Spy for Fun

Samsung launches Guru E2152 in India, priced Rs 3550

2010-09-17T00:53:00.000-07:00

This dual SIM device comes with a dedicated music button and support for nine regional languages.

Samsung has extended its "Guru" range of low-cost cell phones in India with the launch of its latest model, the Guru E2152.

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.

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.

The Guru E2152 is priced at Rs. 3,550, and is now available across the country.

How can you get robbed using Facebook Places?

2010-09-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

This Laptop can stream everything to your HDTV

2010-09-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

1 TB LaCie External Portable Hard Drive announced

2010-08-28T04:19:00.000-07:00

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.

Press Release from LaCie:

Tiny Metal Hard Drive Now in 1TB

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

Availability

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.

Now your smartphone can sense dangerous chemicals

2010-08-27T03:21:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Divine iPhone lets a man watch his home getting robbed live

2010-08-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

He then launched the app, which enables users to watch their security camera footage live.

"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.

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.

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?"

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.

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.

With things like iCam and OnStar, it's becoming tougher and tougher to be a criminal these days.

Mischa Barton in Madrid - 11 pics

2010-02-04T05:15:00.000-08:00

Mischa Barton at the photocall of the New Collection of Cristian Lay in Madrid. Complete picture gallery below. Enjoy!

Anne Hathaway - Harvard University Hasty Pudding Club’s 2010 Woman of the Year - 10 pics

2010-01-31T04:25:00.000-08:00

iPad Doubts - A Gamer's Problems With Apple's Wonder Machine

2010-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

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.

Why might the iPad not become the next great player in games?

Bear in mind, we've now played games on the iPad.

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.

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.

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?

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?

App Apprehensions: 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.

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.

The Cost: 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?

Versus PC Gaming: 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.

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.

Room For the Little Guys? 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.

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.

Inherited iPhone Issues 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.

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.

Hard To Handle?: 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.

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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.

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.

A SPY camera hidden in a mirror

2008-12-13T05:02:00.000-08:00

This 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.

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.

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.

Now get back your lost or stolen mobile phones

2008-08-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

When 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.

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.

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!

HOW TO: Use your iPhone 3G as a modem?

2008-08-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

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!

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.

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.

Here's the basic rundown:
- Jailbreak your iPhone 3G
- Install 3Proxy and Terminal
- Create an ad-hoc Wi-fi network using your laptop
- Join the network with your iPhone
- Find the iPhone's IP address
- Open Terminal and run the proxy program
- Open Safari on your iPhone and open a web page
- Configure your browser to use the proxy

Detailed Steps at Creations

How The Satellite Dish Got Its Shape?

2008-08-25T04:09:00.001-07:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why I switched my mails to Gmail from Yahoo?

2008-08-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

The old paradigm follows the metaphor of a paper-pushing office job with an in-box, trash can, and filing cabinet.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The three Gmail features that wooed me
Three Gmail features got me to make the move, and all three proved just as desirable as I anticipated.

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?

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.

Yahoo Mail made major progress around this problem by finally fixing its previously ineffectual search ability, but I still like labels a lot better.

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.

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.

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.

Yahoo charges $25 a year just for POP access and at present doesn't grant IMAP access except to business partners.

The advantages I found later
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."

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.

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.)

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.

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.

What I don't like
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Transition woes
Some of my biggest troubles with Gmail were related to my transition from Yahoo Mail.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Japanese iPhone 3G prevents women from perverts!

2008-08-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

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.

I mean, I can only guess that's the case.

Two things to Japanese pervs everywhere: fiber optics and video cameras.

10 Fixes for the Worst PC Security Nightmares

2008-08-22T03:01:00.000-07:00

In 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.

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.

Fix 1: Patch Over the Software Bull's-Eye

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.

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.

Luckily, you can completely block the majority of Web-based exploits by keeping all your programs--not just theÂ 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.

Fix 2: Find the Other Holes

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.

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.

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).

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.

Fix 3: Let the Latest Browsers Fight for You

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.

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.

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.

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."

Fix 4: Sidestep Social Engineering

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 andÂ lure you into opening a poisonous e-mail attachment or downloaded file. A targeted attack might even use your correct name and business title.

To fight back, turn to a simple but powerful tool:Â 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.

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.

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 uploadÂ it to the VirusTotal site.

Fix 5: Get the Jump on Fast-Moving Malware

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.

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.

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."

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.

Fix 6: Rescue Your Inbox From Spam

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fix 7: Develop an Antiphishing Habit

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.

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.

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).Â Avoid Safari, which lacks any built-in antiphishing protection.

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.

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.

Fix 8: Keep Your Own Site Safe

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.Â And the guns are trained on your site.

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.

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.

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).

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 beenÂ hijacked.

