Archive for November, 2011

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Use a third party keyboard with a (rooted) Amazon Kindle Fire

November 28th, 2011
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Amazon offers Kindle Fire users the opportunity to download and install thousands of third party apps from the Amazon Appstore. But there are some apps you won’t find there, including apps that require phone, camera, or microphone capabilities, because the Kindle Fire doesn’t have the hardware to support them.

You also won’t find alternate home screen/program launcher apps or alternate keyboard apps because Amazon wants to provide a cohesive experience for Kindle Fire users.

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to use a third party keyboard instead of the official Kindle Fire keyboard. It just takes a little more work to set up than most apps.

Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Root your Kindle Fire

While it’s possible to install some third party apps on the Kindle Fire without rooting the tablet, keyboards are special. You’re going to need certain file and folder permissions that aren’t available without rooting.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to root the Kindle Fire. The short version is that you need to install the Android Software Developer Kit on your computer, then connect your Kindle Fire to a PC with a USB cable and run an app called SuperOneClick.

You can follow our step-by-step instructions for rooting the Kindle Fire to get started.

Step 2: Allow installation of third party apps

Before we move forward, we’ll also need to enable the installation of third party apps from sources other than the Amazon Appstore. This is even easier than rooting the tablet.

All you have to do is:

1. Tap the settings icon in the Kindle Fire taskbar. It’s on the upper right corner of your tablet.
2. This will bring up some quick settings, but you want to click the “More” option to view the full settings menu.
3. Scroll down to the option that says “Device” and tap it.
4. Tap the option that says “Allow installation of applications from unknown sources” so that “on” is highlighted in orange.

Now you can download apps from the internet and tap them from the download manager or a file browser to install them.

Step 3: Install NookColor Tools

While you can now install third party apps on the tablet, you still need to be able to bring up a settings option that will let you decide which keyboard to use once you’ve installed a new keyboard app. Amazon doesn’t make it easy to access that menu… but there’s a free app called NookColor Tools that will do the trick.

As you might have guessed, NookColor Tools was originally developed for use on the Barnes & Noble NOOK Color — and some of the settings may break things if you try to use them on the Kindle Fire. But you can use the app to simply (and safely) switch keyboard apps. We’ll show you how in a moment.

For now, just visit the NookColor Tools page at the xda-developers forum using a web browser on your Kindle Fire and tap the download link. Once the app is downloaded a notification should appear on your device. Tap the notification and then tap the APK installer to install NookColor Tools on your device.

Step 4: Install a keyboard

Now it’s time to install a third party keyboard app. You can search the internet for keyboard APK files using Google, the xda-developers forum, or an app store such as GetJar or SlideMe. Or you can install the Google Android Market to make it easier to access hundreds of thousands of apps including keyboard apps.

Some keyboards you might want to try include SwiftKey, Hacker’s Keyboard, SlideIT, or others. Some keyboards may not work on the Kindle Fire, but if after following then next few steps you run into problems, you can just run them in reverse to remove the keyboard.

For the rest of this tutorial, I’ll be working with the SwiftKey X keyboard trial from the Android Market.

Step 5: Move the Keyboard app to the /system/app directory

For the next step you’re going to need a file explorer than allows you to access your tablet’s root directories and allows you to mount read-only directories as read/write directories.

The best app for doing this is probably Root Explorer, but you may also be able to use ES File Explorer or some other file browsers.

After you’ve “installed” SwiftKey or another keyboard app in step 4, you’ll still need to take the following steps.

1. Navigate to the /data/app directory on your Kindle Fire.
2. Find the .apk file for the keyboard you just installed. You can probably do this by scanning for the app icon. The name may not be what you’d expect. For instance, SwiftKey shows up as “.com.touchtype.swiftkey.phone.trial-1.apk.”
3. Copy that file and paste it into the /system/app directory. To do this you will need to make sure the /system/app directory is mounted as read/write.

Step 6: Reboot the Kindle Fire

Press and hold the power button on your Kindle Fire until a dialog box pops up asking if you want to shut down the Kindle. Choose the Shut Down box.

Once the tablet is powered off, press the power button again until the screen turns on and wait for the Kindle Fire to boot up.

Step 7: Use NookColor Tools to select your keyboard

Now you can go to the Apps menu on your Kindle Fire and tap the NookColor Tools icon to load the application.

Tap the “Choose Keyboard” button, and a window will open up asking you to select your input method. Just tap the keyboard you want to use, and next time you tap on a text box such as the Kindle Fire search bar, the new keyboard should appear.

