iBand: The first iPhone band

http://www.iband.at/

Charge your iPod touch without a computer!

One of the frustrations with the iPod touch is that it doesn't come with a wall charger. Out of the box you can only charge it from the usb port on your computer. Which is a pain.

Now you can buy an expensive charger from Apple that allows you to charge in a socket: Apple USB Power Adapter

However..

If you have already owned a 3G or earlier iPod you can charge using FIREWIRE! Have a look in your cupboard... you should have these:

Together, they allow you to charge your iPod Touch without a computer! And for no extra expense!

Now don't get too excited.. syncing by firewire doesn't work :( Apple removed that functionality, but charging still works!

Touchpad.app: Use your iPhone/Ipod Touch as a wireless touchpad!

Use your iPhone/iPod Touch as a wireless touchpad mouse! You can click, double-click, drag, scroll AND type with it! You need a "jailbroken" iPhone/iPod Touch. (Don't know what that is? Try http://ww.ipodtouchfans.com for the heads up!)

Works on PC, Mac and Linux.

How to install Touchpad.app for Mac Users:

* Install the app on you ipod touch. (add this source to installer.app "http://cnp.qlnk.net/" then look under utilities)
* To allow control over your screen got to System prefs > Sharing.
* Turn on "Screen Sharing" (or "Apple Remote Desktop" on older Macs); the Mac will tell you a management IP address, you'll need this later.
* Turn on VNC viewer controls in the settings box, and give it a password. (So you don't leave your mac open)
* Go to the app in your ipod and click the + inside the app to add a vnc service.
* give your service a name "Macbook" for example
* Enter the IP address and password from earlier
* Save and click on the service to control your mac!

You may wonder how you scroll... the far right hand side of the ipod screen is used for this!

Try it its great!

Touchpad.app Developer Website

Why is everybody in a flap about facebook security?

There have been many articles in the newspapers and online recently about the security implications of putting too much personal information on "social networking" site, Facebook.

There was one instance of an employee declaring his love for a colleague on a friends "wall" only for the object of his affections to see it and subsequently use that information in a possible sexual harassment case.

Then there was the report that the head honchos at the Oxford University are spying on their students antics at parties with the aim to confront and discipline those who's behavior were considered out of line.

Although there is much to be said about the dubious morality of the type of people who spy on friends, colleagues and future employees; fundamentally the "victims" of this form of cyber stalking really have only themselves to blame.

"Why?" I hear some of you ask... Well, to be frank the reason these "victims" are too blame is because they have chosen to share there personal information, photos and banter with complete strangers!

"How?" I hear some of you ask... Well, either directly or through naivety; by overriding the default security settings Facebook recommend, or posting inadvisable things on other friends profiles.

The standard security settings on a Facebook account only allow "friends" to view your personal profile and associated content. That means only people you accept as friends can view your private stuff. You actually have to manually turn that security option off by clicking several boxes to allow strangers to view your profile!

In my opinion if you do that you are opening yourself up for any number of nut-jobs, nosey parkers or trouble makers to use your private information for their own personal gain.

So how do you stop strangers seeing your personal information?

1. First thing is to leave the security settings for who can view your profile at the default options: Only allow legitimate friends access.
2. Be careful what you post on other peoples walls as they might not be as security conscious as you; they may allow anybody to view their profile including your nosey boss whom you happened to call a "bunny-boiling bitch" on your friends wall!
3. Tun off the option in your security/privacy settings that allow strangers to view you friends list... again this stops nosey parkers trying to find comments you've made on a friends less secure profile.

The lather the press has got into about Facebook is completely unwarranted, in the right hands and with the right amount of common sense it is a great tool to keep in touch with mates online.

Just be careful out there...

... or if you are really into conspiracies watch this *warning it might put you off Facebook for life*

ecard.exe - a new breed of spam...

You will not have failed to notice that since the end of June our inboxes have been in inundated with emails claiming "You've received a greeting card from a Colleague!" or "You've received an ecard from a Class mate!". You may already be aware that these emails are spam (you are probably getting 2 or three a day after all!) but what you may not know is that these seemingly harmless emails - after all they contain no dodgy attachments - are in fact a means to infect your machine with a malicious Trojan... and all from one "click" of your mouse.

The reason these emails are so dangerous is because the link to the "ecard" contained within, whisks any unsuspecting click-happy surfer to the website claiming to be holding a card from your friend/colleague/personal trainer/dog walker... and this webpage contains a snippet of javascript that tries to exploit a security vulnerability in your browser to gain control of your machine and infect it with Malware...

The subtle difference with this spam strategy and others like it is the way in which it uses subtle social engineering to get a result for the spammers. There are many instants on the web of people who upon celebrating their birthday have inadvertantly clicked a link in one of these emails and infected their machines, thinking the email was genuine.

1. Never click links in emails unless they are from a trusted source. Even if it is your birthday, or you really think you've won the South African Lottery...
2. STOP using Internet Explorer and get Firefox
3. Get a Mac...