How To Share Files from PC to Samsung LED TV Using DLNA

First things first, DLNA or Digital Living Network Alliance is a standard used by manufacturers of consumer electronics to allow entertainment devices within the home to share their content with each other across a home network (from Wikipedia).

Now if you have a PC equipped with DLNA, and it is connected to your home network, you can set it to share media files to your Samsung LED TV, be it a Series 7 or Series 8 models. Basically you will need the following:

a home network (wired or wireless)
a laptop equipped with DLNA
Samsung PC Share Manager installed in your laptop, download it here
a Shared Folder in your laptop containing the files you want play
a Samsung TV equipped with DLNA (as for me I'm using UN40B7000)
the PC and TV should be connected to the home network (wired or wireless)

Steps:

Open Samsung PC Share Manager. On the left frame is the tree view of your computer. On the right frame is the list of the Shared Folders you have in your computer.
Turn the DLNA Server on. Go to Server Menu and check On.
After saving your files on the shared folder, refresh the DLNA server database to update. Go to Share Menu, click Refresh DB.
Press Source on the TV remote. The source list should show DLNA. Select it. It will display the files you have on the shared folder, whether it is Photo, Music or Movie.

Press play to view your files.

On my next post, I will show how to share files without using DLNA.

Twitter is Hacked, Again

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site has been hacked, again! Just a few hours ago (17 December 2009) the site was down. The site shows "Iranian Cyber Army" "This Site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army" and the email address of the hacker. As of now, it is claimed that this is a DNS redirect.

Twitter does not have the best security but being a huge huge site, it should have stepped up its defenses against these breaches. What a shame!

To those of you Twitters out there, might as well change your password ASAP. And make it a little more difficult!

image courtesy of http:www.mashable.com

Synaptics Fuse Extends Mobile User Experience Beyond The Touch Screen

Fuse is the next generation mobile phone concept from Synaptics – the leading developer of human interface for computing, mobile and entertainment devices. It is a collaborative project of Synaptics, TAT, The Alloy, Texas Instruments, and Immersion.

The Fuse goes beyond the typical touch screen experience in today’s smartphones. Aside from the capacitive multitouch screen, you can also:

scroll thru lists by running your finger along the sides or back of the device,
squeeze the device to change what is currently displayed or viewed,
tilt it to open apps and other menus,
navigate the menus by moving your finger at the back side of the device therefore eliminating the obstruction on the screen,
experience the interface in 3D.

According to the developers, this concept will address the need to efficiently use mobile phones single handedly. They said it is not always the applications loaded on the smartphones that gets things done, instead it is the next-level of interaction that does the job.

Synaptics and the partners will demonstrate this concept at CES and Mobile World Congress next year.

Synaptics Fuse has not yet gone to production. Don’t hold your breath just yet!

The Google Phone, Nexus One

Don't get too excited folks, the Google Phone called Nexus One, as speculated, will only be available starting January 5 next year.

Nexus One is the trademark filed by Google a few days ago. According to the buzz in the tech world, this Google Phone has the Android 2.1 ROM with a processor speed that could be twice as fast as the Motorola DROID. This phone is actually built by HTC, that is why it looks similar with the current line of HTC smartphones.

If the rumors - sold as unlocked, reasonable pricing, and a very good user interface/ experience - will be true, surely Nexus One will rock the mobile market.

Feast your eyes:

Asus N81Vp is my Laptop of Choice this Quarter

If I were to buy a laptop, for home use, in October to December of this year, I would choose Asus N81Vp.

Asus N81Vp will have the following specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53GHz
4 GB DDR3 Memory
500GB Hard Disk
14 inch Wide Screen HD Led Display, 1GB Video RAM DDR3
DVD Optical Drive
Windows Vista/ Eligible Upgrade to Windows 7
2 Years Warranty

Priced for less than a $1000, this laptop is a value for the money given the above specifications.

In early October, I was on the look out of a laptop and this caught my attention. First is the Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53Ghz. This is more than decent for you average every day use, say even running an anti-virus scan. It can handle multi-tasking smoothly, and your PC games decently. It is power efficient too.

Of course the memory and hard disk capacity is higher than the average laptops which only have 2GB memory and 250GB hard disk. This saves you from buying accessories and upgrading later on. The DDR3 memory as compared to DDR2 is more energy efficient so the laptop does not heat up that much.

The display is high definition however it is glossy therefore might be subject to a little glare when you use it on bright areas. The video memory 1GB ATI Radeon is a plus for those who will use the laptop not only for multi-media but also for light to moderate gaming too!

