::Killer-Apps::

Yes Indeed

2005-08-05T17:19:00.000+02:00

It has been ages since I last posted to my blog. Things have been HECTIC here, and I have to be quite honest that any free time I have is spent with either the wife, the camera or Mr Credit Card.

Just out of interest, I am working on some cool stuff these days, including some nifty stuff designed around SyncML.

Then of course there is my photography. This has become my main hobby - and my real passion. My collection of gear is getting pretty big, as is my portfolio. As a result, I am starting a new blog / website that will be focussed on this - www.35mm.co.za. There is nothing there at the moment, of course, but give it some time.

I plan on getting involved in product review, maintaining a gallery, posting up some articles and guides that I write / collate, as well as blogging to it using my new toy - the iMate JAM. Read a review of it here.

The JAM is a real beauty. I'm currently writing a blogging front-end to the new blog engine I am writing too (I know - nerd alert. But seriously, its not a big deal, and there is nothing good out there anyway).

So, I'll start posting again to this, and keep you updated with my other projects. If you want to know when new content arrives, just sign-up on the right-hand side (compiments of Bloglet).

Weird things and hoaxes

2005-04-13T12:25:00.000+02:00

After hearing Mark Gilman talking about strange things turning up in photographs once they're developed, I started looking around and came up with some interesting links and stories.

Mark's story related to the woman that took a picture of a frozen pond with some swans on it, and when she later looked at the photo realised that there was a hand sticking out of the ice (cue scary music). Chilling.

Well, there are certainly some strange photos out there, and this is one interesting gallery of paranormal photographs. It includes the usual "I took this picture of a gravestone and their was a ghost in the shot when I developed it" stories, plus some other gems.

Of course, most of us would think that these are hoaxes. At least I usually do. To find out if they are, take a look at The Museum of Hoaxes. They have some lovely ones, including this hilarious story about a "spaghetti harvest".

Then there are the classic crop circles. Why not learn how to make your own. Its fun, and the whole family can take part :)

Anyway, if you feel like browsing some of these sites, or finding your own, take a look at The Encyclopaedia of Hoaxes, or the Urban Legends Reference.

Are you open to open source

2005-04-13T11:32:00.000+02:00

The debate over whether to move to open source in businesses is an old one, and not one that I care to enter into. What I do find interesting though, is two articles that I read recently.

The first showed how much people despise having to use Microsoft operating systems and software within their businesses (for various valid reasons), but how they still will not move to open source (for just as valid reasons). If I had to have participated in this survey, there are some clear statements that I would have made:

Although Microsoft operating systems appear to be more vulnerable to security vulnerabilities, it is only their widespread usage that creates this scenario. Were all desktops and servers to be Linux, there would suddenly be an insurgence of security exploits for this platform. The desire of hackers to break into systems will not diminish.

Support is a serious issue in business. Microsoft can be contacted (well, in theory) for any problem, and are obliged to offer you assistance, because you pay license fees. Linux operating systems are a different kettle of fish. Now you have to find a private support company, and make sure that they are suitably qualified and reliable.

Companies invest a lot of money into software, both commercial and bespoke, many of which are legacy systems that their business could not do without. To move to another operating system platform would require significant conversion expenses for these applications, enormous development time, and in some cases, would mean having to migrate to alternative software packages, therefore requiring costly conversions of data and staff skills.

The second article was concerning statements made by Linus Torvalds (the inventor of Linux). Basically, he was saying that open source is all very well and good, but people must forge their own way, not ride on the coat tails of successful commercial products, and reverse engineering them to make a free alternative. I fully agree with this. Proprietary is fine - they spent the time and money, so it should belong to them.

Anyway, I don't want to invite too many views and opinions on this, but let me know what you think.

To Digi or not to Digi

2005-04-12T12:05:00.000+02:00

I have recently been struggling with a tough decision - to buy a digital SLR camera (and give in to media and vendor pressure), or to stick with my good old 35mm cameras. This all started when I saw the new Canon EOS 350D. What a fantastic camera. Seen as the bridging gap camera between the 300D and the 20D, this beauty is usable enough for the amateurs, but has enough advanced features for the pros.

I purchased a Canon EOS 20D for my neighbour a while back in New York, and had the pleasure of using it for a day, and was suitably impressed with the quality of both the camera and the pictures it took. But it lacks that elegance and artistry of a 35mm. The challenge of composition, lighting and control becomes deminished by the fact that you can take infinite shots of the same thing until you get it right with no consequence. With my 35mm cameras, I have to put a lot of thought into each shot I take, because each one costs me money to develop (I don't have my own darkroom). Add to this the anticipation of waiting for the prints to come back from the lab to see your end result, and the whole hobby becomes more thrilling.

But I have to admit, lately I have been wanting to experiment a lot more with my shots, and I am finding that the cost of having to develop each pick, and constantly buy film, is restricting my ability to be creative. The 350D is affordable (well... its not completely out of my budget) and offers a fair amount of features that I have gotten used to on my Canon EOS 30, it allows you to tweak your prints in fantastic programs like Photoshop CS2, and it would allow me to snap away to my hearts content - but is that really the point? Should I not rather put the money towards additional lenses, film and 35mm gear?

Any input would be great. I am truly stumped as to what to do.

Home Automation

2005-03-31T14:31:00.000+02:00

This is quite possibly the "next big thing" in terms of technology. I know I can't wait - the ability to automate all key functions in your home, and control them from one central system, accessible from anywhere. Besides the obvious security concerns people may have, the advantages are endless. Like the "Bill Gates" home of the future in Anti-trust, your home can react to your every desire.

Picture the scene: You're about to go to bed. With a single command, all household lights turn off, the doors are all locked and the alarm set, the outside light turns on, unnecessary appliances are turned off (such as television, stove), the thermostat is set to a comfortable "sleeping" temperature, and a soft voice confirms all actions. Sound good - it does to me.

How about this one: You wake up. With a single command, the thermostat gets turned down for the day, the bath starts running, bedroom lights go on, curtains open, alarm disarms and the coffee machine starts to make your coffee.

Or this: As you walk to your TV room, the doors slide open, you say the name of a movie, the lights dim, television goes on, movie gets cued up, and the audio level gets set based on the environmental sound levels.

All this is possible today, and more in the future, with the power of home automation technologies. These include the X-10 standard, which allows you to control all electrical items in your home through the power grid, from a central location. Add to this the miracle of computers, wireless technology, voice recognition and artificial intelligence, and you have the simple life is here.

Technology junkies out there are creating new devices and software every day to control all aspects of the home, including entertainment, security, appliances and home conveniences. And it's not that expensive - the technology is affordable and suits the DIY types perfectly. When tied together with mobile technology, you can be checking if you switched the stove off from the office.

Check the Home Toys website for more info. For more inspiring info, check out about.com, and for some guidance on doing it yourself, check out smarthome's site.

Inventions

2005-03-31T13:26:00.000+02:00

Like many young boys, I always wanted to be an inventor. However, as time would tell, that was not my destiny. However, I felt it would be worth while listing 10 inventions that I could not do without everyday:

The Air Conditioner, invented by Willis Carrier in 1902 to cool the air and lower the humidity at a printing and publishing company.

Plastic, invented by Leo Baekeland in 1905, originally called Bakelite this substance could be set into any shape and once set would not melt under heat.

The Microwave Oven (without which I would probably never eat), invented at the same time as the Atomic Bomb (1945) by the Raytheon Company after they found that radar waves had melted candy in one of their engineers pockets.

The Transistor, which revolutionised electronics, was stumbled upon by Russel Ohl in 1939, and finally "invented" by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain of AT&T Bell Labs in 1947.

The Contraceptive Pill, developed by Carl Djerassi in 1951, working on the realisation that the human body produced a natural contraceptive.

The ATM, prototyped by Diebold Incorporated in 1957 to ease the load on banks as consumers started withdrawing more and more money.

The Cellphone, first produced by Dr Martin Cooper in 1973, who made his first call to his competitors, Bell Labs (who came up with the concept).

The MP3 Format, invented by Fraunhofer Institute, who envisioned the technology in 1987 as the Eureka project.

The World Wide Web (WWW), invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, after producing a theory on HyperText in 1989.

The Palm Pilot, invented by US Robotics and first made popular in 1996 as the Pilot 1000, setting the standard for handheld computing.

More holes than you could poke a stick at

2005-03-23T12:29:00.000+02:00

It would seem that the rapid advancement of home theatre technologies is not only causing headaches for the consumer, but for the manufacturer as well. 5.1, 6.1, DTS, THX, 7.1, ProLogic II - I mean, who can keep up. Well, Onkyo have released their "future proof" home theatre amplifier, which has just about everything you could want (and some you don't) in it, and is designed to be able to plug new technologies into it if and when they arrive. And you get all this for the small fee of $4,000. Sign me up for one today :)

LG goes qwerty

2005-03-18T09:49:00.000+02:00

LG, it seems, is aiming their new phone (the F9100) at the text happy mobile market. For those unstoppable SMS'ers, this new cellphone is the way to go. It features a slideout full keyboard which (with the screen automatically rotated) allows the user to type as they would on a normal PC keyboard. It also has all the usual obligatory features, such as MMS, calendar, WAP, but no Bluetooth (very sad). Designed for the messager rather than the talker, it also features support for instant messaging services, including Yahoo, ICQ and AOL.

The colour of your soul

2005-03-18T09:33:00.000+02:00

Take some time to take this colour personality test, it seemed pretty accurate based on my results. It asks you to select colours (sometimes more than one at a time, so don't be confused), and then gives you an interpretation of your personality.

Don't let your cellphone go flat

2005-03-09T18:44:00.000+02:00

Crazier and crazier, now you can charge your mobile while you cycle about. Just so long as you don't get the cable caught in the spokes of course, or get a fine for driving and talking even. This would seem useful though, if you were doing the Tour de France or the Argus Cycle Tour, and wanted to give constant status updates to your mates. Or if you were a teenager.

Crazy laptop inventions

2005-03-09T18:28:00.000+02:00

I have never been one to proclaim the glory of laptop computers - they invade your personal time, they damage your swimmers (for men of course) and they cause CTS. But obviously people do like them, considering these crazy products:

A Cosmetic Laptop. With 66 distinct colors of sheer lip gloss and long lasting eye shadow you are never missing the right shade. The mouse-pad has multiple applicators.

