Google’s public-only, profile policy: An opportunity, not a punishment
Let me first get this out into the open first. I don’t see Google’s removal of the option to have private profiles as an issue. That’s right. I’m saying that I don’t care. For that matter, you shouldn’t care either.
Users have never been required to provide government-issued documents to validate the date of birth, gender or uploaded avatar. No, people have always been free to omit biographical information, make things up and use an alias. Isn’t that what Dateline NBC’s ‘To Catch a Predator’ series taught us? From an Infosec standpoint, full disclosure of your information on any site, to include those with supposed ‘private’ profiles, is never recommended. Whether publicly available on the web or hidden from general view, the data you input and files you upload still reside on someone else’s server and can be exfiltrated by authorized admins or unauthorized third parties, via exploitation of unmitigated vulnerabilities, brute force attacks, and similarly scary methods employed by recreational and professional hackers.
The Royal Wedding – Streaming live to a computer near you
Stop right there. Don’t ask why GSL is publishing a piece on the Royal Wedding of Prince William and the soon-to-be Princess, Kate Middleton. GSL has not succumb to the royal wedding fever which seems to have swept the developed world. We assure you. It is geek/tech/gadget-related.
Generally, one associates a monarchy with staunch tradition and formality. Many remember watching the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana live on television, on July 29, 1981. Way (way, way) back then, the fact that it was broadcast live was a huge event. Of course, 1981 is far behind us, and in 2011, a live television broadcast would fail to impress just about anyone. How about a live stream via YouTube of the wedding? Would that impress you?
Banana TV: Enable Airplay from iDevices to Intel Macs
Anyone who has an iPhone or iPad will likely tell you that Airplay is a great feature…if you have an Apple TV. Thanks to the developers of a new tool called Banana TV, Airplay can now be achieved from iDevices to Intel-based Macs. How does it work? The good news is that it doesn’t require a jailbreak or any potentially painful tweaks to the iPhone or iPad. Installation and configuration is surprisingly simple and is done entirely on the Mac.
Does it sound intriguing? If so, you’ll want to take a minute to watch the demo video from Banana TV. Of course, we go a bit more in-depth and explain the minimum requirements and how it works further along in the post.
App Developers: Reviews can be your friend…if you let them
Yesterday, I received some feedback on the storybook app comparison post published on Monday. While both were from the respective developers of the iPad apps discussed, they couldn’t have been more different. One was positive and thanked me for choosing to cover their topic. The other was decidedly critical of, not just the discussion of their app, but the article, as a whole. Had the communication been posted as a comment, versus an email, I would have gladly approved it for publication.
First and foremost, let me say that the positive feedback was nice but was neither sought after nor necessary. I don’t write reviews of mobile apps, computer software, or anything else in hopes of receiving kudos or swag. I do it because I test a lot of apps, especially iOS ones, since it’s what I use most of the time. In turn, I like to pass on objective information, to include the pros and cons. I do this in order to help the average user who doesn’t have the time or financial resources to do their own testing. Moreover, the intent is to help them make an educated decision before downloading an app, whether it be free, $0.99 or $3.99. From another perspective, reviews by any tech-related website also help the developer. This last point is the true subject of this article.
Amazon Cloud Player: The long sought-after musical grail?
This morning’s tech news was abuzz with the news of the availability of Amazon’s latest musical venture, the Amazon Cloud Player. Hailed by the company as an innovative way to “securely store music in the cloud and play it on any Android phone, Android tablet, Mac or PC,” the news was met with great excitement by many an audiophile. According to Bill Carr, vice president of Movies and Music at Amazon, “The launch of Cloud Drive, Cloud Player for Web and Cloud Player for Android eliminates the need for constant software updates as well as the use of thumb drives and cables to move and manage music.”
Carr’s statement is part of Amazon’s official press release, which explains how the service works. What are the obvious questions that come to mind? Does it really work? Is it easy to use? What else can I do with it, besides listen to music? Of course, according to a Reuters’ report, Sony was less than thrilled to learn that Amazon had given customers the ability to stream their purchased music, without it granting licenses that extend to music streaming. This raises one last question. Is there a potential for illegal music sharing via Amazon’s service?
Storybook iPad App Comparison: Nursery Rhymes, Alice Lite and Goosed-Up Lite
There is little doubt that the advent of tablets, like the Apple iPad and Galaxy Tab, have changed the way we compute. Unlike a decade ago, when we were tied to desktops, mobile computing has allowed us to do all things digital in an untethered fashion. Even the laptop cannot be called a truly mobile device, since its design and dimensions prohibit carrying and showing content on it to others in a comfortable fashion. The tablet has taken portable a step further by making it comfortable, as well.
