What Is a Thumbs db File

If youre still using Windows XP, you may have noticed that folders of digital images usually contain a file called Thumbs.db. Youve probably wondered what it is and whether you can safely delete it.

Thumbs.db is a system file that contains the thumbnail cache--a collection of thumbnail images for photos, documents, Web pages, and so on--for a particular folder. It saves Windows XP from having to render the thumbnails individually each time you open the folder, instead displaying them lickety-split. Vista and Windows 7 each store their thumbnails elsewhere, which is why you dont see such a file on newer systems.

Can you delete Thumbs.db? Yes, but I wouldnt recommend doing so. Instead, tweak Windows so that it no longer shows system files like that one. Run Windows Explorer, and click Tools, Folder Options. Select the View tab, and scroll down to ‘Hidden files and folders. Clear the box next to Show hidden files and folders, and then click OK. Presto: Though Thumbs.db will still be there, youll no longer have to look at it.

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A new age in cyber warfare — Anonymous LulzSec and Stuxnet

A New age in cyber warfare - Anonymous, Lulz and Stuxnet

Growing up in the nineties, television and film made me believe that hackers could do anything. I pictured an emaciated Russian teenager typing on the keyboard of his multiple monitor display, green text scrolling down a black screen. Those scrawny fingers could assume identities or muddle up traffic lights. They were the dark practitioners of mysterious arts. Those were the early days of the web, though, when it was all still a bit wild west. It was before the September that never ended. The internet is supposed to be safe and established these days. Surely internet security experts, with their ever increasing budgets, are on top of all this.

But, as the Internet has gotten larger, deeper and more powerful, so too have its mavericks.

Hacking has never sat so openly in the public eye. Whether their cause be anarcho-policitical, like Anonymous, or more comedic and malicious, like LulzSec, hackers are taking on and embarrassing some of the largest and most powerful entities in the world. While Anonymous claims to defend free speech and whatever cause it’s decided to adopt that week, and Lulzsec targets any and everyone, simply for the “lulz”, neither should be underestimated.

Both have proven that they are more than capable not only of directing brute DDoS attacks, but also of more finessed forms of espionage. Both openly flaunt their victories, both often publicly announce their targets. Both have shown tremendous resistance to any attempts made by authorities to shut them down. At the same time, they have put out a call to come together to combine in full out cyber war against government, corporate and bank secrecy and security across the world. They have called it Antisec. Nevertheless, there are also many rumours flying around about infighting between the two groups.

Despite their capabilities and public profiles, Anonymous and LulzSec are groups of (assumed) private citizens. They are without large scale financial backing and their resources are limited. As cyber superiority becomes more and more important, so governments take ever-increasing notice. For an example of how this kind of modern warfare — when fought between nation states — may look, we need only to think about what happened only a year ago, in what was possibly one of the most dangerous acts of cyber warfare in history.

I am talking about Stuxnet.

Stuxnet was a worm which emerged in June of 2010, a sophisticated self-replicating computer virus designed with intelligence agency precision and military implications. It was first discovered by an obscure information security company from Minsk, called VirusBlokAda, because an Iranian client’s computer would not stop rebooting.

Upon inspection by security experts world-wide, it quickly became clear that Stuxnet was a worm like no other, employing many zero-day exploits and multiple programming languages ( It also became clear that it was written by multiple programmers).

Without delving into the details, Stuxnet initially spread via flash drives, using four different zero-day Microsoft Windows exploits and one of two stolen genuine digital signatures (from Realtek and JMicron) to hide itself.

Following this, it spread inside private networks. Once infected, Stuxnet remained hidden, only coming into play when on a computer that runs the appropriate industrial based Siemens software, and following this, only when that computer was connected to a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).

PLC’s are the digital computers used for automated electromechanical processes, like turning valves on and off, timing traffic lights, or in this example, spinning uranium centrifuges in nuclear power plants. It installed itself on the PLCs, and was programmed to only affect and modify PLCs that met the specific parameters of those involved in the Iranian uranium enrichment infrastructure.

