March 31 is World Backup Day 2011

Those benevolent armchair philanthropist Redditors are at it again! Four days ago a 'self' post extolling the potential virtues of a Backup Day exploded with 2500 upvotes and 1000 comments -- and now World Backup Day 2011 is actually happening.

On March 31, as part of the global data-saving initiative, you are encouraged to back up all of your cherished photos and videos, and important documents. If you've ever had a hard disk fail, and not had a backup to fall back on, you'll know that it's a bit like losing a sizable fragment of your soul. If you've never backed up your important files -- or if you only back up sporadically -- do it on World Backup Day!

It's not hard to back up your data, either. A 2TB drive costs only a fistful of dollars, and it takes just a few minutes to set SyncToy for Windows, or Time Machine for Mac, to mirror your data every night. If you prefer a cloud-based solution, there's always SugarSync and Dropbox. Finally, don't forget that Bundlelytic has a charity giveaway for three excellent data-backup-and-recovery tools -- $160 of software for only $25, and 100% of the proceeds to go the Japanese Red Cross.

For even more backup options, for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, check our list of 13 great backup programs.

March 31 is World Backup Day 2011 originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/28/march-31-is-world-backup-day-2011/

AVNET BHARTI AIRTEL BT GROUP CANON MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS

ClassPager Lets Teachers Quiz and Remind Students Via SMS

Why ban phones from the classroom when you can harness them? Bootstrapped startup ClassPager today launches its Twilio-powered SMS system that lets teachers and professors efficiently send their students quizzes and reminders, and receive answers and feedback. ClassPager can re-engage bored or shy students, and show teachers who's falling behind. The 30-second set up provides a classroom code students can text to participate, so teachers and students don't actually have each other's phone numbers. That means better grades with no prank calls and no inappropriate advances.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/iUO5tSxZZGc/

GOOGLE GOOGLE FORMFACTOR FISERV FIRST SOLAR

Apple airs new commercial: iCloud Harmony

Apple has just released a new iCloud-themed commercial aimed to show the advantages of their push and store network. The commercial begins with an iPhone user tapping "Use iCloud", then buying an album. Cut to an iPad where the music automagically downloads as well. Cut to a MacBook Air and the music is also downloading there.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/XuDXHUarYU4/story01.htm

SANDISK SALESFORCE COM SAIC ROCKWELL AUTOMATION RF MICRO DEVICES

Daily Crunch: Fiend Edition

Hot Cool Box: Thanko?s USB Mini Fridge Doubles As Heater Starbucks Merges Their Two iOS Apps, Lets You Gift Your Friends Coffee From Your Phone IBM Takes Another Step Towards Reliable Phase-Change Memory Samsung?s Galaxy Tab 8.9 Hits The FCC How Making Can Help Our Economy, Improve Education, And Make Us Happy

Source: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/07/01/daily-crunch-fiend-edition/

LAND SOFTWARE LAM RESEARCH L1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY KEY

GraphScience Promises To Turn Facebook Commerce Into A Moneymaker

Whenever I hear brands talking about advertising on social networks, one of the most common questions is, "Well, what's the actual return?" Now a startup called GraphScience says it has turned measuring and optimizing that return into, well, a science. The company is officially launching today, but it's one of those startups that has been in stealth mode for a ridiculously long period of time. GraphScience was founded in 2010, and launched many of its services in 2011. And the company already counts jewelry site Ice and fashion site HauteLook among its customers.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/YoWy4zAMPoo/

ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL APPLE COMPUTER APPLIED MATERIALS ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ARROW ELECTRONICS

Twitter Saves Your Address Book's Contents for 18 Months [Privacy]

Twitter, did you learn nothing from Path's recent kerfuffle? Customers do not like it when you remotely store their personal information, especially without telling them. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fH1_QPIePD8/why-is-twitter-storing-users-address-books-for-18-months

TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS TRANSACTION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTS TOTAL SYSTEM SERVICES

The 50% Off Criterion Sale Is Your Cinephile Deal of the Day [Dealzmodo]

In 1877, after many millennia of spirited debate, the gods finally settled on the fate for the way cinema would evolve and unfold over the course of human history. They would hide the choicest gems in a visual sea of garbage, and leave us mere mortals to fend for ourselves. But then towards the end of the 20th century, it was determined that all this would change. A collective of disciples forming under an umbrella known as the Criterion Collection would form from the ether and gather all the finest films from the past 120 years for all to lay eyes on. By the year 2012, it was foretold that they would gather over 600 of these films before the Apocalypse came and wiped us all out. And now, all of these films (or the ones which are in print, at least), are 50 percent off at the Criterion store. Blu-ray and DVD! I'm talking Royal Tenenbaums, Seven Samurai, Solaris, Gojira! Watch em all! While you still can, at least. -AC More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/YDSoWCUEUco/the-50-off-criterion-sale-is-your-cinephile-deal-of-the-day

SI INTERNATIONAL SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY SCIENTIFIC GAMES SANDISK SALESFORCE COM

You can now rent Adobe Photoshop for $35 per month, CS 5.5 available soon

Rejoice! No longer will you have to fork over $700 for a Photoshop CS5 license! Adobe has unveiled a new subscription scheme where you can rent the entire Creative Suite, or individual packages, by the month, or for an entire year.

