Here’s the one thing you need to know about computer and audio/video cables: They’re cheap.

“NO!” you exclaim, perturbed by my obvious and odious lie and my use of purple prose in this paragraph.

“But I spent $75 at Best Buy on an HDMI cable, and…”

Yeah, you’re an idiot. Though it’s not your fault. You, like many before you, have been duped by the markup gods and the big box retail game.

The truth is, depending on your technological needs, you can get away with paying little to nothing for cables and wires. Here’s what I mean:

Case #1: I have a new HD flatscreen television with a cable box. I do not have surround sound or an A/V receiver to hook up

You need: One HDMI cable. It will handle audio and video.

You could get away with: One component video cable (Red/Green/Blue plugs) and a Red/White RCA audio cable.

You should spend: $0. Comcast will give you either cable for free. Ask for the HDMI cable. It’s one wire that does everything instead of five wires. HDMI also supports 1080p, whereas component video only goes to 720.

What the stores have tried to sell me: An $89 — yes $89 — Monster HDMI cable. Again, you should spend ZERO dollars for the same quality.

Case #1a: I also have a Blu-ray player.

You need: To buy an HDMI cable, because it most likely did not come with your $30 Blu-ray player.

You could get away with: Asking your cable company nicely for a second HDMI cable. They literally have piles of these things.

You should spend: No more than $5. Don’t believe me? Click here.

The stores have tried to sell me: The $89 — yes $89 — Monster HDMI cable and a $35 optical audio cable. You don’t need an optical audio cable when you’re using HDMI. Ever.

Case 2: I have a flat-screen television, a brand new A/V surround sound receiver, a cable box, and a Blu-ray player.

You need: Speaker wire, a subwoofer cable, possibly a subwoofer Y-adapter, and three HDMI cables. You run one HDMI cable from the television to the receiver and one each from the receiver to the cable box and Blu-ray player. Same with a PlayStation 3. No audio cables needed. You run speaker wire from each speaker to its corresponding port on the receiver. DO NOT buy banana plugs or any other kind of accessory for the speaker wire. It’s simply another point of potential failure. Just use the bare wire.

You can get away with: Do not use component video cables. You’ll have to buy a separate coaxial or optical audio cable for surround sound (Dolby Digital/DTS) audio. Just use HDMI.

You should spend: $5 or less per HDMI cable and no more than about $15 for the speaker wire.

The stores have tried to sell me: The $89 — yes $89 — Monster HDMI cables, $35 optical audio cables, $40 Monster speaker cable and $10 speaker cable attachments.

Case 3: I have several home networking devices, including a NAS device, home theater PC, video game consoles, and a network printer

You need: Cat 6 cables and a gigabit router with Wireless N. You can use Wi-Fi for things like Wii, room monitors/security cameras, a smart thermostat, etc. For an Xbox 360/PS3, a computer, a NAS, and anything that is storing photos, videos, or music, you should make sure it is plugged into the network directly. Just my advice. Some will say Wi-Fi is there, but I say plug it in.

You can get away with: Cat 5e cables and a gigabit router with Wireless N.

You should spend: About $100 on the router (see this story) and $2-20 on each network wire.

The stores have tried to sell me: Extremely marked up routers and $20-40 cables. Think twice.

Set-top boxes in the U.S. consume 27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, equivalent to the annual output of six coal-fired power plants. Part of the reason is that they typically operate at nearly full power even during the two-thirds of the time when they are not in use. (Thinkstock)

We hear a lot about how much energy modern day flat screen TV sets consume, but the innocuous set-top boxes that drive them, along with their built-in digital video recorders, may be even more to blame. A recent analysis conducted by the consulting firm Ecos on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that “the average new cable high-definition digital video recorder (HD-DVR) consumes more than half the energy of an average new refrigerator and more than an average new flat-panel television.” Overall, set-top boxes in the U.S. consume some 27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is equal to the annual output of six average (500 megawatt) coal-fired power plants and accounts for the emission of 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Part of the reason these boxes are such energy hogs is that they typically operate at nearly full power even during the two-thirds of the time when they are not actively in use driving TV screens or recording to built-in DVRs. “As a nation, we spend $2 billion each year to power these boxes when they are not being actively used,” reports NRDC.

To make matters worse, American consumers have little if any choice about which set-top boxes they get from their cable or satellite service providers. Since the providers usually own the boxes yet don’t have to pay consumers’ electric bills, they have little incentive to utilize or develop more efficient models. In Europe, Sky Broadcasting is beginning to distribute more efficient equipment to subscribers there. NRDC is urging the largest pay-TV service providers in the U.S. (Comcast, Time Warner, DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon and AT&T) to heed the efficiency call with their own set-top box and DVR offerings.

Redesigning set-top boxes to power down when not in use is perhaps the biggest opportunity for energy savings. “Innovation to reduce power consumption when not in active use—such as has occurred with mobile phones, which also work on a subscriber basis and require secure connections—is sorely needed in set-top boxes,” counsels NRDC. Also, re-jiggering content delivery systems so that only one main set-top box sends signals to all the televisions in the house (or to lower power “thin client” boxes) could also cut down household electric bills and carbon footprints. The group adds that “better designed pay-TV set-top boxes could reduce the energy use of the installed base of boxes by 30 percent to 50 percent by 2020.”

Last year the U.S. government released new energy efficiency standards for set-top boxes within its EnergyStar appliance efficiency rating program. While this new specification is a step in the right direction, consumers have little knowledge about such options. NRDC urges pay-TV subscribers to request that their providers make available set-top boxes and DVRs that meet the newer EnergyStar 4.0 standards. The more of us that request such improvements, the likelier they are to happen. And the cable or satellite provider that can save customers money while reducing overall environmental impact may just win over an increasingly large sector of the American people that actually cares about being green.

CONTACTS: NRDC’s “Better Viewing, Lower Energy Bills, and Less Pollution,” www.nrdc.org/energy/files/settopboxes.pdf; EnergyStar, www.energystar.gov.

On Thursday, the day after many websites blacked out in protest of SOPA, the government shut down one of the most popular file-sharing websites.  Along with shutting it down, a federal indictment accused the owners of Megaupload.com of facilitating millions of illegal downloads.

Megaupload, a Chinese based company, is accused of costing copyright holders at least $500 million. The United States had jurisdiction because some files were being hosted by leased servers in Ashburn Va.

The shutdown came on the heels of a hacker attack that shutdown the Justice Department’s website and other federal sites.  Officials declared the shutdown of the Justice Department’s site “a malicious attack,” according to the Boston Globe. A hacker group known as “Anonymous” took credit for the attack.

According to the Globe, a Justice Department statement said that Kim Dotcom, 37, and three other employees were arrested in New Zealand on Thursday in relation to Megaupload.  Three more defendants have not yet been apprehended. Dotcom, who had his name legally changed from Kim Schmitz, is the founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of the file-sharing website.  The others arrested are Finn Batato, 38; Mathias Ortmann, 40; and Bram van der Kolk, 29.

“This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent,” said The Electronic Frontier Foundation that defends free speech and digital rights, according to The Globe. “If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?”

Before it was shutdown, Megaupload posted a statement that declared the SOPA bill a huge breach of copyright laws.

“The fact is that the vast majority of Mega’s Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch,” the statement said, The Globe reports.

Megaupload had the support of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West.  These endorsements were unusual because the entertainment industry usually condemns the downloading of illegal material, as they lose money from it.

The company cited Swizz Beatz, a musician, as its CEO, but he declined comment to the Boston Globe.

The former website, which was listed at one point to be the 13th most visited website, is charged with copyright infringement, conpiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering.

A new thinner and more sensitive glass has been invented by the makers of Gorilla Glass, who supply the glass on touch screen gadgets like iPhones and iPads, according to CNN.

The new glass is lighter and more responsive to the touch, yet still tough and resistant to scratching according to the company that produces it, Corning Inc.  Since it is thinner, it also lets in more light and creates a brighter display screen.

The company debuted the glass on Monday at a gadget-showcase at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“It’s not scratch-proof. And if they drop it on granite, it can be broken,” said Corning general manager Clifford Hund according to CNN.

Hund added that the glass is 20% thinner but still retains the same properties as the old glass.

