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According to Techradar’s Steve Jobs was ‘deceptive’ says FBI file article, the FBI has released Steve Jobs file, and so you can now either go read or download this file at vault.fbi.gov/steve-jobs/steve-jobs-part-01-of-01/view.  The file is around 3.9 MB which is huge for just being a PDF file (at least to me).  Anyhow, according to Techradar, Steve Jobs was under investigation by the FBI for he was considered to be nominated for a high profile government position which had something to do with George H.W. Bush’s administration (i.e., the White House).  Again, according to Techradar, FBI found Steve Jobs to be deceptive.

So, in a way if you had read Steve Jobs’ biography which was written by Walter Isaacson with the title “Steve Jobs,” you may as well want to read the FBI file on Steve Jobs to compare the two to see if there is any discrepancy.  Sure, it might not be necessary to do so, but if you’re interested in learning more on Steve Jobs, how the man was and still is being worshiped by so many in the tech industry, I guess digging into the FBI file on Steve Jobs might shed some more light on what you think you already know about the man himself.  You might also want to be diligent too on judging the man from the FBI file, because it might be that the FBI could not have been entirely correct, and the same would go for Steve Jobs’ biography.  Why?  In truth, nobody would probably know Steve Jobs better than himself, therefore you can only know what you’re being fed to read.

I find that it’s quite interesting to see Steve Jobs, just a man of building a tech giant, has been the talk of the town since he made his few first headlines back in the day.  Even though he is now rest in peace, the talk of the town apparently is still buzzing about him, still.  They talk of him as if they’re worshipping him, isn’t this quite fascinating?  Some even seeing him as a celebrity even though the man wasn’t a celebrity.  Yes, you might agree why he is being worshipped or being seen as a famous dead celebrity too, because you are willing to spend lot of money on his products still.  Nonetheless, I forgot who but someone had pointed out Bill Gates has done much more than Steve Jobs in term of making the world better and so Bill Gates should be the one to be worshipped of and not Steve Jobs.  This person probably was talking about how Bill & Melinda foundation has changed the world.  I believe, Bill & Melinda foundation was found by Bill Gates and his wife.  I have heard how Bill & Melinda foundation has been involved with projects that have huge positive impacts on the world such as allowing the children of the poorest nations to have access to much needed vaccines.

With Steve Jobs is no longer with us, his company is continuing making huge gains to which Amazon and other competitors are very much like to see Apple stumbles.  Just recently, Amazon has released a commercial to point out how expensive iPad has been.  The lady in the commercial said to the man, even with her Kindle which could be read in sunlight and the other two Kindle Fires put together would still be cheaper than the man’s iPad.  The man was embarrassed and asked her who would be sitting in the empty seat next to her, and she said it was her husband.  The commercial ended gradually as it showed the man left in embarrassment and the prices of the regular Kindle ($199) and Kindle Fires ($79) appeared to confirm what the lady in the commercial had said.

Source:  http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/steve-jobs-was-deceptive-says-fbi-file-1062235?src=rss&attr=all

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Some people might not know that defragging an SSD can be very bad.  Actually, a specific SSD can be worn out faster than usual if someone has defragged it too often.  Anyhow, in the video right after the break, I’ll touch on why it is so!  For the bonus I show you how to turn off the Windows 7′s automatic defragmentation schedule for all hard drives, and then I also show you how to manually defrag the traditional hard drives.

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Don’t ask me, but I’m not too clear on how one man’s iMessages has got onto another iPhone which clearly belonged to someone else, consequently allowing a stranger to basically see every single iMessage text which had been sent from this man.  This story is being reported by Gizmodo.  Gizmodo suggested there was a bug in relation to how Genius Bar technicians proceed in swapping SIM card somehow to fix an iPhone, but the end result was the tethering of the iMessage data of a SIM card onto the iPhone which it wasn’t belonged to.  Somewhat unclear of how the bug actually had happened, but this whole mess has allowed one iPhone owner to unintentionally see every iMessage text of another iPhone owner.  Gizmodo went as far as posting some pictures and iMessages of the man who got spied on unintentionally.

