.::REALITYRECALL::.

That Folio 100 (alias Smart Pad) from Toshiba we’d been hearing about? Yep, totally real, and totally Tegra 2-powered — a theme that we think is going to be pretty popular among tablet makers this season. We caught a handful of Folio 100s firmly affixed to a wall at IFA today, showing 10.1-inch multitouch LCD displays paired with a remixed version of Android 2.1, a handful of capacitive buttons, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, 16GB of on-board storage, and not much else — there’s really nothing visually stunning about the setup as far as we can tell, and it’s not particularly thin. After bouncing out that crazy Libretto W100, Toshiba’s going to have to turn up the style dial to 11 if it wants to rise above the forthcoming onslaught of Google tablets, we suspect.

Toshiba’s Folio 100 with Android and Tegra 2 spied in the IFA wilds originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you like to make your blog look great on all devices, not just computers?  Smartphones and other mobile devices are increasing in popularity, so here’s how you can make sure your blog looks great no matter what people are reading it on.

WordPress is a great tool for creating a blog or traditional website for your business, organization, or simply to share pictures with family and friends.  You can make a free blog on WordPress.com, and if so, your blog will already be ready for most modern mobile device browsers.  Here’s our test WordPress.com site in Mobile Safari; WordPress.com automatically gave it an iOS style theme that’s easy to use on mobile devices.

However, if you want to tweak WordPress and make your site just like you want, you’ll need to use the Self-hosted WordPress.org.  If you’ve created a new WordPress site on your own server or hosting service manually or using an auto-installer such as Softaculous, you may be disappointed that your site looks the same on mobile browsers as it does on your computer.  This makes it difficult to use on small screens.

Thankfully, you can easily get the same iOS style theme on your blog for free with the WPtouch plugin.  Login to your WordPress Dashboard, and select Add New under Plugins on the left side menu.

On this page, enter WPtouch in the search box.

Now install and activate the plugin as normal.

Your site will now have a nice theme that works great on modern smartphones and other mobile devices, but will still show your own normal theme to visitors using computers.  If you’d like to preview how your new mobile theme looks on an iPhone, check out our article on Testing Mobile Websites in Safari for Windows.

Tweak WPtouch Settings

WPtouch works fine without any tweaking on most sites, but if you’d like, you can customize your mobile site and tweak WPtouch’s settings to get it working just like you want.  To do this, click WPtouch under Settings on the left menu.

Here you can tweak many settings, including the mobile theme’s background, fonts, icon, and more.

You can also add Google Analytics and Adsense to your mobile site, so you can monetize your traffic and know how many visitors you’re getting.  If you need to find you Google Analytics code, here’s how you can quickly find it.

You may need to tweak settings in other WordPress plugins, including WP Cache and W3 Cache, to make them work with WPtouch, so be sure to check the list at the bottom of the settings page.

Here’s Techinch.com with a customized logo, menu, and background using WPtouch.  Now your site looks just like you want, on PCs and mobile devices.

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On occasion you will need to edit the hosts file on your machine. Sometimes because of an attack or prank, and others so that you can simply and freely control access to websites and network traffic.

hosts files have been in use since ARPANET. They were used to resolve hosts names before DNS. hosts files would be massive documents used to aide the network name resolution.

Microsoft kept the hosts file alive in Windows networking which is why it varies very little whether used in Windows, OS X or Linux. The syntax stays mostly the same across all platforms. Most hosts files will have several entries for loopback. We can use that for the basic example for the typical syntax.

The first part will be the location to redirect the address to, the second part will be the address that you will want to redirect, and the third part is the comment. They can be separated by a space, but for ease of reading are typically separated by one or two tabs.

127.0.0.1 localhosts #loopback

Now let’s look at accessing the hosts files in the different operating systems…

Windows 7

To access the hosts file in Windows 7 you can use the following command in the Run Line to open notepad and the file.

notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Once notepad is open you can edit the file. In this example we will block Facebook. To do this just enter in the following after the # mark.

0.0.0.0    www.facebook.com

Now that you have edited your Hosts file make sure to save it.

Now notice if we try to access Facebook in IE we can’t get to the page.

We also were not able to get to it in Google Chrome… (check notes at the end). Also for more info on editing your Hosts file, check out The Geek’s article on how to create a shortcut to quickly edit your Hosts file.

Ubuntu

In Ubuntu 10.04 and most Linux distro’s you can edit the hosts file directly in the terminal. You can use your favorite editor or even open your favorite GUI text editor. For this example we will use VIM. Like Windows 7, Ubuntu’s hosts file is located in the /etc/ folder, though here it is in the root of the drive. In order to edit the file you will need to open it as root which is why we use sudo here.

