Tekk 4 U

2011-05-25T10:16:00.000-04:00

iPhone OS 4.0 unveiled, adds multitasking, shipping this Summer

2010-04-08T14:29:00.000-04:00

iPhone OS 4.0 unveiled, adds multitasking, shipping this Summer: "

Just a bit more than a year after we first laid eyes on iPhone OS 3.0, Apple is back with the latest big revision of the OS that powers the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It's shipping this Summer (iPad in the Fall), and the developer preview will be out today. iPhone 3GS and new-gen iPod touch will get all the features, but some features won't make it to the iPhone 3G, original iPhone, and older iPod touches. The biggest new feature is multitasking, which Apple says is going to be the 'best' implementation in the smartphone space, though it's obviously not the first. App switching is activated by double tapping the home button, which pulls up a 'dock' of currently running apps, and Apple claims it can do this without hurting battery life or performance for the front app. Unfortunately, this multitasking won't be available for devices older than the 3GS and new iPod touch. Multitasking is just one of seven different new 'tentpole' features, including Game Center, enhanced Mail, and more...

Notable new features for users ('tentpoles' are in bold):

Multitasking.

Spell check (like on the iPad).

Bluetooth keyboard support (again, on the iPad).

User-defined wallpaper (a jailbreak favorite).

Tap to focus when recording video, just like with photos, and a 5x digital zoom for the camera.

Playlist creation and nested playlists.

App folders for sorting apps! You can even put an app folder in the dock.

Enhanced Mail! You can have a merged inbox view, switch between inboxes quickly, and sync to more than one Exchange account. There's also threaded messaging (at last!) and in-app attachment viewing.

iBooks, just like on iPad, only smaller. You can wirelessly sync books between platforms, a la Kindle.

Enterprise features, including remote device management and wireless app distribution.

Game Center. It's like Xbox Live, but for iPhone games. Includes achievements, leaderboards, and match making. It will be available as a 'developer preview,' and out for consumers later this year.

Developers are getting plenty of new tricks too:

1,500 new APIs.

Full access to the camera.

Date and address 'data detectors.'

Background audio (think Pandora).

Background VoIP (think Skype).

Background location data, both with live GPS for backgrounded turn-by-turn, and cell tower-based for lower power draw.

Local notifications. Like push notifications, but sends a notification straight from the app without needing a push notification server, perfect for an alarm, for instance.

Fast app switching. Saves the state of an app and resumes it from where you left off, without dwelling in memory.

iAd. Apple says it's for keeping 'free apps free.' The ads keep you in the app, while also taking over the screen and adding interactivity -- using HTML 5 for video -- up to simple gaming in-ad. Apple will offer a 60 / 40 split on revenue, and users can even buy apps straight from an ad.

Gallery: Folders in iPhone OS 4.0

Gallery: Enhanced Mail in iPhone OS 4.0

Gallery: Apple demos Game Center for iPhone OS 4.0

Developing...

Make sure to check out the ongoing iPhone OS 4.0 liveblog!

iPhone OS 4.0 unveiled, adds multitasking, shipping this Summer originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments"

The 8 Most Irritating Types Of Gadget Owners

2010-04-07T10:49:00.000-04:00

The 8 Most Irritating Types Of Gadget Owners: "

We’ve all met them: those people who butcher the use of sweet sweet technology in such a way that you wish they’d be devoured by a hundred angry wildebeests. Here are 8 of the worst:

[Via MUO | Scordit]

Related posts:

56 Types of Geeks – Which Type Are You?

Ask [GAS]: Which gadget is topping your Christmas list?

My First Gadget: Crayola MP3 Player

Editorial: Engadget on the Apple iPad

2010-01-28T09:39:00.000-05:00

Editorial: Engadget on the Apple iPad: "

As you can probably imagine, Engadget HQ has been boiling over with heated discussion of Apple's new iPad today. Love it or hate it (and a lot of you seem to hate it), it's hard not to see it as a pretty bold statement of what Apple thinks general-purpose computing should look like in the future: a giant iPhone. As you can imagine, that's a provocative vision, and it's simply not possible to try and condense the opinions of the staff into one Grand Unified Theory of the iPad -- so we're going to do what we did for the Kindle DX and the Droid, and let everyone speak for themselves. Let's kick it off with the three people who've actually seen and used this thing: Josh, Ross, and Joystiq's Chris Grant.

Continue reading Editorial: Engadget on the Apple iPad

Editorial: Engadget on the Apple iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments"

26 Interesting (But Fake) Interfaces for iPhone 4.0 [Photoshop Contest]

2010-01-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

26 Interesting (But Fake) Interfaces for iPhone 4.0 [Photoshop Contest]: "

For this week's Photoshop Contest, I asked you to design some new interfaces for iPhone 4.0. And you know what? Some of these look pretty damned cool.

First Place— Juan Ozuna

Second Place—Katrina Laffey

Third Place—Torsten Wulff

Current Crop of Smartphones: A Cost and Feature Comparison [Infographic]

2010-01-06T09:27:00.000-05:00

Current Crop of Smartphones: A Cost and Feature Comparison [Infographic]: "

Cost-comparison web site BillShrink hits it out of the park with a handy infographic comparing the cost and features of the current generation of smartphones: the Nexus One, the Palm Pre, the Motorola Droid, and the iPhone 3GS.

Looking at this you realize 1.) there's no clear winner in the bunch feature-wise and 2.) we all spend a ridiculous amount of money on mobile phones and service. My only nitpick with this chart is that the T-Mobile/Nexus One 'Average Usage' plan should be listed at $79.99 a month, not $89.99 (unless they're counting taxes and fees). Head inside and click to enlarge the big picture to check it out.

