Might Not Stand: Back in 2004, Nintendo was preparing to release a new gaming device, the DS. The two-screened system is a hit now, but back then it seemed about as unnecessary as a third shoe. Nintendo claimed that the portable DS would become a "third pillar," as crucial a strut to Nintendo's fortunes as the home console and the portable Game Boy. But that didn't make much sense, because the DS, which could play Game Boy Advance games seemed like it would need to supplant the Game Boy line to be successful. Why, really, would someone need two portable Nintendo machines?<br /><br />And so the question can now be asked of Apple: If your consumers still need a computer and a phone, needs which you already can fill, what room in their wallet, their bag and their life is there for a semi-portable, semi-desk-ready tablet computer? For gaming or otherwise?<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2MUtE6L6KI/AAAAAAAADGA/sS_iuEMFdJQ/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2MUtE6L6KI/AAAAAAAADGA/sS_iuEMFdJQ/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432208340183410850" /></a><br /><strong>App Apprehensions:</strong> It's wonderful to hear that the iPad will run iPhone and iPod Touch games, but those games were made to run on a screen the size of an iPod Touch, not a screen a little bigger than a Superman comic book.<br /><br />Do you want to run iPad games in a window while you multi-task on the iPad? That would be the closest you'd get to having App Store gaming available on a computer you can sit down with. Well, no can do. You can't multitask on an iPad. Plus, we're talking about games that either won't fill the iPad screen or will have to be blown up by users to play at bigger than their native resolution. We're told that the iPad supports "pixel-doubling" which will compensate for that, but it's hard to get that excited about the concept of playing iPhone games, but larger. The best hope here is that the early announcements of iPad-enhanced games such as Nova and Need for Speed Shift will swiftly give way to announcements of iPad-original games.<br /><br /><strong>The Cost:</strong> You could buy an iPhone 3Gs for $299, a Nintendo DS for $129, a PSP for $169, a Wii for $199, an Xbox 360 starting at $199 or a PlayStation 3 starting at $299. Or you could buy an iPad starting at $499, gamers. Tough sell?<br /><br /><strong>Versus PC Gaming:</strong> You can look at the iPad as a super-sized iPhone. You could look at it as chunky big brother to the DS and PSP. Or you could look at it as the most gaming-ready computer Apple has every released. In that last respect, the iPad is a nice advance for the prospects of being able to put an Apple product on your desk and play games on it.<br /><br />But in that last context, the iPad must be compared to, well, Windows-based computers. The barrier to entry for developers is low for either: Make an App for the iPad. Make your own game for the PC. Grassroots developers could flourish on either platform. But we're likely to be seeing sized-up portable games on Apple's iPad for a while. They will be compared to fully-realized PC games that can be run with controllers, keyboards and mice. Advantage, Windows gaming... for now and for a while, it seems.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2MUs47hVqI/AAAAAAAADF4/90Y8FCboGCg/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/S2MUs47hVqI/AAAAAAAADF4/90Y8FCboGCg/s400/2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432208336967784098" /></a><br /><strong>Room For the Little Guys?</strong> One of the best stories about gaming on the iPod Touch and iPad has been how the App Store allowed the smallest developers to vie in the marketplace against the biggest game publishers. The result of that competition has been wonderful games from the littlest crews to the biggest, everything from Tiger Style's Spider to some of EA's best.<br /><br />The bigger screen size of the iPad, however, may raise expectations for the quality of graphics on iPad games — and smaller studios may find it more challenging than the EAs of the world to create games that are as visually pleasing as they were on the iPod Touch and iPhone.<br /><br /><strong>Inherited iPhone Issues</strong> Some models of the iPad will run over Wi-Fi. Others can run on the 3G network, which raises questions about whether they will run into the same networking issues that plague games played over networks on the iPhone.<br /><br />Another possible problem involves Apple's control of software for its devices. Gaming on the iPhone/iPod has been hampered by Apple's sometimes-unpredictable moves to remove some games from the store due to rights complaints. It's Apple's right to do so, but those who disagree with Apple's decisions could come to look at an iPad as another gaming device that is firmly controlled by its platform holder, just like an Xbox 360 or Sony or Nintendo machine. We're not talking about a market as free as Windows gaming or even Facebook gaming, for better or worse.<br /><br /><strong>Hard To Handle?:</strong> Do gamers want to grab the short ends of a magazine and then pretend they are gaming? The original Xbox controller wasn't even that broad and it was a bust. Or would you rather trace your finger on a placemat? Those seem to be the two most likely postures for iPad gaming, an experience devoid of buttons and control sticks. iPhone game developers are still figuring out how to make games fun with some of the same feature restrictions. The iPad's added size looks to make such problems with iPhone gaming controls and comfort even more pronounced.<br /><br />-<br />There are some reason to be excited regarding the experience of playing games on the iPad. Modern Apple products generate an enthusiasm that few other devices do. But Apple still has a long way to go before it can boast that the iPad as an option of first or even second resort for those who want to play video games.<br /><br />When it was just a theoretical device, the iPad had the potential to be a must-have for gamers. Right now, it appears to be more of a "maybe," one that, from the get-go, instills as much doubt as it does enthusiasm about the newest way to play video games in the 21st century.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-81371133728751785342008-12-13T05:02:00.000-08:002008-12-13T05:05:07.799-08:00A SPY camera hidden in a mirrorThis mirror hidden camera may be ideal for trying to protect a business with its hidden camera for video surveillance. At first sight it looks like a typical mirror that you come across some small stores for the shopkeeper to keep an eye on customers, but this one hides a camera with DVR. The benefit of this camera is that it looks like a typical mirror so giving the impression of it only being a mirror and not something capable carrying out video surveillance, which can fool a potential shoplifter, for example.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SUOyrvwTUEI/AAAAAAAAASw/zMJfWsTM-Qk/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 196px; height: 152px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SUOyrvwTUEI/AAAAAAAAASw/zMJfWsTM-Qk/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279259652831531074" /></a><br />Another benefit with this hidden mirror camera is that it only records when someone happens to enter the surveillance area. This is really great for when you need to know what happened quickly instead of trying to view hours upon hours of surveillance tape. The mirror itself is wide-angled thus giving an excellent coverage of the area its filming and the video quality is quite impressive too at 420 Lines. <br /><br />This type of mirror can be ideal in a store setting and can even be used in the home. The only problem with that would be that you don’t come across such mirrors in the home normally, which might be a giveaway. On the other hand, it could act to deter a would-be thief.