It also has an integrated operating system (Linux, i guess) for faster boot up (not the Windows). It is an optional feature in case you are in a hurry to use the basic applications like browsing the internet, chat, and Skype. It boots up the system without loading Windows.

Several colors are available for this model. However, at the store where I checked this, they only have Hot Pink.. Oh well, another color please, the Brown one is nice.

A Business Laptop: Dell Vostro V13

This is Dell Vostro V13, Dell's latest ultra portable business laptop. I was using my black box - T60 Thinkpad when I was viewing this, and frankly, I wished my company would issue me this laptop in the near future.

Dell Vostro V13 has many similarities (by looks) with it's more high end brother the Dell Adamo. Price wise, slash almost a $1000 off the Adamo to get this 0.65 inch thick and 3.5 pounds Vostro V13. Is that not grand?

This ultra-portable laptop will feature a 13.3 inch display, an Intel Core 2 processor, and 4GB DDR3 RAM. It has an integrated WiFi, Bluetooth, webcam and microphone.Slightly thicker than the Adamo XPS, Vostro V13 or "unnamed $450 Vostro" as teased in America, can accommodate several practical ports such as Ethernet, eSATA, USB and SD card slots.

Dell Vostro V13 really matches the requirements of mobile entrepreneurs by sporting a premium slim and striking design matched with the durability of its aluminum casing. You get portability, design and performance without going beyond your budget. The price tag, it is $450!

Visit Dell Vostro US and their Singapore site for more image gallery.

Stay Away from Infections, Avoid Malwares

Infections really do happen. Vulnerability of your computer is determined by your geographical location, anti-malware / anti-virus softwares, and online activities. Malicious websites, spam e-mails, free software downloads, unsafe file sharing among others are the main sources of malwares. It can be a major headache with data loss and even identity theft - you don't want to see a zero balance on your account, right? Rather, safeguard your computer from infections and avoid trojans, rootkits, spywares and other malwares.

Always patch and update your system. Most of the time this is free and just require a few mouse clicks and seconds of system restart.
Enable firewall of your computer, or you can spend if you really are insecure - maybe you live somewhere in Brazil or Spain (again, geographical location can be a factor).
Don't scrimp on your anti-virus, and please update the definitions regularly.
Don't fall trap to web advertisements, banners, or whatever fake warnings you get when browsing.
Filter your emails, snub junks and spams, and not spam too!
Do not click links on unknown emails. If you really need to open so, just copy the address and paste it on the browser.
Be mindful when downloading, check the comments on the sources.
Lastly, for now, make your passwords a little more difficult, avoid names and birthdays.

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death Is Caused by a Malware

If you have been following my previous posts on the recent occurrence of black screen of death in Windows 7 here and here, this post is now the third update regarding the subject.

Contrary to the initial report, the black screen of death is not caused by the November security update for Windows 7. This cause has been ruled out because the update does not make any changes on the new Microsoft operating system. Instead, as concluded by investigations, this is probably caused by malware, such as Daonol.

Prevx which released a fix for it apologized for claiming that the black screen of death is caused by Microsoft's own security update. They have retracted their claim.

To remedy, Microsoft suggested that those who were affected should contact their customer service line.

Top Toys in any Kid's Wishlist for Christmas

It's the most expensive time of the year - with kids wishing and asking and the parents go shopping for toys and gift surprises! If you are in the look out of the hottest toys kids have in their wish list for Christmas, this might help you. Set your budget and start the hunting soon before these toys go out of stock.

In a random order:

LeapFrog Learning Games
FurReal Friends
Transformers Action Figure
Scrapbook with Camera Set
Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster
Lego Ultimate Building Set
Pleo Dinosaur, Webzkin Pets
GI Joe Acting Figure
American Girl Dolls
Tamagochi
Nintendo DSI
Wii

Make your kids happy without breaking the bank! A reminder on Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters as a certain consumer groups alleges it is unsafe, read here.

Zhu Zhu Pets Claimed to be Unsafe

Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters is one of the hottest gifts for Christmas. It is an interactive toy hamster with artificial intelligence. This high tech little pets can be a gift to your child who wants a pet but avoids the responsibilities of taking care of a live one. Each hamster can cost around $10 to $30. You can also buy accessories for it such as a house, critter, and even a wheel and tunnel.

However, Zhu Zhu Pets needs to be recalled as one consumer group demanded. The buzz circulating is that it is unsafe and toxic. According to the group these brown Hamster pets have high content of chemical called antimony that may cause cancer and lung diseases.

The toy's maker Cepia defended that the toy is safe, that the Zhu Zhu Pets are not toxic nor substandard.

