Secure Your USB Drive with TrueCrypt

USB devices are increasingly becoming the most frequent means to carry sensitive information, but many are not aware of the hidden security risks. If you lose your USB device that is carrying your private or company’s vital data, well we can all pretty much guess the damage that could happen. We should all be concerned with data security and I’d like to share with you a great open-source piece of software that can help ease the risks.

TrueCrypt is a free open-source disk encryption software which lets you encrypt an entire partition or storage device such as USB drive and other portable devices. It can be used to create an encrypted container on devices. This encrypted container is nothing but a virtual encrypted disk within a file of your choice, which can be mounted as a real disk, and it will contain data which we want to protect.

Main Features:

Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk. Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive. Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication). Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent. Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted. Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system. Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS.

Learn more.

EMC Atmos Online Cloud iPhone App – Atmos iSafe

Atmos iSafe is an easy-to-use iPhone app that lets you securely store, manage and protect your information in the EMC Atmos Online Cloud.  Atmos iSafe enables you to seamlessly upload and download your photos and contact lists to and from your Atmos Online account.

Once you’ve uploaded your content to Atmos Online, you can share it with any other user on any Windows computer or Mac that has a standard browser or any Atmos browser installed.

Download Atmos iSafe and configure it to your EMC Atmos Online account. That’s it! If you lose it, you can easily restore your photos and contact list using Atmos iSafe. Note that while the Atmos iSafe application is free to download, it will require an Atmos Online account, where you only pay for what you use. Sign up for CloudOne today and give Atmos iSafe a try.

Features in Atmos iSafe Version 1.0:
1. Auto Login
2. Upload Photos
3. Download Photos
4. Share Photos
5. Delete Photos
6. Upload Contacts
7. Download Contacts

Requirement:
iPhone OS 3.0 and later

Device Support:
iPod Touch/  iPhone /  iPad

Wednesdays What’s New: Make Sweet Music With Jaikoz!

by Kevin Blalock, Quality Assurance

In today’s world, everyone has an mp3 collection. I do, and it is pretty ridiculous. I have been storing my music in digital format as long as the technology to do so has been around. Currently, I have close to 250gb of music. Now what is more ridiculous than having that much music? Making sure it has correct metadata. I can’t tell you how many of those are named Track 1.mp3, Track 2.mp3,  and so on.

So, I have been looking for tools that can help clean all that mess up. There are many out there, and like everything else, some better than others. I believe I have found the best all around app out there for cleaning up your music collection. It is called Jaikoz.  It is java based and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The full version will run you about $20 but it is WELL worth it! Here is a quick run down on some of the features:

– Works on windows, mac, and linux
– Tagging of mp4, m4a, m4p, mp3, wma, flac, and ogg. (No need for multiple tagging applications to fix all of your music)
– Uses MusicBrainz, an online database of over nine million songs. (using metadata)
– Many also have an Acoustic ID provided by AmpliFIND
– Allows manual editing of metadata
– Fixes artwork
– Can autocorrect your lyrics with Lyrics Fly
– Free upgrades and support so you get all the latest features at no cost

Do you have experience with this program? If so, we’d love to hear what you have to say about it!

Monday Tech Tip: Easy Screenshot Sharing

Many people use screenshots in one way or another. A screenshot is a powerful tool for visual demonstrations and help users tremendously. Today’s tip for quick and easy screenshot sharing, we’d like to introduce you to Gyazo.

Gyazo is a simplistic program that anyone can use. Simply launch the application, drag your mouse to grab the screen and it’s instantly uploaded and the URL is copied to the clipboard.

Launch. Drag. Done.

http://gyazo.com/en

ServerBeach Customer Brings Livestream of Oil Spill to Mobile Devices

Assaf Rozenblatt, founder of supercook.com and long-time ServerBeach customer, today unveiled watchtheoil.com, a live stream of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This feed is available online and specifically designed to work within the browser of Apple mobile devices. Supported through our dedicated hosting division, a workaround was created through the compilation of a series of still images shown in quick sequence to allow the mobile Apple audience to view and share this live video.

iPhone, iPad and iTouch users can view the live stream from within the browser at watchtheoil.com, with no application download required. The live stream captures what most people have seen by now, a sea floor oil gusher that continues to release an estimated 12,000 to 100,000 barrels per day(1).

