Author: coutinho

By Amit Agarwal, Lifehacker – November 16, 2010 at 02:00PM

Dear Lifehacker,
Recently, I’ve felt that my download speeds have been a little uneven, and I’m starting to wonder if my ISP is limiting or throttling my downloads. How can I tell for sure?

Signed,
Up for Downloading

Dear Up,
We’ve covered this topic once or twice in the past, but it never hurts to get a refresher. For that, let’s turn to our pal Amit from Digital Inspiration:

You have a fairly good Internet connection at home and regular web sites load pretty quickly in your browser. However, the speed seems to go down while you are watching videos on YouTube or are trying to download files through a torrent client.

If you observe such a speed pattern quite frequently, chances are that your ISP could be rate limiting your traffic for certain bandwidth intensive operations. To give you an example, if your regular download speed is 100 kB/s, YouTube videos could be streaming at a speed of 30 kB/s due to rate limiting by the ISP.

Is your ISP is limiting your download speeds?

You can run the Glasnost test in your browser to determine whether or not your ISP is following any such tactic to manipulate your download speeds for specific sites.

The test uses a Java applet to compare your regular download speed against the speed at which Flash videos get streamed to your system. Other than videos, it can also compare the download speed for email attachments (via POP and IMAP), normal HTTP based file transfers, torrents, and binary downloads from Usenet servers.

You should consider running these tests at different times of the day since some ISPs may be limiting speeds only during peak hours. Also, do remember to stop any other downloads that might be running in the background for more accurate results.

Here are some additional tips on troubleshooting a slow connection.

Thanks Amit, and thanks for the question!

Love,
Lifehacker

P.S. Have a preferred tool or method for checking to see if your connection’s being throttled? Let’s hear it in the comments.

By MG Siegler, TechCrunch – November 16, 2010 at 01:50PM

Over the past few years, there has been no shortage of developers complaining about how long Apple has taken to approve their iPhone applications. But few have waited as long as Google for the Google Voice application. But today brings great news: the wait is over.

Yes, the app is real, it’s approved, and it should be live at this link. The official Google Voice for the iPhone is here. And it’s wonderful. Yes, it was even worth that insane wait.

As you’re probably well aware, this app has had quite the contentious history. Google originally submitted it to the App Store about a year and a half ago. But 16 months ago, Apple decided they weren’t going to accept it. Not only that, other third-party apps with Google Voice functionality were pulled from the App Store as well.

While Apple and Google were both silent on the issue at first, the government got involved and both sides were made to disclose at least part of their stance on the app, their relationships with carriers, and the relationship with each other.

Apple’s stated stance was that they didn’t like the Google Voice app because it was too similar to the functionality of their own built-in calling system on the iPhone. They also said that they hadn’t rejected the app, just that they were still considering it for approval.

BS or not, Apple controlled their own App Store, and there was little Google could do. The decided to build a web app for Google Voice instead.

But this past September, Apple, perhaps pushed by the governmental inquiries, decided to ease up on many of their strict App Store rules. This led to third-party Google Voice apps being allowed back into the App Store.

And while it took a little longer than expected, now we have the official app as well. Unlike the third-party versions, Google’s app is free. It’s also quite a bit faster thanks to APIs that Google hasn’t made publicly available just yet. The result is a great app that is likely to be many user’s go-to dialing and message management service on the iPhone.

If you’ve used Google Voice on your computer or other devices, the iPhone version should be familiar to you. However, unlike the Android version, Google Voice cannot totally take over the calling capabilities on the iPhone. All that means is that you have to open the app instead of your regular iPhone Phone app to use it.

But you can make calls right from the app. You dial a number and it automatically takes you to the iPhone’s Phone app where it places the call from your Google Voice number by way of Google’s backend system.

When you receive a call to your Google Voice number, it will come in to your regular Phone app as well, just as happens now with call forwarding.

You can also send and receive texts from the app. And you can listen to your Google Voice voicemails — and yes, all of them are transcribed for you to read in the app. And all of this works with the iPhone’s Push Notification system.

And unlike the HTML5 version, the native app can access your phone’s contact list. This make it easy to place calls and set up Quick Dial Contacts.

Google Voice remains U.S.-only for now, but the team says it will roll-out internationally in 2011. It is also iPhone-only for now. Though Google envisions both iPad and iPod touch support in the future. That said, Google Voice is still not a VoIP service, so you won’t be able to make calls without service. The app requires iOS 3.1 or later.

Again, you can find the app in the App Store here. It’s a free download.

Update: And now you can read more about it on Google’s blog.

By Sean O’Hara, Toolmonger – November 15, 2010 at 02:28PM

Just as the weekend began, a skunk sprayed my dog. The five minutes that followed that event could have been written into any comedy you’ve seen in the theater. However, when it happens to you, it’s less funny and more irritating than anything else. In short, the dog bolted in the house full of skunk spray and proceeded to rub and shake it all over the house before I could catch him. It was great.

So let’s just pretend for a minute that you’re standing in your living room with a wailing dog in the laundry room full of skunk smell, a screaming baby in the bedroom, and a second howling dog in the kitchen who is just making noise because everyone else is making noise. The damage is now done. It’s time to start fixing what has obviously gone horribly wrong.

The first step is to make sure everyone is okay. In my case the baby and second dog were just yelling to yell, and because it smelled bad. Talat, on the other hand, had real problems. Skunk spray will bond to any fibrous surface like hair (which dogs have a lot of) quickly. So it’s very important to get as much off as fast as you can. He got hit square in the face at what must have been point blank, because his entire muzzle was yellow and his eyes were matted shut.