Fix 9: Make Your Passwords Secure--And Easy to Remember

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.

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.

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.

Fix 10: Get Extra Cleaning Help for Stubborn Infections

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.

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.

- Trend Micro HouseCall: Will detect and remove malware; works with both IE and Firefox.

- BitDefender Online Scanner: Detects and removes malware; requires IE.

- Kaspersky Online Scanner: Detects malware, but doesn't remove it; works with IE and Firefox.

- F-Secure Online Virus Scanner: Detects and removes malware; requires IE.

- ESET Online Scanner: Detects and removes malware; requires IE.

Spouse Spying is on the rise using high technology

2008-08-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Men 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Now SPY on people without their knowledge using this motion detecting camera

2008-08-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

Are 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.

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.

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

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.

Gadgets Blamed For Dozens of Deadly Lightning Strikes in Russia

2008-08-21T04:23:00.001-07:00

It 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.

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.

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.

Spy on Your Wife Using This Photo Frame

2008-08-09T08:30:00.001-07:00

Here 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.

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.

French Women Take Baths with their Cell Phones

2008-08-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

File 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.

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).

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."

10 Extremely Unusual Burglar Alarms

2008-08-06T05:20:00.000-07:00

The 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.

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.

Is your cell phone trying to kill you?

2008-08-05T01:41:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

So let me get this straight: Cell phones cause cancer, injuries and death.

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.

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.

Inside the ER

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"?

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.

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.

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?

Do phones really cause hyperactivity?

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.

The assumption of a causal relationship is made mostly by the press. Why are they so eager to blame phones?

Dr. Herberman's misguided memo

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.

Actual published research is extensive but inconclusive, and mostly favors the idea that cell phones don't cause cancer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

The accidental conclusion

I believe the majority of car accidents blamed on cell phones in fact have nothing to do with cell phones. Here's why.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Have all these accidents blamed on cell phones been added to previous causes for accidents, creating an ever-higher total number of accidents?

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.

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?

Shocking conclusion

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.

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.

You're more likely to be mauled by an ill-tempered badger. So why are cell phone-related lightning strikes making the news?

Here's what's really going on

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.

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.

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.

What we really need, in other words, is a return to personal responsibility. What we don't need is an electronic scapegoat.

Send Email and SMS with this Digital Pen

2008-08-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

'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.

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.

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!

A SPY sun glass with built in DVR

2008-08-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

Do 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.

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.

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.

Next version of iPhone to have GPS and copy / paste features

2008-07-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Looks like Apple's seeded a beta of firmware 2.1 (not to be confused with the supposed 2.0.1 that will fix the myriad bugs and issues with 2.0), which may have some new GPS features that would imply turn-by-turn directions. No argument from us if Apple really is including new Core Location hooks for tracking your direction and speed, which would both be needed for doing proper GPS navigation.

Another bit which may or may not make it into 2.1 is copy/paste. We're still both hopeful and skeptical, but supposedly in the new version of the WebKit framework exists commands for "plugins," "copy," "paste," "cut," and some others. We can't confirm if these really exist (and if they do, we don't know how they've actually been there, or if they're simply holdovers from the desktop WebKit frameworks), so don't hold your breath. Also supposedly making its first appearance in the 2.1 beta code: Apple's push notification service.

Oh, and by the way, if all this has whet your appetite for the device, sounds like today will be a bad day to try and snag one. Apple's retail site shows absolutely zero iPhone availability in the US, so if you're jonesing then check out eBay or the seedy looking dude on the corner with the overstuffed trenchcoat.

Top 5 Desktop Replacement Laptops

2008-07-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

Desktop replacements are one of the largest growing segments in the portable market. These system pack in the features and functions that make them competitive with full sized computers. There are even a lot of specialized multimedia and gaming models. Based on my research and experience, here are the top desktop replacement laptops.

1. Dell XPS M1730

For those looking for a high performance system for gaming, Dell's XPS offers the XPS M1730 laptop. The system is highly customizable to fit to a wide variety of budgets but does offer some superb 3D graphics performance thanks to its ability to run a mobile SLI setup with NVIDIA GeForce mobile graphics processors. They even offer the Core 2 Extreme mobile processor for some of the best processing power available. Of course, the top of the line performance will cost a lot. Dell even makes a specially skinned version for those who play World of Warcraft.

2. Gateway P-173XL FX

If gaming is one of your primary reasons for getting a desktop replacement but you don't want to spend the huge sums for a gaming oriented laptop configuration, check out Gateway's FX series of laptops. The 17-inch P-173XL FX offers a very well balanced system configuration with a very strong GeForce 8800M GTS graphics processor that is even capable of playing 3D games up to the 17-inch screens 1920x1200 resolution. The RAID drive setup helps boost performance and storage space and the wide variety of peripheral connectors lets you hook up just about anything. The only real drawbacks to it are its fairly large size and battery pack that extends out from the case.

