Google has sparked our curiosity for some time now about their futuristic technology platform, Google Glass. Earlier we blogged about fundamental questions and answers on Google Glass. We learned that this wearable computing device (running a modified version of Android 4.0) offers some of what our smartphones offer us. We know that we can take photos and videos, send and receive email and texts, make and receive calls, get turn-by-turn directions, and use Google Search as well as Google+.  Additional capabilities depend on what apps developers create. Since there has been a lot of progress and so much conversation over the past year, we are sharing this informative Google Glass overview written by Drew Olanoff from TechCrunch, Google Glass Year in Review. He describes Google’s revealed progress from when the project was first introduced to current information about the product.

Read Google Glass Year in Review…

Have fun this weekend using free photography editing software. It is Mother’s Day weekend and you may want to capture some great moments. Here’s a list of free tools to help with great photo results.

Gimp

Gimp is editing software that is very similar to Photoshop. It’s an open-source application for the MAC and PC. It provides tools for editing and retouching your images. It also provides layers, like Photoshop, and tools for painting and animation.

Screenshot from Gimp

Photoscape

Photoscape is an easy-to-use editing software. Some of the key features include the editor, batch editor, combine, and face search. The editor allows you to resize, adjust the brightness and color, add text, draw pictures, crop, add filters, use red eye removal, and more. The batch editor allows you to edit multiple photos at once. The combine feature will result in one large photo by combining photos vertically or horizontally.

Screenshot from Photoscape

Pixlr

Pixlr is a popular choice for editing photographs. Choose from three levels for editing your photos: Open Pixlr Editor (Advanced), Open Pixlr Express (Efficient), and Open Pixlr-o-matic (Playful). It’s quick and similar to Photoshop. You can crop, re-size, remove red-eye, and whiten teeth. Pixlr also offers mobile apps of the Pixlr Express and Pixlr-o-matic levels for iOS and Android. The new Pixlr Express Plus version for iOS allows you to add text and stickers! Try out the Pixlr Grabber extension for both Firefox and Chrome so you can grab and edit photos as you surf the web.

Screenshot from Pixlr

Lightroom 5

The New York Times talks about Photoshop’s temporary, free photography editing software, Lightroom 5. It is a beta testing version which will become unavailable once the upgrade version is released. It is easier to use than Photoshop and has some new exciting features. New York Times describes the Radial Gradient feature:

Adobe has also added a feature called Radial Gradient, which lets photographers draw a circular or oval area in which to apply effects. It can be used to create a vignette, where a picture darkens toward the edges, for instance. So you could circle someone’s face, and have the picture dim as it moves away from her, creating a spotlight to draw the eye.

Another feature is the Upright which corrects warped areas due to lens distortion.

Lighthouse 5 Upright Feature Screenshot from New York Times

Adobe Photoshop Express App

This free app is nice for on-the-go cropping and editing. It is available for both iOS and Android. Zoom in, Crop, straighten, rotate, flip, and remove red eye. Use slider controls to find the right color. Adjust the hue, brightness, and white balance of your photos. Then, share with your friends and family.

Photoshop Express Screenshot from Adobe

HeliosPaint

HeliosPaint is a paint program for editing photos and other images. Some of the tools and features include: pencil for editing pixels; adjustable paint brush and spray can with edge feathering; copy brush for copying an area to another area for retouching, healing, and blending; and shape tool for creating freehand, polygon, star, moon, and heart shapes. Heliospaint also allows printing with auto fit to page and allows you to export image to PDF file.

Screenshot from Heliospaint

Google plans to release a non-developer version of Google Glass by the end of 2013. Have questions about what Google Glass can do? ReadWriteWeb recently published, Google Glass: What Do You Want To Know About Google’s Internet Eyewear, which covers fundamental questions and answers about the eyewear. Read the article…

Google’s Internet Eyewear, author ReadWriteWeb

Video Credit: Youtube, Hack College

2013 has been a year filled with hacks on big brands through social media. As we saw last week, the Associated Press’ Twitter account was hacked. But the real question is, what are the steps involved to recover from social media hacks? Thanks to PC World, this question can be solved in four simple steps. In 4 steps to reclaim your social media after a hack attack, PC World gives users an idea on what they must do to fully recover.

