Continue reading Box for Android updated to 1.5: adds widgets, uploading from any app, magic

Box for Android updated to 1.5: adds widgets, uploading from any app, magic originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are plenty of tools and apps out there that automate the essential computing tasks that face us every day. Some are time consuming others are simply monotonous — but they must be done. Dropbox Automator combines time-saving task mastery with perhaps our favorite cloud storage solution. The service watches a designated folder for uploads, when a new file is added an action is triggered — everything from converting documents, to resizing an image or tweeting a link. And that’s just scratching the surface. There are already plenty of automation scripts in the fledgling service’s repertoire and devs can add there own by creating a SOAP webservice. Hit up the source link to get started now.

Dropbox Automator triggers monotonous tasks with uploading of a file originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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by bump

A Look At Some Unusual Gadgets

The market is full of latest electronic gadgets that are really unique. These gadgets either have a unique appearance or simply have unique uses. Here is a look at some unusual gadgets available in the market.

• Sunglasses with MP3 player

One of the most popular unusual gadgets in the market is a pair of sunglasses that come equipped with a built-in MP3 player. The MP3 can easily play the various popular music formats like WAV, WMA and MP3. The pair also boasts of Bluetooth connectivity. A removable clip can turn the sunglasses to a MP3 Player.

The sunglasses can also be connected to a PC using the USB connection for uploading or downloading the music.

• Camera Lighter

It is one of those unusual gadgets developed specifically for the people who love to use spy gadgets. The camera is designed as a lighter but it actually, is a mini camera which has been designed to click pictures in a secret manner. The camera can easily capture and store a total of 100 pictures. All one has to do is simply flip open the lighter, click a photograph and then shut down the lighter.

• MP3 Player Pen

The pen with a built in MP3 player is an incredible gadget. It is one of those latest electronic gadgets that are creating a revolution in the market. The MP3 player is equipped to play the various formats like WAV, WMA and MP3. The MP3 player pen also comes with a built in recording voice option of a really high quality, also it is designed to support a USB 2.0 connection. The sound quality of the MP3 player is simply awesome.

• LED Torchlight

This unique torchlight is designed in a way that one just has to shake it for a total of 30 seconds and it will cause it to light up for a total of 5 minutes. Its parts never need a replacement and the batteries do not run out easily. It is also safe to take it under water.

• Watch with MP4 Player

It is basically a wrist watch with a built in 1 GB memory along with a number of wonderful features like a built-n movie player, a wide screen, a FM- radio, built-in speakers as well as a number of other interesting things. It lets one watch the videos and listen to the music while on the move, while keeping a track of the time.

So this is either great or dumb, and I’ll leave it to you to make up your own mind. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a sexting case, in which police officers have sued their sergeant for reading sexually explicit messages that were supposed to be privately read amongst themselves. The question is, did the sergeant violate the officers’ privacy by reading the messages?

It got weird when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court asked what’s the difference between a text message and pager.

Now, there’s two schools of thought here. One is to say, “Oh My God! These old people have no idea what they’re talking about, they shouldn’t even be sitting on the bench!” And if they truly don’t know the difference between a text message and a pager, or anything along those lines, then we’re pretty much doomed. Is it too much to ask to have the country’s highest court to understand the everything things people have to deal with?

The other is that the justices do, in fact, know the difference in a practical sense, but are asking simply to make sure they’re on solid legal footing.

I’ll only address the first point because it’s the most pertinent here. For all the work of people like the Electronic Frontier Foundation trying to educate the public on law and technology, it’s a complete waste of time if the judges on the bench don’t know the difference between iPod and iPad, between uploading and downloading, between Internet Protocol and Intellectual Property.

I actually had a conversation with an EFF lawyer back during CES, and he pretty much said just that: you could walk into a courtroom with a rock-solid case, but if the judge doesn’t understand the technological details of your argument you might as well be speaking Aramaic.

We’re probably a few years away from having people who grew up with technology (as we know it today) sitting on the bench. And even that doesn’t solve the problem: I should hope that when I’m 50 years old I don’t understand a damn thing what the kids are doing technologically. I’ll be all, “I remember when the iPhone was leaked…” and some punk kid will be all, “What’s a phone?”

Technology will always outpace law. What are you gonna do?

