Lock and unlock your computer with a USB drive, secret-agent style
With Predator, you can turn your USB drive into a "key" that unlocks
your computer when plugged in, and locks it when it's removed.
if you prevent access to your computer with just a password, you are
missing out on an alternate (and more secure) way to lock down your
computer.
Predator, a free Windows program, turns your USB drive into a key
that locks your computer when it's removed. To unlock your computer,
you'll have to plug the USB drive back in. (Talk about having
secret-agent-style security.)
Anyone who attempts to access your computer without the USB flash
drive will be hit with an epic "Access Denied" message. To get started,
follow this guide: Step 1: Download and install Predator. Step 2: Once Predator launches, plug in your USB flash drive.
None of the contents of the drive will be deleted or altered in any way,
so feel free to use your primary thumbdrive.
When you insert the drive, a dialog box will appear asking you to create a password. Click OK to continue.
Step 3: In the Preferences window, take note of a few key
settings. First, enter a secure, unique password in the "New password"
field. If you lose your USB drive, you'll use it to unlock your
computer.
If you'd like, you can check the Always Required box and you'll be
asked to enter the password each time you use your thumbdrive to unlock
your PC.
Finally, in the section under Flash Drives, ensure that the correct
USB flash drive is selected. When you're done, click "Create key" and
then OK.
Predator
Step 4: Predator will exit. When it does, click the Predator
icon in the taskbar to restart the program. A few seconds later, the
icon will turn green, alerting you that Predator is running.
Every 30 seconds, Predator will check to see that your USB drive is
plugged in. If it isn't, your computer will dim and lock down.
Here are some extra tips:
To pause Predator at any time select "Pause monitoring" from the taskbar menu.
If someone tried to access your PC while it was locked down,
you'll see the activity log when you log back in. You can see the log at
any time by clicking "View log" from the taskbar menu.
Predator's Web site
has several cool how-tos, including one that shows you how to program
your computer to take a snapshot each time someone tries and fails to
log in to your computer. Check it out.
One obvious flaw comes with this setup: you'll always be
down one USB port. But if you're sold on Predator, consider purchasing a
USB hub to compensate.
Find your lost Android device with Android Device Manager
Find your lost or stolen Android device and remotely wipe your personal data with Google's new Android Device Manager Google announced last week that it would release a
new locator feature for Android devices
called Android Device Manager, which helps owners find their lost or stolen phones and tablets. It was supposed to roll out later this month, but in a Google+ posting Wednesday, Google announced its immediate availability.
The feature works similarly to other locator services, like Lookout and
Samsung's Find My Mobile
, but now you get the feature natively on your Android device. Here's how to get started with Android Device Manager:
Enable Android Device Manager
On
your Android device, go to the Google Settings app, then tap on Android
Device Manager. The locator feature is enabled by default, but to
enable remote data wipe, tap on the box next to "Allow remote factory
reset," then tap "Activate."
Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET
Use Android Device Manager
To use Android Device Manager, go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager
and log in with your Google account. You may get a prompt asking you
for permission to allow Android Device Manager to use location data.
Click on the "Accept" button to continue.
Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET
Location:
The location of your Android device will appear automatically on the
map, along with the name of the place, when it was last used, and when
it was last located. You can zoom in and out of the map to check out
the location.
Ring: The location data is an
approximation and may not help you figure out if it's hiding somewhere
in your home. Instead of having someone call your phone to help you
find it, you can choose to ring your device from Android Device Manager.
This will cause your device to ring for 5 minutes at the highest
volume, even if it's set on silent or vibrate.
Lock:
Locking your device remotely can be useful if you want to lock your
Android device so no one can access your data while you're trying to
recover your lost device. To lock your device, click on the "Lock"
option. Enter your new password twice, then click the Lock button.
Once the command is sent to your device, it will lock it immediately,
even if it's being used.
