Wi-Fi wristwatch for discreet poaching

If you're one of those Wi-Fi moochers who's always looking for a discreet way to score a free connection, this gadget may be a perfect solution. Rather than having to boorishly whip out a obvious detector, you can pretend to be checking the time while surreptitiously looking for the nearest hot spot on a "Wi-Fi Detecting Watch."

This handy gadget promises to detect signals within a radius of more than 100 yards--an American-style football field--while featuring a full complement of wristwatch features such as a chronograph, alarm, calendar, and water resistance up to 328 feet. The best part for all concerned: It means you can finally throw that Wi-Fi detector shirt in the wash.

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Mister Wong acquires Lifestream.fm

Germany-based social-bookmarking site Mister Wong has acquired the social-media feed aggregator Lifestream.fm for an undisclosed amount. The news was originally reported on digital-media blog Mashable.

Mister Wong previously acquired Websnapr and Pixer.us, which were both created by Lifestream.fm founder Juan Xavier Larea.

Technology from Lifestream will likely be integrated into Mister Wong user profiles so that members can pull in feeds from their social-networking accounts across the Web.

"Mister Wong is 100 percent based on RSS, and we thought that (Lifestream) is a great extension for our user profiles, for example," Mister Wong spokesman Christian Clawien said in a Wednesday interview with CNET News.com. "With Lifestream, we have the possibility to integrate even more digital activities around these bookmarks, so this could be a very interesting combination."

For Mister Wong, which Clawien said has greater reach in Germany than Yahoo-owned bookmarking giant Delicious, this was also a way to get a stake in the trendy "lifestreaming" market. "We've done this acquisition very quickly, because in Germany, other sites emerging at the moment also take part in this field of 'lifestreaming' features," Clawien explained.

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Zoho adds VB macros, pivot tables to its Web spreadsheet

Zoho continues its quest to build the most comprehensive online productivity suite, adding support for macros and pivot tables in its spreadsheet, Zoho Sheet.

The new version includes support for Visual Basic (VB), the scripting language used for Microsoft Excel for macros, said Raju Vegesna, Zoho's chief evangelist. Zoho built its VB engine independent from any Microsoft code, he noted.

"This means your existing macros will now work in Zoho Sheet. This makes Zoho Sheet the first online spreadsheet to understand macros. Even OpenOffice doesn't understand VB macros," Vegesna said in a note about the new features. Google Apps doesn't support VB script either.

Users can import Excel macros into a Zoho spreadsheet. The Excel functions are converted into Java and executed in the backend, Vegesna said.

Zoho's support for VB is limited at this stage, however. Only about 50 percent of spreadsheet functions available in Excel are supported, Vegesna said. In addition, exporting and recording of macros are not yet supported.

In addition to allowing businesses to bring their Excel macros into Zoho and vice versa with some limitations, the VB engine also gives Zoho a way to build macros that cut across a variety of Zoho applications, which include Writer, CRM, and Creator.

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New way to save energy: Disappearing ink

The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and parent company Xerox are experimenting with a type of paper and a complimentary printer that would produce documents that fade away after 16 to 24 hours. A restaurant, for instance, could print its daily specials on a piece of paper, attach the pieces of paper to menus, and then collect the sheets of then-blank paper in the morning to run through the printer again.

How does it work? The paper is coated with photosensitive chemicals that turn dark when hit with UV light.

Users don't have to wait for the paper to fade either. By running it through the special printer made for this paper, the printer will erase the old image before putting the new one on.

The paper and printer could hit the market in a few years.

The same sheets of paper can be run through the printer hundreds of time, according to tests conducted by Xerox, said Eric Shrader, area manager, energy systems, device hardware laboratory at Xerox. Typically, the paper isn't reusable only when it gets damaged or crumpled.

The idea is to cut the amount of energy consumed in making paper and printing.
Like refurbished PC makers have noted, reusing an item consumes a lot less power than making a new one, or even recycling one. ...Read More

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Machine which copies 60 USB drives at once

Remember that Aleratec "USB Copy Tower" that replicates 11 thumb drives at a time? Virtual Console's "USB Flash Drive Duplicator" would bury it alive then spit on its grave.