The Laptop Steering Wheel Mount. Mount your laptop on your steering wheel and you can type, drive, do your makeup and talk on your cellphone at the same time *sigh*. Some people make the stupidest things. I know Arcon make good mounting systems, but this is the pits. Are you really going to put this whole contraption up, balance your laptop in it, and work on it. I think not.

itBluetooth control

2005-03-09T18:12:00.000+02:00

I posted something a while back concerning controlling your PC using your Nokia and Bluetooth. Well, why bother using the whole phone, when you can just use the headset. GadgetMadness posted a story on the product, HeadsetPresenter, which allows you to control your computer using your Bluetooth headset and any compatible Bluetooth adaptor on your PC. Neat - although very "geek" neat.

Watch out Chucky, Microsoft is moving into your marketspace

2005-03-03T17:36:00.000+02:00

Not only satisfied with terrorising businesses and PC users world-wide, Microsoft has now moved into the kids toys market too. They have showcased a Teddy bear that can monitor your child’s movements. As per ABC News:

“The Teddy bear sitting in the corner of the child's room might look normal, until his head starts following the kid around using a face recognition program, perhaps also allowing a parent talk to the child through a special phone, or monitor the child via a camera and wireless Internet connection.”

This all sounds great, until someone hacks into it. Do you really want some hacker watching your child? Not me, thanks all the same.

Be a star gazer

2005-03-03T17:27:00.000+02:00

Although I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to stars and astrology, I really do love gazing into the heavens on a starry night. The idea of lying on my back with my wife, staring up at the stars looking at stars (yes, just looking at stars) is kind of appealing? The only problem – I wouldn’t know Orion’s Belt from a commercial airliner.

To the rescue comes Starry Night Backyard. With this little beauty you can enter your exact geographic location, and at any particular time (even future times) see what stars will be at what position, and the realtime movement. It even includes artificial satellites, comets and constellations. If you’re not into technology, or don’t really want to look like you needed the help, you could always plan ahead and pick out a time and place, and then memorise the stars – and look like a real astrologer.

Crazy hamster people

2005-02-28T13:08:00.000+02:00

Some crazy people have been inventing gadgets that allow the world to be powered by hamsters. Strange – but true. Although by no means a complete list, check out the stories here (sound), here (time) and here (light).

Anti-spyware to be free

2005-02-28T12:59:00.000+02:00

Microsoft’s anti-spyware product, which has met with both positive and negative reviews, will be free, as per Bill himself. Currently in beta, the final version is due for release soon. Chalk one more up for Microsoft, as they begin to take over another portion of the IT industry, this time protecting their users from problems existing their web browser and operating system, which allow spyware to be loaded by devious hackers and dodgy websites. Be sure to use the latest “refreshed” version though…

What's with all the cellphone hackings

2005-02-28T12:19:00.000+02:00

It would seem that celebrities are becoming the victims of technology, as more and more celebs are having their cellphones hacked into, and their phonebooks, naughty photos and video clips (not safe for work) are being posted up on the net (although claims were made that these hacks are not all real). Not great for them (or their friends), but great for us. Shame they caught the guy. If you want to know how it was done, check this story.

Oscar winner gadgets

2005-02-28T11:41:00.000+02:00

Although I am only going to be watching the Oscar’s tonight (but already know some of the results thanks to 5FM morning radio), I stumbled across this list of the gadgets that the oscar winners receive (thanks engadget):

A year free year of VoIP phone service from Vonage.
The black version of Motorola’s RAZR V3.
An iXi collapsible bike.
A Dyson DC11 vacuum.
Sprint is offering some unreleased “multimedia” phone from Samsung, maybe the SCH-5600?
A Krups kitchen set that includes a toaster and an electric kettle.

Custom iPod mania

2005-02-28T11:33:00.000+02:00

iPod’s are nothing new. If you’re a big fan, check out iPoditude, who keep you up to date with all the add-ons and paraphernalia. There are just so many custom versions out there now, that it is getting ridiculous. Just a few examples:

The History of Gadgets

2005-02-28T09:57:00.000+02:00

Thanks to splattermail for this post. Definitely worth reading – Mobile PC Mag’s guide to the best 100 gadgets of all time. My personal favourites (that I have owned/used):

Pez dispenser
Rubik’s cube
Dustbuster
Etch-a-sketch
Nintendo Game Boy
Swiss army knife
Sony Walkman

To this list, I would have to add some of my own favourites:

Palm V
The Slinky
The Apple I with Logo

Let me know what your favourite gadgets were…

New SpamCount project

2005-02-22T12:20:00.000+02:00

Spam is one of those things that we all live with, but wish would disappear. Not only does it cause reduced productivity, it also slows down Internet bandwidth and consumes valuable server resources. In an effort to highlight the problem of spam, I have embarked on a new project – SpamCount. What this project aims to do is identify the sources of spam and the level to which they contribute to the problem. How do I propose to do this? Well, it is quite simple:

I have setup three email accounts on a server that does not filter for most spam.
I have signed up to different sites, or posted email addresses on different sites, according to their profile (hover over the name on the counter in the right panel).
I monitor the mailboxes on a daily basis, and update the counters on the right hand bar.

So what will this tell you. It will let you know:

If people honour their privacy statements.
How many spambots collect mail addresses off of websites.
How much spam is generated from non-business “entertainment” sites vs. how much is generated by business.

I hope that this forms an interesting part of my blog, and that people will come back occasionally to check the stats.

New Feed

2005-02-22T11:12:00.000+02:00

No, this has nothing to do with a humanitarian effort to feed the hungry Ethiopians. This is about something I have spoken about before - the topic of RSS feeds. What are these things? Well, it is basically a way of syndicating / viewing my blog content, without having to load the entire blog page. You could use this feed with a reader, such as Pluck, NewsGator or FeedReader. These readers allow you to subscribe to lots of related content feeds, and aggregate your favourite site content for easy reading, in your browser or mail client.

Anyhow, I have a new “intelligent” feed that will work in any reader. Find it on the right bar at the bottom by clicking the XML image.

Also, if you are looking for specific Atom and RSS feeds, please use the ones that have been validated (accessible by clicking the “valid” images and copying the link from that page).

And of course, if you were wanting to help the Ethiopians, please do, ‘cause we all know they need it.

Nokia and the way of the future

2005-02-15T17:43:00.000+02:00

Nokia has been very active on the cellular phone innovation front this year, and has made a number of press releases that promise a great future for us devoted Nokia users. I thought it high time to post some info up for those who do not keep abreast of these things.

First up, Nokia has been working together with Microsoft on a number of innovations and technologies, the most noticeable of which are:

The adoption of Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology as part of the 3rd edition of their Series 60, Symbian 9 based, operating system.
The adoption of Microsoft’s Windows Media 10 rights management technology, to enable their new collaboration effort – the LoudEye service, which allows users to download music directly to their handset from a comprehensive online store.

Then, as stated above, they will be releasing a newly updated version of their Series 60 operating system, and this new rendition comes jammed packed full of features, including:

Built-in support for Macromedia’s Flash format, enabling interactive multimedia content and applications on your handset.
USB mass storage compatibility, to enable easy transfer of files to and from the phone.
Exchange and ActiveSync support, for remote and local synchronisation of calendar and email content.
Support for new programming languages, including Python, allowing easier development of applications for your mobile.

Also, they have announced a new voice messaging system, called Xpress Audio Messaging, which allows users to send voice and audio messages via MMS. Now your voice recorder has even more uses.

And now, what I really love, comes the new handsets. Nokia announced three new handsets (all making use of these new features above, I’m sure) which seem really killer. This is the breakdown:

6682 / 6681 – Tiny (smallest yet) and powerful Series-60 phone with 1.3 MP camera with flash and slide cover (features that Nokia’s have really missed until now) and a 262k color screen to enjoy your photos on.
6680 – 3G phone, same look and features as the 6682 above, except it has a second camera for video calls (ala 3G).
6101 – another Nokia clamshell phone, featuring the new Xpress Audio Messaging (above) and dual displays.

Plus Nokia has announced the HS-6 Display Headset , which will allow you to control all the features of your nifty new phone, like the 6101’s radio, using its built in screen.

The PC based entertainment center

2005-02-14T15:46:00.000+02:00

Microsoft, in all its glory, is pushing its idea of Digital Entertainment Anywhere. Essentially, they aim to transform your PC into the ultimate entertainment device, allowing you to play music, view videos and images, find content, communicate and create your own content all on one device. They are releasing Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Of course, the open-source community is up in arms about Microsoft domination once again, and many people are creating ways to make your current PC do just the same thing (if you understand Russian), but without having to shell out more cash for another version of the MS operating system.

But why waist good money, just head on over to the Media Portal site, where software developers have created an amazing, free product that turns your PC into an advanced Multimedia Center. This will allow you to “listen to your favorite music & radio, watch your video's and DVD's, view, schedule and record live TV and much more”. The features are pretty amazing, and support for hardware is excellent.

Microsoft's protection software under attack

2005-02-11T17:00:00.000+02:00

Many people have deployed the beta version of Microsoft's Anti-Spyware product, even though the product has not met with the best reviews, and does some strange things (like removing Internet Explorer after thinking it was Spyware). The problem is, as with any popular / common software product, it becomes easier to defeat the defence mechanism. A new Trojan is out in the wild that is designed to remove the Microsoft product from your system, thus allowing it to attack your system (of course you still have to run the Trojan). I guess when Microsoft takes over the virus scanning market, they can protect against Trojans too – although I somehow doubt it.

On another Microsoft related topic, Microsoft is going after those guys that spam you with offers to buy Viagra. Finally, someone is doing something about that (although I have been lucky enough to avoid those spam mails for a while).

Drunk savvy car

2005-02-10T18:27:00.000+02:00

The days of wondering if you’re sober enough to drive home are over. Saab have created a breathalyzer car key, which will meter your alcohol level, and only allow you to drive if you pass the test. What will they think of next. Source: engadget.