Source:  http://gizmodo.com/5880593/the-apple-bug-that-let-us-spy-on-a-total-strangers-iphone

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By Dano on Flickr.com (Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC By 2.0) License)

Prepare yourself for faster and stronger computing processing power?  EPFL claims to be able to integrate human hair size chips on top of each other to form many layers stack to allow faster and stronger computing processing power.  In a sense, EPFL explains that by shorting the distance among the transistors, 3D chips are able in boosting computing processing power to new height.  Furthermore, they can also integrate different species of chips on top of each other.  The video right after the break goes into more details on how EPFL has accomplished in creating 3D chips.

Source:  http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-jumpstarting-d-chips.html

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Source:  http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/mars-photos-app/

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Samsung Smart Transparent Window is definitely something we had seen in Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible 4 and other movies.  Say what?  Remember Tom Cruise and his female coworker/agent had to chase the bad guys in his cool electric car?  I think it was an electric Audi, but I might be wrong.  His female coworker/agent had to pull up an interactive map or something like that through the car’s front windshield, and the front windshield was transparent enough which allowed her to peek through the front windshield and yet keep the interactive content visible on the front windshield.  Well, Samsung Smart Transparent Window has the same concept, except that it allows users to check weather and other contents on real window (i.e., a window inside a house).

Samsung Smart Transparent Window can also allow users to use a virtual blind to close the window.  In regarding to virtual blind, I think it’s cool, but I’m just worrying that some really bizarre, embarrassing situations might occur if Samsung Smart Transparent Window crashes, disengages the virtual blind and allowing strangers to peek inside whatever compartment which it supposes to shut out.

Anyhow, I like the idea of this technology!  Perhaps someday in the future when Samsung Smart Transparent Window is popular and cheap enough, I might install it inside my house.  Check out the video right after the break to see Samsung Smart Transparent Window in action at CES 2012.

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Nothing makes my heart tingling more with joy than having electronic devices that aren’t so depending on the traditional power sources.  For an instance, keyboard that is powered by solar cells would be something that I won’t hesitate in having to yearn for.  Now, my heart just a tad happier than usual since there is now a Kindle cover which uses solar cells for powering the Kindle, and this solar-powered Kindle cover will make its appearance in CES 2012.

I’m a Kindle user, and my Kindle rocks in term of lasting for days if not a week before I even think about recharging it.  Nonetheless, the idea of prolonging the Kindle’s battery life per charging cycle even much much more, to a point of forgetfulness is almost making my heart sings.  Why almost?  Unfortunately, this solar-powered Kindle cover will cost around $79.99.  You can check out this solar-powered Kindle cover at solarmio.com/en/.

Source:  http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33378_1-57354535/solar-powered-kindle-cover-dropping-at-ces/?part=rss&subj=latest-news&tag=title

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Here is one drawback about this dongle is that some flatscreen TVs will not carry USP ports, but usually this means these flatscreen TVs are old school.  Still, the whole selling point of this dongle is to allow users to stream movies and video games through Android OS on many old school flatscreen TVs that are capable of projecting contents at 1080p.  Nonetheless, I think this drawback can be fixed quickly if you are willing to spend around $20 bucks or a little more or less, depending on how skillfully you are with shopping around for bargains on USB chargers and extenders.  Quick look on Amazon and I see that there is a Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger goes for $12.  Adding USB extender cable for some bucks, and then I guess you can really extend the USB cable of this dongle to plug to a wall outlet for powering the dongle this way.

The specifications for Alaways Innovating HDMI dongle are ARM Cortex-A9, 256 MB up to 1 GB of RAM, built-in Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, NFC module, and an accelerometer.  If you watch the videos right after the break, you will see that this USB dongle can stream movies from Netflix, Hulu, and so on.  Since Android is a complete operating system for mobile, expect that you can surf the Internet on your old school flatscreen TV with this USB dongle.

