Widescreen & High Speed Internet Reviews

Going Dutch on nights out with friends can sometimes just be easier. But if you do it a lot, then you know how complicated going Dutch can soon become. If you share expenses with the same group of people on a regular basis, like your roommates, then Settle Up can make keeping track of who owes what much simpler.

Creating Your Group

For a new group you will need to input all of the group names, as well the currency you will be using. Those individuals you wish to add to your group who are already in your phone’s contacts will be added automatically. Once all your names have been entered and you’ve given your group a name, you can save your group, and group members will receive an email from Settle Up letting them know they’ve been added and that they can use their iPhone or Android to view the group.

Splitting The Bill

New shared bills are easy to create with Settle Up. Clicking on the ‘new payment’ option and choosing who in the group paid the bill is all it takes. Then, select group members who were present at the outing, and enter the amount and description of the bill. Once complete, the bill can be synchronized with other group members.

Facebook stated its anticipation that its IPO would increase to 421.2 million shares in an SEC filing this morning. This number exceeds the 337.4 million previously filed. In addition, the price range of shares is expected to increase also. While the larger IPO and increased price range will enable the social networking giant to raise even more money to be put toward investments and acquisitions, experts are saying that investors shouldn’t get too excited yet. This is because of Facebook’s reliance on an old internet business model, which are display ads, they say. And while Facebook does get twice the page views of Google, they only make about 1/10th the revenue that Google does. But there is still no evidence that suggests investors are worried about whether the new offering is justified.

When you think about it, we certainly use our smart phones for many things. And one of the latest fuctions our devices can have is that of a remote control for the TV. While a TV’s actual remote may get misplaced or lose battery power when we most need it, a smart phone is more likely to be something we keep near us and charged at all times. There are apps available for both iPhones and Androids which can transform it into a remote control. But how you search for those apps can make a big difference. Typing in ‘universal remote’ will most likely return apps that require you to purchase a device and hook it up to your phone in order to use it.

Turn To TV Makers

Interestingly, the company who made your flat panel TV may have an app available that allows you to use your smart phone as a remote. LG is one example of a company which has a remote control app that will work with any LG TV manufactured in 2011 or later. Samsung’s remote will link your iPhone with your television automatically if both are connected to the same access point. And Sony’s Media Remote for iPhone includes a full QWERTY keyboard, and simple and full remote versions.

Last year, it was rumored that Apple would be releasing its version of a TV set that would turn the well-known product into an experience that would see the consumption of music and media completely revolutionized. The mythical new product was predicted to launch in 2013, and it was said that a much more sophisticated version of Siri would be included that would accept voice commands to play anything that the TV happened to be connected to. Today, Foxconn boss Terry Gou confirmed that the company is getting ready to manufacture the fabled set. The production will be a joint effort between Foxconn and Sharp, but that no manufacturing or development has yet started. Gou also revealed a short list of the set’s features, which include aluminum construction, FaceTime video calling, Siri controls and high definition display.

With so many of the features that an iPhone has, it’s not really a stretch to think of your iPad as a phone. But many people think it’s impossible to use your tablet as a phone. The truth is, it’s very easy to do just that.

Skype can be used to make calls from your iPad, and you can do this for free or for a small cost if you are calling overseas. You can also take advantage of apps like Truephone and Fring which will allow you to make calls with your iPad using your wi-fi or 3G connection.

Another option for using your iPad as a phone is to convert it to one using Line2, which is an app that you can use for a monthly fee. The app runs in the background, along you to call or text whenever you need to.

The above options involve using VOIP, but there are also ways to use your iPad as a phone by using the information from your smart phone’s SIM card. An app called PhoneIt-iPad works on jailbroken iPad1s running iOS 4.3.3, and costs a one time fee of $19.95 to use.

Security researchers uncovered more than a dozen malicious titles in Google’s Play Store. The malware was officially referenced in a blog post by Trend Micro yesterday. Of the 17 apps which were discovered, six contained the Plankton code, which connects to a command center, and then awaits commands. Ten of the apps were using AirPush to deliver unwanted ads to users. Some of the apps have been downloaded tens of thousands of times, and include the NFL Puzzle Game and the NBA Squadre Puzzle Game. Although Google released an app scanner called Bouncer in February of this year to eliminate malicious titles, this is the second time malicious apps in Google Play have been reported. A spokesperson for Google issued a statement that those apps which violate the company’s policy have since been removed. However, there are still a few apps which have been reported by users as malicious which remain in the list, including Thermo, Art of Tattoo and Make Your Home.

