Monthly Archives: November 2011

We’ve all heard it before; you need to select a lengthy password, one that’s hard to guess. Not a dictionary word. And it has to have some capital letters in it too, and some digits, and a symbol or two won’t hurt either.

That’s a handy set of rules to keep in mind, but How Secure is My Password helps us understand why they’re important.

It’s basically like a full-screen version of one of those password-strength meters websites sometimes use. But instead of showing you a bar going from “weak” to “strong”, it shows you an estimation of how long your password would take to crack. That’s a much more visceral way to understand why your password is strong.

I hate using regular flash for photography. It makes everyone look horrible and everything look cheesy. Fortunately, there’s a very easy fix that would only cost you one dollar. This is what you need to perfectly illuminate your photos: More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/uGbQ__C9v3I/how-to-make-perfect-holiday-photos-with-a-diy-1-lightsphere

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM) INTERDIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS INTEL INSIGHT ENTERPRISES INGRAM MICRO INFORMATICA

I have a thing for full-screen text editing. I use WriteMonkey for my creative writing needs, and VIM in a full-screen PuTTY session for my Web development work. That being the case, I’m all over the monospace, dark-background, focused editing scene.

OmmWriter attempts to take that aesthetic and make it somehow more spiritual, with three picturesque backgrounds and ambient background audio tracks (there are seven of each in the paid version).

I’m of two minds about this app. On the one hand, yes, it’s beautiful. But if you want music as a background to your writing, why not pick your own soundtrack with Winamp or Foobar2000 running in the background?

Moments ago, Mozilla stripped the release candidate moniker from Firefox 4 Mobile and pronounced it fit for public release. If you have a Nokia N900 phone, or a fairly-modern Android 2.0-or-later device, go ahead and install it from the Market, by using scanning the QR code after the break, or by visiting Firefox.com/m.

Accompanying the release is the launch of Spark, a cute social game that’s designed to fuel the adoption of Firefox 4 Mobile, much like last week’s use of Glow and Twitter Party during Firefox 4 PC’s release.

As far as Tetris goes, most variations look quite similar. You’re usually looking at a “wall” of bricks directly from the front. Torus takes that notion and throws it away; as you might have guessed from the name (or screenshot), this Tetris clone is played on a ring-like 3D surface.

You rotate the ring itself with the arrow keys, while a Tetris-like piece slowly (excruciatingly slowly, in fact) descends from the top. As soon as you make a solid line, it disappears.

Not all pieces are Tetris-like; some of them wouldn’t really work with a regular Tetris game but are a good fit for Torus’ 3D format.

Mozilla Messaging, citing Mozilla’s increased focus on Web-borne communications, will be reintegrating with Mozilla Labs.

The Messaging subsidiary was formed in 2008 to focus on Thunderbird, but given Mozilla Labs’ current focus on identity and contact management, it now makes sense for the groups to be merged. Thunderbird will be unaffected by the change — some URLs might change, but that’s it — and presumably Messaging’s F1 and Raindrop will thrive in the Labs playground.

Have you ever been caught without a charging cable?  You decided to travel light, with just a phone and your laptop.  You realize your phone needs a charge, but you don’t have the USB charging cable.  Clip a clipSYNC Charge and Sync Cable from Scosche to your keyring or gear bag strap, and you’ll always [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/11/25/scosche-clipsync-charge-and-sync-cables-review/

BT GROUP CANON MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS

Winter is coming, Mr. Stark. Over here at Casa Brown, that means it’s time to break out the hot water bottles. Booyah. It doesn’t get a lot snugglier than a down comforter with a little football of warmth lurking underneath it. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/10Yz91afAkE/the-hot-water-bottle-possibly-the-coziest-invention-of-all-time

HYPERCOM HEWLETT PACKARD CO HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS GOOGLE GOOGLE FORMFACTOR

Oh, hello, Moto.

When Motorola announced the MOTOACTV, I really didn't know that to think. An Android-based fitness tracker? Aren't there much cheaper apps for that sort of thing? Then the specs came out and it sounded kind of cool. Still, a phone can do everything the MOTOACTV can.

So what makes the MOTOACTV special? Is it as useful as Motorola purports it to be, or is it another passing fad in the Android world, destined to be dead on arrival, another product to waste away at the bottom of the bargain bin?