This beast can make digital copies of 60 1GB drives in just over 2 minutes, claiming to be the fastest device of its kind, according to Slippery Brick. And if you're making the copies on an espionage mission behind enemy lines, the machine can encrypt files as they're being duplicated and create a unique key for each one. All that's missing is an option to self-destruct. Details

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Secure your mobile wireless device

Wi-Fi technology provides the freedom to access the Internet from virtually any location using increasingly sophisticated portable devices. The "cool" factor of e-mailing and instant messaging when you're out and about is so compelling that protecting the device from malevolent invaders is often overlooked. Unfortunately, the same network access that makes online mobility easy for you is also convenient for computer criminals, and even a quick browse can attract damaging codes.

Securing mobile applications requires more effort up front than securing your wireless home network, for two reasons: First, desktops and laptops run on a full-featured operating system that often comes with varying levels of built-in security. Mobile devices, on the other hand, generally leave Internet security up to the user. Second, as each device comes with its own operating system, security software can take time to track down. For instance, BlackBerrys run on a proprietary operating system; Pocket PCs run on Windows Mobile; and Palm devices, like the Treo, run on the Palm operating system. Interoperability is still on our wish list, but here are three steps for protecting your BlackBerry, your Palm device, or your Windows Mobile/Pocket PC from Internet threats.

Step 1: Secure the network

	Airscanner Mobile AntiVirus can defend against Trojan horses as well as viruses.

It's hard to overemphasize the importance of online security for any network. Since going online is a secondary function for most mobile device users (surfing and sending data come first), securing the connection may not seem as urgent--and that's exactly what exploitation architects are counting on.
The good news is that mobile wireless security is a growing sector, and some solid programs exist to keep the worst network infections at bay. Owners of a Palm device or a Pocket PC can deflect wandering enemies with Trend Micro's reliable PC-cillin Internet Security. Windows Mobile users have other options at their fingertips with F-secure Anti-Virus and Airscanner Mobile AntiVirus Pro.

Symbian smart phones get an extra boost with Commander Mobile Anti-Virus. JiWire Hotspot Helper supports AvantGo handhelds.

Step 2: Block out thieves
The physical world is another source of threats to handheld security. The most recent spate of corporate laptop thefts are a harsh reminder your sensitive data can fall into the wrong hands. Though odds are thankfully low, a thief could conceivably use your information to assume your identity or swipe your e-mail contact list to fuel a spam campaign. At the very least, you'll want to keep out the boldest of snoops.

The most straightforward method is to enable the password lock found in your handheld's native system settings. You'll want to ensure you set and test a strong password that will frustrate any thief who has gotten hold of your device and has leisure time to tinker.

Step 3: Protect your data
Setting the password on your device is an important physical security layer to which software applications provide stronger support. One way to keep your data personal is to use a lockbox program that requires a password each time you access your information. eWallet Professional for Pocket PC helps you create and organize a wealth of information--including credit card, bank account, and car details-- into password-protected categories. CryptMagic performs a similar service for BlackBerry users, and Palm aficionados may appreciate Secret.

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Know the size of picture you want to print

It's always good to know what size you want to print your pictures in, so you can just shoot at that resolution instead of the highest. Contrary to popular belief, shooting at a lower megapixel setting does not compromise the picture quality. You would just get an image with reduced pixel dimensions and smaller file sizes. That said, you can take more pictures, which is an advantage if you are using a smaller-capacity flash memory.

So unless you are thinking of making poster-sized prints for all the pictures you take, we will show you the maximum print sizes for various megapixel settings.

Camera resolution (megapixels)	Pixels dimension	Maximum print size (in inches)
VGA	640 x 480	2 x 1.5
2	1,633 x 1,225	4 x 6 (4R)
3	2,048 x 1,536	5 x 7 (5R)
4	2,464 x 1,632	6 x 8 (6R)
5	2,592 x 1,944	6 x 9
6	3,008 x 2,000	6.5 x 10
7	3,072 x2,304	7.5 x 10
8	3,264 x 2,448	8 x 10 (8R or A4)
9	3,464 x 2,598	8 x 12 (Super 8R)
10	3,651 x 2,739	8.5 x 13
11	3,830 x 2,872	9 x 13.5
12	4,000 x 3,000	9 x 14

This chart is meant to be used as a general reference only, and actual pixel dimensions may vary from camera to camera. The aspect ratio is set at 4:3, but take note that some cameras are capable of shooting at higher resolution with the 16:9 ratio option activated.

At different resolutions, some cameras may offer the option to choose different image quality. Select the best if you want to get good prints.

