Buying a new hard drive? Expect it to die

y Craig Simms   |   March 12, 2012   

When building a PC, people often ask me which brand of mechanical hard drive they should buy.

I tend to keep things pretty simple:

1. It doesn't matter what brand
2. Stay away from "green" drives, as the speed deficit isn't worth the energy saving at consumer scale
3. Get the one with the largest warranty
4. Expect it to fail.

The last point usually shocks. Am I recommending something that will die?

Well, yes. It's not that I want to; it's just that the odds are good that at some time in your tech life, you're going to suffer from a failed hard drive, more so than anything else in your system. It also has the biggest ramifications of any failure in your system. Documents gone. Photos lost forever. That epic video library, wasted away.

Saving yourself time and pain

Thinking about storage as something that's built to fail helps to reframe people's ideas about backup. Whether they get a NAS and some sync software, or even use something like Time Machine on OS X, if people expect their hard drive to fail at any time, they tend to be more careful with their data.

Heck, as much as it isn't backup, I'd settle for people thinking about RAID, if only for that tiny bit of extra data security.

Full report :

Five ways to protect yourself from Wi-Fi honeypots.

SUMMARY : If you come into range of the WiFi Pineapple Mark IV, every Web page on the Internet may be replaced by the Nyan Cat kitten, or, in the hands of someone malicious, something far worse. Here's how to protect yourself.

Darren Kitchen, 29, founder of Hak5 and creator of the WiFi Pineapple 

Mark IV honeypot. (Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET)

AUSTIN, Texas--Darren Kitchen spent this weekend walking around the SXSW festival with an unobtrusive but relatively evil red box attached to his backpack: it impersonated Wi-Fi networks in hopes of convincing laptops, phones, and other wireless devices to connect to it.

Kitchen's hot-spot honeypot worked. During just a few minutes in the lobby of the Omni Hotel here, he disrupted dozens of Wi-Fi connections and rerouted them to his own "network" that replaced all Internet pages with a video of the Nyan Cat kitten flying through space. Someone with malicious intent could have done far worse.

Kitchen, founder of Hak5, says the WiFi Pineapple Mark IV box highlights the security flaws of the way Wi-Fi has been implemented. There's also a privacy flaw. Currently, Wi-Fi devices broadcast the list of open Wi-Fi networks to which they previously connected--meaning an astute observer may be able to tell where the owner works and socializes.

Hacking Wi-Fi networks with the Pineapple Mark IV honeypot (photos)

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His five tips for how to prevent your Internet connection from being hijacked by someone with the WiFi Pineapple Mark IV (available for purchase for $89.99):

1. Turn off Wi-Fi

If Wi-Fi isn't enabled, there's no privacy or security risk. Use a 3G or 4G USB stick instead. Or, on a laptop with a wired Ethernet connection, use that.

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Nokia Lumia 900

We’d heard a while back that the long-awaited Windows Phone-powered Lumia 900 would show up on AT&T’s shelves on March 18.

However, around the time that this rumored launch date leaked, the Lumia 900 had yet to go through its testing in the technical acceptance process. Turns out, that may be the reason BGRis now reporting that the Lumia 900 launch has been delayed to April 22.

Luckily, the Lumia 900 will still go for an absolutely ridiculous price point. And when I say ridiculous, it’s a compliment. While Windows Phone devices haven’t had the most impressive specs to date, the platform itself and Nokia build quality are certainly worth more than $100.

But that seems to be the strategy with this partnership.

Nokia has seen a rough year, to say the least, and Windows Phone has never really been what Microsoft (or anyone else) would call a success. But all the pieces are falling into place, in terms of the products themselves. Now all Nokiasoft has to do is get people on board with the platform, and that means attractive pricing.

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Friday Poll: Will iPad become generic for 'tablet?'

It's the new iPad, not to be confused with the original iPad.(Credit: Apple)

It's not the iPad 3. It's not the iPad HD. It's the new iPad. Just like the old iPad, only different, and better, and newer.

Apple is ditching the numbers from the name of its top tablet, and we all know Apple doesn't make a move like that without thinking it through thoroughly.

CNET's Roger Cheng argues that the new naming convention is designed to turn iPads into Kleenex. No, you're not going to blow your nose on them, but you just might start using "iPad" as a generic name for tablets.

I'm trying to imagine a world in which I pick up a new Android tablet and show it off to my friends while saying, "Check out my sweet new iPad!" I'm not sure who would be more upset: Android fanboys or Apple fanboys.