Engadget suggests this Always Innovating HDMI dongle goes for $79.  Expect this little gem to make an appearance at CES 2012.  CES 2012 will go live in couple days more.  In my opinion, this USB HDMI dongle from Always Innovating is one awesome product.  This gem might lead the way for the future where everyone just needs to carry their own personal dongle so they can bring their TV everywhere.  Oh, let not forget this little gem right now can already allow you to play video games anywhere.  Well sort of, as long that anywhere means that somewhere has a stationary flatscreen TVs or computer monitors that would accept HDMI connection.

I can see a future where people would not need XBOX 360 console (Live) or even PS3 console (Playstation Network) to enjoy video games and movies.  In fact, I think mightier dongles with more capabilities might even allow users to be able to install different operating systems onto them;  users might use such dongles as mini-computers, set top boxes, and video game consoles — all on the go.  Talking about mobility for electronic/digital forms of entertainment on another whole level right?  Of course, no such thing as a mightier dongle exists yet, but at least now we have the so called Always Innovating HDMI dongle.

Will you buy Always Innovating HDMI dongle when it comes out?  I think I might want one, but as Engadget suggests, they don’t really know when this dongle will be available for customers to buy.  Let hope Always Innovating releases their HDMI dongle to the market very soon.  For your entertainment, check out the videos of Always Innovating HDMI dongle right after the break.

Source:  http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/07/always-innovating-hdmi-dongle-android-tv-video/

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Tips to how to secure your router and network in 2012 and beyond.  These tips are pragmatic, and so it’s most likely that you may be able to apply these tips onto most routers and network setups.  Unfortunately, even though these tips are pragmatic in details, sometimes the tips here won’t be any useful for you if you have older routers or your network setups are too unique and special.  Let us get on with the tips.

In no particular order, the tips to secure your routers and networks are:

