Change the Guest Account Name in Windows 7 for Better Security

Windows 7 features a guest account that can make it easy for friends and housemates to quickly check their email or the web on your system. Giving it a different name, however, makes it a bit more secure.

We're not talking totally, hacker-proof, locked-down secure, here—but giving the Guest Account a different name makes it just a little harder for those trying to guess username/password combinations to your computer, remotely or through malicious software. When Guest Account is just "Guest Account," in other words, it's an easy way in for anyone, or any software, that knows that account exists.
At the How-To Geek's home away from Lifehacker, writer Mysticgeek runs down the process for changing the Guest Account name in Windows 7, which requires a little switch and name change by an administrator. Want to pull off the same kind of trick in Windows Vista? Try DotNet Wizard's guide.

Rename the Guest Account in Windows 7 for Enhanced Security [the How-To Geek]

Google Now Personalizes Logged-Out Searches

Google has long had the ability to track a user's web history and offer personalized results, based on how often you search for, and click on, certain results. CNET's Webware points out that Google has also started customizing results on browsers that aren't logged into a Google account as well, done through an anonymous browser cookie. You can turn it off, but it's worth keeping in mind that, if you're seeing the same kinds of results get higher ranking, it's probably because Google thinks your computer wants that kind of thing

Use Your PSP as a Wi-Fi Scanner

While having a netbook slightly decreased the hassle of whipping out your laptop to check for wireless nodes, it's still a pain. If you keep your PSP in your gadget bag, put it to work as a Wi-Fi scanner. If you live in a city you're surrounded by free wireless nearly everywhere you go, the key is knowing what's available and open for use. Much easier than stopping every hundred feet and busting out your laptop is using your tiny PSP as a scanner. At MakeUseOf they cover two techniques for using your PSP to sniff out Wi-Fi locations. The first can be done with a stock PSP. You simply go into the network settings on the PSP and tell it to look for new wireless networks. That will work, but it won't look continuously just when you ask it to.
If you've set up your PSP to run homebrew software you have access to a superior option. Road Dog scans continuously, shows you the strength of the signal, and can even be set to alert mode where it will notify you on new finds even when you're not paying attention to the scanner. You don't need to write down the spots it finds, just press the NOTE button on the PSP and it'll save the information of the network you're looking at for later use.

Fix Common Windows Problems with a Click

Is your computer unable to recognize the CD or DVD drive? Has the recycle bin suddenly disappeared from your desktop? Are you unable to start programs like the Registry editor or the task manager when you yourself are the owner of the computer but unfortunately not the administrator?
These are some common issues faced by Windows users and luckily, the solutions to most of these tiny but annoying programs are hidden inside the Windows registry and can be found with a simple “google search”.

Fix Windows’ Problems without opening the Registry Editor

However, if you don’t like to fiddle directly with the registry and need something more simple, check out Fixwin.
This is a free utility for Windows that, as the name suggests, can repair a few dozen Windows annoyances and problems with a single click. It works on both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Fixwin weighs less than a MB and it requires no installation so you can carry it on a USB drive. The program archive is available in RAR format so you may have to use either 7-zip or Winzip to extract the utility.
So the next time you get a “tech-support” call from a friend because he’s unable to change the homepage of his Internet Explorer browser, you exactly know where to point him to. Thanks Abhishek.

 

Build a Wireless Home Network without a Router

Let’s say you have one internet connection at home that you want to share across all your desktop and laptop computers, your Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones, media players (like the iPod Touch), video game consoles (like the Xbox), digital photo frames and any other wireless devices that you may have at home.
How do you do this?
The easiest way to setup a wireless network, as we all know, is with the help of a router -- just attach a wireless router to your modem and any Wi-Fi enabled gear, that’s located inside the signal range of your router, will be able to connect to the web using that lone Internet connection.

Setup Wireless Network without a Wireless Router

Now consider a slightly different scenario -- you have all these Wi-Fi enabled devices at home but there’s no router. Well, there’s no reason to buy one because you can still easily setup a wireless network as long as your computers have a wireless network adapter*.

[*] Most new desktops and laptop computers are already equipped with internal network adapters so you are ready to go without a router.
If your computer doesn’t have built-in wireless capabilities, you can either buy a USB network adapter that plugs into the USB port of your desktop or go for a wireless adapter that directly plugs into your notebook’s PC Card slot. Desktop users can also opt for an internal wireless PCI card but you’ll have to open the computer case in order to install this network adapter.