Nexus One vs iPhone, Droid & Palm Pre - Total Cost of Ownership [BillShrink via Smarterware]

Smarterware is Lifehacker editor emeritus Gina Trapani's new home away from 'hacker. To get all of the latest from Smarterware, be sure to subscribe to the Smarterware RSS feed.

Tethering for the holiday traveler

2009-12-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

Tethering for the holiday traveler: "

Filed under: Hacks, How-tos, Internet, iPhone, Jailbreak/pwnage

I know that many of our readers will be traveling during the holiday season, so I wanted to share a walk-through that will help keep your MacBook of choice connected on the go. This is an article intended for those using iPhones on carriers that do not officially support tethering. TUAW would like to remind you that this is unsupported and is enabled at the user's own risk. This does require jailbreaking your iPhone, so the unadventurous in the audience may want to pass this up. If you're not already jailbroken, you can download the necessary software, like blackra1n from George Hotz or Pwnage from the iPhone Dev Team.

Once you've jailbroken your iPhone, install or open Cydia and navigate to the 'Featured Packages' section. Find and install the package named 'Modem.' That's it on the iPhone side of things, on your computer, navigate to iphonemodem.com and download the helper application or register the application for $9.99 to disable the registration reminder in the iPhone app (As far as we know, the free version is fully functional). Drag iPhoneModem to your Applications folder.

The setup is really that simple. Now all you have to do is open the application on your computer, click connect, then launch the companion app on your iPhone. The iPhone application will find the network your computer creates and share the Wi-Fi connection between the two devices so you can use your iPhone data plan on your laptop for better browsing. Here's how the developers say it works:

On the computer, the helper application creates a new computer-to-computer (or ad-hoc) Wi-Fi network and configures the system preferences to use the iPhone as an Internet gateway and proxy. On the iPhone, the application opens a routing engine, DHCP, DNS, HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS proxies and connects to the helper on the computer.

I've had pretty good success with this application in my time with it. I've been using it on and off for over a year -- it's been a great app in clutch situations. I'd recommend it as a virtual stocking stuffer if you have a friend or family member who's jailbroken their iPhone. Let us know your thoughts or your experiences with the app in the comments.

TUAW Tethering for the holiday traveler originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments"

Codes to Grab Free In-Flight Wi-Fi This Holiday Season [Free]

2009-12-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

Codes to Grab Free In-Flight Wi-Fi This Holiday Season [Free]: "

If you're on a decently long flight and want to connect to the net, there are more options than ever this year. If you're not flying Virgin America, however, they're not free. Unless you have these coupon codes, that is.

Our connectivity-loving sibling blog Gizmodo found a few codes for free in-flight Wi-Fi sitting on the FlyerTalk and MyMoneyBlog.com sites, good for one free in-flight hook-up per email address. As Giz notes, however, if you've got a Gmail address or another email that supports period separation (kevin.purdy instead of kevinpurdy) or + sign demarcations (kevinpurdy+freewifi), you can create an unlimited number of email activations.

Here are the relevant codes for the three U.S. airlines using GoGo's service:

Delta: DELTATRYGOGO

AirTran: AIRTRANTRYGOGO

American Airlines: AATRYGOGO

There are other codes to enter if these don't do anything for you, listed at the links below. Wondering whether your flight will have decent in-flight wireless service, free or otherwise? Check out Jaunted's In-Flight WiFi Status Update, which also features mini-reviews of the services themselves.

Gogo Inflight Free WiFi Coupon Codes [My Money Blog via Gizmodo]
Free Gogo Internet. Pass It On [FlyerTalk Forums]

Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or Pocket [Lifehacker Top 10]

2009-12-20T10:44:00.000-05:00

Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or Pocket [Lifehacker Top 10]: "

You want to be organized and prepared when you're walking around, but you don't want to lug around 10 pounds of gear and ruin your back with a mega-wallet. These essential carry-around tools are discrete, super-handy, and oh so brag-worthy.

Photo by joelogon.

We've previously covered the gear our editors and readers find handy to carry in their 'Go bags' and laptop bags, and some of those tools (like a certain USB key) cross into the pocket-worthy realm. Otherwise, we tried to stick to very small tools and printables that do a really good job for this roundup.

10. Foldable Organizer

The PocketMod webapp is more than a simple printout maker. It's an expandable, customizable system for creating an 8-page, super-slim booklet with anything you want on any side. You can track your business mileage on one side while keeping your calendar and important contacts on another, or print out an entirely new pocket stuffed with travel maps and local attractions. Cool stuff, and definitely worth the wallet space. (Original post).

9. Compact keychain

If you've only got a few keys, and an eye for something different, you don't have to go with the typical ring-shaped chain. You really only need washers and a rivet to create a minimalist, quiet keychain. You can take it further by shaping those keys into a mini-Leatherman with a few tools kept in, attaching the rivets onto a money clip, or crafting your own compact key device. (Original posts: compact keychain, mini-Leatherman)

8. Universal club card

Some stores require them, some stores provide discounts with them, and others offer passive rewards and points for using club/membership cards and bar codes. Combine all of your codes onto a single card with Just One Club Card, or choose between a card and keyring tab at KeyRingThing. Actually, the two sites seem to have gotten together, and now offer combination cards with a nice laminate finish and firm back, so you won't have to worry about wear, tear, and faint barcodes. We love it when great webapps find each other. (Original post: Just One Club Card, KeyRingThing)

7. Indestructible, keychain-friendly USB drive

Maybe you don't need this exact model, but having a nearly-indestructible USB drive that fits on your keychain is convenient in ways you can't quite fathom until you've added it. You're almost never without a bit of storage for transferring or grabbing files. If you're the PortableApps type, you've always got a working Firefox/Pidgin/Thunderbird setup handy for being productive on someone else's system. At the moment, the 4 GB IamaKey sells for $22 directly, so it—or something like it—might make a great recommendation as a last-minute stocking stuffer. (Original post)

6. Compact calendar

Designer David Seah has been making 'candy bar calendars' for some time now, and his 2010 compact calendar is just as beautifully efficient as ever. His are monthly calendars you line up and customize in Excel. If you're looking for more of an all-in-one solution, try The Small Calendar 2010 from Grafish Designs, or the Thumb Calendar 2010 design, both of which offer clever ways of peeking at today, tomorrow, and the future from a wallet-sized slip of paper. (Original posts: The Small Calendar, Thumb Calendar).

