Tuesday, March 11, 2014

drag2share: This Helmet Knows When It's Too Damaged To Protect Your Head

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-helmet-knows-when-its-too-damaged-to-protect-your-1541388908

This Helmet Knows When It's Too Damaged To Protect Your Head

Helmets made with a liner material called expanded polystyrene will protect your head during a ski accident, but need to replaced after the first major impact. Helmet liners made from expanded polypropylene, though, can endure multiple impacts before needing a replacement. Using a series of sensors inside its liner, POC's new Skull Orbic H.I. MIPS helmet can actually tell you when it's time to buy a new one.

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drag2share: You Can Now 3D Print a Model of Your New House

Source: http://gizmodo.com/you-can-now-3d-print-a-model-of-your-new-house-1541513335

You Can Now 3D Print a Model of Your New House

For most people, staring at blueprints is a real chore. Nobody really knows what all those little lines mean, and, wow, they're just so blue. Most importantly, however, blueprints make it hard for a layperson to comprehend what a space will actually be like in real life, which is a problem when you're building a house—or anything, for that matter.

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drag2share: Archos' 6.4-inch smartphone puts the buttons on the back

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/11/archos-64-xenon-hands-on/

When we talk about smartphones with buttons on the back of the case, most people's thoughts turn toward the LG G2. But now the French electronics outfit Archos has decided to follow in LG's footsteps with the 64 Xenon, a 6.4-inch phablet that puts both the volume and power buttons on the rear side. Packing a 1,280 x 720 IPS LCD display, dual-SIM slots and HSPA+ radios, it's clear that this is designed to square up against the likes of the Galaxy Mega, but with a much lower price tag of 200 euros (around $275).

As soon as you get this device in your left hand, you'll notice that the power button is in a great position, right next to your index finger. The volume buttons, by contrast, are meant to be reached with your thumb, but the positioning felt a bit awkward to us -- it's hard to grip the device while applying any pressure to these buttons.

In the performance stakes, we were reasonably impressed by the responsiveness of the quad-core MediaTek MT6582, even though it's a whole generation behind the chip in Archos' other new smartphone. The processor is accompanied by 1GB of RAM and a 2,800mAh battery, which the company promises should last you for a day on a single charge.

On the downside, we were disappointed to see that the company cut a big corner with the internal storage: it's offering just 4GB as standard, which isn't right given how much stuff you're likely to put on this handset. On the other hand, at least there's a microSD slot for storing more content. Still, we're looking forward to putting this hardware through its paces when it launches in April.

Sharif Sakr felt the buttons on his own back for this report.

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drag2share: Hacker Claims This Crucial WhatsApp Flaw Can Expose Your Messages in Minutes

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/DYucUkMsGZw/crucial-whatsapp-security-issue-2014-3

WhatsApp users should be careful when downloading Android apps. If you don't read an app's permissions attentively before installing, your WhatsApp chat history could end up in a stranger's hands, according to one IT specialist from the Netherlands. 

Bas Bosschert, a technical consultant with more than 10 years experience working with Linux and Unix, explained how developers can trick WhatsApp users into granting access to their entire message database. Since WhatsApp backs up messages on your phone's SD card, apps can easily access this information if granted permission to do so. This data can then be uploaded to the developer's personal Web server. 

Bosschert's blog post details how to create these types of apps. The Netherlands-based technical consultant says that if the code shown in his screenshots was added to an Android game, it could be used to extract a WhatsApp user's database.

"People would only see a loading screen when they started the game," Bosschert said in an email to Business Insider. "They wouldn't notice that their WhatsApp database has been uploaded."

Security concerns surrounding WhatsApp aren't new, but have been attracting more attention since Facebook acquired the text messaging alternative last month

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drag2share: Mute Mic Prevents Your Phone's Microphone From Recording Audio

Source: http://lifehacker.com/mute-mic-prevents-your-phones-microphone-from-recordin-1541038683

Mute Mic Prevents Your Phone's Microphone From Recording Audio

Android: Your phone is a hot bed of paranoia-inducing sensors. If you're worried about your microphone being used to record audio surreptitiously—or you'd like to do something simple like record a video without sound—Mute Mic can block other apps from using your mic.

The app is a one-button affair that mutes the microphone input volume system-wide. There are no settings or extra buttons to fiddle with. Just tap the button and you're done. This is particularly handy if you need to restrict the microphone permission on an app that you need, but that might be requesting too many permissions.

Mute Mic | Google Play Store via Ghacks

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