BlackBerry Bold 9930 now available from Verizon for $250, on contract

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/blackberry-bold-9930-now-available-from-verizon-for-250-on-con/

We've already seen Verizon's BlackBerry Bold 9930 rear its head in a leaked video and now, it looks like it's finally gone all official on us. The slim, QWERTY-equipped handset has just popped up on Verizon's site, where users can now order one for $250 on a two-year contract, or $510 sans contract. Its specs, meanwhile, coincide with what we've already heard, including that 2.8-inch, 640×480 VGA touchscreen, 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor and .41-inch thickness. The 9930 also comes equipped with BlackBerry 7 OS, bringing voice-activated search and speedy browsing capabilities to the palm of your hand. No word yet on when the phone will arrive in actual stores, though rumor has it that August 25th could be the big day. For more details and ordering information, check out the source link, below.

BlackBerry Bold 9930 now available from Verizon for $250, on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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M-Disc holds your data 'forever,' we go hands-on for a few minutes (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/m-disc-holds-your-data-forever-we-go-hands-on-for-a-few-minut/

It was two years ago when we last wrote about Millenniata and its Millenial Disc for ultra long-term data storage of somewhere between "1,000 years" and "forever." If you'll recall, it works using a "synthetic, rock-like" layer that your data is "etched" into, rather than burned onto like other writeable discs so files don't corrupt over time. Since then, the disc's been given DoD certification for data retention in extreme conditions and redubbed M-Disc, while Hitachi-LG has signed on to produce drives. We recently got the chance to check out a few of these discs and see whether this tech will fly like a Frisbee or sink like a stone.

Gallery: M-Disc Hands-on

Continue reading M-Disc holds your data 'forever,' we go hands-on for a few minutes (video)

M-Disc holds your data 'forever,' we go hands-on for a few minutes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Intel Upgrade Service: Once again charging you $50 to do stuff your CPU already does

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/the-intel-upgrade-service-once-again-charging-you-50-to-do-stu/

Fans of creative nickel-and-dime schemes will love this: Buy an Intel i3-2312M, i3-2102 or Pentium G622 and it just isn't powerful enough, you can grab a $50 upgrade card. Enter the card's code online and hidden capacity in your chip will suddenly become available for use. Those with longer memories will find this offer familiar, because Intel did the same thing last year with the Pentium G6951. You may be peeved at the idea of buying the same thing twice, but remember that the company is only targeting the limited service at low-end consumers who want a little bit extra from their budget desktop. If you're interested in how much performance can be wrung from these chips, check out the source link below.

The Intel Upgrade Service: Once again charging you $50 to do stuff your CPU already does originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DSLR Controller Lets You Operate Your Canon DSLR from Your Android [Video]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5830453/dslr-controller-lets-you-operate-your-canon-dslr-from-your-android

iOS users have long had the ability to control their cameras with their iPhones and iPads, but DSLR Controller now brings that to Android for your Canon DSLR.

The software is currently in beta, but getting it working took less than a minute. You just grab it from the Android Marketplace and connect your Canon DSLR via USB (you'll need a USB host cable if your Android device doesn't have a regular-sized USB port). Presuming the app is loaded and your camera is on, you should see what your camera sees in the main viewer on the screen. Because all this data is happening via USB, it updates really quickly and is far more usable than the Live View support you'll get over Wi-Fi on an iPhone app.

In addition to Live View, DSLR Controller lets you adjust pretty much every setting on your camera (e.g. aperture, exposure, ISO, etc.), can take photos, and more. While the app is currently in beta and might not work for every camera, it worked great with my 5D Mark II and support should broaden in the future. If you've ever tethered your camera to your computer or an iOS device before, you know the experience is not ideal. DSLR Controller, on the other hand, isn't cumbersome or slow. It's a very promising option for tethered shooting.

DSLR Controller (~$8.50) | Android Marketplace

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You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.  Twitter's the best way to contact him, too.

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Xkcd Password Generator Creates Long, Easy-to-Remember Passwords [Passwords]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5830355/xkcd-password-generator-creates-high+security-easy+to+remember-passwords

Web comic xkcd notes that "through 20 years of effort, we've successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember, but easy for computers to guess." The comic above makes a compelling (if knowingly imperfect) argument for password length over obscurity, and in response, one developer put together the xkcd password generator. It does what the comic suggests: strings together four random words to create a tough-to-guess password that's easy to remember.

Of course you don't need a generator to do this for you. You can just as easily pull four words out of the air to create your own lengthy but memorable password. Or you can go with one of our tried-and-true favorite methods and create an obscure and memorable password using the first letters of, for example, the lyrics to a song. (For example, a Jackson 5 lover might extract a password from the lyrics "Oh baby give me one more chance to show you that I love you" that looks like obgmomctsytily.) The benefit of the multi-word method is that the longer your password, the harder it is to crack—which is true for passwords made of both common dictionary words and randomly generated strings of text. Yes, the long, non-dictionary password will be more secure. But good luck remembering a completely randomized 25-character password.

Whatever route your choose for your password, I'd still strongly recommend making said password the master password for a password manager like LastPass, KeePass, or 1Password, then, for all the rest of your logins, use your password managers to spawn long, randomly-generated passwords that are both hard for you to remember and hard for computers to guess. You should only need to remember one password, but you shouldn't use the same password everywhere. That's what password managers do for you: Let you memorize just one strong password and obscure the hell out of the rest. You only need to know the one password; your password manager will fill in your unmemorable passwords for you. Get one, set it up, and use it. We really like LastPass.

Update: As commenter doug_gilbert points out, the four-words method could also work nicely with the shift-to-the-right method.

xkcd Password Generator | Password Strength at xkcd

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