Dream Team: Link iPhone to Laptop
Adam Pash at Lifehacker has excellent instructions on how to pair your iPhone to your MacBook, iBook or even Dell Inspiron.
Other cell phone hacks are available elsewhere, but note that with AT&T you have two choices. The cheap way, which may violate your terms of service, or the authorized way, which involves paying for tethering.
Protect Your Laptop Data With PGP
If you’re like most people you probably don’t think much about the security of your laptop. Sure, maybe you’ve got a Kensington lock. Maybe you’ve got virus protection and a spyware scanner. Maybe you’ve put a password on your screensaver and logout when you’re not at your desk.
But the data sitting on your hard drive — even when the power is off — is valuable.
Bruce Schneier has an article about using a two-tier PGP encryption system on Wired. He also suggests limiting the amount of data you store on your computer, in case someone walks off with it when you’re logged in.
Read it and use it.
Brightcove to Bail on User-Submitted Videos
UGen takes a hit. Internet TV provider Brightcove will cease to accept uploaded video Dec. 18.
It seems there’s more money to be made through big media partnerships. At least that’s the sense you get from CEO Jeremy Allaire’s explanation.
My question — and this may have been answered in the email sent to users — what is Brightcove going to do with the user video already on their servers?
I also wonder where will Brightcove uploaders post their video when the service is closed to them….
Mobile Web Design (Free Excerpts)
Dev.mobi offers free downloadable chapters of graphic designer Cameron Moll’s new book, Mobile Web Design.
If you’re developing a mobile strategy, this might be worth checking out.
Curious about Cameron’s work? Read his four-part series on mobile web design from 2005.
Gamers in Search of Adventure
The Guardian observes that RPGs have become deadly predictable.
Perhaps in pursuit of creating MMP games that people can grasp quickly (which also translates into rapid profit), companies like Sony have squeezed the life out of what makes games fun: challenge and discovery.
The article goes on to describe games that retain elements of the unexpected in the storyline, giving a special shoutout to BioShock.
Though most news organizations don’t yet have the developer teams (or the time) to create supersophisticated, news-oriented online games, it’s worth thinking about the surprise and delight factor throughout the design process.