Spy phone

2005-02-10T18:21:00.000+02:00

I have always had a fascination with spy gadgets, and more recently, with Smartphones. Now there is an application that combines the two. iSpy is a Smartphone motion detector program, that takes a picture and compares it to the last picture, and alerts you if there is a difference. When used with your cameraphone, this can be a handy intruder alert system. Of course, they would more than likely be intruding to steal you cameraphone, which would be propped up on the table, taking pictures.

MS source code could be offensive

2005-02-10T17:48:00.000+02:00

Picked this one up from Slashdot, but it seems that Microsoft don’t want to release certain sections of their source code that they were intending to open to the developer community – they have found that comments made in the code may not be appropriate. Hmm… wonder what type of comments those could be? Check the full story here.

Snoop's shizzolator

2005-02-08T16:40:00.000+02:00

Feel like reading yo' sites in a different style. Check out asksnoop.com 'n check out what that shiznit can do yo' text. Take a look at my blog in Snoop speak. This fool is a legend, know what I'm sayin'?

Phones, phones and 'phones

2005-02-08T16:25:00.000+02:00

VoIP phones, cellphones and headphones – that is the topic for today.

First off, the VoIP phone bonanza that is hitting South Africa will mean more affordable calls for many people, however, most people don’t want to be sitting in front of a computer with a microphone and headphones in order to make a call. There are many devices out there that will convert your normal land-line handset into a VoIP handset, but this guy really went overboard with the conversion process. If you’re into that kinda thing, take a look at his how-to on rewiring your whole house’s phone system to be VoIP enabled.

Next on the phone front is the CellSocket. Ever found yourself wishing you could use your landline to make calls on your cellphone. I haven’t myself, but the idea of being able to pick up my landline handset when my cell rings, or is on charge, is kinda attractive. CellSocket lets you use your regular phone to make cellphone calls. Just drop your cellphone into the cradle when you walk in the door, and all calls to and from cellphones get routed over your normal analogue household phone lines. With all the scares about cancer from cellphone radiation, this is something to look into.

Lastly, but by no means least, is the ultimate set of headphones. Some of you might remember me posting an article on the HP Bluetooth headphones, however, these only worked with an iPaq. Now Toshiba has brought out a set of stereo Bluetooth headphones that work with any bluetooth enabled device. They look sexy, and have a range of 10 meters, as they are designed for Bluetooth 1.2.

Orgasmatron

2005-02-05T11:03:00.000+02:00

What will they think of next. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I wonder how many people will be offering their significant others one of these as a gift?

The decoder ring of the millenium

2005-02-03T11:28:00.000+02:00

The TV programs of the 80’s always used to have characters using fancy rings to do super things. Now, with wireless networking running rampant, especially in the newly deregulated South Africa, this could be the coolest new techno-gadget (well, maybe not “cool” cool, but certainly geeky cool).

What this little magic ring (the Wi-Fi Detector Ring) does it detect a wireless network and alert you to it when you’re within range. As devices (such as PDA’s, laptops, cellphones) are starting to integrate wireless networking more and more, this could be a simple way of finding an open network to hijack and use when you’re on the move.

This is perhaps the first working example of digital jewelry, and I hope to see more to come.

Translate your stuff

2005-01-31T17:28:00.000+02:00

South Africa has 11 official languages, however, there is little or no software that supports them. Google has finally been translated, and now the industry is moving forward. Translate.org.za, a joint project between the Department of Communications, The Shuttleworth Foundation, Obsidian Systems, St James Software and Hewlett-Packard (South Africa), aims to create translated versions of all those brilliant open-source packages out there, like Mozilla, OpenOffice and more. Check it out and make your contribution.

MySQL under worm threat

2005-01-31T14:06:00.000+02:00

The database management system used by millions of websites all over the world, MySQL, is being targeted by a new worm/bot, called MySpooler. The good news is that it only targets MySQL installations on Windows servers. It makes use of the publicly released UDF MySQL exploit to automate password guessing attacks against the “root” account. If successful, it will install a back-door, and then propagate itself, and use the infected host for its nefarious ends. Experts (like me of course) recommend the following:

Block access to the MySQL authentication ports (3306) or filter it on your firewall.
Set a strong, non-English password on the root account.
Scan your perimeter for rogue/default MySQL installations.

Toss your PC headset, here's a decent VoIP phone

2005-01-31T13:47:00.000+02:00

South Africa is finally opening it’s data networks to voice, legally. With the upcoming insurgence of Voice Over IP products and services, lets not forget the old faithful product, Skype. The problem with these software products is that they run on your PC. You can’t just pick up the handset and dial a number. Well, until now that might have been the case. I stumbled across this Gizmodo post, and was very interested to see the rapidBox, which is a router that allows you to make Skype and normal calls from one phone. It connects to your PC using a USB, and to phones using normal RJ11 ports. Then all you do is pick it up, and call away to your hearts content (at reasonable rates, of course).

Google your TV

2005-01-26T12:49:00.000+02:00

Google has started indexing video footage, to allow its users to search through content from news networks such as ABC and Fox. Once completed, you will be able to search on a term and Google will show you which pieces of footage contained those keywords. Smart, and useful. For a beta test, check out video.google.com. For the full story, check out the CNET and iWon stories.

QWERTY is dead, long live the alphabet

2005-01-26T12:22:00.000+02:00

Although alternative keyboard layouts have come and gone (perhaps the most famous being the DVORAK keyboard, which was designed to give preference to the stronger fingers on your hand), we still make use of the original typewriter layout of the QWERTY keyboard. Most people don’t know this, but the reason the keys are where they are is for these reasons:

Typewriter designers wanted to slow typists down, in order to prevent the typewriter from jamming.
All the letters needed to type typewriter are in the top line, allowing salesmen to type it really fast and demonstrate the speed of the device.

Now a company in Santa Maria has created the New Standard Keyboard “alphabetical” keyboard. It has only 53 keys, and is supposed to allow users to type faster and easier. Check out the story on Tech-Blog.org.

Virus control

2005-01-26T12:09:00.000+02:00

For the closet crackers and malicious computer scientists, vengeance is just a mouse click away. This is because in the states it is legal to post the source code of viruses and worms up on the Internet, for others to download and modify to their own deviant ends. However, there is a move to change this law, and control the disclosure of these pieces of computer code.

Many viruses are meek and harmless in their first iteration, but it does not take long before a new strain does the rounds that is capable of doing some serious damage. This is because crackers obtain the code, understand the weaknesses it exploits, and modify it to be bigger and better. Virus scanners are designed to detect the signature of a virus, which is the pattern formed by the elements of its programming code. Once these are sufficiently modified, they cannot be detected.

For more information, check the story out on CNET News.com.

Store files

2005-01-21T17:37:00.000+02:00

I have many a time needed somewhere to upload a large file to, in order for people to download it at a later stage. Well, Dropload allows you to do just that. You just upload it (up to 100MB), and it stays there for 7 days. Put in the email address of the intended recipients, and they will get a link to it.

Marvel at the graphics

2005-01-21T17:09:00.000+02:00

Marvel and Corbis bring you all the graphics from the Marvel comic series’. These include all your favourite super-hero characters, villains and seductresses (like this honey, from the Wolverine section). If you need a login, trot over to BugMeNot.

P.S. Thanks to my wife for the Corbis link and the picture.

Porn worries? How about a virus?

2005-01-21T15:03:00.000+02:00

Seems there is a new virus on the loose that poses as a porn removal tool. Called Baba-C, it sends you a message stating that “Evidence Checker” has found pornographic material on your PC, and prompts you to run the attached file to remove any evidence of it. For those employees scared of what their browser might reveal about their online x-rated exploits, this could be a very tempting message indeed. So beware you evil deviants…

BTW. Virus and worm writers are becoming really smart – check out this one that make use of CNN headlines to entice you into reading it.

Security expert's blog

2005-01-21T14:15:00.000+02:00

My passion for Information Security has led me to write and present on a lot of topics all over the world, most recently on the Value of Information Security at the Information Security Forum (ISF) Annual Congress in Miami. When researching topics, one name that appears time and time again is Bruce Schneier. His views on computer security, encryption and information protection are always objective, well stated and backed by years of experience and knowledge. If you wish to stay informed on the more technical issues relating to information security, please take a look at his blog. His most recent post on Microsoft Office encryption was of particular interest, given Microsoft’s campaign on “Trustworthy Computing”, and the reliance the public places on the “security features” of their products.

Killer Vacuums

2005-01-19T17:06:00.000+02:00

The Sharper Image was where I first saw this beauty – no more pulling a vacuum cleaner behind you, no more hassles with power cords, the iRobot Roomba will do it all for you. It is an innovative robotic device that will seek out dirt in your home, suck it up, and when it is low on power, will go back and charge itself up for more. iRobot are not the only makers of these ingenious devices either, and a full listing of products and reviews can be found on Gizmodo. For a full reverse engineering breakdown of these beauties, check out these guys site.

2005-01-19T12:09:00.000+02:00

I have recently had much trouble with people being able to print (user support is a small aspect of my job - but frustrating). I think that this will be my new recommended solution :)
Posted using Picasa and Hello

2005-01-19T09:29:00.000+02:00

Get your images online, using the brilliant technology provided by Google. Download Picasa and Hello, and you can share your photos directly with friends, post to your blog, and even create online and CD galleries. Check it out at http://www.google.com/downloads/

Intelligent car audio systems

2005-01-18T11:25:00.000+02:00

Sticking with the theme of intelligent recognition systems, I thought that you would all like to know that the days of flicking through your archive of tunes in your car CD shuttle are over. Now you can just request your latest Switchfoot song from your car audio system, and it will play it. Gracenote (the geniuses behind this) have integrated an extensive database of CD and song information to allow it to know what music you have. When they hook this baby up to the net, then you can just download the latest tune from you car.

Of course, this is nothing new for those of us who own PDA devices, and use them for our tunes (ala. Microsoft Voice Command), but having this in your car will certainly make driving more pleasurable. For the full story, check out the News.com story.

A picture is worth a thousand words

2005-01-18T11:06:00.000+02:00

Some of you may have seen this already, but for those who remain in the dark when it comes to technology, this is very interesting news.