The maximum print size stated is at best print settings. If you try to resize a 4-megapixel image to print at 8R, the print quality will be much lower.

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Taking better photos for online auctions

Before selling an item on eBay or other online auction site, make sure you post a good product photo. Clear, well-lit photos have a better chance of selling and can also increase the final price. This tutorial will show you how to improve your product shots, step by step.

1. Create a staging area to photograph your item

Find a staging area to photograph your item. Tape a large sheet of white paper to the wall and drape it across the surface of a table to create a plain background for your product photo.

2. Position lights on both sides of your item

Position lights (table lamps should work fine) on either side of your staging area. Place your item on the white paper and adjust the angle of the lights to reduce glare. Set your camera's white balance setting to match the lights you're using (generally Tungsten or Fluorescent).

3. Use a tripod and disable your flash

Use a tripod to steady your camera, or put your camera on a stationary surface and use the self-timer to eliminate camera shake. Also, turn off your flash--the light is too harsh.

4. Take some test shots, adjust your setup, and then take a series of photos from different angles

Adjust your setup while taking a series of photos. Try different angles and one shot of the entire item. Also, remember close-up photos of important details.

5. Photograph flat items by placing them on the floor and shooting from above

Items such as paintings are best photographed flat on the ground. Stand over the painting and photograph it from above. Don't use a flash. If indoor light is too dark, shoot outside in a shady area away from full sun.

6. Use an image editor to prepare your photos for the Web

Use an image editor to crop and resize the image to upload online. Crop images so they're not more than 600 pixels wide. Then reduce the image so it's not more than 100K in file size. Finally, save as a JPEG and upload with your product text for use online.

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Charge the PC on the patio with a solar table

A fair amount of attention has been paid to the idea of solar-powered laptops as a perennial source of energy on the go, but there's no reason that the concept shouldn't be applied to desktops too as the greening of homes continues worldwide. Canada's Intelligent Forms Design addresses this need and--much to our liking--does so from the patio at the same time.

Its weatherproof "SOlo Lounge Table" (not a typo) not only charges the computer with built-in solar panels, according to Boing Boing, but it can also keep you updated on its status through Bluetooth signals sent indoors. The charging will continue even if the table is partly shaded, albeit in a diminished capacity, because other parts of the solar array will keep working.

None of this comes cheap, of course--$14,000, to be exact. But if you plan on expanding your solar ensemble, there's a natural matching lounge chair in the "Power Cube 600."

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iPhone, N95 in Canada by summer?

Two top smartphones may finally be available on an official basis in Canada before the summer, according to separate reports. The Toronto Star cites industry contacts who tell the newspaper that the country's lone major GSM cell provider, Rogers, aims to launch the iPhone in time for it to be included in a campaign promoting touchscreen phones at the company, which will include the upcoming LG Vu and likely earlier devices such as the HTC Touch. The marketing effort will begin sometime between May and July and is allegedly supported by evidence that Apple and Rogers were nearing a finalized deal earlier this year for the latter to carry the iPhone. For practical purposes, Rogers' campaign would likely need to start no sooner than June. Apple plans to hold its Worldwide Developer Conference in the middle of that month and is believed by analysts to be readying the introduction of an iPhone at that time that will be capable of supporting 3G cellular Internet access on some networks, including Rogers' service.

Although Rogers has been frequently criticized for having some of the highest-priced mobile data of any cellular provider in Canada, the provider has taken steps that appear to prepare the company's network for devices such as Apple's. Rogers earlier this year launched an unlimited data bundle similar to AT&T's for the iPhone that gives users both unfettered browsing on most of its devices as well as a set amount of MMS/SMS messages and voicemail. The company is also ahead of AT&T in offering more advanced 3G features on its network, which include both two-way video calling on supporting devices as well as 7.2-megabit HSDPA downloads on portions of its network. The 3G iPhone is understood to use a newer Infineon chipset that would support both normal HSDPA service as well as its faster variety on Rogers.

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Using tags to improve the Flickr experience

In return for the huge amount of work Flickr users do to tag photos on the popular photo-sharing site, they should get the benefit of the algorithms the service uses to bring meaning to the data.

That's how at least some at Flickr feel, according to Kakul Srivastava, the service's director of product management said in her talk, "The next generation of tagging: Searching and discovering a better user experience," at the Web 2.0 Expo here Thursday.

