packs

This comprehensive system utility keeps your computer at peak performance by offering tools to manage processes, hard-disk space, and even Registry entries. When put to the test, it gave a solid performance, but we found inconsistencies with its trial period and in the overall design.

Innovative SysPack's main user interface is very easy to navigate. The main window has six prominent buttons for managing different tasks. There is a system optimizer, task manager, disk cleaner, start-up firewall, and tools to manage drives and to uninstall programs. But we found that each feature contained a different user interface. Granted, each … Read more

If you've been waiting for the Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 3G, it's still not out yet. However, you can now get Mophie's latest Juice Pack for the iPod Touch 2G that the company announced on March 19.

The new Juice Pack gives iPod Touch owners twice as much time to use their player for music, video, or surfing the Internet. According to Mophie, the pack will give the iPod Touch 2G up to an additional 42 hours of music playback and up to 7 hours of video playback.

The Juice Pack is certified by Apple … Read more

Have any plans for the weekend? Yeah, I'm talking to you. If not, here's a suggestion: how's about some online Capture-the-Flag action (or Deathmatch action, whatever floats your boat) on Unreal Tournament III Black. Oh, and it's free. OK, so it's for the PC only and doesn't apply to the PlayStation 3, but it's still a pretty cool deal and it's something to do.

Whether or not you have the game, it's all good. The free weekend includes the game, the Titan Pack expansion, and the 2.0 patch. Now, all … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Sure, they don't have 11-point autofocus systems or image stabilization, but a lot of money is spent on camera packs as well as cameras, and Tamrac, M-Rock, and Think Tank Photo introduced some new ones here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show.

Tamrac First up are Tamrac's Aero Speed 75 and 85 backpacks. These feature a lower compartment with a side-access zipper so cameras can be removed without taking the pack off.

Unlike related predecessors, the new models come with waterproof zippers for that compartment, and the lower section also has been reworked to permit larger 70-200mm telephoto lenses to fit, said product specialist Derek Gross.

The Aero Speed 75 costs $109.95, and the 85, which adds a compartment that can accommodate a laptop with a 17-inch screen, costs $149.95. … Read more

So, in Florida they're taping magnets to crocodiles heads to keep them from moving back to suburbia. It's also last call for Vista, with SP2 released to developers. And we talk about good sex and how it shouldn't be filtered in Australia. Oh, and flying cars. Of course.

Nintendo needs help with piracy http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/26/1118217 http://kotaku.com/5160062/what-countries-made-nintendos-rampant-piracy-list-this-year

Australian Internet censorship plan torpedoed http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/26/1344207

U.S. antitrust judge … Read more

This is getting old, but if you have an iPhone 3G, you definitely need an external juice pack. And I have some good news.

Mophie, the maker of the popular and long-lasting original Juice Pack for iPhone 3G announced Wednesday its new and much slimmer version of the accessory, appropriately called Juice Pack Air.

The new juice pack is equipped with a 1,200-mAH lithium polymer battery housed in an ultra-thin case and designed to double the amount of time you can work on your iPhone 3G.

To put this in numbers, the Juice Pack Air is said to provide … Read more

If you own an iPhone 3G, you know how the 3G and GPS features eat battery life. The Mophie juice pack is the first accessory I got for mine. I liked it, but like all juice packs, you'll have to plug it in at some point--unless you get the SoliCharger from SoliLight.

This new juice pack for the iPhone (both versions) and iPod is probably the most versatile in terms of how it gets recharged.

The SoliCharger can be charged in any one of four ways: via Apple's USB charging cord, an Apple compatible car charger, a computer'… Read more

Compress executables and protect apps, but don't expect any hand holding from this program. eXPressor's tightly-stuffed dialog-sized checkbox and pulldown packed interface will make sense only to those few destined to appreciate this app. Those who don't create applications for fun and profit should move along. There's nothing to see here.

Those left reading will like eXPressor's simple setup and operation. Packing an executable takes as little as a pair of clicks. Of course, users can complicate the process by choosing from numerous compression engine options. The program helps the process through helpful warnings and … Read more

Finding friends on Twitter was simple when the service was in its infancy, but today, Twitter is home to millions of users. In fact, 70 percent of the entire Twitter community is composed of people who signed up in 2008 and 5,000 to 10,000 new users sign up each day.

That's why I've compiled a list of some great solutions that have helped me find friends more efficiently than asking for their usernames.

Twitter search

Maybe this is an obvious pick, but using Twitter search to find friends on Twitter actually works quite well. The feature allows users to search for a person by name and based on that information, it will return all the Twitter users who registered under that name.

Overall, Twitter's search tool is really fast, and will find the person you're looking for without much digging. That said, it has one severe limitation: finding people with common names like John Smith will take some time, and it's only useful when searching for a specific person.

Twubble

If you haven't tried Twubble out yet, it's time you give it a spin.

Twubble is simple and requires little to help you find friends. Upon surfing to the site, you're presented with a "Find some friends!" button, which when clicked, analyzes your Twitter account and finds people who you may want to follow. I was skeptical at first, but after clicking the button, the service returned a slew of colleagues and friends that I had no idea were on Twitter. I followed many of them and tried the button again. This time, it returned many of the same people and most of the users that I had already followed were displayed. Twubble realized that, though, and delivered a disclaimer saying it may not work as well the second time around if you follow many people.

Although the same results are returned multiple times, it's the first run-through that matters. If you want to find friends and colleagues quickly, Twubble offers a fine solution for doing just that.

Mr. Tweet

Mr. Tweet is similar to Twubble in that it analyzes your Twitter account to find other people that it thinks you should follow. But what it provides that Twubble doesn't is a host of stats with information about how you may know a particular person and how active they are on Twitter.

If you want, Mr. Tweet will even auto-follow all the people it finds for you, but it requires you to hand over your username and password to the service to do it--a major security issue, if you ask me. Regardless, it works extremely well and returned a nice list of people worth following.

I chose to follow them myself, though. I don't need any help from Mr. Tweet.… Read more