Posted below is a brief overview of the article. To read the full post be sure to visit PC World.

Regain control of your account

Change your password as soon as you notice that your social media account has been compromised. If you are unable to do this because your Twitter account was suspended, PC World suggests visiting support.twitter.com/forms/hacked. This form will help you reclaim your account.

Delete posts and tell your audience

It is important to delete all posts and tweets that were posted to your page. Afterwards, you should inform your friends and followers about the hack and let them know that everything has been taken care of. Eric Johnson was quoted by PC World stating,

“Time is of the essence. Be sure to rebroadcast the issue on every channel available to you,” he says. “Post a message on your website’s homepage, tweet it, post it on Facebook and other social media sites. This ensures they know about the problem and it reduces the damage.”

Review your social media process

For this step, PC World suggests that you review both the processs and people that control these accounts. From there, examine the procedures and look for areas to improve upon.

Preach and teach online safety

Teach and train others how to properly use social media. In addition, be sure to review processes to protect your brand or identity online.

Image Credit: Bit Social Media

Mashable recently shared an article on how to erase data from old computers and smartphones. Whether you’re recycling your device, selling it, or throwing it away, knowing how to properly clean it is essential. This practice is so important because it can help prevent identity theft.

Just think about all of the information that you enter onto your device. Your personal email, bank statements, social networking, and credit card numbers are just a few pieces of information that can be stored on your computer or smartphone. Luckily, Mashable covers everything you need to know from the basics to programs to use.

To learn more, be sure to read the full article below. Read the rest of this entry »

Macworld recently posted an article on how to track a lost computer with Find My Mac. Similar to Find My iPhone, Find My Mac is a service that allows users to locate stolen or missing Apple computers. Now that Apple has also included Macs into the Find My Device series, apple fanatics can now track their Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Posted below is the full article from Macworld which details how to use this app to track a lost or stolen computer:

How to track a lost computer with Find My Mac

Serenity Caldwell

Apr 19, 2013 4:00 AM

If your computer is stolen or otherwise liberated from your possession, don’t despair: If you’ve remembered to enable Find My Mac, you can track it, remotely lock it, and even send messages to your Mac’s screen.

You may have already enabled the Find My Mac service if you’ve set up your Mac with a free iCloud account. You can check by opening the iCloudpreference pane in System Preferences. If you’re already logged in to iCloud, all you have to do is make sure you’ve selected the Find My Maccheckbox; if you’re not logged in (or if you don’t have an iCloud account), you can go ahead and do so from this screen. After you turn on Find My Mac, you’re set—you don’t need to do anything else unless your Mac falls into wayward hands.

If the worst happens, you can track your Mac via iCloud.com or the Find My iPhone app on your iPad or iPhone. (We should note that even though the app is called Find My iPhone, it allows you to find any iOS device or Mac.)

You can use the Find My iPhone iOS app or the iCloud website to find them. Launch the app on any iOS device, signing in with your Apple or iCloud ID and password; or log in at iCloud.com and click the Find My iPhone button.

The Devices list displays every device—iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac—associated with your account that has Find My iPhone enabled. A green dot next to a device means Find My iPhone located it; a gray dot means the device is offline or could not be found. The status of each device—how long ago it was located, or that it wasn’t located—appears just below its name.

If Find My iPhone can locate your device, it will show it on the map, where you can zoom in and out, and switch between Map, Satellite, and Hybrid views. Unfortunately, you can’t track the location of your Mac over time: Unlike the Lost Mode available to iOS devices, Find My Mac shows only the most-recent location of your computer.

You can also have your Mac play a sound—handy if you’ve misplaced it somewhere in the house; plus you can lock it remotely with a numeric passcode or remotely erase it.