E-readers like Amazon’s Kindle have revolutionized this long-enjoyed hobby. But are there ways to get more out of your digital reading experience? Trying these following tips will help you increase your enjoyment of the device.

You’re Not Limited To Amazon Apps

The Kindle fire includes apps available via Amazon’s app store. But you can download apps from other locations. Just download a file manager from the app store and connect your Kindle to your computer. Then, enable the installation of applications, and you can install any Android apps available in the APK package.

You Can Sync Your iTunes Library

You may have thought that, because the Apple software cannot sync your music with the Kindle in the way that it does with Apple devices that you are beat. Not so. You can actually stream your music directly through your Kindle Fire by using Amazon’s Cloud Drive. Simply download Amazon’s .mp3 uploader and access your iTunes library map, and then select the Music icon on your Fire to enjoy your music.

You Can Access Your Documents At No Cost

Instead of connecting your Kindle to your computer to place documents on your device, you can save time and use Amazon’s servers instead. All you have to do is make sure your email account is listed in the approved document email list, located under Personal Document Settings on your Kindle page.

The British High Court ruled today that all UK ISPs must block user access to The Pirate Bay, including TalkTalk, O2, Virgin Mobile, Sky and Everything Everywhere.  The ruling was handed down following a confirmation that the file sharing site infringes on copyright on a ‘massive scale’. The site has had an interesting history. Four site founders were found guilty in April 2009 of assisting users with getting around copyright controls. But although the ruling was upheld following an appeal one year later, The Pirate Bay remains online. In November of last year, ISPs in the UK were asked by the High Court to voluntarily block access to file sharing site The Pirate Bay. But they refused to do so until an official ruling had been made.

Just because big cloud storage services like Dropbox and iCloud offer paid storage services, doesn’t mean you have to spend to get more space. All such services offer a free plan, some doing so in order to promote their service above all others. And you can claim a ton of free space by taking advantage of the promotions that are currently running.

Some companies like Box only require you to log into your account using an Android phone or tablet to get 50 GB of space for free, for life. Of course, it’s only being offered until the end of the year, and not everyone will have a device that’s mandatory for the free space, but all that’s needed is to find someone who has the right device, and log in from there.

Dropbox has more than one way to get free storage, but you have to earn it. Completing their starter guide, linking your account with Facebook and inviting friends to join the service will all earn you space. You can also help the company improve its technology by helping it test certain site features, which can net you 500MB.

With all of this free storage being offered, your music, files and videos can all have a place in the cloud.

A malware attack yesterday has forced Iran to pull the plug on several of their key oil facilities. The attack manifested itself in the form of a computer virus, and was executed on the Iran oil ministry’s internal computer systems, as well as its national oil company. Although some data about the site’s users was stolen, the country’s information about its oil industry was not affected, due to those computer systems not being connected to the internet. Other systems, including some of the country’s oil plants have seen their internet connections temporarily severed. A committee created after the Stuxnet attack in 2010 was already on the case to deal with building defenses and handling the aftermath of the attack, which officials have said has not and will not affect the production of oil.

When you need to send a video to an email recipient, the large size can make for a lot of frustration. But how do you avoid bounced messages due to large video files? There is a way to compress them to make videos more email-friendly.

Compress Or Share Online

Accessing online compression software such as AVS Video Converter will allow you to upload your video and convert it to a smaller size that is compatible with email file size limits. You can also turn to cloud services or a file sharing site like YouSendIt.com. These sites allow you to upload your original video in its full size, and then invite your recipient to view it.

Check Your Existing Software

If you have a video editing program on your computer, check to see if you have the option to export your video in compressed format. Windows PCs running Live Movie Maker, and Mac computers with iMovie both have emailing options.

Be Mindful Of Quality

Compressing your video file will likely result in lower quality to both audio and video. And the longer your video is, the larger it will be, and the more it will need to be compressed, which can cause quality to suffer further. Consider emailing shorter files instead.

