The Technology Thread - Part 1

[Teelie]

Has Your Network-Connected Back-Up Drive Been Indexed By Search Engines?

http://www.csoonline.com/article/29...e-data-has-been-indexed-by-google.html?page=3

That is a scary thought to think all mu private DJ music could be indexed and found by someone using Google. Luckily I don't back anything up with the cloud or use any indexing on my personal hard drive

Everyone remember to trust the cloud.

(this is essentially the same thing, only it's your networked harddrive, not someone else's)

 

[Teelie]

How to Make Sure Your Torrent Client Isn't Secretly Mining Bitcoin

https://torrentfreak.com/new-utorrent-release-breaks-ties-with-bitcoin-miner-150413/

Can't believe they even did that

I have not updated my uTorrent since 3.2.3 and I know a great many people still using the 2.x version because it's become so bloated and ironic from its origins as a lightweight client.

 

[Teelie]

Would Being Blasted With Rain and Snow Get You Back Into Movie Theaters?


http://variety.com/2015/film/news/4dx-movie-effects-rain-snow-warm-weather-1201469264/

Seems kind of stupid but they use similar tech in the Spider-Man 3D ride at Universal Islands of Adventure and it's actually pretty cool

Oh yes, the drive-in movie experience re-created in a theater... if only people wanted to leave the theater soaking wet and cold.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

This Mad Genius Built His Own Game Streaming Server For Almost Nothing

In less than a month OnLive, the world’s first cloud-based PC game streaming service, will be gone forever . Most of us took this news with a shrug. Madman Larry Gadea took it as a challenge—he built his own PC gaming cloud service. You can too.

It’s both more and less complicated than it sounds: you don’t need to build or own your own sever. You don’t even need to spend a lot of money—Gadea’s setup was built entirely with free software, Amazon Web Services and Valve’s Steam In-Home Streaming feature.

The setup can be a little obtuse if you’re not familiar with servers and VPN tunneling, but here’s how it works: Gadea used Amazon Web Services to set up a Windows-based EC2 server instance with NVIDIA GRID (yes, that NVIDIA GRID ) K520 graphics. He installed Steam on it, updated the graphics drivers from NVIDIA’s website and tweaked Windows settings to enable sound and prioritize the GRID graphics card.

Next, he set up a VPN service to make his MacBook Air appear on the same “local” network as the NVIDIA-powered server. Finally, he turned on Steam, downloaded a game to the server and started it via Steam In-Home Streaming on his Laptop. That’s it. The AWS server was running the game (Bioshock Infinite, specifically) at its highest configurable settings and streaming it directly to his local computer. Just like OnLive, but a hell of a lot more work.

It’s a brilliant solution to an uncommon problem, but it isn’t easy: Gadea told me that it took him the better part of a weekend to get everything working right, and unless you live near an Amazon data center it probably won’t work well enough for you to actually play games on it. On the other hand, it’s a compelling alternative to building a gaming PC—between server costs and data transfer, Gadea’s cloud-gaming costs him just $0.52 an hour. Not bad.

http://lg.io/2015/04/12/run-your-own-high-end-cloud-gaming-service-on-ec2.html

Sounds awesome and if I knew how to do any of that I may try it out

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Google Wants Your Email Addresses From Advertisers to Target Ads Better

Google does a lot of things, but perhaps chief amongst them is advertising. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that it's apparently now in talks to obtain email addresses from advertisers so that it can target its product pushing more accurately than ever.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is currently trying to convince advertisers to hand over customer information such as email addresses, according to people familiar with the matter. It also explains how it plans to uses them:

An office-supply retailer would give Google the email addresses of recent printer purchasers. The retailer could then bid to show ads when those people search for printer ink on google.com. The retailer could also tailor its Google ads based on other information it knows about the customer, including age, gender or prior purchases.

It isn't clear how Google might match email addresses on its end, but one of the people familiar with the matter said it could use Gmail addresses. Many users of Google services including Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps also provide secondary email addresses to the company. For now, the ads would be limited to search results and wouldn't include banner ads, this person said.​

The advantages for both Google and advertisers are obvious: better targeted ads bring more sales, and a closer link between the real and digital realms can provide even more marketing power. The benefit for the rest of us are, perhaps, a little less clear.

http://www.wsj.com/article_email/go...rget-ads-1429044389-lMyQjAxMTI1NjE4NDAxMjQzWj

Well I am not a fan of this idea at all

 

[Parker Wayne]

I have not updated my uTorrent since 3.2.3 and I know a great many people still using the 2.x version because it's become so bloated and ironic from its origins as a lightweight client.

I switched bittorrent apps. I use qbittorrent now.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

A Compact Semi-Portable Keyboard With Genuine Mechanical Keys

There’s just nothing quite like the sound and feel of typing away on a keyboard with genuine mechanical switches under each key. But while most mechanical keyboards are giant and designed to permanently live on your desk, the TEX Yoda has a much smaller form factor and footprint making it easier to travel with so you’ll never have to settle for typing on a portable keyboard’s Chiclet keys ever again.

But there’s another reason to consider upgrading to the TEX Yoda even if you never plan to take it on the road. In the middle of the keyboard is a genuine TrackPoint joystick, complemented by three function keys below the space bar, giving you full mouse control without your fingers ever having to leave the keys.

To avoid any battery life issues the TEX Yoda doesn’t have any wireless capabilities whatsoever. It’s USB-tethered all the way, but it does include an additional port on the back for connecting flash drives or other peripherals since it’s permanently occupying one of your computer’s ports. And that might leave some people scratching their heads as to why a wired compact keyboard costs $200, but those people have clearly never experienced the joy of pounding away on a set of mechanical keys.

http://theawesomer.com/tex-yoda-trackpoint-keyboard/316498/

I miss those clicks

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Apple Accused of Making the Russian Version of Siri Homophobic

Was Siri programmed to be a Russian homophobe? A Russian-language speaker living in London recorded some rude responses to questions about being gay from Apple’s digital assistant.

“Is gay marriage normal?” Alex asks.

“I believe this emotion should be considered negative,” Siri responds.

BBC Russia tested Siri and received similar responses to Alex, publishing a story that backed up the YouTube accusations. Apple told the BBC that the responses “were the results of a bug that has since been fixed.”

[YT]IUC2GD351EU[/YT]

Siri’s Russian-language answers about gay people started changing after the BBC released its article, suggesting that Apple tweaked the responses to be less homophobic in the past week. So weird how a “bug” that makes voice assistants homophobic only affected Siri in the language of a nation famously averse to homosexuality!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/society/2015/04/150413_tr_siri_homophobic_test

Shame on you Apple

 

[KevanG]

Big surprise companies are pandering to bigots.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

This Helmet Protects You From Your GoPro

In 2013, former Formula One Champion Michael Schumacher fell while skiing and suffered a traumatic brain injury even though he was wearing a helmet. The culprit? Some sources blame his helmet-mounted GoPro. Now, Sweet Protection has designed the first snow helmet capable of protecting you from your action camera.

Think about it for a second. Attaching a small, strong, sharp-sided implement securely to your helmet creates two problems: 1) it means you're almost certain to fall onto something hard and protruding in any significant crash and 2) the strength of its mount and its pokey outy nature basically attaches a lever which will apply rotational torque to your head and neck if it catches on something or jams in the snow. Both are bad.

Because wearers require their helmets to be as light and slim as possible, they just haven't been designed to specifically account for the potential problems created by action cameras. Fall and hit a rock, sure. But fall and hit a rock with a small, strong block of plastic in the way and that's a whole 'nother type of impact. Cameras create more potential for penetration and more rotational forces.

Enter this new $450 Sweet Grimnir. The snow helmet's carbon fiber-reinforced plastic shell is made stronger behind two dedicated mounting points — one on the forehead for a GoPro and one on the side for a Contour or similar. That prevents the cameras from being rammed through the shell, but the problem with additional rotational forces remains.

To address that, Sweet has designed built-in mounting points that screw into the helmet's shell. That makes them much more easily removable than the press-on pads that most people use now and, removing both the cameras and the mounts eliminates protrusions that may "grab" during a fall and twist your head, brain and neck.