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-52749853635592153172008-08-26T07:18:00.000-07:002008-08-26T07:19:33.090-07:00Now get back your lost or stolen mobile phonesWhen I lost a phone a few years ago my biggest concern wasn't the cost of replacing the handset, but instead with losing all the personal information that was inside. Despite repeated calls to the number, my phone was gone for good and I called my carrier and had the phone disabled. But by disabling it, I was told the chances of someone returning it greatly decreased because any finder of the phone would not be able to call me.<br /><br />Now the Yougetitback service might make retrieving a lost phone a little easier, while ensuring that a stolen phone doesn't give away the goods. Once a user determines that a phone is lost or stolen, it can be remotely locked by accessing an online account. No outgoing calls can be made, except to the Yougetitback service, while all other sensitive data including e-mails, contact details, text messages and photos are locked from viewing or use. <br /><br />This service is also includes other electronic devices and accessories. Users can purchase adhesive security tags that can be affixed to phones, PDAs and laptops. People can also buy the software for $20 per year, while tags are $10 for three-years, and there is even a premium service that will provide a full replacement of a digital device if the software and tag are not successful. Losing a phone sucks, but getting it back is really priceless!Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-64048446558349395112008-08-25T05:46:00.000-07:002008-08-25T05:48:31.780-07:00HOW TO: Use your iPhone 3G as a modem?When the iPhone 3G was announced, everyone hoped it would be possible to connect it to a laptop and use it as a 3G modem. Would have been nice, except it’s not possible, at least out of the box. Thanks to some creative hackers, you can make it work, however!<br /><br />Thanks to the excellent work of the iPhone Dev Team and the porting work of Jay Freeman as well as the authors of 3Proxy, it is now possible to "tether" your iPhone 3G and use its Internet connection on your laptop. <br /><br />Warning - Tethering your iPhone is against the iPhone data plan terms. AT&T could slap you with huge fees if you overuse this. I recommend only using it during emergencies. <br /><br />Here's the basic rundown: <br />- Jailbreak your iPhone 3G <br />- Install 3Proxy and Terminal <br />- Create an ad-hoc Wi-fi network using your laptop <br />- Join the network with your iPhone <br />- Find the iPhone's IP address <br />- Open Terminal and run the proxy program <br />- Open Safari on your iPhone and open a web page <br />- Configure your browser to use the proxy <br /><br />Detailed Steps at <a href="http://cre.ations.net/blog/post/how-to-tether-your-iphone-3g-and-browse-the-web-using-your-3g-co">Creations</a>Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-72503747515146873662008-08-25T04:09:00.001-07:002008-08-25T04:11:16.252-07:00How The Satellite Dish Got Its Shape?The satellite dish has become a ubiquitous fixture of 21st Century living. Office buildings in the city, tract homes in the suburbs, even historic enclaves in the hot spots of the Middle East all share a bumper crop of dishes pointed toward an imaginary point 35,786 kilometers above the equator. Satellite dishes come in varying sizes, but they all share a similar shape. It's a quirk of nature that a parabolic curve produces the perfect antenna for extremely high frequency, extremely short wavelength, transmissions.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SLKS86gQV0I/AAAAAAAAANI/ZERVyNUguP8/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SLKS86gQV0I/AAAAAAAAANI/ZERVyNUguP8/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238410891779659586" /></a><br />This is not a new discovery. Archimedes helped describe it in mathematical terms. In the 10th Century physicists were playing with parabolic mirrors. Later on, lighthouses used parabolic lenses to take a lantern's light and turn it into a beam. In the 18th Century parabolic lenses found use in telescopes. The common goal in all these pursuits was the same as what's accomplished with a satellite dish--you're taking a weak signal and amplifying it.<br /><br />We have not repealed the laws of physics. You can't increase a lantern's light with a simple lens, but you can concentrate it. Most areas will see less light, but those favored by the lenses geometry will see a great deal more. Technically speaking, the light has been collimated.<br /><br />What we think of as a satellite dish is actually just a parabolic reflector. The real antenna sits in front of dish at its "focus." Here's the science that makes it happen: Any radio waves that strike the dish and are traveling parallel to its axis are reflected to the antenna at the focus. It doesn't matter where on the parabola the signal strikes. As long as it's coming in at the right angle it's going to the focus.<br /><br />Instead of just picking up what randomly strikes the antenna, you've now got the force of everything that strikes the dish--a much larger area. Antenna gain in the direction the dish is pointed can easily exceed 20dB, or 100 times what you'd expect without the parabola. As an added bonus, interference coming from anywhere but where the dish is pointed is attenuated. That's a pretty sweet trick which allows satellites to use the same frequencies as their neighbors while sitting reasonably close to each other over the equator.<br /><br />A signal coming down from space then passing through the atmosphere is very weak. Without a dish there is little chance home satellite reception would be practical. And, since the dish itself is a passive participant in the signal path, it's easy and cheap to build. Thanks Mother Nature. Nicely done.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-9939856402192485492008-08-23T00:41:00.000-07:002008-08-23T00:43:48.884-07:00Why I switched my mails to Gmail from Yahoo?Here's why I'm a Gmail convert: for the first time since I started using e-mail nearly 20 years ago, I can keep my in-box tidy. <br /><br />A month ago, I switched my personal e-mail from Yahoo Mail, with which I've been generally happy. What attracted me to Gmail was a number of specific Gmail features, but what I've come to appreciate is the big picture: a new way to look at the task of e-mail. <br /><br />The old paradigm follows the metaphor of a paper-pushing office job with an in-box, trash can, and filing cabinet. <br /><br />Gmail brings that paper pushing into the computer age. Most messages I care about are already organized with labels automatically as they arrive. I still must read and reply if necessary, but after that I just plop messages into a giant archive with no pesky manual filing. They can be retrieved easily via search or labels. <br /><br />The result: my Gmail in-box has 14 messages in it, and I've had no trouble thus far keeping it in that neighborhood. I wouldn't say it's life-changing, but it's an improvement. <br /><br />Here's one measure of its user interface success: several times a day, I miss Gmail features absent from my work e-mail, which uses Microsoft Outlook connected to an Exchange server. That Gmail accomplishment is notable given that its interface uses a relatively primitive Web-based foundation, while Outlook gets all the computing horsepower and interface richness of a Windows PC. <br /><br />Google's philosophy with Gmail is to aim for the needs of power users. That might sound like foolishly overlooking