While the Eye-Fi Pro X2 – an 8GB Eye-Fi card with RAW support and ad hoc mode – is already available, the company just released two new additions to the X2 line, the Explore and the Connect. The Explore includes automatic geotagging for images and videos. Here are the specifics:

Eye-Fi Connect X2 – At 4GB capacity, the Eye-Fi Connect X2 will automatically upload JPEG photos and videos to the computer and one of more than 25 online sharing sites, such as Flickr, Facebook, YouTube or Picasa, through a Wi-Fi network. MSRP: $49.99.

Eye-Fi Explore X2 – At 8GB of capacity, the Eye-Fi Explore X2 will automatically upload JPEG photos and videos to the computer and one of more than 25 online sharing sites. It offers lifetime automatic geotagging so photos and videos arrive at the user’s computer with location information already included to identify where the image was captured. Explore X2 also offers one year of hotspot access for uploading away from home at more 21,000 AT&T and Harborlink locations across the Unites States and through open hotspots. MSRP: $99.99.

Eye-Fi Pro X2 – Unveiled at CES and winner of CNET’s “Best of CES” award, the 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 will automatically upload JPEG and RAW photos and videos to the home computer, and will send them to one of more than 25 online sharing sites. It also allows users to create an ad hoc connection directly to their computer to wirelessly upload photos and videos while away from a wireless router. Like Explore X2, Pro X2 offers lifetime geotagging and one-year of hotspot access to enable uploads away from home at more than 21,000 AT&T and Harborlink hotspots and open hotspots. MSRP: $149.99.

These new devices can use multiple AT&T hotspots and feature faster video upload and a new “Endless Memory” mode that will upload images and video as you take them. They’re available today.

Product Page

Is it even worth getting upset over this Ubisoft nonsense? By now you’ve certainly heard about the company’s plans to implement a new form of DRM for its PC releases—I’ve only written about it 800 times in the past month! The DRM is bat-shit crazy, sure, but it’s the sentiment behind it that has me concerned this Sunday morning.

Ubisoft gave its side of the story to PC Gamer in a rather breezy interview. I encourage you to read the whole thing: it’s not too long, and it really does frame where Ubisoft is coming from.

I’ll isolate a few parts here.

So what’s in it for gamers?
Ubi say there are three advantages to their online services. The first: you don’t need a disc. The second: that you can install the game on as many PCs as you like, as many times as you like. And the third: the automatic uploading of savegames to Ubisoft’s servers.

I love the first two “advantages,” like, wow, you mean we don’t need to keep the disc in the drive? That’s great. Incidentally, that’s how it should have been all along—what’s the point of installing a game to a hard drive if you’re going to insist that we keep the disc in there? And oh, I can install the game on as many PCs as I’d like? You’re too kind! The fact is, it’s really not too uncommon to own more than one PC these days. Maybe you have a custom-built PC in one room and a laptop in your bedroom. So there’s two installs right there. And maybe stupid Windows crashes, or your hard drive spontaneously explodes—who hasn’t had a hard drive on them? Bam, there’s a few more installs.

There aren’t “advantages” so much as what should be considered business as usual. (Steam is quickly making disc-based games seem old and silly.)

The last point, that your saves are automatically uploaded to Ubisift’s servers, sure, that’s nice, but it’s not exactly something that PC gamers have been clamoring for. Besides, is this merely syncing your local game saves with the Ubisoft cloud, or is the wholesale management of your saves for you? What happens if it’s the latter, and Ubisoft’s servers go down? Would you be able to access your game saves then?

My absolute favorite part of the interview is:

Ubisoft: The system is made by guys who love PC games. They play PC games, they are your friends.


Yes, and war is peace.

The smart reaction to these games—so far, the games afflicted with this DRM include Assassin’s Creed II, Settlers 7, and Splinter Cell: Conviction, among others—is simply not to buy them. Don’t buy the Steam version, don’t buy it from Amazon, and don’t buy it from your local GameStop. (Do GameStop even sell PC games anymore? No idea.) More importantly, don’t pirate it! Don’t grab the Torrent, don’t download it from Rapidshare, don’t drop the NZB into your watched folder. Just because you exist on planet Earth doesn’t give you the right to download the game because you’re upset at The Man. Besides, for every knucklehead seeding the game on BlackCats, Ubisoft can say, “See, piracy is a gigantic problem on the PC.” I think it’s more accurate to say that piracy is a problem, end of.

So again, do not buy the games, and do not pirate it; pretend they don’t exist. Because if Ubisoft is even remotely successful with this new scheme, you can be sure other publishers will follow suit.