Though these claims might have not been confirmed, it is best to stay on the safe side. Consider other gift toys as of the time being.

Fancy USB Drives

I enjoy looking at the Drives (flash drives, thumb drives, however you call it). Prices for these USB Drives range from cheap to insanely expensive. The rightmost items are the most expensive. The third one (center) costs $10,650, it is called the Mnemosyne USB Drive.

USB Ports will soon be in Regular Power Outlets

Soon, like a few weeks from now, we will have power outlets that have USB ports with them. It will allow you to plug you USB devices, of course! Your iPods, iPhones, cameras, PDA's, etc.

True Power is now accepting pre-orders for their a special power outlet that includes 2 USB ports. It costs less than $10 and will start shipping in early 2010.

Interested, anyone?

Create Multiple-Page PDF Files using Photoshop

Below are the steps that I do to create a single PDF file that contains several pages of images or scanned documents. I use Adobe Photoshop to merge these several documents into one file.

Open Photoshop.
Under File menu click Automate -> PDF Presentation. A window will appear.
Click Browse and add the documents or images that you want to include. You can drag the file names to re-arrange the page order.
Under Output Options click Multi-page Document.
You can also tick the properties that you want to include.
Click Save and Photoshop will start to generate the PDF file.

Done. Six simple ways to complete the task.

Barnes and Noble Nook is Just Around the Corner

The latest e-book reader to enter the field is the Nook from Barnes and Noble. Nook is now on pre-order for $259. The expected delivery date though will be on January 15.

Nook's display is very similar to a traditional book. With its E Ink Technology you can read on it for several hours with no glare or backlight. You can also adjust the text sizes to avoid any eye strains. Because it is from Barnes and Noble, the bookstore is just at your fingertips. You can download ebooks, magazines, and sample contents for free. It has 3G and WiFi connectivity so you can download and browse covers in-store. It's built in capacity is 2GB and can also be expanded with a memory card.

It has full-color display and a touch screen. You can browse the titles by swiping the thumbnails of the coverpages or you can do a search using the on-screen keyboard. According to some the cover images take a little time to load but may speed up as the images get cached. There is also a lag during page turns.

Ebook readers are really hot now but with the rumors that Apple will release a tablet soon, you might as well think twice.

2010 World Cup will be in 3D

Twenty-five matches of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be offered in 3D. FIFA signed a deal with Sony to film the games in 3D Technology including events at public viewing areas in the cities as Berlin, London, Mexico City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Sydney.

However, Sony will not broadcast the matches live. The films will only be distributed in BluRay format after the games. Currently FIFA is still under negotiations on who will get the live rights of it. Although there have been public viewing of sports in 3D like the NBA, NFL, the 2010 World Cup will have the widest reach of sports competition in 3D to date.

My AdSense is Approved

Thank you Google for approving the AdSense application!

Click on! \m/

Blogging Reminders

I have been tweaking my blog lately. I tried to make it more personalized and feature-loaded.

First, Inttended is with a new blog layout. Thanks to eBlogTemplates for this free 3-column layout, originally created by Blogging Secret. Second, the widget from LinkWithIn found at the bottom of every post.

As always with freebies, it does not come custom fit to what we want. I studied the pre-built layout and removed the items and elements that the creator has incorporated. You too have to study what you have before accepting or uploading it to your site. Usually, these free templates have built in ads already. Just take extra care because this does not auto-configure the scripts to use your account with AdSense or AdBrite, etc. In other words, the scripts of the ads have the creators account so any clicks on these ads will go to his credit and not to yours. Clever!

After uploading the new template, run a page load test. This will give you an idea of how optimized is the new template. Again, take extra care in manually editing the HTML codes. Remove the page elements which do not show properly because this take up load time too.

Optimization does not end here, though. I think this will be a regular maintenance task to our sites. There are many webmaster sites around that provide an array of tools for web optimization.

New Google

Go to Google. As the site loads, don't click anything yet, don't move your mouse yet. See something different?

The classic homepage of Google is now sporting a new look. As the site loads by fading in you now only see the Google logo, the search box, and the 2 search buttons. Google is really into details. The Fade In effect has 10 earlier variations - the one we are seeing now get passed through their experiment lab. Truly, their focus on Search is expressed in this minimalism.

As you move your mouse, the links to other applications fades in. You will see again the familiar Web, Images, Videos, Maps on the top left and four other links at the bottom of the two search buttons.

Does nothing much really but give new flavor to the mundane things we already have.
I like it Google!