Hide your Email Address with the help of Facebook

You probably know that Facebook uses an image format to display email addresses on profile pages.
While most people use this technique to protect their email addresses from spam bots, Facebook converts addresses into images for a completely different reason. They want to prevent their own users from exporting email addresses of their own friends out of the Facebook wall (through scrapping).
Use Facebook-generated Email Images outside Facebook
If you right-click and copy the web address of any email image inside Facebook, the URL would be something like this:
http://facebook.com/string_image.php?ct=ABCD1234&fp=8.7
where ABCD1234 is a unique string that is different for every email address and 8.7 is the font size that is used while rendering the image.
What’s interesting here is Facebook doesn’t require authentication for these URLs.
That means you can directly mention these image addresses in your Twitter messages, in online forums or any other public web pages where you are worried about mentioning your email address in plain text as spam bots might harvest them for the purpose of spamming you.
So the next time someone wants my email address on Twitter, I can point him to this Facebook URL – http://bit.ly/my-email. If I want to embed this email address images on a web page, the code would be:

You can vary the font sizes by changing the value of the fp parameter in the URL as I have done in the following examples – these are all dynamically generated images.

AeroWorks Reskins Your Windows 7 Taskbar Without Patching

Windows: If you want to mess around with reskinning your Windows 7 or Vista taskbar without having to muck around with patches, AeroWorks is a no-fuss method for skinning the taskbar without modification to your system.

AeroWorks swaps out the taskbar background and special effects with those of the seven included skins. You can combine your own images and special effects by clicking on the Choose Base and Choose FX buttons in the upper right hand corner.
It doesn't patch or modify your system beyond changing the appearance of the taskbar while the application is running. If you don't like the changes you can undo them within the program and try a new skin or simply close the application to revert the taskbar to its default state.

AeroWorks [via Download Squad]

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Find Subtitles for Movies and Shows at AnySubs

Don't let a lack of subtitles detract from your enjoyment of a movie or television show. Visit AnySubs and grab a set of subtitles.

The most obvious reason for using subtitles is understanding a movie or show filmed in a language you don't speak. Another great use is for understanding soft spoken dialogue without having to crank up the volume—I discovered the value of this while trying to watch LOST without the shifts from soft whispering to giant explosions waking up the entire house.

Anysubs catalogs subtitles in multiple languages for popular movies and television shows. You can use the service for free without registration—which is only required for uploading subtitles, not downloading them.

If you'd like to permanently embed subtitles into a movie you can use previously reviewed DivXLand Media Subtitler to so do and for more information about subtitles and applications you can use to work with subtitles, check out how to add subtitles to any movie or television show.

AnySubs [via MakeUseOf]

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Create a Secure Password with an MP3 or Web Site

The CyberNet News blog posts an interesting take on creating secure passwords you can actually remember, or at least remember how to retrieve—by posting a favorite web site, or an MP3 file, into an MD5 hash generator.

CyberNet splits up the method into two different takes, both utilizing the MD5 codes normally used to verify a downloaded file's integrity. Entering a favorite, or, more securely, strange and unique web site into an online MD5 hash generator gives you a seriously long string of characters, uniquely linked to that URL. Grab the first eight characters from the string, and you've got a fairly unique password to use. Using this method for every site isn't advisable, though, as anyone who figures out your methodology can grab all your passwords. Combine it with Gina's method of a secure password plus a unique suffix, though, and you've got a system that only mind-readers could really crack.

A second technique uses the same MD5 hash characters, but uses an MP3 file as its unique generator. Assuming very few people know of your secret love for Starship, it's also a fairly safe way to get a secure password, but also have a backup means of retrieving it. Hit the link for details and step-by-step tips on both methods.