The idea behind that theory is that as Flickr users proactively add tags to countless millions of photos stored on the site, the service is able to draw some very specific conclusions about the behavior of those users and the things that are happening around them.

"It's an incredible amount of content to parse, to reveal, and to take the meaning of," Srivastava said.

Unfortunately, I would have to say that the talk didn't deliver on its title: Srivastava didn't share anything particularly new with the audience, discussing mainly things that were probably already well-understood by most in the room.

Still, it was an interesting presentation, particularly because Srivastava talked about some of the ways that Flickr has evolved over the years, and what it's possible to learn based on how it's grown.

One of the most notable changes has been what she termed the increasing sophistication in the way Flickr users tag photos.

At first, she suggested, people were mainly tagging photos to add context about themselves. Then, gradually, they added context about other people, and then found ways to express shared experiences through their tags.

The best example of that--though more complex than what most people get involved in--is Flickr's The Commons project.

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BigString releases IM for the paranoid

BigString just released "Self Destructing Instant Messaging," a plug-in for AIM that lets you

To initiate a self-destructing thread, you have to start from AOL's IM client and install the BigString software add-on. Then, from within AIM, you get an option to "Go BigString," which if the company were not so enamored of its branding, would say instead something useful, like "launch secret IM window." At any rate, once you select this option, a browser window pops up on your computer, and the person at the other end of your chat is sent a URL to pop up a similar window. The two of you then have your IM talk in this browser-based chat.

In the window, the messages vanish from the screen after a predetermined period of time (default is 10 seconds), and they cannot be copied from the screen nor even screen-grabbed before they go. You can, of course, take a picture of the screen to record your chats, or just write things down. But there's no on-computer way to actually record a BigString IM conversation.

Oddly, the URL the product uses for its disappearing Web chats is not secure (https:), so I am not sure that chat contents cannot be intercepted en route. But at least you'll know that no records of your IM are being kept on your PC.

The tool is useful for terrorists, thieves, and child predators, not to mention teenagers, job-seekers doing their seeking from the office, paranoid government types, anyone in financial services or health care, and possibly reporters' sources--just to make their jobs a little more difficult.

Despite the serious privacy the product adds to IM, the interface is overly cutesy. I would like to see an option for a more graphically-straightforward version of the evaporating e-mail.

The company is working on a Meebo-like Web-based client that will support several IM networks, but for now, as I said, you need to use the AIM client to initiate a secure chat with the product.

convert an ordinary IM discussion into one where the messages literally vanish from the screen moments after they are sent.

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Google Docs available offline: Spreadsheets, presentations

Google has broadened the number of online applications that people can use offline, adding spreadsheets and presentations to the mix.

However, unlike with word-processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations can only be viewed, not edited, according to a post by marketing manager Andrew Chang on the Google Docs blog Friday. That's still useful, though. Chang gives the example of giving a slide presentation without having to worry about network access.

The offline access uses the Google Gears technology the search engine giant introduced in 2007 as an open-source project.

Google is trying to take on Microsoft with its online software, but Gartner believes Microsoft poses a greater competitive threat to Google with online ads than Google does to Microsoft with online office suites.

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Google Considers new Interface and Trademarks

The European Trademark Office’s database presents a number of Google applications that most have never seen before and are worth exploring. Besides their pending brand name Android which Google applied for in Europe in November 2007, they’ve also applied for Dalvik. The Dalvik trademark represents a register-based virtual machine, designed and written by Dan Bornstein with contributions from other Google engineers as part of the Android mobile phone platform. Wikipedia describes Dalvik as being “optimized for low memory requirements, and is designed to allow multiple VM instances to run at once, relying on the underlying operating system for process isolation, memory management and threading support.” The trademark was filed in Europe in the first quarter of 2008 with its Priority listed as being filed in the US in November 2007.

Above Trademark that Google has applied for in Q1 2008 was Panoramio. This is the name of a map centric website that Google acquired in May 2007.

In context to mapping perhaps, is a Google Design that they’ve applied for in Europe. The indication of the products only states “Interfaces for a display screen.” The illustration of the Google design is shown under “new”. I’ve juxtaposed that image to Google’s standard mapping navigational tool used today to illustrate the perceived changes. However, the new design may be reserved for use on the Android phone in context with utilizing a touch screen interface in order to use this interface effectively. If this comes to pass, then it’s likely going to also end up on Apple’s iPhone over time.

