It looks like social networks are coming under attack more and more frequently from phishing attacks, as well as other security breach issues.  This time, its Twitter. From the post on CNet: “As part of Twitter’s ongoing security efforts, we reset passwords for a small number of accounts that we believe may have been compromised offsite,” the company said in a statement. Some Twitter users apparently “used their Twitter username and password to sign up for an untrusted third-party application which then posted Tweets to their account,” a spokeswoman said. This came in the wake of a number of users reporting that emails from Twitter asking to change their passwords… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We are all feeling the financial pinch!    Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. Word games and puzzles have become my choice of time killers on the iPhone.  Particularly games that involve finding or spelling words.  For example, Word Scramble 2 is a solo game that is great fun and former Blue Plate Special review.  Words With Friends has not only become a method of passing time, but an obsession.  It began innocently.  I played a few games with random opponents.  Then I added my wife, a fellow coach, two of my players, a few more teachers, some friends, Dan, Judie…you get the idea.  This game has become the new rage in our high school and small town! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Blogger service has been around for some time.  Its the quick and easy way to start up a blog on the Internet in zero time.  Many writers have started their blogs here first.  Its almost a right of passage to being a blogger. Well, the service has decided to change, and as of March 26, they will no longer be supporting FTP publishing of blogs.  Blogger (owned by Google) announced this on their blog yesterday and sent emails to its subscribers. From the email: Last May, we discussed a number of challenges facing Blogger users who relied on FTP to publish their blogs Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While 2010 is already shaping up to be the “Year of the Tablet” let’s hope it can earn another moniker– “The Year Of The Solar Charger”. With so many devices all drawing power to charge their batteries it is time for solar charging to go mainstream. To help that process along Scosche has just introduced the new SOLBAT2. The SOLBAT2 is “provides a convenient and environmentally friendly way to charge your USB powered device”. It offers 1500mA of power and lets you use your existing USB cables for a wide range of devices including iPod, iPhone and Blackberry. It ships with a USB charging cable for those times when you need to juice it up quickly. The SOLBAT2 has an MSRP of $29.99 and is available now. More images follow… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Dyzplastic I’m a die-hard Android fan since the launch of mobile OS, and even had a hand in converting a few of my friends over to it.  But apparently not as hard-core as some who will be filling their desk space with new Android Robot collectibles. If you want to show your Android spirit, then your chance is now. Dyzplastic’s face is posted all over mobile news sites for announcing the release of their Series 01 Android collectibles. The small vinyl figurines are 3″ tall and have rotating arms and head, and come in a variety of variations. The first series has 12 different models with talk of some special edition robots will also be released in limited quantity.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Each weekday morning we feature a different “special” from our GearSponsor LogicBuy. For a while, it has been the site I went to first when looking for deals on electronics. (In fact, it’s where I found deals on my mother-in-law’s GPS and her HP notebook!!) For the past few months I’ve been the one posting the daily GearDeal from LogicBUY. As a result, I have become increasingly familiar with their site=. The range of deals that they offer is impressive to say the least. Sometimes, in fact, the deals are outrageously good. For example, last week when other retailers were offering a “deal” on the N900 (the very same phone that Judie is reviewing an dabsolutely loving right now), LogicBuy had it for over $150 less. (Unfortunately by the time I thought enough to go get one for myself the deal had expired.) Seriously, if you are looking to make an online purchase it is worth stopping by LogicBUY first to see what deals there might be. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of CinemaBlend Last spring Walmart and Best Buy made big news by announcing that they were entering the used game exchange business via a kiosk system. There were plenty of articles about what it meant for places like Gamestop and on-line game trading sites like Goozex. In the end, none of the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing mattered much, as both companies have now stepped back out of the market, according to a report at MTV’s Multiplayer blog.