Category Archives: Gadgets & Apps

All posts that don’t obviously fit in one of the sub-categories go here.

Dropbox: easy way to share and store files online

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Picture_1Mac users are familiar with .Mac, now called MobileMe. It’s online storage you can use to move files from one computer to another. It’s worked fine for me and I’ve used it to shuffle files between work, home and the MacBook.

But Dropbox does this trick better. It seems faster than .Mac. I can move a file from my iMac to my MacBook (2 feet away) faster with Dropbox than my little thumb drive. I also find it easier to share files in my “Public” folder. (Our Help Desk folks tell me FTP is a real bitch on Vista.)

I’ll keep paying for my .Mac account (for now) but I’m using Dropbox. Check it out.

Update: Sorry for bad link. Fixed. Thanks, Andy, for reporting error.

Maverick Secure Mobile

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If I ever break down and get an iPhone, I’ll want something like Maverick Secure Mobile. If your phone is lost or stolen, the application encrypts your data, sends you a text message with the location of the phone and, best of all, plays an annoyingly loud siren to torture the thief.

“The Maverick software is hidden on a phone, so a potential thief can’t tell whether or not your phone has it. You give the company a second phone number — your spouse’s or a friend’s, for example. As soon as a thief replaces your SIM card with his own, the phone encrypts all of your remaining data, like your phone book, photos or text messages, so the thief can’t see them. It also sends that data to your second phone so that you have it.

Then you can start playing tricks on the thief. By sending text message commands, you can see all the phone calls and text messages he sends or receives and any new contacts he enters in the phone book. With a feature called Spy Call, you can call your phone and eavesdrop on the thief’s calls — without him knowing. Then, when you get really exasperated, you can make the phone play a blaring siren. Just when he is about to toss your screaming phone in the trash, you can send him a text message with your name, location and, if you want, a reward for returning the phone.”

Naw, I don’t want the phone back. I want to fuck with the thief as long as possible.

In search of the Universal Remote

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It takes two remotes to control either of our two TV sets. I gave up on universal remotes years ago. They were a bitch to program and never really worked after you did.

But I’m giving it one more try on the strength of a recommendation by George. The Harmony Remote by Logitech interfaces with your computer via USB. You hit the Harmony website to identify all of your components (by model number). The Harmony is programmed accordingly. Stay tuned.

Sharing with Google Reader

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TwittergoogleshareLike a lot of bloggers, I’m spending more and more time feeding my Twitter page. My friend David describes his “tweets” as the same smart-ass remarks he blurted out in class that left his pals in stitches and earned him a trip to the principal’s office. Twitter can be a little more personal and real-time than a blog post (“I’m in caffeine extremis at Coffee Zone, listening to Amy Winehouse”).

I’m also “sharing” more stuff from my Google Reader. I can hundreds of stories (from blogs and news sites) every day and when I see one I think is interesting, I “share” it and a link shows up in a light blue box on the right side of this page. To see more than the last 5 items, click the “Read More” link at the bottom. I usually don’t add anything to these. I just post them. But I really believe I’m better at spotting interesting/amusing stuff than coming up with it myself.

So, if you drop in and don’t see anything of interest, check the Twitter feed (which you can “follow”) and the Google Shared page.