the much larger mainstream market. But I think it's smart, because given the increasing importance of Internet communications, an ordinary user tomorrow will face the same challenges as a power user today. <br /><br />Despite my overall satisfaction, though, the advantages I found in Gmail made its deficiencies all the more glaring. And the transition from Yahoo was extremely unpleasant. Here are some details for those of you thinking of taking the plunge. <br /><br /><strong>The three Gmail features that wooed me</strong><br />Three Gmail features got me to make the move, and all three proved just as desirable as I anticipated. <br /><br />The first feature is labels. Yahoo Mail, like Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, and every other e-mail client I've used, requires me to sort keeper e-mail into folders. Many times, though, I've been bothered by folders' fundamental organizational limit: you can put a message in only one folder. So with a message from my old roommate about his new camera, do I put that into the folder for him or the one for photography? And a year later, when I want to retrieve it, where should I look? <br /><br />With Gmail, you can have multiple labels on a particular e-mail--one for both "family" and "wife," for example, not to mention "money," "travel," "tech support," and various other categories I use often. By color-coding labels, various categories are easily found in my in-box, and clicking a label shows all mails that use it. <br /><br />Yahoo Mail made major progress around this problem by finally fixing its previously ineffectual search ability, but I still like labels a lot better. <br /><br />The second feature is filters, the automated tasks Gmail performs before I even touch my e-mail. Instead of having to manually move mail from my wife to a particular folder, I set Gmail to attach the appropriate label to any message from her. Any message I get that includes the words "itinerary" or "SFO" automatically gets a "travel" label, for example. Organizational drudgery is down and findability is up. <br /><br />Filters can also forward, delete, and archive mail automatically. And when I set up my filters, it applies them to the existing archive, which helps ensure e-mail stays organized even years after I received it. <br /><br />Third is IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). I've spent years using the earlier but decidedly inferior POP (Post Office Protocol), but IMAP handles remote access to e-mail much more gracefully. What surprised me was that I ended up liking Gmail's Web interface better than the e-mail client software running on my computer, so IMAP isn't as important as I initially envisioned. <br /><br />Yahoo charges $25 a year just for POP access and at present doesn't grant IMAP access except to business partners. <br /><br /><strong>The advantages I found later</strong><br />I use search a lot. Gmail's search is fast and thorough. I particularly like how it can be controlled, for example by searching e-mail from a particular date range or searching for all messages labeled both "family" and "things to do." <br /><br />I also expected to use Gmail keyboard controls extensively--I find it much faster than a mouse for the most part. Yahoo Mail has keyboard shortcuts, but they work erratically for me and don't cover as much ground as Gmail's. Less time pawing my mouse, combined with Gmail's generally snappy interface, means handling e-mail feels much breezier. <br /><br />The archive feature is nice. I worry that my e-mail usage will encroach on Gmail's storage limits, but so far it looks like my needs won't outpace the gradually rising limit. Mostly I like it because I'm a pack rat; though I certainly delete dozens a day, too, I've often found it handy to refer later to seemingly nonhistoric messages such as flight confirmations. Gmail's archive-and-search philosophy is a refreshing change from the keep-your-in-box-small-or-we'll-revoke-your-privileges attitude that still prevails in many parts of the world (not at Yahoo Mail, though, which offers me unlimited storage.) <br /><br />Gmail also seems to be under more active development. I've seen essentially one change in Yahoo Mail since 1998, the arrival of the "all-new" interface. Though Yahoo is working on more changes now, some of them potentially dramatic, I like Gmail's lab projects, a few of which I use. <br /><br />The final pleasant surprise was conversation view, which assembles the back and forth of e-mail exchanges into a compact thread. Once I got used to typing P and N to navigate to a list's previous and next messages and O to expand a message from a title to its full content, I was sold. I also like the fact that an archived conversation pops back into my in-box when a new reply in the thread emerges. <br /><br /><strong>What I don't like</strong><br />My biggest complaint about Gmail is its contacts system, though I say this advisedly because I have yet to run into an address book I like and it's still a step ahead of the primitivist Yahoo Mail address book. Google made Gmail contact list improvements last week that help distinguish people I care about from anyone I've ever e-mailed, but managing contacts still involves a lot of tedious pointing and clicking and scrolling, especially when it comes to dealing with hundreds of contacts. <br /><br />It took me some time to master the selection of messages I wanted to do something with. Both a small pointer and a check box to the left of each message can be used to select them; the pointer is used to open messages or add stars, but the check boxes are used to delete, archive, or label them. This particular complication isn't a big deal if you're a point-and-click mouse user.<br /><br />It falls short for people with multiple e-mail addresses; I couldn't find any way except deleting and re-adding e-mail addresses to make sure a contact's particular e-mail address is the top and therefore primary one that will be used in a mailing list, for example, unless you want multiple entries for a single individual. <br /><br />Another gripe is with conversations. It's fine for one-on-one chats, but group mailings can blossom into a confusing, hard-to-navigate morass. <br /><br />I'd love to see offline access for Gmail, which is in the works. So far I don't care much if I'm only able to check personal e-mail while online, and I could always use client software if I really wanted to work offline, but for companies thinking of Gmail, some of the cost advantages of cloud computing are eroded if the IT department still must set up Outlook on every employee's computer. <br /><br />I initially missed the Yahoo Mail feature that let me write multiple e-mails simultaneously. It's possible with Gmail--typing Shift+C will pop up an empty message in a new browser window--but Yahoo Mail's tabbed interface made me feel like the mail operation is in one place. <br /><br /><strong>Transition woes</strong><br />Some of my biggest troubles with Gmail were related to my transition from Yahoo Mail. <br /><br />First off, when I set Gmail to slurp in my Yahoo Mail archive, I neglected to check the button that would have left the originals alone and Gmail gutted my archive. Be careful if you're making the move. Google sets the default to delete the remote messages because people often have capacity limits on the other accounts, but for me, it effectively meant no going back to Yahoo Mail. <br /><br />Keystrokes are often a matter of programming one's muscle memory, and shifting to a new set of motions made me clumsy. Gmail takes its cue from vi, the venerable Unix text editor that, for example, uses the forward slash key to initiate a search and J and K to scroll up and down. Yahoo Mail uses Outlook-like