How to Remember Secure Passwords Without Writing Them Down [CyberNet News]

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Roll Your Own TV Guide With FreeGuide

There are plenty of online TV listing services that detail what programs are showing in your area. Then again, you probably don't care what's on every single channel. Create a personalized TV guide with FreeGuide and skip The Flossing Network.
FreeGuide grabs data on only the channels you're interested in and displays them in a list or grid format. You enter your region, ZIP code, and time zone while setting up the software, as well as whether you'll be using a free or paid channel listing guide, and FreeGuide sets up your personalized listing window. You can search for shows by channel, time, title, or sub-title, and highlight favorites so you can find them quickly in listings in the future.
FreeGuide is available as a free download for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It requires at least the Java 2 Runtime Environment v1.6 or higher to work, and Mac users will also need to grab XMLTV

FreeGuide

The Mac Lover's Bedroom

Putting your workspace in your bedroom is a gamble. Do it poorly and you invite a clutter magnet into your sleeping space. Do it well, and you can put your bedroom's extra space to stylish, productive use.
Today's featured workspace pulls off the office-as-bedroom tact without introducing clutter or bulk into the bedroom. Tucked neatly in the corner and with dual monitors to boot, reader ryopang can get work done in style in his bedroom office. You can click on the picture above for a closer look or the pictures in the gallery below.

iTiVo Downloads Shows to Your Mac for On-the-Go Viewing

Mac OS X: If you like to watch shows from your TiVo with a handheld device—like an iPhone or PSP—when you're on the go, free, open-source application iTiVo converts them to a portable format with a few simple clicks.
iTiVo connects over your wireless network to your Series 2, Series, 3, or TiVoHD DVR and collects information on shows stored on the device's hard drive. iTiVo will let you know what non-copyrighted shows can be transfered to your Mac, along with episode and files-size information. Queue up the items you want to transfer, and iTiVo takes care of the rest.
This free, open source application converts shows to MPEG-2, MPEG-1, H.264, or decrypt-only, so you can play them right on your iPhone, iPod, or PSP. You can even plunk the files onto your Apple TV, Xbox 360, or Playstation 3.
You can schedule iTiVo to perform regular downloads, and likewise schedule it to perform an iTunes sync with a connected device. The tool also has optional commercial removal and supports subtitles for closed captioning data, so if you're a Mac user with a TiVo, downloading this one is a no-brainer.

The Lightsaber and LEDs Workspace

What has three screens, a couple test servers, and a lightsaber? Possibly a remote rebel-sponsored code farm, but also today's featured workspace.
Lifehacker reader cGarst has put together a simple and uncluttered workspace for himself. A combination of dark colors—green on the walls and black for the work surface, chair, and file cabinet—combined with downlighting provided by some inexpensive IKEA LED pucks makes for a dramatic workspace.
You can click on the photo above or this one below to get a closer look. If you want additional information about things in the picture check out the photo notes on his Flickr stream at the link below

If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool. Include some details about your setup and why it works for you, and you just might see it featured on the front page of Lifehacker.

Remains of the Day: The Declaration of Google Wave Edition

The Declaration of Independence hits Google Wave, Firefox CPU problems are causing some laptops heating issues, and a brilliant little application may someday your webcam into an impressive 3D scanner.

• Declaration of Independence on Google Wave
  Folks may or may not ever catch onto Google Wave for productive purposes, but it's been gangbusters for fun ideas like this Declaration of Independence wave. (You'll need a Wave account.) [Google Wave]
• Thanksgiving themes for Firefox
  Weblog Mozilla Links rounds up a few fun Thanksgiving-themed Firefox personas for your one-click skinning enjoyment. [Mozilla Links]
• Firefox: Heat and the CPU usage problem
  Firefox CPU usage problems can is apparently causing some problems on laptops, particularly of the ultraportable variety. [CNET]
• Amazing Software Turns Cheap Webcam Into Instant 3D Scanner
  A very cool 3D-scanning software turns your regular old webcam into a saucy 3D scanner. [Wired]