5. A baby (or really cute pet) photo

Wallets get lost, left behind, and lifted more often than you'd like to think. If your wallet is more misplaced than stolen, having a very cute baby photo in your wallet, even if it's not necessarily yours, seems to seriously boost your chances of getting it back. A not-too-close backup is having a cute pet picture. As they say in journalism school, every story (and wallet, maybe) needs a dog—or at least a really interesting human. Photo by °Eli. (Original post).

4. Earbud de-tangler

Ever pull out your tangled, knotted headphones and wonder if they're secretly holding gymnastics practice when they're tucked away? Keep your earbuds, cords, and plugs in place with a de-tangling tool. Our inner stylist loves this laser-cut earbud owl and its old-time-y wooden look, but you can also cut something similar from plastic. In fact, you can fashion an earbud holder out of a junk or expired credit card. If you've got no room for a single-purpose flat piece, at least train yourself in manual de-tangling methods like the devil horn wrap, the around-the-player wrap, or get fancy with a daisy chain or chain sinnet style. (Original earbud owl post)

3. A darned good pen

Yeah, you still need to write now and again. Whether it's a credit card receipt scrawl or a note you really want to be able to read later, having a pen that actually makes you want to write is always worth the price. We asked our script-friendly readers what pens they liked, and they came back with impressive results. In describing his trusted PenAgain, for example, Cowboy Bill wrote: 'Helps my horrible handwriting. Busted knuckles from nuns' rulers.' That's an endorsement from the heart, or at least the memory of hands.

2. Multi-tool, credit-card or standard

We agree with Steve Sussex's assessment of the Leatherman Micra—it's just as useful to computer geeks as to outdoor types. If carrying an actual knife on your keychain won't fly with security at work, or you don't want to clutter it, consider the 11-function, credit-card-sized survival tool, also recommended by Cool Tools. You get a ruler, a knife and screwdriver plane that can work in a pinch, and, perhaps most helpfully, a bottle opener you never forget at home. Even if you forget to pull it from your wallet before a flight, it's only around $5, and a fairly clever conversation starter. (Original posts: Leatherman Micra, credit card tool).

1. A backup system

The wallet is where you should keep all your essential IDs and cards, but it's good to have a fallback plan for when you leave it at home, or in the cab. Inspired by a Real Simple article (now dead-linked) on using clear pockets and cords to separate ID badgets, Gina wrote up a diet plan and backup system for your wallet, based on her own use of a Slimmy minimalist wallet and just the bare essentials. If you find yourself holding up the line to dig through a virtual filing cabinet of receipts and cards, consider putting your own money holder through boot camp.

What's the most essential item on your own keychain, in your wallet, or loose in your jacket pocket these days? Share your stuff in the comments.

AT&T Has Spent Less on Network Construction Every Quarter Since the iPhone's Launch [Attfail]

2009-12-17T12:58:00.000-05:00

AT&T Has Spent Less on Network Construction Every Quarter Since the iPhone's Launch [Attfail]: "

If you like your links hyper, here is that AP story, AT&T's financial sheet [PDF], and the post in which Fake Steve Jobs originally pointed out this disparity. Namaste.

PlayStation Digital Comics Now Available For PSP [PSP]

2009-12-17T09:22:00.000-05:00

PlayStation Digital Comics Now Available For PSP [PSP]: "

Coming good on its promise, Sony's PlayStation Network Digital Comics service has launched, with PSP owners in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa able to download Marvel classics for as little as 99 cents.

Along with Marvel Entertainment comics, Disney, IDW Publishing, iVerse Media and several other publishers have supplied Sony with their wares, with 550 available today, including Iron Man, Spiderman, X-Men, Transformers and Archie.

Download them on your PSP over Wi-Fi, or on your PC and transfer over, with titles starting at 99 cents. Comic Book Guy is currently voicing his disgust all over the internet at the sacrilege of his prized Marvels. [PlayStation Comics]

QuickBoot Adds Easy Access for Rebooting to Other Volumes [Downloads]

2009-12-16T16:38:00.000-05:00

QuickBoot Adds Easy Access for Rebooting to Other Volumes [Downloads]: "

Mac only: If you have more than one startup volume on your Mac (say, if you're using Boot Camp), free utility QuickBoot lets you reboot from one of those volumes straight from the menu bar, with just a few clicks.

Ordinarily it's a bit of a pain to start up from another volume—you either have to go through System Preferences or hold Option when you restart your computer (and no one likes to sit around and stare at a rebooting computer). QuickBoot sits in your menu bar (although you can also run it as a standard application to save menu bar space) and gives a list of all your bootable volumes and the OS installed on each—including, in the case of OS X volumes, version numbers. If you run it as a standalone application, you can even choose to reboot to that volume immediately or next time you restart.

The app isn't perfect; it doesn't work on some computers (such as the MacBook Air), and at the moment, it only recognizes Mac and Windows partitions—it didn't recognize my Linux partition (although when I chose to boot from my Windows partition, it booted into my Linux partition—which is fine, because GRUB recognizes Windows; it was just weird). Regardless of these drawbacks, if it works on your machine, this app should make life a bit easier.

QuickBoot is a free download, Mac OS X only.

QuickBoot [via Macworld]

EyeTV now offers HTTP Live Video streaming over 3G via Safari

2009-12-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

EyeTV now offers HTTP Live Video streaming over 3G via Safari: "

Filed under: Video, iPhone

Tired of restrictions about what you can and cannot stream over 3G connections? Elgato, the makers of EyeTV, have introduced a novel solution for their many customers to access live and recorded TV shows using an iPhone and a 3G connection. Their new Live3G web site provides a web app solution for remote video access.

The website uses HTTP live streaming to deliver high quality video to the iPhone's Mobile Safari app. Powered by the EyeTV 3.3 update (free to existing owners of EyeTV software), this technology avoids App Store hassles while providing on-demand video access to your home TV recordings and live programming.

As an added bonus, since Mobile Safari has access to the iPhone's TV Out capability (third-party apps can't use it, but Apple apps can), you can use a component or composite video-out cable to display your streamed video on any convenient TV.

If you're worried about other people gaining access to your library of 'Dora The Explorer' episodes, or to personal videos you have digitized using an EyeTV box like the 250 plus, don't. You must authenticate yourself with your My EyeTV credentials before being granted access to any library.

The EyeTV update and web site are live now.

TUAW EyeTV now offers HTTP Live Video streaming over 3G via Safari originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments"

Blu-ray comes to the iMac... via an Apogee HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter

2009-12-15T16:13:00.000-05:00

Blu-ray comes to the iMac... via an Apogee HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter: "

Although it's technically possible to use the gorgeous IPS display in the 27-inch iMac as a standalone monitor, the feature's been pretty limited in practice, since it only works with other DisplayPort devices like the unibody MacBooks. That's about to change thanks to Apogee, which just posted up a video demo of an as-yet-unnamed HDMI-to-DisplayPort adapter being used to play Xbox 360, PS3, and -- yes, it's true -- Blu-ray movies on Apple's latest all-in-one. Never thought you'd see the day, did you? Apogee hasn't disclosed pricing or availability yet, but we're told more info is coming soon --we'd guess sometime around CES. Video after the break.

Continue reading Blu-ray comes to the iMac... via an Apogee HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter

Blu-ray comes to the iMac... via an Apogee HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | PR Web | Email this | Comments"

Taking the “They Live” Concept to 10 New Levels

2009-12-15T10:37:00.000-05:00

Taking the “They Live” Concept to 10 New Levels: "

Obviously you guys remember the movie They Live. Pretty neat concept where earth is inhabited by aliens and you can’t tell who is the alien unless you’re the one man who has these special alien detector sunglasses. Of course that man is Roddy Piper.

Today, that movie is ridiculed as being dumb and what not. Still though, it’s a John Carpenter film and he’s the man. But what if we took the “They Live” glasses concept and applied it to everyday things?

I think you’ll find these 10 examples to be quite entertaining

(more…)

NameChanger Quickly Renames Batches of Files On Your Mac [Downloads]

2009-12-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

NameChanger Quickly Renames Batches of Files On Your Mac [Downloads]: "

Mac only: If you need to rename a giant batch of files, changing each one individually is a huge hassle. NameChanger is a solid little tool that gets the job done fast.

NameChanger is dead simple to use—just drag and drop files right onto the app. The Quick Look feature lets you double-check you're renaming the correct file by springing it open in a small window when you hit the space bar. Any files you don't have permissions to change are grayed out so you can't accidentally mess with them.

NameChanger gives you several options for changing file names, including Replace First or Last Occurrence, by date, sequence, or wildcard. As you type the new name you want to use, the file names change in real-time so you can make sure it looks the way you want it to before you commit.

Thanks to the way digital cameras name images, It's easy to accumulate a zillion files with names like 100_358. This is the perfect tool for making sure you can tell at a glance that the last batch of photos you uploaded are from Uncle Bob's birthday party. How else could a batch file name changer make your life easier? Talk about it in the comments.

Windows users—we've seen plenty of file renaming utilities for you. If NameChanger isn't quite up your OS X alley, check out previously mentioned File List.

NameChanger

Rumor: Foxconn May Have Received Order for Next Generation iPhone 4 [Rumor]

2009-12-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

Rumor: Foxconn May Have Received Order for Next Generation iPhone 4 [Rumor]: "

Today's tenuous iPhone 4 rumor comes to us today from Russia, Twitter, and the letters F-O-X-C-O-N-N.

The editor of Mobile Review, which has no track record on Apple rumors, is claiming Foxconn has just received an order for the next generation of iPhones. Foxconn, as you know, makes the iPhone for Apple, so that's not exactly big news.

Now the question is: Does this mean we are going to see an earlier release of the next iPhone or is it going to be June, like always? [Twitter via UberGizmo]

The Facebook Privacy Fiasco Begins

2009-12-10T00:50:00.000-05:00

The Facebook Privacy Fiasco Begins: "

Today Facebook finally started to roll out a new set of privacy controls. These tools, many months in the making, are designed to help simplify the site’s notoriously confusing privacy options. But alongside them Facebook is also rolling out a “Transition Tool” that promotes Everyone updates as the new default. In other words, Facebook is giving up its reputation as a ‘private’ social network — where the default is to restrict access to everything that is shared — in favor of something that can challenge Twitter head on. And, as I wrote last July, it may well be a disaster in the making.

Facebook is spinning the news as a win for users. They’re supposedly getting more control than ever over what they’re sharing, and it’s easier than ever to control it. But that’s not the real story. Marshall Kirkpatrick over at ReadWriteWeb has nailed it: this is Facebook’s move to push people to share with the public.

For those who haven’t been following the six month buildup to today’s announcement: last June, Facebook rolled out a new feature called the Everyone update. In short, this is Facebook’s answer to Twitter. Unlike other content posted to Facebook which is managed by the privacy features the social network built its reputation on, ‘Everyone’ updates are accessible to the web at large. That means Facebook can leverage it for real-time search, and can also syndicate it to other places, like Google and Bing. The feature has been available in the site’s privacy settings since last summer, but most people didn’t use it (and probably didn’t even know it was there). The new privacy launch today puts this as the default option for many users.