3. HP Pavilion dv9830us

If multimedia and high definition video are what draws you to a desktop replacement, HP offers some extremely strong values. The Pavilion dv9830us has a very attractive price and includes features such as a Blu-ray reader and DVD burner combo drive and digital/analog HDTV tuner card that let it play a wide variety of HD media. One big downside to the system though is the 17-inch LCD is limited to a 1440x900 resolution preventing it from being used for 1080p video. It is still possible to do it with an extrenal monitor via the HDMI connector. The price might also be so low as it uses an older Core 2 Duo T5550 mobile processor.

4. Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch

The MacBook Pro is probably one of the more expensive desktop replacement laptops on the market, but it is also the most portable. The svelte aluminum clad laptop is just one inch thick with a very light 6.8 pounds. Performance is also quite strong thanks to the Core 2 Duo T9300 processor. With the Mac OS X 10.5 operating system, it is also possible to run the Windows operating system thanks to the new Boot Camp feature. This makes the system extremely flexible in what it can run. The price just makes it something that many people might reconsider.

5. Lenovo IdeaPad Y710

Prior to the purchase by Lenovo, IBM was not a company that built any laptops with screens larger than 15-inches. The IdeaPad Y710 was a major step away from that by producing the first 17-inch desktop replacement laptop. The system integrates well loved features such as the ThinkPads great keyboard design and matched it with features consumers would like. The system ranges for very affordable budget systems to high end PC gaming platforms. Whether you need an affordable system, strong general performance or gaming, Lenovo has an IdeaPad Y710 that can match those needs.

HOW TO: Create a strong personal brand image for YOURSELF?

2008-07-22T21:04:00.002-07:00

Having a strong brand image can boost your chances of getting great jobs and change the way people think of you. Below are steps to create a strong personal brand:

1. Google yourself. You should Google your name to see what others will see if they do the same. They say this helps you circumvent a doppelganger whom people might mistake for you, or other material that clutters the career-enhancing results you want people to see. (For example, in my case, the other Toni Bowers is a PhD from Stanford who specializes in eighteenth-century British literature and culture. I’m not above riding her career coattails, but she might want to distance herself from me.)

2. Choose the right professional name. If you have a common name, like Jane Smith, you can start differentiating yourself by adding a middle initial every time you refer to yourself online.

3. Use credentials consistently. Be sure to add all MCSEs and CCNAs to your résumé, bio, business card, and so on, and do so consistently.

4. Create public profiles. The author of the piece, Eileen P. Gunn, makes a great point when she says that sites like LinkedIn and Facebook let you promote your professional credentials in popular places without running the risk of having your boss see your resume on job-specific boards like Monster or HotJobs.

5. Build a Web site. This is a good idea if you do a lot of public speaking or technical writing.

6. Create links. Gunn suggests that you drive traffic to yourself by using hyperlinks “to guide users from your corporate bio to your LinkedIn profile to your blog, and vice versa — creating your own self-referring network.”

7. Become an expert. Gunn recommends that you start your own blog or contribute to others. I was feeling kind of ahead of the game until she added this part: “Be insightful and thought provoking (without burning bridges). Be smart, and keep within the bounds of good taste.” (I think that ship may already have sailed for me.)

8. Push the bad stuff out of sight. By “getting the word out on yourself,” we mean professionally. Potential hirers don’t need to see that picture of you from the Kentucky Derby infield holding a mint julep as big as Secretariat.

Voice Recording Spy Watch

2008-07-22T21:04:00.001-07:00

Here’s another toy for you wannabe spies. This ‘handsome’ watch includes 1GB of flash memory and a microphone allowing it to record up to 500 hours of audio. Its rechargeable battery is actually only rated for about 9 hours of recording time, but it only takes about 2 hours to fully recharge.

The watch uses a mini USB port for transferring files (and charging) but also includes a headphone jack for playing back audio. While recordings are stored as wav files, the watch can also be used to play back MP3s. Basically the processing power needed to decode MP3s is far less than what is needed to encode them. And while the ability to record directly to MP3s would be nice, 500 hours when using wav files is still enough to keep the watch recording for almost 3 straight weeks.
Not surprisingly you can find the watch at Spycatcher for about $170.

Now A Camera to See Through Clothes

2008-07-22T21:03:00.002-07:00

This is a great new development awaited from a looooooong time.

This camera can see through clothes, its not able to see a person’s flesh but can detect metallic as well as non-metallic objects such as weapons and explosives that are hidden under clothing even from as far as 80 feet away.