But yeah, obviously that danger remains while the camera or its mount is attached to the helmet.

At 600 grams, the Grimnir remains very light, but is around 100 grams heavier than equivalent helmets without the reinforcement or mount threads. The helmet meets both the EN 1077 and ASTM 2040 safety standards.

Additionally, Grimnir is fitted with the MIPS anti-rotation technology and, by varying the direction and weave patterns of the carbon fibers in the polymer shell, Sweet says it's been able to take out weight while providing impact absorption tailored to the shapes and strengths of the human skull.

You know, so your next vacation video doesn't include footage of you going into a coma.

http://www.sweetprotection.com/ski-snowboard/helmets-protection/helmets/?p=grimnir&pid=720

Had no idea folks needed special protecction from GoPro's

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

IKEA Just Made It Crazy Easy To Add Wireless Charging To Your Furniture

Slowly but surely, IKEA’s getting into the electronics business. The Swedish furniture giant will start selling wirelessly charging furniture this spring. Don’t want new furniture? No sweat. IKEA makes it incredibly easy to install its new inductive charging device in any piece of furniture.

If you’ve been thinking about getting in the wireless charging game, IKEA just made it a no-brainer. Later this spring, you’ll be able to buy the Jyssen wireless charger for just $30. It’s designed to fit in the cord management hole of the Micke and Stuva desks, but for an extra $5, IKEA will sell you a special drill bit so that you can cut the perfect slot in literally piece of furniture you already own.

Want a wireless charging station on the kitchen table? No problem. How about a charging pad for your dresser? That’s a five-minute job. What about the garage? If you drill the hole, you can charge your phone.

Of course, you could always just opt for the easier, prettier, and slightly less expensive Nordmärke wireless charging pads. Those are $28 for the single pad and $65 for the triple. If your phone doesn’t already support wireless charging—the Qi standard can be hard to find—IKEA is also selling iPhone and Samsung Galaxy cases that add the functionality for$15 to $25.

The easiest approach to adding wireless charging to your life would be to buy a piece from IKEA’s new wireless charging furniture. We’ve known for a few weeks that these items were on the way, and IKEA just announced that everything will go on sale in late spring, just like the Jyssen kit.

It’s worth pointing out that wireless charging probably isn’t the best thing for the lifespan of your device’s battery. (It generates excess heat.) But it sure is convenient.

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/pressroom/press_materials/USA_PR_Wireless_charging.pdf

That's a great idea

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Google Accidentally Tore Itself a Security Hole on April Fool's

April Fool’s Day comes but once a year, and that’s probably a good thing for Google. Everyone’s favorite search giant and proprietor of quirky holiday-related graphics accidentally broke its site security this April 1.

This year, Google’s “prank” was turning its home page display around, so when you visited the homepage, everything looked backwards. But according to researchers at Netcraft, the joke was on Google— the prank home page didn’t have the usual security header in place to stop click-jacking attacks. Netcraft wrote about the ****up in a blog post.

This vulnerability would have allowed a remote attacker to change a user’s search settings, including turning off SafeSearch filters.​

Netcraft told Google about the vulnerability, and it looks like everything got patched up before hackers figured it out. What a great ending to a tale of potential enormous security failure! Happy Friday!

http://arstechnica.com/security/201...ols-prank-inadvertently-broke-sites-security/

Too clever for their own good haha

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I'm Not Putting My Arm Anywhere Near This Blood-Thirsty Needle Robot

It promises to make having blood drawn or getting injections far more comfortable and stress-free, but outside of a few testers (who are probably being well-compensated) who among us is willing to give a robot like the VenousPro a taste for human blood—specifically your blood?

[YT]IpdTeGPruFA[/YT]

Using infrared and ultrasound imaging the VenousPro is able to see right through the skin on a human’s arm to the veins below, allowing it to pinpoint the ideal spot for a needle insertion. It’s also designed to make the whole needle ordeal less painful for a patient using both an ultrasound-activated topical anesthetic patch it automatically applies, and a rock-steady robotic hand which guides the needle in without any tremors.