Much of the general press is going to simply regurgitate Facebook’s press release, which boasts that Facebook is giving users more control than ever:

“Setting a new standard in user control… calling on its more than 350 million users to review and update their privacy setting… As users move through the Transition Tool, they’ll be presented with an opportunity to “Learn More. Through this link, they’ll reach Facebook’s new Privacy Center, a comprehensive guide that helps users understand and control how they share information.”

Sounds great, right? Let’s get one thing straight: Facebook is forcing users to choose their new privacy options to promote the Everyone update, and to clear itself of any potential wrongdoing going forward. If there is significant backlash against the social network, it can claim that users willingly made the choice to share their information with everyone. That’s why there are all of these notifications informing users about what these privacy features do. And it’s why there’s now a Privacy Center. The vast majority of users will ignore this information the same way 80% of them have ignored privacy settings in the first place. But Facebook will still be able to claim that it did its best to get their informed consent.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation agrees:

“These new “privacy” changes are clearly intended to push Facebook users to publicly share even more information than before. Even worse, the changes will actually reduce the amount of control that users have over some of their personal data.”

Facebook first announced many of these changes in July. In the five months since then, I’ve asked Facebook representatives a few times what the hold up was. The response? “We want to get it right.” At the time, I suspected that Facebook might be backpedaling from its decision to promote Everyone updates the same way it started backpedaling from the Twitter-inspired redesign. That clearly wasn’t the case.

So what happens next? Facebook will doubtless see the same kind of knee-jerk reaction it gets for any change it makes. But even that will be smaller than the outrage over this year’s redesign, because the changes are much less in-your-face. It’ll probably take a bit longer for the real problems to begin.

First, we’ll hear some reports of people accidentally sharing too much in their updates, only to have a prospective employer find that information when they run a name check on Facebook. Similar stories have been around for ages, so most people probably won’t be alarmed. The real trouble will start when Facebook starts sharing these status updates with the search engines and other third parties. Bing will be getting access to Facebook ‘Everyone’ status updates in early 2010. Google will only have access to Fan Pages at first, but don’t be surprised if they cough up the cash for access to the status updates too. Both of these sites cache data. And you can be sure more sites and applications will be pulling in these updates too.

Up until now, Facebook alone has maintained control over the vast majority of content uploaded to the site. Get rid of it on Facebook, and it’s usually gone, at least from the prying eyes of a stranger. If you’re about to apply for a new job and want to go through and clean up your update history, you can still do that. But with ‘Everyone’, that changes. From Facebook’s privacy policy:

If you delete “everyone” content that you posted on Facebook, we will remove it from your Facebook profile, but have no control over its use outside of Facebook.

In other words, if users do wind up sharing far more than they intended to, Facebook can’t do much to repair the damage. Will this have a major impact on Facebook’s success? Probably not. But people may no longer perceive it as a private site, which is what made it popular in the first place.

CrunchBase Information

Facebook

Information provided by CrunchBase

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Google Docs Now Lets You Export Everything At Once [Backup]

2009-12-09T13:27:00.000-05:00

Google Docs Now Lets You Export Everything At Once [Backup]: "

Google Docs already has an option to export every document you check off, but checking them all off is a time-wasting pain. Now it's much more simple to grab everything, 2 GB at a time, in zipped-up files.

The Digital Inspiration blog points out the new addition to Google Docs' export options. Simply select any file by checking the box to its left, then hit the More Actions menu and select Export. In the box that pops up, there's a check box at the bottom to 'Export all your files (up to 2 GB),' which, for most users, covers just about everything. Those with more will be prompted with a list of the files that couldn't be exported, so you can grab them next. You can also choose what format your files are downloaded in, which is mighty helpful as well.

Google Docs Finally Makes It Easy to Download All Your Documents [Digital Inspiration]

18 Extensions Worth Downloading from Google Chrome's Gallery [Downloads]

2009-12-08T16:46:00.000-05:00

18 Extensions Worth Downloading from Google Chrome's Gallery [Downloads]: "

Google's extension gallery for its Chrome browser opened for business this morning. We've taken a look around the offerings—most of them, anyways—and pulled out a few picks that deserve a spot in your formerly pristine browser.

Actually, rating these extensions by 'worth the slowdown,' as is often the case with Firefox, doesn't seem applicable here. Chrome renders pages just as snappily on a Linux install with eight extensions loaded, and the memory use seems not all that different. Your mileage may certainly vary.

We pulled out extensions from the gallery for highlighting that do something a bit different from widely-available bookmarklets, or at least fill a crucial need for those who use the web productively. You can disagree with our picks or tell us how blind we must be to miss a great one—do so in the comments, and if we missed a really great one, we'll update the post.

You need to be running either the Windows dev version of Chrome, the just-released Linux beta, or a daily build that supports extensions. Mac users are, unfortunately, left out of the add-on party for the moment.

Google Mail Checker: Just what it sounds like. It sits in your address bar, keeps track of your unread messages, and opens Gmail when you click it. Take note that the author states it 'does not yet work well' with Google Apps mail.

RSS Subscription Extension: Puts an RSS icon in the address bar when standard feeds are detected, and delivers the feed to a reader selection page when clicked. You can add custom readers beyond the standard five using URL syntax.

Xmarks for Chrome Beta: Just like the early Chrome alpha, this extension ties Chrome into your Xmarks bookmark account, synchronizing you between Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and across multiple profiles, if needed.

iMacros for Chrome: We haven't had nearly enough time to discover what this cool tool is capable of, but it seems like a nice solution for anyone missing their crucial Greasemonkey scripts and other Firefox-only helpers.

