With my new iPad2, I decided to go all in and get the Apple Smart Cover with it — along with the HDMI adapter covered here. Is it worth the extra $39 or $69 if you go for the leather option? Let’s take a look. Apple has a nifty video ad for the Smart Cover that makes it almost look fun. The video does show how it works and stays true to my experience with it, save one minor “action” they use when moving the iPad from the typing position to the upright position with one finger. See my video […]
RSA just announced that they were cracked. It is unclear what exactly has been put at risk. Our investigation also revealed that the attack resulted in certain information being extracted from RSA’s systems. Some of that information is specifically related to RSA’s SecurID two-factor authentication products. While at this time we are confident that the information extracted does not enable a successful direct attack on any of our RSA SecurID customers, this information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of a current two-factor authentication implementation as part of a broader attack. So, it looks like RSA’s SecurID is […]
I haven’t seen too much coverage on what you can do when outputting the iPad2 to a TV or monitor, so I decided to see how it all works. Using the “Digital AV Adapter”, it’s pretty simple to output the iPad to a HDTV. It mirrors the iPad screen as advertised, even the home screen. Rotating the iPad also is mirrored on the external screen, so it’s always replicating what you’re seeing on the actual iPad screen. It doesn’t up-scale the resolution, (unless your TV is set to do that, of course) so you’re basically seeing a 1:1 ratio (1024×786) […]
Killzone 3 caught a little game-journalist flak earlier this year for offering a “beta” that was, for all intents and purposes, a polished demo rather than a beta. Discussing plans for Gears of War 3, Epic’s Rod Fergusson recently weighed in on this trend at StrategyInformer. Money quote: “For me I think it has to do with people moving from PC to consoles.” Basically, he’s arguing that PCs require some basic familiarity with hardware and software maintenance, but consoles are a black box to most users; console users therefore expect all products to be finished products, even free “betas”. In […]
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Amazon does downloadable games now — and not just casual games, but “core” titles too. As an aside, for some reason the whole “core” moniker attached to games that are the opposite of casual games (hardcore games!) I find irksome, no specific reason why. Anyway, Amazon is doing 20% off of all their “Core” game downloads, making a serious run at Steam. They’ve been matching Steam’s weekend and midweek deals recently too. Definitely worth checking out as another option to Steam, Direct2Drive, Impulse, etc. New titles in there too like Bulletstorm, Homefront, Dragon […]
I’m a sucker for old videos and articles which would predict what things would be like today, and AT&T used to do tons of promo materials like that back in the day. Maybe it reminds me of dreams I had as a kid, wishing to have a device like a tablet, which could hold all of my school books, and could keep track of my place in each one. Also, it’s hard to deny that anything Shatner does, especially back in 1976, is pure awesome. Thanks to AT&T for sharing this one from their archives: AT&T Tech Channel
Multiple sources are reporting that Microsoft is winding down the Zune physical media device. They are planning on continuing with the Zune software, presumably on Windows 7 phone. This allows them to still sell music & subscriptions through their online store. The Zune has never gotten a whole lot of love. One of my favorite references was when it was mocked in the popular with geek television show, Chuck episode Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer.
In what I’m expecting to be a bit of an Apple fanboy week for me (yes my iPad2 has shipped and is scheduled to be delivered this week), I wanted to share an experience I had of setting up a Mac Mini for my parents over the weekend. A little bit of back story: My parents are not the most computer literate people around, although they’ve grasped email and do some online banking, they’re not stuck in the stone age either. They’ve used some form of a Windows PC for all of their computing experience, and really never even seen […]
Fortinet has recently posted a blog post on the history of computer viruses at 40th Anniversary of the Computer Virus | Fortinet Security Blog. From a historical perspective it is a fascinating read. A couple of ones from a personal note: Creeper: Catch me if you can. This was an experimental virus developed in 1971. It is the grand daddy of viruses. It was a relatively benign virus. And, it was actually a demonstration of mobile code. It would pick itself up and move to the next computer, vs. replicating like today’s viruses. The article does not deal with The […]
A few noteworthy deals to pass along. One thing that’s starting to become apparent is that Amazon is making a serious push into the digital distribution of PC games, and might even try and give Steam a run for their money. For example they’ve matched Steam’s mid-week deal of Mafia II for $7.50. From what I know about Amazon’s download service, is that it’s not all that different than how Direct2Drive works. Download the game as many times as you need to, and they add no additional DRM. Any DRM in the game is from the publisher only. Their selection […]