• Change router’s default password for the administrator username/login.  Make sure the new password is a lot harder than the default password.
• Change router’s default passphrase for your wireless network.  Make sure the passphrase is strong enough.  It’s best to throw in at least 50 plus characters string.  Also, don’t forget to include capitalization letters, numbers, and special characters (i.e. signs) in your 50 plus characters string passphrase.
• Make sure to disable UPnP feature within your router.  I’ve heard hackers can exploit this feature.  To be safe than sorry, I guess you should turn this feature off if you don’t have the need for it.
• Make sure your router’s firewall is turning on and filtering inbound and outbound traffics.
• Make sure your router has MAC address filtering turns on and allowing only Mac addresses of machines on the list to access network.  Of course, you have to know hackers can still spoof MAC addresses easily, therefore this is not 100% hacker proof.
• Disable DHCP feature or limit the DHCP IP address range to amount to how many physical machines you have and want to connect to your network using DHCP protocol (DHCP IP addresses).  This way, if an undesirable person wants to use your network, he or she might not be able to get a lease of DHCP IP address from DHCP server which runs on your router, therefore he or she cannot use DHCP IP address to access your network.  Keep in mind that he or she can just assign himself or herself a local static IP address and connect to your network anyway.  Nonetheless, this method might prevent script kiddies from acquiring DHCP IP address from using hacker tools.  Still, there is no guaranteed DHCP might prevent hackers from just running another script which automatically demands a static local IP address.  If you turn off DHCP, you might prevent hackers to exploit DHCP weakness/exploits, and so you can disregard DHCP exploits for your router.  Turning off DHCP also encourages you to enter a local static IP address for each computer’s network configuration, therefore you might prevent a specific computer from automatically connect to your router; in a way this method helps preventing a specific computer of yours from automatically connecting to a fake access point, because hackers can use a special router which can emit an even more powerful wireless signal, overwhelming your wireless router’s signal and encouraging a computer to connect to the wrong/rouge access point which hackers have controlled of (i.e., man in the middle attacks).
• Disable Wi-Fi Protected Setup feature, because this feature is weak against hackers’ brute force attack which exploits a weak secure PIN authentication process (i.e., this feature reveals too much information on PIN authentication algorithm while authenticating a device).  Nonetheless, this feature might be patched by the routers’ makers in the near future, but to be safe than sorry it’s best to disable it until you really have the need to use it and it has been patched.
• Enable WLAN Partition if you are paranoid about your network security.  This feature prevents wireless devices to communicate with each other.  Why is this feature useful in securing your network?  Imagine if a hacker can insert himself in your network with a wireless device, he or she might not be able to hack another wireless device of yours if the network disallows the communication between wireless devices.  Unfortunately, this feature might prevent you from sharing files and data between your wireless devices.  One example is iTunes home sharing might not work on wireless mac laptops.  Therefore, if you need to have your wireless devices to talk to each other, then you should not enable this feature.  Otherwise, it’s an awesome feature for enhancing your network security.  Let not forget, if an elite hacker has hacked into your network, he or she might also have control of your router, therefore this feature in the end might be useless if a hacker can change the router’s settings at will.
• Turning on several log features within your router.  Logs will help you trace back to strange network traffics, requests and errors.  Perhaps, logs can even tell you that you’re getting hacked.  Of course, elite hackers might have way to not trigger your router to log their hacking activities.  Therefore, this feature is just one more layer/tool for you to protect yourself against hackers.  This feature might slow down your router though, because it’s logging network traffics.  So, if your router isn’t equipped to log heavy network traffics, then you should turn this feature off.  It’s all depend on a network situation and the capability of your router really.
• Enable Access Control.  This feature is useful only if your router is able to allow you to add two types of rules that matter most, and these two types of rules should be made available at the same time, so one rule is enhancing the other rule in security measures.  First rule should be disallowing all other machines to connect to your network.  Second rule should be allowing only the machines with the IP addresses listed in Access Control’s IP table to connect to your router/network.  Of course, you should note that this feature will enable a default blocking feature which might prevent your machines to access dangerous websites and so on, therefore some websites you might want to access will not be accessible.  Also, your router may allow you to add additional websites to be blocked, consequently enhancing the security measure for Access Control feature.  Some routers even go as far as allowing Access Control feature to block certain network ports, but I don’t think this feature is necessary.  After all, your router’s firewall should be blocking all incoming requests and ports.
• If your router isn’t connecting to your ISP through DHCP protocol, then you should add a trusted but more secure DNS IP addresses of third-party/trusted/secure DNS providers.  One good example would be DNS IP addresses of Google Public DNS service.  Another good example would be DNS IP addresses of OpenDNS.
• Update your router’s firmware to the latest firmware.  This way you can prevent hackers from using known firmware exploitations that specifically target your router’s firmware.
• Reboot your router sometimes or add a schedule reboot for your router if your router has this capability.  This way you can actually clear up the router cache and might prevent your router from storing what hackers have uploaded to your router.  I don’t think that it’s yet possible for hackers to be able to permanently make change to your router in regarding to what the router could store and so on.  Therefore, when you reboot your router, your router clears up the cache in its memory and so everything within your router should work as how it was.  Reboot a router can be done in two way.  One is to do a soft reboot which requires you to log into your router’s administration panel and reboot it this way.  The other way is just to pull the electrical adapter which powers your router off the electrical outlet, forcing the router to reboot and reconnect to your ISP.
• You might also want to disable the SSID broadcast.  When you disable this feature, your machines might not be able to connect to your router using DHCP protocol.  Nonetheless, as long you know how to connect to your router manually using static local IP addresses, then you should be fine.  Of course, you have to remember your router’s SSID name and enter the router SSID onto your machines correctly before your machines can talk to your router.

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