Researchers want to know if there’s a price attached to your personal data. Tuesday marked the launch of a research project whose goal is to find out whether Android users truly believe their personal information has no price. The research project hopes to solve a long-standing debate about how companies offer their apps to consumers. Currently, many do so at only the cost of a consumer’s personal information, which means that the consumer sees no monetary benefit. Therefore, some say, that personal information has no value. Yet, companies make big bucks from the selling of data to third parties. Voluntary participants in the study will install a no-cost app on their Android phone which will ask questions about their location, activities and opinions. This type of questioning will result in the same kind of data being obtained by companies who track consumer activities to target advertising to them.

While a hack on your blog or web site may fill you with dread at first, the good news is that there’s a high likelihood that you can recover from it.

Understand The Nature Of The Hack

Believe it or not, having your site hacked doesn’t necessarily mean that hackers have it in for you specifically. What hackers do is look for weak spots in the security of web hosts. Once they find them, they can run exploits on all sites hosted by that company simultaneously. First and foremost, you should be contacting your web host to see if they’ve recently come under attack.

Check Your Site’s Files

Log into your site to see whether there are any files missing. Configuration files can contain code changes that are easily found, so check these as well. If you have a local backup, you can compare it to the current state of your site to more easily spot any changes. A good idea is to create a backup of your site as it is currently, so that you can look your files over if you need more time.

Restoring Your Site

If your web host hasn’t reported any attacks, then you will have to restore your site on your own. If you have a blog, chances are that the hack only went as far as your configuration files that, once restored will allow you to continue as before. Restoring web site hacks can involve an upload of your backup files to your host’s server via FTP, and restoring your database information.

A major cable and telecom provider made an interesting announcement at the beginning of the week; that it had developed new technology which would allow internet access through a cable box, with navigation control via the remote control. The technology has been patented by the company, who called it an “interactive television network and method including content searching.” The new access answers the growing desire for interactive television which also allows for the purchase of products featured on television shows as the viewer watches them. Several search engines can be networked with the technology, in addition to content from other providers, such as pay-per-view events. The search can also extend from TV listings to emails and voice mails. The new technology will be marketed in several cities later on this year, and was initially resisted by major cable companies due to the high cost of deployment and the threat to traditional cable broadcasts.

If you’ve recently purchased a new Kindle Fire e-reader, the last thing you probably want to do is to spend hours scouring the manual for how to get it working. These few tips will get your Kindle ready right away so you can start enjoying your device.

Music

You may not think there’s a way to control the library of music you have on your Kindle while you read or use other apps. The good news is that you don’t have to get out of whatever you’re doing in order to pause or skip through your tracks. Simply by pressing the gear icon in the menu bar, you can see the current track, move through it, or pause or skip the next track. And all you have to do to return to your previous task is press the gear icon a second time.

Caps Lock

Interestingly, the Kindle Fire doesn’t include a caps lock. Or does it? Try tapping the device’s “Shift” key twice, and you will discover that you can keep typing in capital letters without hitting Shift for each character. When you’re ready to return to lower case, just press “Shift” once.

Save On Audio Books

You can transform any book into an audio book if your vehicle has an audio jack. Just access your Kindle’s text-to-speech function, and then connect your device to your vehicle’s audio jack with a 3.5mm male-to-male cable.

The Google Art Project launched in 2011 with seventeen of the best art museums around the globe. And yesterday, the company reached a milestone by adding its first, and so far only, Canadian participant. The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), located in Toronto, was approached by Google to join the project. Among the 58 pieces of work from the AGO that are currently available for viewing are ‘The West Wind’ by Tom Thomson and ‘Indian Church’ by Emily Carr. The gallery’s deputy director said that AGO staff worked with Google’s team to determine which works would appear online, and then chose a representative sample from the collection internally. Including the AGO, the Google Art Project yesterday added 100 museums in 35 countries to its project, which allows for the street view-like viewing of priceless works and 360-degree tours of some museums.

Have you looked behind your computer lately? If not, you may want to close your left eye and squint first, because chances are that things are a mess back there. Behind-the-desk wires are mysterious things. You connect your computer and peripherals neatly, only to find that months or a year down the road, things have somehow become a tangled mess.

If you’re planning to get back there and clean things up, there are many options, depending on whether you’re using your existing wires or setting up a new system.

Organization Solutions

If you’re overhauling or setting up a new system, then you can pick up colored wires from a bulk supplier. These will provide you with an easy way to determine which wires are connected to which of your components when it’s time to swap things out.