When the worm’s targets were discovered by cyber security experts, the mailing systems that might warn them were systematically DDoSed. Iran has not fully revealed the extent to which Stuxnet has damaged their nuclear program, but we know that it has made a significant impact.

This was a cyber attack which was specifically intended to hamper Iran’s development of nuclear energy and/or weapons, a far cry from the usual financial or symbolic aims of rogue hackers. The resources required to create such a worm imply a strong motive with governmental power behind it. It even had a few fail-safes included that would prevent it from spreading beyond its intended targets, such as an expiry date set for 2012 and limiting each computer to only infecting three more. Despite these fingerprints of government involvement, there is no way of telling where exactly Stuxnet came from. Certain elements within the programming suggest American involvement, while there are many Hebrew references within the code, suggesting a possible Israeli origin. The origins of Stuxnet, though, are currently bound to rumour and speculation.

Stuxnet is now available online for anyone to inspect, modify and potentially use. Of course, all the zero-days are now closed, and the certificates are no longer genuine, so it’s not quite as dangerous as it sounds.

Some have called Stuxnet the Hiroshima of cyber-warfare, one act that redefines the landscape in such a way that war can never be the same again.

Although this may be a bit of an exaggeration, the meaning is clear; Stuxnet was artificially limited, and was picked up and tackled by the best in the world. It was only ever going to hamper nuclear progress. It was effectively non-lethal. The next, or current, attack of a similar kind could be something far more nefarious. There is no oversight, and only a handful of precedents, for how these attacks can play out. Much as a biological virus can get out of control, so too can a digital virus.

While technology can be used to expose (Wikileaks), protest (Anonymous), organise (social media empowered activism) or ridicule (Lulzsec), perhaps we are forgetting who sits at the forefront of new technological developments.

Where publicly known hacker collectives — depending on your viewpoint — are proving slightly embarrassing or inspirational, government sponsored cyber-warfare can pose a very real threat to targeted nations or groups. Behind the doors of corporate and government superpowers, we simply don’t know what weapons and tools are being developed. On this new battlefield, where nations like the USA and China have already taken steps, we can only wait and see what kind of collateral damage may occur.

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A Publishing Milestone

Most people are comfortable with buying physical gifts for friends, such as books, DVDs, or phones. Most people, however, would not be comfortable digital goods for friends or family. These things seem very ephemeral, and of course, theres always the possibility of buying the wrong format, or buying them something that they cant possibly read on their latest gizmo.

Well, it seems like ebook readers have finally gotten to the point where people are buying electronic books as gifts. Today, someone bought a copy of Independent Cycle Touring as a gift for a friend. And yes, the PDF was designed to be compatible with an iPad. How did I do this without actually owning one? It turns out that iPads have a bug in their PDF readers that require me to turn on compatibility with Acrobat 4.0. I have no idea why that is, but the book is now about 400KB bigger as a result.

Its not obvious from any of my books web-sites how to do purchase a book as a gift, but it is actually straightforward. Just attach a note to your order when you buy one for a friend noting that its a gift and is meant to be sent to a specific e-mail address instead of to you. Since a human being handles every order at books.piaw.net, your wishes will be followed. This is one of the advantages of an indie store---it doesnt take any coding to make a special case.

Happy Holidays!

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Review A Distant Soil Books 1 4

I first reviewed A Distant Soil in 2005 here on this blog. I recently noticed that the library had books 1-4, and hoping that the story had since been finished, I checked the books out of the library and read them all.

The books were particularly slow going for me, and I realized after a bit why: while many pundits are contented to talk about how you should have graphic novels appeal to girls, Colleen Doran actually went out and did it. The books are full of talking heads, and heavy on text balloons. While theres a "saving the world" plot going on, characters take the time out to worry about their hair. The character oriented pacing essentially led to long sections where characters were flirting, bantering, or teasing each other, rather than the usual sequence of action event after action event.

The book revolves around a brother-sister pair who escaped from a lab where they were confined, only to discover their origins. Theyre separated and kidnapped by two factions of an alien race, and they learn about the alien race and the power structure from two different directions, neither of which are telling the complete truth, and neither of which have the complete picture.