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Ah, Vaja… The name that is synonymous with high-quality, hand-crafted leather cases for phones and other mobile devices. Who better to come out with a premium leather case for the Google Nexus One phone?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Not long after Julie Strietelmeier and I reviewed their Kindle & Kindle2 covers, Oberon Design announced that they would be releasing a Kindle DX version. I found this news particularly welcome, because shortly after we completed the review I purchased the DX. Of course, moving to a larger Kindle meant that the case I loved would definitely no longer work, and for the longest time my DX went case-less, wearing only a Decal Girl skin. It was several months before I had the chance to review one of Oberon Design’s new DX covers, but when the opportunity came I was eager.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I reviewed Astraware Casino for Symbian a few months ago, and now it has been released for Android! At the time, this is what I thought of AW Casino: Overall, AW Casino is a great addition to any phone; it offers you a huge selection of games to pass the time, is great for learning the basics of casino games, and is generally very entertaining. If you have a Symbian S60 phone, it’s definitely worth trying. Does the Android version live up to it’s Symbian cousin? Read on for my review and find out!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In the universe’s continuing effort to make sure that we a) have plenty of gear to go with our iPads when they’re finally available, and b) keep us talking about the iPad for the next 2 months, Lacie has come out with sleeves for the iPad, as well as some new sleeves for the MacBook. These sleeves have bubble protection and soft inside lining to keep your precious iPad safe, and additional pockets for accessories (in my case, a magic mouse and a wireless keyboard).  The Lacie sleeves are available in plenty o’ colors, at an MSRP of $14.99.  So if you’re a sleeve kind of person, check ‘em out. Full info after the jump.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’re a hardcore IT guy (or gal), you know the drill:  something goes wrong in the server room, and you grab your “crash cart,” wheel it on in there, jack it in, and fix whatever-it-is (preferably before users start yowling at you).  Better than the olden days, but lugging around a separate monitor, keyboard, and mouse on a crash cart is kind of a pain, even so. StarTech has a possible solution for you.  Their new KVM USB 2.0 adapter allows you to turn your laptop into a portable KVM/Server console to give you access to the headless devices in your purview.  No crash cart-full of equipment; just your laptop and this here adapter.  Definitely easier on your back than bumping a cart of equipment over door jambs. The StarTech.com’s NOTECONS01 Portable Laptop KVM USB 2.0 Adapter has an MSRP of $469.99 (although resellers will probably offer it for less, so you might want to shop around.) Full info after the jump.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I no sooner finished typing and posting the news that a new iPhone update had been released when I spotted the word over on Engadget that Google’s out today with a major update for Nexus One users. Google Goggles now comes pre-installed, the Google Maps application has been re-done and now includes suggestions and a dedicated night mode. But most importantly, and most excitingly the Nexus one now has multitouch enabled in the Browser, Gallery and Maps applications. This is huge news for Nexus One users and the entire Android Community in general. The update is also said to fix the 3G issues many users were experiencing as well. Google… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(Image courtesy TechCrunch) Ask an iPhone user their favorite ebook application, and you are likely to get one answer: Stanza. This app allows you to read books from various public domain and DRM free sources, as well as load ePubs and ereader books via USB. Well, scratch the USB bit as of last night’s update. Stanza and Apple are being very tightlipped about the reasons for the removal, but users of the feature are obviously very unhappy. So what happened? A few theories: 1) Apple discovered Stanza was tapping into the file system in violation of the SDK. 2) Apple is trying to protect the upcoming iBooks by pruning overlapping features. 3)… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Yesterday it was an update to iTunes, and today Apple has followed it up with an update to the iPhone OS. iPhone OS 3.1.3 was released a short time ago. The update, which is only bug fixes, is said to address: * Fix for iPhone 3GS battery level reporting * Fix for app crashes on launch * Fix for app crashes while using Japanese Kana Keyboard Yes minor updates, but it’s something.  As always if you’re jailbroken you should wait to upgrade until you hear from the jailbreaking community to see if what effect the update will have… Continue reading on Gear Diary …