How long it takes hackers to crack your password with brute force methods

How long?

Depends.

For weak passwords, minutes.

For strong passwords, thousands of years.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/02/how-long-it-takes-hackers-to-crack-your-password/ / security verify verification alphabetic numeric punctuation spaces eight characters remember random mix mixture upper lower case number numbers numerals punctuation symbols dictionary word English foreign alphabet secret reveal Fast Identity Online Alliance FIDO /

PayPal says it's time to ditch passwords & PINs

How many online services do you have accounts with?  How many passwords?  How many unique passwords?  How many passwords can you remember? 

For many reasons, most people have weak passwords & reuse the same password on different sites.  PayPal says passwords aren't cutting it any more — time for something new.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/?newsid=3446582

How to construct a strong password
http://www.lockdown.co.uk/?pg=password_guide / security verify verification alphabetic numeric punctuation spaces eight characters remember random mix mixture upper lower case number numbers numerals punctuation symbols dictionary word English foreign alphabet secret reveal Fast Identity Online Alliance FIDO /

Casetop "laptop" uses your smartphone as its brains (video)

Credit: Gizmag

Your smartphone has lots of processing power (4 cores common, 8 in the new Galaxy S4) & storage (at least 4 GB, 64 GB removable in some).  In practice, the biggest barrier to productivity on a smartphone is the user interface: screen & keyboard are too small.

Solution: Casetop adds an 11 inch screen & full size keyboard to your smartphone (iPhone, Android or Blackberry). User interface problems solved. And it charges your phone while it's connected.  Casetop is a Kickstarter project.

Cost: Apart from the screen, all of the expensive parts are already in your smartphone, so you can have Casetop for only $250.

Why is this a fabulous idea? Full size (well, 11 inch) screen, full size keyboard & BIG (!) battery for your smartphone. You could even downsize your smartphone (say S4 replacing Note 2) for a saving on purchase price & a more convenient size phone.

One more thing: funding target is $300,000, not $3 million as indicated in the Gizmag article.

http://www.gizmag.com/livi-design-casetop/27418/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lividesign/casetop-every-phone-becomes-a-laptop / memory Bluetooth HDMI island keys Apple IBM Android iOS iPhone smart phone Samsung HTC Blackberry Microsoft Windows /

Do you remember?

Probably not.

Despite most people's perception, a memory is not like a snapshot; more a flawed reconstruction.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303815404577334040572533780.html / memory remember flawed changed reconstruction justice injustice /

How much fun is a Tesla electric car?

This much:

/ LiIon battery lithium ion charge recharge EV electric vehicle acceleration excitement squeal scream shriek Roadster /

Pebble smartwatch teardown – iFixit

Credit: iFixit

The bad news: Not possible to repair (or even replace the battery) because large amounts of adhesive mean that the watch can't be disassembled without destroying the display.

The good news: Good battery life & resulting long intervals between battery charges will yield a battery life around 10 years.

More good news: Bluetooth Low Energy is supported by the hardware & will be enabled by an upcoming firmware update.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Pebble+Teardown/13319/1 / LiIon battery lithium ion charge recharge component cycle durability replace change well made waterproof atmospheres glue disassemble Kickstarter project E-Paper /

GM: Next generation Volt will be $10,000 cheaper to build

And GM will begin making a profit on them.

200 mile pure EV from GM, "in a few years", too.

http://www.plugincars.com/next-generation-volt-will-be-10k-cheaper-127121.html  / EV electric vehicle LiIon lithium ion battery charge recharge range level 1 2 3 charger /