All Posts by Paul

Customize Your Mac with TinkerTool

Paul

Mac OS X only: Freeware customization utility TinkerTool tweaks hidden settings in all corners of your Mac, from modifying Finder and Dock features and effects to adjusting your system fonts. Similar to previously mentioned system tweaker Onyx, TinkerTool focuses more on visual tweaks in contrast to OnyX’s maintenance-focused tweaks (making them nice companion tools). My favorite feature: the ability to reorganize the order my startup items run via a simple drag and drop. TinkerTool is freeware, Mac OS X only.

TinkerTool [via Mac 911]

I’m do not have a mac but I am trying to include the mac people! 😉 if anyone tries out these programs let me know how they work!!

Britain recruiting spies with ads embedded in video games

Paul

Prefer the artful headshot of the sniper rifle to the scorched-earth carnage of the gatlin gun? Good, Britain’s GCHQ needs your help. The intelligence service focused on securing communications and information systems is set to embed adverts in games like “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent” starting this month. A GCHQ spokesperson told The Times that the move was a bid to attract “computer-savvy, technologically-able, quick-thinking” recruits. The advertisements will not be written into the games themselves but will be fed via the Internet to PCs or Xbox 360 consoles. As the expression goes, “Never trust a gamer under 30.”

Hey now I resemble that remark!! 😉 I am always going to be a gamer under 30!! 😛

iPod classic May Have Battery Drain-o Bug

Paul

Today there was some buzz about a battery bug in the iPod classic. Since perceived bugs aren’t always universal, or even widespread, we like to wait a bit before sounding the alarm. Well, this afternoon, when I plugged in an iPod classic that I swore was close to fully charged and saw the “Please connect to a power source” error message you can see above, I decided to dig deeper.

Sure enough, many, many classic owners are experiencing troubles. On this Apple Support thread alone, 33 posts discuss the issue, with speculation about whether the cause is use of Cover Flow or even leaving the clock display on (for as long as it lasts) when music isn’t playing. Most people say the problem hit when they upgraded to 1.02, the supposed classic “fix.”

In my own circumstance, the cause couldn’t be Cover Flow, because I rarely use it. (Sorry Steve!) It could definitely be related to the 1.02 update, as I had no problems until I updated. If you haven’t updated to 1.02, you may want to hold off. If you have, some people recommend restarting it to get it out of its continuous battery-draining spin. Some people simply recommend taking it back to the Apple Store for a replacement.

And they say the I-Pod firmware update was needed. I’d hold off on updating your Classic till they fix the problem.

Our Google Phone Wishlist

Paul

Although rumors of a possible Google Phone have been making the rounds really hard lately, any such phone will have to be amazing to grab enough end-user and media attention. Expectations are high, but since we’re dreaming, here’s our wishlist:
Tight integration with Google Apps:
• Picasa: A 2MP camera with decent color and low light performance should take a shot, and upload it directly to your Picasa web storage as a mirror. Likewise for YouTube uploads.
• Google Talk: Both IM and VoIP makes this a fancy web communicator. The carriers may not like this, but we’ve got a feeling Google will sell this sans carrier. Oh, and other IM client support.
• Google Video and YouTube: To at least match the iPhone, they have to have their video sites ready for mobile usage. Uploading
• Google Earth: Google Earth for 3D maps, with GPS and app integration.
• Google Docs support with full read like the ones for iPhones, Windows Mobiles and BlackBerries, but real with full editing right on the phone, and support for multiuser editing.
• Google reader for RSS.

I didn’t quote all the article because it’s a big article. I like what they said. I like the picture myself.

When Robots attack?? Or Is it??

Paul

According to ITWeb, the South African National Defense Force is now investigating the possibility that a software glitch may have been the cause of deadly anti-aircraft cannon “malfunction” that left nine soldiers dead and 14 seriously wounding during an exercise last Friday. The robot cannon in question is an Oerlikon GDF-005 which, as ITWeb points out, was apparently “not designed for fully automatic control,” yet that is just how it was operating in this case, although Oerlikon itself reportedly played no role in the upgrades. While Defense Force spokesman Kwena Mangope apparently isn’t going any further than to describe the incident as a “mechanical problem,” both the police and a Board of Inquiry are now looking to get to the bottom of the matter, although there’s no word as to when they expect to report their findings.

[Via Danger Room, thanks David D]

Hmm, is this when Robots Attacks? Or was it a Hacker?