Diagnose and Protect Your iPhone from Worms

There's been a lot of talk about malicious software on jailbroken iPhones lately, but if you haven't been paying close attention, tech site Network World has a breakdown of the worms running wild and how to eradicate them from your device.
As of right now, there are a total of three known iPhone worms, some more harmful than others. You're only vulnerable if you've jailbroken your iPhone and enabled SSH without changing the default password, though, so if you're still running on factory settings, fear not. If you do fall into the jailbreaker crowd, though, read on to make sure you're not infected, and then scroll to the bottom for steps on how to re-secure your device.
The first worm is the Ikee worm, which merely changes your wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley (of Rickroll-meme fame). If you're familiar with Rickrolling, you may proceed to feel embarrassed. It's pretty easy to tell if you have this worm, unless your wallpaper was already a picture of Rick Astley, in which case check the top of the wallpaper, which, if installed by the worm, says "Ikee is never going to give you up."
The other two worms (the first called iPhone/Privacy.A and the second being unnamed at the moment) are more dangerous, as they collect personal information from your iPhone. If you have the second, unnamed worm, it will direct Dutch bank customers to a fake phishing site in hopes of collecting your bank information. An infection of the unnamed worm exhibits low battery life as a symptom, as it's running a background process to spread itself to other iPhones via WiFi. It also changes your default SSH password to keep you from easily deleting it.
The iPhone/Privacy.A worm is harder to detect, as it doesn't leave anything on the iPhone itself—it uses computers to steal information from iPhones connected to nearby wireless networks. You should, however, have no problem identifying if it's made its way to your computer as long as you have antivirus software (and yes, you're vulnerable even if you're running OS X or Linux, so pick up some antivirus software to make sure you aren't spreading this stuff around!).
If you think you may be infected, hit the link to get directions on how to remove them from your device. Also, whether you have a worm or not, make sure you protect yourself by changing your iPhone's default root password. It also might be a good idea to install SBSettings from Cydia so you can turn SSH off when you don't need it—no sense in having your iPhone more vulnerable than it needs to be.

De-Worm Your iPhone [Network World]

Sending Mass Emails Using Gmail? Don’t Get Locked

The holiday season is near and you want to send personalized email greetings to all your friends, family members and customers using the standard Gmail (or Google Apps with Gmail) service.

How to Send Bulk Emails using Gmail

Since the web interface of Gmail doesn’t support personalized emails, you should connect your Gmail account with Microsoft Outlook (via POP3 or IMAP) and also import the Gmail address book into your Outlook Contacts.
Now you can use the mail merge feature of Outlook to send personalized messages to every single Gmail contact from the desktop.
This may sound like an easy plan but there’re strict sending limits and, if you aren’t careful, Google may even block your Gmail account temporarily for up to 24 hours and you’ll neither be able to send nor receive any emails during that lock-out period.

Email Sending Limits in Google Apps

If you are using Gmail with Google Apps, you cannot send messages to more than 500 unique email addresses per day.
For instance, if you send one email to Person A and another one is addressed to Person B and C, you have already exhausted three slots (out of 500) even though only two messages left your Inbox.

Email Sending Limits for Gmail users

If you want to send bulk mails using a regular Gmail account, the rules are similar.
You can only send out emails to a maximum of 500 recipients during a 24 hour* period but if you are using a desktop client (like Outlook), that limit is reduced to 100 messages in a day.
[*] The Gmail help site mentions this limit as 500 recipients per message but a Google employee on the Gmail support site has confirmed that this cap is not just per message but per day.
Workarounds for sending mass emails
With all these limitations in place, Gmail is obviously not the best option for reaching out to a very large customer base. However, if you have no other option, it may be a good idea to plan well in advance.
For Gmail: Distribute the mail merge process over 2-3 days so that you never exceed that 100 messages per day quota.
For Google Apps:  You can either upgrade to a Premier edition or create multiple accounts in Google Apps as each will have its own 500-recipients limit.

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The First Desktop Application to have AdSense Ads is Google Earth

Google Earth is probably the first and only desktop application to have AdSense Ads. These ads are is now showing in at least two different places inside the application:
Figure A: When you search for a location or business, the ads are displayed in the search results itself.

Figure B: When you click a placemark (any red pin on the map), the ads are displayed next to the review /address of that location

Google makes an exception
I find this interesting because Google policies strictly don’t allow software developers to integrate AdSense ads in their desktop applications. If that policy changes, we could see more and more of Office 2010 Starter or FeedDemon like applications that are completely free to the end-user but supported by web advertising.

[brainw4re]

An Image Editor and Screen Capturing Tool for your USB Drive

PicPick is an useful Windows utility that includes a decent screen capture program, a Paint like image editing software and a whiteboard tool to help you draw freehand on the desktop using your mouse (handy when you are giving presentations).
During screen capture, you can select the "Capture Window Control" mode and capture objects that extend multiple screens (like a long Word document or a lengthy web page). And like SnagIt, PicPick can send screenshot images directly to another programs after capture or it can automatically upload them to an FTP server.

Portable Image Editor

The image editor included with PicPick sports an Office 2007/2010 like ribbon interface and supports tabs so you can edit multiple screenshot images / photographs from the same window.
If you are a web designer, you can use the built-in crosshair tool to determine the coordinates of any point on the desktop screen or for capturing the exact dimensions of an object (in pixels).
And since the software doesn’t require installation, you can put it on a USB drive and use it on any computer.