The result is a plot and story thats slow, long and drawn out, and action that drags. But the artwork is gorgeous. The men are beautiful, the women a good diverse lot, not all of whom served as love interests for the male characters, and the aliens unfortunately all too human (which given the nature of the story, makes sense). Theres no science at all in this story, so its not properly science fiction, but rather fantasy. Theres a significant amount of sex in this story, so this isnt something you would hand to your 12 year old. (If youre looking for something for that 12-year old, please try Jeff Smiths delightful Bone)

I was wondering why the story line hadnt been completed yet, so I checked on Colleen Dorans web-site: it seems that shes still trying to finish the story. Im not sure I can recommend this book to everyone: its hyper-targeted towards girls, and I had to make myself read it. Check the first book out of your local library and if it grabs you read the rest of it and be prepared for a long wait to the finish. Thats one of the problems with the independent artists, with no commercial pressure to push to finish the story, theres no way to tell when itll finish, if ever. (Im looking at you, Mark Oakley)

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Retrospective How Nintendo lost me as a customer

Golden Abyss got me to start playing Drakes Deception on the PS3, which is pretty remarkable. (Im certainly enjoying the game and how pretty it is) Looking back at the review of the Nintendo Wii that I wrote in 2007, this is quite a reversal of the turn of events that I expected. The Nintendo Wii is gathering dust, while the PS3 sees almost daily use, if not as a game machine, as a portal for Amazon instant video, blu ray player at times, and YouTube living room, where it serves as a better Google TV than the various Google TV demos Ive tried over the years. I havent even considered a Chromecast because the PS3 has been working so well.

How did this happen? I think the biggest deal was the advent of HDTV. With a big 1080p screen in the living room, the Nintendo Wiis graphics looked old. For a while, it still saw plenty of use as an avenue for Rock Band, but even then, the jaggies started looking more and more glaring compared to the PS3s 720p output for games and 1080p output for movies. For games where a motion controller was preferred, I ended up with a Playstation Move instead.

For the next generation of consoles, the difference is even bigger. Both the XBox One and the Playstation 4 will play Blu-rays and DVDs, while the Wii U, despite having a disc reader, wont even play DVDs. From a performance point of view, the Wii U is so much less powerful than either of the bigger consoles that its likely to only get games that are coming out for the previous generation of consoles.

But by far the most important reason is the games. While it seems as though Ive become an Uncharted addict, I noticed that I never did finish a single Wii game that had a "finish". To be fair, the Wii has many games that dont end. For me, that means that Id rather pick up a PS 4 when the next Uncharted game comes out rather than getting another Nintendo console that gathers dust.

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Reclaim your online privacy Thinking you’re being watched is no longer a simple case of you being paranoid

The documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden illustrated the startling reach of the world’s largest intelligence agencies. We learned that the agencies collaborated with technology companies to make it easier to spy on the public.

It’s no longer safe to assume anything about the security of your data – except that you’re not the only one who has access to it. Whether or not you’re on their radar, your activity may be indiscriminately sucked up by intelligence services, who have made it their right to know what you know.

One consequence is that average users are increasingly turning to open-source privacy tools. Much more transparent and often independently audited, they can’t be subverted as easily as a proprietary tool, making them the best means of retaining privacy in your online activities.

Encryption

We know the NSA and GCHQ have collaborated with technology companies to install backdoors into security products, so it’s reasonably safe to assume proprietary encryption solutions are compromised.

That means no more BitLocker, even though it’s highly convenient as it comes with some versions of Windows. Instead, we recommend you use the open-source TrueCrypt to encrypt your data.

It’s a powerful tool, offering volume-, partition- and drive encryption, plus the ability to set up hidden volumes or an entire OS. If you’re compelled to reveal your main encryption password for whatever reason, a hidden volume will remain safely encrypted and undetectable inside the visible volume. Think of it as a saferoom within a saferoom.

Download TrueCrypt from truecrypt.org and install it on your PC. To set up an encrypted area in which to store your most important files, first launch TrueCrypt, then click Create Volume and choose ‘Create an encrypted file container’.