The camera has been developed by company called ThruVision. Before you get too excited at the idea of being able to peek through clothing, unfortunately (or should I say fortunately) the camera does not expose the human flesh.

Its just as well because a camera like this would have no chance of being cleared as an acceptable form of security, if it did. There would be an uproar, right?

The camera works by identifying items by the electromagnetic rays they give out. Its like having an x-ray vision trough someone’s clothes without revealing the skin. It can also distinguish between different types of material based on the waves produced and is able to detect non-metallic items too. Currently metal detectors are widely used which means they have to carry out body search by hand to check for non-metallic objects.

And because electromagnetic rays travel through walls, a person does not have to be directly in line with the camera for it suss out if they are carrying an offensive weapon, they may be in a different room altogether from where the camera is located.

There are concerns that technology such as this will further erode our civil liberties. That may be true, but in this instance I would think most people would be willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy if it can greatly enhance security. I think this is perfectly acceptable as a way to ramp up security at strategic locations such as airports. This is far less threatening from a privacy standpoint than something like ID cards which the government is introducing and of course the spate of confidential public data government organisations have lost in recent months and years.

HOW TO: Spy on your Spouse's cell phone?

2008-07-22T21:03:00.001-07:00

A company in New York is marketing a product it says allows spouses, parents, employers, and others to recover deleted data from mobile phones and read it on PCs. It works on many, but not all, cell phones.

"BrickHouse Security sells a small, portable SIM card reader that it says retrieves deleted messages. Users can remove a SIM card, put it in the $150 Cell Phone Spy, and plug the reader into a USB port. The data transfers to PCs. The company claims its reader is the only one that can access deleted messages."

Hidden Spy Camera in a TIE

2008-07-22T21:02:00.002-07:00

The camera in this tie is the world’s smallest color pinhole camera. Also there is a claim that this tie is fashionable. You can record exactly what you see while wearing it. No external power is needed, since it just connects directly with an included MP4 player.

Some of the specs on the MP4 player include: 512MB Memory with the ability to get 1GB using an SD card. 2.5 Inch TFT OLED display, with a resolution of 320×240. Even with the MP4 player thrown in, this tie still probably won’t make you feel like James Bond.

Who knows, you might get some dirt on a co-worker, but more likely you’ll just collect videos of your walk to work. From your tie’s point of view of course. This kind of excitement will cost you about $150.

Sex toys: The next generation

2008-07-22T21:02:00.001-07:00

Cue Star Trek: The Next Generation music. Replace flying starship intro with sex toys flying near planets. Michael Young is a designer known for his simple and elegant watch designs, but these days he’s exploring the final frontier: Getting intimate with and finding out what makes the fairer sex tick…to orgasm.

It’s called the Sabar and it’s a sleek futuristic banana shaped personal massager for her. The idea is that it will be simple, yet exciting. The controls are easy and responsive.(Like some of you ladies…I kidd…No, really some of you are.) All she has to do is tap the plus or minus button at the base and she’ll get a stronger or lessened vibe. That’s about all there is to it. Pretty much the same old thing in fact. They kinda look like deadly Ninja weapons.

SPY Pen with invisible ink and ultraviolet

2008-07-22T21:01:00.002-07:00

This ingenious device not only allows you to write last minute notes, but to destroy them as well. Use the Pen for messages that will only show up under ultra-violet light. If you are the worried that the baddies will see it, you can shred it instead of eating it.

The pen comes with a message pad and batteries for £4.99 (~$10.00.) We can see this being used with other applications, such as destroying ATM slips or that extra receipt when your partner/spouse didn’t know you took that side trip to McDonalds on the way home from work.

Wireless Spy Camera Pen

2008-07-22T21:01:00.001-07:00

This pen looks just like any other normal pen but hides a built-in wireless mini spy camera and uses the sun to charge itself.

You twist the cap of the pen to start the wireless transmission. The spy recorded video is passed to a 2.5-inch TFT LCD receiver that can be as far as 20 meters.

Some technical details are:

Dimension:120×68×25mm (LxWxD)
Memory: 64MB
Display: 2.5 Inch TFT LCD
Video Format: MPEG-1/4, AVI/ASF/ADPCM
Video Resolution: 882×240
FPS (Frames per Second): 30fps
Music Format: MP3

The Wireless Spy Camera Pen is available for $331 at Chinavasion.

Hiding valuables in a drink and cushion?

2008-07-22T21:00:00.002-07:00

The “out of sight, out of mind” saying is so true when it comes to security. If you can’t see the valuables, its less likely to tempt opportunist thieves from stealing those valuables. This is why there are so many campaigns telling you not to leave anything of value inside your car, as its relatively easy to break the window and steal something from the car seat. On the theme of safes, we have a very convincing safe inside a Brisk Iced Tea Bottle.

