Images render nicely with MoFuse Grow.

MoFuse Grow is essentially a supremely accessible, one-click Web app for drawing users in and promoting MoFuse.com’s more powerful and more involving WYSIWYG interface for customizing a blog’s mobile look. The tool is a gift for those who want a no-fuss, no-muss way to get at their blogs from the small screen. Those who plan to share their URL around, however, are best served by Mofuse.com’s full visual design process and by shedding the clumsy, free .mobi URL. For them, MoFuse Grow produces the bud, but by no means the blossom.

MoFuse, a mobile Web site-creation service, has removed even more steps when converting a .com Web site into a .mobi site, which is optimized for viewing from a cell phone, smartphone, or any other Internet-lovin’ device.

With MoFuse Grow beta, individual and business bloggers can simply feed their site’s RSS link into the blank field to generate a MoFuse URL with a .mobi suffix. New users looking for a more articulate link are enticed to join the service, which has both free and affordable options (compared here with Zinadoo’s similar offering.)

Hmm….While I believe Microsoft made its protocols available for public inspection due to pressure from the European Commission, the effect on developers is very similar to the IBM BIOS case. If I use the Microsoft documentation to reverse engineer or otherwise integrate Microsoft code or ideas into my own, I’m highly susceptible to a lawsuit.

This is why making information freely available, without associated IP grants freely available, perhaps does more harm than good. Code without rights is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

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Van references IBM’s efforts to keep PC clones out of the market. IBM apparently made its BIOS information (and source code) widely available as a way to poison the well. In other words, any engineers who saw the BIOS code and then attempted to reverse engineer it would be in violation of IBM’s copyrights.

(Credit:
Synology)

(Credit:
Synology)

First of all, DSM is a Linux-based application preloaded within the NAS device as a operating system that you can access and control via Internet Explorer 7 or
Firefox. As the front-end user interface (UI) supports AJAX, unlike most Web-based UIs, allows for Windows-like functionality within the browser, including the ability to drag and drop as well as helpful Wizards that simplify the NAS management tasks. The interface is intuitive and very self-explanatory. Novice users guess fairly accurately what each button does, and after a few mouse clicks should have no problem understanding how things work. All this makes mapping a network drive to a Synology NAS device a no-brainer. While with most other NAS devices, the list of features stops here; with the DSM, it’s just the beginning.

- MySQL Support: Supporting MySQL version 5.0.51.

From what I’ve seen so far, Synology’s NAS device coupled with its DSM 2.0 software, by far offers the most features and best UI I’ve come across. At the time of writing this blog, I am also expecting an upgraded Disk Station DS107+–Synolgoy’s consumer-grade NAS device–that supports most of the above features. So be on the lookout for our in-depth review on CNET.com.

- Expandable RAID 5 volume: Allowing new hard drive to be added and expanded in RAID5 format on the fly.

Synology's new AJAX-based UI for its NAS devices.

Synology's comsumer-grade NAS: Disk Stationi DS107+

By supporting IP cameras, the DSM can also turn the NAS device into a surveillance station, which can automatically record video either by timer or by motion detection. This is an elaborate surveillance system that supports up to five cameras, and the recorded videos’ quality is actually better than most tape-based surveillance systems. During the demonstration, the DSM showed multiple real-time monitoring screens using IE7 as its interface. With Firefox, it was only able to show a single monitoring screen. Synology says it is working on this browser inconsistency, and the company hopes it will be worked out by the time the software releases in April.

And that’s not all, the Disk Station Manager 2.0 NAS Management Software also supports the following equally useful features:

Another very interesting and useful feature of Synology’s DSM is the Photo Station 3. With this feature, users can easily upload a folder of digital photos that Photo Station 3 organizes into a Web album. The album engine automatically creates the album interface and thumbnails. All you have to do is put photos in the designated folders on the NAS. You can then caption each photo and allow others of your choosing to view the photos online.

All of Synology’s NAS devices that ship in April or later will have this new interface preinstalled. Existing Synology devices can be upgraded to this new interface for free during this time too. The DSM software does not work with NAS devices from other vendors.

-
Sony PlayStation and
Xbox 360 support: turning the NAS device into a digital media adapter

- Audio Station: Allows user to play audio files directly from the NAS or an iPod to USB speakers, with remote control.

Setting up a network-attached storage device (or NAS) is oftentimes a pain. Usually the most frustrating part is getting Windows to identify it and map it as a drive. This way, you can actually use it as it was intended, as a network storage device. In CNET Labs, I’ve come across many types of NAS management interfaces, be they Web-based or desktop applications. All have one thing in common in my experience: they are not the easiest devices to set up. For this reason, I was very impressed by a demonstration from Synology of its new, soon-to-be released Disk Station Manager 2.0 NAS Management Software (DSM). If you think this is a long-winded, hard-to-remember name, well, it is, but that’s probably the only thing you’ll have difficulty with.

Others? Is open source chipping away at the bloated price structures of traditional software vendors? (Yes, Savio, I use the word “chipping” judiciously.

Arjen Lentz spotted an interesting comment on Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz’s blog, which suggests that Oracle may have cause for concern in its competition with MySQL:

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An isolated incidence? Possibly. But where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire. I imagine that this isn’t the only Fortune 500 company that is looking to shave the money it pays to Oracle every year. Anyone else seen this sort of thing? I’ve definitely seen analogous situations in the ECM world, and I know from my friends at SugarCRM that they have, too.

The hottest new battlefield weapon in Baghdad is also a hot item on the home front.

(Credit:
Apple)

Updated at 1:25 p.m. PDT to clarify that apps being developed for
iPhone as well.

Soldiers can use applications to add translated phrases to maps and photos, as well as show villagers video messages from local leaders. A new program called Vcommunicator translates spoken and written Arabic, Kurdish, as well as two Afghan languages.

The U.S. military has found the iPod Touch to be a valuable battlefield tool for soldiers.

Apple’s iPod Touch is proving to be a valuable tool to members of the U.S. military, according to a report in Newsweek.

The report notes that the iPod performs many functions in this time of “networked warfare,” enabling soldiers to be linked with other soldiers, as well as intelligence resources, such as aerial images from drones and translation software.

Oh yeah, this rugged device, which retails for less than $230, was developed in the private sector without taxpayer money. Considering the military’s history of being charged for $435 hammers, $640 toilet seats, and $7,600 coffeemakers by contractors, this is a great deal.

It’s easy to tell someone to update their drivers, but it’s not so easy to do, especially if the device is more than a year or two old, and the hardware vendor has abandoned it. First, you have to search the vendor’s site for the latest driver for that specific model, and after you find and download it, you have to open Windows Device Manager, navigate to and double-click the entry for the device in question, and then run the Update Driver wizard, pointing to the new driver when prompted to. On top of everything, there’s no guarantee the new driver will solve the problem.

Nothing will stall your workday faster than a dropped network connection or recalcitrant peripheral. There’s a good chance that just a few tweaked Windows settings will get you rolling again. With some luck, the tools built into the OS will be all the help you need. And if Windows’ diagnostic tools come up short, there are some other resources at your troubleshooting disposal.

Tomorrow: automate your online storage without spending a dime.

Fixes for AWOL hardware
If a printer, monitor, or other device starts acting up, make sure all cables are plugged in tight, and all adapter connections are nice and snug. You might think it’s an urban myth, but it happens: about a year ago I thought my hard drive was toast, but it turns out an internal cable had come loose. (Also make sure the danged thing is powered on; that happens too.)

Diagnose network disconnections in Vista and XP
One of Vista’s most useful new tools is the revamped Network Diagnostics utility. When a Web page won’t load in Internet Explorer, you may be prompted to run the utility by clicking Tools > Diagnose Connection Problems. You can also open the program by clicking the network icon in the system tray, choosing Network and Sharing Center, and clicking Diagnose and Repair in the left pane.

If everything checks out with your PC’s network settings, ping your ISP’s servers to make sure the connection is working. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt, type ping cnet.com (or any domain name), and press Enter. If your network link is working, you’ll see four lines of replies, followed by a list of ping statistics. A failed ping test indicates a lost connection to your ISP. Before you get on the horn to your ISP, try turning off your router and then turning it back on again. This is sometimes sufficient to reset the device. If that doesn’t reestablish your network link, it’s time to get on the phone to the company’s support line. (To get a more detailed look of the path packets take from your PC to a Web site, type tracert, the domain name, and press Enter to see a list of all the stops the packets make along the way to their destination.) When you’re done, type exit and press Enter to close the Command Prompt window.

Rather than looking to Windows or the device’s vendor for help diagnosing your problem, your time may be better spent searching one of the many Web forums for the category of product. Two of my favorites are those at Tom’s Hardware, and CNET’s PC Hardware Forum.

Some problems the program will fix automatically, but it may also display instructions for correcting the glitch manually, or it might simply point to Vista’s Help and Support file. The tool can’t diagnose problems outside of the local PC, such as your ISP’s servers being down, but it helps you determine whether the source is in your system or something else.

Ping a Web site from Windows' Command Prompt to determine whether the link to your ISP is working.

You may have more luck using System Restore to turn back the clock to a time when the device worked, but this is no guaranteed fix either. Another longshot is running Windows’ built-in troubleshooters. In my experience, they’re a waste of time: I must’ve tried the troubleshooting wizards dozens of times over the years, and not once were they any use. You’ll find them in the troubleshooting section of the inappropriately named Help and Support Center: press F1 from the desktop to open the app.

XP’s Network Diagnostics tool lacks the troubleshooting chops of its Vista counterpart, but it can help you pinpoint the location of the failure. To run it from Internet Explorer, click Tools > Diagnose Connection Problems. To open it without IE, click Start > Run, type %windir%\network diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe, and press Enter.

Who has the best soccer team on the planet? At least, at the national level (since we all know Arsenal is the best club on this planet). Argentina.