Write Your Own eBooks in the Browser with Acrobat.com

If you looking for an online service that will let you write and publish your own ebook in a format that is compatible with most ebook readers (including Sony Reader, Nook and Amazon’s Kindle), check out Adobe Buzzword at the new Acrobat.com.

Adobe Buzzword, if you are new, is an online word processor (like Google Docs but "more beautiful") that you may use to create and edit documents in any web browser. The service supports collaborative editing so multiple authors can work simultaneously on the same document from their respective location.
Now if you are looking to write an ebook in the browser, Buzzword can be a great choice as the service can export documents directly as EPUB files, a format that is supported by all popular ebook readers including apps like Stanza that let you read ebook on a mobile. Simply compose a document inside Buzzword, export it as an ePUB file and then import it in your ebook reader.
Other than creating new ebooks from scratch, you may also use the Buzzword application to convert your existing Word (.doc and .doc), or Open Office (.odt) documents into the ePUB format without requiring any desktop applications.

[brainw4re]

Create Screencasts in Linux with Screenr

Screenr, which is probably the best web-based screencasting application, can now be used for recording screencast videos in Linux as well in addition to Windows and Mac machines.
Video: Screenr running on 32-bit Ubuntu Linux

With Screenr, you can create HD-quality screencasts of up to 5 minutes in length using any web browser that has the Java plug-in installed. The published screencast is available as a Flash video (for embedding in web pages) and as a Quicktime (MP4) movie so anyone catch watch your screencasts on mobile devices like the iPhone.
The only downside is that everything you record with Screenr becomes available in public by default and there’s no option to create private or password-protected screencast videos.

Run Classic DOS Games on any Computer

If your computer is running a fairly new operating systems, such as Windows XP, Vista or even Mac OS X, chances are that it won’t be able to play any of the old DOS games that were originally designed for 16-bit systems.
There are however simple workarounds that will help you play your favorite DOS games on any modern computer just the way they worked on old 486 machines of the 90’s. The other good part is that you can download most popular DOS games from the web for free and legally.

Play Old DOS Games on your Computer

The easiest way to run DOS games on your computer is through DOSBox.

 DOSBox, in simple English, is a free program that emulates an X86 based DOS environment on your new computer including speaker sounds, video graphics and other hardware. DOSBox is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X so you can practically use it to run DOS games on practically every computer.

You can simply install DOSBox via the command line but if that sounds too technical, there are graphical frontends for DOSBox that will let you run DOS programs through a simple GUI.

One of the most popular GUI frontends for DOSBox is D-Fend Reloaded. You can install this program like any other Windows application and it is ready for use immediately after the installation. To install a DOS game, simply use the import wizard or drag-and-drop the zip archive file (that contains the DOS program) into the D-Fend Reloaded window.

D-Fend Reloaded also offers game packages, containing both freeware and shareware DOS games, that you may install on your computer at once using a simple installer. You can play these classic games using DOSBox without having to configure anything.

Build an MS-DOS Virtual Machine for Playing Games
 If the requirements are such that DOSBox emulators are unable to run your favorite DOS game, you can try running DOS inside a virtual machine using virtualization software like Windows Virtual PC, VMWare Player, or VirtualBox from Sun – they are all free solutions.

Microsoft offers a free copy of MS-DOS operating system that you may convert into a virtual machine or you can download the FreeDOS program from the Internet which is just like MS-DOS and completely free.

Once you have a virtual machine running DOS, you need a way to install DOS programs into the virtual machine. This can be done by burning a CD image of the DOS games and then attaching that CD image to the virtual machine.

Play DOS Games Online in the Browser
The installers for DOS games were initially distributed on floppy disks and the game authors may have never envisioned that people would be playing these games though the Internet without installation but that is exactly what you can do today.

JPC is a Java-based x86 emulator that can run some DOS programs on any modern browser with the Java plugin.  The JPC site hosts a couple of popular DOS games including DOOM and Mario Brothers but for a more extensive collection, you should check out Classic DOS Games. The sites currently has 169 different games that you can play directly in any web browser that has the Java plugin installed.

JPC based DOS games may not run as fast as their DOSBox counterparts but there’s one advantage – you can try a game online before deciding if you want to download a copy to your hard drive.

Download DOS Games from the Internet
Now that you have everything in place to run DOS games on the computer, you are most definitely looking for some great games to play with.

Here are some popular sites where you can find and download most of your favorite DOS games, but since too many choices can be confusing, check this search engine that will help you search all the popular PC games’ websites from one place.

1. DOS Games – With over 500 classic titles, DOSGames.com is a great place to look for your favorite DOS games. You can run these games using the free DOSBox emulator discussed above. The site is actively updated so it is likely that more games will be added over time.

2. DOS Games Archive – DOS Games Archive is another useful site with a very large collection of DOS games. The sites provides screenshots of the DOS games, user ratings, violence ratings, cheat codes and you can also find out if a particular game is supported on DOSBox. Many of the games listed on the site were commercial games that were later released for free by the game publisher.

3. D-Fend Game Packages – If you chose to install D-Fend Reloaded with DOSBox, then you can easily access hundreds of classic DOS games using this easy installer. Each game package contains a collection of about a dozen or so games of the same category and you can have them all on your machine with a click.

4. Classic DOS Games – This site also contains a wide range of DOS games categorized by their Genre, Company, Year Released, etc.  All DOS games listed on this site are freely distributable because they are shareware, freeware, or because the copyright holder has officially and legally released all rights to the public domain.

5. Good Old Games – This site specializes at re-releasing classic commercial games for modern PCs at reasonable prices.  Their selection includes many popular DOS-based games that are packaged with DOSBox for a seamless game experience on Windows Vista and XP.  If your looking for a commercial game that has not been released as freeware, this may be the best place to look for it.

6. Abandonia – As the title suggests, this site has a very collection of games that are under the category of “abandonware” or titles that are no longer sold /developed by the authors.

7. Home of the Underdogs – One of the most popular abandonware sites with reviews of over 5,300 games for DOS and Windows. Other than game binaries, the sites also offers manuals for a number of games that are no longer commercially available.

For offline reference, you may download this catalog of DOS games from Wikipedia that possibly includes every DOS title that has been released till date.

Build Your Own 3D Camera Rig with Two Hacked Canon Cameras

You don't need to spend a mint on the new 3D-capable camera from Fuji. You can throw two basic Canon point-and-shoot cameras together with $20 worth of parts and make your own for 3D fun.

You'll need a pair of matching Canon PowerShot cameras that have modified firmware—the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) we shared with you last year. You need two cameras in order to simulate the view from the left and right eye.

In addition to the two cameras you'll need about $20 worth of hardware that includes a simple bracket made with basic hardware store parts and a USB trigger button with dual outputs. The USB trigger will take a tiny bit of electronics know-how but if you can wire a lamp you can turn an Altoids tin and a simple circuit board into a dual-trigger for your 3D camera rig.

Once you've got the camera and trigger assembled you're in business on the taking-the-pictures side of things. On the post-processing side of things you'll need to offset the image with proper coloration for 3D glasses—the most popular tool is a free application called StereoPhoto Maker. Using StereoPhoto Maker you can combine and tweak your images for maximum 3D effect. Check out the full tutorial at MaximumPC for a detailed build guide and lots of photos.

How to Build Your Own 3D Camera Rig for Under $20

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iTablet Gains OLED Display, Delayed Until Late 2010

If an unannounced product exists solely in the minds of speculative journalists and know-nothing analysts, can it be “delayed”? If so, then the fabled Apple tablet has just seen a setback to its non-existent launch date, pushing it to the second half of 2010.
The source? Component manufacturers for the iTablet, who, according to Digitimes, say that Apple has changed its mind on the product range (partway through production, it would seem) and decided to confuse customers with a split product launch.
Instead of the usual Apple strategy of launching one product, letting it run for a few years, and only then adding more lines (think iPod, which was on sale for two years before the Mini joined it, and iPhone, which is still the only iPhone), Digitimes’ sources claim that there will be two tablets at launch. One with a TFT screen will measure 10.6-inches and one with an OLED screen will measure 9.7-inches.
The sources have even worked out the prices of the tablets. Going on current prices of OLED screens and the percentage of the product budget they normally occupy, the price is estimated to be between $1,500 and $1,700. That’s not the sale price but the cost. Add a conservative 30 percent on top  of that for Apple’s famously fat profit margins and you get to around $2,200. That’s almost as much as the 17-inch MacBook Pro.
Due to the imaginary delay, these prices are expected to drop to a more reasonable $1,200-1,500 by launch, as the prices of OLED screens drop. Digitimes also points out that “The price could be more flexible if bundled with telecom providers’ 3G services.” Extrapolating from the iPhone, which costs AT&T around $600 and sells for $200 on a two-year contract, the iTablet would need a four-year contract to bring it into the necessary price range between the iPhone and the MacBook, around $700.
Why would Apple, a company famous for its pared down, easy-to-understand product lineup, introduce two models of a new device not only almost exactly the same size, but with confusing differences in screen technology? And why would it sabotage the recent and aggressive price cutting across all product lines by launching a big iPhone at a price higher than many of its pro-level notebooks?
This is a truly bewildering story. One day, we will see an Apple Tablet, I’m sure. But until it is officially announced, the only place to get one will be in the Atlantis Apple Store, which is staffed by unicorns.
Apple tablet PC reportedly delayed until 2H10, with OLED model now included