conventions, though, with the up and down arrow for moving through the in-box and the delete button for deleting messages. I'm most of the way there with the new shortcuts, but I still mess up and type A rather than E to archive. <br /><br />The biggest single pain of moving was getting my address book out of Yahoo and into Gmail, and frankly, I'm still only partway there. Some of the blame here goes to Yahoo, whose interface on more than one occasion deterred me from trying to clean up my contacts. <br /><br />I ended up exporting my contacts and manually scrubbing them in Excel before importing them into Gmail. Even then, a large amount of structured data, while preserved, lost its meaning. Many instant messenger nicknames, birthdays, and mailing lists were converted into boring text, so it's up to me to go through my list to fix it. Yahoo had labeled this data, so I put the blame here on Google's inadequate parsing tools. Perhaps with Yahoo's newly open address book interface this pain will become a thing of the past. <br /><br />But now that I'm up and running, Gmail works well for me. And until Google dramatically departs from its don't-be-evil philosophy or something even better comes along, I'm willing to entrust the company with an important part of my electronic life.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-21822794286538100562008-08-22T10:32:00.000-07:002008-08-22T10:35:31.905-07:00Japanese iPhone 3G prevents women from perverts!According to reporter Nobuyuki Hayashi, the camera of the iPhone 3G sold in Japan will make a shutter sound every time you take a photo, even if you put the telephone in silent mode. The reason: all those pervs taking photos up the skirts of unsuspected women in public places.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SK74nOGgjpI/AAAAAAAAANA/W0BBXZLpwLU/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SK74nOGgjpI/AAAAAAAAANA/W0BBXZLpwLU/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237396769362448018" /></a><br />According to Hayahi, the problem of up-skirt photography is so bad in Japan that most new cellphones have this feature (if you are a women) or bug (if you are a perv.) According to him, "some manufacturers have even put a louder shutter sound." The Japanese edition of the iPhone, however, just makes the normal one.<br /><br />I really don't see the point of this measure however: the iPhone doesn't have a physical photo button, which really makes extremely difficult to take a clear up-skirt shot.<br /><br />I mean, I can only guess that's the case.<br /><br />Two things to Japanese pervs everywhere: fiber optics and video cameras.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-36903844873225134122008-08-22T03:01:00.000-07:002008-08-22T03:03:45.584-07:0010 Fixes for the Worst PC Security NightmaresIn the world of comic books, every bad guy is an evil genius. On the Web, hackers, spammers, and phishers may be evil, but they're not required to be geniuses. They can make a healthy living just by exploiting known security holes that many users haven't bothered to patch. Or by relying on the propensity of millions of people to do things they've been told over and over not to do. <br /><br />The silver lining is that you don't have to be a genius to avoid these common attacks either. Implement a few simple fixes, and you'll avoid most of the bad stuff out there. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 1: Patch Over the Software Bull's-Eye </strong><br /><br />Have you turned off automatic updates for Windows and other programs on the rationale that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" Then consider this: Your programs may be very, very broken, and you don't know it. The days of big splashy viruses that announce themselves to PC users are over. The modern cybercriminal prefers to invisibly take control of your PC, and unpatched software gives them the perfect opportunity to do so. <br /><br />Today, a hijacked Web page--modern digital crooks' attack of choice--will launch a bevy of probes against your PC in search of just one unpatched vulnerability that a probe can exploit. If it finds one, better hope your antivirus program catches the ensuing attack. Otherwise you likely won't even notice anything amiss as it infects your system. <br /><br />Luckily, you can completely block the majority of Web-based exploits by keeping all your programs--not just the operating system or your browsers--up-to-date. Attack sites ferret out holes in seemingly innocuous applications such as QuickTime and WinZip as well as in Windows and Internet Explorer. So turn on automatic update features for any software that offers the service--it's your quickest and easiest option for getting patches. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 2: Find the Other Holes </strong><br /><br />If every program used easy automatic updates--and we were all smart enough to use them--the thriving malware business would take a serious hit. Until then, a free and easy security app from Secunia can help save the day. <br /><br />The Secunia Personal Software Inspector, available as a free download, scans your installed software to let you know which out-of-date programs might be making your PC unsafe. But it doesn't stop there--for each old program it finds, it offers quick and easy action buttons such as one labeled Download Solution, which retrieves the latest software patch without you even having to open a browser. <br /><br />The program also gives you links to the software vendor's site as well as Secunia's full report about the vulnerability on your system. You can choose to block future warnings about a particular program (but you should, of course, be careful before doing so). <br /><br />Secunia PSI isn't perfect, and doesn't always make it easy to update unsafe program components. But for most apps it provides a quick--and very important--fix. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 3: Let the Latest Browsers Fight for You </strong><br /><br />The most insidious hijacked Web pages are nearly impossible to spot. Tiny snippets of inserted code that don't display on the page can nevertheless launch devastating behind-the-scenes attacks. <br /><br />Trying to avoid such pages on your own is asking for trouble, especially since crooks like to hack popular sites--attacks against sites for Sony games and the Miami Dolphins are just two well-known examples. But new site-blocking features in the just-released Firefox 3 and Opera 9.5 browsers provide some shielding. <br /><br />Both browsers expand on the previous version's antiphishing features to block known malware sites as well, whether they're hijacked pages on legitimate sites or sites that were specifically created by bad guys. Neither browser completely eliminates the risk of landing on such pages, but every additional layer of protection helps. <br /><br />Microsoft plans to add a similar feature to Internet Explorer 8, but this version won't be ready for prime time for a good while. For more on the browsers' improved security, see "New Browsers Fight the Malware Scourge." <br /><br /><strong>Fix 4: Sidestep Social Engineering </strong><br /><br />The most dangerous crooks use clever marketing to get you to do their dirty work for them and infect your own PC. Lots of social engineering attacks are laughably crude, with misspelled words and clumsy grammar, but that doesn't mean you should dismiss the danger. Every now and then, a well-crafted attack can slip past your defenses and lure you into opening a poisonous e-mail attachment or downloaded file. A targeted attack might even use your correct name and business title. <br /><br />To fight back, turn to a simple but powerful tool: VirusTotal.com. You can easily upload any file (up to 10MB) to the site and have it scanned by a whopping 35 different antivirus engines, including ones from Kaspersky, McAfee, and Symantec. A report tells you what each engine thought about your file. While some (such as Prevx) are prone to false alerts, if you get multiple specific warnings that include the name of the particular threat, then you almost certainly want to delete the file. <br /><br />A lack of warnings doesn't guarantee a file is safe, but it does give you pretty good odds. Use VirusTotal to check every e-mail attachment and download you're not 100 percent sure about, and you'll avoid insidious social engineering. <br /><br />If using VirusTotal starts to become a habit (not a bad idea) and you want to make sending files for scanning to VirusTotal really easy, download the free VirusTotal Uploader. Once you've installed the utility, just right-click a file, and you'll see an option (under Send To) to upload it to the VirusTotal site. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 5: Get the Jump on Fast-Moving Malware </strong><br /><br />Traditional, signature-based antivirus software is getting snowed under by a blizzard of malware. Attackers try to evade detection by churning out more variants than security labs can analyze. So besides signatures, any antivirus program worth its salt today uses proactive detection that doesn't require a full signature to spot sneaky malware. <br /><br />One promising approach uses behavioral analysis to identify malicious software based solely on how it acts on your PC. But your antivirus software by itself may not be enough. ThreatFire, a popular free download from PC Tools, adds such a layer of behavior-based protection. In recent tests, it correctly identified 90 percent of malware based on its behavior alone. <br /><br />PC World's ThreatFire review provides a thorough analysis of the program and a quick download link (as well as a warning about installing too many security programs on one PC). And for more on behavioral analysis and proactive virus detection, see "When a Signature Isn't Enough." <br /><br />Note: If you use the AVG Free antivirus program, hold off on trying ThreatFire until PC Tools releases a new version. The current 3.5 version conflicts with AVG, but PC Tools says it's working on a fix. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 6: Rescue Your Inbox From Spam </strong><br /><br />Spam filters are getting better, but some junk still makes it through even the best of them. Instead of resigning yourself to hitting delete for all those hot-stock and Viagra come-ons, try disposable e-mail addresses. <br /><br />Such an address is something you create every time you encounter an online shopping site, forum, or other service that requires you to enter an e-mail address. If that address gets flooded with spam, you can terminate it. That's a better system than the alternative, creating a free Web mail account that you use only for purchases and Web signups. With a single separate account, you have to throw the baby out with the bathwater and cancel the whole account if it gets too much spam. <br /><br />Yahoo Web mail users can opt for the $20-a-year Plus service, which includes the AddressGuard disposable e-mail service (among other benefits). With it, you can click a bookmark to create a new, disposable address for any given site in about 10 seconds. <br /><br />Gmail users can simply append "+ whatever" to their regular e-mail address before handing it out, but if that address starts to receive spam you can't simply turn it off. You'll have to create a filter in Gmail to block all mail to that address. <br /><br />For everyone else, we suggest a good, free service from Spamgourmet.com that's quick and easy to set up and use; it allows you to create disposable addresses on-the-fly that will forward e-mail messages to your regular address. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 7: Develop an Antiphishing Habit </strong><br /><br />The dastardly practice of phishing for personal information is still alive and well, and many fake sites can be hard to distinguish from the real ones. But a few simple practices can ensure you'll never be snagged by a phishing hook. <br /><br />The best approach, and the most straightforward, is never to click a link in any e-mail message to access your financial accounts. Instead, always type the URL or use a bookmark. That one habit will protect you from almost every phishing attack. <br /><br />If you can't make that change, then at least use the latest version of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Opera to browse the Web. All have built-in features to block known phishing sites (and, as described in Fix 3, Opera and Firefox now also block known malware sites). Avoid Safari, which lacks any built-in antiphishing protection. <br /><br />Finally, keep an eye out for the common phishing tactic of using URLs like "http://adwords.google.com.d0l9i.cn/select/Login." If you glance at the URL (an actual recent example listed by Phishtank.com), you might think the site's domain was google.com. In fact, it's heading to d0l9i.cn, a site in China where operators are standing by to swipe your personal details. <br /><br />Internet Explorer 8 will use an innovative feature called Domain Highlighting that will make spotting such trickery easy. But until it becomes available, watch URLs carefully. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 8: Keep Your Own Site Safe </strong><br /><br />It's not a good time to run a Web site. The Web may look like a digital wonderland, but behind the scenes it's a war zone. And the guns are trained on your site. <br /><br />Crooks use automated tools to search sites for the most common vulnerabilities. If they find one, they blow the hole wide open to plant harmful code that will attack your loyal visitors. <br /><br />To help keep your site safe, start with some quick, free scans that ferret out the most obvious problems. First, fill out a form at Qualys.com to request a free scan of one IP address. <br /><br />Next, download the also-free Scrawlr tool from HP. After a quick install, use Scrawlr to scan your site for SQL injection vulnerabilities (a type of hole targeted in a recent Sony site hack). <br /><br />A clean bill of health from both scans won't guarantee that your site is safe. For instance, neither will find problems with custom JavaScript code, another common type of attack. And while requesting or running either scan is easy, fixing a reported hole might involve a fair bit of work. But that job will still take far less work than repairing your site and your reputation after your site has been hijacked. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 9: Make Your Passwords Secure--And Easy to Remember </strong><br /><br />Online passwords are starting to seem about as safe as tissue paper protecting a bank vault. The supply of stolen logins is now so huge that crooks can hardly make any money selling them unless they add other ripped-off data, like addresses or Social Security numbers, according to security researchers. And thieves don't stop with stealing logins to financial accounts--the bad guys regularly pilfer access information for Web mail accounts as well. In one recent case, a scammer broke into Web mail accounts and sent messages to the victim's friends asking for money. <br /><br />Experts say we should use strong, unique passwords for all our accounts. But they don't tell us how we're supposed to remember them, so most of us end up using the same, not-so-safe password at all our accounts. <br /><br />Here's an easy fix that allows you to remember just one password, yet still have a strong, unique password for each site you use. The Password Hash (or PwdHash) add-on for Firefox and IE takes that simple password you type and runs it through an algorithm that uses the site's domain name as part of the calculation. The utility subs in the resulting strong password before you send it to the site. All you have to do (after installing Password Hash) is hit the F2 key in a password box before you type. <br /><br /><strong>Fix 10: Get Extra Cleaning Help for Stubborn Infections </strong><br /><br />Sometimes even the best antivirus program misses an infection. And once a virus or Trojan horse gets in, removing it can be incredibly tough. If you suspect some nasty got past your defenses, then it's time to bring in extra help. <br /><br />Many antivirus makers offer free and easy online scans through your Web browser. The scan will take time, as the scanning service will need to download large Java or ActiveX components before it can get started, but they're easy to kick off. You can run them in addition to your already-installed antivirus application for a second (or third, or fourth) opinion. Here's the lowdown on your options. <br /><br />- Trend Micro HouseCall: Will detect and remove malware; works with both IE and Firefox. <br /><br />- BitDefender Online Scanner: Detects and removes malware; requires IE. <br /><br />- Kaspersky Online Scanner: Detects malware, but doesn't remove it; works with IE and Firefox. <br /><br />- F-Secure Online Virus Scanner: Detects and removes malware; requires IE. <br /><br />- ESET Online Scanner: Detects and removes malware; requires IE.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-69330824173765618062008-08-21T08:35:00.000-07:002008-08-21T08:36:36.625-07:00Spouse Spying is on the rise using high technologyMen and women who suspect their partners may be having an affair have never been in a better position than now to confirm their suspicion, at least according to this news story from The Age. The story reports that the use of high-tech gadgets to carry out surveillance on partners they suspect is on the rise. Its not just to confirm infidelity however, many worried parents are also spying on their children due to suspicious behaviour.<br /><br />One of the reasons the story gives for this increase is that it is extremely difficult tell for the person being spied on to tell that they are actually being subjected to it. This is partly due to the quality and the discreet nature of some modern spy gadgets; for example, anyone deleting their text messsages would be pretty confident they are gone forever, but with a text message reader, it is possible someone can retrieve them if they leave their phone vacant for even 10 minutes. <br /><br />Spying can, without consent, be illegal so is very important anyone carrying out such activity does so in a way that they are not suspected of doing so. But these gadgets work so well that rarely has anyone got into trouble as they have managed to avoid detection from the party being target of the surveillance. <br /><br />There is now a vast arrey of devices available for people to carry out all sorts of types of surveillance. Spy cameras are obviously very popular, but those seem to be done more for fun and in good humour than serious surveillance. Gadgets that are more likey to be used for the more serious stuff are listening devices, retrieving text messages, carrying out fidelty tests. <br /><br />In some ways this is just the tip of the iceberg and surveillance will only increase as people become more and more of the types of gadgets that are available at their disposal that they weren’t aware of before.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-72514641653014340652008-08-21T07:21:00.000-07:002008-08-21T07:23:23.671-07:00Now SPY on people without their knowledge using this motion detecting cameraAre you a nature lover or wish to spy on others without their knowledge? Then the Prowler Stealth Cam may be the ideal piece of equipment. It allows you to be able to monitor day and night along with the ability to adjust the recording from five to 90 seconds before triggering. It can all be done even when you are not in the picture, so to speak.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SK16IEmBx6I/AAAAAAAAAM4/SRAVmTj7xAs/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SK16IEmBx6I/AAAAAAAAAM4/SRAVmTj7xAs/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236976220792539042" /></a><br />Don’t be deceived. Whilst the camera may have a slight toy look to it and resembles something out of Star Wars, this stealth cam can be a powerful ally for anyone interested in wildlife as it can snap pictures using its sensors by detecting motion. These types of cameras are designed for wildlife enthusiasts who want pictures without the need to hold a camera in their hands. The camera can be positioned anywhere and will photo when it traces movement. If you want a still picture and proof of the time and date, this high-powered cam does that as well. <br /><br />The camera also comes with night-vision, not totally surprising as some of the best pictures out in the wild are to be had in the night. The nighttime pics are probably the best using the 42 infrared emitters that will work great if you are within 50 feet of your target. Of course, this will probably be best by surveying where your target is likely to be so you can place the camera in range. The night-time pictures are deliverd in balck and white <br /><br />Another good feature is its durability and that you can take photos even in the rain. Stealth Cam is the manufacturer of several game scouting cameras and are popular among nature photographers so you know the cam must be one of the best if the experts use them.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-55377501673948059372008-08-21T04:23:00.001-07:002009-02-27T08:26:56.135-08:00Gadgets Blamed For Dozens of Deadly Lightning Strikes in RussiaIt appears that the Gods hate gadgets, which is why they have been striking down citizens in the new, westernized Russia left and right with lightning. The fact that many of these individuals were outside using gadgets at the time has lead people to believe that the devices themselves are to blame.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SK1QXPeLRII/AAAAAAAAAMw/DztyFPPuA-Y/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SK1QXPeLRII/AAAAAAAAAMw/DztyFPPuA-Y/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236930301922067586" /></a><br />These incidents include a woman found dead with a melted cellphone in her hand, a 10-year-old boy on a bike and an elderly farmer tending her potato plants with what I assume was some sort of metal tool.<br /><br />The vast majority of scientists will agree that the electromagnetic fields given off by small gadgets are far too weak to attract lightning strikes. Plus, there has been a marked increase amount of thunderstorms experienced across Russia this year—so there is definitely a reason to chalk this up to coincidence more than anything else.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-57138112330473832862008-08-09T08:30:00.001-07:002009-02-03T05:13:27.630-08:00Spy on Your Wife Using This Photo FrameHere is a simple way to constantly spy on your wife: a picture frame with a built-in microphone and a GSM phone. Call into the number assigned to the picture frame's SIM and listen in at any time, with stand-by time of up to two weeks. <br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SBLfdMed8wI/AAAAAAAAAL4/tAq8CHCJlk0/s1600-h/spy-frame.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SBLfdMed8wI/AAAAAAAAAL4/tAq8CHCJlk0/s400/spy-frame.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193459012969820930" /></a><br />It's £130 and includes a SIM card, but no service plan is mentioned. Presumably you could use any SIM and any service. The seller is in the UK and GSM frequencies are not listed, so I'm not sure if it'll work in the US.