Gill Jennings & Every LLP filed the application for the graphic design in London on Google’s behalf while Merkenbureau Knijff & Partners B.V. filed the Dalvik trademark in the Netherlands.

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Digital Cloths wear by people

This was opening night of the 2nd Skin exhibit, a celebration of "imaginative designs in digital and analog clothing," at the Exploratorium here. And if the best and brightest in clothing embedded with technology and pure cacophony wasn't on hand tonight, I can't even imagine where else they might have been.

I didn't know quite what to expect at this event, but within minutes of walking through the door of this wonderful science museum, I was participating in one of the oddest group circles I've ever been in. Known as ok2touch, a project by MIT Media Lab members Jay Silver and Jodi Finch, this was an outfit that was the central element in a circuit that can be made up of almost anything, as long as human skin is a part of it.

The idea, explained Silver, is that the outfit--which is designed with special metallic-based conductive thread--turns people's bodies into musical instruments, along with the bodies of anyone else around who you touch.

That's why Silver organized myself and a bunch of others into a big circle and then proceeded to explain how, as long as we all held hands, our collective movements would produce music on the outfit being worn by a model who was also in the circle.

And it didn't have to be hands. We could bump foreheads and music would erupt from the outfit.

"The project is about designing more human-to-nature contact," said Silver, pointing out that it works with water, flowers and skin-on-skin, and that, for example, the circuit can go through water without any kind of danger. That's why, when I first walked up, Silver was having people run their fingers through some water on the ground, and the model's outfit was breaking out in music.

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France to mandate fiber optics in all new buildings

On Thursday, the French government announced its plans to pass a law that would require all new apartment buildings to be pre-wired with fiber-optic cable for Internet access. A proposal that would include such a requirement is reported to go in front of the Parliament this spring, and will involve all buildings of at least 25 units. The government is trying to speed along adoption of fast broadband access with this law, as the country's three biggest Internet providers have committed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on fiber-optic networks in the near future.

The costs of the installation would be passed along to the home buyer by being included in the purchase price. If it is enacted, the law would require all new specified homes built from 2010 onward to feature access for all network operators at the main entrance, according to government spokesperson Luc Chatel.

Operators would need to agree whether or not to share local switching nodes and if so, how to do it. The government would leave the French telecommunications regulator, Arcep, to deal with issues regarding competition between the providers outside of the building access, Chatel continued.

If passed, the undertaking would represent a $15.8 billion investment over a 10-year period.

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Get Facebook chat minus Facebook

So you've been having fun with Facebook's somewhat half-baked chat service for the last day without this two-step process, there's a nice little tweak discovered by Mozilla Links that lets you set Facebook chat to pop out in Firefox's side bar.

I'm not really a fan of sidebar driven applications (gDocsBar not included), but this implementation works out pretty well. It will load up your buddy list and work just like the pop-out version does--minus of course the actual pop-up.

I'm still waiting for Facebook to add away and invisible modes, and allow other chat applications, such as Pidgin, Meebo, and Trillian, to integrate it. In the meantime, this tweak makes it a little more bearable.
now, but are you growing tired of having to first log-in, then pop-out the chat window? For those of you who want to chat
[via DownloadSquad]

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Mozilla chairman sets sights on mobile devices

Mozilla's Chairman Mitchell Baker talked about "opening the mobile Web" this morning at the Web 2.0 Expo. While not discussing planned functionality in future products, Baker's vision of tomorrow's browser is less Minority Report and semantic search (see Hakia and Powerset) and more about making browsing a simpler experience by taking advantage of your browser history. She also vaguely mentioned Mozilla's plans to step into the mobile browser market later this year with a browser currently code-named "Fennick."

Mozilla has already taken the first steps to get to such a place in Firefox 3. The "awesome bar" will pull up Web pages you've visited as you type them into the address bar. Going forward Baker said she wanted to see the same easy and simple experience make its way into mobile variants of Firefox on all devices.
Despite the fact there's not an official variant of Firefox for mobile devices outside of Minimo, which is far from the experience Baker was describing, she has a bold vision for what she thinks browsing on mobile devices should be like. Baker thinks one of the most important factors is making it so people won't have to learn two different systems of browsing when using different devices. To a certain extent, Apple has already done this with the iPhone and the miniaturized version of Safari, but Mozilla's vision centers more around having that experience be the same no matter what device you're on.