If you opt to remotely lock your Mac, the computer will actually shut down once it receives the lock command. The next time you attempt to start up the Mac, it will boot into recovery mode and ask you to enter the passcode; if you opted to display a message, that message will appear on the same screen. Once you’ve entered the correct passcode, the Mac will reboot normally.

The final option is Erase Mac. As you might expect, this feature lets you completely erase—securely—all data and settings from your Mac. It also sets a four-digit passcode that lets you regain access to your Mac if you ever recover it. You should use the Erase Mac option only as a last resort. (And it’s one of many good reasons to have a current backup of your Mac.)

You’ll receive an email sent to the address on file for your Apple ID when you perform any of these actions.

If the service can’t locate your Mac, you still have the option of playing a sound, remotely locking the computer, or remotely erasing it, but these actions won’t take effect until the Mac connects to the Internet. To receive an email notification when your Mac does come online again, select the Notify me when found checkbox.

As useful and convenient as Find My Mac is, it does come with a caveat: Should a malicious party compromise your iCloud account, they could remotely wipe your Mac, as happened to Wired’s Mat Honan. So if you do enable this feature, make sure that your iCloud account has a strong password and, for best results, enable Apple’s two-step authentication.

To view the full article be sure to visit Macworld.

Image Credit: Macworld

According to a survey taken in 2012 by Lookout, 62% of Americans have outdated cell phones around their home. This can happen for a number of reasons. Some people may be using them as a backup in case their active phone breaks. While others keep old cell phones because they are unsure what to do with them.

Have you ever thought about recycling your old smartphone? If so, this post should be really helpful for you. Listed below are a few options for you to explore:

• Donate your phone to the troops
• Sell it on Glyde
• Sell it back to Apple
• Donate to survivors of domestic violence
• Search your options with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Send your phone to CTIA for Refurbishing

Don’t just keep your old cell phone around. Find a way to recycle it so it serves a better purpose than collecting dust.

To learn more about recycling cellphones, be sure to visit Mashable.

Image Credit: Kootation

Today, Twitter announced its latest service Twitter #music. For a couple of weeks this project was just a rumor until they officially announced its released on Good Morning America. According to a blog post, Twitter #music,

“uses Twitter activity, including Tweets and engagement, to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists…The songs on Twitter #music currently come from three sources: iTunes, Spotify or Rdio.”

Similar to iTunes, users on Twitter #music can listen to a brief sample of each song. However, if they are subscribers to Rdio or Spotify they can simply log into their account to enjoy the full song. In addition to a popular page, Twitter #music also has a search feature. There, you can listen to a song from your favorite and similar artists. A few other features Twitter #music has includes:

• Popular – playing the most popular music on the service.
• Emerging- new artists that you should check out.
• Suggested – suggested tracks based off previous music you’ve listened to.
• #Nowplaying – this feature plays music that some of your friends are currently are listening to.
• Me- this station features music of the artists you follow on twitter.

To learn more, read the announcement from the Twitter blog.

Image Credit: Twitter captured by Jessicaml_

Are you on Twitter? If so, then this recent post by Mashable should be really helpful for you. Below are ten twitter accounts that tweet about breaking news stories. Additionally, they continue to update you as the story develops. Be in the know, and the first to know about breaking news, business, economics, politics, US news, world news, and atmospheric conditions around the world.

Breaking News - @BreakingNews
BBC Breaking News- @BBCBreaking
CNN Breaking News- @cnnbrk
WSJ Breaking News- @WSJbreakingnews
Reuters Live- @ReutersLive
CBS Top News- @CBSTopNews
Al Jazeera English Live- @AJELive
Sky News Newsdesk- @SkyNewsBreak
ABC News Live- @ABCNewsLive
The Weather Channel Breaking- @TWCBreaking

Do you have any breaking news twitter accounts that you think should be added to the list? Tweet us @wvuoit