Year: 2012

  • Read up on warnings and risks before updating your Android OS

    With Android devices, it is very easy to fall two or three releases behind if you depend on your carrier to release new software. For me personally, I decided to update to the Honeycomb release on my Samsung Galaxy tablet in order to get the front-facing camera to work with Skype. It turned out to be…

  • Microsoft invests $300 million in Barnes & Noble; looks to spin off Nook business

    In what may be considered an interesting and somewhat odd move considering past events, Microsoft has announced that they will be investing $300 million into a “strategic partnership” with Barnes & Noble to work on the future of e-reading by creating a whole new subsidiary of Barnes & Noble that will focus on all things…

  • How to insert frequently written text on a Mac with TypeIt4Me

    Like many people, I find myself having to type the same bits of text many times throughout my working week. Various applications already have ways of reducing the labor involved in this. For example, email clients have auto-signatures and word processors have automatic text facilities. The Mac OS X operating system itself is strong when…

  • DD-WRT: Password Protect Your Status Page To Increase Network Security

    DD-WRT is an excellent firmware alternative for your network router, whether your router is used at home for at your business.  One of my favorite features of DD-WRT is the router status page, shown below.  The DD-WRT status page is very useful for looking at real-time information. This status page is shown by default when…

  • The Rise and Fall of Draw Something

    Not too long ago, Draw Something was a social-gaming phenomenon raking in 50 million downloads within the first 50 days of the game’s release. It even beat Words With Friends to become the most popular Facebook game at the time. Zynga (creators of FarmVille) even bought out developer OMGPOP (creaters of Draw Something) for $180…

  • Review: Sonos Play:3, the Wireless Hi-Fi Stereo System

    The term high fidelity (or hi-fi) can be traced back to the dawn of music recording, and in general defined a system that could reproduce music with the sharpest and most fulfilling audio quality.  And as the generations moved from turntables to boomboxes to walkmans to portable music players, so too did the continual desire…

  • What Apple could possibly announce at WWDC 2012

    Well, it’s official. Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference will be held from June 11 to 15 in San Francisco this year and it’s going to be a packed house; tickets were sold out two hours after availability when 5,000 anxious developers quickly coughed up $1,600 per ticket. WWDC is one of the company’s biggest events –if not the biggest–…

  • Nokia Loses Mobile Phone Crown To Samsung After 14 Years On Top

    Nokia has finally succumbed to pressure from the leading smartphone handset manufacturers and lost its crown as the leading cellphone vendor in the world. Samsung has taken its place at the top, while Apple remains in third place. Focusing in on just smartphone sales reveals Apple is still number one, with Samsung a very close…

  • Facebook Approaches 1 Billion Users

    Facebook recently disclosed that they have 901 million users. Nine. Hundred. And. One. Million. They dropped this little statistic in their amended S-1 filing earlier this week, along with other small statistics such as that Facebook users post 3.2 billion comments per day and upload 300 million photos per day as well. They also lay…

  • Build it on a Budget: A sub-$500 get-work-done rig

    Look, not every computer you build has to be a tricked-out gaming rig with flashing LEDs and a complete water-cooling system. Some of us just need a machine that we can use to get work done in an efficient manner. This is where my heavily thought-out budget build comes into play. And we’re not talking…