The Brisk Ice Tea Bottle uses coloured plastic inside the bottle to give the illusion that it contains real iced tea. Since the illusion is so convincing, a thief is less likely to consider the bottle to be a safe. Obviously if the bottle is kept in the bedroom, it will stand out a little more than if kept in the kitchen cupboard. Therefore the safe ‘container’ needs to be situated in the place you’d expect to find it normally to avoid suspicion.

Hiding your valuables inside a cushion is a good idea, although I don’t like the look of the cylinder style of cushion! The cushion safe is not particularly expensive, but you can do it yourself for even less. You could achieve the same effect by hiding a small pouch between 2 layers of padding inside a standard square cushion.

Check out this sleek external 320 GB hard drive!!

2008-07-22T21:00:00.001-07:00

If you thought you had a big drive in a small package with Western Digital’s 250GB Passport you can think again. Hopefully you’ve come to expect it these days because soon after you get the biggest and the best something else will come along to out-do it.

WD has announced the launch of the latest in their line of the sleek, portable Passport drives with this one boasting a massive 320GB capacity of storage that is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket. The whole drive and enclosure weigh under a quarter of a pound does not require an external power source. The drive gets its power and transfers data through a single USB 2.0 connection and gives a 480 Mbps transfer speed (which will take you an hour and a half to fill the drive).

The drive also comes with some software from Google to help you quickly search the mass of data and allows some encryption of your files when used with Windows, although it is compatible with both Windows and Mac. Retailing at $229.99 this drive is really not too bad of a deal, and even though I really don’t need a full 320GB of storage for some reason I still want to get one.

SPY on your neighbours night and day!

2008-07-22T20:59:00.002-07:00

Whether you are keeping an eye on your home, loved ones, or just spying on your neighbors, the Wireless 2-Way IP Cam with night-vision can prove to be a valuable tool. The ZVC7630W is capable of day and surveillance thanks to six infrared LEDs around the lens that help it capture clear images in dark and low-light environments. It also supports real time internet video streams and two way voice communication should you ever need to yell at your babysitter from afar.

Other features include: VGA, QVGA, and QQVGA image resolutions at 30fps, support for multiple profiles, 3x digital zoom, multiple network protocol support, MPEG4 and MJPEG dual-codec support, 128-bit WEP and WPA-PSK encryption, and the ability to view and record video up to 16 cameras simultaneously. And the best part about the ZVC7630W is that you can pick one up for only $200. There is also a $156 version available — sans wireless

HOW TO: Spy on someone during the festive season

2008-07-22T20:59:00.001-07:00

If you feel like spying on someone in a festive and fragrant manner, consider getting a GSM listening device hidden in a basket of potpourri. Send it to one of your enemies along with a deceptively cheery card, and then call the bug from anywhere in the world (a SIM card is included) and you’ll be able to hear whatever is going on around the basket for up to two weeks.

To be honest, whenever someone has given me a stinky bag of dead plants, I’ve said something along the lines of “thank you, this is absolutely wonderful!” and then thrown it out as soon as they were gone. I mean, putting a bug in potpourri strikes me as being like trying to feed your kids vitamins by mixing them in with lima beans. It doesn’t help that the GSM bug is about $275, but at least the potpourri and basket are included.

HOW TO: Convert your iPhone into a Hard Disk!!

2008-07-22T20:58:00.003-07:00

We thought the iPhone had already been mangled, twisted, and formed to do every bidding conceivable, but in case it hasn't been made crystal clear the thing's been busted completely and totally wide open, here you go: it's now nothing more than a hard drive. A clean slate, if you will, waiting to record whatever bits and bytes you care to push to it. It's all accomplished with a new little AFP server running on the iPhone (and the iPod touch too); the goods apparently aren't available in Installer.app yet so there's a little work involved getting it going, but for the simple pleasure of watching your handset appear as a mounted drive on your desktop, it just might be worth it, no? As TUAW points out, this all leads to one-drag app installs and device backups -- among other wonderful things -- so we'd have to put this on our short list. If we were jailbreaking iPhones and installing apps, that is. Which we may or may not be.

New Hard Drive with 4000 GB (4 Terabytes) storage capacity

2008-07-22T20:58:00.001-07:00

Hitachi develops new hard drive head technology that will increase storage capacity to 4TB by 2011

Hitachi recently announced that it has achieved a breakthrough in hard drive read-head design.

This breakthrough has produced read-heads in the 30-50 nanometer range, approximately 2,000 times smaller than the width of an average human hair. This new technology is called current perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistive heads.

Giant magnetoresistance principles won scientists Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physics.

These new heads will allow Hitachi to expand storage capacity in standard 3.5-inch desktop hard drives to 4TB and extend 2.5-inch laptop hard drives to 1TB of capacity. Hitachi says that it plans to integrate these new heads into hard drives starting in 2009 and that the technology will reach maturity in 2011.