For existing systems, a powered USB hub can go a long way to organizing your external peripherals. It can also help you to clean up your desk area by allowing you to move your devices to another area.

Power Ties

Power ties are a wonderful way to organize your cords. And you don’t necessarily have to purchase ties specifically for this purpose; you can check your home for twist or zip ties. Once you’ve separated your wireless into bundles of three or six, you can use a piece of masking tape as a label onto which you can write their connection information. A good rule of thumb is to group cords by type, such as peripherals and USB audio.

But for those wanting a less permanent organization method than the zip tie, foam and Velcro ties offer quick release when you need it, in addition to be being gentler on your cables. Other solutions, such as the Cable Turtle spooling device or a cable enclosure can keep your behind-the-desk environment manageable.

New data about American broadband speeds was recently released by Pando Networks, and it appears that those living in Austin, Texas are enjoying higher broadband speeds than the rest of the country. This came as no surprise, as Austin is one of the nation’s technology-rich cities, along with New York and San Francisco. But how fast is fast? Pando pegged Austin’s speeds at 841 Kbps. The slowest speed was recorded by the company in El Paso, who is chugging along at roughly half the speed of Austin at 483 Kbps. Pando Networks provides software to businesses and consumers which enable those customers to download large files efficiently. The software is also used by game companies, and measures how fast data is being delivered to end users.

If you tend to get carried away while on the web when you should be getting other things done, you are not alone. Many caution against grocery shopping on an empty stomach, as this can result in more food being purchased than you need. The same goes for surfing the web without keeping track of the time: you can end up spending hours online if you don’t stay focused on the reason you’re surfing in the first place.

Help With Tracking Your Time

If you find that being online frequently interferes with your ability to complete other tasks, then you may benefit from a web timer. These tools will show you how much time you spend online, and can also be used to limit your time so that you can get things done. Many types of timers are available, and many are free. They range from a clock that you start right from a web page, to more sophisticated timers which include additional features, such as web site filtering.

The timer you choose will depend on the environment you’re in, i.e. surfing for leisure at home or sitting at your desk at the office.

Other Benefits Of Tracking Web Time

These days, everyone is online, and you can get online from anywhere. Kids are especially likely to get lost in the web, spending hours playing games, chatting or just surfing. Timers can monitor the time spent online so that parents don’t have to take time out of their day to check in every few minutes.

A number of internet users have utilized Facebook for other purposes than communicating with friends. Indeed, there is lots of advice online about how to bust a cheating spouse or stalk a crush by spying on their Facebook activities. But does this practice have a place in the interview room? That’s the question that’s now being debated, due to yesterday’s AP release. Employers have used Facebook to review the public pages of prospective employees in the past. But since users have begun tweaking their security levels, many of these pages have become private. And so some employers are now asking interviewees to add company managers to their contact lists. Others have taken it even further, asking would-be employees to cough up their usernames and passwords to the service. Some experts say that asking interviewees to relinquish their online privacy in exchange for a possible position is regressive.

Most people dread having to update everything on their computers. But it’s actually much easier than you think. By keeping just a few of your computer’s programs updated, you can ensure that your system is safe from hackers and malfunctions that can seriously degrade computer performance.

Updating Automatically

You can ensure that several of your computer programs are updated by using Windows Update. Programs that can be updated with this feature include Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. You can get to Windows Update by going to the Control Panel. You can also set your computer to check for updates automatically in this section, which will eliminate the need to update manually.

Browser Updates

Most browsers now offer automatic updating. But you may sometimes want to ensure that you have the latest browser version by checking manually. If you have Google Chrome, this can be done by clicking the wrench icon and choosing the About Google Chrome option. The resulting dialog box will tell you if there is a new version available.

Get A Free Updater App

If you want to make your computer updates even easier, you can download free software which will scan the current programs on your PC to see if they are the same versions of the programs it has in its database.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a press release today which details some of the findings of their recent Consumers and Mobile Financial Services report. The report revealed that the number of American consumers who use their mobile phone to access financial accounts has now reached 1 out of 5. And indications are that 1 out of 5 Americans are interested in using mobile banking in the future. However, it seems that the level of its security is causing many consumers to continue to remain skeptical about the benefits of mobile banking. The report states that forty-four percent of mobile banking users are between the ages of 18 and 29, and that the most common activities by consumers who bank via their phone are the checking of balances and the monitoring of recent transactions.