You’ll be offered the option of making a hidden volume, but these must be created inside an existing volume, so choose Standard.

Click Select File and choose a location and a file name for your TrueCrypt container (don’t use an existing file name or it will be overwritten by the container). Choose your encryption and hash algorithm – novices can safely stick to the defaults – then choose the size of your container and a strong password. When prompted, randomly move your mouse around the TrueCrypt window for at least 30 seconds – the longer you move, the stronger the encryption.

To access your container, open TrueCrypt, choose any spare drive letter, select your container file from the Volume drop-down menu, then click Mount. Enter your password and the volume will appear in Windows Explorer. Drag a file on to this and it will be automatically encrypted and added to the container; open an encrypted file and it will temporarily be decrypted in your PC’s RAM. When you’re done with your container, just click Dismount and it will disappear.

There’s lots more you can do from there. You could create a hidden volume inside your standard volume, and you can encrypt a partition or OS using similar steps to creating a container. It’s all well documented both in the software and on the TrueCrypt website.

Web browsing

Tor is a free and open virtual network that bounces communications around the world to prevent sites from learning your physical location. It forms the basis of a range of security applications, the most common of which is the increasingly popular Tor browser. It’s based on a modified Firefox release, and if you follow some simple precautions it will grant you a level of anonymity online.

To set it up, go to torproject.org and download the Tor Browser Bundle. Run the downloaded file, choose an extraction location, then open the folder and click ‘Start Tor Browser’. The Vidalia Control Panel will automatically handle the randomised network setup and, when Tor is ready, the browser will open; close it to disconnect from the network.

It won’t be browsing as usual, as the Tor browser is necessarily stripped of many of Firefox’s modern trimmings. Plug-ins, such as Flash and QuickTime, are by default blocked as they can reveal your non-Tor IP address, as can opening any downloaded document that’s handled by an external application such as Word. The makers strongly advise against using BitTorrent over Tor, too.

Don’t go switching to Chrome, though: Tor is not protecting your PC’s internet traffic, only the traffic that goes via the Tor Browser, so it’s no good just having Tor running in the background.

Because of these restrictions, not to mention the reduced speed of browsing as data flies around the world en route to your PC, it’s not practical to use Tor for everything online. It’s fine to keep using your current browser for everyday online activities – if you want things a bit more private, search with DuckDuckGo.com rather than Google – but try to at least get into the habit of switching to Tor when it’s time to do your banking, shopping or any other sensitive tasks.

Messaging

Public key cryptography is no longer only for IT experts, as more and more people are using tools such as OpenPGP to keep their communications private.

In very simple terms, with PGP you generate two unique keys. Your public key is what you give to others, and they can use it to encrypt any messages meant for your attention. Your private key is what you keep secret and safe, as it works in conjunction with your public key to unlock those messages when they arrive. The public key alone can never decrypt a message, which means you’re safe to hand it out even to people you’ve never met.

The most popular implementation of OpenPGP is the free GnuPG (gnupg.org). Unless you’re skilled with the command line, scroll down to the Binaries section on the Downloads page to find the special setup files for each OS. Note that both sender and recipient need the software installed.

For Windows that’s Gpg4win, a suite that contains GnuPG plus a few other useful tools and extensions, as well as a PDF of the excellent ‘Gpg4win Compendium’. The ‘For Novices’ chapter is a great place to start learning about PGP.

Gpg4win includes everything you need: there are plug-ins for Outlook 2003 and 2007, and a standalone email client called Claws Mail that works with the keys you generate in Kleopatra.

To generate your own pair of keys, run Kleopatra (it’s installed with Gpg4win), then click File, New Certificate. Choose the first option that pops up, enter your name and email address, then click Create Key. Your chosen passphrase is important, as it determines the strength of your encryption; try to use a phrase at least four- or five-words long, but be sure you’ll remember it. Back up your newly created key pair, then Export the certificate to your PC. Opening that file will give you your public key in text form.