The first products to reach market in 2009 will use recording heads of 50nm and products with recording heads of 30nm will hit market in 2011. Hitachi representatives believe the new heads will allow for storage densities of up to 500GB per square inch. The current highest capacity drives from Hitachi can only pack in 200GB per square inch.

Another benefit of the significantly smaller heads is that the hard drives will product less noise. Test products using 50nm heads produced 40dB of sound while the 30nm heads produced 30dB. Large capacity hard drives that produce less noise will be a welcome addition to digital video recorders.

How mobile phones provide SEX to South Koreans?

2008-07-22T20:57:00.002-07:00

I know it’s a question that keep you up late at night: how do South Koreans get their prostitutes?

While South Koreans used to get there whores the traditional ways; off the street, meet and greets at Charlie Sheen’s house; tougher anti-prostitution targeting brothels went into effect in 2004, and since then red-light district have shrunk by 42% in South Korea.

So what’s replacing them?

According to the Korea Internet Safety Commission, since 2005 websites or mobile phone content operators selling sex have more than quadrupled in South Korea; with more scattered venues such as barber shops, massage parlor, and karaoke bars (gives a whole new definition to lip syncing); serving as the rendezvous point.

I guess in South Korea “phone sex” isn’t just talk anymore.

World's TV shows on your cell phone

2008-07-22T20:57:00.001-07:00

WhereverTV founded and led by Mark Cavicchia, has developed a Web site that streams live programming from 1,200 international TV channels using high-speed Internet and a computer.

By year's end, users will be able to download the programming using a high-end cell phone, such as a Nokia Nseries, that connects to a TV.

Channels broadcasting shows, news, weather and sports from about 100 countries are available and can be arranged in a guide by language, country or genre.

Interested in Ivory Coast programming? How about English cricket? An Italian movie? It's all on WhereverTV for free -- the company will make money off advertisements, not subscriptions, Cavicchia said.

Other Web sites offer similar streaming services but charge a fee.

By the end of October, Cavicchia will unveil a box that attaches to a TV set and a broadband connection, and streams the channels to that TV. The box, which will cost about $200, replaces the need for a computer to access the programming."

Wireless spy camera hidden in a toy

2008-07-22T20:56:00.002-07:00

One of my minor complaints about Scarlett Johansson's latest movie, The Nanny Diaries, is that a nanny cam hidden in the eyes of a teddy bear is such a painful cliche that you don't even have to see it in the trailer to know it's there.

You would think that a wealthy family on the Upper East Side of Manhattan would at least have something a bit less obvious, like this $149 Puppy Wireless Camera Set by Brando, for example. The camera is hidden inside the puppy's nose and can transmit both video and audio over a 2.4GHz frequency so as not to interfere with certain wireless routers or cordless phones (neither of which would be in a palatial apartment like the one in the movie, anyway).

This little pooch is way cuter than that raggedy old teddy bear, too. And you know that appearances are no small thing to the well-to-do.

Use this phone to become a spy

2008-07-22T20:56:00.001-07:00

This looks like an ordinary old-school landline phone, but it's really the cutting edge in home surveillance. The Telespy is a motion detector that senses when someone enters your home then calls you to allow you to listen to what is going on while you're out of the house. Who are we kidding? This is a great device for eavesdropping on loved ones. You know they would never say anything dirty about you but now you can be sure by always listening in. Trust is the foundation of any healthy relationship.

Spy video camera built in with sunglasses

2008-07-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

Video cameras attached in a pair of glasses are not exactly new but this pair takes advantage of the current trend in oversized sunglasses to effectively hide its video recording capabilities. In addition the glasses include a pocket-sized video recorder that not only captures the secret footage onto swappable SD cards but also allows you to immediately watch it over and over.

The camera is capable of recording in both NTSC and PAL but in reality you’re only looking at about 510×492 effective pixels for NTSC and 500×582 for PAL. Not exactly hi-def quality but it’s a lot better than most web videos. Of course the Spycatcher website claims the sunglasses are ideal for investigative journalists, private investigators and ‘mystery’ shoppers but we all know what kind of clientele will be buying these.

So whether you work for NBC Dateline’s To Catch A Predator or have just been featured on the show you can grab a pair of these sunglasses from Spycatcher for about $1,400.

Spy on your wife / girlfriend using their panties

2008-07-22T20:54:00.002-07:00

Have you ever wanted to track your other half? The forget me not panties profess to help you with a secret inbuilt GPS tracking device to keep you aware if your loved one is actually at her parents.. or in the arms of your best friend. Testimonials say, 'In an act of desperation I bought these panties, and boy am I glad I did. It turns out, she was sleeping with her coworker! She was going to a hotel near her office nearly every workday. '

Unfortunately you can't buy them as these panties are a VIRAL, a hoax perpetuated by Pantyraiders who aim to destabilize the role of women int e mainstream media.. and even they were surprised at the thousands of responses they got from people clamouring to buy their pants.