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-69713725287715341362008-08-07T02:28:00.000-07:002008-08-07T02:29:23.052-07:00French Women Take Baths with their Cell PhonesFile under another fun survey. According to a survey, 14% of French women take their mobile phones into the bathroom with them, compared to just 4% of men.<br /><br />The survey goes on to reveal 18 to 24 year olds as the most likely to interrupt a bath or shower for an unexpected mobile phone call (34% compared to an average of 14% across all age groups), while 8% of this age group would do likewise to consider an incoming SMS message (compared to just 2% on average).<br /><br />The survey published by mBlox was conducted amongst 221 members of the public between the ages of 18 and 70 in Paris between 31 May and 1 June 2008."Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-84741087263224575052008-08-06T05:20:00.000-07:002008-08-06T05:22:44.117-07:0010 Extremely Unusual Burglar AlarmsThe quest to protect ourselves and our property from thieves has given rise to some of the most bizarre and deadly devices ever conceived by man. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SJmXRmYd6YI/AAAAAAAAAMo/VbZpw1rf4xE/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SJmXRmYd6YI/AAAAAAAAAMo/VbZpw1rf4xE/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231378770784283010" /></a><br />We have compiled 10 burglar alarms that fit neatly in this category with devices that range from a mousetrap alarm that managed to capture a couple of schoolyard criminals "green handed," to a gramaphone alarm from 1939 that dials a telephone number and plays a message from the record when tripped. Ingenious.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-70993809711362300192008-08-05T01:41:00.000-07:002008-08-05T01:43:35.845-07:00Is your cell phone trying to kill you?Don't look now, but your cell phone is out to get you. This deadly device can cause accidents, give you cancer or even kill you, according to a rising chorus of alarmist reports.<br /><br />The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) said this week that emergency room doctors are reporting an increase in both injuries and deaths caused by text messaging. People are apparently wandering into traffic and losing control of their cars because they're sending text messages instead of paying attention. The ACEP singled out text messaging while rollerblading as a risk.<br /><br />According to a survey-based report this week by the Danish National Birth Cohort, "Children with exposure to cell phones (prenatally, postnatally or both), tended to have higher percentages of borderline or abnormal scores for emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity and peer problems."<br /><br />Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, sent a memo to about 3,000 faculty and staff members last week advising that they keep children away from cell phones, except for emergency calls -- for example, if mommy rollerblades into a pole while text messaging.<br /><br />States are increasingly banning cell phones for drivers. The laws are based on the belief that using a cell phone while driving a car increases the risk of accidents.<br /><br />Officials in Russia say that cell phones are to blame for a rise in death by lightning; more than a dozen people were killed there in the past few weeks by lightning. The theory goes that if you're using a mobile phone during a storm, the chances of you being struck and/or killed by lightning is greater than if you're, say, just sitting under a tree.<br /><br />So let me get this straight: Cell phones cause cancer, injuries and death.<br /><br />This is horrible news because in the past 18 years, cell phone use in the U.S. has risen from under 5 million to over 260 million.<br /><br />The use of these dangerous devices has gone from zero to almost everybody. Surely cancer, injuries and deaths must have risen just as dramatically -- only, it turns out they really haven't.<br /><br /><strong>Inside the ER</strong><br /><br />You'll notice that the warning from emergency room doctors about the dangers of text messaging is "anecdotal," and includes no numbers, percentages or rates. That's because the numbers are so small, they're probably statistically irrelevant. ERs keep detailed records about why people are injured. Why did they choose to not quantify this "trend"?<br /><br />A whopping 31 million emergency rooms visits each year result from "accidental injuries." These injuries are caused by (in order of frequency) car accidents, falls (mostly elderly people and young children), drowning, fires, bicycle accidents, playground accidents, poisoning and work-related injuries. The number of visits related to text messaging is probably dwarfed by all these other causes.<br /><br />Some 1.7 million of the visits in 2003 were related to something going wrong with medical treatment. Visiting a doctor is probably several orders of magnitude more dangerous than text messaging.<br /><br />It's probably true that some people are being distracted by text messaging. But why are cell phones being singled out as a major cause of injury when in fact they are not?<br /><br /><strong>Do phones really cause hyperactivity?</strong><br /><br />The authors of the Danish National Birth Cohort study say very clearly that other factors besides cell phone radiation may account for behavioral differences. For example, lower socioeconomic status may contribute to both increased cell phone use by mothers and behavioral problems in children. Also, families where parents are on the phone all the time may be paying less attention to their kids.<br /><br />The assumption of a causal relationship is made mostly by the press. Why are they so eager to blame phones?<br /><br /><strong>Dr. Herberman's misguided memo</strong><br /><br />Dr. Herberman, who sent the memo to his staff saying kids shouldn't use phones, admits his fears are not based on published studies, but on a belief about what future studies will discover.<br /><br />Actual published research is extensive but inconclusive, and mostly favors the idea that cell phones don't cause cancer.<br /><br />Researchers at the University of Utah this year analyzed nine studies on the use of cell phones by brain tumor patients and found "no overall increased risk of brain tumors among cellular phone users." Other studies conducted in the past two years in Europe determined the same thing -- that using cell phones doesn't significantly increase the likelihood of cancer.<br /><br />However, other studies have found some link between cell phones and cancer. The euphemism is "inconclusive," but in fact the studies are contradictory. After all the research, we can say only that cell phone exposure over several decades might -- just might -- increase the risk of cancer.<br /><br />Look at it this way: You can place everything into one of three categories: 1) known to cause cancer, 2) might cause cancer, and 3) is not even suspected of causing cancer.<br /><br />Items in category 1 -- things that science has proved increase the likelihood of cancer -- are too many in number to list here, but include things like foods cooked above 248 degrees, some common food colorings, popular children's bath products, red meat and processed meat, dairy products, alcohol, some soft drinks and others.<br /><br />So here's my question: Why does Dr. Herberman ignore the hundreds of things known to cause cancer -- items that are used daily by staffers and some of which I'll bet are served in the University of Pittsburgh's cafeterias -- and focus on one item from the list of things that might cause cancer?