The most unsettling part is how the machine clamps down onto a patient’s arm to help keep it steady during the procedure. It obviously helps make the experience less painful, but it doesn’t do much to help stress levels if someone is already nervous about needles—or robots. On the plus side, it looks like this machine could be easily modified to be the world’s first home tattoo printer so you could get ink done from the comfort of your own living room.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/...pectrum/automaton+(Automaton+-+IEEE+Spectrum)

Sounds good to me

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Good News! The DOJ Might Kill the Comcast-Time Warner Merger

The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger has been in the works for so long, it’s starting to feel like the impending monopolistic telecom Frankenbaby was inevitable. But the Justice Department may kibosh the deal for violating antitrust laws, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Attorneys who are investigating Comcast’s $45.2 billion proposal to create a nationwide cable giant are leaning against the merger out of concerns that consumers would be harmed and could submit their review as soon as next week, said the people.​

The DOJ isn’t messing around here— sources told Bloomberg DOJ lawyers “aren’t negotiating” with Comcast to help the cable giant make changes to avoid its deal from falling apart.

This is good. We like this.

If the deal goes through, the engorged telecom tentacles of a merged ComcasTWC or whatever they’re gonna call it would be wrapped around roughly half of the paying TV/Internet/Cable customers in the US. With a lack of competition, the two now-united cable companies— not exactly known currently for their sparkling customer service or bargain prices— will have even less incentive to cater to anything other than padding their new joint bank account.

Bloomberg’s sources are anonymous and nothing’s been settled yet, so it’s premature to do a jig on the merger’s grave, but this is definitely promising.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ers-said-to-be-leaning-against-comcast-merger

Fan-f***ing-tastic

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

America Should Envy This Speed Record-Shattering Japanese Bullet Train

[YT]FVg1U8zWIH0[/YT]

The Central Japan Railway Company’s maglev bullet train hit 366 miles per hour yesterday in a test, a record-setting clip that breaks the the 12-year-old landspeed record of 361 mph, the Wall Street Journal reports.

That’s crazy fast, and much faster than the train will go when it starts carrying passengers in 2027. (The video above shows the train being tested last year.) Meanwhile, North America’s Amtrak tops out at 150 mph.)

Though it seems like wheeled and maglev trains aren’t that far apart right now in the record books, remember that maglev is still relatively new tech, whereas the wheeled train’s maxing out on its potential.

Magnetic levitation trans run—or hover, really—on magnetic tracks that reduce friction and allow the trains to travel at theoretical speeds much higher than what you can get with rails. For comparison, the world’s fastest conventional wheeled train was hit by a TGV train on the LGV Est line of France’s high-speed network. It went 357 mph.

In the United States, the big advancements in train technology aren’t magnetic at all. GE just competed tests on its new high-speed locamotive, which cut particulate matter emissions by 70 percent and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 76 percent.

An approved plan to introduce a maglev train line connecting Florida’s major cities was killed in 2011 when Governor Rick Scott refused federal funding for the project, a matter that was ultimately settled by the US Supreme Court. The voter approved high-speed line in California would run on wheels and hit a top speed of a meager 220 mph. Ugh America. Lame!

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/...in-hits-world-record-590-kilometers-per-hour/

America really needs to step up it's game in the mass transit dept

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

X-47B Demonstrates Unmanned Aerial Refueling For The First Time

The Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle demonstrator has added yet another huge feat to its long list of incredible accomplishments, which includes operating from an aircraft carrier. This time, it has demonstrated autonomous aerial refueling, plugging into a aerial refueling basket behind an Omega Air KC-707.

Originally, the X-47B was not going to be funded for a aerial refueling demonstration, but money was apparently applied to this highly relevant test set which will last through the weekend, depending on weather. The goal is to not just have the X-47B make prolonged contact with the tanker, but actually complete a full aerial refueling as well.

This aerial refueling demonstration is also slated to be the final test of the historic X-47B, although, considering that the Navy's Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program keeps getting pushed back, it could be wise to keep the X-47B in service for future tests. As of now, both X-47Bs will be donated to museums even though only 20% of their flight hours have been used up.

In the past, Calspan’s Learjet unmanned aircraft surrogate testbed was used for testing the same systems that were used on the X-47B for this test, which include both differential GPS and and optical and laser ranging systems.