Gorilla Glass 2 will debut in Windows-based PC products later this year, and other manufacturers are looking into using the product.

About 950 light years away exists a star resembling the sun, orbited by two earth-like planets.

The two planets, Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, were discovered by the Kepler spacecraft, which was launched by NASA in 2009 primarily for the purpose of seeking planets. The telescope has provided evidence for dozens of planets similar to the earth in size, but Francois Fressin, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was the first to contribute a report supporting the claims.

Though the planets are consonant to earth in diameter, one being only 3 percent larger while the other is 10 percent smaller, they exist under temperatures far higher than ours: 1400 degrees and 800 degrees Fahrenheit. This heat implies that the planets do not support life similar to that of earth’s, but perhaps instead something of an unintelligent form, like bacteria or mold.

These discoveries prove that the Kepler is capable of uncovering planets similar to earth in mass, and are encouraging in the continued search for life on other planets.

By Kevin DeStefano at Emmanuel College

Your favorite smart-phone can do everything that your laptop, cellphone and digital camera can do. Big whoop. We get it. Yes, your iPhone or shiny new tablet is nothing short of science fiction.

Finally, scientists have created devices that meet all of the expectations of your eleven year old self (aside from light-sabers). You thought that now all there was to look forward to was living on other planets and fighting robots that transformed into cars. You were wrong.

Here’s a list of crazy inventions that most people haven’t even heard of yet.

5. SixthSense

No, not the M. Night Shyamalan movie. SixthSense is the name given to the next step in wearable interactive technology. Invented by Pranav Mistry, a student at MIT who wanted to make the technology open source and affordable to mass produce. Essentially, it’s a camera attached to a projector, attached to a computer that you can wear anywhere.

Say you need to know if your next flight is delayed due to weather. Instead of taking out your smart-phone and bringing up an app, the camera on SixthSense reads your flight ticket and projects delay and delay times on the same ticket that you are currently reading. By using hand gestures, similar to Microsoft’s Kinect, the user has the ability to access all of the knowledge of the web without ever touching a keyboard.

4. Synthetic Meat

Where’s the beef? “In-vitro” meat is exactly as disturbing as it sounds. Not processed in a plant or factory, but “born” in a lab. Synthetic meat is chemically identical to tissue from a dead animal because it came from the same animal. The only difference is how the meal is prepared.

Synthetic meat is grown from culturing cells from animal tissue, so it’s completely organic – but it sure ain’t natural. Currently, it costs millions to produce small amounts of synthetic meat. In the near future, however, synthetic meat will be cheaper to produce than livestock.

Why is this such a cool invention? Because, in theory, it only takes one living cow to produce one million times its weight in meat.

Ethics aside, this same process could be used to create human tissue, possibly human organs for spare parts. Maybe immortality isn’t as far away as we think.

3.  3D Printing

Now the concept sounds simple, instead of printing a two dimensional sheet, printers can now create three dimensional models by using one machine. Why is this so incredible? Because instead of ink, these printers create objects; usually multiple materials at once. Steel, plastic, carbon fiber, copper, wood. You name it, they can print it.

The concept even goes as far as producing organic materials such as cells and tissues using the same technique of three dimensional layerings using computer generated mapping and accuracy.

Imagine one machine, loaded up with giant cartridges of raw materials, building  multiple houses complete with plumping and electrical wiring. The invention is so intuitive that as it improves, 3D printing could advance to creating complex machinery such as cars and planes and other objects with moving parts.

2. Wireless Electricity

Yes, that is correct. We said wireless electricity.

While technically not a new concept as it was first envisioned by historical genius Nikola Tesla, wireless electricity has finally been patented. Wireless power, or wireless energy transfer, is carried out by principles of induction and magnetism.

Magnets are placed on surfaces such as walls, floors, ceilings and directly connected to the power grid. Corresponding magnets are placed on electronic devices such as phones, televisions, or laptops and relay back and forth to create an electrical current supplying all of the devices.

Imagine owning an electric car and being able to park it in a location with a charging mat. Or, walking into a room and suddenly your mobile device starts charging. Wireless is the new revolution, and it is only a matter of time until wireless electricity is everywhere.

Photo Cred: Sciencenews.org

1.Graphene

Imagine waking up and walking to your front porch stoop to retrieve your morning newspaper when instead you lift a touch screen. The same weight, size and flexibility as a newspaper only with a fully interactive display that you can take to work or read on the morning commute to work.

Behold, the holy grail of modern technology and modern science. A carbon based material that is currently both the thinnest and strongest material known to man, graphene is also a great conductor of electricity as well as flexible. Samsung as well as many other developers have released prototypes of paper thin, flexible touch screens that implement graphene.

As far as abundance, graphene is as common as the graphite from pencils and is set to replace silicon as a semiconductor in computer chips. Graphene is sure to replace all display monitors, televisions, tablets and smart phones. Because it is such a new material, researchers haven’t even scratched the surface as to all of its applications. For that reason alone, it is number one on our list.

Hope you’re all set with your storage needs.

The heavy rains that fell in Thailand this fall have led to serious flooding. The floods forced many of the world’s hard drive-producing factories to temporarily shut down.

The factory closures have affected several companies, including Western Digital and Seagate and some 40 percent of world hard drive manufacturing.

You can expect hard drive shortages. A few of the hard drives we’re tried to review this month — or include in gift guides — could not be sent to us because some companies have suspended their review programs.

With PC sales already slowing, this could have huge implications for the industry.

Interestingly, solid-state hard drive manufacturing was not affected, which may also lead to this medium taking off more and more.

Google+, which has yet to be determined as a worthy opponent to Facebook, has been gifted with the big political name of Barack Obama. Or rather, his reelection campaign.

Thus far, the page has posted five times, the first saying “Welcome to the Obama 2012 Google+ page. We’re still kicking the tires and figuring this out, so let us know what you’d like to see here and your ideas for how we can use this space to help you stay connected to the campaign”.

The new addition has yet to show if it’ll contribute to the popularity of the social networking site.

Owning a tablet is becoming less and less inaccessible to people who aren’t willing to dole out major dough, no thanks to Apple. This week, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet enters the market at $249, and Amazon.com’s Kindle Fire arrives at $199. Apple’s iPad absolutely has certain qualities that might make it more appealing than its adversaries, but are they really worth dishing out another $300?

3G is absent in the Nook and Kindle Fire, but still, the price remains. Hopefully the competition will inspire Apple to rethink its costs.

Apple has released a statement declaring that they will replace the first generation iPod Nano due to the slim chance of the device overheating.

The iPod was sold from September 2005 to December 2006, and though it hasn’t been mass produced in years, Apple asserts that they will be replacing each 1G Nano with the same version.

Replacements will be sent to users about six weeks after they send their old models.

Apple released the new iOS 5.0.1 upgrade Thursday in response to complaints about battery life. The update can be downloaded to the third and fourth-generation iPod touch, all iPad models, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.

The upgrade was released sooner than expected, but according to the Apple discussion forums, it has done little, if anything, for many consumers of the product. Many users complain about the upgrade possibly leading to failure in other iPhone features.

Carving their niche out as the “Business Model” of smart phones, the Blackberry brand has been a constant in the market since their premier in 2003. Famously becoming the first “Presidential Smart Phone” through President Obama’s constant endorsements, the brand has recently come under some major criticism due to a worldwide blackout of servers last October and the pressure of the leaps and bounds made by rival companies such as Google and Apple. Blackberry however is looking to show that they can still compete in the market with a new line of 4G phones, including the new Blackberry Torch 9810 (the 9800’s successor). Blast was recently able to test out the 9810 before its November 9 T-Mobile release date and see what the new model has to offer.

Hardware

Boasting a great deal more power and storage space than its predecessor, the 9810 comes with a 1.2 GHz processor chip (compared to the 624 MHz of the 9800) with 768 MB internal Ram (512 MB internal RAM  on the 9800). The memory has also doubled from 4 GB to 8, with cards allowing for up to to 32.

While the still image camera remains the same 5 Megapixels resolution as the 9800, the video camera has been upgraded from 420p to 702p making it the first Blackberry phone to record in HD. The display screen has also upgraded its resolution from the earlier model’s 480x360px to 640x480px.