That’s the very basic setup, but there’s an awful lot more to it. The Gpg4win Compendium document has walkthroughs for everything, so the best thing you can do is work through the examples until you’re confident enough to start using OpenPGP with your friends, relatives and colleagues.

One area of messaging that Gpg4win doesn’t cover is instant messaging. Skype uses industry-standard encryption to keep private your conversations. However, if you don’t want to put your trust in a mainstream app, you might like to try Off-the-record (otr.cypherpunks.ca). This encryption toolkit works with the Pidgin IM client (pidgin.im).

Disk cleaning

The final tool in your privacy arsenal is a vital one: a good disk cleaner. BleachBit is a simple piece of software that can shred files to prevent recovery, and overwrite free disk space to hide traces of old files. It also automatically hunts down and deletes unnecessary files on your hard disk, from caches and cookies to the temporary folders of thousands of applications.

Head to bleachbit.sourceforge.net to download and install the software. The interface will show you any supported applications installed on your PC on the left, along with information on what will be deleted for each on the right. Just tick what you want to clean, leave anything you’re unsure of, and click Preview to see how much room you’ll free up. Then tap Clean.

The extra privacy tools are all in the File menu. Shred Files and Shred Folders will delete and overwrite your selected data. Wipe Free Space will go through a drive or partition and overwrite files previously deleted by any software, so they can’t be easily recovered. After doing this, BleachBit will also attempt to wipe metadata about those files by filling Windows’ Master File Table.

Tails

If you want a bit of everything we’ve covered in one package, try Tails. It’s a live Debian-based OS that you can run on any PC from a DVD or USB drive. As it uses only the host system’s RAM, it leaves no trace when you switch off and disconnect. You can rock up at an internet café or use the PC in your hotel lobby without worrying about viruses and spyware on the host OS, and you can also use Tails to circumvent regional locks and censorship. Bear in mind, though, that you must boot it from a disc or external drive.

Download the Tails ISO image from tails.boum.org and follow the instructions to verify the image. To install it on a USB drive, first go to pendrivelinux.com to download and run the Universal USB Installer. Choose Tails from its drop-down list and click Browse to select your downloaded ISO image, then select the drive letter of your USB stick. Finally, click Create to build a bootable Tails OS drive.

Tails includes a range of tools, all of which are preconfigured to connect to the internet through the Tor network – it blocks any attempts by applications to directly access the internet.

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How to Interview A Financial Advisor now out in paperback

My latest book, How to Interview a Financial Advisor is now out in paperback. For this book, Im enrolling in the Matchbook program, which means that for $2.99, you can get the digital copy of the book as well as the paperback if you buy the paperback. I loved the Matchbook program, and I was happy to sign up this bookf or it, both as an experiment and also because I feel its a great way to provide a discount: buy a copy for your friend, and keep a copy for yourself!

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Setting up a Proxy Server on Windows

If youve ever traveled outside the US, you know what a pain that is to access certain web-sites. In particular, lots of web-sites have country-restricts which prevent you from accessing them outside the USA. The solution is to run a proxy-server in the US while youre going to be traveling. Theres probably a ton of information out there on how to do this if youre a Linux/Mac user (both of them can run standard UNIX proxy servers), but I havent seen anything on how to do this on Windows, so heres my stab at it, having recently ran a proxy for a friend of mine in Canada.

My main criteria was that the proxy software be free, as in free beer. I couldnt be bothered to download and compile anything for this exercise.

1. Download CCProxy. There are alternatives, but none of them are easily configured, and most of them just simply broken or have onerous licensing requirements. CCProxy is all you will need for personal use. If you need more users, then youll have to pay up or compile some open source software.
   
2. Open up a browser to your routers administration page. This will usually be 192.168.1.1. You can now navigate to Applications & Gaming screen, and set it up so it looks like the following:

   From Drop Box

   
   
3. Now look up the static IP of your router. This is usually on the "Status" page of the routers administration application.
   
4. Configure the client. I tell people to run Firefox, since it has a separate proxy configuration dialog box. Visit tools->options, select the "Network" tab, and click "Settings." Now turn on "Manual Proxy Configuration", and use the static IP address you got previously. Hit OK until youre finished.
   