Micro-Camcorder - the smallest camcorder in the world

2008-07-22T20:54:00.001-07:00

The Micro-Camcorder is billed as the smallest high resolution, real time digital camcorder ever produced. Stick it into a pack of chewing gum and you’ve got the perfect way to record stuff for all sorts of honest, upstanding, legitimate uses. The GumCorder – for thus shall we call it from now on – delivers 3gp resolution video footage at 15fps, all stored on a MicroSD card. That’s 33 hours of footage on a 1 GB card for you stat grabbers. Yours for just $295.00 complete with a copy of Paparazzi for Dummies – hardback edition.

Evidence recording has never been made easier! The Micro-Camcorder is the smallest high resolution, real time digital camcorder ever produced. Easy to use “one touch record” button lets you discretely record any evidence instantly. For the most discrete application, the Micro Camcorder can even fit into a standard pack of chewing gum! Instant high quality videos have never been easier! Introducing the Micro-Camcorder super compact video/audio camcorder. Smaller and lighter than a disposable cigarette lighter yet packed with high quality features.

Make free calls from mobile phones using Napster-like technology

2008-07-22T20:53:00.002-07:00

A Swedish company is testing a peer-to-peer technology that could allow mobile phone users to call one another directly without needing to bother with those pesky cell towers. TerraNet's technology uses cellular handsets modified to act as peers and nodes on a mesh network.

Here's how it works. Each handset looks for other handsets within a 2km range. Calls and text messages are then routed through the handset nodes, with a maximum of seven hops, until they reach their destination. As the company points out, that's enough to cover a rural village or a disaster zone.

TerraNet's technology is being field tested in Tanzania and Ecuador, and the company is also adapting VoIP technology to make calls between mesh networks. All that is needed are a couple of Internet-equipped PCs. Each PC has a USB dongle attached that acts as an access point for a mesh network. Calls are then routed through the PC and over the Internet to the destination network, drastically increasing the effective range.

Cell phones need a hardware upgrade in order to take advantage of the networks, but TerraNet hopes to see support for P2P coming from handset manufacturers. So far, only Ericsson has signed on, with TerraNet founder Anders Carlius telling the BBC that the Swedish company had invested £3 million in his company.

TerraNet's technology could be a boon to some handset manufacturers, however. The potential exists for handset makers to sell millions of inexpensive phones in areas where cellular coverage is spotty or just plain unavailable—all without relying on a cellular carrier to act as a sales conduit.

HOW TO: Double the life of your cell phone battery?

2008-07-22T20:53:00.001-07:00

Cell phones are more than just cell phones these days. As we push toward thinner and thinner devices that have become proverbial Swiss Army knives, battery life is severely suffering. Between taking pictures, listening to music, and surfing the web, you can barely make it through the day without tethering yourself to the wall. What is the multitasking user on the bleeding edge of technology to do?

Unipixel is aiming to create a new display for mobile phones that will effectively double the battery life. And there are no sacrifices on your part. You see, with current displays, only 5% of the light generated by the backlight ever makes it to the screen. This is due to a series of filters and light polarizers. The Unipixel solution aims to attack this inefficiency, creating a display that is illuminated by LED lights on the sides. No filters, more brightness.

A working prototype is expected by the end of the year. Until then, Unipixel's revolutionary display is just vaporware.

Home Surveillance Live from Your Mobile Phone

2008-07-22T20:52:00.002-07:00

The rise of terrorism and local crime rates in many areas around the globe further heightened the need for homeowners to buy home security devices.

Now there is a way to monitor your home via mobile phones or PDA with HomeCamera.

The new HomeCamera service uses a webcam to let you see just what's going on at home from wherever you are in the world. Simply by logging on to the site from any web-enabled PC or mobile phone, you can use your webcam to take a "live" picture of what's happening at home at that exact moment. Users can also access pre-recorded images and video clips.

Your mobile phone or PDA must be equipped with an Internet browser. The best part - it's FREE until the commercial launch this October!

Download iPhone Ringtones for your existing mobile phones

2008-07-22T20:52:00.001-07:00

Not ready to shell out $600 for the new iPhone? You can trick out your current phone with the iPhone ringtones. These ringtones are the official iPhone ringtones ripped off the iPhone.

You can download them from jasonromero.com.

HOW TO: Watch Your Favorite Tv Shows Online For Free?

2008-07-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

Now that streaming video has come such a long way from the days of painfully long pauses and repeated buffering, you no longer have to be home to catch your favorite tv shows on the night they air.

