Google Glass, is it good?

Some think it's the future of tech. Others think it's something we should fear. And still others reckon it'll make you look like a dork. It's Google Glass, and now it's been tested by real people. OK Glass, let's discover the truth!

What is the Google Glass screen like?

It's "interesting", says Engadget's Tim Stevens. It produces "a glowing image that appears to be floating in space". According to Google it's the equivalent of a 25-inch screen eight feet from you, and while it hasn't stated the resolution "developers are advised to work with an array of 640 x 360 pixels".
It's good but not great: it's nowhere near as detailed as a modern smartphone, colours are inconsistent and "it almost has the look of an old-school, passive-matrix LCD".
Stevens found that "while contrast is reasonably good, seeing the display in bright sunlight can be a problem - more so if you use the sunglasses visor, which sits between you and the display."

Can I wear Google Glass over my normal glasses?

Yes, but you probably won't be happy: the frame isn't designed to fit over normal spectacles, so it's going to feel like going to a 3D movie where you've got to wear specs over your specs.
Engadget found that "a few [people] with eyesight difficulties were simply unable to focus on the display at all". CNet's Scott Stein found that "it's not always the most comfortable device". Prescription versions of Glass are in development.

Where does the Google Glass battery live?

It's at the back, just behind your right ear.

Google's images are carefully shot so you don't see the battery lump on the right leg

Is Google Glass comfortable to wear?

The titanium frame keeps the weight down, and putting the battery and speaker behind your ear means that Google Glass isn't too front-heavy.

Google Wallet Receives Update With Improvements to UI and Battery Life

Google Wallet received its first update in some time, today on Android. The changelog mentions that it includes “improvements to the user interface, application stability, and battery life,” which I can confirm. Gone is the opening page with shortcuts to sections for payment cards, reward cards, offers, and transactions. In is a new properly themed Holo and panel UI. 
After entering your PIN, you are dropped onto the “My Wallet” page which lists your current funding source, along with bottom shortcuts to your offers, rewards cards and gift cards. With a swipe from the right, you can view all of your recent transactions. Another swipe from the right gets you to featured or nearby offers that can be accessed or saved. If you want to switch funding sources, simply tap on the card showing and you will move to a separate section for adding or switching cards.
And that’s that, on a UI front. It sees much more simplified if you ask me. They also mention battery life improvements, but there isn’t really a way for me to test that.

If you aren’t running a Verizon phone, go grab the new build!

Verizon Phone users: If you have a rooted phone you can check out the latest release here (hurry, not sure how long it will be available). Download

BYOD, some predict it will become mandatory

(Image: CNET)

Organizations are no longer attempting to resist the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) tidal wave — they are embracing it. And, in short order, many will even make it a mandatory requirement that their employees have their own mobile devices they can use for work.
That's the word from Gartner, which just issued a prediction that 38 percent of companies expect to stop providing devices to workers by 2016. The consultancy foresees organizations even pulling back on reimbursements. Today, Gartner said, roughly half of BYOD programs provide a partial reimbursement, and full reimbursement for all costs will become rare. "Coupling the effect of mass market adoption with the steady declines in carrier fees, employers will gradually reduce their subsidies, and as the number of workers using mobile devices expands, those who receive no subsidy whatsoever will grow," Gartner predicts.
The key is to keep things as simple as possible, said Gartner analyst David Willis:

The enterprise should subsidize only the service plan on a smartphone.

Make Windows 8 boot straight to the desktop

There's been lots of complaints about Windows 8. Let's face it, working with Windows 8 is like not knowing how to swim and being thrown into the deep end and being told to "get me that spreadsheet right away!" or swim, whichever version you prefer.
The point is, Windows 8 is a completely different operating system than Windows 7. There's just about zero continuity between the previous OS (Windows 7). And if you approach Windows 8 with the understanding that you'll need to learn a completely new operating software, then your experience will probably be much improved from that of an upgrade mindset.

With all that said, there are ways to make Windows 8 behave more like Windows 7. Probably one of the most helpful tricks is making Windows 8 boot to "desktop". So without further delay, here's how you do it:

During my experimentation with this technique, I haven’t found any serious side effects or other problems. However, that doesn’t mean that sometime down the road, Microsoft might release a patch that will disable or even invalidate this technique.

Getting started

To begin you’ll need to launch the Task Scheduler tool. To do so, just press the [Windows] key, type Schedule, select Settings, and click Schedule tasks, as illustrated in Figure A. When you do, the Task Scheduler will appear.

Figure A

Accessing Task Scheduler from the Start Screen is easy.