Aviary Screen Capture and Picnik Extension for Chrome: We've already spilled some digital ink on the neat Aviary extension, but Picnik does the same type of instant web page capture—and also lets you pick a particular image from a quick list that pops down.

Flash Block and FlashBlock: Both do the basic task of turning off Flash on all web pages, until you turn it back on for all pages from that domain. FlashBlock uses a keyboard shortcut, while Flash Black has a settings dialog with a list you can edit.

AdThwart and AdSweep: As you might guess, they both block ads, though they use different blacklists to do so. We've previously covered AdSweep in its early days. At the moment, AdSweep's gallery page returns an installation failure—from Linux, at least. AdThwart is proving more popular, perhaps due in part to AdSweep's troubles.

Brizzly: The helpful, time-saving, at-a-glance Twitter/Facebook client for the web integrates smoothly into Chrome. Click the button, and you get a quick read on what's happening in your social streams, with images automatically shown and videos embedded. You can, of course, also tweet or update Facebook from here.

Google Voice Notifier, Google Wave Notifier, and Google Alerter: The first two do just what you'd think they do, but make lots of sense for services you want right away and might only occasionally check, respectively. The last is a kind of uber-notifier that checks Gmail, Wave, and Reader for new items. If you're a heavy Reader user, you'll obviously want to turn those pings off in the settings.

Chromium Delicious Plugin: All your recent bookmarks from the Delicious bookmark service, as well as quick saving of bookmarks from selected text/links or manual creation.

ChromeMilk: There are many, many tools that bring to-do manager Remember the Milk into your browser, but this one's notable for popping up your task list right from the address bar—and offering Remember the Milk's very slick iPhone interface as an option for pro membership owners.

LastPass: As previously mentioned, this extension fills in the gap that Xmarks' lack of password syncing leaves on Chrome.

Fittr Flickr: Adds keyboard shortcuts, additional photo information, lightbox-style galleries, and more to Flickr photo pages, in the style of Gina's own Better Flickr for Firefox.

What have you foun that's worth installing, and bragging about, in the Chrome Extensions Gallery? Share the links and love in the comments.

The App Store's Biggest (Official) Hits Of 2009 [IPhone Apps]

2009-12-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

The App Store's Biggest (Official) Hits Of 2009 [IPhone Apps]: "

A lot of people spend a lot of time reviewing and comparing apps, so there's no shortage of critical information to guide your purchases. But what do iPhone and iPod Touch users actually buy? Here's the leaderboard for 2009.

Games

The bestseller list is populated by high-profile—either in name or in publisher—listings, none of which are too surprising. The list, it seems, it sorted by revenue, because there's a relatively poor showing for cheap casual games. The top six are all franchise titles that cost at least $5.

The top rated list, however, is more heartening. The fantastic Spider: The Secret of Bruce Manor tops the group, joined by a healthy selection of games from a mix of studios, large and small. Just one of the top ten is a big-name franchise title.

Apps

Again, the popularity list must be revenue-ranked, because this is some pricey stuff. Navigon and TomTom are $90 and $100 apps, respectively, and their success shows what a little name recognition, and early start, and a generally good app will get you. Free texting app TextFree, which I sorta though might be banned from the store by now, ranks high, as does QuickOffice, even though the barebones office suite costs a whole $10.

Where the top rated games were generally indie and/or iPhone-exclusive titles, the top rated apps are a bit more mainstream. You've got the requisite appearances from Smule, you've got ReelDirector—the only app that lets you do any serious video editing on your iPhone—and you've got a CBS sports app. Because people like sports, and anything associated with them! (Also: paying for them.) Oh, and, uh, Pocket God is a game.

All in all, the crowd's put together a nice little app roundup for us. I don't see any glaringly terrible apps here, and the top-rated apps even include some of our own Essential iPhone Apps. Which is vindicating! (For everyone else, obviously.)

Anyway, what about the free apps? [iTunes Rewind]

Our Century of Fallout: Every Nuclear Detonation, Mapped [Data]

2009-12-08T13:09:00.000-05:00

Our Century of Fallout: Every Nuclear Detonation, Mapped [Data]: "

Everyone's got a notion of how the last century went, in terms of nuclear explosions. There was Hiroshima, then Nagasaki. There were some nuclear tests out in the desert, and the ocean. But would you believe there've been over 2000?

In this map, which takes into account all the documented nuclear tests since 1945, two things really stand out. The few days in 1945 that saw the only use of nuclear weapons on humans register, when measured on the unfeeling scale of kilotons, as two small blips, aberrant in their location but unremarkable in their size. Then you see the key: The scale is not linear. If it was, the larger explosions would cover most of the map. That's the thing with nuclear weapons: It's easy to lose your sense of scale when it comes to how powerful they are, or what havoc they can wreak.

It paints (or visualizes) an unflattering portrait of the fifties and sixties not as golden years of postwar recovery and American prosperity, but as the years that the US and the Soviet Union, in blind competition with one another, spent all their time and untold amounts of their money blowing their own countries up. History! [DataVis]

UPDATE: Swapped image for original infographic, from Radial Cartography—Thanks, Adam!

Google Chrome for Mac and Linux Finally Hits Beta; Very Fast, Pretty Stable [Downloads]

2009-12-08T13:05:00.000-05:00

Google Chrome for Mac and Linux Finally Hits Beta; Very Fast, Pretty Stable [Downloads]: "

Mac/Linux: If you're a Mac or Linux user who's been waiting patiently for Chrome to hit at least a beta release before you felt comfortable kicking the tires on Chrome (or jumping on the bandwagon entirely), today's your lucky day.

Google today officially released Chrome for Mac and Linux as a proper beta—that is to say, it's still not a final release that we'd go encouraging people who don't know their way around a computer to make it their full-time browser, but we figure most Lifehacker readers would be perfectly comfortable giving it a go.

