Crave

If the new swine flu vaccine doesn't give you the right dose of inner peace, there's another layer of protection at your disposal. It comes from Japan, which means it looks good, too.

The new anti-H1N1 suit doesn't just make you look dapper, it supposedly also helps keep you disease-free.

(Credit: Haruyama Trading)

According to the U.K. Telegraph, Japanese menswear company Haruyama Trading has developed a suit that it claims can protect wearers from the H1N1 virus.

The suit is coated with titanium dioxide--a chemical commonly used in toothpaste and cosmetics--that breaks down when reacting with light and supposedly kills the virus upon contact. (If you read Japanese, here is the company's press release.)

Despite the new layer of protection, the suit seems pretty much like other suits commonly worn by Japanese white-collar workers. Each suit costs about $580, about how much a decent suit at Men's Wearhouse costs. The suits go on sale Thursday and in four colors and styles, including medium gray, charcoal, navy, and a gray pinstripe. The company says the suit will retain its protective capability even after being washed multiple times.

Japan, like many other places in Asia, has been gripped by the swine flu since its outbreak a year ago. According to the World Health Organization, more than 340,000 people have been infected with H1N1 worldwide; the disease is responsible for 4,100 deaths.

Generally, most of the new cases were reported to take place in urban areas, where population density increases the risk of transmission. It's unclear if there will be a female version of the suit; it's also unknown when or if the suit will be on sale in the U.S.

(Credit: Rx Bandits/Last.FM)

It's only been about a week since the release of Sony's PSP Go, but hackers are already ahead of the game, despite Sony getting rid of the removable battery in an attempt to stop the siege. We don't have a link to the actual game you have to use to release the exploit, but hackers are using it as a proof-of-concept for future homebrews and pirated gaming. As usual, these guys are ahead of the curve, as we've seen before in Sony's previous PSPs. Of course, you can always get free games if you can somehow get a job reviewing them for a big Web site...right, Jeff?

In other news, Facebook can now measure what they're calling the GHP, or the Gross National Happiness. The popular social-networking site is using text analysis software to index how its users are feeling based on positive or negative words in their status updates. You can see on this chart that there were major spikes last year around November 23rd for Thanksgiving, as well as in December for Christmas and New Years. Check out the podcast to hear Jeff's reason why Hanukkah is nowhere to be found.

The Rx Bandits' newest album, "Mandala"

It's also time again for the Beck's Beer semi-weekly Audio Draft! Jeff's pick for today is an oldie but a goodie, The Rx Bandits! Jeff and I are huge fans of the bands from when we were wee lads. They're rooted in Seal Beach in Southern California, and while their ska sound grew popular in the early '90s, they have successfully pulled out those roots and progressed into a super eclectic alt/prog/rock/reggae sound. They just released another full length entitled Mandala, which also includes one of today's featured tracks, "Bury it Down Low." Here's to many more years with the Rx Bandits!

Oh yeah, everyone's password got hacked.

What becomes of the broken hard drive?

(Credit: Hhyuh Jin Lee)

Losing your precious data to a corrupted file can pose a serious threat to your mental health, but Dr. Hard Drive Bag is here to mend your broken heart and recover all your lost files.

Right now, the tool is just a concept by Hyuh Jin Lee, but the idea is novel--in the event of a hard-disk failure (knock on wood), just wheel out this portable hard drive IV and hook up it up via USB to your bedridden computer. Antivirus software will immediately pop up and begin scanning files for corruption, and a feedback light will turn on inside the drip bag to let you know it's on the road to recovery.

At the risk of being tarred and feathered, I'll refrain from making a swine flu joke, but would you guys use this product if it ever came to fruition, or is it too kitschy? Sound off in the comments, check out more of Jin Lee's design portfolio, and peep more pics after the jump!

(Source: Coroflot) ... Read more

Sweet 5 o'clock shadow, bro.

(Credit: Podbrix)

Whether you use it as a sleeping aid or a pincushion is up to you, but the unofficial Steve Jobs doll is officially for sale at Podbrix.

He's pretty cute though, right? Just as you'd expect, the 17-inch tall doll bears a striking resemblance to everyone's favorite Applet, with the classic black turtleneck, a pair of wire glasses, and even a set of hand-stitched shoelaces. No bottle of Smart Water, though, probably because of that whole royalties thing. You, not your children (the glasses are a choking hazard), can pick up your own Plush Jobs here for a bargain $27.99.

Nothing personal, Steve, but I personally think the Woz would make a better snuggle buddy; I mean, just look at this guy and try to tell me he doesn't look like he gives the best hugs ever.

Steve Jobs doll for sale, Conficker sold separately

USB thumb drives are convenient, popular and often free--and they're spreading viruses like sailors on shore leave.*

The US-CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) issued a warning on Thursday that malicious code is increasingly propagating via USB flash drive devices.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense has temporarily banned the use of thumb drives, CDs, and other removable storage devices because of the spread of the Agent.bzt virus, a variant of the SillyFDC worm, according to Wired.

We've seen this before with portable external storage devices. Floppy disks were the culprit in the early 1990s, followed by CDs. The fact that USB thumb drives are being used by so many people makes them an attractive target for virus writers.

"The bad guys are intentionally developing new flavors of malware designed to propagate through USB devices," said Gunter Ollmann, chief security strategist for IBM's ISS security division. "They are today's floppy drives."

