Tech Blog Ring

My blog recently got added to the Tech Blog Ring!  The Tech Blog Ring's goal is to provide a comprehensive collection of business-solution focused discussions by independent technical bloggers. Every blogger who is on the site got a cool custom avatar, so here is mine for your viewing pleasure:

If you are interested in getting your blog added to Tech Blog Ring, you can do this!  They are still adding blogs, so jump on to their site today to see if you can get yours added!

Here is the link for the Tech Blog Ring:

http://www.techblogring.com/

Color Picking

As of my last couple of work days, I have been doing a lot of graphic design work, and I just stumbled upon an awesome tool today!

 I have trouble picking out colors from time to time (as I am less than classically trained in the art of design :) ).  So, I thought, hey, wouldn't it be cool if a there was an application out there that automatically picked out colors for me based on a color I gave it as input?  Yes, it turns out this does exist, and here it is: http://colorschemedesigner.com/.

I really like the fact that you have a lot of customizable aspects to help you along the way.  And even cooler is the fact that you can export the color selections to programs so that you don't have to manually plug them in.

Big props to Petr Stanicek on making this tool... For some more info on Petr (and to see some awesome pictures of him), check out his page here: http://www.pixy.cz/index-en.html

Beer + Android = Best Idea Ever

Check out this link for the best way that we are using the Android OS yet:
Meet KegDroid: An Android/Arduino-Powered Keg In The Shape Of Our Favorite Robot: Your Argument Is Invalid
Unfortunately this isn't for sale yet... It was made by a senior Google engineer. I know that if this ever hits the market, he can count me in on the people that will purchase it!


For all the cool details, check out this video:

Is Dropbox Dead Yet?

The highly anticipated Google Drive is alive!  I appreciate how they compare all the hype that has come with Google drive to the Loch Ness monster in this blog.  I am looking forward to giving this a try, as the prices for the professional accounts dwarf the ones for Dropbox.

Check out Google Drive for yourself here:  http://drive.google.com

Go with the Tried and Trusty Dropbox Here: www.dropbox.com

Desktop Manager for Windows for your Mobile Android Devices

Check out this link: Moborobo Is An Insanely Powerful Desktop Manager For Your Android (Or Other) Device

I'm so looking coward to trying this out! 

Adaptive Technology Dicussion

If you are interested in hearing about adaptive technology for business and personal use, catch me at the Technology Expo being held at the Sidney (Ohio) High School.  The event is tomorrow (January 20th, 2012) from 9:00 AM to noon.  One of the best parts about the expo is the price: FREE!

I will be leading a 45 minute discussion on adaptive technology.  I look forward to seeing you there if you can make it!

Click here for a full description of the event.

Click here to get directions using Google Maps.

Passwords: A Necessary Evil

So I am sure everyone has ran into the problem of not remembering a password from time to time. For most cases, I just use the Explorer add on LastPass (which by the way is beyond fantastic too if you go from computer to computer or browser to browser routinely).  I don't use the password saving function of the different browsers as I am worried about the security of these.   LastPass  uses 256-bit AES encryption to store your passwords, so you can rest easy on the security level.

What  LastPass  cannot do is help you recover the passwords for Windows log in.  This can be a major headache for you if you have forgotten the password and now cannot log in to Windows.  Rest easy, there is a tool to help you out!  Ophcrack is a password recovery tool that I have to run every now and then to recover passwords on devices for individuals.  The coolest part is that you don't even have to install a program to recover the passwords.  You can just burn Ophcrack onto a CD and then boot the CD directly when you start up your computer.  You might have to change some BIOS settings to get this to run, but if you aren't familiar with this already, I wouldn't recommend messing with it.

Passwords are extremely important when it comes to security, but they can cause quite the headache when you can't remember something.  Remembering passwords can also be difficult if you have a disability that affects your memory.  The thing to remember is that there are tools out there to help you if you get stuck!

Here are the links to the different programs/add ons I cover in the post:

Ophcrack: http://www.ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
LastPass: https://www.lastpass.com/