Baker also rallied the crowd around the idea of ditching some of the "baggage" that's come in the technology world. She noted that browsers are coming up on being 15 years old, while the desktop and laptop hardware that runs them is twice the age, "our industry is wizards for technical innovations...the ability to overcome technical limitations is within our grasp."

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Meet people around you the easy way.

BrightKite is a service that's not showing off its stuff at the Web 2.0 Expo but getting a lot of buzz from some other bloggers here. It's a microblogging tool the likes of Twitter, Pownce, et al with some handy location-based features. What's the point you ask? It's got a whole lot more social networking built-in from the start. It also shares one of the things that made Meetro and Twinkle so cool, by letting you see what people around you are doing.

Like Fireball you can attach your current position to small 140 character posts. It also lets you see who's around you based on when they "checked in." Users can create for places they frequent often in order to avoid having to type it out each time they post. After setting where they are, others in the vicinity will be able to view those posts in a cluster--complete with how close the other users are by the meter. What's especially neat is that you can set it to give you notifications on when things have been posted to your general vicinity.

My one qualm is that setting where you are is not currently an automatic process--you have to manually go in and set your position from one of the pre-sets or add a new location on the spot. Compared to Twinkle (review) which uses geo positioning via cell tower or Wi-Fi connection, having to enter this information in manually makes the process seem archaic and tedious. The good news is that automatic location is coming later this year when BrightKite begins to roll out its mobile apps, starting with a native iPhone application launching in June.

Also in the works is a way to find new friends based on your location habits. Founder Michael May tells me he's working on a way to let people connect based on percentage of familiarity. Not to be confused with a dating site, BrightKite will simply cross reference your locational habits with other users and give you a "neighbor score." Get Starbucks every morning and post a message about it? In theory BrightKite could hook you up with other people who do the same.

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Test and practice your typing skills : TypeRacer

TypeRacer tests your typing skills, patience.

This past week at the Web 2.0 Expo has been a great chance to meet up with other bloggers and come face to face with some of the companies we write about every day. It's also a great time to see how other people work, as we're all packed into small seats in large auditoriums, or scouring rooms for the last remaining outlet to get the necessary wattage to keep writing.

A side effect of that was seeing our own Caroline McCarthy in action, typing away. In case you're wondering part of the reason she's so productive, it's her keyboard skills--which I think put her in the league of a court stenographer. If you'd like to know how you stack up in the typing world, there's TypeRacer--a wonderfully simple game that pits you up against other typers, and of course your 100 plus key stead.

The goal is to type as well as you can to get your car from point A to point B. All the while you can compete with other users in real time and "race" across the landscape of the English language.

The one nice thing about TypeRacer compared to Keybr (review) is that it uses real words. It's also a stickler about errors, requiring you to go back and make any fixes before continuing the race, keeping lead-finger slopsters from winning based on speed alone. I'm not really sure if TypeRacer really helps you type any faster, but it sure is fun.

What's your score?

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MS locks ex-MSN Music users out of purchases

Microsoft late yesterday stirred controversy by telling former customers of its shuttered MSN Music service that it will shut down its license activation system for the service by the end of August. Although it allows customers to play any purchased songs on existing operating systems and computers, any music transfered to a new PC or OS install after the cutoff date will no longer be authorized to play.

The company doesn't provide a reason for the shutdown but is believed to be both a question of cost-cutting measures as well as a means of steering customers towards newer and more active stores, including Microsoft's own Zune Marketplace. The store launched along with the Zune player in late 2006 and is seen as the company's preferred music service. Both MSN Music and the MTV-supported URGE store have since been shut down in the wake of the Zune Marketplace's appearance.

Critics of digital rights management (DRM) schemes have warned that such problems are likely to occur as long as music and video is copy protected, as they typically depend on the host company remaining both in business and actively interested in maintaining the rights system for legacy users. Stores such as Amazon MP3 have insisted on DRM-free tracks in part to guarantee the survival of tracks regardless of the company's own actions.

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Transfer Your Desktop with Desktop Transporter

DEVONtechnologies has released Desktop Transporter 2.6 a new version of its remote maintenance and management solution for users who administrate multiple Macs across a network. The new release shows constantly updated thumbnails of all shared desktops on the local network. The update frequency can be adjusted and the list of shared desktops filtered. Desktop Transporter 2.6 also uses server-side scaling and clipping for reducing network load and for increasing responsiveness.
Keychain support makes it unnecessary to remember all the passwords for the shared machines. Desktop Transporter 2.6 requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 later and a fast LAN and/or Internet connection is strongly recommended. It is immediately available and is priced at $30.