Still, there may yet come a day when the term "iPad" becomes a stand-in for any tablet, just like Dixie Cups can mean any little cups and Jell-O stands for any wiggly, see-through gelatin dessert.

Tell us where you stand on this concept. Maybe you're already pointing at any old tablet and calling it an iPad. Or maybe the very thought of it makes you want to caress and protect your Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

Do you see a day when iPad could becomes generic for "tablet?" Vote in our poll and explain your thinking in the comments.

Related:
All iPad HD coverage from CNET
The 'new iPad': What's in a name?

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Samsung Galaxy Note

Uploaded by samsungmobileusa on Feb 22, 2012:

Samsung 2012 TVs get pricing and release dates (hands-on)

(Credit: Ty Pendlebury/CNET)

Just two months ago at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung--along with all of its competitors--talked up its new line of of 2012 TVs. As is always the case at CES, the new product info was long on hype and short on details. That changed today, when Samsung began filling it a lot of the blanks.

No, the company didn't say a word about its "Super OLED" TV, and we don't expect to hear anything more on that until at least midsummer.

Samsung did release official pricing on its other TVs, however, updating the leaked pricing information we had earlier and confirming that, yes, high-end Samsung TVs will be pretty dang expensive (see the chart below). The company does offer many, many different step-down models, however, in a seemingly endless proliferation of model numbers and screen sizes, so chances are there's a combination that will appeal to you. At least, that's what Samsung hopes.

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Samsung Corby II

Uploaded by MobileGazette on Mar 11, 2011 - A low cost but fun touchscreen phone aimed at younger customers, the Samsung Corby II replaces the very popular original Corby feature phone. Cost less than RM300.00

iPad 3 to be 'significant' refresh with LTE and Siri, says analyst

SUMMARY : The new tablet will offer a "significant" improvement to buyers, boasting a faster chip, better graphics, LTE, and support for Siri, says a Sterne Agee analyst.

Apple's invitation to its press event next week.

(Credit: Apple)

The iPad 3 will be a substantial upgrade over the current model with a variety of "beefed up specs," says Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu.

Based on information from supply chain sources, Wu says the new iPad will sport a much faster processor, a higher-resolution screen, 4G LTE wireless, and the addition of voice assistant Siri. The analyst believes a robust near-term refresh is due since the the iPad 2 is about to turn a year old.

This week, Apple announced an event for March 7 at which the company is expected to unveil its latest iPad.

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Why You Can’t Dismiss Nokia’s 41.

My first reaction upon hearing about Nokia’s 41-megapixel 808 Pureview was that it was an absurdity, a perfect example of the very worst of consumer electronics, and a total miss. But the more I read, the better I understood that this phone isn’t just some freak of nature with a ridiculously high number attached to it. It’s just the slightly awkward first steps of a serious move by Nokia to differentiate itself.

If you’ve only skimmed the news, there are some things you should probably know about this strange beast of a camera.

First, the 41 megapixel figure is really misrepresentative, not to say untrue. It doesn’t take 41-megapixel photos in any way, shape, or form. Even in the special high-res creative mode, it “only” produces 38 megapixels. Mostly it will be taking normal-size shots, between 3 and 8 megapixels. So what the hell does this 41 megapixel figure even mean?

more from TechCrunch 

US children stumped by gadgets of yesterday

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on 20 Jan 2012 - Throughout this week, Al Jazeera has presented a series of reports showcasing older technologies that are still going strong. In the final instalment, five US children from today's high-tech generation attempt to identify older electronic devices that stopped being widely used before they were born.

Samsung loses one of many patent cases with Apple.

Published on 20 Jan 2012 by Euronews : Samsung has suffered a setback in its tablet and smartphone battle with Apple.A German court has ruled against the South Korean company in a patent case, which is another leg in the lengthy legal struggle between the two technology giants.Samsung said the ruling covers one patent out of the three mobile technologies it claims Apple infringed.

Rulings on the other two will be made by the Mannheim court in the next couple of weeks. Samsung said it has yet to decide whether to appeal against this ruling.Samsung has suffered a setback in its tablet and smartphone battle with Apple. A German court has ruled against the South Korean company in a patent case, which is another leg in the lengthy legal struggle between the two technology giants.

Samsung said the ruling covers one patent out of the three mobile technologies it claims Apple infringed.Rulings on the other two will be made by the Mannheim court in the next couple of weeks. Samsung said it has yet to decide whether to appeal against this ruling.

Cool gadgets for Christmas.

Don't go fishing without it?

 Published on 9 Dec 2011 by itnnews - Jamie Oliver listens to your instructions as he helps you cook this Christmas in a festive app. Report by Jeremy Barnes