<br /><br />What is it about cell phones that inspires a prominent scientist to ignore published scientific research and focus instead on what is essentially a hunch?<br /><br /><strong>The accidental conclusion</strong><br /><br />I believe the majority of car accidents blamed on cell phones in fact have nothing to do with cell phones. Here's why.<br /><br />Anytime there's a car accident that happens while somebody is using a cell phone, the cell phone is blamed for the accident. That's just common sense, right? Well, not so fast.<br /><br />In the U.S., roughly 5% of the people driving cars at any given moment are using their cell phones. Unless using a cell phone actually prevents car accidents, you would expect that about 5% of the people who get into car accidents happen to be on the phone at the time of the accident. This 5% represents chance, not causation.<br /><br />In other words, you can expect, statistically speaking, that 5% of all accidents will have a cell phone driver just by chance; the cell phone didn't cause the accident.<br /><br />There are about 6 million car accidents per year (and about 43,000 car accident fatalities). That means there should be about 300,000 car accidents per year where the driver was talking on the phone, but where that cell phone use did not cause the accident. Yet nearly all of those accidents are blamed on the cell phone. Sure, some unknown percentage of cell phone-related accidents are caused by the phone call, but the rest of the accidents involve a driver talking on the cell phone without that call actually causing the accident. Despite that, close to 100% of these will be blamed on the phone call.<br /><br />In fact, investigators can't prove that a cell phone caused a driver to be distracted enough to cause an accident. (Nor can they prove that a driver distracted by daydreaming, listening to the radio or talking to another person inside the car caused an accident.) They can, however, prove that a driver was or was not talking on the phone at the time of a crash. And when they do, they assert cause, not coincidence, in almost every case.<br /><br />Statistics prove that the number of crashes involving a cell phone talker has risen dramatically in the past 10 years. And why wouldn't it? Nobody used to use cell phones, and now everybody does.<br /><br />Have all these accidents blamed on cell phones been added to previous causes for accidents, creating an ever-higher total number of accidents?<br /><br />On the contrary, the rate of accidents, injuries and deaths from car accidents have all declined, this during a time of radical rise in cell phone use.<br /><br />So why are cell phones singled out as the cause of car accidents, when an increase in the number of people using cell phones while driving has not increased the total number of accidents?<br /><br /><strong>Shocking conclusion</strong><br /><br />While at least one Russian official claims that cell phones' electromagnetic radiation attracts lightning, a more plausible attractor is the metal in cell phones. Yes, metal can attract lightning. So it's possible that with more people walking around in thunderstorms with metal next to their heads, more people are getting zapped by lightning.<br /><br />But the number of people killed by lightning is very low. Only about 50 people per year die in the U.S. from lightning, and only a small percentage (often zero percent) of these involved a cell phone.<br /><br />You're more likely to be mauled by an ill-tempered badger. So why are cell phone-related lightning strikes making the news?<br /><br /><strong>Here's what's really going on</strong><br /><br />In many of these cases, we're transferring blame for behavior from the people responsible to their cell phones. So a careless pedestrian is now careless with a cell phone as she walks into traffic. We know some foods cause cancer, but choose to eat them anyway -- then focus on cell phones as a cancer risk. A neglectful mother now has a cell phone in hand as she neglects her child. A distracted driver -- always dangerous -- is now using a cell phone to distract himself, and so on.<br /><br />Of course, cell phones are involved in some accidents, injuries or maladies. But so far, it appears that the numbers are very small compared to other causes.<br /><br />Banning or avoiding cell phones wouldn't make a noticeable dent in rates of accidents, diseases or behavioral problems in children. By all means, take reasonable precautions with cell phones. But what would really make a difference in your health and welfare is: Eat healthy foods, pay attention when you're driving, walking or rollerblading -- and be a good parent.<br /><br />What we really need, in other words, is a return to personal responsibility. What we don't need is an electronic scapegoat.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-6010657332364423662008-08-04T10:50:00.000-07:002008-11-12T18:08:06.585-08:00Send Email and SMS with this Digital Pen'Looks can be deceptive. Really deceptive when it comes to the digital pen. Fountain pens are a thing of the past. And you would rarely see anybody except your grandfather use it. This fountain pen by D-scribe is digital and the coolest pen in the world. Communication has risen to a whole new level and getting in touch with people was never this easy. This Digital pen can send sms and E-mail messages.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SJdBnIvk0CI/AAAAAAAAAMg/WbqO_Mnrzv4/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SJdBnIvk0CI/AAAAAAAAAMg/WbqO_Mnrzv4/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230721632831852578" /></a><br />All you need is a surface to write on and bluetooth enabled mobile phone. It converts your handwriting into digital form and is ready to send your sms or Email message via Bluetooth enabled phone. Simply write your message and circle the name of recipient to indicate who to send it to. There is a small built-in LED screen that updates you on the status of your message.<br /><br />What are your waiting for? Get this device and pen your thoughts not forgetting to put it across. Now you can speak your mind whenever and wherever! Your friends are just a scribble away!Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7641325814754698321.post-50972899192056374862008-08-02T23:50:00.000-07:002009-01-17T01:05:44.938-08:00A SPY sun glass with built in DVRDo you shoot a lot of video on the beach? Or... incognito? Well, if you do either of those things, the Sunglasses DVR may be just the ticket. These polarized-lens sunglasses have a built-in 1.3-megapixel self-recording color camera and 30-fps digital video recorder, perfect for online video, you can actually upload directly to YouTube. They have 2GB of internal memory, and the li-polymer rechargeable battery records for 5 hours continuously.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SJVVYbfhvDI/AAAAAAAAAMY/C4V5Ybfo18Y/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hp91Hghv6FQ/SJVVYbfhvDI/AAAAAAAAAMY/C4V5Ybfo18Y/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230180420445912114" /></a><br /><br />You can add a 2GB Micro SD card (not included) for even more recoding. And stereo recording ensures great sound quality to go along with the action. Ideal for outdoor activities such as bike riding, sporting events, snow skiing, tennis, and other events: even for spying and investigation.<br /><br />My little eyes can't spy a price anywhere. Either way, I'm so torn between these and the Jakk's Pacific Night Vision Goggles that we recently got in the office. Look for our hands-on review soon.Virgo Websiteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01942187122108837892noreply@blogger.com17