TECHFREAK

SNORE-FREE BED

2008-01-10T06:20:00.000-08:00

First you have those watch-type gadgets that wake you up whenever you start snoring.
That makes you change position and try to fall back to sleep. Problem is you never get back to sleep so you're awake 'till sunrise. Good for your bedfellow. He or she can sleep peacefully.

Here comes another one from the CES. A bed with a wireless internet, iPod dock — and a way to stop snoring

By the way, the price is $ 50,000. Way to sleep peacefully.

technology,cellphone,ipod ,snore free bed

BUGS TERMINATOR

2008-01-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

Here comes the Terminator of your bugs and insect problems--one of the goofiest gadgets exihibited in the recently held CES, it is called the ELECTRIC SWATTER.

This plastic tennis racket-like swatter fries bugs you swing at, just in case slamming it with the racket doesn’t finish the job.

Just be careful not to include this gadget among the tennis rackets. You may find yourself swarmed with dead bugs as you play tennis.

SPACE SAVING WASHER

2008-01-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

Hold it. This is not a blender. See that word there WASHER? Because it is really a washer. A mini one. Not for mini errm small people, silly.

Technically a mini-washer for clothes of any type, Technosonic’s PW311A has been churning away this week washing tennis shoes, which dry on a conveniently included shoe rack.

Techfreak

Tips for Creating Secure Passwords

2006-08-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Everytime you sign-up, they ask you to create username and password. The username should be available and the password should be secured.

Brian has the following tips for creation of secured password

Some of these are:

* DO NOT use your network username as your password.

* Don't use easily guessed passwords, such as "password."

* Do not choose passwords based upon details that may not be as confidential as you'd expect, such as your birth date, your Social Security or phone numbers, or names of family members.

For more of the tips, go to Brian's Security Fix.

technology,cellphone,ipod ,passwords

They Punish you for using old technology

2006-08-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Cingular is charging the customers using old cell phones to encourage them to upgrade
their phones. The evil of consumerism. They innovate and pass on the development cost
to the consumers. Duh.

Excerpt of the news:

Cingular to raise prices for users of older phones

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cingular Wireless, a venture of AT&T Inc. (T.N) and BellSouth Corp. (BLS.N), said on Monday it would start charging customers with older phones an extra $4.99 monthly fee as early as September unless they upgrade their phones as it moves toward using a single network technology.

The biggest U.S. wireless service, said the fee would apply to about 4.7 million subscribers, or about 8 percent, of its 57.3 million customer base unless these users upgrade their phones.

Read the entire news here.

technology,cellphone,ipod ,passwords

MP3 Player for Runners/Walkers/Joggers

2006-07-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

The new gadget being introduced by SONY has a capacity to store 1350 songs. It counts calories burned, distanced traveled and records the runs made.

It also adjusts when the runner is slowing down.

This is going to compete with Nike and Apple which costs US$ for the kit and 100 for the shoes. The kit can be bought separately and can be attached to an old pair of Nike shoes.

The Sony S2 Walkman costs $120 for the 1 GB and $150 for the 2 GB. It doesn't come with shoes.

via sfgate

technology,cellphone,ipod ,passwords

Sony is introducing an MP3 player for runners/walkers/joggers who like to listen to "Chariots of Fire," the Rocky theme song and other tunes to inspire them to go the distance.

The S2 Walkman stores up to about 1,350 songs (2 GB model), is water resistant, counts calories burned, distance traveled and records your runs. It will adjust your playlist if it senses you are slowing down or speeding up. And if you want to shuffle your music, you just shake it three times, fast.

If some of the features sound familiar, it's because Nike and Apple are alread

Warning about Password Stealing Trojan-Firefox Extension

2006-07-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

Brian Kerbs warned about password stealing Trojan disguised as Firefox extension.

He wrote:

A spam e-mail making its rounds with a file attachment disguised as an "extension" or add-on for the Mozilla Firefox browser is actually a Trojan horse program, which allows attackers to install programs that intercept Web traffic from a victim's computer and monitor what he or she types, such as passwords and other login information.

Read the entire story here.

Now here comes Google of the Blogs

2006-07-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

Why is it always from San Francisco? A new search engine founded by Tony Conrad who is based in San Francisco joins Technorati, Google blog search, Feedster to scour blogs and organize them according to topics that interest the blog readers.