(Credit: CNET News/James Martin)

But USB drives are even handier. Their small size makes them easy to slip into a pocket or carry on a lanyard around your neck. A common swag item in the tech industry, they also are mainstream consumer storage devices. They literally litter my desk drawers.

There are a couple of ways USB thumb drives can be used to spread viruses and other malicious software.

... Read more

You click OK on a message while surfing the Internet and suddenly your computer is full of malicious software and viruses. That's bad. What could be worse worse, however, is when your brand new computer comes preloaded with malicious software.

Some Asus Eee Box PCs have been recalled in Japan.

(Credit: Asus)

Tuesday, according to ChinaTechNews.com, Asus announced a recall of it's Asus Eee Box PCs that it had sold in Japan because it was shipped with a virus.

The computers had a file called recycled.exe, residing on the D drive. Once executed, the file would copy itself to other drives, including USB drives, and install malicious software from the Internet. This causes the computer to slow down and exposes it to security threats.

Li Yusheng, an Asus representative, told ChinaTechNews.com that the incident was an accident and affected only the production line of Eee Box PCs sold to Japan. Li also said that apart from the recall, the computer maker will impose stricter measures on production line management and software protection.

While the virus is disturbing, the good news is that only about 300 allegedly infected Eee Box PCs already sold in the Japanese market need to be recalled.

Say cheese...not.

Best Buy is warning customers who purchased its Insignia 10.4-inch Digital Picture Frames that their device may be harboring a virus, according an advisory posted on its Web site over the weekend.

Insignia digital frames, with model number NS-DPF10A, may be infected with the virus, Best Buy states in its posting. The company is asking users to contact its Insignia customer care number, 877-467-4289, to determine whether their digital picture frame is infected and how to troubleshoot the virus that can travel through the USB cord and infect a user's PC.

Best Buy learned of the problem in the first week of January, after receiving several customer complaints, said company spokeswoman Nissa French. It took a couple weeks for the company to ascertain the problem, which it attributes to a virus that was loaded onto the devices during the manufacturing process.

(Credit: Insignia)

Best Buy, which sells the picture frames under its private label Insignia, has since pulled all remaining 10.4-inch Insignia picture frames and inventory from its shelves and Web site, and has discontinued the product's production. No recall, however, has been issued.

In the meantime, Best Buy is contacting all users who purchased the picture frames to warn them of the virus and determine whether their device has been infected, French said. She added that not all of the 10.4-inch picture frames are harboring the virus.

Users who connect their Insignia picture frame to a Windows based PC may be at risk, but no other platforms are affected, she noted.

And because the virus has been in existence for awhile, users' antivirus software may help inoculate the virus from the digital picture frame, she noted. Cameras and USB flash drives are also not affected.

Best Buy's digital picture frame virus is among a number of other holiday devices that have hit the scene with some funky security issues.

French, meanwhile, is checking into the number of users who purchased the Insignia 10.4-inch picture frame, as well as the name and type of virus that is loaded onto the device. Stay tuned...

(Credit: Crave UK)

There would have to be something seriously wrong with us if we willingly discussed infections--digital or other. But virus protection is something we all need, and what better way to protect ourselves than to use the scariest-sounding anti-virus software on the planet?

BullGuard Internet Security 8 launched recently, and immediately appealed to us as it combines anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, spam filter, online backup and technical support. That's almost everything you could ever need from a digital prophylactic--for 44.95 pounds a year (about $93).

Old-school file sharers should remember BullGuard: It was built into the Kazaa P2P client to help minimise the chances of downloading and using infected files, and worked pretty well, mainly because BullGuard uses scanning technology from BitDefender.

It still suffers the same foibles as most anti-virus products--such as those annoying pop-ups asking if you want to give your applications access to the Internet--but the user interface is easy to use, and you can have instant messenger chats with BullGuard's tech-heads, who'll take remote control of your PC and fix any hassles if necessary.

Aside from the live assistance, the most interesting aspect of the software is the online backup module. You get 5GB of storage space for backing up your most precious files, and you can access that data from any Internet-enabled PC. The online drive is automatically mapped to Windows Explorer so you can drag and drop as normal, or set scheduled backups for specific files and folders. Users can upgrade the standard 5GB backup for £5 per additional GB, but we wouldn't bother--standard external hard drives are as cheap as 5GB for 1 pound.

The biggest hole in the software is the lack of a proper anti-phishing module. Yes, the spam filter can detect phishing emails in clients such as Microsoft Outlook, but it's redundant if you use Web mail. Click a Gmail link purporting to be from your bank, and BullGuard won't do a thing to warn you against divulging credit card or banking details.

Should you bother with BullGuard 8? Yes, and no. Uber-geeks needn't bother--particularly if you know how to avoid viruses in the first place, and can comfortably correct the slip-ups you get while using free anti-virus products. But for the rest of us, BullGuard provides that extra peace of mind, security and support you don't get from some of its rivals. Just be wary of phishing.

(Source: Crave UK)

(Credit: Fareastgizmos)

It's been a banner week for germaphobes. Just the other day we pointed to a device that purifies water with UV rays, and now we get word of a product that filters out airborne germs from the air within its immediate vicinity.

The "Ionic USB Air Purifier," according to Fareastgizmos, "discharges negative ions to absorb second-hand smoke, odors, clean airborne dust, and eliminate bacteria, germs, viruses." The device circulates air silently without a fan and needs no filters. All you need, apparently, is faith.