You can change to a different keyboard at any time by navigating back to the NookColor Tools app and choosing a different keyboard.

Now you can replace the standard Kindle Fire keyboard with one that features better text-prediction technology, has a more comfortable layout, or allows you to enter text by sliding your finger across the screen instead of lifting your fingers after each tap.

Source:http://liliputing.com/2011/11/use-a-third-party-keyboard-with-a-rooted-amazon-kindle-fire.html

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The Social Engineer’s Guide to Buying an Expensive Laptop

November 28th, 2011
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Laptops are almost a necessity in today’s society. It doesn’t help that a laptop that can actually increase your work productivity will put at least a $1,500 dent in your wallet. I’m sure you have searched around to try to find factory direct deals, or (shiver) even looked at used laptops, but that isn’t the way to go. You need something that actually has a warranty, and good performance, but at the same time, doesn’t require you to sell a kidney. This can cause quite a dilemma, as it can take some people months or years to save up for even the worst computer.

Well, if you are a computer gamer, or just an enthusiast, you have probably heard of Alienware. They are most expensive, the most gorgeous, and above all else, the most powerful gaming laptops in the universe (no, people… having 3 hard drives doesn’t make Sager better). The drawback of these beasts are the steep prices. To get the specifications maxed out Alienware, it will run you back 5 to 6 grand. This is the power that you get to play with:

* Screen: 18.4″ 1080p WLED
* Processor: Intel Core i7 2960XM 2.7GHz (3.7GHz with Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
* Memory: 32GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
* GPU: Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon 6990m (4GB)
* Storage: Up to 512GB Solid State Drive SATA hard drive
* Misc: SATA3, USB 3.0, HDMI input, 4 year warranty and more
* Total: $6,949.00

This is a force to be reckoned with. However, the toll for this gorgeous piece of hardware will do some damage to your wallet. What if it doesn’t have to, though? What if I told you, that with some clever shopping, and some hardcore social engineering, I got this laptop down to $2,000? No joke. In today’s Null Byte, I am going to show you exactly what it takes to get the most out of your money from Alienware. I’m going to sleuth around and get the best price on parts and then finish off with some social engineering to lower my price even more. This isn’t just for Alienware, though. These methods are applicable to all things expensive. Pay close attention, this could save you enough money to buy a car.

Social engineering is a natural-born talent for some people. Convincing someone to trust you, and playing on human emotion can really save your skin when it comes to big spending. I’ve used it to my advantage more than I can remember when it comes to purchasing things.
Step 1 Prepare for Battle

Before we begin, we should shop around for upgraded parts and see if we can get them cheaper elsewhere. This will put a good dent in the preliminary price on our order, making minimal to no sacrifice in regards to performance. Upon looking around, here is the modified list that we can come up with:

* Screen: 18.4″ 1080p WLED
* Processor: Intel Core i7 2860QM 2.5GHz (3.6GHz with Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache). I swapped this out to the 2860QM because it costs half as much and can be easily overclocked to be faster than the 2960XM, while maintaining a 8MB cache size. Clearly a better option.
* Memory: 16GB Kingston HyperX PnP Triple Channel DDR3 at 1866MHz (4DIMMS). I chose to order RAM from someone other than Alienware and “downgraded” from 32GB of 1333MHz to 16GB of Triple channel memory clocked at 1866MHz. This upgrade is much faster, and can be overclocked to 2000MHz, easily. Almost a 100% speed increase is achieved while we also save $1,780.00. This means that we also get 4GB of RAM for free with the laptop because it comes with it, stock. Sell it.
* GPU: Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon 6990m (4GB). Stick with the dual AMDs—they are faster than the nVidia 580m cards and are a lot cheaper. Option seems pretty clear to me.
* Storage: 256GB OCZ SATAIII SSD R/W 500/MBs. This drive is faster than any of the drives offered through Alienware. I chose only one because an SSD larger than this, for now, is pretty ridiculous. The Alienware will still come with a 500GB HDD, which can be used for storage, so you can keep the OS and your games on the SSD to increase performance greatly.
* Warranty: 1 year advanced warranty. I upgraded to the 1 year advanced plan to cover accidental damages. A lot of people do not know this, but a few months before your warranty runs out, you can call the factory and pay to have the warranty extended. Why pay for it now if we don’t have to?
* New Preliminary Total: $2,860 on the Alienware. $3,380 is our new grand total, with extra parts included. We have already saved more than 50% for a rig that outperforms what we would have had.