Erase Device: If
you think you've lost your device for good and would like to force a
factory reset to protect your personal data, choose "Erase Device."
This will erase all your apps, photos, music, and settings from your
device. If your device is offline when you send the "Erase Device"
command, it will perform the reset the next time it comes online. Once
your device has been wiped, you will no longer be able to access it from
Android Device Manager. Also keep in mind that a remote factory reset
may not wipe external SD memory cards.
Remember, if your
device has been stolen, contact the police and let them do their jobs.
With Android Device Manager, your data is safe, so make sure you stay
safe as well by not attempting to retrieve the device on your own.
These four sites offer step-by-step tutorials that take very different
approaches to programming instruction. One of them is perfect for your
level of coding experience.Not
so long ago, typing was for secretaries, journalists, and would-be
authors. Now we're all tapping away at keyboards and screens from
morning until night.
The number of people who spend their workday
coding continues to soar. In the not-too-distant future, writing code
may be as commonplace as typing and other forms of text-keying are
today.
Learning how to code has never been easier. Whether you're a
programming newbie or an old hand looking to learn a new skill or two,
these four free services have you covered. (Note that all but
W3Schools.com requires that you register to use the service by providing
an e-mail address and password.)
All four of the coding tutorials I tested have their positive attributes (ahem), but my favorite is LearnStreet's
Ruby for Beginners, which was just my speed. The lessons prompt you to
write and run the code for each step, and when you make a mistake --
which is key to learning how to program -- the correction hints are
clear.
The video lessons in Khan Academy's
Programming curriculum keep you engaged in the subject and are perfect
for folks starting at square one. However, the complete program could
easily take weeks to complete.
I made it through 24 percent of the Codecademy's
Ruby tutorial before I hit a lesson that stopped me in my tracks: in
the loops section, of course. If you've done a little coding in the
past, you'll likely have better luck than I did with Codecademy's
write-it-yourself approach.
The simplest of the coding tutorials I tried was W3Schools.com's JavaScript tutorial,
which you can complete without having to register (unlike the other
three services). Each of its dozens of lessons includes plenty of "Try
it yourself" options for practicing the technique the step covers.
LearnStreet puts the focus on the code
The first thing you notice when you start the lessons on LearnStreet
is the prominent code-entry screen on the right side of the window.
Under the code is the run environment that demonstrates the code you
write. The instructions are listed on the left side of the screen. LearnStreet's Ruby tutorial prompts you with hints and answers when you make a mistake in its coding exercises.
Screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNET
It
took me about two hours to work my way through the first five lessons
in LearnStreet's 12-lesson Ruby for Beginners. Once you finish the
site's programming courses, you can turn your attention to the dozens of
coding projects for JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. The projects can be
sorted by level (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and by category
(tools, games, and algorithms).
LearnStreet also offers free courseware for teachers who want to instruct their students in coding. Khan Academy lays a solid programming foundation
The Khan Academy is famous for its ground-breaking video tutorials
covering nearly every subject a student is likely to encounter. Rather
than focus on a particular programming language, the Khan Academy's
programming module uses JavaScript to illustrate concepts that apply to
coding in general while also teaching some practical JavaScript skills.
The
courses are divided into about a dozen categories, each of which has
from three to 12 separate lessons. Each video lesson animates the coding
technique in a window on the left and shows the result of the code
running in a window on the right.
After you watch the coding in
action, you're challenged to write code that duplicates the operation.
When your code isn't quite right, the tutorial provides hints to help
you spot and correct the problem. After the coding technique is demonstrated in a video, you're challenged to write code that executes the technique.
Screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNET
It's
easy to navigate the Khan Academy lessons and jump between them and the
site's other features. A space is provided for creating your own
programs, which you can save in your profile and share with the world.
You can also browse the programs written by other students.