The University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute has developed software and technology that can recognise objects in images, and use these as inputs for search criteria when trying to find information. Just think of the possibilities. We all carry around camera phones, and most of us have a connection of some kind to the Internet. With the click of your camera, you will now be able to find directions based on the nearest landmark, get information and reviews on a product you're thinking of buying, or even identify strange animals. Wonder what it would find if you used this picture?

For the full story, check out The Feature.

Don't just imitate... emulate!

2005-01-11T18:30:00.000+02:00

Emulators are nothing new, but with the frenzy in the gaming market, and the eternal quest for the fastest graphics card and CPU needed to play these games, I feel we may have all forgotten the humble beginnings of PC gaming that created the raging industry we have today. In an effort to recapture my youth, and some of the classic games that filled rainy days, I went in search of some bring those years back to life - and found some damn good emulators.

The obvious emulator that no gamer would be complete without is MAME. The Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator allows you to run all the old classic games from the 20 cent arcade game machines on your PC. Yes, now you can once again bash the fire button, watching your little dwarf swing his golden axe, or bounce from bubble to bubble trying to beat your friend's dragon to the fruit. There are many sources for the games (called ROM files), some legal, some not. Check out ROMNation and ROM World.

Next up is the Super Nintendo emulator SNES. Play the real classics like Mario Bros and more. Nothing beats console gaming, and the Nintendo was the great original console (apart from Amiga's and the like - but those were not only consoles).

If you're a Playstation junky, why not emulate the original, with ePSXe. This one is brilliant, and free. Get all the old games, and off you go - Playstation on your PC. A good friend for this one is GameJack - for backups of course - say no more.

Then there are a host of other emulators out there, including Gameboy, Commodore 64 and even Apple Mac emulators. Go forth and emulate, and re-live the good old days.

Patch patch patch...

2005-01-10T18:14:00.000+02:00

A quick post - patch your system for the many vulnerabilities in IE! Check out these articles:

IE flaw threat hits the roof

Hacker worries raise hackles

Google used for evil games

2005-01-10T17:43:00.000+02:00

According to this post on The Register, and a number of other clever posts and sites (like the Google Hacking Database), people have been entering URL strings into Google, and using the search engine to test their attacks for them. Even vendors like McAfee have been utilising Google to test a sites "hackability". Google offer some great advanced search parameters, and the engine is excellent at discovering servers, even on obscure ports. Then their is the cached sites facility. Read my post on networked cameras, printers and other devices, and it seems that Google can be an endless source of attacker fun :)

Who guards the guardians?

2005-01-10T16:32:00.000+02:00

Do you really know who controls those security cameras in your office and apartment building? After reading this very interesting post on The Register, about Google exposing thousands of networked surveillance cameras to the Internet, I went out and tried to work out what would need to be done to do this. It is actually quite simple, and fun to try at home. Simply visit the sites of vendors who produce networked surveillance cameras, and check the page title on their screenshots (e.g. axis "Live view", or "network camera" inurl:"ViewerFrame", which uses this inurl search directive). Then enter this title or URL string into Google, and hey presto, spy on people with their own equipment :)

Try these search strings out if you feel voyeuristic:

intile:"Live view - / - AXIS"
inurl:indexFrame.html axis
inurl:app/idxas.html
inurl:ViewerFrame?Mode=Motion
inurl:sample/LvAppl/
inurl:home/homeJ.html
intitle:"Live View / - AXIS" | inurl:view/view.shtml

And why stop there. You can also search for printers online, and print whatever you want (p0rn would be funny). Try out inurl:":631/printers/". Trot on over to the "Google Hacking Database" for more fun stuff to do with Google.

The big "O"

2005-01-04T10:44:00.000+02:00

I know many of you will have slipped into the comfort zone of using Internet Explorer for your browsing, because it is there and ready to use. However, maybe you should not be feeling so comfortable, with the recent onslaught of vulnerabilities within the browser. If you want to try out the alternative that is rapidly capturing a high portion of the browser market share, hop on over to Opera's website. There latest beta version features voice controlled browsing, the ability to read and detect RSS feeds, and a clever system that fits any page to your screen for easy reading. The other features that make it a killer browser are still there, such as tabbed browsing, faster load times (it claims to be the "fastest browser on earth"), tiny footprint and excellent support for all web standards. So why not download it (only 3.5MB).

Work for Google

2005-01-03T16:44:00.000+02:00

Bored of your job? Why not work for Google. Well, you might be surprised to know that it takes a lot to get a job with the number one search engine on the net. According to a post by Slashdot, Google "receives more than 1,000 resumes a day." And although they hire more than 25 people a week, expect to be put through your paces before getting given an offer. "One recent hire had 14 interviews before getting the job." You are first subjected to a one hour screening call, after which the actual interview process starts. It has been reported to involve quizzes, aptitude tests and problem solving, but it sure sounds like fun, and something I would not turn my nose up at.

Slot Racing Videos

2005-01-03T10:55:00.000+02:00

Okay, I have posted some small video clips of my Ninco Slot Racing track and cars up on the net for your viewing.

Ninco Slot Racing - Toys for boys

2004-12-31T19:01:00.000+02:00

As some of you may have noticed, I have been absent from my blog for the last week. This was, of course, due to the festive season being upon us. And together with the festive season come gifts. Although I love to give gifts, for me the receiving is doubled, as the last week of December brings my birthday with it. This year I received a gift from my wife that most men would drool over - a slot car racing set. If you don't know what slot car racing is, then shame on you, because I posted a story about it on my blog a while back. Slot car racing is what is perhaps more commonly known as Scalextrics, although that is just one manufacturer of the 1/32 scale racing model cars that get raced in slot car racing.

I was given a Ninco GTI Cup set, which includes everything I needed to get started, such as track and barriers, controllers and two awesome Golf GTI's (left) with competition high-speed NC-5 motors. In my opinion, Ninco is the best track system, and the cars (I am told by the pro's) handle best on all tracks. I added to this the Ninco Kits 2 and 3 (gifts from my family), and had an excellent track complete with bridge.

After finding the track corners a bit sharp I decided to re-design the track myself. To do this I made use of two excellent pieces of software. First off I used the brilliant shareware program Tracker 2000, which includes the Ninco track library, and others. I then also experimented with Ultimate Racer 3, which is a freeware program that includes a circuit editor and racing system monitor program. I found Tracker 2000 to be far better at track design.

After a bit of tinkering (and a few more pieces of track) I managed to build this killer 9.4 meter track (occupying 3.1x2.1 meters of floor space), which has a brilliant mix of straights and smooth curves.

The beauty of the Ninco system is its flexibility and the ability to tinker with your cars. For example, I intend to boost my cars speed by fitting the 23 000 rpm NC6 motor, and if possible, fit suspension to my cars (although that might be tricky). After that I intend to follow some of the tips in this excellent slot car performance tuning guide I found.

Avoid irritation

2004-12-23T17:51:00.000+02:00

There are three things that really annoy me when using my computer. One - browser popups, two - annoying dialogue boxes that ask the same questions over and over again, and three - working with the pathetic clipboard built into Windows. Okay, there are probably more things, but thee irritations can be solved.

Popups are a thing of the past. If you use Windows XP, Service Pack 2 solved that problem (although it tends to be a bit over zealous). If you are not an XP user, then I seriously urge you to use the Google toolbar, as well as Adaware Pro's Adwatch feature.

Dialogue boxes are a different story. They can also be a pesky problem for those that love to automate tasks on their machine when there is no non-GUI method. VSI Systems have the solution, called Push My Buttons, and it is brilliant.

To solve your clipboard woes, try out Yankee Clipper, or Clippy, both excellent, and both offering advanced filter, replace and management features.

Weird Fluids

2004-12-23T10:08:00.000+02:00

Found this page, and thought it would be worth sharing with you all. "You probably knew that Silly Putty is a non-Newtonian fluid, and that Faraday waves make cornstarch and water do creepy things, but did you know that your washing machine probably has magnetorheological fluid in it? Yes indeed, there are fun and interesting applications for ferrofluids."

New Phone Trojan

2004-12-23T09:48:00.000+02:00

Symbian phone users beware, there is a new Trojan horse making the rounds - called MetalGear.A. It affects smart phones running the Symbian operating system (such as Nokia 6600, Siemems SX1, etc), and it spreads through bluetooth connections. Don't think you'll be safe if you've bought virus protection for your phone (although unlikely), as this Trojan also disables any protection on the device.

This Trojan poses as a video game, and as a result, is more likely to be accepted by users when sent via bluetooth. Of course, you have to be within range, and agree to install it, but once done, your phone is infected.

This latest piece of malicious code is based on the Skulls Trojan, which replaced all your phone's icons with skulls, but is seen as being a proof-of-concept for more damaging pieces of malicious code.

Hack the planet

2004-12-21T18:52:00.000+02:00

Okay, I love hacking around in Windows. Two things which irritate me are disabled buttons and the inability to change product keys for operating systems after you have purchased a new key (ala Windows XP SP1 and SP2). So I went in hunt of some tools that would do the job for all you plebs out there who can't hack around in the registry.

The Magic Jelly Bean Keyfinder is probably one of the best tools to tell you what your key is, and allow you to change it to your purchased key (without re-installing). Download the beta to check if your Office 2003 is licensed. Also worth trying is RockXP. In case you are wondering why you would need this, Microsoft have become wise to the way of software pirates, and have built known pirated keys into their latest service packs, which force you to re-activate your copy after the service pack is applied. If you own a valid key, but did not install the software using this key, you may want to change it. If you don't own one, go out and buy the product, or change to something free, such as OpenOffice and Fedora (based on Redhat Linux). If you're not prepared to pay for it, then use an alternative that you don't need to pay for. Open Source software is great, and really does work just the same as retail products.

By the way, if you want to profile your machine, to test if you have legal software, why not use this killer program called Belarc Advisor. It is free for personal use, and will tell you exactly what is installed, what the serial numbers are, etc. Truly awesome.

Enabler and Windows Enabler allow you to enable those irritating disabled buttons and checkboxes that you cannot use unless you have carried out some task. So next time you want to try some software, or perform some action that requires you to agree to something you don't want to, or don't have the time or energy to do, use these nifty tools to enable those disabled items.

Bored?

2004-12-21T09:00:00.000+02:00

Perhaps the biggest killer-app of them all, the Internet - a source of both useful and useless information, but always entertaining. So if you find yourself bored over the festive season, and need something to do, here are some things to consider.

Wild Mood Swings toolbar

Using the Alexa technology, which records the surfing habits of millions around the world, this toolbar allows you to find sites that suite your mood.

KillSomeTime

A site with piles of videos, games and stories to kill time and keep you entertained.

GlobalSpot

A source of interesting news, jokes, quotes games and pics - the self-proclaimed "Spot For Curing Boredom On The Internet".

EyeTricks

Take some time to check out these very cool optical illusions. Weird.

Scalextrics lives on

2004-12-20T13:44:00.000+02:00

I can still remember the days of watching little cars race around a figure-eight track, laid out just minutes before by my brother and I. Yes, Scalextrics were the killer pastime of the eighties.

Since its beginnings in 1957, things have advanced significantly. No longer do you have to be content with small, dinky cars, small tracks and low levels of control. The new systems feature bigger and faster cars, better tracks and the ability to customize your cars (even adding headlights for night racing).

Also called slot racing, or 1/32 slot cars, Scalextrics have created a solid name for themselves amongst hobbyists and racing enthusiasts, competing against brands such as Ninco and Carrera. They solidified their position with the introduction of the wider sports track and slot system in the 90's. A wider, smoother track allowed for better racing conditions, and the cars are better performers too, with metal running gears and bushings, and the ability to squeeze that bit of extra performance out of them with a bit of tinkering.

Perhaps the coolest invention is the Challenger system. This is a clever little car with an onboard computer system which actually learns the track that you have set up (after doing 50 test laps of its own), and can then race against you, with two different difficulty levels.

Phone sex

2004-12-17T18:11:00.000+02:00

Okay, this is hilarious. Not in any way my usual content, but it came up in my news reader, and I thought people may want to see what vendor's have dreamed up now. Cellphone vibrating batteries are now getting exploited for sexual gratification. Beware, not really a work friendly topic, but have a look at the linked article anyway, but I wouldn't follow any of the links - a story about all the little vibrating gadgets for your mobile.

Phishers get a leg-up from Microsoft

2004-12-17T09:28:00.000+02:00

Hot on the tail of the release of Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2, a new vulnerability has been identified in Internet Explorer. This one allows attackers to spoof the address shown in the address bar at the top of your browser.

Secunia have published details on the vulnerability, and included a demonstration page to allow you to test if you're vulnerable, and see the effects. Affected users are those using Windows XP SP1 or SP2 and Internet Explorer. I tested this on my fully patched system, patched with all the latest hotfixes from Microsoft, and found that I was still vulnerable. The only way to fix this for now is to disable ActiveX support in the Internet zone, which will mean many of your plugins will not work.

Also check out the other vulnerabilities, and do the self-tests:

Browser Window Injection

Dialog Box Spoofing

Form Field Focus

All of these vulnerabilities make you susceptible to a special type of attack called phishing. Phishers are people who will try and extract information from you (such as login details to your Internet banking account, or your personal details) by tricking you into believing that they are a trustworthy company (such as your bank).

Thanks to the Secunia RSS Feed for these alerts. Stay informed, and add this feed to your RSS Reader.

Free multiplayer gaming online

2004-12-15T14:46:00.000+02:00

Following yesterday's GunBound post, I thought I'd give you the low down on a few more good online multi-player gaming sites that offer killer free games.

Electrotank

If you have never trotted over to this site, you've been missing out. This was the original high quality Flash multi-player game site, and still has some of the best games online. My personal favourite is still Mini Golf, which allows you to compete on a putt-putt course against people from all over the world, and includes a decent in-game chat system.

As with most online games, you enter a lobby, and begin finding fellow players their. You can challenge people, chat and join games. Findings players can sometimes be hard, depending on the time of day.

Characters are also really cute, and gameplay is excellent, considering it is completely written in Flash. The use of voice bubbles for in-game chatting is also really innovative. For a free service, this site is incredible.

WePlayHere

We Play Here offer three very cool online multi-player games, including a Worms type game, called Dinky Bomb, a weird strategy game called Voodoo Magic, and a bowling game.

Register on their site (a very simple process that requires little input and very little time), and then start the action by entering the lobby. Here you can challenge other players, check their stats, and chat to fellow gamers.

Each game has a simple interface, including in-game chat, controls help, health and score data and easy guidance for gameplay. I found that I could pick up the controls for each game in a matter of a minute. Beginners are accepted.

The game graphics and animation is really cute, and much thought has been put into the selection of your character, and the landscape for games.

De-blogification

2004-12-14T18:31:00.000+02:00

I recently had a moment of extreme sadness, when I realised that my blog no longer came up number one when searching for killerapps. In fact, I now barely rank on the first page, except for specific posts or criteria. I have always prided myself in my blog containing more than just random linked articles and content, but rather it had my own personal views, opinions and original content.

There has been much discussion about this particular topic, and it seems that Google felt that blogs were diluting the effectiveness of their search algorithm, and so have given lower values to blogs. Whatever has happened, I need to start looking at ways to boost my ranking, even though my site is a blog.

Jeremy has a very interesting discussion on his page about PageRank and it's demise. He also includes an illustration of his fall down the rankings due to his page being a blog. But as many people have said, pages can rank higher in Google results than pages with higher PR's. SEO Blog says "Pagerank is exploited too much, Link mongers are excellent in exploiting pagerank and its importance, They just do brokering for people to buy high pagerank links from other industry established sites and the linking site will get a good boost of Pagerank, We know these things are pretty annoying to google since their results get manipulated very easily."

So what is the deal with PageRank then? Well, as Martin Lemieux says, you benefit from increasing your rank as follows:

"- You will attract better quality websites to yours
- People will think your website has lasting power
- People will want to mimic what you do
- People will even think highly of you

Even now, many browsing people look for high ranking websites to exchange links with."

So PR helps you get income and links into your site, from other quality sites. If PR is dead then we need to rank pages differently for spotting good exchange partners. Martin has a good view on this too, suggesting you "Building A Personal Ranking System". But for me, right now, I am looking at keeping good content, and following basic principals to build up a site that keep people returning, making my site "sticky" and informative.

I am trying to stick to:

Picking good keywords (based on focus, popularity, spelling).
Relevant and decent META tags.
Good, quality, unique content.
Quality inbound links.

Please vote on my poll to let me know what you think of my blog.

Get gunning

2004-12-14T09:30:00.000+02:00

Tiny little animated characters, tanks, guns and explosions, what more could you ask for? Softnyx's GunBound is a free network multiplayer game, where you engage in tank-to-tank combat with other online players.

Although it is a hefty download (100MB), who can complain when the game has been developed with such a high level of quality and thought to gameplay and imagery - and what's more, it's even cute, so the girls will love it too.

Kind of like a cutsie Japanimation version of Worms, the basic premise of GunBound is to wipe out the enemy using your "mobile" tank, which could be machine or beast. But more than just shooting is involved, as "dressing well also helps you [earn] more money -'bad' players can win, but this does not mean they will get a lot of points!"

"Each turn, you have a lot of different options available. You can shoot, or you can hide by burying yourself in the ground, like a bunker. All of these things make the game dynamic, and help the game come alive for players! Players can choose any mobile they want, dress their avatar in any fashion they choose, and enter the battle! And if you win, you may even receive bonus points, allowing you to dress in better clothes."

"With many unique types of armour, we open this game to you, so you can develop crafty and even sneaky! new strategies. The Moondisk also changes the gravity on each map, making it necessary to re-calculate how the atmosphere will alter how you fire. It's important to use your weapons well and adapt quickly, or you will surely lose quickly!"

The multiplayer action in this game is definitely what gives it the edge, allowing you to play with friends. "GunBound gives you fast, easy access using its special network system. This turn-based game is so fast paced, you would swear it was real-time!" "GameBuddy support(Patent Pending) allows you to easily message other players in-game. You can also message your friends that may not be playing, and even invite them to play with you! You can join guilds, and easily contact and gather with them at any time. All this is free, does not include any advertising, and is well supported!"

Killer Pocket PC Apps

2004-12-13T18:18:00.000+02:00

Although I was initially sceptical, my iPaq has proven itself to be an extremely useful gadget. Going for the slightly higher spec model at the time (4150) was definitely worth while, with the extra power, wireless connectivity and smaller size really making it usable. Of course the newer models now, such as the hx2700 and other hx models are even better, and if you're thinking of buying, I suggest you go with one of these.

The question everyone asks, however, is "what are they useful for?" Well, I primarily bought mine to use as a GPS navigator, and it does a killer job with that. I have a bluetooth GPS, and make use of the MapIT Map and Travel Navigator software to navigate my way around the trickier parts of Cape Town and Jozi. However, there are more uses for this device, and some wikkid software to boot:

Conduits Pocket Slides and Pocket Artist

The Conduits software packages are excellent. Pocket Slides, their PowerPoint equivalent (yes, Microsoft does not include this as part of their mobile office suite) is incredible, allowing you to edit slides on the go, and with the correct cables, even project them onto the big screen. Their Photoshop equivalent for the mobile device, Pocket Artist, is also awesome, allowing you to create graphics, edit images, re-touch photographs and more. I find this particularly useful when used in conjunction with my camera phone, after I have transferred the images to my iPaq via bluetooth.

Resco Explorer 2003

Throw out the built in Explorer, and use this very smart replacement - Resco Explorer 2003. It allows you the basic improvements you'd expect, like paned views, drag and drop, moving copying and managing files, but also access to many other aspects of your iPaq file system. It also comes with a very useful registry editor, encryption, Zip support and more.

HandySwitcher

Windows Mobile devices have a nasty habit of needing a reboot, due to the fact that applications do not get closed with you click the close button (go figure). They actually just get minimized. But HandySwitcher allows you to close the program completely, or switch between them with ease.

AE Software Uptime

I love to know how long it has been since my last reset, but in addition to telling you this, Uptime can tell you how much battery life you have left (something which Windows Mobile only tells you when it is too late).

Microsoft Voice Command

From the creators themselves, Voice Command allows you to command and interact with your device through the power of speech. You can have your device read you your appointments, your emails, or what is on your playlist. Then just tell it what to play, who to mail, or what to run.