The first aerial refueling of an unmanned aircraft (at least the first publicly known one) paves the way for future unmanned systems to leverage what has become one of air power’s largest force multipliers.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/x-...rial-refueling-for-the-fi-1698310343/+megneal

Kind of crazy to think in the near future we could have an Air Force that consist mainly of unmanned aircraft flying wherever they are needed and never having to land if they don't want them too. World War 3 is going to be some serious ass stuff if it ever goes down

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Disney Made a 3D Printer That Creates Soft Objects Using Fabric

Your typical 3D printer works by layering melted plastic to eventually build up a solid 3D object, but what happens when you swap plastic for fabrics? Suddenly you’ve got a machine that can create objects that are soft, deformable, and cuddly.

The printer uses rolls of regular old fabric backed with a heat-activated adhesive. It works like a more traditional 3D printer in that an object is built up layer by layer, but instead of a plastic extruder, layers of that thin fabric are stacked, trimmed by a laser cutter, and then adhered to the layer below using a heated head that activates the glue in specific areas.

[YT]8jErWRddFYs[/YT]

When the object is completed it looks just like a fabric cube, but the excess fabric can then be peeled away revealing an intricate 3D object inside. How soft or deformable the object is can also be customized by creating strategic cuts within the model as it’s being produced.

And while it might seem like the technology’s only useful application is revolutionizing Build-A-Bear Workshop stores, these 3D fabric models can be further enhanced using conductive fabrics and other electronics. The Disney researchers were able to create a soft starfish toy that doubled as a touch sensor for a computer, and even a plush smartphone case that harnessed the power from its wireless NFC functionality to make a small LED blink. Up next, comfy 3D-printed clothing?

http://www.disneyresearch.com/publication/a-layered-fabric-3d-printer-for-soft-interactive-objects/

Of course Disney would be the ones to come up with this

 

[KevanG]

Good News! The DOJ Might Kill the Comcast-Time Warner Merger

Fan-f***ing-tastic

It's about time the DOJ decided to tell them to knock it off (or even consider it) since the bigger these ****ers get the harder it is to tell them anything without them basically saying "**** you we have lawyers, money and your phone and internet. Do what we want." Because they basically do that now.

Look at the BS they get to with regular people. They'll charge you for months or years for hundreds of dollars and refuse to give a refund for any of it or try and give back a small percentage of money they took and offer 'free' services instead for a limited time. I worked for Bell Canada , these jackasses getting more power in a massive monopoly is very bad.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

US Navy Secretary Wants to Stop Using Fighter Pilots in Favor of Drones

Manned fighter jets may have a limited future. The secretary of the US Navy has announced that the new F-35 Lightning II “should be, and almost certainly will be, the last manned strike fighter aircraft the Department of the Navy will ever buy or fly.”

The Register reports that the Navy’s secretary Ray Mabus made the announcement at the Sea-Air-Space 2015 conference on Wednesday. In his speech, Mabus explained:

[W]ith unmanned technology, removing a human from the machine can open up room to experiment with more risk, improve systems faster and get them to the fleet quicker. While unmanned technology itself is not new, the potential impact these systems will have on the way we operate is almost incalculable... We need to give ideas like this one a place to flourish, and that’s why, in the coming months, we will be making some pretty substantial changes to how the Department is organized to ensure the structure is in place to help incorporate this capability more fluidly into our operations.​

Part of that change includes the appointment of a new Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Unmanned Systems, as well as a new office for unmanned systems in its Warfare Systems division, “ so that all aspects of unmanned – in all domains – over, on and under the sea and coming from the sea to operate on land – will be coordinated and championed,” according Mabus.

He also pointed to the fact that the Navy is looked to capitalize on rapid prototyping and 3D printing technologies in the future. “The only limit to what this new technology can do for us is our imagination,” he explained, adding that “the potential for technology like this – and the fact that we can print them – make them – ourselves, almost anywhere, is incredible.”