[brainw4re]

Would You Buy a Data-Only Cellphone?

There's an eyebrow-raising rumor that Google's toying with a cellphone that could work on any data network and make phone calls through its Gizmo5/Google Voice package. Are you ready to leave standard voice channels behind for the wireless data frontier?

There are a handful of clues that, strung together, seem to point toward Google offering its own phone-like VoIP services. The Google Voice project and its Gizmo5 acquisition, the Android phone OS, of course, and a deal that lets them re-sell wireless data. Then again, regardless of whether Google's ready to jump in, some phone provider could, at some point, make this kind of offer—unlimited domestic voice calling, cheap international calls, and a data-friendly a phone that works with any data contract.

If Google or some other firm offered a (presumably) subsidized, affordable phone with an internet calling package and any data package you want, would you nibble? Or is the difference between data and voice coverage big enough to enjoy having a backup?

[brainw4re]

ECOBOT Tracks Your Carbon Footprint

Mac: Wondering what kind of impact your power and fuel consumption have on the environment? ECOBOT helps you figure it out.
ECOBOT is a free, open-source application that calculates how much fuel, paper, and power you use during the course of a day to help keep you aware of how you can reduce your carbon footprint. The app tracks wireless networks you access to learn how much you're traveling, and logs how much paper you use whenever you use your printer. ECOBOT also automatically calculates how much energy your computer uses, and you can manually add other appliances like video games and televisions.
ECOBOT runs on Adobe AIR but, strangely enough, can only be used on a Mac right now. Developers say a PC version will probably be developed "soon."
Got a favorite tip for keeping your energy consumption in check? Let's hear it in the comments.

ECOBOT

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Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Now Available for Download

You’ve seen all the new features of Office 2010 and now its time to try them on your own computer.
The first public beta of Microsoft Office 2010 is now available as a free download on microsoft.com/office. And other then Office, you can also download Visio 2010 beta and Project 2010 beta for your Windows computer.

This is the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 edition so you get to experience Publisher and Infopath 2010 as well in addition to the regular Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook applications.
The Office installer weighs around 700 MB in size but you need around 3 GB of free space on your hard drive for the installation.
You can either upgrade your current version of Microsoft Office to Office 2010 Beta or select the Customize option during installation and set your current version of Microsoft Office to coexist with Office 2010 Beta.
All products require online activation after installation. In case of Office 2010, you can enter the serial number inside Word 2010 and it will automatically activate all other Office applications. Project and Visio will require separate activation since they use a different set of keys.
The beta version of Office 2010 will expire in October 2010. And other than English, Office 2010 is available for download in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.

Growl for Windows Updates to 2.0

 

Windows only: Open source notification system Growl for Windows has finally hit the 2.0 milestone, and with it comes a ton of new features that let you further customize the way you receive your pop-in corner notices.
Among the new features are images in notifications, playing sounds when notifications are received, keyboard shortcuts, history, and notification summaries. There is also support for pushing notifications to iPhone, email, and Twitter, as well as pulling notifications from other machines on your network (whether they are PCs or Macs). There are more applications that can integrate with Growl for Windows, with more being added all the time, so the real benefits of this upgrade depend on the enthusiasm of developers.
Growl for Windows is a free download, Windows only.

Growl for Windows

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How to Connect Two Computers Without a Router

Let’s assume you have two computers at home and you want to connect them together so that you can easily share an internet connection between the two machines or transfer photos, music and other files from one computer to another. How do you do this?
Connect Two Computers Directly

There are two options – you can either buy a router or, if you are looking for something more simple and don’t want to spend money on new networking hardware, you can connect the two computers using a commonly-available cable. The latter method doesn’t involve any complicated network settings and you will still be able to share files, internet connection, and even printers between computers.