Now that it is open we can edit it to redirect Facebook into nothing. You will notice that with Ubuntu there is also a section for IP6. For most needs you will only need to edit it the top section and ignore the IP6.

Now we can save the file and try to go to Facebook.com. Just like in windows we will see that we are now redirected to a site that does not exist.

Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6)

In Snow Leopard, accessing the hosts file is very similar to Ubuntu. Begin in terminal and use your favorite editor, even is you wish to call a GUI text editor, it is easier to do so from terminal.

The file will look a bit more like Windows, only with a little less explanation. Again we are going to redirect Facebook.

This time it seems that 0.0.0.0 is a loopback and will direct you to the computers Apache test page.

Notes

There are some things to note from this walkthrough that we did notice. When tested it, Chrome did not use the hosts file in any operating system but we were able to block Facebook in Chrome by adding www.facebook.com. Also, make sure to place and extra line after the last entry for the section.

This should get you started in understanding the Hosts file and how it can help protect your computer. You can use it to block sites that you don’t want a PC to be able to access. If you have more suggestions for any of the operating systems we coved, then leave a comment and let us know!

Create a Shortcut to Quickly Edit Your Hosts File in Windows

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The Zune HD continues to rank among our all-time favorites in terms of industrial design, so it’s good to hear that Microsoft isn’t entirely abandoning the PMP sector for its new Windows Phone 7 hotness. Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet has consulted her tea leaves (and in-the-know tipsters) and emerged with the strong feeling that some new Zune hardware is brewing up in Redmond. Little specificity is available, beyond the obvious postulation that a new ZHD would probably be driven by an ARM CPU and take some software pointers from WP7, but we’re told to look toward to the early 2011 horizon and see if we can’t spot any sexy new media players emerging. A mirage is as likely as the real deal right now, but it’s always fun to look to that horizon, no?

Zune HD could have all-new model in the works originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oakville, Ont.-based Ford Canada says its August auto sales rose eight per cent from the same month a year earlier, to 24,034 cars and light trucks.

We have to say it’s a bit odd for HP to be announcing its own wireless streaming peripheral — it seems like something more up IOGEAR or Belkin’s alley — but the $199 Wireless TV Connect is exactly what we’ve been waiting for in some respects. Sure, the box that you have to connect to your laptop via HDMI and USB for power is a bit on the large side, but it’s capable of streaming 1080p content, including Blu-ray movies or protected content, to your TV and there’s absolutely no lag when controlling the desktop on the big screen. We’re not exactly sure what technology HP’s using here — we’re thinking WHDI, though the company wouldn’t confirm — but the two box set can be used with any laptop on the market that has an HDMI port. Take that Intel WiDi! This is one we’re absolutely planning to test out, but in the meantime check out the pics below.

Continue reading HP Wireless TV Connect streams 1080p video, hits Intel WiDi where it hurts

HP Wireless TV Connect streams 1080p video, hits Intel WiDi where it hurts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wonder if Staples is going to have to change its name at some point? Surely some time in the not-too-distant future, actual staples will be a relic of the way people published, once upon a time. Maybe a company-wide abbreviation will be in order. How about S-ples? Or Stapes? The latter, according to Wikipedia is “the stirrup-shaped small bone or ossicle in the middle ear.” You guys can work with that, right? Maybe build an ad campaign around it?

I bring all of this up because, for a company that makes as much as it does selling paper product and the like, Staples has always had an eye on technology. In fact, the office supply mega chain has just inked a deal with Amazon to begin stocking Kindles. The store is set to carry three models–the Wi-Fi-only, the 3G, and the Kindle DX.

Staples is the second major retailer to carry the eBook reader. Target began carrying the device earlier this year. Borders and Barnes & Noble, of course, are focused on their own readers, the Kobo and Nook, the latter of which is also available in Best Buy stores.

A 13-year-old boy has been charged after a 49-year-old man was stabbed in the head and neck in the village of Togo, Sask.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders loonie will be unveiled this week, and fans and coin collectors in the province will get first dibs.

We’ve just made the Xbox 360 Wireless controller even better with a brand new version that includes a transforming D-pad.  The engineers have come up with an ingenious solution with a d-pad that can go from a plus to a disc with the twist of the wrist.

 

From this:	To this instantly:

 

Here is a video that shows how it work:

In addition to the new d-pad, the matte silver controller also features concave analog sticks and gray A,B,X,Y buttons for added style. 

 

The controller will only be available with the new Play & Charge Kit that will launch on November 9th for US $64.99.