   From Drop Box

   
   
5. You are now all done!
   

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Samsung Galaxy S2 review What a computer needs

The fastest and slickest Android phone weve seen - but its power is a strain on the battery

Samsung continues to go from strength to strength with its first dual-core phone - the Android 2.3.3-equipped successor to last year’s Samsung Galaxy S. Its impressive specification includes a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED plus display, 8-megapixel camera, a dual core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of internal storage, microSD-support and Samsung’s updated TouchWiz 4.0 UI.

The Galaxy S2 is also one of the thinnest phones available at 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm. It weighs just 116g and is perfectly proportioned with smooth rounded edges. Its a big phone, but, unlike HTCs Desire HD, it doesnt feel particularly large in your hand despite its huge 4.3-inch display.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Side

Like its predecessor, the Galaxy S, the S2 is made almost entirely out of plastic, save for the Gorilla Glass front panel and metallic chrome edging. It still feels like a good-quality phone, though, and the plastic helps cut down on its weight.

There’s one physical Home button on the device, which is flanked by two touch buttons for Menu and Back. One aspect we particularly liked is that to wake the phone you simply press the Home key. There’s no fiddling around on top for an unlock button and this makes handling the phone single-handed much easier.

Theres a microUSB port on the bottom for charging and syncing with your PC, and on top theres a 3.5mm jack plug which will work with any set of headphones. There’s no HDMI-out as on LGs Optimus 2X, unfortunately, so youll have to make do with the Galaxy S2’s DLNA capabilities for sharing content wirelessly across a home network.

qHD resolution displays (Quarter-HD, or 960×540 pixels), are fast becoming the norm on high-end smartphones, but the S2s 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus screen is still impressive. Its colours are vivid and jump out of the screen, and blacks are deep. The screen also has extremely wide viewing angles and you can adjust colour saturation. We spent hours browsing the web, watching videos and playing games while testing the device and couldnt find any problems at all - this phone has one of the best displays we’ve ever tested, and is even better than the iPhone 4s. We did find the auto brightness feature slightly unpredictable, but it’s simple enough to turn this off.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Front

The S2s touchscreen is highly responsive and the user interface runs beautifully. We didn’t experience a hint of lag during testing, even when pushing the phone hard. For instance, you can have a game open, numerous applications running in the background and be sending content over Wi-Fi without any slowdowns at all. In terms of general performance, the Galaxy S2 left the LG Optimus 2X, a similarly specified handset, for dead.

Samsung has also improved its TouchWiz user interface. TouchWiz 4.0 is impressive, both in the way it looks and in how easy and intuitive it is to use. We even preferred it to HTC’s excellent Sense UI. From the lock screen you can open messages, emails and missed calls, which show up in Windows Phone 7-like tiles. Holding down the Home button displays the last six apps you’ve used and has a direct link to the Galaxy S2’s extremely capable Task Killer application.

There are also a number of motion controls, such as tilt to zoom, motion-aided panning and tilt to silence, which are certainly interesting additions to the interface. We didnt use them particularly often, but were glad they were there.

TouchWiz 4.0 also has content Hubs, divided into Game, Music, Readers, and Social. The Hubs let you buy music, newpapers, magazines or games, or put all your social networking content in one place. Wed stick with separate apps, though. The setup process on Social, for instance, is arduous and the interface isn’t as good as that in the official Facebook and Twitter applications. Also, we’ve still yet to meet somebody that wants his or her entire social network feed on one page – it’s just too confusing and cluttered.

Samsung’s Kies Air app is amazing, though. Kies Air allows you to browse the contents of your Galaxy S2 handset on your PC. All you need to do is open the app, and type the address it gives you into your PC’s browser to browse the contents of your phone. From here you can view and manage photos, messages, bookmarks, call logs, video and music – in short, pretty much everything. Kies Air’s browser interface also looks great with useful features like a media player, image preview and easy to access categories for everything on your phone.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Back

The Galaxy S2’s imaging facilities are also top-notch. Pictures taken with the 8-megapixel camera are detailed with very little noise – the S2 clearly has a decent sensor. There are also plenty of useful settings, such as resolution, scene and shooting modes, effects and white balance. Even the front-facing 2-megapixel camera takes good-quality pictures.