All of the major broadcast networks now provide a great selection of some of your favorite tv shows for you to watch online and most of them are available to be streamed onto your computer by the time you wake up the morning after its network broadcast. Did you miss Jack Bauer saving the world last night? Now you can watch him in action at Fox's website. Wondering if they've given us any more answers about the island's mysterious secrets on Lost? Surf on over to ABC.com. Need to know if Gil Grissom has caught the miniature killer yet? The answers are waiting for you at CBS.com. Will the Heroes keep New York from blowing up? Catch the latest episode online at NBC!

Fox and ABC provide the best user experience for watching streaming video, with both of them using proprietary plug-ins that require a very brief download. The picture quality at both sites is excellent. Both CBS and NBC have some catching up to do with their technology, so you might want to continue trying to see their shows when they air.

There are also some alternatives to consider if you prefer to download your favorite shows rather than streaming the video. Fast TV Downloads lets you search for and download virtually any tv show and then you can just watch it whenever you like without any sort of buffering problems.

Most of the networks are also streaming aired episodes of this season’s cancelled tv shows online as well and some of them are even adding the episodes that made it through production, but didn’t make it to broadcast. So if there was a show that you loved that no one else seemed to enjoy, you just might want to check that network’s website and see if they’ve made it available online. There’s a pretty good chance you’ll finally get to see it.

Of course, there is one drawback (that's always the case, isn't it?) If you're an overseas viewer, you won't be able to watch these shows online directly at the broadcast websites due to the way proxies are set up, but there are some alternatives for you as well.

One possibility you should check out is Satellite TV for PC. It provides access to over 3000 tv stations right on your computer. You don't need to be outside the US to use it either, so if this sounds like something you'd like, 3000 channels, you should check it out. If you prefer to download your tv shows, there is also Fast TV Downloads, so you can store your favorite shows right on your hard drive.

Remote Control your PC with an iPhone

2008-07-22T20:50:00.004-07:00

Ah, the iPhone. The device that has everyone talking, even if they're not technologically-inclined geeks like myself. How your wonders never cease to amaze (and sometimes frustrate) me. The latest dance that the iPhone has apparently learned is the ability to remotely access a PC. Obviously, this isn't officially sanctioned by Steve Jobs and the rest of the Cupertino crew.

Instead, Cre.ations has "managed to hack a copy of TightVNC" to grant the iPhone this ability. All you have to do is download a few files, extract them, and then run them on your PC. After the password has been set and your computer's IP has been entered into the iPhone's Safari browser, "suddenly your iPhone [will be able to] left and right click, scroll up and down, enter text and drag-and drop stuff on your PC's desktop."

HOW TO: Extend your cellphones signal?

2008-07-22T20:50:00.003-07:00

A lot of technology goes into making your cellphone work. So you would think that we would be more understanding of dropped calls and garbled conversations. Nope. Nothing gets geeks into a seething tech frenzy like poor cellphone reception... and it doesn't help that we couldn't resist the glossy black smoothness of the iPhone and AT&T sucks for cellphone service. Sad.

Well quit staring at your one-bar-worth of signal strength and pick up this handy Cellphone Signal Extender for your home or office. Simply mount the included antenna near a window and run the coax cable to the base booster unit. You get 2500 square feet of prime signal area (enough to cover 2-3 rooms on two different floors). We went from 1 bar... to 5 at our headquarters and made our iPhones very happy in the process.

Important Note:
You will need to have some signal (at least one bar), for the Cellphone Signal Extender to work. You can't extend what's not there... right?

HOW TO: Extend your cellphones signal?

2008-07-22T20:50:00.001-07:00

Amazing laptop with THREE monitors

2008-07-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

“Laptop” is somewhat of a misnomer for this thing since it doesn’t look as if it’s capable of functioning on anyone’s lap. It’s got three 15″ 1024×768 monitors, two of which are detachable to fit inside the case, which is the size of a large briefcase. Without worrying about the slim factor, it looks like it could pack some serious hardware inside, although there are no details on this particular model. It is technically portable, or more portable than your desktop and 3 LCDs, and will in fact run on batteries. No specs on the battery life with all 3 monitors playing different video games (which is what I would somehow contrive to do), but I would estimate it to be about twelve minutes (which is eleven and a half minutes longer than my current laptop battery). If this all seems borderline ridiculous, it may not surprise you that it’s manufactured by the Acme (Portable Machines) Corporation, famous for supplying Wylie E. Coyote with things like dehydrated boulders, jet propelled pogo sticks, female roadrunner costumes… I could go on and on.

No price seems to be available on the Acme website as of yet.

Wireless Spy Camera Pen

2008-04-12T00:01:00.000-07:00