The Navy has already been experimenting with these kinds of concepts: “a group of Sailors onboard USS Essex used advanced manufacturing to create the parts for an unmanned aerial vehicle that they then built and flew,” points out Mabus, and its “Close-In Autonomous Disposable Aircraft (CICADA) can be made with a 3D printer, and is a GPS guided disposable unmanned aerial vehicle that can be deployed in large numbers.”

But clearly this is just the start. Mabus wants to use technology to escape the “the tortuous, sometimes years-long acquisition process.” He’s got a point: those processes aren’t just slow and complex, they can stymie innovation and unfairly favor contractors too, leading—ultimately—to a Navy without the competitive advantage it needs. Perhaps ditching fighter pilots in favor of drones can fix that. Mabus seems to think so.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/17/8438945/us-navy-giving-up-fighter-pilots-drones-instead

Like I said, WW3 is going to be insane

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Dyson's New Filtered Hand Vac Is Designed To Suck Your Mattress Clean

Most of us are happy to take an ignorance-is-bliss approach to the cleanliness of the mattress we sleep on every single night. But the truth is, your bed could be swarming with millions of feasting dust mites leaving a staggering amount of droppings behind. So now you understand why Dyson’s created a new hand vac designed to suck every last invader off your mattress.

The Dyson V6 Mattress features a high-efficiency particulate arrestance—or HEPA—filter, just like its recent fan, to ensure that any microscopic critters it sucks off your mattress stay trapped inside the unit and aren’t blasted back out its exhaust port. It also includes Dyson’s motorized brush head accessory with stiff nylon bristles to agitate the surface of the mattress and dislodge any dust mites hesitant to leave their home.

On a full charge the Dyson V6 Mattress will run for about 20 minutes, but that’s reduced to about 16 minutes with the motorized brush head, and further reduced to just six minutes when the vacuum is running at maximum power. When available come April 20 it will sell for $250, so you might as well serve your bedroom’s dust mites their eviction notice now.

http://www.dyson.com/

I would love to get my hands on one of those but that Dyson tech is pricey

 

[KevanG]

US Navy Secretary Wants to Stop Using Fighter Pilots in Favor of Drones

Like I said, WW3 is going to be insane

Man, Skynet isn't going to have much to do to win once they get going.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Jawbone's New Fitness Tracker Brings Mobile Payments to Your Wrist

I’ve wanted a fitness tracker for years. Something discreet with crazy good battery life that not only quantifies my movement but also packages the data in a way I can understand. The UP3 promised that and more last fall, and now it’s finally ready to ship this week—but it’s bringing along two new friends.

The new UP2 and UP4 join the UP3 and last year’s super cheap (and great) tracker, the UP Move, as a full family of fitness trackers. But all eyes are on the UP4, which brings some “first of its kind” cred to fitness-focused wearables. Jawbone’s partnered with American Express so you can use the UP4 to make payments at participating American Express contactless terminals. The only cosmetic different between the UP3 and the UP4 is a small symbol on the band that lets you know where the NFC chip is. Plop your wrist down on a terminal, and bam. Payment made. One card can be entered through the UP app, but all the data is stored on American Express’s protected servers.

But mobile payments isn’t the only trick Jawbone’s adding to its wearable lineup. There’s also this whole complicated web of new devices that needs sorting. Let’s dig in.

The UP4: The UP3 + an NFC chip for mobile payments through American Express for $20 more. Coming sometime this “summer.”

The UP3: A treasure trove of sensors strapped to your wrist, including an accelerometer, heart flux sensor, skin temperature sensor, a sensor for galvanic skin response, heart rate sensor, and a respiration sensor. It can measure stress, resting heart rate, steps, calories, REM sleep, you name it, but you’ll be paying for it at $180. The Up3 was delayed due to complications with water-sealing around the embedded sensors. It’s since degraded its waterproofing claims from “submerged under 10 meters” to “splash-resistant.

The UP2: Basically a replacement for the UP and the UP24, Jawbone’s original tracker that counted steps and sleep. It looks just like the UP3 with the same materials, but with a slightly smaller profile. It can’t do all of the fancy tracking stuff that its more expensive sibling can, but at least it’s nicely priced at $100.