New Google

72 Hour Winter Sale has started in Newegg

It started an hour ago,- you still have 71 hours more to grab items from the 72 Hour Winter Sale from Newegg.com!

Get your promo codes now before it expires.

72 Hour Winter Sale has started in Newegg

It started an hour ago,- you still have 71 hours more to grab items from the 72 Hour Winter Sale from Newegg.com!

Get your promo codes now before it expires.

RedEye Makes Your iPhone a Remote Control

Why not add another capability to your already versatile iPhone and iTouch? An iPhone remote! How about an iTouch Remote!

RedEye is the new universal remote add-on for iPhone and iTouch. The software and hardware from Thinkflood will make an iPhone as a remote control for infrared devices. The hardware is a base for the device like a dock that has an infrared blaster. The software can be downloaded from the App Store. You can control your home theater - turn if on or off, volume control, or start and stop any activity - with a little time of setting up.

RedEye for iPhone costs $188. Check it out.

RedEye Makes Your iPhone a Remote Control

Windows 7 Upgrade Disk for Acer Laptop from Mentor Media

Windows 7 was launched in October 22. Three days after the launching, I applied for a Windows 7 Upgrade Offer from Acer. Earlier that month, we purchased an Acer Aspire 3935 laptop which qualified for the free upgrade offer. This offer was valid to a laptop bought from June 26, 2009 to January 31, 2010. Not all laptops however are qualified in this upgrade. You can visit here to check.

Acer and Windows contracted Mentor Media (a third party) to handle the orders . The free upgrade application is easy. You just have to fill out a couple of information. It is not all free though because you have to pay $49.99 for the shipping. They accept credit card for this. After closing the transaction, Mentor Media sent an email for confirmation. And the next day after another mail was sent to confirm that the credit card has been charged. The long wait has started.

Three weeks and several order status checks after, I received an email informing that my order was shipped. Finally! The mail provided a link of the courier but sadly it was not a valid link. How frustrating it that?! Thinking it won't be delivered for another three weeks I conditioned myself not to be too giddy about it. After two weeks though, the package arrived. Tada! Below is the picture of what I received. (not so fancy, eh?)

For those of you who are still waiting, I know it is frustrating and it should have been better. I even wished I should have bought the one which we can download from Microsoft but then it is still a good deal because you only pay for the shipping.

Just be patient. Windows 7 is so worth this wait. Man, it is sooo swift! I am loving it! Watch out for my review of the Windows 7 after a couple of days.

Windows 7 Upgrade Disk for Acer Laptop from Mentor Media

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death (Part II)

Related to my post yesterday, below is the BBC news regarding the black screen of death that affected some Windows 7 users.

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death (Part II)

Related to my post yesterday, below is the BBC news regarding the black screen of death that affected some Windows 7 users.

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook Writes Open Letter Regarding New Security Policy

When you open Facebook this morning a link to Mark Zuckerberg's open letter is shown at the top. It talked about the ways to better deal with the

privacy and information sharing issues it has been facing the past months.

Reaching 350 million users, Facebook is scrapping several networking models such as Country and Regional networks. These networking has become ineffective in controlling the members. For example, a user in China selects China as his network. How many millions of users are in China -that one user is like a needle is the worlds biggest haystack! Regional networks became an issue too because some regions have more than 1 million users.

To simplify things, Facebook will start basic model for privacy controls - such that you can set your profile, photos and other contents available only to your friends, friends of friends, and everyone. I think this will be easier. The privacy control which only extends up to the second degree (friends of friends) maybe limiting for some. I hope Facebook will not remove School and Company networks as this expands our link with the other members.

These changes will take effect soon so log in and review and update your privacy settings in the next couple of weeks.

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook Writes Open Letter Regarding New Security Policy

When you open Facebook this morning a link to Mark Zuckerberg's open letter is shown at the top. It talked about the ways to better deal with the

privacy and information sharing issues it has been facing the past months.

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death

According to BBC, Microsoft is currently investigating the 'black screen of death' in Windows 7 - the latest operating system released last October 22. This occurs after logging on to the system causing the entire screen to go black. The desktop, taskbar, sidebar, and system tray disappears locking up your computer.

In the initial investigation, MS is considering that the cause of 'black screen of death' is the latest security update released last November. They reported that this does not only affect Windows 7 but also in Vista, XP, and Windows 2000.

As of date, Microsoft has not yet issued a fix for this problem. However, another software firm Prevx did. But it is not assured to work in all cases as there can be many causes of this. I suggest however to skip the offer of Prevx. It is still best to get a fix from a source that MS experts recommend, or those which has been widely tested.

Black screen of death is another name for blue screen of death.

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death