Like
LearnStreet, teachers can sign up to be "coaches" for their students and
manage their students' progress. You can monitor your own progress and
set goals for yourself in your dashboard, which prominently displays the
badges you've won and your "energy points." Expand your programming horizons with Codecademy
As much as I appreciate Codecademy's polished interface and interactive
tutorials, more than once I was stymied by the lack of help when the
code I wrote failed to execute as expected.
Admittedly, my
programming experience is limited to HTML and JavaScript. The lessons in
Codecademy's Ruby tutorial had me backing up and restarting several
individual steps, even with the hints that the lessons offer to us tyro
programmers when something's not running as expected.
Most of the
Codecademy lesson screen is taken up by the window in which you enter
code. The instructions for the step are in the left pane. After you
enter your code and click the Save & Submit Code button, the code
runs in a pop-up window on the right side of the screen. The
code window is prominent in the Codecademy's Ruby tutorial. The hints
for correcting your coding mistakes aren't always as helpful as they
could be.
Screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNET
I
was making fairly good progress through the Ruby tutorial until I
reached the Loops & Iterators module. When I took a class years ago
in C++ I recall struggling through the same subject. After about a
half-dozen attempts, I threw in the towel. (As with most tutorials, you
can't proceed to the next module until you complete the current one
successfully.) Keeping it simple pays off for W3Schools.com
At first glance, the JavaScript tutorial on W3Schools.com looked too
basic to be useful. After I had stepped through the first half-dozen
lessons, I found the pace of the lessons kept me interested without
overwhelming me.
The site offers tutorials in HTML, CSS, XML, SQL,
PHP, JQuery, and other Web technologies in addition to JavaScript.
There are also demos for building a Web site, server technologies, and
Web databases.
The lessons are at a slower pace than those of the
other three tutorials I tried, and they entail lots of scrolling down
the page. You read the instructions and are then shown the code. Click
the Try It Yourself button to open a new browser window that lets you
write and run the lesson's code. W3Schools.com's
JavaScript tutorial explains the coding technique, presents the code,
and then lets you duplicate the code in a run environment.
Screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNET
The
Basic section of W3Schools.com's JavaScript tutorial has 19 separate
lessons, each of which will take most people 15 minutes to a half hour
to complete. There are eight more Advanced lessons, as well as eight to
12 lessons for HTML DOM and Browser BOM. Another dozen or so modules
provide libraries, examples, and references. What a difference an hour makes This is Computer Science Education Week, and Code.org is honoring the occasion by sponsoring the Hour of Code
program that encourages teachers to spend an hour teaching their
students how to code. (My certificate of completion is shown at the top
of this post.)
The Computer Science Education Week
site has tutorials that let students as young as 6 years old write
their first program in an Angry Birds-like environment. The site also
has the Khan Academy's Introduction to JavaScript intended for students
in middle school and up, in addition to other app-development resources
for students of all ages, many of which are designed to be used offline.
Want to print from Android to old-fashioned paper? Quickly get started using Google Cloud Print
If sending an email to your desktop is still your method of printing
from your Android, now's the time that changes. Using Google Cloud
Print, you can print just about anything from your Android phone or tablet to any printer, even if it's an older model.
Cloud
Print -- which is technically in beta, like many Google things -- works
by processing the print jobs over the Web. So, if you like, you can
send items to your printer at home, even when you're at a friend's
house.
It gets better. Google Cloud Print doesn't only work with
Android -- it also works with any device running Chrome, including iOS
and any desktop or laptop. Let's set it up.
Step 1: Is your printer Cloud Ready?
If
your printer is Wi-Fi-capable, it's probably "Cloud Ready." What that
means is that you can print to your printer, even if your computer is
turned off. Because the printer has Wi-Fi, it can connect directly to
your Android device without the help of the computer.
Find out if
your printer is Cloud Ready by visiting the Cloud Print site and
looking for your printer model. Once you find it, click the link in the
description to get the setup istructions. The step-by-step will vary for
each printer, which is why we won't walk through them here. Once that's
set up, come back and continue to the next step.