It hurt like hell, I’m sure, and the spray can temporarily blind dogs and people, so into the tub he went with a bottle of ketchup, a sponge, and pitcher. The trick here is to dilute the spray as much as you can and get it away from his eyes. Then you need to stop it from spreading — hence the tub. Scrub and wash, rotating between shampoo and ketchup until you’ve got the worst of it off. You can also use the formula I will outline in a minute, but it will sting worse than the spray itself if it gets in the eyes.

Once the worst is off the dog and he is safely put in the garage to dry off, it’s time to survey the rest of the damage. Everything in your house will stink badly if even just a little spray winds up in your place. There is a solution you can find on the ‘net that is said to help with the defunking of smells, so I called upon it, hoping its mystic homebrew goodness would save my olfactory senses.

It consists of:

1 gallon water
1 cup baking soda
1 tbsp dish soap
1 qt hydrogen peroxide

Mix it all together, load it into a spray bottle and start hosing your place down. It will not remove all the smell but it will start to give you and your family relief from the stink. Spray effected areas — which is everything — as many times as you think you can handle. It will get better.

Contrary to popular belief, you are not done. Wash the animal in the solution with a sponge to get the rest of the smell out of his furry coat. It works great on dog hair, and Talat was the best-smelling thing in the whole house after his second bath.

You should at least be able to sleep in the house the first night at this point. Most likely 70 percent of the smell is gone and everyone is no longer gagging if they enter the house. The next morning (or that same day if it happens early enough), get a hold of a steam cleaner and go to town. Clean everything you can with it.

Next sprinkle baking soda all over the carpeted areas, fabric covered furniture etc., and let it sit for about a half hour. Then grab a vacuum and pull it all back up.

If it’s at all possible, open the windows to get some fresh air coming through the house. It will help as much as anything else. Smaller things like changing the furnace filter and washing all your clothes will also assist in the exodus of funk.

Three days later I can say the house is mostly good to go. There is a faint smell if you know where to stand, but the harshness is gone. Repeated attempts at the steps above will also continue to clear what remains. Time will eventually clear the rest of the horrid order from its places of hiding, but don’t expect wine and roses immediately.

[Note:] The best solution by far would be to keep the damn dog away from skunks.

By Darknet, Darknet – The Darkside – November 15, 2010 at 04:53AM

Katana is a portable multi-boot security suite which brings together many of today’s best security distributions and portable applications to run off a single Flash Drive. It includes distributions which focus on Pen-Testing, Auditing, Forensics, System Recovery, Network Analysis, and Malware Removal. Katana also comes with over 100 portable…

Read the full post at darknet.org.uk

By Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker – November 12, 2010 at 09:00AM

Because most people learn about photography laws and photographer’s rights by word of mouth—and often from other photographers—there is a lot of room for misunderstanding. Carolyn Wright, an attorney specializing in photography law, clears up ten common misconceptions.

Photo by Rocco Lucia.

Wedding Photographers International, a trade group for wedding and portrait photographers, interviews Carolyn Wright, an avid photographer and attorney specializing in photography law. She debunks ten commonly held misconceptions of photography and the law. Among the most widespread of misconceptions is that anything in view of the public is fair game:

You don’t need permission to photograph a work of art that is in a public area.

This rule is based on copyright law. United States Copyright Law grants exclusive rights to the copyright owner of a creative work, including the rights to: reproduce the copyrighted work; prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work; distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public; and/or display the image. (See 17 USC §106.)

When those rights are infringed the copyright owner is entitled to recover damages suffered as a result of the infringement. (See 17 USC §504). So even when a creative work is in a public area you may photograph it only if the work is in the public domain or your photograph makes a fair use of the work.

For more common misconceptions—and a better idea of what constitutes the sometimes nebulous “fair work” clause in copyright law—check out the full list a the link below. For more articles on photography and the law, check out Know Your Rights as a Photographer and the Ten Legal Commandments of Photography.

By Kat Hannaford, Gizmodo – November 12, 2010 at 06:30AM

We might have a few issues with Nokia and their phones, but there’s no disputing they’re made from hardy stuff. It’s why we recall our first handsets so fondly—those drops barely scuffed the fascia, unlike today’s fancy blowers. More »

By (author unknown), Cool Tools – June 16, 2010 at 12:27PM

The Clean Bottle is a 22-oz sports water bottle with removable bottom. It is one of those products that seems like a no-brainer the instant you hear about it.

Many athletes put electrolyte/endurance/recovery drinks into their bottles. Some of those bottles inevitably get forgotten in the bottom of a bag, under a car seat, or in a closet where they develop lush colonies of mold and bacteria which are impossible to clean out completely, so the bottle gets tossed. With the Clean Bottle you just unscrew the bottom, scrub the pieces and you’re back in business; no moldy residue left to taint your drink.

I train 6-7 times a week, and while I haven’t forgotten a dirty bottle in my car, I did leave one there on purpose for a week. It molded up as expected but was a cinch to clean out. I’ve been using the bottles for about 3 weeks and so far I’m very happy with them, as are the friends I’ve recommended them too.

At $10.00 each they aren’t cheap, but the savings from not having to replace dirty bottles (as well as keeping that plastic out of landfills) offsets the price.

The bottles are BPA-free.

— Galen Pewtherer

Clean Bottle
$10

Available from REI

Manufactured by Clean Bottle

[Note: You can purchase them directly from Clean Bottle where if you order four you qualify for free shipping, and if you order five they thrown in an extra bottle to boot. — OH]

By Andrew Liszewski, Gizmodo – March 18, 2013 at 09:06AM

If you absolutely can’t trust your kid to avoid texting while he’s driving the family car, the ORIGOsafe provides a brute-force way to keep them focused on the road. It’s a smartphone dock that prevents a vehicle from actually starting until a phone is inserted, ensuring the distraction remains out of sight. More »