Google Reader (1000+)

"Rather than the standard three-touch hit method found in other golf games, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 uses a vertical swiping method for better precision--the down swipe determines shot power and on the up swipe you can slightly curve your swing for draw and fade shots. Even once the ball is in the air you can swipe repeatedly in any direction to put spin on the ball. All of these shot variables will come in handy in various situations, and we like that there are so many controls for shot precision.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 lets you play quick games, head-to-head matches against friends over Bluetooth or a local network, or Tiger challenges with unique requirements, or you can play through your own PGA Tour. You also have the ability to connect to Facebook and try to beat your friends' best shots (which you can watch) on specific holes. Sadly, there is no online multiplayer at this time, but it seems like a no-brainer that EA would add that functionality in a future version--we'll just have to wait and see."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Overall, SimplePhysics makes for a great successor to BridgeBasher, with several useful interface additions and structural challenges to keep the game interesting. But be aware that this game will definitely challenge you and you may end up doing levels several times before you succeed.


Switch clubs by hitting the club icon in the lower left.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 ($6.99--iPad version is $9.99) is the first game from the popular golf franchise on iOS since April 2009, and it's easy to see that this latest game is leaps and bounds beyond the original. The graphics on the iPhone 4 Retina Display are silky smooth, reminding me of console-level golf games. The controls have been fine-tuned as well, making it easy to adjust shot types and switch clubs depending on the situation.

You get the choice to play as Tiger Woods, alongside him, or as any one of several current pro male and female players. You can also create your own player and customize clothing, clothing color, and skin color. Later, when you earn some money for various challenges on the course, you'll be able to upgrade your equipment for more-powerful shots and better accuracy to help you improve your scores."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"SimplePhysics (99 cents) is the sequel to popular physics game BridgeBasher, challenging you to make structures that will withstand the laws of gravity and nature--while remaining under budget.

You start with a helpful tutorial level that shows you the ropes by having you build a tree house. Your requirements are that you build the structure to withstand the weight of four 50-pound children (don't worry, they use boxes to symbolize the children). Before testing the integrity of your structure, draw supports between onscreen anchors to make sure your tree house will hold. When you're satisfied with your work you can put your tree house through a Certification test, but it must hold the weight of the four children for 10 seconds in order to pass.

Every level in SimplePhysics has new requirements and challenges you'll need to meet to pass, but the game gives you lots of tools to help you test your structures. Before certification, you have the option to use a 'finger' test, in which you touch and drag support trusses to determine their weak points, making it possible to alter your structure before the final test. But even with the added information, we found this game to be extremely challenging, especially in later levels."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Physics puzzles and realistic golf: iPhone apps of the week
by Jason Parker
(Credit: CNET)
I reviewed GarageBand for iPad recently and, as I said in the review, I wish I could give this app six stars. With the combination of smart touch-screen controls, tons of loops, an incredible amount of instruments, and smart instruments that make even someone with no musical talent sound good, this app is simply a must-have at $4.99.

This week Apple issued a small update for the app that will be welcome news for GarageBand fans. Now you'll be able to transfer your iPad masterpieces to your Mac to work on them further in GarageBand for Mac. This is particularly good news to me because now I can take my iPad with me on trips, make new songs, then easily transfer them to my desktop when I get home.

Are any of you as excited about GarageBand for iPad as I am? Let me know in the comments.

This week's apps are a challenging physics-based building-game sequel and an upgraded iOS version of a very popular golf game franchise.


Once you're satisfied with your structure, start the certification test to see if it will hold up.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)"

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Webroot Mobile Security for Android might be coming at the right time. Last month, several malicious applications were found in the Android Market that had made their way onto about 260,000 Android-based devices. Google eventually removed the apps from its marketplace and deleted them from the devices they were running on.

Just a few days later, Adobe announced a Flash Player flaw that affected Android devices, in addition to Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris users. The company said at the time that the flaw could cause a device to crash or 'potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.'

Webroot's app joins several others in trying to protect Android users. Symantec, McAfee, and Lookout are among the companies that offer Android security apps.

Like those other solutions, Webroot's Mobile Security for Android is available in the Android Market for free. However, the premium, full-featured option, which adds remote wipe and the app inspector, is available only via Best Buy. It retails for $14.99 per year per device.

Originally posted at The Digital Home"

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Webroot gets into Android security with new app
by Don Reisinger

Webroot Mobile Security for Android is available at Best Buy for $14.99 per device per year.