The UP Move: A $50 clip or wrist-wearable, released last fall, meant for fitness tracking on the cheap. It’s the best at what it does for the price.

All these trackers do lack one pretty important spec—a display. The UP2, Up3, and UP4 all have three embedded LEDs that represent daytime mode, night mode, or if your notifications and reminders from the UP smartphone app. A quick double-tap turns on the LEDs and a long press lets you switch between modes. The double tap function is kind of crappy. I’d say when it was working at its best, I’d tap awake the LEDs about 50 percent of the time, which definitely isn’t great. But you most likely won’t mess with it much throughout the days anyway, just when you wake up and go to sleep.

But the lack of a display is actually not a killer for me. Some people expect something you strap to your wrist to tell the time. Valid point! But I’m prone to wearing the occasional decorative wrist wear and my right wrist’s real estate is available. And that lack of display does have some benefits as well, especially for battery life—a whole week of it. That checks off another one of my “must have” boxes.

Jawbone says its Smart Coach app gets to work on day one and starts data-crunching. After a few days with UP2, the wearable will understand your daily step count and nudge you into some “get fit” habits. After a week and half, UP sends a report on your sleeping habits and makes some additional suggestions, such as an earlier bedtime or using the in-app smart alarm. It’s like having overbearing parents all over again!

Unfortunately, I was unable to test those claims because the updated UP app isn’t live yet, but we’ll definitely take a long look for our forthcoming review.

Whether Jawbone will usurp the deeply entrenched frontrunners like Fitbit Charge HR is ultimately a question of personal preference. Need a display that tells time? Looks elsewhere. But if you want something in an incredibly small device that’s packed with a trenchcoat full of impressive fitness tracking wares? Maybe the UP series is something worth considering. We’ll know for sure once we get our asses in the gym.

The UP2 should be up for sale right now at Jawbone.com and will be in Best Buy stores by Sunday. UP4 is due sometime this summer.

http://gizmodo.com/jawbones-newest-fitness-tracker-brings-mobile-payments-1698009603

If I can ever get my ass to the gym I'd pick me up one of these

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Blazing Fast SSD Flash Drives Finally Available in Half TB Capacities

If you don’t mind waiting hours to fill a massive flash drive with files then by all means go and drop a few hundred bucks on a 256 GB drive. But if you value your time, you’ll want to seriously consider a compact SSD flash drive instead. They boast sustained transfer speeds topping out at an impressive 433 MB/s, and are finally available in larger 480 GB capacities.

OWC’s Envoy Pro mini isn’t the smallest flash drive you can buy, but it’s still certainly pocket-friendly. And what you sacrifice in a compact size you can more than make up for with speed, speed, and more speed. The fastest flash drives available from companies like SanDisk currently top out at 260 MB/s, while the OWC Envoy Pro mini manages 433 MB/s from a USB 3.0 connection.

Just be prepared to pay a premium for that speed and capacity, at least until these tiny SSD drives aren’t bleeding edge technology. OWC’s new 480 GB model will set you back a hefty $600 when available in a couple of weeks. But with all the time you’ll save not waiting for file transfers, you could easily take a second job to afford one.

http://www.slashgear.com/owc-envoy-pro-mini-ssd-usb-released-120gb-to-480gb-16379245/

I want at least 4 of these right now please

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Want To Find Your Android Phone? Just Google It

I lose my phone in more stupid places than I can possibly count. I seriously considered installing a landline so that I can call my phone the three times per day it goes missing. But Google just made something even better. Type three magic words into search, and you’ll find your missing handset.

Type “find my phone” into Google, and provided you’re logged into your browser with the same Google account as your phone, you’ll instantly get a map of its location, along with the option to ring it.

To get at more serious settings — like the option to wipe your phone, before anyone can Facebook those nudes — you’ll still need Android Device Manager installed. But if you’ve lost your phone down the back of the couch (or had a particularly immemorable night out), a Google browser is all you need from now on.

http://gizmodo.com/want-to-find-your-phone-just-google-it-1698140417

Cool feature

 

[KevanG]

Blazing Fast SSD Flash Drives Finally Available in Half TB Capacities

I want at least 4 of these right now please

Ooooh, me likey.