Adobe Photoshop can be yours for $35 per month if you agree to rent it for 12 months, or $49 per month if you require its services for a shorter period. Dreamweaver can be had for even cheaper, at just $19 per month. The entire Master Collection is still rather expensive, though, at $125 per month.

Today, Adobe also ushered in the release of Creative Suite 5.5, and simultaneously upped its release cycle from 18 months to 24 months. This means, if you rent Photoshop for two years, it's actually the same cost as buying it outright. There's no rent-to-own option, though -- so you wouldn't have access to the cheaper upgrade price once Creative Suite 6 rolls around next year. Still, if you need access to Photoshop, After Effects or Premiere for a one-time project, the new rental scheme could be exactly what you're looking for.

In other news, Adobe has announced that it will be launching three rather exciting iPad apps that work in conjunction with Photoshop: Eazel, Nav, and Color Lava. Eazel lets you five-finger paint on your iPad, and export the result into Photoshop; Nav acts as some kind of workspace, brush and menu extension, and the hopefully named Color Lava is a paint mixing palette. The apps are expected to appear in the App Store in the next 30 days.

You can now rent Adobe Photoshop for $35 per month, CS 5.5 available soon originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/you-can-now-rent-adobe-photoshop-for-29-per-month/

MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES LSI LINEAR TECHNOLOGY LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS

Survival Lab is a fun pixelated game where dying doesn't matter

In most games, dying is a bad thing. You have to start all over again, or at least revert to the last save point and lose some progress. Not so in Survival Lab: in this pixelated gem you play as a lone individual pitted against ruthless weapons in a sealed chamber. You have to run, jump and duck, collecting little yellow things (I have no idea what they're called).

For each donut-like yellow thing you pick up, you gain a bit of experience. If you manage to collect several in a row without getting hit, this counts as a combo. You can see my mad combo skills in the screenshot, of course. Collecting combos is a good thing, because a ten-point combo gives you for more experience than just collecting ten dounts one by one (getting hit in-between).

Having experience is useful, because once you die, you get to a screen where you can upgrade your skills. You can learn to run faster, double-jump (and then double-jump higher), and duck. You can also gain more armour so that getting hit won't kill you so quickly.

What makes this simple game so addictive is that when you die, your experience doesn't reset. You just go back to the same level, or another level of your choosing, and keep accumulating more and more experience. Lots of fun, especially if you're into the whole retro-gaming thing.

Survival Lab is a fun pixelated game where dying doesn't matter originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/28/survival-lab-is-a-fun-pixelated-game-where-dying-doesnt-matter/

MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES LSI LINEAR TECHNOLOGY LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS

Van Gogh's Starry Night modded into beautiful interactive light and sound show (video)

This is one of those little projects you wish you could just play with the second you've seen it. Greek Artist Petros Vrellis coded an interactive light and sound show into Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night -- that you can control with your fingers. With a swipe of a single digit (or hand) you can pull the particles of the artists paint daubs to redirect the swirling mass of night sky in any direction, making music as you do so. After the break we've got video that you really, really should watch -- and afterward start begging the creator to get this onto people's iPads as soon as he can manage it.

Continue reading Van Gogh's Starry Night modded into beautiful interactive light and sound show (video)

Van Gogh's Starry Night modded into beautiful interactive light and sound show (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Boing Boing  |  Creative Applications  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/i4gFZBPdxWI/

APPLIED MATERIALS ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ARROW ELECTRONICS ASML HOLDING ASUSTEK COMPUTER

Line Grapefruit is a tricky Flash "path" game

Okay, see that snaking line coming in from the right on the screenshot? That's you. And see those large round circles? Those are supposedly grapefruits, only they won't sit still - they keep moving up and down and cutting across your path. And if you touch one, you die!

That's what you have to deal with in Line Grapefruit. But that's not all - you're also on a time limit. In fact, you have a very limited amount of time to make it through the "path" (for lack of a better word). You need to snake your way through the winding trail without touching anything. The good news is that a grapefruit only kills you if it touches the end of the line - once you've made it past the grapefruit, nothing happens if it crosses the path you've made.

This is not an easy game, but it's quite unique - I can't recall seeing another game quite like it.

Line Grapefruit is a tricky Flash "path" game originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/line-grapefruit-is-a-tricky-flash-path-game/

OSI SYSTEMS ORACLE OPENWAVE SYSTEMS ON SEMICONDUCTOR NVIDIA

Update: How (Not) to Find a Last-Minute Valentine Using Social Media [Valentine's Day]

I seem to have struck out. After 2+ hours, my quest to find a last-minute Valentine using social media has come up dry. There's reason for you to be hopeful on your own search, though. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9de__YGxCiQ/update-how-not-to-find-a-last+minute-valentine-using-social-media

AMERICA MOVIL AMKOR TECHNOLOGY AMPHENOL ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL APPLE COMPUTER

iCade 8-Bitty retro wireless game controller for iPhone, iPad

The iCade 8-Bitty retro wireless game controller for iPhone and iPad is enough to make anyone's inner gaming geek run screaming for the order now button.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Sws_8-axf_Y/story01.htm

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION RF MICRO DEVICES RED HAT RADISYS RACKABLE SYSTEMS