(Credit: Webroot)
Security firm Webroot has announced a new app for Android users.

Dubbed Webroot Mobile Security for Android, the application, which runs on both smartphones and tablets, scans apps for malware prior to installation. It also checks URLs to block phishing attacks. The app's identity-protection feature lets users remotely lock and wipe the device, while a map and 'loud alert' help users find their lost hardware. The app also features the ability for users block calls and text messages."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"How to remove keyloggers
by Seth Rosenblatt
The Samsung laptop keylogger scare turns out to have been just that--a bad scare. That doesn't mean it's not a good idea to know how to remove a keylogger if you think somebody is recording your keystrokes. In this video, we show you how to check for one, and how to remove it using Security Task Manager."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Google Maps for Android adds new location, check-in features
by Jessica Dolcourt

Location stats in the new Google Maps for Android 5.3.

(Credit: Google)
Google has tweaked Google Maps for Android once again. Starting today, smartphones running Android 1.6 and up will see new location history and check-in features in Google Maps 5.3.

The first addition is for maps users who have enabled Google Latitude on their profile. If you choose to, you'll now be able to view stats and graphs of your location history, including estimates that break down how you allocate your time at work, home, or elsewhere.

Maps' second feature expands the pre-existing Latitude check-in option to let followers and friends know you're at home when you're not out. You can tap Home to associate your location with your personal fortress of solitude.

Finally, Google Maps 5.3 tweaks the way you rate establishments in Hotpot, its reviews engine. Now you can add not just comments, but traits that define a business, like a swanky bathroom, great music, or comfortable chairs.

Originally posted at Android Atlas"

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Comodo's CEO hasn't relinquished his belief that ComodoHacker is tied to the Iranian government. He 'claims to be pro-government,' Abdulhayoglu says. 'He's using the media to threaten all the democracy-movement people now.'

It's possible that the Iranian government is behind ComodoHacker, who has quickly established a combative online persona that uses Twitter to lament the 'stupids' who doubt his exploits and employs hash tags like '#usagovfail' to condemn the West's understanding of Islam and Iran. But that might be attributing too much to a sometimes-brutal regime that the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders says actively censors opposition Web sites, jams satellite broadcasts, and limits Internet connection speeds when criticism of its policies mounts.

Peter Gutmann, a computer scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, offered this salient observation on a Mozilla forum: Comodo 'wasn't owned by a nation-state cyberwar agency but by a random script kiddie having some fun.'

Related links
• Comodo hack may reshape browser security
• Full coverage of Comodo hack
• Stuxnet expert: Other sites were hit but Natanz was true target
Originally posted at Privacy Inc."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"On U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East: 'They don't have any policy, their policy is just killing innocent people in Afghanistan and they killed millions in Iraq, just for one this: OIL. The world isn't safe with USA policies, they just attack, they just start wars, they use nuclear weapons (Hiroshima), they don't know anything about talking, see recent USA soldiers scandal in Afghanistan, they kill afghan people for fun. They should learn some basics, first basic thing they should learn is killing and destroying would not solve any of their problem. Killing people with nuclear weapon never solved anything, killing my country's nuclear scientist never solve their problem. I really care about earth future, when a country like USA and Israel with such administration try to rule it. Simply they failed.'

On whether he agrees with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Israel: 'Totally. Israel is 63 years old regime who occupied Palestinian people's land, they should let Palestinian people decide about thier own land, simply they occupied Palestine with help of ENTIRE world, including UK, USA and even Germany and others.'"

Source : Google Reader

Google Reader (1000+)

"ComodoHacker says he's never left Iran: 'No, I never traveled, I feel so good and safe in my own country.' He enjoys visiting, he says, the cities of Mashhad, Shiraz, and Yazd.

Part of the reason he pulled off the hack was, he said, revenge for Stuxnet, which was malware that targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in Iran and has been linked to the U.S. government or its contractors.

Here's more from ComodoHacker:

On Stuxnet: 'USA authorities should understand, they can't do anything they want, they can't look in the world and in internet to find me, but they have no any problem with HBGary CEO which produces malwares to infect people in middle east, they should understand if they sniff emails, I (as 21 years old person) personally can do, we should be equal, I mean CIA and myself. That's the message.'"