Configuring the task

Once you have the Task Scheduler up and running, you’ll begin by clicking the Create Task command in the Actions panel, as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

Once Task Scheduler is up and running, you can create a new task by clicking the Create Task command.

When the Create Task dialog box appears, you’ll see that the General tab is selected and will first assign the task a name in the Name text box.

Samsung Galaxy Note II S Pen tips and tricks

If you’ve gotten your hands on the new Samsung Galaxy Note II, you’ve already discovered that it the best of both possible worlds — half tablet and half phone. One of the biggest draws of the Note II is the stylus, which they refer to as the S Pen. Most users don’t quite understand all that can be done with a stylus, so this post is dedicated to helping you get the most out of this particular feature.
Before I get started, I have to mention that, although this isn’t a review, the Samsung Galaxy Note II might well be my favorite Android device to date. Why? It is truly the perfect amalgamation between phone, tablet, and pen/paper. If the features of this device migrate into a full-sized tablet, Samsung would have the tablet to own. Period.

With that said, let’s dig into making your Note II experience a brilliant one.

Using the S Pen

Out of the box, it may not seem like the S Pen really is that embedded into the device. That’s because, by default, a number of the settings are turned off, primarily to save battery life. Yes, some of the stylist settings do drain the battery, but you purchased this device because of the stylist, not in spite of it.
So, what features do you turn on? Let me go through them all so you can decide which ones you will want to keep. Almost all of these features are found in the S Pen settings by taping Menu | Settings | S Pen. In this window, you can turn on the following features:

• Open Popup Note: This will open a small window (even when you have another app open) that allows you to take notes
• S Pen keeper: Sound an alert and show popup when you walk with the device without attaching the pen
• Air View: Enables the Note II to detect the nub of the pen, even before it touches the screen — you can get information to pop up (or windows to open) just by hovering the pen over the proper spot
• Quick Command: You can launch anything with a gesture

That is not all of the cool features you’ll find. The keyboard also allows for OCR handwriting recognition, but it’s not enabled by default. To enable this feature, follow these steps:

• Open an app that used the keyboard
• Long-press the Mic button (directly right of the Sym button)
• In the Samsung keyboard settings window (Figure A), tap to enable Pen detection
• Turn off predictive text (it will get in the way of OCR)

Figure A

Configuring the keyboard on the Verizon-branded Samsung Galaxy Note II.

With Pen detection enabled,

Must use Android Apps and Tricks

Use voice activation

If you're not using voice activation by now you need to. It's much improved and a must if you're walking down and street and don't want to become the subject of someone's YouTube video or worse...road kill. If you’re walking down the street and need to send a text message, you can use the voice activation feature to instruct your Android phone what to do.
To use voice activation, long press the Search button on the handset (it looks like a magnifying glass) and then speak into the phone. It is also possible to use the voice activation for various purposes, which include the following:

• Text: send text to [recipient] [message] example: send text to stephanie meet me for burritos after work
• Email: send email to [recipient] [subject] [body] example: send email to jack wallen reminder don’t forget to pick up pizza
• Directions: navigate to [location] example: navigate to bazos
• Place phone call: call [contact] [phone type] call stephanie mobile
• Listen to music: listen to [artist/song/album] example: listen to rush tom sawyer moving pictures
• Write note: note to self [note] example: note to self found model for among you book cover
• Search Google: [query] example: jack wallen books
• Open website: go to [website] example: go to amazon
• View a map: map of [location] example: map of munich

Copy a block of text from a web page

If you need to copy text from a web browser, it’s quite simple. Follow these steps:

1. Open the web page and then zoom in so it’s easier to tap on the correct text.
2. Long press somewhere near the beginning of the text you want to copy and then drag the handles to the last bit of text you want to copy.
3. When you release the handles, a new menu will pop up (the device you’re using will determine the type of menu and where it pops us) that allows various options to be selected.

Figure A

The Verizon Motorola Xoom tablet with web copy in action. (Click the image to enlarge.)

I find this trick works on many of the Android models: AT&T Samsung Captivate, Verizon Droid X, Incredible 2, and the Xoom tablet.

Add the power strip widget

Since Android 2.1, a new widget that is a power control strip allows

How about some Kewl desktop wallpaper from outer space!

Saturn's rings from shadows

Desktop wallpaper is one of the best ways to personalize your computer. And one of the best topics for desktop wallpaper is space. These 30 images are from NASA and their associate agencies and research organizations.

For the best results, click the image below and navigate to the highest resolution image we have. That higher-resolution image is the one you should use as desktop wallpaper.

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