Source:http://www.businessinsider.com/the-social-engineers-guide-to-buying-an-expensive-laptop-2011-11

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NZCS, NZICT not consulted on PC standards

November 28th, 2011
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The NZ Computer Society and NZICT Group, in a joint submission on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA) proposed standards for PC and computer monitor efficiency say neither organisation was consulted in the preparation of the current discussion document.

NZCS and NZICT express multiple reservations about the proposed standards, some of which they suggest will actually work against appropriate energy-efficient computing strategies in today’s virtualised environments.

The preface to the EECA discussion document says: “Relevant industry associations and stakeholders have been involved in developing the proposed standards through industry representation on standards committees, stakeholder meetings and informal contacts in Australia and New Zealand.”

But NZCS and NZICT seem to have been missed in this exercise, they say.

The submitters have also enquired with other stakeholders and cannot find any that have been consulted prior to late 2011,” the organisations say. “The apparent lack of consultation during the development of the proposal provides a perception of a fait accompli.”

For these reasons, they have asked for the period for submissions, which expired on November 15, to be extended by three months.

The organisations suggest compulsory measuring of PC energy consumption figures and printing of labels will be prohibitively expensive for the makers of custom-built PCs, where each machine or short run of identical machines will need to be separately evaluated and labelled.

Furthermore, they say, energy consumption restrictions on a per-machine basis, as suggested in the draft, could work against the current trend to consolidate a number of virtualised servers onto one physical server.

This is done precisely in the cause of better processor utilisation and thereby greater energy efficiency.

“Implementation of minimum energy standards in a business environment could result in the reverse of the intended behaviour: a necessitation for a greater number of physical servers, with consequential higher overall energy footprint,” they say.

High performance computers used for intensive graphics manipulation or gaming, might not be able to meet suggested standards, NZICT and NZCS add. EECA spokespeople, discussing the standards with Computerworld earlier this year, gave some indication that special extensions to the standard might be provided for such high-use machines.

“For the reasons outlined above,” say the organisations, they “cannot at this time support the implementation of mandatory minimum energy performance standards for computers in New Zealand.”

They urge EECA to maintain a voluntary approach to energy labelling only.

An approach based on increased education for manufacturers and consumers on energy efficiency would be more effective than compulsory labelling, they suggest.

Both organisations offer their help with such an education campaign.

EECA responds

EECA general manager of products, Terry Collins, has given Computerworld a list of parties consulted in New Zealand, which consist predominantly of mass-market hardware manufacturers and distributors and their associations as well as ISPs Orcon and Actrix and the Ministry of Economic Development.

The equivalent Australian exercise was done earlier, he says, so much valuable information came from Australian organisations.

The idea was to consult suppliers first to firm up a draft standard, Collins says; then to put that to user bodies for comment; that second phase is the one currently taking place.

The period for submissions closed on November 15. EECA is willing to entertain requests for extra time and for discussion of topics not explicitly covered in the draft, Collins says; “but we want to do that by direct contact with the submitters, not through the media.”

Source:http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/nzcs-nzict-not-consulted-on-pc-standards

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The Business Software Alliance court sentence against software pirate

November 28th, 2011
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The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the voice of the world’s software and Internet industry, praised a judgment given by the Maltese Magistrates Court earlier this week, which convicted a reseller of computer hardware products who was distributing pirated software in violation of the intellectual property rights of Microsoft Corporation.

The BSA said pirated software was being unlawfully loaded onto computer systems that the reseller was building and distributing. The reseller was convicted by the court to an imprisonment term of eight months, suspended for 18 months. The BSA described this judgment as a very important step in the fight against software copyright theft in Malta. The Magistrates Court also ordered the confiscation and destruction of all the computer hardware and other related apparatus seized by the Police during their investigations.

“The judgment is proof that Malta is making great efforts to combat the escalating problem of piracy on the island,” said Georg Herrnleben, BSA Senior Director, Compliance Marketing EMEA, who urged the Maltese government to take bold measures to combat piracy in Malta through tougher legislation. BSA has pledged to continue working to educate consumers and organisations that piracy is theft and an infringement of intellectual property rights.

Although the piracy rate in Malta has been decreasing slowly since 1995, when it recorded a 77 per cent high, BSA sees no cause for complacency. The Maltese rate of 43 per cent means that over €4.4 million are robbed from the country revenues and the rate is way too high compared to the EU average of 35 per cent.

The distribution of unlicensed or pirated computer software creates a serious problem for software developers. BSA will continue to work with legal authorities to ensure that companies in Malta fulfil a legal obligation to ensure that all the computers sold by their establishment are accompanied by licensed and genuine computer software products.