Things you need:

To set up this basic wired home network, all you need is an inexpensive Ethernet crossover cable and the other requirement is that network cards* (also known as LAN or Ethernet cards) should be installed on each of you computers.

[*] This should not be an issue because network cards are available on most newer machines by default but if you are working with a very old computer, you can either attach an internal LAN card to your computer’s motherboard or go for a USB Network adapter that will turn a USB port into an Ethernet (RJ45) port.

An Ethernet crossover cable looks like a standard Ethernet cable but the internal wiring is a little different. You can purchase crossover cables at Amazon.com or from your local computer store. If you have trouble finding them, you can purchase an inexpensive crossover adaptor and that will let you use any standard Ethernet cable as a crossover cable.
Connect Computers with an Ethernet Crossover Cable

Before connecting the two computers with a physical cable, make sure that both machine are using the same workgroup*. Here is step-by-step guide that explains how you can change the workgroup of your computers.

Changing workgroup in Windows XP – From the Start menu, right-click “My Computer.” Select Properties in the drop-down menu, and then select the second tab that says “Computer Name” from the System Properties window. Now click the “Change…” button, enter a unique Workgroup name and reboot your computer.

 

Changing workgroup in Windows 7 or Vista – Open the Control Panel, type “Workgroup” in the search box, and select the entry that says “Change Workgroup Name.” Click the “Change…” button, enter a Workgroup name and restart the computer. Windows 7 users can skip one step; simply type “Workgroup” in the search box in the start menu, and select the first entry, then proceed as above.

 

Now that the workgroups are same for both computers, connect the two computers together using the Ethernet crossover cable. Simply plug-in one end of the crossover cable into the network adapter of Computer A and connect the other end of the cable to the network adapter of Computer B.

Windows will automatically recognize the new network, and you can now easily view files and folder that the other computer has shared. Simply open Networks from the Start Menu (or the Control Panel), and you should see the other computer by its name. You can then browse any shared files on the other computer, and can even utilize shared printers.

Troubleshooting – If you do not see the other computer under Networks, you probably have a prompt at the top of your Network window saying that Network discovery is turned off (screenshots below). Select “Turn on Network Discovery and File Sharing.”  In the next prompt, select “No, make the network I am connected to a private network.”  Now you should see the other computer on the home network.

[*] While it is possible to share files between two computers connected with a crossover cable without making them part of the same workgroup, the method will only work if both computers have this network set as a private network, and may still cause problems. It is therefore advisable to have both computers on the same workgroup before sharing files and printers.
Share an Internet Connection Between Two Computers

There are scenarios where you may want to share the same internet connection between two computers. For instance:

Situation A - You have setup a Wi-Fi network at home but your old desktop computer doesn’t have a wireless network card. In that case, you can use the laptop to connect to the internet wirelessly and then share that same connection with the desktop over a crossover Ethernet cable.

Situation B – You have a netbook with a built-in cellular data connection. You can share that connection with any another computer at home through the crossover Ethernet cable.

Situation C – You use a (slow) Wireless USB modem with your laptop computer while your desktop is connected to an ADSL Broadband line and there’s no router at home. For any bandwidth intensive tasks, like when you want to backup photos from your laptop to an online service, you can connect the laptop to the desktop and things will happen much faster.

OK, let’s look at the steps required for sharing an Internet connection.

First, if you only wish to share internet connection and not files, both computers need not belong to the same workgroup. All you need to do is to connect the two computers with the Ethernet crossover cable, and then turn on Internet connection sharing in the computer that already has an Internet connection. The instructions vary for different versions of Windows:

For Windows XP – Select “Network and Internet Connections” from the Control Panel and click “Network Connections.”

Right-click on the network connection you wish to share (the one connected to the internet), select Properties, click on the “Advanced” tab, and then check the box that says “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.”  Click OK, and the second computer that you have connected to this computer with the Crossover Cable should have internet access now.

For Windows 7 and Vista – Open Control Panel, enter “network connections” in the search box on the top right and select “View Network Connections.”

Right-click on the network connection you wish to share (this must be the one connected to the internet) and select Properties. Select the "Sharing" tab and then check the option that says “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.” Click OK, and the other computer you have connected to this Windows 7 or Vista computer should have internet access now.

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