Leslie Walker in her Searching for Order in the Blogosphere pointed out what makes Tony Conrad different from the other top search engines.

Sphere analyzes and gives weight to the
1. actual words in each blog posting
2. to the length and frequency of posts to a blog
3. and to how often the individual blogger writes about the subject being queried.

So the big differentiator is that they are not dependent on links.

Read the entire story here.

Searching Order in the Blogosphere

technology,cellphone,ipod ,passwords

Mobile Web

2006-07-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

Good news for mobile phone owners who use the web features such as e-mail, news and maps. So what's next? A personal computer as small as the cell phone?

Read the excerpt of the news:

Rewriting the Web for Mobile Phones
Google, Yahoo Offer Services Tailored to the Small Screen

Internet access has become a standard feature on most mobile phones, but navigating a Web page over a tiny screen or a slow connection has kept consumers from flocking to their phones to check e-mail, read news stories or consult a map.

Now, the powerhouses of the Internet, including Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., are introducing programs specifically tailored for the mobile phone, hoping to create an experience that puts the devices on a level playing field with the personal computer.

Google yesterday unveiled a mobile version of its personalized home page for subscribers to its service and updated its mobile Google Maps feature to include live traffic updates. Yahoo Inc. last week announced that its Yahoo Go for Mobile, a Web application that combines e-mail, search, address book and local information programs, would be preloaded on millions of Motorola handsets.

"With mobile Web, we don't try to just plop PC-based services onto the phone," Yahoo spokeswoman Nicole Leverich said. "The network speeds are different, the device capabilities are different and what consumers want from us is different."

Read the entire story here.

technology,cellphone,ipod ,passwords

TOY CAR OF THE RICH

2006-07-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Toy car for the rich geek, the TESLA roadster is powered by the same battery used by the their laptops and lithium. Can you beat that?

Here's an excerpt of the news from Washington Post.

An Electric Car With Juice
Silicon Valley Firm Bets Its Chips on the Speedy Tesla Roadster

By Mike Musgrove
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 22, 2006; D01

Detroit is floundering, gas prices are rising -- now Silicon Valley is stepping in with an impractical-but-cool solution: A sexy, pricey and fast electric car that uses the same lithium ion batteries found in your cellphone or laptop.

The Tesla Roadster goes from zero to 60 in four noiseless seconds, has a top speed of 135 mph and can roam for more than 200 miles before needing a recharge.

This is not your father's electric car. The $100,000 vehicle, with its sports car looks, is more Ferrari than Prius -- and more about testosterone than granola.

Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors Inc. raised $60 million in financing from San Francisco Bay area tech giants to get this car on the road. Those famous Toyota Prius owners Larry Page and Sergey Brin -- yes, the Google guys -- have invested, as have executives from eBay Inc. and PayPal.

Read the entire story here.

technology,cellphone,ipod ,passwords

PACMAN IS BACK

2006-07-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

Remember the greedy PACMAN that eats everything that on its way. It's back and how.

Classic games reborn
Pac-Man and other arcade games from decades past are finding new life -- reworked for game consoles and Web sites
- Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, July 24, 2006

It's been more than a quarter-century since Pac-Man first stalked his pixelated maze. But the pellet-chasing yellow ball is charging back into the spotlight, part of a classic games renaissance that could pump new life into the gaming business.

The re-emergence of retro games like Frogger, Galaga, Dig Dug and Gauntlet are being fueled by new online distribution platforms -- both video game consoles and Internet sites -- that make it easy for people to reacquire their love for popular titles from the past.

Observers and industry leaders hope the old titles will broaden the video game audience by tapping into people's love for simple, nostalgic games while ringing up a nice bit of change in the process.

"It's really funny that it's come back to this and people are talking about Pac-Man and Ghosts and Goblins in the same breath as new games," said Ankarino Lara, vice president of Game Spot, a gaming Web site. "Who'd ever think we'd be talking about classic games? But it makes perfect sense. If you think about the age of gamers today, we've acquired new gamers but the core gamers are moving up in life. They're settling down, having families, and this is a trip down memory lane for them."

Read the entire story HERE.

technology,PACMAN,games