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1. (1) Argentina
2. (2) Brazil
3. (3) Italy
4. (4) Spain
5. (5) Germany
6. (6) Czech Republic
7. (7) France
8. (8) Portugal
9. (9) Netherlands
10. (10) Croatia

Arsenal? They’ve got players on all of those national teams except for Italy (Sorry, Fabrizio, but Arsenal can’t afford to put its fans to sleep with Italian football!) and Portugal.

As for the US? Well, it barely scraped #20.

Tendril's in-home display can show how much a home is spending on electricity at a given moment.

Tendril Networks provides consumers with Web access to see their electricity usage and to compare it to similar households.

The display, Tendril Insight, shows usage information in real time by reading information from so-called advanced meters installed by utilities. The company also sells a gateway device and a network-enabled thermostat.

The set-up will allow consumers to not only see usage in real time, but also make adjustments to save money, according to Tendril Networks CEO Adrian Tuck. For example, you could choose to run the dishwasher at an off-peak time to get a cheaper rate or to completely shut down (without stand-by current) a large TV at certain hours of the day.

Ultimately, the vision is to have Zigbee-enabled appliances communicate directly with a thermostat or in-home display. But that’s likely a few years away because of the expense associated with smart grid technology and because Zigbee, although a standard, has yet to be universally adopted by the industry.

(Credit:
Tendril Networks)

Basic in-home displays show consumers how much electricity they are consuming at a given moment. More sophisticated systems, as Tendril Networks has developed, are designed to give consumers more options to save energy by collecting information over time and to communicate with the utility through networked meters.

Boulder, Colorado-based Tendril Networks, which raised $12 million in venture funding in March of this year, is one of several smart grid companies targeting the energy efficiency market.

(Credit:
Tendril Networks)

By the middle of next year, it will sell hardware products directly to consumers with advanced meters at a cost of between $30 and $50, Tuck said.

Start-up Tendril Networks on Tuesday announced the details of its networked in-home energy displays, a sign that smart grid technology is crawling into the marketplace.

The company’s product, called Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE), is a combination of software that works with utilities’ back-office systems and a line of devices that use the home area networking standard Zigbee.

Tuck said the company is looking to differentiate itself by using the Zigbee standard which will allow people to get software updates on their devices. Also, it intends to take a more consumer-friendly approach than existing smart grid pilot tests, which tend to focus on the benefits to utilities.

The company intends to get its devices into the market primarily through utilities; Tuck said he expects the company’s gear will be in tens of thousands of homes this year and just under one million next year.

As if troubled movie rental company Blockbuster didn’t have enough to deal with already: an angry Facebook user has taken issue with its participation in the social network’s controversial Beacon advertising program, and is pursuing legal action.

Then Dolan reported on the not particularly scandalous list–no Debbie Does Dallas to be found–in an article in the Washington, D.C.-area City Paper. An analog-age privacy debate ensued, and the VPPA was passed in 1988.

Correction, Sept. 23, 2009:
Michael Dolan has clarified that while he obtained and reported on Robert Bork’s household’s video rental history, he did not actually publish the list.

In the suit, Harris claims that Blockbuster’s sharing of her movie rental history through Beacon is in direct conflict with the Videotape Privacy Protection Act. The law was passed during the viciously contested nomination of judge Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987, in the midst of which writer Michael Dolan went to a video store that Bork frequented and obtained a list of 146 videotapes his family had checked out.

Cathryn Elaine Harris, a Texas resident, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for eastern Texas on April 9, claiming that it’s a violation of a federal statute for Blockbuster to participate in Beacon, which shares rental history on Facebook members’ “news feeds” unless they manually opt out. She is seeking class-action status, hoping to eventually net $2,500 for each infringement.

Facebook is not included in the lawsuit.

Now, the Bork-era law has taken on a digital dimension: Harris vs. Blockbuster, addressing Facebook’s “social advertising” program. The social network unveiled the Beacon ads in November, drawing criticism from activist groups like MoveOn.org for privacy violations until it modified the interface to allow for more user control.

A Blockbuster representative told MediaPost that adequate privacy protections are in place and that Blockbuster’s legal team will “vigorously defend the company in this litigation.”

Don't want anyone to know you rented this cinematic gem? One lawsuit in Texas says it feels your pain.

In case you’re already entrenched in YouTube, a built-in tool called YouClone will let you copy all your videos off YouTube and post them to other services without having to track down the original. All you need is your YouTube password and it will do the rest.

If you’re a cheapskate like me, there’s also a free video stat-tracking service called TubeMogul that will do the tracking without the small fee. As for uploading to the rest of the services, though, you’re on your own.

Hey!Spread – Video Distributing Web Service from Bruno Celeste on Vimeo.

Better yet, it keeps track of the views once they’re there. You can view each video with daily-stats analytics, view breakdowns, and comparison charts to see how the same video is doing on different services. It’ll also let you compare it with other videos (even if they’re not yours).

Say you just captured an amazing video of your cat doing something funny. It’s time to upload it to YouTube right? Why stop there? HeySpread, a service from the folks at Particles was just updated Thursday morning to take the video you just captured and push it out to nearly 20 different video hosts at once.