The Court delivered its judgment after the accused pleaded guilty to all the criminal charges brought against him.

Source:http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=136073

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Topeka teen has impressive computer skills

November 28th, 2011
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A natural curiosity for how things work and a love for solving problems is leading Benjamen Coultis down a path many people don’t find until they are several years older than the Topeka youngster.

Coultis, 12, a seventh-grade student at Jardine Middle School, fixes computers — mostly for the fun of it but also to challenge himself and help out a few neighbors and family friends.

“I’m just interested in this kind of stuff,” he said. “I don’t know why.”

“Just like someone his age mowing grass, he’s fixing computers for people,” said Barbara Coultis, Benjamin’s mother, who recalls that when her son was a preschooler, he wanted to know what made his toys to household appliances work.

“He took apart his beepy toys and put them back together,” she said. “He wanted to know how the furnace worked. We knew he had this bent for wanting to know how things worked.”

“It’s a good line of work to be had,” said David Coultis, Benjamin’s father, a self-employed computer network engineer. “The earlier you start, the further you can go.”

The young Coultis’ knowledge of computer technology goes beyond just being able to take a computer out of its box and set it up. He has passed the A+ certification test, an industry-recognized certification and something people in the computer hardware industry often don’t obtain easily, even after they have taken a pre-certification course.

Because Benjamin is still too young to take the A+ certification course since it is for older high school students and those enrolled in technical school. However, he said he taught himself the course material which took about a year before he took the certification test earlier this fall. After studying the nearly 1,100-page training manual and taking some online pre-tests, Benjamin took the first part of the certification test in August and then the second part of the test a month later in September.

“I’m not an educator,” David Coultis said. “I couldn’t teach him the course. But he did surprisingly well. The woman at the testing center was surprised.” In fact, the Coultises said the woman at the Johnson County Community College testing center was so impressed with Benjamin passing the test at such a young age, she wanted her picture taken with him,

While he gets compliments for his abilities, Benjamin said he just likes being able to solve someone’s computer problems, often without help from his father. However, he said he also likes being wrong sometimes.

“Sometimes I learn a little more from being wrong,” Benjamin said. “It helps me know what I don’t know.”

Outside of his interest in computers, Benjamin enjoys other things like art, the outdoors, riding horses and robotics with his 4-H club.

Source:http://cjonline.com/news/2011-11-27/topeka-teen-has-impressive-computer-skills#.TtMER7LL7Lc

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Apple Incorporated (AAPL): Today’s Featured Computer Hardware Loser

November 28th, 2011
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Apple Incorporated (AAPL) pushed the Computer Hardware industry lower today making it today’s featured Computer Hardware loser. The industry as a whole closed the day down 0.7%. By the end of trading, Apple Incorporated fell $3.42 (-0.9%) to $363.57 on light volume. Throughout the day, 8.3 million shares of Apple Incorporated exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 19.6 million shares. The stock ranged in price between $363.32-$371.15 after having opened the day at $368.42 as compared to the previous trading day’s close of $366.99. Other company’s within the Computer Hardware industry that declined today were: Top Image Systems (TISA), down 5.4%, Quantum Corporation (QTM), down 4.7%, Black Box Corporation (BBOX), down 3.6%, and Universal Display Corporation (PANL), down 3.6%.

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players, as well as sells various related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions. Apple Incorporated has a market cap of $341.04 billion and is part of the technology sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 13.3, equal to the average computer hardware industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 13.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

TheStreet Ratings rates Apple as a buy. The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook.

Source:http://www.thestreet.com/story/11323473/1/apple-incorporated-aapl-todays-featured-computer-hardware-loser.html

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Microsoft Kinect PC Hardware Coming Spring 2012

November 28th, 2011
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Microsoft Corporation has announced on the Kinect for Windows blog that a PC specific version of the Kinect motion sensor hardware will be released this coming Spring.

The PC version will be more advanced that the older Xbox 360 version. Most importantly, the PC Kinect will have a “near mode”, which will allow the device to track objects as close as 50cm away, “with graceful degradation down to 40 centimeters,” which is in stark contrast to the original Kinect’s 1.8m requirement.

The PC Kinect hardware will also feature a shorter USB cable, as well as “a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals.” In addition, Microsoft will be offering dev support for the camera, as well as updates to the device’s speech and tracking software.

One must wonder if this means a better Xbox 360 Kinect sensor will be released. The price of the PC Kinect has yet to be announced as well.

Source:http://www.tmrzoo.com/2011/30531

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