The natural progression of mobile computing has impacted our lives in ways most people never imagined they could. Among them are a flurry of apps that seek to replace the traditional hard and softcover fairy tales that our parents read to us as children. While there are many more, I sat down and took a look at three popular fairy tale apps designed to be read to children. How do they stack up? Does a price tag automatically indicate higher quality than that found in free apps of the same type? Here’s what I found when comparing Nursery Rhymes with Story Time, Alice Lite and Goosed-Up Lite.
Virtual Karma Counts – Win a custom GSL Gelaskin
The contest has come to a close. How did we select the winner? Being objective and fair-minded geeks, we numbered the 15 entries, from earliest to latest, and ran them through a random number generator. The lucky winner is entry #10, or as they prefer to be called, Sturta. Congratulations! If you didn’t win this time, stay tuned. Gelaskins was nice enough to give GSL a few $20 promo codes, which we’ll give away to our faithful readers via another Virtual Karma Counts contest in a few weeks!
It’s that time again. Yes, GSL is having another “Virtual Karma Counts” contest. Up for grabs this time is a custom Geek Shui Living skin from Gelaskins. No, we’re not partnered up or receiving swag from them, but we figured why not collect the change from the couch cushions to make it happen? The rules are simple. The contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada world. To be entered to win, simply leave a comment on this post saying why a custom GSL skin will make your device even better than you already think it is.
We’ve included a mockup of what the final product for an Apple iPad 2 will look like below. You can see a few more mockups of other devices after the break. You can see a full list of devices for which Gelaskins has products on their website. The contest is opens today and runs through 12:00 AM ET, on Thursday, March 31, 2011. You must have your comment posted by midnight that day to qualify. The winner will be randomly chosen from the entries on Friday, April 1, 2011. We’ll email the winner, so they can tell us what device they have. We’ll order it and have it sent directly from the company to them.
That’s it. What are you waiting for? Tell us how a GSL Gelaskin will make your device better and be entered to win!
Win a custom GSL Gelaskin for your iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or other supported device!
Color for iPhone and Android: Social media for the geographically collocated
The latest in an ever-lengthening line of mobile apps for social media-philes was released yesterday. Simply called “Color”, it is a free app with versions for iPhone and Android. Based solely upon the name, one would assume that it was a photo editing or effects app. In this case, the name doesn’t describe the function as much as the goal it seems to hope to achieve…bringing a little more color to our social lives.
The man behind the venture is Bill Nguyen, who has made a name for himself in launching and selling ventures and later selling them to companies like Apple Inc. With Color, Nguyen and company are seeking to change how people interact socially on a digital platform, while in an actual real-life, social situation. According to Nguyen, the evolution toward a primarily mobile computing environment is resulting in a transition to a “post-PC world”. This all sounds exciting, but what does the Color app actually do? We’ve laid it out in simple fashion that users can use to decide if this is a “fundamental shift” of which they want to be a part.
Vicious Tech Cycles: Apple sues Amazon while judge orders Steve Jobs to answer about iTunes
It seems the only thing Apple may do more than refresh iDevices is spend time in litigation about iDevice-related issues. In the latest case, Apple Inc has filed suit against Amazon.com Inc. In question is Amazon’s use of the term “APP STORE”. Apple’s assertion in the case is that Amazon is using the term to attract software developers.
Despite the fact that a trademark hasn’t actually been granted to Apple for the term, it didn’t stop Apple from filing case #11-1327 with the U.S. District Court in the Northern California district. According to Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet quoted in a Reuters report, “We’ve asked Amazon not to copy the APP STORE name because it will confuse and mislead customers.” Apple may have a legal leg to stand on, but is the term App Store really synonymous only with Apple offerings?
Opera “Mini 6″ browser update brings scrolling, pinch-to-zoom and sharing to mobile users
Opera Software has announced the availability of new features in its latest mobile browser update. The latest version for mobile devices such as Android, Symbian, and BlackBerry was slated to be available beginning today. The update also includes improvements for Apple iPhone version of the browser but has yet to be approved by the Apple Store. Additionally, for the first time, tablet-optimized Opera browser apps will (hopefully) also be available for the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.
The changes under the hood may seem small, but they could go a long way toward augmenting the already significant 21.6% share of the mobile browsing market the company currently boasts. Added in the lastest version are in-demand features like improved scrolling, pinch-to-zoom and the ability to open tabs in the browser’s background. Another significant addition in terms of social media support is the ability to share pages and posts via Twitter, Facebook, vKontakte and My Opera.