Have you ever pressed something on your keyboard, only to find minutes later that you were no longer able to type? This can be really frustrating, especially if you use your computer to complete numerous tasks.

A locked keyboard isn’t uncommon, and there are actually a few steps you can try to unlock it which can help you avoid a costly trip to your local office supply store.

Diagnose The Problem

The first thing to do is identify a few signs that your keyboard may still be working. For instance, if your cursor is still blinking and you can still move your mouse, then the issue may be with the connection from your keyboard to your computer. Ensure that your keyboard is plugged all the way into its port on the back of your computer.

Visit The Control Panel

You can access the menu for your keyboard by going to Start: Settings: Control Panel:Keyboard. Check to ensure that the hardware for your keyboard is working properly. If all is well, it’s time for the next step.

Reboot

If your keyboard still fails to respond, you can restart your computer by first saving your work, and then going to the Start Menu, choosing ‘Shut Down’, and then selecting Restart from the drop-down menu. This is often enough to correct a frozen keyboard.

A major internet service provider introduced a new version of wireless broadband that will allow those living in rural or otherwise remote areas without access to DSL or cable to get online. The HomeFusion service involves the affixing of a large cylinder-shaped antenna to the outside of a home. Areas which will be the first to get the service include homes in Texas and Alabama, with installation occurring later in March of this year. Other homes will come online by the end of the year. While the upfront cost for the antenna is $200, installation is offered at no charge, with internet service starting at $60 monthly for 10GB. Speeds will reach speeds of twelve megabits per second for downloading, and up to five megabits per second for uploading. Customers can also choose from a 20GB plan for $90/mo and a $120 per month plan that allows for 30 GB.

HDMI stands for “High-Definition Multimedia Interface”. This cable type was created by the content provider industry to address the issue of copying video content. The idea was not to benefit the consumer, but to benefit content providers like movie studios.

What HDMI Cable Is Used For

Most often, HDMI cable is used to connect two devices, such as your computer with your TV. This mode of connection allows internet video content to be viewed on a television set. So if you missed an episode of your favorite show and don’t have a DVR, you can simply search for it online and watch it on your larger television screen.

Common HDMI Myths

Only HDMI offers an HD signal

This is untrue, as both RGB and analog video cables support HD. Not only that, but they offer a higher level of reliability than HDMI cable.

A More Expensive HDMI Cable Will Offer Higher Quality Video

This is a topic where opinions are clearly divided. Some will say that higher-priced cable offers a superior experience to their cheaper counterparts. These are often the same people who say that buying a brand name cable is better than purchasing a no-name product. When deciding this for yourself, consider the way in which HDMI transmits information. It does so digitally, and because of this, there is no need for a shielded copper wire. So you may want to use caution when considering the purchase of an expensive HDMI cable which boasts this type of construction.

The Defense Department has stated that in order to better prevent attacks from cybercriminals, it needs more control over internet technology. At an RSA security conference last week, it was stated that those departments responsible for the safeguarding of U.S. interests needed to take a more active role in governing the internet. And even though the Department of Defense is being urged to drastically cut its costs for things like ground forces and ships over the next ten years, it plans to increase its investments in cyber defense. A complete change in the way the internet infrastructure currently functions is the idea, with the ability to isolate systems when they’ve become compromised by cyber criminals. But this would be opposite to the free nature of internet hardware, which is not easily available for centralized control. This has experts worried, as they say that the growing influence of the Department Of Defense would send the wrong message to countries like Russia who utilize censorship on their citizens.

If your computer has become sluggish in recent years and is experiencing many errors, you may think that the time has come to take a deep breath and spend more than you want to on a new one. But before you do, you might want to check and see if your computer is able to run a different version of Windows. 64-bit is the newest Windows version, with many incarnations using the new version. As well, there are a number of different programs which are now compatible with 64-bit, which means that you may be more easily able to make the transition.

Today’s computers are able to continue operating long after their predecessors, thanks to advancements in CPU technology. This means that your computer could very well be 64-bit compatible; all you have to do is run this quick check:

- Download a program like 64bit Checker and install it.

- You will see your current operating system at the top of the program’s window. Look near the bottom beside “Processor” to see whether your system can support 64-bit.

If your computer can support 64-bit, visit the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor before installing Windows to see if there are any issues with your current hardware that might cause your new version of Windows to work incorrectly.