Technology


14
Jun 10

Cheap Fix: 2Wire Wireless DSL Router Power Issues

Has the power light on your 2Wire wireless dsl router gone solid red? It’s highly likely that your router is just fine, but your power cord has blown a transistor/fuse/actuator/flux capacitor (or something…). There are a few forums that explain how to bust open the box containing the plug, identify the problem, and fix it for a few dollars, but most people are not going to be that brave (after all, who wants to plug that back into a power outlet after doing some Frankenstein-like tinkering, not me).  Instead, take your plug unit into a GameStop and ask for a PSP power cord.  Gamestop sells a non-OEM PSP power adapter that matched the voltage and amp specs for my 2Wire unit for around $14.99, which is obviously a lot cheaper than the $100-ish dollars your broadband provider would charge you for a replacement router.  If the power specs aren’t the same, don’t buy it, but mine matched and it worked LIKE A CHARM! Thanks for all those on all the forums out there who came before me and reported this trick works.


13
May 10

Facebook Privacy Options Analyzed, Mapped

The NY Times has taken on the massive challenge of analyzing and untangling Facebook’s privacy settings.  I’m not sure they’ve untangled those options enough for users to fully understand what they are up against if they want to keep their information private, but hey, at least they gave it the old college try and make it look pretty scary in the process.  See here for the horror that is Facebook’s privacy options map.

Source: New York Times


13
May 10

Tweetdeck iPad App Update is Now Available

Tweetdeck is my favorite stand-alone desktop Twitter client, but I’ve been complaining about its iPad app for several weeks now, due to its propensity to lag significantly in pretty much every way after a day’s use.  Tweetdeck’s support forum for the iPad continues to show no known issues…hmm.  Tonight, I was overjoyed to see their iPad app update in the App Store. The release notes promise a fix for “performance degradation over time.” I sure hope this update does the trick, because I’ve yet to find another iPad Twitter app with as many features for that magic price of FREE.  Fingers crossed.


12
May 10

Youtube Rolls Out New Unlisted Option

Families and teachers rejoice!  Youtube has filled a gap in their service by adding the option to upload a video that is viewable by non-Youtube account holders, but is not accessable to the public via search results or in user pages.  Essentially, to view the video, you either have to be the account holder, or have been provided with the URL.  This should be a great option for teachers to communicate with their students, and for families to share video without making them public or requiring the recipient to create a Youtube account (which, prior to today, were the only ways for others to be able to view Youtube videos).

Source: Youtube, CNET


12
May 10

Gmail Rolls out Drag and Drop Image Insertion

Today, Google added a useful new feature to Gmail, essentially allowing users to drag and drop images into new emails.  There are no labs features to enable, simply drag the image in, resize it on the fly and you’re done.  Once caveat is that this feature is available only when using Google’s Chrome browser for now, but Google promises to bring the feature to other browsers soon.  This is a great addition to an already great product.  Thanks Google!  Hit the jump for Google’s full release. Continue reading →