Birdsoft Syswatch

Syswatch gives you a quick, graphical overview of storage and memory on your iPaq. It places small icons in your task bar, and is perhaps the most useful system utility I have found for my device. They also offer a free version, BatteryWatch.

Pluck it, this is good!

2004-12-13T13:08:00.000+02:00

I posted something about RSS feed notifiers and collectors a while back, but since then I have found what I believe to be the best out there, a little freeware app called Pluck. It collects, sorts, aggregates and manages your news feeds. Even if a site doesn't support RSS or Atom (two feed standards), you can still get content updates through the use of stored Google searches.

Sort your feeds into easy to manage categories, and prioritise them with favourites. Get an overview of one category by clicking on it, and seeing the new content from all feeds that relate to that topic. Some of my favourite blogs and news sites are managed through Pluck, to allow me quick and easy access to all the content that I would usually have to trawl through pages for.

What's more is that Pluck will automatically collect and notify you of updates in your task bar with a small glide-up in the system tray.

Pluck can also be used to manage your favourites, including monitoring them for updates and sharing them with others. As it is part of IE, it is easy to collect information as you browse, and preview articles before you read them.

If you're looking for feeds, try the feed search engine Feedster, or ScrapedFeeds, for those sites that don't usually supply feeds (including image galleries). And of course, don't forget to include http://killerapps.blogspot.com/atom.xml. Any Blog*Spot blog can be included by appending atom.xml to the end of the URL.

Brain Control

2004-12-10T10:31:00.000+02:00

Technology has moved in leaps and bounds, but scientists have been slow to unravel the mysteries and functioning of the brain - but things are hotting up. What was thought to only be possible with invasive surgery is now possible with a device called a BCI. This little piece of tech can read you brains electrical signals and interpret it as outputs for controlling devices (such as a PC). Although this technology is not new, the capabilities of this device are far more advanced, with less impact on the user.

"A brain-computer interface (BCI) that translates electrical signals detected from the scalp into a user's commands offers comparable precision, speed and accuracy to systems that rely on electrodes surgically implanted in the brain."

If this interests you, have a look at this article, which details the reverse technology - that of controlling a rat's movements using electronic impulses transmitted to its brains. Cruel, but incredible.

Photoshop claims more victims

2004-12-10T09:38:00.000+02:00

If you are one of those productive workers who receives jokes and pictures in your inbox from friends all day, then you more than likely received this picture of a 1950's prediction of a home computer in 2004. Well, it turns out that this was a very cleverly modified submarine deck, and not a Popular Mechanics article at all. But don't worry, you're not the only one who was fooled. "A manipulated photo of a mock submarine console (above), passed off as a 1950s projection of the 2004 home computer, was used by Sun Microsystems Chief Executive Scott McNealy in his Oracle OpenWorld keynote speech yesterday in San Francisco to illustrate how rapidly technology improves."

Christmas Gadgets and Gimmicks for Guys

2004-12-09T10:16:00.000+02:00

With Christmas around the corner, I thought I'd take a look at some techno-gimmick gift ideas.

This is one for the men and the ladies, I reckon. A new spin on the traditional rubber duckie, this one is a whole lot more than just a floater, thanks to technology. "I Rub My Duckie, the rubber duck with a secret weapon beneath the hood. Dubbed a personal massager, the Prozac-faced yellow peril houses a powerful motor that provides the user with an unlimited (well, two AA batteries kind of unlimited) source of soothing, vibrating enjoyment." Hmm... vibrating enjoyment?

The classic boy's toy, Scalextrics (who can forget them - the pastime of the 70's child), has been improved to include the element of danger. Devil's Jump is a figure eight race track with a "blimmin' great overhead jump section. Believe it or not, the two cars in Devil's Jump will leap over this busted bridge (that's how we like to think of it) and continue racing in their little slots, circuit after exhilarating circuit."

Can't afford speakers. Short of floor space. Try out the Soundbug. It will "turns any hard surface into a speaker." How does this marvelous gizmo work? Well, "when its attached to a flat surface it transmits electronic signals into mechanical energy causing the flat surface to vibrate and broadcasts the sound."

Christmas often finds pet stores inundated with parents wanting to get their little ones their first lve animal. But we all know, after a month or so, pets are just not Christmas anymore. So this time, why not get Gupi. "This mega-intelligent, alarmingly realistic computerised guinea pig replicates the look, feel, sounds and actions of a real oinker, and he's just as adorably temperamental. If you don't play with him he becomes lonely and scared and he'll sneak off to a dark place. But stroke him and he'll become ultra-responsive and come running when you call. Gupi has sensitive likkle ears, and he reacts to sounds depending on his frame of mind. What's more, Gupi is able to sense his surroundings and he can walk (well, scuttle) around the house without bumping into things - great for freaking out the cat! In fact, Gupi is so smart he can even find his way out of a maze." How cool is that?

Magnets. They never cease to fascinate us men. UberOrbs bring a whole new level to playing with magnets. "Upon releasing the UberOrbs they immediately perform a manic magnetic ballet of attraction and repulsion; clashing, spinning and making a spookily unnerving insectoid chirping sound in the process." It seems these little babies are set to become the next big thing in stress relief.

The game of twenty questions - a brilliant time waister. Now you can play it on your own, with the help of some very clever technology. Scientists have laboured long into the night to produce the 20Q, a clever little mind reader. "To play 20Q, think of something, anything, then answer a series of up to 20 questions. 20Q asks the questions via an LED display and you answer by pressing the 'yes,' 'no' or 'maybe' buttons. By asking questions that seem completely irrelevant ("Is it flat?" and "Is it heavier than a pound of butter?") 20Q somehow works out what you're thinking." Astounding!

Watch out Rudolph

2004-12-08T17:55:00.000+02:00

Christmas is almost upon us, so get shopping for the big family dinner. If you're looking for something different to put on the table for snacks, try out this Reindeer Pate. No longer content with killing geese and chickens for spreading on bread, retailers are now hunting down the poor reindeer. Looks like Santa will be catching a taxi this year.

"Reindeer PatÃ© is, as you might have guessed, patÃ© made from Reindeer meat, which has one of the lowest fat content of any red meats - a mere 2%. The Reindeer are farmed by Sami herdsman and live on a healthy (if somewhat bland) diet of moss and lichen. Nobody ever heard of mad reindeer disease.

And before any of you guilt-ridden moaning minnies start harping on about how cute Reindeer are, take a long hard look at Babe, Larry the Lamb and Foghorn Leghorn, and then reconsider your position."

Organic Catnip

2004-12-08T17:48:00.000+02:00

Christmas is a time for giving. Well, don't let your feline friends go unnoticed - get them Organic Catnip, and gift idea offered by firebox.com. "Professors of pusskinology are baffled as to why cats love Organic Catnip, although many believe it's linked to nepetalactone, a natural chemical found in the aromatic oils of the plant's leaves. What experts do agree on is the fact catnip gives cats an intense, euphoric and completely harmless 'high' that lasts anywhere from 10-15 minutes. Better still, it's 100% natural and there are no side-effects".

Herds that make you high? I never knew those existed *wink* "Organic Catnip is a perennial herb belonging to the mint family and, for some unknown reason, cats go absolutely bonkers when they go near it - rubbing it, rolling in it, pawing at it, and generally acting the four-legged fool. Simply sprinkle a little Organic Catnip near your cat and stand back."

Lets Get Statistical

2004-12-08T13:12:00.000+02:00

Have you noticed the nifty counter at the bottom right hand side of my page. If not, it is a visitor counter provided by StatCounter, and it is one of the best counters out there (IMHO). StatCounter is a "free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats" provider.

Some of the features that I really love are:

Most popular pages
Where visitors came from / were referred from
Return visitor analysis
Breakdown by country
Visitor activity breakdown
The level of control afforded to you as a webmaster

And its not only me, other bloggers have good things to say too. Rippleweb recons that "There are lots of good web page counters out there, but since I have been using StatCounter I have been really impressed. It is free and offers an invisible counter, which is something you can only get with the paid version of SiteMeter." But they also remind you that "Like most other free counters, it retains information on the last 100 visitors."

If you want to try some others (in an effort to remain objective) check out ReInvigorate, which helps you "you to discreetly track statistical information about your website."

IT isn't killing me, IT's only making me stronger

2004-12-07T17:37:00.000+02:00

As a follow-up from my previous post about moving jobs, and following my appalling lack of posts lately, I thought I'd give you all an update on my life.

The new career is busy, very busy in fact. A large portion of my time at the moment has been dedicated to dealing with a new client take-on, and as such, there has been much to'ing and fro'ing. If I put aside the frenzied business of an IT career, the job is actaully quite exciting and fun, and who can beat working with friends?

The office is great (at least I get real sun!), and we will soon be moving to a new office building which offers even better natural light and views *grin*.

Some of the things I have done / looked at / heard / seen:

Look4it! - "a location based service for Vodacom. You can now
locate nearby facilities with your cellphone." Use WAP or GSM Requests, neat - when it works.

After the Sunset - "Pierce Brosnan does a less-than-convincing job of convincing us he's shaken (but not stirred) James Bond out of his system in this uninspired crime caper." Not as bad as they say, I quite enjoyed it - ending could have been slicker.

Nagios - "an open source host, service and network monitoring program." Good tool, well developed architecture and plugin system - just need to get it working.

Bluetooth headphones - My wife found this site. Check these babies out. "HP's NEW Bluetooth Headphones give you comfort, great sound and wireless connectivity."

Happy H@x0r Guide Part 1

2004-12-06T18:03:00.000+02:00

Alright - those who know me will know that I have an active interest / career in Information Security. As part of this field of expertise, I have become well versed in the tools of the trade for the average (and not so average) hacker. In the interests of an egalitarian society, I have decided to share some of the tools / techniques used by these keyboard cowboys in a plain, easily understood manner. But remember - hacking is not like in the movies. There are no cool graphics, there are no soundtracks - just raw bytes and packets.

This will be my first post on the topic, and I will continue to post additional information as the mood takes me, so don't expect "the dummy's guide to hacking into your corporate network". And please, no flaming from the security community - this is not meant to be groundbreaking or 0-day.

What you need to understand is that hacking is a mindset; a methodical approach to systematically break down and circumvent computer system security. As such, I will write about three phases of attack, namely Information Gathering, Target Identification and Exploitation.