The battery is extremely resilient; lasting around 28 hours under heavy strain (phone calls, texts, music, social apps, ect.) with a posted 6.8 hours of talk time. The phone however will begin to lock out functions as the battery dies, which can lead to some frustration near the end of the charge.

Layout/Application use

An extremely streamlined layout, the 9810 divides its apps from the main screen into five different categories.  All: a general view of the app; Favorites: a personalized section for users to save their favorite apps; Media: the music, pictures, and videos of the  phone as well as the camera and video camera; Downloads: the extra apps from the initially installed ones; and Frequent: where your most used apps are placed for easy access.

The media applications are extremely simplified, with the music system a carbon I-Tunes copy and the picture system divided into camera and downloaded pictures. Attached to the phone from the start is AT&T music, Live T.V., Slacker’s Radio, and Youtube for access to online media.

It should be mentioned as a negative point that the web browser does not run a Flash Player and the web browser tends to be all together nonfunctional compared to the competition. Anything that is made especially for the phone however (Twitter, Facebook, Okcupid, etc.) work very well.

The notification system is thinned out into a single section, with updates on your email, text messages, and social sites all condensed into a drop down menu from the main screen. There is also a Social Feeds app that comes standard with the phone that condenses all your social network feeds into one screen (organized by the time they were posted) allowing a quick look at all your social media updates.

There are still flaws within the social network apps. The Blackberry Facebook app for example lacks a way to check your events list. There is also the standing problem of Blackberry phones not including a free GPS app as most of their competition do.

Verdict

The Black Berry Torch 9810 is a great improvement on the 9800 in many ways. It is a straight forward 4G phone with the same simple features that Blackberry fans enjoy. However, many of the complaints that are made about Blackberry phones are still present and it is the least powerful of the newest line from the major distributors, with both new Droid Bionic and iPhone 4S having significantly better resolution, higher quality cameras, free GPS, and more comparable Internet browsers. It does however come in at almost one hundred dollars cheaper with activation than the other two on average, making the power difference less of a hit.

Anyone who is a fan of Blackberry would be well off upgrading to the Torch 9810. Also anyone looking to make a leap to a 4G phone without paying the Droid and I-Phone prices may also find The Torch 9810 worth checking out.

The Blackberry Torch 9810 is available November 9.

…but it won’t impact.

On Tuesday, an asteroid a quarter mile wide is passing between the earth and the moon, reaching with 200,000 miles of the earth. Don Yeomans, the manager of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program said, according to Boston.com ”We’re extremely confident, 100 percent confident, that this is not a threat.”

The asteroid’s passing will actually benefit research for scientists, as they can use information gathered from it to prepare for a potential larger, more destructive visitor from space.

Asteroid 2005 YU55 may contain carbon, which makes it a prime example of asteroids that may, in the future, host watering and fueling stations for astronauts, according to Yeomans.

As the future gets dimmer for traditional incandescent light bulbs, and compact fluorescents (CFLs) fall out of favor due to their toxic mercury component, light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are beginning to come on strong. LEDs, which are clusters of small bulbs that come in many shapes and sizes, last five times longer than CFLs and 40 times longer than incandescents and use much less energy. (Media credit/Geoffrey Landis)

Just a decade ago, incandescent bulbs were just about the only game in town, despite their inefficient use of electricity to generate light and their primitive technology that had not changed since being invented some 125 years ago. But now that is all changing fast, with phase-outs of incandescents going on in Australia, Brazil, Venezuela, Switzerland and the European Union, with Argentina, Russia, Canada and the U.S. following suit shortly. The U.S. passed legislation in 2007 to increase the efficiency of light bulbs sold in the U.S. by 25 percent or more by 2014, and then by as much as 60 percent more by 2020.

For decades, those concerned with energy savings have been touting the benefits of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) over incandescents. CFLs use only one-fifth of the electricity of incandescents to generate the same amount of light, and they can last six to 10 times longer. But CFLs’ cooler color and inability to be dimmed have made them less desirable. Another hindrance to the widespread adoption of CFLs has been their higher cost (though most consumers would save plenty in energy costs over the life of a bulb). Also, CFLs contain mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin that is released when the bulbs break. And once CFLs do burn out they must be disposed of properly to avoid releasing mercury into the environment.

Given the issues with CFLs, LEDs (short for light emitting diodes) are beginning to come on strong. These highly efficient bulbs don’t generate heat like incandescents (which helps to keep air conditioning costs down as well) and can last five times longer than CFLs and 40 times longer than incandescents. Tiny LED bulbs have been around for years in specialized applications (such as stadium scoreboards), but lighting engineers got the idea to cluster them and use reflective casings to harness and concentrate their light for residential use. In recognition of the LED’s potential, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) set up a special “solid-state” (LED) lighting R&D program to hasten the advance of the technology.

In comparing the total cost to run three different types of 60-watt equivalent bulbs for 50,000 hours (factoring in the cost of the both bulbs and electricity), the EarthEasy website found that LEDs would cost $95.95, CFLs $159.75 and incandescents $652.50. The 42 incandescent bulbs tested used up to 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity compared to 700 and 300 for CFLs and LEDs respectively. However, despite the savings most consumers are loath to spend $35 and up for an LED bulb (even though it will save more than $500 in the long run) when a traditional incandescent bulb right next to it on the shelf costs $1.

There are other newer technologies in the works. Seattle-based Vu1 now sells highly efficient bulbs based on its Electron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL) technology, whereby accelerated electrons stimulate a phosphor coating on the inside of the bulb, making the surface glow. One of Vu1’s 65-watt equivalent bulbs retails for under $20 and uses a similar amount of energy as an equivalent CFL. And incandescents aren’t out of the efficient lighting race altogether just yet. Top bulb makers recently released new versions that use as much as a third less electricity to operate (complying with 2012’s new federal standards) and are promising newer models still that will run on even less energy.

CONTACTS: DOE Solid-State Lighting Program, www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/; EarthEasy, www.eartheasy.com; Vu1 Corporation, www.vu1corporation.com.

We don’t do a lot of coverage on tools and home improvement, but there was something just so primal about this, it got my Tim Taylor dander up.

Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation (Or just Milwaukee) announced a cordless, compact electric ratchet that puts out 35 ft-lbs. of torque at 250 RPM.

That’s strong.

The tool weighs only 2 lbs. and can reach extremely right spaces, making it easier to remove nuts from tight spaces of a car without needing clearance to move a traditional ratchet.

“The M12 Cordless Ratchet not only provides a compact, battery-powered solution for one of the most widely used hand tools in the world, but also presents a clear and effective solution for users who are frustrated with the hassles of using pneumatic tools,” says Robert Shaw, product manager for cordless at Milwaukee. “The new cordless ratchets provide a portable solution for professionals who struggle with dirty, cumbersome air hoses and the inherent service costs of pneumatic tools on a daily basis.”

Here are the specs on the different models:

Specifications (2456-21)
30 ft-lbs of torque
250 RPM
1/4” Ball Detent Anvil
Length: 10-3/4”
Weight: 1.9 lbs
Includes 2456-20 M12™ 1/4″ Ratchet, (1) M12™ RED LITHIUM™ Battery, 30-Minute Charger & Carrying Case

Specifications (2456-20)
30 ft-lbs of torque
250 RPM
1/4” Ball Detent Anvil
Length: 10-3/4”
Weight: 1.9 lbs
Includes 2456-20 M12™ 1/4″ Ratchet (battery and charger sold separately)

Specifications (2457-21)
35 ft-lbs of torque
250 RPM
3/8” Ball Detent Anvil
Length: 10-3/4”
Weight: 1.9 lbs
Includes 2457-20 M12™ 3/8″ Ratchet, (1) M12™ RED LITHIUM™ Battery, 3/8” to 1/4” Adaptor, 30-Minute Charger & Carrying Case

Specifications (2457-20)
35 ft-lbs of torque
250 RPM
3/8” Ball Detent Anvil
Length: 10-3/4”
Weight: 1.9 lbs
Includes 2457-20 M12™ 3/8″ Ratchet (battery and charger sold separately)

LED Lights: Changing the world around you

If you haven’t noticed them yet, than chances are you are going to. LED lights are becoming more and more popular and are gradually being used in a variety of uses. This state of the art lighting technology is being utilized in both traditional auto lights as well as some intriguing and innovative custom mounted lighting. Despite the fact that many people still believe that LEDs are far more expensive than traditional lighting, these remarkable, small, and light weight bulbs are nearly the same price as most conventional bulbs, yet they come with some strikingly different features.