Source : Google Reader

Google Reader (1000+)

"That was enough to convince the skeptics. Robert Graham of Errata Security described how he verified the digital certificate, meaning that ComodoHacker did have information that only Comodo, or the perpetrator of the intrusion, would be able to obtain. Even Melih Abdulhayoglu, Comodo's founder and chief executive, now says he's convinced of ComodoHacker's identity: 'They've proven themselves,' he said.

Of course, that doesn't mean that anything ComodoHacker says about his age, motivation, nationality, and so on is true. And it's also possible that the original perpetrator shared the private half of the digital certificate with third parties, or that it was a group effort in the first place. On the other hand, ComodoHacker has published still more details, including a decompiled file called TrustDLL, about GlobalTrust's systems.

In a series of e-mail messages over the last week, ComodoHacker said that he took over two more Comodo resellers (which the company partially verified).

He said that he compromised 'one more' certificate authority besides Comodo, and 'if I need I could do more,' but declined to identify which one. When asked whether he obtained fraudulent certificates from it, he replied: 'Sure.'"

Source : Google Reader

Google Reader (1000+)

"Comodo hacker says he's protesting U.S. policy
by Declan McCullagh

After a hacker obtained fraudulent digital certificates that could be used to impersonate Google, Yahoo, Skype, and other major Web sites, the security company that issued them blamed the Iranian government.

There is only 'one conclusion,' Comodo, the Jersey City, N.J.-based issuer of digital certificates said in a report tracing the intrusion to Iran. 'This was likely to be a state-driven attack.'

Well, not quite. The perpetrator claims to be a 21-year-old Iranian patriot--a 'single programmer with the experience of 1,000 programmers'--who told CNET he carried out the intrusion in large part to protest the policies of the U.S. government.

As proof, 'ComodoHacker' has posted the private half of a digital certificate obtained during the intrusion into the network of GlobalTrust, a Comodo reseller in Italy. (ComodoHacker also uses the aliases 'Sun Ich' and 'Ichsunx,' which he says are random.)"

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Google Reader (1000+)

"This is a logical extension of Facebook check-ins and one that will encourage more people to actually use the service. A pre-existing feature continues to let you check in to individual businesses via Facebook Places, which is much more difficult if you're attending, say, a friend's birthday party in a vacant warehouse.

Facebook has also modified the Notifications interface and the newsfeed in this latest release.

The iPhone version of Facebook has long led the way in introducing new features in a clean design. In my opinion, it's also been the most intuitive to use. So long as the team continues to roll out useful features that bring the app closer to the Web site's capabilities, I'll continue to be a happy Facebook camper.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas"

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Just go to a contact's profile page and press the arrow in the top-right corner, the same you would tap to add a friend as a favorite or launch a Facebook message.

The map view for Facebook Places is also a useful embellishment. Just click a friend's name in the Activity view of your Places list and you'll see a thumbnail that plots the location of his or her latest check-in on a Google Map. Tap the map to expand it to full-screen size.


Places listed in Facebook for iPhone now get Google maps.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)
Event check-ins are the third substantial feature in this Facebook update. If you're invited to a friend's birthday party, for instance, you'll now be able to check in when you arrive."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Facebook for iPhone gets event check-ins, unfriending
by Jessica Dolcourt

Press the arrow on a contact's profile page to unfriend.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)
I always love seeing new functionality for Facebook for iPhone, and the team has trotted out not just tweaks, but some improvements that make a real difference.

For instance, you can now unfriend former buddies directly from the phone, instead of having to cut them off from your profile page on the Facebook.com site (not that I would ever do such a thing, of course.)"

Source : Google Reader

Google Reader (1000+)

"Make your own ringtones on Android, iPhone (video)
by Jessica Dolcourt
Cutting your own ringtones from songs in your mobile library isn't hard at all, and there's even one ingenious Android app that takes a much more creative approach than the usual slice-and-serve.

iPhone apps also handily make ringtones. Apart from choosing the start and stop times--which can be frustrating and time-consuming depending on your level of meticulousness--the most trying portion of the creation process is transferring your newly created selection to iTunes and then back to your computer as a ringtone.

No, it doesn't make sense, but the apps show you how to do it and ultimately offer an easy enough way to ready 'tones for your phone while you're away from your computer.