Phase 1 - Information Gathering

In order to understand your prey / enemy, you will need to gather information. This information will allow you to identify potential weaknesses, and identify targets and routes of attack. This information can be obtained through many methods, but here are three that are worth discussing now, and those are:

Port Scanning and Banner Grabbing

Every single service that allows access from networks, including the Internet, operates on a port. Examples of these are web servers (HTTP, port 80), peer-to-peer systems (KAZAA, ports 1214 and 80) and even Windows (NBT, port 139 and 445). If one scans these ports, it is possible to determine what services are running on a system. These services are remote entry points into the system, and if vulnerable or weak, could be used to compromise the server. The ports also provide you with information that assists in "fingerprinting" or identifying the operating system that the system is running.

Good tools to do this with are nmap (for the serious individual), ipeye (for the Windows admin) and SuperScan (for the GUI inclined).

The ever-useful NetCat, a must have all-purpose utility, can also port scan, and banner grab - use nc -v -2 -z [ip] [ports].

If you need to grab banners from secure services (such as HTTPS or SSL encrypted services), try using stunnel to tunnel your queries over SSL.

Social Engineering

This is what we call "hacking wetware". People are the weakest link in computer security. Threaten their data, Internet connection or job and they are willing to give you anything. Instead of trying to find usernames and passwords, ask them what their's is, or call the helpdesk (after being transferred from an inside line of course).

Even better, call up the IT department, and ask the for IP addresses and server names. People are very helpful. But make sure you know some information, such as company name, someone important, and a contact person.

Password Grabbing, Guessing and Cracking

The easiest method of gaining access to a system is through a valid username and password (and it attracts the least amount of attention). You can get passwords in three ways (if the above social method did not work). You could intercept or steal passwords (using a sniffer, key logger or other method), you could guess a password (using your had or a brute force guesser) or you could crack passwords that you have intercepted / stolen from systems.

Some good tools to use for this (in the order as above) are Ethereal and Ettercap, Brutus and NetBIOS Auditing Tool, John the Ripper and LC.

Try these out at home using the brilliant VMWare product and some Linux distributions. Fun for the whole family.

Cool clocks

2004-11-30T17:48:00.000+02:00

Got time on your hands, or just want to find out what the time is? Some people (with way too much time on their hands) have put together some innovative clocks. So make their efforts worth while and point your browser at one of these awesome online clocks:

The Pencil Clock - cool use of flash and video.

Human Clock - "shows a photograph of the current time, with the photo changing every minute of the day."

JavaScript Mousetrail Clock - pointless, but cool javascript.

How about a clock with a difference. The World Population Clock will "fairly accurately clocks the current population and reflects its growth using a second-order approximation of the exponential; in addition, if you enter a date in any form Javascript will accept and hit the "Do this time" button, it will use its magic formula to estimate the population for any date from 1900 to 2100".

Learn how to give your page a Noddy badge

2004-11-30T15:40:00.000+02:00

Do you use the Google Toolbar. If you do, you will notice that pages you visit have a Page Rank. This is a measure of the quality / rating of the page. To find out more about it, and how to optimise your site in order to obtain a higher rank, have a look at Pagerank Explained Correctly with Examples.

"Page Rank is a topic much discussed by Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) experts. At the heart of PageRank is a mathematical formula that seems scary to look at but is actually fairly simple to understand."

There are lots of services out there that do it, but why not learn to do it yourself. This particular services recons you should have:

"Search-friendly keywords, content and description metatags.
Search-optimised page titles.
Addition of appropriate keywords to the alt tags of images.
Ensuring that keywords are included in header text within the text of the pages.
Ensuring that keywords are included in the body text of the pages."

Become a spy

2004-11-29T16:34:00.000+02:00

Every boy's dream is to be a super-spy, like James Bond, or Pamela Anderson (right...). Now, with the age of technology well in its swing, help is at hand. Check out these useful links and sources for all your manuals and gear:

Pick Locks

Have a look at this article from HowStuffWorks, How Lock Picking Works. "In this article, we'll look at the very real practice of lock picking, exploring the fascinating technology of locks and keys in the process."

Now put what you've learned into action, with this Pro-Locksmith Lock Pick Set. "The 8 piece set contains the 7 pick blade instruments and one tension tool preferred by most professional locksmiths."

Detect Lies

Polygraphs are the traditional way to detect lies. Learn how they work here, at HowStuffWorks.

To do it yourself, without the enormous machine, you could carry one of these Portable Lie Detector's around.

"Portable lie detector reads emotion levels and makes a voice analysis by measuring stress levels and conflict."

And if you ever land up being interrogated, Learn How to Pass a Polygraph Test should help you.

Spy on people

Need to surveil your target. For the visual technique, try the Nigh Vision Miniature Wireless Surveillance Cameras.

"The camera kit is very easy to install and can be up and running in minutes. The night vision camera's are ideal as they are weather proof. Whilst the smaller cameras are small enough to be concealed almost anywhere."

Or you could listen in with this "self contained transmitter that's small enough to be hidden anywhere and transmit whatever the microphone picks up onto regular FM radios".

And of course, the countermeasure - detecting them. Check out this "professional bug detector in a luxury pen".

See what they've done

Need to know what someone's touched (such as which keys they pressed on a keyboard), try this Clue Spray.

"This detection powder is simply sprayed on any surface leaving an invisible film which, when touched is immediately transferred to the hand, clothing, etc. Will remain on hands up to five days in spite of repeated washings. The spray is highly fluorescent when exposed to UV illumination, but is invisible to the naked eye."

StumbleUpon

2004-11-29T12:19:00.000+02:00

"StumbleUpon is an intelligent browsing tool for sharing and discovering great websites. As you click Stumble!, you'll get high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended (rated I like it) by friends and other SU members with similar interests. Rating these sites shares them with your friends and peers - you will automatically 'stumble upon' each others favorites sites."

Sign-up today, and lets start sharing our favourite sites with friends (if you have any, of course). This is another way for the browser bunnies to share their habits, interests and experiences with friends. I know I'm gonna try it.

Enhance your browser

2004-11-29T10:17:00.000+02:00

Although it may not be the world's best, or most secure browser, Internet Explorer is the most widely used browser on the WWW. So, in an effort to introduce some of the nifty features of other browsers (such as Opera), I went on an expedition to discover ways to enhance your IE. Have a look at these beauties:

Mouse Gestures

"I've read a lot about Opera, so a couple of months ago I finally got around to downloading it. There's loads of stuff that I really liked about Opera, but the real killer feature was the mouse gesture support. After a few hours of browsing using mouse gestures I was really hooked."

So, Ralph Hare created a browser helper to add mouse gestures to IE - that is to say, when you move your mouse a certain way, or use a combination of clicks and movements, it performs custom actions (such as open a link in a new window). And it is fully customisable.

"To associate your own actions with a particular gesture simply select the gesture (or perform it over the image), select the action, and click on 'Apply'."

Handy Password

Most of you don't know this, but if you ask Internet Explorer to save your passwords, or "remember me", those passwords can be easily extracted by Spyware and malicious programs like Trojans and Email worms. Try it yourself, by downloading Cain & Able. But what to do, if you have to remember passwords to so many sites - well try Handy Password.

"It is a free easy-to-use secure password manager designed for automatic filling of web forms. You don't need to remember your passwords or save it in your browser anymore!

All passwords saved with the help of Handy Password are stored locally on your computer in a single file encrypted using 128-bit encryption and you should not worry that somebody else can access your confidential information."

Flash Saving Plugin

We all love those clever little Flash movies and games - like the South Park Create a Character movie, the Bush Game (some people have way too much time), or this Racing Game - but how do you save them?

"Flash Saving Plugin lets you easily save flash movies right from Internet Explorer. Finally! There's no need to rummage about in the browser cache anymore!"

Get File Size

Ever wonder just how big a file is gonna be before you start downloading it? Well, I do (otherwise I wouldn't have looked for this would I?).

"Get File Size is an Internet Explorer add-on that allows you to find out the size of a file before downloading it. Get File Size does not require any special skills, just right-click the link to a file and select Get File Size, the program will immediately show you the size of the file."

Smart phone predicts owner's behaviour

2004-11-26T12:40:00.000+02:00

"US boffins are developing mobile phones which learn user's daily habits so that they can become 'mobile digital secretaries'.
Going beyond the calendar feature common in many current mobiles, the 'smarter smartphone' learns about people's preferences by logging calls and noting when application like cameras are used. Location-based functions allow the phone to keep record where you work and socialise. The phone also makes note of Bluetooth pairing bonds, in theory allowing it to build a profile of who you socialise with. This information would be sent to a server which processes data and returns suggestions or reminders.
Beyond predictive texting the phone is touted as a device that predicts what you will do. The New Scientist reports possible applications include reminding you not to drink too much the night before an important presentation." source: The Register

What's next, phones raising our kids and walking our dogs... hmm... not a bad idea. Well, anyway, I wonder what the phone would tell this guy?

SMS directions?

2004-11-26T11:46:00.000+02:00

Males will appreciate this - now we don't have to stop for directions, we can just use our cellphones to find out where to go, and nobody would have to know we were actually lost.

"With last week's launch of Google SMS, the world's most popular search platform made a big entrance into the mobile space. The Google SMS service is limited to only a handful functions at this time, but MobileTracker believes the service will expand to driving directions in the near future." source: MobileTracker: Google SMS to include driving directions?

Maybe we'll get it here in South Africa some day, but at the moment "Please note, however, that Google SMS only works on major wireless providers in the US."