You can use the S2s camera to shoot 1080p video at 30fps and, although there’s very little in the way of image stabilisation, the resulting video is some of the best smartphone footage we’ve seen.

Samsungs Galaxy S2 has a beautiful screen, fast and slick interface and great camera. Our main worry with the phone is battery life. The S2 lasted just 17.5 hours in our battery test, a massive step backwards from 29 hours its single-core predecessor managed. This is even worse than HTCs Desire HD, so youll probably need to carry a micro-USB cable with you to top it up whenever possible. However, if you don’t mind keeping an eye on the charge, its a superb Android mobile.

Hardware
Main display size	4.3in
Native resolution	800x480
Second Display
CCD effective megapixels	8-megapixel
Video recording format	DivX, XviD, MPEG 4, H.263, H.264, WMV, VC-1
Connectivity	Bluetooth, MicroUSB
GPS
Internal memory	16384 MB
Memory card support	microSD
Memory card included	0MB
Operating frequencies	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Wireless data	GPRS, EDGE, 3G
Size	125x66x8mm
Weight	116g

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Why Doesnt an iPad Charge When Connected to a Computer

An iPhone charges just fine when plugged into a computers USB port. The same goes for an iPod, a pocket camcorder, and any of countless other devices. So whats the iPads problem?

Actually, the difficulty isnt with the iPad, but with the USB port: Its not supplying enough juice. The ports built into most desktops, laptops, and even powered USB hubs dont generate the 10 watts necessary to charge an iPads battery, which is why the ‘Not Charging message appears over the battery indicator. Thats a definite bummer, as it means you cant use, say, your laptop to recharge your iPad on the road. In fact, Apple recommends finding an AC outlet and using the bundled 10-watt power adapter.

That said, lower-powered USB ports will recharge an iPad--just very, very slowly. When the tablets screen is off, the battery does indeed draw a trickle of power. Turn the iPad back on, however, and youll see ‘Not Charging again. (Its kind of like yanking open the refrigerator door to see if the light is still on.)

You should be aware that many PCs pump varying wattages through different USB ports. Frequently the USB ports at the front of the PC are of lower power than the ones in the back. Before giving up, try moving to another port.

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How to Add a Second Monitor

Increase your PCs screen spread in five easy steps.

In recent years, wide-screen displays have diminished the need for multiple monitors on your desktop—their extra width provides plenty of space for comparing documents, arranging windows, or viewing particularly unruly spreadsheets. But installing a second monitor can still provide some hard-to-beat freedoms. On some desks, it’s easier to arrange two smaller displays than one very wide one. Also, you can maximize frequently used programs on the second screen, leaving your first monitor clear to the desktop. And many games let you use your second display to show crucial information while the first remains focused on the action.

You’ll marvel at how much having two—or more—monitors can better organize your computing life. Procure a second monitor, and you’re ready to go. (Though it’s not strictly necessary, for best results, your second monitor should have the same diagonal screen size as the first; if they’re both flat panels, a matching native resolution is ideal, too.)

1. Make the hardware hookups

For you to use two monitors, both must be able to physically connect to your computer. Many PCs are built on motherboards with integrated graphics and more than one monitor output; others may have a graphics card installed that has dual monitor connectors. If your computer falls into either category, you’re set—skip to the last paragraph of this step. If not, you first need to upgrade your hardware to support dual displays.

The easiest way is by installing a graphics card with two monitor connectors. Just make sure when shopping for the card that the kind of connectors it has matches those on your monitors. A look at the monitors’ manuals, or at where you plug in the various cords and cables, should give you the information you need. Almost all new cards today come with two DVI ports, or one DVI port and one VGA port, and some provide a DVI-to-VGA adapter in the box. (These adapters are also available separately.) You may also see a DisplayPort connector on some modern cards, but this connection type isn’t widely used yet.