We encourage viewers to retweet and repost watchtheoil.com to keep the disaster top of mind among mobile audiences.

At ServerBeach, we’re committed to raising awareness of cool, forward-thinking technology and fully supports our long-time customers’ mobile technology advancement to potentially pave the way for live streaming of other events in the future.

“We are really excited about the ability to provide live streaming of the oil spill directly within Apple mobile browsers, with no download necessary. Not only does watchtheoil.com help bring a broader awareness of the disaster to the world, but it’s another leap in technology innovation, bringing the accessibility of the Internet to mobile devices.” – Assaf Rozenblatt, founder of Supercook.com and creator of watchtheoil.com

“It is a pretty significant accomplishment to think that anyone with an iPhone can watch, real time, the live troubleshooting of an oil well leak which is a mile beneath the surface of the ocean. ServerBeach fully supports our longtime customer Assaf Rozenblatt who runs watchtheoil.com – this is a great example of an entrepreneur who made something happen on his own despite the barriers he faced. And it is a great example of how technology can be used to mobilize audiences to action.” – Robert Miggins, Senior Vice President, Business Development, ServerBeach.

Spread the word on Twitter by re-tweeting: @ServerBeach customer creates live stream of oil spill viewable from iPhone. http://www.watchtheoil.com Help raise awareness.

Press release.

WPtouch WordPress plugin – 6 million blogs and growing

ServerBeach customer BraveNewCode.com has developed one of the highest rated WordPress plugins for approximately 6 million WordPress.com blogs each month – WPtouch, a mobile theme for your WordPress website that automatically transforms your WordPress blog into a web-application experience when viewed from an iPhone, iPod touch, Android, or BlackBerry Storm mobile device.

WPtouch was voted the #1 plugin by WordPress users at WordCamp San Francisco and has won the interest of many prominent Bloggers, including Stephen Fry and Leo Laporte. BraveNewCode is a two-man business run by Duane Storey and Dale Mugford who do a lot of large work in the WordPress sphere.

“Our WPtouch WordPress plugin was activated on WordPress.com not long ago, making it the default iPhone theme for about 6 million blogs” says Duane. “We also do WordPress specific design and development for clients, the latest of which was a company called Vision Critical, which was the #1 fastest growing company in BC, Canada last year. “

Listen to Stephen Fry talk about WPtouch in a video here: http://www.bravenewcode.com/2009/09/stephen-fry-talks-about-wptouch-and-wordpress/

Learn about the WPtouch plugin, download it, and give it a try here: http://www.bravenewcode.com/products/wptouch/

ServerBeach Sponsors WordCamp 2009 San Francisco

It’s that time of year again. ServerBeach will be heading out to the Mission Bay Conference Center in California May 30, 2009 to sponsor and attend WordCamp San Francisco.

WordCamp is a conference organized by the creators of WordPress for users and developers. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. This years schedule is packed full of great speakers that include:

Tim Ferris, Author of 4-Hour Work Week

Matt Cutts, Head of webspam team at Google

Andy Peatling, Lead developer of BuddyPress

Chris Pirillo, Founder of Lockergnome

John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla, makers of Firefox

And many more, including of course Matt Mullenwig – Founder of WordPress and Automattic

You can view the full schedule here: http://2009.sf.wordcamp.org/schedule/

Come join Matt, the WordPress gang, and be sure to stop by the ServerBeach table and say hello!

You’re On My Shirt! SpawnPoint

SpawnPoint is one of the largest public gaming communities on the Internet. If you’re a hardcore gamer then you already know who I’m talking about and if you don’t – give them a look because SpawnPoint.com is THE place for gamers to be!

Whether it’s information you’re looking for about a video game or gaming console such as XBox, Wii, PlayStation, PC, you’ll find it on SpawnPoint.com. If you’re more interested in gaming Forums, Videos, Blogs, and Clans, they’ve got that covered too! Don’t forget the downloads! Whatever you’re in search of, you can bet SpawnPoint has it covered.

Register at SpawnPoint.com, create a Clan, and join their game servers today!

Oh, and one more thing: