strong

Military deploys distributed solar en masse

SolarStrong, a project to install rooftop solar panels at 120,000 military homes, will see the light of day after nearly being derailed by political infighting in Washington.

Solar installer SolarCity today said it has secured the financing needed to install about 300 megawatts' worth of solar panels at homes on military bases. The company and the project lender, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch, expect this to be the largest distributed solar-energy project to date, requiring $1 billion in financing over the next five years.

The project calls for installing solar panels at the homes of military personnel at … Read more

Solyndra fall-out could tank solar for military bases

SolarCity said today that the Department of Energy has not been able to finalize a loan guarantee for a project to install rooftop solar panels on military bases, blaming the political furor caused by bankrupt solar company Solyndra.

Earlier this month, the Department of Energy announced a $344 million conditional loan guarantee agreement with SolarCity to install solar photovoltaic panels at Department of Defense bases in 33 states. The distributed solar project, called SolarStrong, would have doubled the number of residential solar installations in the U.S. and would have been the largest rooftop solar project.

The DOE told SolarCity … Read more

The key to the crypt

Chances are, there's something on your computer that you don't want other people to see, whether it's financial information, client files, trade secrets, or evidence of your erotic photography hobby. AxCrypt makes it easy to encrypt all types of files, ensuring that your sensitive data is safe from prying eyes.

The program integrates easily into Windows, appearing as an item in any file's context menu. Users simply right-click on the item they want to encrypt, select AxCrypt from the menu, and choose Encrypt. The program lets users select a password for the file and optionally create … Read more

Survey: 63% don't change passwords very often

Security firm Symantec on Friday released results of a survey on password management that showed 63 percent of respondents don't change their passwords very often, 45 percent use a few passwords that they alternate for all accounts, and some 10 percent don't change their passwords at all.

These are a startling numbers as, according to the survey, 44 percent of respondents said they have more than 20 accounts that require a password.

Worst of all, the survey also found that about 10 percent of respondents have used their pet's name as a password. This is as bad … Read more

Drew Carey bids big for personal Twitter name

Drew Olanoff has drawn a short straw. But he wants to make it into a long one.

He started raising money by launching Blame Drew's Cancer, which lets you accuse his pesky Hodgkin's Lymphoma of being the cause of everything that is wrong in your life.

His latest charitable poke in the eye to life's vicissitudes is to auction his Twitter name. You see, Olanoff was clever enough to declare himself to be @drew in the microblogging macroworld.

And there can be few places in the world more replete with munificent egos than Twitter.

So it is … Read more

The Pre's Strength and Build - Part 2

In answer to a question on my previous post, yes, two of the Pre's falls resulted in scuffs on the corners. Guess that's what happens when a smooth, shiny object collides with concrete... Sigh.

In keeping with a review of the Pre's hardware durability, I wanted to touch on the little USB port cover. This baby fits in there tight, almost too tight. There are days when I'm not sure I'll get it open... Once it is pulled out I feel like it's going to stay on, unlike other phones I've had where … Read more

Pleased With the Pre's Strength and Build - Part 1

It's day twenty-seven of our relationship. The Pre and I are getting along just swimmingly and I fall in love a little more each day...

I'm not the super geeky girl who can tell you how to install homebrew apps or hack your camera's default settings, but I've been around electronics long enough to tell you, the Palm Pre is one rockin' hot gadget.

I've been very impressed with the quality and sturdiness of the Pre. I'd originally looked at purchasing the Centro but was advised against it. Too many people told me it … Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings us the next episode in the Strong Bad saga, a kahuna part, and a classic arcade racer from Sega. WiiWare Strong Bad Episode 5: 8-Bit Is Enough (Telltale Games, 1,000 Wii points): Is it episode 5 already? The fifth installment of the game based on the lovable flash cartoon characters is ready for download on WiiWare. Big Kahuna Party (Reflexive Entertainment Inc., 700 Wii points): Big Kahuna Party is a family-oriented collection of minigames with a kahuna theme. The game offers more than 100 levels to play through, all with varying difficulty. Virtual Console Enduro Racer (… Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings us the third episode of the Strong Bad games along with a classic title from the 16-bit era starring everyone's favorite platforming earthworm.

WiiWare Strong Bad Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands (Telltale Games, 1,000 Wii points): The third episode of the series of games adapted from Homestarrunner.com puts Strong Bad in a battle of the bands competition. Guide him and The Cheat to rock victory. Art Style: ROTOHEX (Nintendo, 600 Wii points): Twist and turn triangles as they fall from the sky into hexagons. Enjoy two modes of play along with special item … Read more