Installing the new card is simple. Turn off your computer, unplug the power cable, and open the case. You’re looking for the PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot, the longest slot on the motherboard. (At the slot’s inward-facing end, you should see a small release lever.) Assuming there isn’t a card in the slot already, free up the slot by removing the metal spacer where the slot intersects with the PC’s rear panel. You may have to unscrew the spacer with a Phillips screwdriver, though some cases employ restraining clips instead. (Note: Some extra-wide video cards require you to remove two spacers rather than just one.)

Once you have a slot open, align the back edge of the video card (the part with the monitor connectors) with the open space and carefully push the card into the slot until it’s secure and evenly seated. If it’s not fully inserted, you could run into problems when you turn your computer on again.

Some video cards draw all the power they need through the PCIe expansion slot, but others—especially high-end models—need a direct feed from the power supply, too. If your card does, find a free six- or eight-pin connector from the power supply, and connect it to the appropriate jack on your card, usually located along the card’s innermost edge. Next, screw the card into the slot (or, if you have a tool-free case, secure it using the case’s mechanism), close up the system, and replace the power cable you unplugged earlier.

Connect both of your monitors to the video connectors on your computer and/or video card, and to power outlets. Turn them on, then boot up your computer.

2. Install drivers, if needed

If, when booting up, you notice that your computer is displaying the same image on both monitors, then you’ve done everything right. If you installed a graphics card in the previous step, you’ll need to install the appropriate drivers for it. Chances are the card came with a disc that contains the software you need; pop it into the optical drive and follow the instructions. Alternately, you can ensure that you have the most recent drivers by downloading the latest versions from the video chipset’s manufacturer; that’s probably either ATI or Nvidia. If you go this route, simply double-click the file you downloaded, and the software should guide you through installation.

3. Set up your second monitor

Once your second monitor is connected, you need to instruct Windows how to recognize it. If your computer is running Windows Vista, right-click on the desktop, then click on Display Settings in the “Personalize appearance and sound” window that comes up. If you’re using Windows XP, right-click on the desktop to bring up the Display Properties window, then click on the Settings tab.

In either version of Windows, once you’re in the appropriate screen, you need to tell Windows not only how to see the second monitor, but what to do with it. On the visual representation of your setup, one monitor will be big, highlighted, and labeled “1” (this is your main monitor); your secondary monitor will appear smaller and dark. Right-click the secondary display and select “Attached” to activate it, then click the checkbox that says “Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor.”

Use the slider to adjust the second screen’s resolution. Under most circumstances, having each monitor set to its native resolution will minimize disorientation when moving or looking from one to another. (Also remember that LCDs tend to look their best at their native resolutions.) Even so, you can experiment with different resolution combinations until you find one to your liking.

Once you’re done, click Apply. Your second monitor is now ready to use.

4. Adjust your monitor layout

This step is optional, but if you don’t want to have to move your cursor onto the second monitor by navigating off the upper-right edge of the screen, as the second monitor’s default position dictates, you’ll need to change its virtual positioning.

From the same window in which you set up the monitor in Step 3, click on your secondary monitor and drag it to its new position. You’ll be informed of the exact pixel location of the second monitor as you move it, and it will “snap” to the nearest edge of the first monitor to automatically create an orderly layout (though you can stagger the two displays messily, if you so desire).

You can “move” the monitor to a position above, below, or to the left or right of your current monitor. For obvious reasons, we recommend having the physical monitor in the same position as its virtual counterpart, but this isn’t essential if another setup works better for you.

5. Add even more monitors?

Today’s cutting-edge graphics cards make it possible for systems using them to run three, four, or even more monitors. If your PC has two or more graphics cards set up in Nvidia’s Scalable Link Interface (SLI) or ATI’s CrossFireX configuration, and each of those cards has multiple video outputs, you could be well on your way to a wall of displays. You’ll need enough video jacks, cables, and electricity to keep them all running, but you would set them up the same way you did your second monitor.

Just make sure to arrange them sensibly so you’ll always know where you’re working—it can be easy to get lost between screens. But once you start working with more than one monitor, you’ll wonder how you did without them for so long.

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