HARDWARE - A New Type of Mouse

This is so evolutionary I had to post it

Celluon evoMouse - the evolution of the mouse

SOFTWARE - MiniTool's Partition Wizard Pro

This is about a hard drive management tool form MiniTool, Partition Wizard Pro.

In the past (long, long time ago; in a galaxy far, far away) I used Partition Magic from Symantec. Problem, Symantec no longer supports it, AND it does not work with today's large hard drives. In fact it can screw-up your hard drive if you [OK] at the message when you launch Partition Magic (sees a non-existing problem with the drive).

I had to find an alternative because I had replaced my old HD0 (C: & D:) with a larger one and had to resize the partitions after recovering the image backups of each drive.

The answer is MiniTool's Partition Wizard Pro. The screenshot below is of my home system with my larger HD0 (aka Disk 2), C: highlighted, after resizing.

(click for better view)

For those that notice, the "Disk" order is what Windows sees after boot. "Disk 1" (H:Games4) is a Firewire drive and Windows sees that first.

CAUTION: You should run CHKDSK on the drive after your done. Example = chkdsk c: /f/v

List of features:

• Resize/Move Partition: Easily resize/move partition without data loss


• Create, Format, Delete Partition


• Convert Partition format from FAT to NTFS


• Hide and Unhide Partitions, set active partition, label drive letter


• Merge Partition


• Hot Extend Partition without reboot


• Change cluster size without data loss


• Support Linux Ext2, Ext3, Ext4 (file systems)
  


• Partition Copy: Copy entire partition to unallocated space with high performance file-by-file, moving technology; backup or move data without any data loss


• Partition Recovery: Scan disk to restore deleted or damaged partitions


• Hard Disk Copy: Copy an entire disk to a different diskquickly and easily with data clone technology. Backup disk data without data loss


• Support Windows 32/64 bit Operating Systems


• Visually demonstrate your disk/partition configuration to preview changes before apply


• Support RAID


• Support single disks or partitions larger than 2 TB


• Support up to 32 hard disks within one system


• Set partition as primary


• Set partition as logical


• Rebuild MBR (must use if you copy a boot partition)


• Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk


• Disk Surface Test


• Partition Surface Test


• Change Partition Serial Number


• Change Partition Type ID

INTERNTE - IPv6 World Test

"World Tests IPv6: Why 4.2 Billion Internet Addresses Just Weren't Enough"
PBS Newshour 6/8/2011

What I've discovered:

1. First and foremost, most of us desktop/laptop users will not have to worry about this, WEB sites you use today can still be accessed WHEN IPv6 becomes the world standard
   


2. Most major OS are IPv6 ready (examples WinXP, Vista, Win7, Linux, Mac)


3. Your ISP will have to implement IPv6, I found out that my ISP, AT&T will be doing that in the future and will notify me when they roll it out


4. The hardware you use to connect to your ISP (DSL/Cable Modems, routers, etc) will also have to be IPv6 capable; some hardware MAY be able to upgrade firmware or you'll have to buy a new model


5. The U.S., and most of the developed world, are IPv6 ready when it comes to the WEB as a whole

IPv6 is an extension of the IPv4 we use today, which is why most of us will not have to worry.

The industry I see as implementing IPv6 the fastest is the hand-held-devices; your iPad, Blackberry, new-gen cell phones, etc. This is the industry that is expanding the fastest and needs more IP addresses.

As for PC industry, newer products in the future will include IPv6 capable hardware.

Here's a link to Test Your IPv6 (from Netgear forums).

INTERNET - Apple's iCloud and Mac OS X Lion

"Apple Unveils New iCloud Music Service, but Privacy Issues May Lurk"
PBS Newshour 6/6/2011


Excerpt from transcript, security

RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): If I put my stored and accumulated content on the cloud, is it private?

CECILIA KANG, The Washington Post: Well, that's a good question.

The -- the devices will be encrypted. And that's what Apple said in passing. But there's a lot of questions as to your privacy and the security of cloud-based applications, Internet-based services. We have seen a lot of attacks on information, hacking attacks into Sony, Nintendo, PBS. You have seen a lot of these -- this -- the vulnerability of information that resides on the Internet.

And when I say it resides on the Internet, I mean that it resides on servers. You don't know where they are, but there are large data farms all over the country around the world, where bits -- your bits and pieces, the bits, I should say, of the music that you have, the videos that you have, the bits, the actual digital packets, they reside in these places that you don't really as much control of.

So, when you make this decision to switch to cloud-based applications, it's much easier, more convenient and often much cheaper. But there often is the -- there is the consideration of a tradeoff, perhaps, in that there may be less security involved. It's much safer when you have your information on your own computer that only you can access than on the Internet.

And your privacy is also perhaps in -- in question, in that more people, more companies have access to what you're doing. And they can see what you're doing online.

ALSO

As mentioned in video Mac OS X Lion (Wikipedia) (Apple) (links open in new page)

CYBERCRIME - Latest on Hacker Attacks

"Gauging the Impact, Motivations of Today's Hackers"
PBS Newshour 6/1/2011


This is the related story mentioned in video

"Google Says Hackers in China Stole Gmail Passwords" by JOHN MARKOFF and DAVID BARBOZA, New York Times 6/1/2011

Excerpt

Google said Wednesday that hundreds of users of Gmail, its e-mail service, had been the targets of clandestine attacks apparently originating in China that were aimed at stealing their passwords and monitoring their e-mail.

In a blog post, the company said the victims included senior government officials in the United States, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries, military personnel and journalists.

It is the second time Google has pointed to an area of China as the source of an Internet intrusion. Its latest announcement is likely to further ratchet up the tension between the company and Chinese authorities.