But there is hope for us South Africans, with two innovative products:

[1] Swoop is a route navigation site that allows users to find the route between points. Once the origin and destination have been selected, it displays a map of the route as well as driving directions. These directions can also be sent to a cell phone by SMS. Although not comprehensive as yet, the site offers an impressive mapping service. source: SouthAfrica.info

[2] "An innovative new mobile map service - MobiMap - has just been launched, giving cell phone users easy and affordable access to street and road maps of South African towns and cities. With the MobiMap system cell phone users can request and receive digital maps on their phones. The service is available on most models of cellphones." source: MobiMap Location Based Services for Mapping Launched in South Africa

Think you're smart

2004-11-24T10:34:00.000+02:00

You may be under the impression that you have an IQ of 140, and that the rest of humanity is not worthy of your genius. Well, why not put yourself to the test, and try out these online IQ tests:

Mensa 10-Minute Workout

Mensa Workout

My results were as follows:

10-Minute Workout - 5/5
Mensa Workout - 27/30

Feel free to post your results as comments :)

Nokia Blues

2004-11-23T10:48:00.000+02:00

As a follow-up from my post yesterday, I have since done some more digging into the wonderful world of Nokia and Bluetooth. It would seem that most development of useful apps for cellphone Bluetooth are designed for the SE users, and Symbian Series 60 phones - bad luck for us Series 40 users (6230, etc). Maybe not though, as I have found some dedicated individuals that have used their valuable time to port these programs to the Series 40, and the Java J2ME platform. Check these out for PC remote control utilities:

Puppetmaster (commercial)

Bemused (free)

By far the nicest of these is Puppetmaster - in my opinion. Although it is a commercial package (selling at $15), you can download a trial and experience it for yourself. Some of the killer features of this app:

Preview and slide in PowerPoint and then skip directly to this one on screen.
Move your mouse cursor, and see what's under the mouse (even zoom in and out).
Complete control of Media Player and WinAmp.
Fully customisable using keymaps and scripting.

By the way, if you do happen to try Puppetmaster, you will notice that it does not minimise. Very annoying. Try using TrayIt! to keep it in the system tray.

Blue stuff

2004-11-22T14:19:00.000+02:00

Bluetooth has been around long enough for most of us to have one or another device that allows us some wireless freedom. What we do lack, however, is something useful to do with it. The obvious use is that of synchronising content (files, e-mails, etc), but the advent of SyncML has solved this problem, with a myriad of applications appearing that support this protocol.

If you are a Sony Ericsson user then you will be blessed with Float Mobile Agent, a nifty little application that does just about everything over Bluetooth, such as:

Answer your phone
Take photos
Send SMS's
Control you media player
Lock your workstation

If you are a Nokia user, you are not so fortunate. But after much searching and experimenting, I have found what I think are the killer apps for Nokia Bluetooth handsets.

BTControl allows you to control aspects of your PC from your cellphone, including:

Mouse and keyboard control
Powerpoint control
Media player control
Internet Explorer and Outlook control

Next on the list, using the proximity ability of Bluetooth devices, is LockIt Now! This neat little utility will lock and unlock your workstation based on your proximity to you PC. No passwords required. Handy!

If you have a Series 60 handset (6600, 3650, etc) then you can access you camera via Bluetooth, but if you're still a S40 user (6610, 6230, etc) then you are out of luck if you want to use your phone as a webcam. For the lucky ones, check out Mobileways Remote S60 at these links: Info & Download, Review .

Apps that make you want to kill someone

2004-11-19T15:02:00.000+02:00

This is not exactly news, but Microsoft Office has a knack of really irritating people. The bane of the majority of users is the Autocorrect feature. I just thought I'd let you all in on an Office stress relief tip. When your colleague is not looking, quickly change their autocorrect settings to change frequently used words to strange and wonderful things. Then get camera in hand, and wait for them to start typing their next report. Works for me, every time :)

News in your task bar

2004-11-19T14:31:00.000+02:00

Bloggers might know about RSS and Atom, the XML format for transferring news and notifications. But the average user probably visits each news page individually to see what's happening in the world. Well, why not try out FeedIt. This neat little piece of freeware will notify you of any new news articles or blog posts from your favourite sites (like mine of course). If you want to be notified of new posts to Killer-Apps, just add http://killerapps.blogspot.com/atom.xml to FeedIt as a new feed.

Killer gaming

2004-11-19T13:49:00.000+02:00

Mobile gaming is on the rise, and if you're lucky enough to have a handset that can run Java games, then do yourself a favour and check out what people like Gameloft have to offer. They've made some excellent platform and arcade games, best of which (in my mind) are the Tom Clancy Splintercell series, the Prince of Persia series and the Rainbow Six series. If you want to try them out, try Googling for "nokia .jad .jar j2me".

By the way, if you need to load the games into the "Games" folder, take a trip to free-game to get what you need.

Can Microsoft Kill Google?

2004-11-18T17:41:00.000+02:00

We all love Google. It's a household name, so commonplace it has been classified as a verb. No one can deny, this is possibly the greatest killer-app of the 90's. Now the company we all love to hate is doing battle with Google, with their new beta search engine. Check out the review at Fool.com.

What's happening to all the animals

2004-11-18T15:29:00.000+02:00

Perhaps its a side effect of all the hormones they pump into animals these days, but it seems that the number of gay livestock is on the rise. According to The Register, complaints and reports are coming in all over the world, concerning a variety of not-so-straight herd members. Culprits include pigs, sheep and cows, and its not just the males either, the females are also getting in on the action. Check out these stories:

Bulgarian seeks redress over gay pig

Aussie boffins probe lesbian cows

Inside the mind of the gay sheep

It really seems that scientists don't have enough to do.

Taser-happy cops

2004-11-18T14:33:00.000+02:00

It seems that the cops in the States are getting taser-happy. For those who don't know, a taser is a device that shoots out two metal wire probes that then zap the victim with 50,000 volts of electricity. Miami police recently zapped a 6-year old boy, having just been slammed for zapping a 12-year old girl. But they don't stop there. A California cop decided that a stubborn 75-year old granny was too much for him, and took her down too. Check these articles for the details:

Taser-happy cops floor suicidal six-year-old | The Register

US cops taser battling granny | The Register

Tasers have even resulted in a women miscarrying her baby. Seems there is come investigation going on into the use of these weapons that are intended to save lives. I can only imagine what 50,000 volts must feel like.

What every man wants

2004-11-18T12:12:00.000+02:00

With Christmas around the corner, here are some gift ideas for the ladies :)

Spambots

2004-11-18T09:51:00.000+02:00

Spambots are automated systems that crawl through web-sites and look for any e-mail addresses they can find, and then add these to mailing lists for spamming. So what do you do if you have a web-site, and want your visitors to be able to e-mail you. Well, there are quite a few clever ways to avoid this, and Alicorna has put together a quite comprehensive list. Visit their resource page to find some good little tools to avoid being spammed.

Rubik's Cube

2004-11-17T17:34:00.000+02:00

Owned by most teenagers from the 80s, and still sold today, the Rubik's cube was originally developed as a teaching aide. Having sold more than 4 million units in 1980 alone, Professor Rubik became the richest private citizen in communist Hungary at age 36.

Solving this seemingly simple puzzle was not so easy. In fact, several books were written on how to solve the cubes, making the authors their own fortunes, some selling over 1.5 million copies. The cube consisted of 20 moveable pieces that make up the 3x3x3 cube, and could be arranged into 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (over 43 quintillion or so) combinations of positions! Only one of those combinations would solve the cube, and the official world record for solving it is a mere 16.5 seconds!

Of course, you could always solve it the brute force way. Simply pull the cube apart and then put the pieces back together. If that was too much for you, you could always pull the stickers off and put them back on properly.

Here is a simple, and easy to remember solution to the cube:

Form a white cross on the top (upper face) of the cube.
Complete 3 corner pieces on the upper face.
Place 3 of the four edge pieces in the middle layer with the white side facing down, and the only empty middle corner above the non-white corner on the white face.
Solve the remaining 5 edge pieces.
Orient the corner pieces, rotating them in pairs.

Simple, right. If that seems confusing, check out this link, for an illustrated solution.

Airwolf

2004-11-17T16:48:00.000+02:00

Time for a bit of nostalgia. They just don't make TV shows like they used to. The A-Team, Knight Rider, MacGyver and of course Airwolf. Check out these links if you feel like reminiscing:
Airwolf, the 80s jet powered helicopter.
The A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together!
Knight Rider, turbo boost!
MacGyver, never carries a gun and always thwarts the enemy with his vast scientific knowledge.

Online Hunting

2004-11-17T14:59:00.000+02:00

Animal activists take note, the online hunting site, Live-Shot.com is about to launch a new offering of being able to shoot the real thing. Building on the success of the site for shooting paper targets, they are now introducing a new feature where you can take pot shots at bambi. Read the full article here.

Computers make you blind

2004-11-17T14:53:00.000+02:00

Many of us have suspected it for a while, but now there is scientific proof. Check out this article at The Register. It looks like I'll have to start making plans to leave the world of IT professionals.

The weird and wonderful webcams

2004-11-17T13:55:00.000+02:00

Webcams were all the rage 5 years ago, but these days you don't hear much about them. Well, if you feel like experiencing a bit of somewhere else, trot on over to the Webcam Dashboard and have a look at some of the interesting cams out there. Or for a real blast, try out this innovative idea - the vcar. Vcar is a remote control car that you can drive and watch online. A similar project is webtruck, where you get to move some trucks around. It would seem that some people have too much time on their hands (including me it would seem - for actually driving the truck).

Protect your privacy

2004-11-17T09:59:00.000+02:00

The average web surfer will have noticed by now that anonymity is hard to maintain if you want to be able to get access to decent content. Most of us have setup bogus "junkmail" accounts that we use to signup for online services and sites, but why go through all that hassel. There are some excellent services out there to help you:

BugMeNot is a services that maintains a collection of logins to popular websites that require you to signup to access their content. There is even an Internet Explorer plugin, to give you one-click access to the login details for sites that you want to access.

Mailinator is another brilliant service. Sometimes you just can't get away without giving someone your e-mail address, because you want to recieve just that one e-mail. Mailinator to the rescue. Just make up an addresss - anything@mailinator.com, give it to the person / site in question, then visit mailinator and check that e-mail box. It creates mailboxes when an e-mail arrives, so anything goes. You check the mail one time, then forget about it. Brilliant!

For the really paranoid, try out HIT Mail Privacy. This little app hides messages in images and documents using steganography. That means that the image or document appears unchanged, but hidden inside the binary code that makes it up is a secret message. This concept can also be used to transport files (such as mpegs and mp3s) through mail systems that would traditionally block these filetypes. You'll need other software for that, such as Invisible Secrets, or the free program SecurEngine.

Check them out, and fight the battle against spam.