 

More photos on my flickr

 

If you are headed to PAX Prime this weekend in Seattle, drop by the recording of my LIVE Podcast on Sunday where I’ll have a few of these controllers to give away for free.

We’ve just made the Xbox 360 Wireless controller even better with a brand new version that includes a transforming D-pad.  The engineers have come up with an ingenious solution with a d-pad that can go from a plus to a disc with the twist of the wrist.

 

From this:	To this instantly:

 

Here is a video that shows how it work:

In addition to the new d-pad, the matte silver controller also features concave analog sticks and gray A,B,X,Y buttons for added style. 

 

The controller will only be available with the new Play & Charge Kit that will launch on November 9th for US $64.99.

 

More photos on my flickr

 

If you are headed to PAX Prime this weekend in Seattle, drop by the recording of my LIVE Podcast on Sunday where I’ll have a few of these controllers to give away for free.

Microsoft seems to have caught the hardware tinkering bug. Having overhauled its Xbox 360 design, the software giant is now said to be keeping busy in the lab working on the console’s controller. Such is the word coming from our buddies over at Joystiq, whose reliable source indicates that Redmond will soon produce a new 360 controller with a redesigned D-pad. As the story goes, when you rotate the directional pad ninety degrees, it’ll rise up by about a quarter of an inch, making it more accessible for those that still care to use it (e.g. fighting game fans). No details on what sort of bundled or standalone retail fate this little guy may have, but the holidays are its unsurprising destination. We just hope the Bond-esque mechanism comes with an appropriately futuristic swooshing sound.

Xbox 360 to get fresh controller, better D-pad in time for the holidays? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft seems to have caught the hardware tinkering bug. Having overhauled its Xbox 360 design, the software giant is now said to be keeping busy in the lab working on the console’s controller. Such is the word coming from our buddies over at Joystiq, whose reliable source indicates that Redmond will soon produce a new 360 controller with a redesigned D-pad. As the story goes, when you rotate the directional pad ninety degrees, it’ll rise up by about a quarter of an inch, making it more accessible for those that still care to use it (e.g. fighting game fans). No details on what sort of bundled or standalone retail fate this little guy may have, but the holidays are its unsurprising destination. We just hope the Bond-esque mechanism comes with an appropriately futuristic swooshing sound.

Xbox 360 to get fresh controller, better D-pad in time for the holidays? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Joystiq  | Email this | Comments

If you thought the Dell Streak was too large to be used as a phone at 5-inches, get a load of ViewSonic’s ViewPad 7, a 7-inch Android tablet that also doubles up as a phone. More »

If you thought the Dell Streak was too large to be used as a phone at 5-inches, get a load of ViewSonic’s ViewPad 7, a 7-inch Android tablet that also doubles up as a phone. More »

Posted by Doug Aberdeen, Software Engineer

People tell us all the time that they’re getting more and more mail and often feel overwhelmed by it all. We know what you mean—here at Google we run on email. Our inboxes are slammed with hundreds, sometimes thousands of messages a day—mail from colleagues, from lists, about appointments and automated mail that’s often not important. It’s time-consuming to figure out what needs to be read and what needs a reply. Today, we’re happy to introduce Priority Inbox (in beta)—an experimental new way of taking on information overload in Gmail.

Gmail has always been pretty good at filtering junk mail into the “spam” folder. But today, in addition to spam, people get a lot of mail that isn’t outright junk but isn’t very important—bologna, or “bacn.” So we’ve evolved Gmail’s filter to address this problem and extended it to not only classify outright spam, but also to help users separate this “bologna” from the important stuff. In a way, Priority Inbox is like your personal assistant, helping you focus on the messages that matter without requiring you to set up complex rules.

Priority Inbox splits your inbox into three sections: “Important and unread,” “Starred” and “Everything else”:

As messages come in, Gmail automatically flags some of them as important. Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important, including the people you email most (if you email Bob a lot, a message from Bob is probably important) and which messages you open and reply to (these are likely more important than the ones you skip over). And as you use Gmail, it will get better at categorizing messages for you. You can help it get better by clicking the or buttons at the top of the inbox to correctly mark a conversation as important or not important. (You can even set up filters to always mark certain things important or unimportant, or rearrange and customize the three inbox sections.)

After lots of internal testing here at Google, as well as with Gmail and Google Apps users at home and at work, we’re ready for more people to try it out. Priority Inbox will be rolling out to all Gmail users, including those of you who use Google Apps, over the next week or so. Once you see the “New! Priority Inbox” link in the top right corner of your Gmail account (or the new Priority Inbox tab in Gmail Settings), take a look.