Chrome for Mac/Linux beta doesn't have all of the features available to Chrome on Windows, and if you've been using the dev builds of Chrome before this, you probably won't notice any significant changes.

Chrome for Mac/Linux beta is a free download, works with Intel Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard or Linux PCs.

Google Chrome for Mac
Google Chrome for Linux

Boxee Beta Gets an Entirely New Look and Feel [Media Center]

2009-12-07T21:47:00.000-05:00

Boxee Beta Gets an Entirely New Look and Feel [Media Center]: "

The Boxee team unveiled its upcoming beta release tonight. From the outset, it looks a whole lot more pretty and user friendly. Native search powers, media queues, much improved looks, and easier navigation are coming to computer-connected TVs soon.

Boxee is based on the same core code as the XBMC project, but has differentiated itself with a different (and, in our opinion, not quite as appealing) look and a social, net-connected focus. The new home screen brings a new look and those social/feed aspects front and center.

It's divided up into three columns of items on the bottom: friend recommendations on the left, featured media from Boxee and its partners in the middle, and items you've queued up on the left.

Anywhere you go in Boxee, you can quickly pull up the universal menu, which lets you rate, recommend, and queue an item, shut down or configure the system, and get access to the major media categories. The very bottom is a kind of bookmark bar, filled with shortcuts to your favorite media channels or files.

Whether you're looking for a TV show episode you've downloaded or a show available for streaming anywhere in Boxee's ecosystem, you can find it by doing a quick search from the sidebar. There's a tiny keyboard built in for remote users, and quick filtering tools below. In general, Boxee treats your local media and streaming content as pretty much one and the same, in search and in handling.

Beyond being just a media player and Netflix/Hulu portal, Boxee's photo, video, music, and even social networking apps set it apart. We've already thought about the possibilities of Clicker on Boxee, and more apps are likely on the way.

Want even more peeks at what the Boxee beta's got inside? Check out Gizmodo's screenshot gallery.

Under the hood, Boxee's beta will feature a number of bug fixes from the alpha, and will switch from OpenGL to DirectX graphics on Windows, along with enabling DirectX video acceleration, allowing for much speedier and less resource-intensive playback. There's also going to be baked-in support for NVIDIA's cheaper-but-powerful Ion graphics chips, likely pointing to the pre-built Boxee box. Coincidentally, this also makes this editor's homemade Boxee media center an even more badass investment.

Boxee's beta is rolling out now to approved early access users (you can sign up here if you feel lucky). Next up will be those already using the alpha, and then, on Jan. 7, the general public. Tell us what you think of Boxee's new look and direction, and what else you think it needs, in the comments.

The Boxee Beta [Boxee Blog]

The Complete Guide to Avoiding Online Scams (for Your Less Savvy Friends and Relatives) [Security]

2009-12-07T14:02:00.000-05:00

The Complete Guide to Avoiding Online Scams (for Your Less Savvy Friends and Relatives) [Security]: "

Our readers are a savvy bunch who aren't likely to be taken in by an online scam—but we've all got those friends and relatives we worry about. Here's our definitive guide to helping them stay safe online.

Photo from Futurama.

When training your loved ones how to keep themselves safe online, you should remind them of the rule your parents probably taught you: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Using a little common sense goes a long way to realizing that you aren't going to suddenly win the Spanish National Lottery when you didn't even know you had a ticket. That said, here's a few tips that you should share with your less-than-savvy friends and family to help them avoid falling victim to an online scam.

Never, Ever Click a Link to Your Bank or Financial Institution From an Email

Legitimate banks or financial institutions like Paypal will never email you asking you to click a link to verify your information, reset your password, or login to view anything. You should simply create a browser bookmark to your bank, and when you receive an email, use the bookmark or type in the bank name manually into the address bar.

Combined with training your parents to look for the special lock icon in the address bar, this should prevent them from giving away their bank login.

Never Give Out Your Email Password

It's become a trend in "web 2.0" sites to ask people to invite your friends to join by entering your email address and password into their web site—but this is something you should always avoid. Not only will you most likely end up spamming all of your friends with invite requests, but some sites will keep that information and continue to spam your friends forever. Of course, that is secondary to the fact that all your password reset requests will go to your email address—so if the wrong people get your password, they can access your entire online life. You should simply never give that information out to anybody for any reason.

Use Strong Passwords (and Secret Questions)

If your password is as simple as your spouse's name, it won't even matter if you give your email password out, since it can be guessed easily by scammers or hackers trying to get in. You'll want to make sure to read our guide on how to choose and remember a strong password—but your security lesson doesn't stop there. The weak link in your email security is those secret questions and answers that most sites ask you to enter to help you reset your password. Even if your password is tough, often your secret question isn't—so you should make sure to protect your email account with strong secret questions.

Do Not Buy Anything from an Email You Didn't Ask For

The easiest way scammers get you is by dumping spam in your inbox for everything from cheap watches to fake male-enhancement products—which is not only going to be bogus but probably redundant. The easiest and simplest rule is to never buy anything from an email. Sure, you could probably make an exception for email newsletters from sites you trust, like Amazon, but remember—it's relatively easy for scammers to pretend they're Amazon, just like it's easy for them to pretend they're your bank. Just make sure that you aren't buying, or even clicking on, anything from an unsolicited email. (You can always go straight to Amazon and search for the product they're advertising.)

Watch Out for Job Postings That Look Too Good

If you're out of work or just looking for a way to make some extra cash on the side, you should be very careful about the jobs posted on online sites like Craigslist, because there are scammers lurking there as well. It's not that Craigslist isn't a great place to look for jobs, but you have to be careful. Those jobs that say you can "Make $25+ / hour working from home!" or "Mystery Shopper Needed!" and promise tons of money for almost no work—yeah, they are completely fake.

The biggest thing to avoid is anything involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfers, money orders, or dealings with any financial transaction. The scammers will ask you to deposit a check or money order and wire transfer the money back to them—and it's not until later that you find out it was a forgery. I personally know somebody who was scammed out of $12,000 this way.

Do Not Give Out Your Personal Info or Social Security Number

This should go without saying, but no legitimate site is going to ask you to enter your Social Security number unless you are applying for credit. You should be very careful not to divulge your personal information to anybody online. The same thing goes for sites that ask you to re-enter your personal information, even though in some cases, like your bank, they should already have that information.

Learn to Use a Modern Browser's Security Features

The latest versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer have enhanced support for checking certificates from trusted web sites—you can click on the lock icon to see all the information about the certificate.

In addition, the latest browser versions maintain a list of phishing and malware sites, and will warn you any time you try and access a known bad site. Internet Explorer makes checking the URL even easier by highlighting the root domain name so you can more easily detect a new phishing site.

Ignore Web Site Popups Saying You Have a Virus

Last Friday half of my day was wasted removing a malware called Advanced Virus Remover from somebody's PC because they clicked an ad that said they had a virus, and then installed the 'recommended' software, which proceeded to hold their computer hostage. These 'scareware' viruses are becoming commonplace, and there are so many different names that it's impossible to keep track of all of them.

The simple solution is to pick a single antivirus app for your loved ones and train them to know exactly which one they have installed. My mom's PC came pre-installed with Norton Antivirus, and I've trained her to ignore any other messages unless they come from Norton—and that if she isn't sure, she should click the X in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, or even just turn the PC off entirely and restart it. It's not a perfect solution, and I'd rather have her using Microsoft Security Essentials, but she's used to it now and it's a whole lot better than spending a day removing a scareware virus from her computer.

Aren't sure which antivirus to choose? You've chosen your five favorites, and we've explained the virtues of the free Microsoft Security Essentials, so the choice is up to you.

Now that you know how to help prevent your parents from scammers, you should sit down and cover these points with them—or at the very least share this article with them. Was there something we forgot to include? Let us know in the comments.

The How-To Geek is tired of dealing with scammers and wishes the government would crack down on them more. His geeky articles can be found daily here on Lifehacker, How-To Geek, and Twitter.

AT&T's new iPhone app conveys your disappointment in real time

2009-12-07T13:52:00.000-05:00

AT&T's new iPhone app conveys your disappointment in real time: "

OK, so the bigwigs at AT&T and Verizon have learned to make nice (for the time being at least), but what's a hapless iPhone user to do about dropped calls and other network problems? The AT&T Mark The Spot app offers long-suffering (or even the intermittently bedeviled) customers the ability to ping their carrier in real time, with location-specific feedback, should one experience a coverage crisis. To begin registering your gripes, hit the source link and download away! [Warning: iTunes source link]

AT&T's new iPhone app conveys your disappointment in real time originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments"

Mac 101: Building a bootable diagnostic and repair flash drive

2009-12-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

Mac 101: Building a bootable diagnostic and repair flash drive: "

Filed under: Troubleshooting, Mac 101

More Mac 101, our tips and tricks for novice Mac users.

Update: You cannot install Snow Leopard on an 8 GB flash drive. I was incorrect in writing that an install of Essential System Software would take 3.81 GB. As a few of our commenters pointed out, and is the case, in testing I erroneously tried to install Snow Leopard on a flash drive that already had a version of OSX on it, making the installation much smaller than installing on an empty flash drive. According to readers,installing Snow Leopard on an empty flash drive will take 8.01 GB requiring a 16 GB flash drive. I'm very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

It's a good idea to have a strategy in place in case of emergencies. If your hard drive tosses you errors, behaves badly or doesn't even appear, what to do? If programs crash at random, you need to be ready. You can prepare for this by creating a bootable flash drive containing some diagnostic and repair utilities.

This is not meant to replace or in any way affect backing up your hard drive. Time Machine makes it so easy that not having a backup plan is just silly... but so much for the disclaimer.

To make a diagnostic and repair flash drive, I'd suggest buying an ~~8 GB flash drive~~, 16 GB flash drive which can be had for around ~~US $20~~ US $35 these days. When you get it, it probably won't be formatted for your Macintosh, so plug it in and run Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities) to format the flash drive. In doing so, you have a number of choices. With your flash drive highlighted click on Erase and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and give the flash drive a name. Then click on Erase on the bottom right side of the screen and in a few seconds your flash drive will be ~~ready for an operating system~~.

I inadvertently omitted a step! Click the icon for the drive (not the disk partition -- the one that includes the size) and click the Partition tab. Choose '1 Partition' from the pop-up menu, Mac OS Extended on the right, then click Options at the bottom of the screen and make sure 'GUID' is the selected partition type. Thanks to everyone who pointed this out.

At this point do the Erase as mentioned above which should look like the following screen shot.

Continue reading Mac 101: Building a bootable diagnostic and repair flash drive

TUAW Mac 101: Building a bootable diagnostic and repair flash drive originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments"

Horrible video!

2009-12-03T16:41:00.000-05:00

Horrible video!: "

Click on image then click on play

Found by C. Lindhartsen.

Really Wish I Had Done these Video Game Paintings First

2009-12-03T16:24:00.001-05:00

Really Wish I Had Done these Video Game Paintings First: "

I’m not the worst artist ever (I graphic designed our snazzy Unreality banner), so I really think had I put my mind to it, I could have painted this series of video game paintings, which are little more than a few cleverly placed painted lines.

Just kidding, Laser Bread, you are very talented and I’m just jello. Sorry, I just watched Jennifer’s Body. In any case, hit the jump for his other two retro pics featuring Missile Command and Dig Dug.

(more…)