The fact is, LED lighting is a technology that is moving in remarkable directions. Already it is possible to get LED products that not just include automobile bulbs, but also accent lighting light strips, and there are LED lights that can now be bought as replacements for standard screw-in incandescent or the recent compact florescent bulbs.

There are many benefits to using the LED light, including long term cost and a reduction of energy expense. When using an incandescent bulb the energy cost over its life time will exceed the initial purchase price by 5 to 10 times. Compact fluorescent lights uses 75% less energy than standard bulbs, and last 6x longer. However, the LED light lasts 10 longer than the compact fluorescent and because they are solid and do not have filaments they are more durable. This stability will enable these lights to far out last any standard light available on the market. With the cost moving more in line with traditional lighting, and the additional durability and efficiency LEDs actually become a far cheaper alternative.

In addition to their cost, efficiency, and durability, these lights are also mercury free and do not cause the dreaded heat buildup. When using standard lighting there are some limitations regarding placement and usability with some materials, whereas LEDs enable you to have greater flexibility with design, color, and construction.

What some may also not realize as well is these lights are also capable of having some other amazing qualities besides illumination. If used properly some LEDs have the ability to be used for something as exotic as photo detection. Utilizing this aspect a product could be crafted such as an LED display that could feature a controlling display.

Although it has become a very popular bulb, and is beginning to be seen more in homes and contemporary flashlights, recently the most stylish way to use LED lights has been in creatively lighting automobiles. The flexibility and ease of use has contributed to a number of amazing and attractive uses from mood lighting inside your car, the futuristic glow from under a sports car, or giving your motorcycle a cool blue edge. As the cost continues to drop on these astonishing and versatile lights the world will no doubt begin to see more intriguing uses that will endlessly amaze us.

A huge news event just broke and you’re having one of those moments that all writers alike wish for: clarity of thought and direction in your writing. As you’re typing away your thoughts, excited to hit the seductive “publish post” button after you’ve proofed your piece a bit, a familiar nagging at your gut tells you that you may have some typos due to how fast you did all this.

Now, there’s a solution to that feeling: Edit Huddle.

Edit Huddle is a tool that helps writers and bloggers stop worrying about having several rounds of proofing before publishing a post. In a fast-moving Internet age, when people are racing to chime in on current events on blogs, worrying a little bit less about simple typos is a precious tool.

Founder of Edit Huddle, Imran Ahmad, a ’14 MBA candidate at UChicago Booth School of Business, describes Edit Huddle as “a tool to help bloggers stop worrying about petty edits or people flooding their comment stream focusing on grammar, spelling, or other issues that hurt discussion.” Ahmad says the goal of the tool is ”to allow bloggers to privately get specific editorial feedback on their blogs.”

So how does Edit Huddle work?

As described by the Edit Huddle team, “Readers simply highlight the text they want to edit and identify what type of error it is. That information goes directly to the blogger in a series of charts that allow them to sync directly with WordPress and other sites to seamlessly fix any potential errors.” One useful detail to note is the proposed integration of the Edit Huddle tool as a button on popular blogging sites.

Ahmad and his team, including Adam Bain, Pradeep Maddineni, Kunal Shah, took part in a Hackathon as part of the 2011 Chicago Social Development Camp. Ahmed formed a team and over the course of 36 hours and developed Edit Huddle. Ahmad’s team was selected as the winner for best design and won second place out of a field of around 30 entries.

When asked how he came up with the idea, Ahmad recounts the simple way it happened while he was reading a TechCrunch article online. Ahmad saw an error and wasn’t able to easily report it to the writer. Ahmad asked himself why there wasn’t a simpler way for the blogger to be notified about the error?

Ahmad explains, ”I kept seeing blogs with basic errors. The wrong use of “your”, factual misstatements and even simple spelling errors. With thousands of readers reading your blog, lots of people identify the same issues.”

Following the “Fix It” mentality that Edit Huddle brings to the blogging world, Ahmad says, ”I decided that it was high time we used the power of the crowd to provide private feedback directly to the bloggers so that they can make the changes and not be worried about people flooding the comments section with grammatical issues.”

The Edit Huddle team is currently at Startup Weekend Chicago making progress on their company. So far, the team has contacted over 1,000 bloggers and has collected numerous survey responses gauging the need for a tool like Edit Huddle.

Rachel Hyman, part of Edit Huddle marketing, reports that Seth Kravitz, co-founder of Technori and avid blogger, stated that “This is something we would definitely use on our website…I love the simplicity of your implementation.”

Hyman also reports that Alec Wilhelm from The Next Web has also demonstrated significant interest in Edit Huddle’s progress.

The team plans to launch the tool live on 8 blogs by Sunday, just in time for their presentation at Startup Weekend Chicago, competing with 9 other teams at the Excelerate Labs headquarters.

If you are a blogger or just someone interested in this tool, here are a few things you can do to get in the Edit Huddle loop: Check out Edit Huddle’s page and contact Rachel Hyman if you are interested in beta testing. Also, complete this one-minute survey and connect with Edit Huddle on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

As a blogger that gets bogged down by perfecting grammar and spelling at the cost of interrupting my thought-flow, this is a tool I’m looking forward to having at my disposal. And since I wrote this article so fast and I’m sure there are typos galore, I wish Edit Huddle’s “Fix It” button for your grammatical-error-induced annoyance to let me know.

Apple’s iOS 5 is out now, promising a better user experience.

The update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

• Notifications
  • Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Center
  • New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
  • View notifications from lock screen
  • Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app
• iMessage
• • Send and receive unlimited text, photo, and video messages with other iOS 5 users
  • Track messages with delivery and read receipts
  • Group messaging and secure encryption
  • Works over cellular network and Wi-Fi
•  Newsstand
• • Automatically organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
  • Displays the cover of the latest issue
  • Background downloads of new issues
• Reminders for managing to do lists
• • Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
  • Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
• Built-in support for Twitter
• • Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
  • Add location to any tweet
  • View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts
• Camera improvements for devices with cameras
• • Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
  • Volume Up button to take a picture
  • Optional grid lines to line up shots
  • Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
  • Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
  • Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock
• Photo improvements for devices with cameras
• • Crop and rotate
  • Red eye removal
  • One tap enhance
  • Organize photos into albums
• Mail improvements
• • Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts
  • Indentation control
  • Drag to rearrange names in address fields
  • Flag messages
  • Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
  • Customize mail alert sounds
  • S/MIME
• Calendar improvements
• • Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
  • Tap to create an event
  • View and add event attachments
• Game Center improvements
• • Use personal photos for your Game Center account
  • Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
  • Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
  • Discover new games with custom game recommendations
• AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
•  Multitasking Gestures for iPad
• • Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
  • Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
  • Swipe left or right to switch between apps
• On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant
• Software updates available over the air without tethering
• iCloud support
• • iTunes in the Cloud
  • Photo Stream
  • Documents in the Cloud
  • Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
  • Backup
  • Contacts, Calendar, and Mail
  • Find My iPhone
• Redesigned Music app for iPad
• Hourly weather forecast
• Real-time stock quotes
• Wireless sync to iTunes
• Keyboard improvements
• • Split keyboard for iPad
  • Improved autocorrection accuracy
  • Improved Chinese and Japanese input
  • New Emoji keyboard
  • Personal dictionary for autocorrection
  • Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words
• Accessibility improvements
• • Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
  • Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
  • New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
  • Option to speak a selection of text
  • Custom element labeling for VoiceOver
• Exchange ActiveSync improvements
• • Wirelessly sync tasks
  • Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
  •  Improved offline support
  • Save a new contact from a GAL service
• More than 1,500 new developer APIs
• Bug fixes

The update works with the iPhone 4S, 4, 3GS, iPad, iPad 2, iPod Touch (3rd and 4th generations)

For information on the security content of the update, visit support.apple.com.

Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder and former CEO, died of respiratory arrest caused by a pancreatic tumor on October 5, according to officials.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department in San Jose, Calif. released the information Monday as the official cause of death. 

No autopsy was performed.

The social networks were still buzzing about how disappointing it was to hear Apple announce the iPhone 4S instead of a 4G-compatible iPhone 5. But, very quietly, 1 million people have purchased the iPhone 4S in one day, shattering the iPhone 4′s sales record.

Still not sold? Here are five reasons why you should buy an iPhone 4S.

1. Processor

The iPhone 4S runs a dual core A5 processor, while the original iPhone 4 only runs a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8. Apple says the iPhone 4S is twice as fast as the iPhone 4 and runs graphics seven times faster.

2. Camera

The iPhone 4S finally has a real camera that can shoot at 8 mega pixels and record video at 1080P. That’s as good as your actual digital camera, odds are. If you’re a shutterbug, always pulling your camera/camera phone out, this will be a real treat.

3. Storage

The iPhone 4S offers at 64GB model for the first time. The main benefit here is shooting HD video and downloading movies. The 64GB offering helps.

4. Better gaming

If you are a mobile gamer, the iPhone 4S is the best thing yet. The phone features an amazing boost in graphic processing power, while the dual core opens the door for deeper, more interactive games.

5. Home button

OK this might not be a glowing positive, but if you’ve had an iPhone 4 for a while, the odds are your home button is starting to go. I have to hit mine a few times to get it to work, and forget about double-clicking to view the open apps. That, right there, makes me want to upgrade.

The launch of the iPhone 4 in June 2010 hit a bit of a rough patch for Apple, when several customers complained about loss of signal strength and dropped calls while touching the lower left edge of the phone.

Soon after the complaints began, Apple made a controversial statement, claiming that while they understood the issue, many of their competitor’s phones had the same problem and initially offered no other resolve for the problem. Once a lawsuit was threatened against the company and their partners at AT&T for fraud, Apple released a five dollar quick patch, a cleverly shaped band-aid with the catch phrase “Apple made a boo-boo.” Later, they released a free bumper casing for iPhone 4 owners in order to put an end to the complaints.

The technical issue and following actions taken by Apple were named by some online tech-bloggers as “Antennagate” and became a black mark on Apple’s mostly stellar cell phone record.

It seems now though; a permanent change has been made to this flaw, as the newly announced iPhone 4S will feature a pair of antennas that should eliminate concerns about a loss of single and dropped calls presented by its predecessor. The announcement of the new tech was made this passed Tuesday, at the unveiling of the iPhone 4S.

Apple says that the two antennas outside the case intelligently switch back and forth between each other to maximize the phone’s ability to transmit and receive data. This system should also minimize the loss of calls caused by the former problem. The antennas are also placed on the top and bottom sections of the phone, so as to minimize them both being covered by its I Phone users while gripping the phone.

This addition has been heralded by some as the long awaited permanent response to the iPhone 4’s issues, though it was said that by some that holding the phone horizontally with both hands to text or type may result in a similar “Death Grip” situation.

Whatever the result of the change, the major issue of calls being dropped due to hand position seems to be a thing of the past for iPhone users.

Steve Jobs is remembered outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store on October 5 in New York City. (WireImage)

On Wednesday October 5, 2011, the world lost on of its strongest cultural and technological icons when Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple Computers and definer of this generation’s entertainment media, died at age 56.

Jobs had stepped down as CEO of Apple in August and died a day after Apple had its first major tech demo without him.

Born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955, Jobs began his professional path in an extremely unconventional manner. A college dropout, Jobs attended classes as an audit student at Reed College in Portland, Ore., staying in friends’ dorm rooms and getting free meals at local Krishna temples. After a short time at the college he began working for the pioneering video game company Atari and attended spiritual sessions for the teachings of Neem Karoli Baba in India. He also became interested in the LSD movement that was popular at the time in San Francisco, an event in his life that he rated as an extremely crucial part of his development.

In 1976, along with partners Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Jobs founded Apple Computers and gave the world a product called the Personal Computer.

Throughout the years, the company assembled and sold computers on an ever rising scale, with Jobs constantly pushing for new and creative people to help make the company more profitable. In 1984, the first national introduction to the company was given in the form of a now-famous Super Bowl commercial inspired by George Orwell’s 1984. The commercial was used to hype the release of the Macintosh Computer, the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface and arguably the launching point of the American home computer revolution.

The years after the Macintosh was introduced would be a strenuous time for Apple, a time earmarked by Jobs’ controversial forced removal from the company.

Not to be kept down, Jobs purchased the video wing of George Lucas’ Lucasfilm in 1986 and created Pixar Animation Studios

The company’s first project 1995′s, “Toy Story,” would go on to gross $361 million and become etched in our popular culture forever. “Toy Story 3,” released last year, grossed more than $1 billion.

“Toy Story” was the first feature-length animated movie created 100 percent by computers. Jobs had, for the first time, given the world a commercially successful mix of computers and pop culture that would go on to define both him and Apple in the years to come.

In 1996, Jobs returned to Apple and began overseeing what would become the revolutionary Mac Operating System and iMac computer. The combination of these two products would pull Apple from a failing computer company to the second highest distributor in the world.

Next came iPod, which revolutionized the way people carried and listened to their music. Portable music played existed before the iPod, but it was Apple’s mix of cutting-edge technology with an intuitive interface that would drive it.

Jobs next tackled the smartphone. Rivals Microsoft and Research in Motion had been creating smartphones for years before Apple would release its iPhone, but it was the iPhone that ushered in the smartphone revolution. Perhaps never before has so much power and so many features been so fun and easy to use before. It was Jobs who made the iPhone an integral part of Generation Y’s lifestyle.

We hardly need to mention what came next: the iPad. Again, tablet computers were around long before the iPad, but it was the iPad that made tablet computing mainstream and sent every hardware competitor rushing to copy it.

Besides being an acclaimed businessman and ambassador for his company, Jobs was also a notable technician, being listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in 338 US patents or patent applications. He was famous for his hands-on approach to Apple’s management, being personally involved with many of the company’s most successful products.

A statement issued from his family said that he had died “peacefully, surrounded by his family.” Jobs’ announced he developed pancreatic cancer in 2004 and had received a liver transplant in 2009. An official cause of death has not been announced.

Nearly as impressive as his life, the reaction to Jobs’ death has been a worldwide headline. In a time where the Occupy Wall Street movement is in full effect and the recent scandals of major companies have left many corporate personalities painted as villains, Jobs has received unprecedented admiration for his actions as CEO and a large online mourning has been going on since his passing. A massive twitter movement tagged #RIP #SteveJobs has everyone from celebrities to elected officials tweeting their well wishes to Jobs’ family and their thoughts on Jobs’ as an inventor and public persona. Possibly the most notable of these memorial statements is President Barrack Obama observing how many people discovered Jobs’ death through their iPhones: “There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

Steve Jobs, legendary visionary and co-creator of Apple died Wednesday, he was 56. He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Laurene, and four children, including one from a prior relationship.

Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 and grew up in Cupertino, Calif.. which would later become Apple’s headquarters. Partnering with Steve Woszniak, the pair built their first commercial product, the Apple 1, in Jobs’ parents’ garage in 1976. He is credited with much of Apple’s modern vision and product line including the iMac, the iPhone and the iPod.

Jobs recently stepped down from his duties as chief executive in August because he could “no longer meet (his) duties and expectations.”

Love binary code? You’re not alone (who knew).  After the successful launch of a 4 bit binary watch, Cadence Watch Companies made a binary wall clock to appease your inner nerd.

The wall clock will have a 13 1/4 diameter clock face, be battery operated and black in color.

“Following enthusiastic response among computer geeks in regards to the 4-Bit Watches, we are proud to give the home and office some attention,“ said Vanya Buvac, President of Cadence Watch Company. “The wall clock is subtle enough to disguise your inner geek, but stylish enough to hang proudly on you wall.”

The clock costs $68.00 and is available at http://cadencewatch.com/4bit-clock

OtterBox, which makes the ultra-tough, waterproof and idiot proof cases for cell phones and other devices, will have its most popular cases ready to go for the iPhone 4S, the company said today.

OtterBox Defender, Reflex, Commuter and Impact Series cases will be out this fall with a new camouflage color scheme joining the fray.

More information here.

It may not be the iPhone 5 millions were anticipating, but Apple took the stage today in Cupertino, CA to announce the next evolution of its iPhone line, the iPhone 4S.  The new handset will be available for AT&T, Verizon and for the first time ever — Sprint on October 14.

The new 4S looks nearly identical to its predecessors, but according to Apple contains a new A5 processor that’s  is up to seven times faster at rendering graphics and twice as fast at processing data. It also features a new virtual assistant named “Siri” who will respond to voice commands and be able to translate speech in to text. Siri will also talk back to respond to questions. To display this, Apple’s Scott Forstall, a senior vice president for iPhone software asked Siri to find a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto. Siri pulled up the listing from Yelp and said ”I have found 14 Greek restaurants; five of them are in Palo Alto. I have listed them according to ranking.”  During the demo she did not say “I’m sorry, I can’t do that Hal…”

“I’ve been in the AI field a long time. This blows me away,”  said Forstall. Among other upgrades, the 4S will also have extended battery life, an 8 mega-pixel camera and the ability to shoot high definition video.

“When you think about it, only Apple could make such amazing software, hardware and services and bring them together into such a powerful yet integrated experience,” Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook said at the press conference.

Apple also detailed iOS 5, which features cloud storage and will be available on October 12.

A recent Associated Press and MTV poll of teenagers found that 56 percent of them have been the target of online taunting, harassment or bullying.  4 out of 10 of those polled who were in a relationship said their partners used computers or cellphones negatively in the relationship.

Catherine Devine experienced online bullying at a young age, according to Boston.com  “They were making things up about me, and I was the most innocent 12-year-old ever,” she said. “I hadn’t even kissed anybody yet.”

This “digital abuse” has become a problem amongst young people with the rise of the technology age.  Phoebe Prince and, more recently, Jamey Rodemeyer, were bullied over the Internet to the point that they took their own lives.  These cases have garnered national attention, right up to President Obama.

The President brought students, parents and experts to the White House in March to talk about and condemn cyber bullying, and last week Lady Gaga chatted with Obama about passing legislation making bullying illegal.

Boston.com asserts that the recent increase in online bullying may be due to the increase in time that young people spend on social networking sites.  They say 7 in 10 had logged into a social networking site in the previous week, and 8 in 10 had texted a friend.

Cyber bullying researcher Sameer Hinduja said that 20 to 25 percent more middle and high school students experience cyber bullying.  He also suggests that online bullying carries into real life.

“When I was bullied in middle school I could go home and slam my door and forget about it for a while,” said Hinduja. “These kids can be accessed around the clock through technology. There’s really no escape.”

Some surveyed that their romantic partners have pressured them into sending nude pictures via text or online.

Catherine Devine’s former boy friend pressured her into sending nude pictures, and then threatened her with them when they broke up.

“I didn’t realize the power he could have over me from that,” Devine said. “I thought he’d just see it once and then delete it, like I had deleted it.”

Fifteen percent of young people, including those in their early 20s, have shared a nude photo through technology, according to Boston.com.

Technology also plays a part in dating violence, including partners checking up on significant others constantly, and snooping in private online accounts.  Fourteen percent of those polled say they have been the victim of technological dating abuse.

The poll was conducted from August 18-31 and was comprised of online interviews with 1,355 people ages 14-24.

Apple is holding a press event on October 4 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, where it is widely believed the company will announce, or perhaps release, the iPhone 5.

It is possible that Apple will release the widely anticipated new iPhone at the event, with the top names in tech journalism in the audience.

The event will also probably mark new Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first major appearance at a launch event.

SlashGear reported that Apple may demonstrate the new phone’s 4G capabilities.

The most recent rumors say that the iPhone 5 will have a dual-core A4 processor, 8 megapixel camera, iOS 5, thinner body and larger display.

Fans could be disappointed, however, as it is also possible that Apple will merely unveil a cheaper iPhone 4 called the iPhone 4S, SlashGear reported.

The event is tagged “Let’s Talk iPhone” and will be held at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters.

InMotion, in an email to users, said Sunday that the homepage defacement attack launched by the southeast Asian hacker TiGER-M@TE was not meant to do permanent or catestrophic damage to the hundreds of thousands of websites that were hit.

“We understand the method the attacker used to accomplished this and the main exploit path was through an internal management server that can control Cpanel on other servers. The management server was used to change passwords on the Cpanel servers then login with those passwords,” said Todd Robinson, president of the hosting company.

The defacement attacked worked by replacing index files in all public_html directories with the attacker’s own branded index.php. InMotion does not believe that any data was stolen or that any passwords were compromised.

“It does not appear that gaining passwords was a goal or was accomplished, just password changes were used. Access to the management server was gained from an exploited customer’s server that was within our network,” Robinson said. “Though our team moved quickly to disable the internal management server and limit the exposure of the servers to this attack when it began, it
was a very serious breach and could have been much worse if the hacker had intended to do more harm.”

This does fit the modus operandi of TiGER-M@TE, who often claims to hack for fun or just to prove that “it can be done.”

Blast Magazine’s network of websites were defaced during the attack on InMotion, as was the offical City of Providence website.

InMotion took responsibility for failing to prevent the damage. Some estimates have the attack hitting more than 500,000 websites, making it historic in its proportions if not in its level of damage.

“Please accept our apologies as we go through this process,” Robinson said. “We are very aware of our failure in this situation and we will provide more details when we have completed the work of recovery.”

For several hours Sunday morning, Blast Magazine and many other websites in the InMotion Hosting network were attacked by a hacker called TiGER-M@TE.

InMotion, where Blast hosts one of its servers, acknowledged the breach.

“At around 4 a.m. EST, our system administration team identified a website defacement attack affecting a large number of customers. We are still investigating, but it appears that files named index.php have been defaced. We are evaluating how this has occurred and our security team will have more information shortly,” InMotion said in a statement. “While we review this issue, cPanel and SSH access has been disabled on various platforms. For additional security, we are rotating passwords on a number of accounts.”

It is unclear how many sites were hit, but it is likely hundreds, if not thousands.

This morning, the Blast homepage was briefly replaced by a black background with the red letters “Hacked” (See photo below) and all of our blogs and articles were unreachable.

This appears to be the same hacker who successfully attacked Google previously. The Hacker News interviewed TiGER-M@TE, who claimed to be hacking since 2007, working alone, and only using private exploits and zero-day attacks.

In an online posting, TiGER-M@TE claimed responsibility for launching the homepage defacement attack.

“While we can respect TiGER-M@TE’s abilities, we are disappointed that our websites were hit,” said Blast Magazine editor-in-chief John M. Guilfoil. “What truly concerns me, however, is that InMotion Hosting appeared woefully unable to prevent or defend against this kind of attack, even though homepage defacements have been going on seemingly forever. We will consult with InMotion on Monday and plan to press the company to be more proactive in its security if InMotion values its customers.”

Where were you when your mom showed up on Facebook? How did you feel? Did the walls start to close in and a sharp panic run up your spine as you frantically began deleting every picture of yourself toasting a cup of whatever mix drink you preferred at the age of 19? The opening of the social network Facebook from strictly college students to the general public seems like the first time the format became a chore, but it wouldn’t be the last.

Within the last three years, Facebook has drastically changed its layouts, features, and privacy settings four times, each being met with a large amount of criticism and disdain. The latest update, that went live Wednesday, has been met with everything from misspelled jeering to mass threats of defection to the recently public released Google +. What are the new changes to our beloved streaming social life, and are they all as bad as they are made out to be by the hating masses? Here’s the Blast Magazine breakdown.

New News Feed

What is it? The New Feed that once showed you a list of chronological events in one tab and a list of “Most Popular” in a second has been replaced by a single feed that will show you both. The order in which these will appear will depend on the last time you visited Facebook, with “Top Stories” appearing first if you haven’t visited for an extended period of time and “Recent Stories” appearing if you recently checked.

What’s it supposed to do? Facebook’s official blog claims ““When you visit Facebook, you should see the things you’re most interested in…”. This new feed will attempt to prioritize your stories in order of what you are most likely interested in seeing.

