Thursday, May 22, 2008

Ingenius Way to Stop Laptop Thieves in their tracks

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Don't let hooligans handle your hardware. Here are eight ways to keep your notebook from being pinched -- or to get it back if it is stolen.

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // Kensington MicroSaver Keyed Retractable Notebook Lock (© PC World)
Lock It Up
Your first line of defense against laptop theft is to secure the machine with an actual, physical lock. Though serious thieves won't be deterred by one of these small cable locks, trying to break one may prove enough of a hassle to deter casual grab-and-dashers. This $30 Kensington MicroSaver Keyed Retractable Notebook Lock offers good visibility but packs away quickly when you have to hit the road.
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Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // Belkin Bulldog Security Kit (© PC World)
Heavy-Duty Locks
Lightweight travel locks provide minimal security, in part because they're only as strong as the tiny security slot on your notebook's chassis. For greater strength and security, a lock like the $24 Belkin Bulldog Security Kit isn't nearly as elegant as its lightweight counterparts, but its steel anchoring plates and heavy-duty lock will last a little longer against a more determined thief. It also comes with a $500 anti-theft warranty.
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Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // Belkin USB Laptop Security Alarm (© PC World)
Notebook Alarm
To prevent your laptop from disappearing in the event that a thief does manage to break through the lock, consider arming the notebook with a security alarm. The $55 Belkin USB Laptop Security Alarm sounds if someone disconnects the cable. Of course, that helps only if you're nearby when your laptop is stolen.

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Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // Doberman Laptop Defender Portable USB Computer Alarm (© PC World)
Motion-Sensing Alarm
The $30 Doberman Laptop Defender Portable USB Computer Alarm incorporates a motion sensor that triggers a loud alarm if the device attached to it is moved.

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Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // Absolute Software's Lojack for Laptops (© PC World)
Software Recovery Services
If a thief takes your laptop, tracking and recovery software can help you get it back. Absolute Software's Lojack for Laptops ($50 per year), Brigadoon's PC PhoneHome ($30 lifetime), Inspice's Inspice Trace ($30 per year), XTool's Laptop Tracker ($40 per year for the Small Business Edition) and zTrace Technologies' zTrace Gold ($50 per year) are tracking utilities that connect periodically to a central server. When such a utility does so, the associated service can trace your laptop's location on the Internet and summon the local police to recover it. Absolute Software claims that Lojack for Laptops can survive on a laptop even if the thief successfully reinstalls the operating system, reformats the hard drive or (in some laptop models) swaps out the hard drive.

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Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // BoomerangIt (© PC World)

Recovery Tags
Recovery services report recovery rates of 75 percent and higher on tagged items. Evidently, most people who find laptops are honest, and by offering prepaid returns and a reward on the tag (which lists an 800 number), the service makes doing the right thing easy.

The services have you register each item on the Web, with identifying information; afterward they contact you to arrange return if an item is found. The price is nominal, usually around $5 to $10 per tag, with quantity discounts. Vendors that offer labeling and recovery services include ArmorTag, BoomerangIt (pictured), StuffBak, TrackItBack, YouGetItBack.com and zReturn.


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Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // BitLocker (© PC World)

BitLocker (for PCs)
Enabling hard-drive encryption can help you protect your personal information or valuable business data in case your laptop does go missing. Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions include a drive-encryption feature called BitLocker. Not all laptops have the necessary Trusted Platform Module to enable BitLocker, but if yours does, BitLocker could make the difference between losing just your laptop and losing your identity.

(Update: Reader Eric Vaccaro points out that there is a workaround for BitLocker which allows a flash drive to store the software's encryption keys in lieu of a TPM.)




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Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop

Stop Thieves From Stealing Your Laptop // FileVault (© PC World)
FileVault (for Macs)
Macs come with their own hard-drive encryption software, known as FileVault. Like Windows Vista's BitLocker, it secures the data on your drive from prying eyes in the event that thieves get away with your laptop.

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Next time you got something valuable under the hood of your laptop be sure to be pack with any of these features to get those thieves scratching their head!

Good Day to all Laptop Owners






Saturday, May 3, 2008

Apple's New Line of iPods for 2008

Apple's New Line of iPods for 2008


Palm-sized Nano

Leading up to Apple's grand unveiling of its refreshed iPod line, the chatter was all about the so-called "phat" iPod Nano. Turns out the "phat" Nano is anything but: Sure, it's wider than the previous slim Nano stick; but, its form is actually svelte, stylish, and lightweight. The new Nano is packed with more capabilities--namely, video playback and casual gaming--than its music-only predecessor. Plus, it carries a rated battery life of 24 hours for audio, and 5 hours for video--about enough to get you through the first two installments of The Pirates of the Caribbean series.



How Far We've Come?

In early 2005, the second-generation 6GB Apple iPod Mini, seen at left, shipped. That model sported a 1.67-inch monochrome display, weighed 3.6 ounces, and measured 3.6 by 2 by 0.5 inches. At the time, its size was considered fairly compact. Fast forward more than two years later to the new iPod Nano (the first Nano replaced the Mini in Apple's lineup), seen at right. The tiny Nano is a marvel, with a 2-inch color screen and less than half the Mini's weight and half its depth. The Nano weighs just 1.7 ounces, and measures 2.8 by 2.1 by 0.26 inches.


Stack o' Colors

The new Nano comes in 4GB and 8GB capacities, and carries an attractive price of $149 and $199, respectively. The Nano ships in five colors: The 4GB model only comes in silver, while 8GB model ships in the full color spectrum of metallic teal and metallic pale green, silver, black, and Apple's socially conscious (Product) Red. Notice the Nano's remarkably slim profile in this view: It's barely more than a quarter-of-an-inch thick.

iPod Touch

The iPhone's most innovative features characterize the best of the iPod Touch: The 3.5-inch multi-touch display for slide-and-glide and pinch-and-squeeze navigation; Cover Flow music navigation; an accelerometer that automatically detects the device's position and orients the screen accordingly; integrated YouTube; 802.11b/g wireless and the full-on graphics of the Safari Web browser. Even better, it does so in a device that's lighter and thinner than the iPhone--the Touch is just 0.3 inches thick. The 8GB version will sell for $299; the 16GB version will sell for $399.


Choose Your Own Headphones

The iPod Touch uses a standard 3.5mm headset jack, which means you can use the headphones of your choice with this model, no adapters required. This is an improvement over the iPhone, which has the headset jack inset into the unit, and requires an awkward dongle in order to accommodate a headphone other than the one the unit ships with. You may want your own headset of choice for all that music you'll be listening to: Apple rates the Touch for up to 22 hours of audio play, and 5 hours of video play.


Coming Soon

The iPod Nano and the newly dubbed iPod Classic (80GB for $249, a gargantuan 160GB for $349) will ship soon. The Nano could be in stores by Friday, this weekend--or even Monday. According to Apple's online store, a Nano ordered today would ship out for delivery on Monday, at the earliest. The iPod Touch is expected to be available by September 28.