Originally posted at Crave"

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Developed by Diigo.com, Read Later Fast saves URLs to be read later. It can be synced locally and with the cloud storage at Diigo, and presents an interesting alternative to other 'save-for-later' services. However, this feature is built into Firefox 4 in a very basic way. You can use the bookmark star to quickly mark pages, close the tabs, and then using Firefox Sync re-open the starred pages on a different device. That doesn't mean Read Later Fast isn't useful, though.

Long one of my favorite Firefox add-on features has been the ability to drag items from Windows Explorer directly into a text field to upload them. Drag2Up provides that functionality in a restartless add-on, which is great for toggling it off on the rare occasion when the feature interferes with text box functionality.

If you've got a favorite restartless add-on not mentioned here, tell me about it in the comments below."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Easy App Tabs helps you create and remove App Tabs, the permanently pinned tabs on the left side of your tab bar. Double-click on a tab to set it as an App Tab, or return it to normal status. The feature was left out of Firefox because Mozilla found that users were accidentally creating app tabs when they didn't want to.

Another smart and simple tab-focused add-on is Tab Badge. This add-on shows you an unread count on your social networking and e-mail sites as long as the number of unread messages is programed to appear in the site's titlebar. So, if your Gmail title is 'Priority Inbox - 10', the number '10' will appear in a red circle on the tab. While Gmail has the feature available as a lab experiment you can activate, this is a clever way to get it on all your communication sites."

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Google Reader (1000+)

"Note that About:Startup, while technically a restartless add-on, will not be able to display information from before it was installed. In other words, you have to have it installed before Firefox starts to get information from it.

While we're on the subject of restarting, Restartless Restart adds a menu button and keyboard hot key combination to allow you to restart the browser. It currently lacks a toolbar icon, yet the core function, on-the-fly restarting, is effective and smooth.

LuckyBar restores the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' functionality to Firefox 4. The feature was present in Firefox 3, but removed because of Mozilla's concerns over privacy issues relating to accidentally sending search queries to your default search engine instead of restricting the search to your personal Firefox data.


Tab Badge provides an unread count for sites like Twitter and Facebook, as well as your RSS feed and webmail.

(Credit: Mozilla)"

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Google Reader (1000+)

"The current crop of Prospector Experiments includes Speak Words for location bar search completion; Instant Preview for faster page loading from location bar suggestions; Find Suggest for search suggestions when using the in-page Find tool; and Start Faster makes a customization tweak to how Firefox starts when you've just turned on the computer. The short version is that it does what it says it does: Firefox will start faster when you've got it running, at least after you immediately restart your Windows box.

The slightly more technical explanation is that it bypasses the Windows prefetch feature. The add-on will install a Faster Firefox icon on your desktop, which has to be used to start the browser after a Windows reboot. To double-check that it's working properly, the developer recommends using the About:Startup add-on, which is also restartless.

Type 'about:startup' into your location bar and you'll get, in milliseconds, how long Firefox's main process takes to start; how long it takes for XRE_main to be called, one of Firefox's first called functions; how long it takes the tabs from the previous session to be restored but not reloaded; and how long the firstPaint takes, which is time it takes for the the first tab you're looking at to fully load."

Source : Google Reader

Google Reader (1000+)

"e-imagines the Firefox interface.

(Credit: Mozilla)
Firefox doesn't offer many restartless add-ons just yet. At the time of writing, there were only 143 restartless add-ons. Also, there's been documented problems by existing add-on authors in making their add-ons restartless, but that doesn't mean that the ones available are worthless. In fact, some of them add some impressively useful functionality to the browser. Here are 13 of the best.

The entire collection of Prospector add-ons from Mozilla are a great way to take advantage of the flexibility of restartless add-ons. Install one, test it out quickly, and if you don't like it you can remove it as fast as you installed it.

The most interesting Prospector experiment is Home Dash. It's possibly the most annoying, too. Home Dash is a complete re-envisioning of the browser interface, presenting a workflow unlike any other browser out there today that attempts to emphasize tab previews and search queries. It's not for everybody, but it's definitely"

Source : Google Reader

Google Reader (1000+)

"Must-have restartless Firefox add-ons
by Seth Rosenblatt
The future of Firefox's add-ons arrived in Firefox 4 with the introduction of 'restartless add-ons'. Based on the new Jetpack API and Add-on SDK, restartless add-ons--also known as bootstrapped add-ons--don't require a restart to be used or removed. Not coincidentally, they also provide Firefox with a venue for competing directly with other browsers, which use add-on frameworks that were created after the technology that supports restartless add-ons was created.".

Source : Google Reader