Like or Dislike? DISLIKE — Both Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury warned us of a time when computers would tell us what we should care about and how that would bring an end to human culture as we know it. But outside of the doomsday literary references, more often than not the algorithm used to determine what you want will misunderstand you completely, making a hassle out of something that was once effortless.

The Ticker

What is it? A sort of “Inception” Facebook within a Facebook, The Ticker acts as a second, smaller Newsfeed at the top right of the main screen that displays real time updates.

What’s it supposed to do? While the new main News Feed will update you with your “Top News Stories” based on a new algorithm the company has developed, The Ticker will update in real time the newest occurrences on Facebook for those who wish to see events chronologically.

Like or Dislike? DISLIKE — This happens from time to time in social networks where the powers that be take what you used to have in a previous version and kind of shrink it down so they can eventually completely cut it out. Its slow death and it’s never fun to watch.

The Subscribe Button

What is it ? A new option in the way of what you see from individuals on your feed, choosing to “Subscribe” to a person rather than simply “Friend” them allows you to filter the content that you are made aware of.

What is it supposed to do? Allows users to filter out some of the excess posting that some of their friends tend to put up. Also allows you to completely filter out people’s posts without having to unfriend them.

Like or Dislike? LIKE — Facebook’s take on what Google + introduced with the “Circles” concept, it’s always good to have the option to take the coward’s way out when you don’t want to hear from certain people.

The New Friend Button with Smart Lists

What is it? A more detailed way to categorize the people on your friends list between “Close Friend” or “Acquaintance”. Also added is a section of “Smart Lists” allowing users to quickly categorize their friends into different listings such as school mates or family.

What is it supposed to do? Along with the subscribe option, this feature is another way to filter some unwanted posts from showing on your feed by disavowing minor posts put on by people marked as acquaintances. Also the smart lists are used to remind you where you know some of your friends from.

Like or Dislike? LIKE — Really we should be taking steps as a culture towards talking to people who post to many useless things on the feed and getting used to saying “We can still be friends, just not on Facebook.” But since the path to Hell is paved with good intentions, another option to skirt around people is nice.

The Smart List seems a bit useless, but it is a skipable step to friending someone so it won’t be held against the judgment.

Bigger Photos on the Feed

What is it? Photos now appear larger on the feed.

What’s it supposed to do? Make pictures bigger on the feed.

Like or Dislike? LIKE — The pictures are bigger! Bigger and on the feed! Isn’t that great?!?!!

New Top Right Corner

What is it? The original top right corner of the Facebook page has been changed from including “Home,” “Profile” and “Account” to two quick links between your profile page and the main news feed. A drop down menu has been included to allow users to change to using Facebook as their “Page” if they have one.

What’s it supposed to do  Allow for a simpler interface and make it clearer when a user is logged onto their “Page” and when they are logged in as their personal profile.

Like or Dislike? DISLIKE — The biggest problem that occurs when a website changes interface is the time it takes to get used to the muscle memory motions that have come with using the site so long. Going from three options to two is a bit of a superfluous change and users will find themselves taking that extra few seconds to get it right for a while.

Those are the major changes made to the site, here’s a quick list of minor changes:

• You no longer need 25 likes on a business page in order to grab a custom URL. LIKE
• There is now a “Friend Activity” feed on business pages so that people can see how their friends interact with your page. LIKE
• Facebook will now email you a daily summary of the “less important” notifications instead of individual ones. DISLIKE — I have never understood why people would need Facebook items emailed to them
• Posts or comments in another language prompt the appearance of a “translate” button. LIKE
• You can now post birthday wishes to peoples’ walls without leaving your homepage by clicking the birthday’s link in the upper right corner. DISLIKE — Nothing says “I don’t care” like not bothering to go to someones profile in order to write the classic “Happy Birthday dudeeeeee”

Final verdict

The small changes are OK, the big changes are a pain, and all the changes are unnecessary.

Our complaints about the New Facebook are the same as most people’s. That being no one had any real problem with what Facebook was. It was quick, free, and has been a standard in most people’s life for the last half decade.But the company has the Myspace train of thought, which reads “any new threat to our social network supremacy must be outdone ten fold” with the results being an overblown web of useless features smothering the original format that got us into the network in the first place.

Tenenbaum and Nesson (JoelFightsBack.com)

In a decision sparse in terms of legal precedence, Joel Tenenbaum, the Boston University student involved in a civil suit with the Recording Industry Association of America, again finds himself staring down the barrel of a six figure judgment. This comes on the heels of a decision by a Federal Appeals Court to reverse former District Court Judge Nancy Gertner’s ruling that Tenebaum’s fine be reduced from $675,000 to $67,500.

Now he owes $675,000 again.

Gertner felt that the jury’s initial ruling was excessive, and therefore a violation of due process. While the appeals court did not directly address the constitutional issues raised by Gertner, they took issue with her “disregard for procedure” in reducing the fine levied against Tenebaum. The appeals court cited that Gertner, in lieu of an arbitrary reduction, should have proposed a figure that the Record Companies could settle on or choose to decline; the latter resulting in a second trial.

The constitutional gray area brought into the spotlight by Gertner’s decision seems to form the foundation of the argument launched by Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law Professor, and his team of law students aiding him Tenebaum’s defense. Nesson and his team seem intent on promoting the idea of the Copyright Statute being vulnerable in its application upon individual file sharers who have no intent to profit from their infringement, a point brought up by Tenebaum in his own defense.

Jason Harrow, one of the students aiding Nesson, stood before the First Circuit Court of Appeals and argued that so few cases of this nature had been filed because “no one thought the statute would apply to consumers like this.” The Judge quickly dismissed this notion by stating that “the literal language of the statute does not include an exception for consumers.” She also pointed out that Congress could have easily written in this exemption had it been their intent for the statute to be interpreted thus. However, Harrow still argued that the statute should be fairly interpreted in order to suppress any constitutional red flags, and that Congress did not necessarily intend for the copyright laws to be enacted in a way that gave leeway to such “absurd results.”

The actual body of the Copyright Law of the United States reads that, “In a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000.” As a result, Tenebaum, who is considered a willful violator responsible for 30 separate infringements, faced a maximum settlement of $4.5 million.

Tenebaum is grateful that the judgment did not reach this multi-million dollar ceiling, saying “That to me sends a message of ‘we considered your side with some legitimacy’”. However, he has also noted that even the significantly smaller figure set by Nancy Gertner, and recently overturned by the appeals court, will result in his filing for bankruptcy.

This is the first case of its kind to reach the Federal Appeals Court, although a similar case involving Minnesota mother, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, is also destined to appear before a Federal Court after three years of circulation in the legal system.

Kepler-16b orbits two suns, just like Tatooine

Remember one of the opening scenes from “A New Hope” where Luke kicks the dirt and looks out at Tatooine’s double suns setting in the distance? Well scientists have found a planet that fit the bill.

The NASA Kepler spacecraft has identified a planet — very creatively named Planet Kepler-16b — that orbits two suns.

It was the first time that we Earthlings have observed what is known as a circumbinary planet.

But Kepler-16b is also an oddball because it falls within a radius of the double-star system that scientists thought was too close for a planet to form.

The planet orbits its stars every 229 days.

We reported on this type of problem back in November. A problem with domain name servers may be negatively affecting Comcast internet customers.

Four days ago, a broad DNS attack was reported that hit the sites of UPS, Acer, and others in a coordinated attack that may have been carried out by Turkish hackers. That was a hack on the NetNames DNS provider.

TechCrunch.com also reported at 11:30 p.m. Thursday that Microsoft services, including Hotmail, SkyDrive, and Office 365 were all down because of a DNS problem. Service was restored about four hours later.

Tonight, some Comcast customers in Boston have reported that “the lights are on” on their cable modem, but websites will not load. Changing the DNS servers on your router and/or computer to Google’s public DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as secondary) just as we recommended in November, seemed to fix the problem. Make sure you restart your computer or other device before trying to get back online.

Are you having/did you have Internet problems? Let us know where/when by commenting on this story!

Sprint Nextel is planning to offer the iPhone as early as next month, and as it does with other smartphones (and as soon in its commercials) the company says it will offer an unlimited data plan for Apple’s super-phone, according to Bloomberg.

But as CNET points out, that isn’t likely to last very long.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless both got rid of unlimited data, in favor of tiered pricing options, after the iPhone came to their networks. The iPhone comes with a price for mobile phone carriers — it eats an enormous amount of data from up in the clouds.

The new iPhone would likely overburden Sprint Nextel’s 4G network, forcing it to do the same.

The CNET article cites an analyst that expects Sprint to continue using its unlimited data advertising campaign to lure customers away from AT&T and Verizon, and then pull a switch.

Beezid.com is sponsoring the new weekly segment “Gadget Review” beginning Wednesday, September 7 on the live SModcast “Jay and Silent Bob Get Old.”

During the segment Jason Mewes (Jay) and Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) will review a new tech gadget. Each week, audience members will have the chance to win the featured product of the week, signed by Mewes and Smith. Also, everyone who enters the contest will be eligible to win a quarterly contest to attend a live taping of the show.

“Jay and Silent Bob Get Old” is recorded live on Fridays at the Jon Lovitz Podcast Theatre at Universal Studios CityWalk, and airs on Wednesdays on Kevin Smith’s “Smodcast Internet Radio.”

Beezid.com is a top-rated penny auction website for various products and smodcast.com  is a network of podcasts with original programming.

Geek Noun/g?k/

-An enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity

Minimal (Adj  \?mi-n?-m?l\)

- Barely adequate, the least possible

It’s hard out there for a geek. Not only do I find that statement to be true, it’s even tougher for a geek who loves gadgets, yet has little to no money to purchase any such technology. Consequently, I call myself a “Minimal Geek.”

I love technology and I don’t remember a time where electronics weren’t on the top of the list of things I wanted to own. To this day, I find myself wanting gadgets and gizmos aplenty before I even think about buying other things I might actually need; like clothes. With all the passion I boast for technology, there’s one little roadblock that gets me every time. I don’t have the money to buy ANYTHING expensive, and electronics/gadgets (whatever you like to call it) tend to be on the pricy side.

As a “Minimal Geek”, I’m slightly forced to keep my collection of technology, well, minimal. I own a four-year-old MacBook Pro, an iPhone 4 and an Xbox 360. I would love an iPad 2 and a new MacBook Air, but that’s just not going to happen anytime soon. If I was to add just those two products together, that’s roughly $1,500, and that’s if I get the cheaper forms of the products! These prices may not sound ridiculous to some people, but I can’t drop a cool thousand ever time a new gadget hits the scene. So, as broke as I am, I try to keep the technology I do have nice, so it never craps out on me. I hope to get a new laptop soon, but seeing as my cash flow is more minimal than my electronics’ collection, I’ll have to save up for a long time.

As simple of a choice I have to whether I’ll be able to make a big tech purchase (an easy yes or no), it still seems to be a tough decision either way. Until the day I’m filthy rich, without a money problem in the world, I shall geek out with the best of them and plague my mind with wishful thinking of sparkly new tablets, laptops, and electronics galore. It sure doesn’t help that I have expensive taste. Thanks a lot Apple.

The federal government is taking steps to block AT&T and T-Mobile merger on antitrust grounds.

The Justice Department took the step by filing suit to stop the merger, saying it would hurt competition and drive up prices, the Wall Street Journal reported.

At a press conference Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the merger would result in tens of millions of consumers facing fewer choices and lower-quality products, WSJ reported.

The Justice Department added that AT&T can propose fixes in the deal that would satisfy the government.

The massive $39 billion combination of two of the “big four” American mobile phone companies would create a company with 130 million subscribers, surpassing Verizon as the No. 1 wireless company in the US.

AT&T is currently No. 2, and T-Mobile is 4.

The third place wireless company, Spring Nextel Corp., is also against the merger.

AT&T stock was down nearly 4 percent on the news. Sprint was up nearly 10 percent.

The news that Steve Jobs is leaving Apple has rocked the tech world over the past week. Beyond that, Apple’s momentous rise over the past two years has made it one of the most valuable companies (and stocks to own) in the US.

But that success hasn’t been going on forever. Sure Apple gave us the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, but here are five products that just plain failed. Rotten apples, you could say:

5. Pippin (1996)

Ah the Pippin, with its AppleJack controller, 14.4 modem, and $600 price point.

Nintendo 64 it was not.

This gaming console PC cost way too much back in the day, and it’s modem made things impossibility slow, even by 1996 WWW standards.

Considering that N64 was about $200 back then, the Pippin never stood a chance.

4. Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (1997)

There were some innovations here. The TAM was one of the first desktops to use an LCD screen. It also had a Bose speaker system that sounded amazing, and its design was futuristic and playful. For that reason, it was not a total failure.

But its $7,000 price was unheard of, even by Apple standards, even in the 90s.

When you throw in the fact that the TAM was just a Power Mac 6500 with speakers and a monitor for more than $4,000 extra … yeah …

3. QuickTake (1994)

If the QuickTake came out in the late 80s or even 1990, it would be marveled, up there with the Apple II, as something revolutionary, that helped usher in a new generation of tech toys.

But it came out in the mid 90s, when a dozen other companies were racing to put out much better products.

The QuickTake was one of the first digital cameras.

But it only took pictures in 640×480 resolution, had no focus, and only stored eight photos.

The camera was also designed to work with a Mac, instantly limiting its market share.

2. MobileMe

The technology is there. The clouds are there. There is and was nothing revolutionary or impossible or really even that difficult about what MobileMe was designed to do: allow users to access and edit their photos, files, contacts, and calendars from a remote location.

The problem was simple: It didn’t work correctly when it launched. The buggy launch of MobileMe helped usher its demise, along with a 50-cal slug from iCloud.

1. The Apple Lisa (1983)

Reportedly named after Jobs’ daughter, who was born when development started, the Local Integrated Software Architecture computer was Apple’s first try at a GUI-driven computer.

The computer was marketed at businesses, but it’s $10,000 price tag drove away even the hungriest greasy-handed IT department computer nerds.

Some would say the Lisa was a success because it helped usher in the Macintosh in 1984, but that wasn’t the case at all. Businesses and home users flocked to IBM’s cheaper personal computers in the early 80s, cementing the PC as the dominant platform. Apple would never recover.

For that reason, we name the Lisa has the biggest failure, in our minds, in Apple’s history. The company rules the tablet PC market and a good chunk of the mobile phone market. It has a monopoly on the portable music market. But it has never, and will never, dominate the desktop computer market, and part of the reason is because IT departments almost always buy the same “type” when they upgrade, partly because of software costs. Therefore, WINDOWS is still what’s in nearly every office and most homes.

Purposefully not on the list

The ROKR.

OK, so nobody likes the ROKR. They still bought it — a lot of them did.

At least 16 different Motorola ROKR cell phone models have been built since 2005, with the latest coming out in June 2009. It is a phone designed to carry your iTunes music. If that’s all you want, and some phone calls, then the phone worked fine. No reason to add any additional hate. No matter how lame the piece of crap is.

NeXT

Not an Apple product, but it was a Steve Jobs product. Apple bought it eventually. The computer didn’t sell well, and the platform it was built on was short lived, but this product is not a failure for one simple reason: In 1991 it was used to create the first web server.

Newton

Can’t call the Newton a failure. It was the first PDA ever. Apple CEO John Sculley actually coined the phrase “Personal Digital Assistant.” So what if it cost too much and the Palm Pilot would soon demolish it?

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has resigned from his position as the company’s  Chief Operating Officer. The position will be filled by Apple’s former Chief Operating officer Tim Cook. Jobs will stay on as the company’s Chairman of the Board.

The announcement was made via a press release issued by Apple earlier today. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team,” the press release said. “In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

Though the announcement is surprising, Jobs has been hindered by a number of health problems in recent years that have forced him to take frequent leaves of absences from his position. These health problems date back to August of 2004, when Jobs had surgery to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer. Jobs announced in January of 2009 that he was suffering from a hormonal imbalance and in April of that same year Jobs underwent liver surgery.

Jobs reportedly announced his decision via a private letter to Apple’s employees. In the letter, Jobs ensured his faith in Cook and said that he believes that  “Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it.”