Not Cloud Ready? No problem.
The
beauty of Google Cloud Print is that it's compatible with even the
eldest printers. As long as your computer is turned on, connected to
the Internet, and your printer is plugged in, you can print to it.
Head to your computer and launch Chrome. There's no getting around this -- you need Chrome to make Cloud Print work.
In
Chrome, open the menu and check to see that you're signed in with your
Google account. It should be the same one you use with your Android
device.
In the same Chrome menu, go to Settings. Scroll down and click Show Advanced Settings, then click Manage under Google Clount Print. Here's where you'll associate a printer with your Google account.
Click
Add Printers, and check the boxes for the printer(s) you'd like to
print to from your Android device. Click add printers again, and you're
set.
Sharon Profis/CNET
Step 2: Set up your Android device
The setup on your Android device is dead simple. Head to the Google Play store and download Google Cloud Print.
It's essentially a plug-in that enables printing for a number of Google
apps (like the Gallery), and lets you manage your print jobs.
On
Android versions older than KitKat, it'll appear as a standalone app.
On KitKat, it works in the background, and will appear in the
notification shade when you've initiated a print job.
Step 3: Start printing
At
this point, you're ready to start printing from the Gallery or Chrome.
Just tap the menu button in either app and choose Print. A window will
appear, letting you choose your printer from a drop-down, along with
various settings, like paper size and color. Hit Print, and the item
will be sent to your printer.
But Android printing doesn't stop at photos and Web pages. Using third-party apps like Cloud Print Plus,
you can expand that selection to text messages, contacts, email
attachments, and files stored on your device. You can even use Cloud Printer to print from Firefox, if that's your default Android browser.
Google's has a page listing all apps compatible with Cloud Print.
Share a hard drive with everyone on your Wi-Fi network
Take advantage of your router's USB port with a little trick that lets you share a hard drive with anyone on your Wi-Fi network.Cloud storage is expensive, but it's not the only way to share a bunch
of files across many devices. Instead, you can use an external hard
drive and your router to create networked storage accessible to anyone
on your Wi-Fi network.
When it's set up, any files stored on that drive can be accessed by all devices on your network -- even phones and tablets. Here's how to set it up on Windows.
Step 1: Choose your drive
The
drive you share can be as small as thumb drive, or as large as a 3TB
external hard drive. Check your router's manual to find out if there are
any storage limitations, since some routers have a storage cap.
Once you've chosen your drive, plug it in.
Step 2: Enable USB drive sharing
On
any computer connected to your Wi-Fi network, launch a browser, and
navigate to your router's IP address. You can find this on the back of
the router, in the device manual, or by searching for it online. In most
cases, it looks like 192.168.X.X.
When the page loads, you'll be
asked to log in with your username and password. If you changed it, you
should know it. If you didn't, it's probably still admin (username),
and admin (password).
Those who fall into the latter category, please change your password as soon as you can, and before proceeding to the next step.
Every router's interface is different, but if yours has a USB port, you'll find a link entitled something like File Sharing
under the Administrator settings. In this window, enable the file
sharing server (also called SAMBA). Apply the settings, and exit.
Screenshot/Sharon Profis
Step 3: Access the drive
You're now ready to read and write to your attached hard drive. Open a file explorer window, and navigate to the Network folder in the left sidebar. Then, clear out the path at the top of the explorer window, and enter \\[your IP address]. So, for example, it might look like: \\192.168.1.1
Screenshot/Sharon Profis
With
that, your drive will appear. Open it to access its contents, just like
any other folder. If you're asked to log in, simply use your router's
login credentials (the same one used to log into the Web interface.)
If
you plan on leaving your hard drive attached, so that you can easily
access it from any Explorer window. To do that, right-click the drive
and select "Map network drive..." Give it a name, and the folder will
appear in the sidebar.
Screenshot/Sharon Profis
To access the drive on other computers on the network, repeat step 3.