Standard features of Desktop Transporter include clipboard synchronization for text and graphics in both directions, hardware acceleration, and support for non-English keyboards.

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MS Live Mesh promises sync with Macs, phones

Microsoft today unveiled what it says is a solution to keeping information in sync across not just multiple computers, but handhelds as well.
Live Mesh is a platform similar to but expanded on Apple's .Mac that creates both a 5GB personal storage space and also tracks all the associated devices. Users can upload files, folders, and sometimes programs to their Mesh either as shared or private content that can be swapped between devices; actions performed in the Mesh are in turn pushed as news items that can be shared with others.
As with an RSS feed, users can let friends know when vacation photos are posted or collaborate on projects, including through live chat with others viewing the same folder. The service debuts today as a technology preview and is initially targeted at Windows computers, where users are required to download software to create a Live Desktop and share files. Microsoft explains, however, that it plans to expand Live Mesh to Mac OS X systems in coming months and will also bring the service to cellphones and similar devices; users could ultimately sync media captured from a phone or transfer music and playlists even if the device isn't physically present.
The platform is open and extensible, so users won't be tied to a particular operating system or software suite, the company says. Microsoft's new technology is currently free but requires a Windows Live ID; the company hasn't said whether it expects Live Mesh to offer a paid component.

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Chat live to all users In facebook now...

Facebook announced Wednesday morning that its in-browser Facebook Chat feature is now live to all members, over two weeks after it first debuted to a limited number of users.

It was clear that Facebook was concerned with the stability of the chat application, first debuting it on a Sunday when many members--not to mention tech bloggers eager to report any flaw or bug--might not be at their computers.

The social network then rolled out Facebook Chat incrementally, with different "networks" on the site--geographic regions, colleges, companies--gaining access to it before others so that the new feature could stay under control. Some had the feature as early as April 6; a number of large networks couldn't access it until very recently.

Facebook now has nearly 70 million users.

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Sony Ericsson G502 announced for Q3 in Asia

As if the numerous events happening concurrently aren't enough to keep us busy, Sony Ericsson
dropped a couple of new handsets today on us. The G502 "cram(s) a wealth of time-saving features into an affordable, pocket-sized phone" and is supposedly the first in its line to come with HSDPA connectivity. Features include a 2-megapixel camera, built-in FM radio with RDS, Bluetooth stereo A2DP and A-GPS--all in an uninspiring candybar form factor. This is expected to be available in Asia come Q3.


The second model is the Z780 with almost similar features, but this time in a clamshell. Though that probably won't matter since it won't be available in our region. Neither phone has pricing details yet.

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Drag pictures between photo, social sites

Oosah lets you drag pictures between photo, social sites

Oosah is a solid Flash-based media manager that lets you create little slide shows and shareFlektor, Slide, and Splashcast, though, and isn't likely to rocket to superstardom as just another media destination site. pictures with your friends. It competes with some pretty good applications, such as

But a new feature, being introduced today, takes Oosah to a whole different place: It lets you drag images between your PC and online accounts, such as FlickrFacebook, or even directly between your online accounts, avoiding your PC and your Oosah storage allotment. That's not just new and cool, it's very useful. I plan to use this feature to drag images between my private Picasa Web and public Flickr profiles when needed, and ignore the whole cutesy slide show feature.

The first services supported by this feature will be Picasa, Flickr, and Facebook. MySpace is coming soon, Michael Duggan, Oosah's chief operating officer, told me. The service will also let you drag videos to YouTube. I strongly doubt you'll be able to drag videos off YouTube to other services.

If you tag images in any of the services, the tags go with the media when they're dragged to other services. User comments, however, don't make the transition.

You can also import images from a Web page just by providing the URL. The service then gathers up the images for you.

Oosah is not a PC-to-Web synchronization tool. It can't monitor your local picture folders and automatically upload new images to the Web. (See SugarSync; BlueString)

Oosah's 2GB accounts are free. There are no premium plans yet with more storage. But files you manage on other services do not count toward your total, so it doesn't really matter. Try this one while you can, since the company's revenue plan--"Right now, we're not focused on making money"--doesn't bode well for its future, no matter how cool it is.

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Widget directory for iPhone users launched

Widgetbox launches portable widget directory for iPhone users.

One of Apple's biggest blunders in creating its own directory of

While the company has since made it easy for people to bookmark Web apps onto their home screens by adding a quick link from inside of Safari Mobile, the "official" directory of Web apps continues to be unapproachable for iPhone users unless they're on a speedy Wi-Fi connection. Widget directory Widgetbox has come up with its own solution and launched a directory of iPhone-friendly widgets that can be installed on the home screen as mini widgetized Web apps.

The directory interface is completely iPhone-friendly, and to go alongside it there's a simple how-to guide to turning bits of Web content into widgets that can be added to the directory just by tagging your work with "iPhone." Users without any sort of Web development experience will be able to make their own iPhone widget apps using Widgetbox's widget-building wizard, which I'm assuming will get iPhone-centric size presets.

The one thing I found underwhelming with most of the example iPhone widgets is that they look just like they do in the directory instead of taking up the entire screen. They also come with Widgetbox branding and links back to the directory--two things which are bound to take crucial seconds to load while on an EDGE connection. However, it's still a lot better than having to load the entire Web page, which in the case of BART's QuickPlanner tool (which serves up travel times for local Bay Area trains) means a nearly three-fold load time decrease from loading BART's home page.

You can navigate to iPhone.Widgetbox.com on your iPhone or iPod Touch to go to the directory. You can also check out the developer specs to make iPhone/iPod touch-friendly Widgetbox widgets here.

iPhone Web apps was to make the site suited for desktop users instead of people on the portable handset.

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Create Your Own Customized Start Menu

Most of you have probably seen different program launchers on various sites. For those who are not familiar with them, program launchers are applications that allow you to choose your most-used or favorite programs and add their corresponding shortcuts to a custom menu.

This is very convenient as you won’t have to go searching through the default Windows start menu to open your favorites apps. This can also reduce clutter on your desktop since you can just have your regular list of apps on your launcher and remove their shortcuts from your desktop.

Sounds good right? The question now is, which one to use? There are a number of great program launchers but I’ll put the spotlight on one of the less known launchers.

8start Launcher is a free program launcher for Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista that will let you create your own customized start menu with the applications of your choice.

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How To Whip The Competition In Organic Search Results

You know what organic search results are, right? That’s the listing that comes up when a user types in some keywords into google’s search box. It differs from PPC campaigns, such as the intrusive adword ads you see in the sidebar.

Middle last year, I’ve been experimenting with ways to increase clicks on my organic results. This included

- Using startling headlines in the Title Tage

- Using benefit statements in the metatags

- Using directives and imperatives to visit in the body text.

They worked well- but then I discovered something far more powerful by April of 2007. Okay, to begin with, I already rank in the top five for many critical keywords for some of my sites. Key in “maximum persuasion” and you’ll see that one of my sites is number 2. But you know what? Since I’ve applied a special technique, my google organic traffic exploded.

My trick is simple. Use all caps in the Title and Meta Tags.

Check out the organic result in google for “maximum persuasion” Which of the two links invite more clicks?

The first one: http://www.maxpersuasion.com/ or the second one: http://www.xtrememind.com/

Chances are you’d say the second. Not just because I used startling headlines, but also because my text is in all caps.

I’ve measured this quantitatively as well. Weblogs indicate spikes of traffic 3x what it used to be since I implemented the change. Perhaps you want to whip the competition as well? Modify your sites with this recommendation. Let’s see if you can handle the traffic.

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500GB Rugged Hard Disk launched

LaCie launches 500GB Rugged Hard Disk

LaCie on Tuesday announced its newest Rugged Hard Disk with a 500GB capacity. To protect the generous amount of mobile data, the drive is encased in a scratch-resistant aluminum shell which is then surrounded by a shock-resistant rubber bumper.
That disk is Hitachi's 2.5-inch Travelstar 5K500, available with either a standard USB 2.0 or an optional USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800 interface for faster transfer speeds. The hard disks are powered by the USB or Firewire connections exclusively and come with LaCie's Setup Assistant software that allows for either Mac or Windows PC integration.
The software also automatically uploads the drive's utilities and user's manual to each platform, and includes back-up programs for either.
The LaCie Rugged 500GB is available now for just shy of $300.

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