Espionage - Apple

Mobile Computing is becoming more and more common these days, with Apple leading from the forefront. With the MacBook Air and Retina Display MacBook Pros being the headline Macs these days, it’s extremely comfortable to own a portable computing device rather than a desktop. Security becomes a paramount concern with such devices as they are prone to loss or theft when carrying around.

Even when using an iMac, data security is vital to keep sensitive information private. Using Filevault for encryption is one way to go, but it encrypts the entire drive. If you plan to secure only certain folders, you’ll have to look at third party alternatives. And there are quite a few free and premium apps that help solve this problem.

I’m a vocal advocate of TrueCrypt, yet, I found Espionage’s offering very interesting. Is it as good at securing my Mac and simple to use as they promise? Time to check it out!

Why Espionage?

Since our last review in 2009, Espionage has gone through many changes including a complete rewrite. I started using TrueCrypt to secure my portable drives and I’m a big fan of the app. It’s open source and is cross platform. I juggle between a Mac and PC, so a cross platform encryption app made a lot of sense.
There are a few downsides to using an app like TrueCrypt though. It’s definitely not the prettiest app around and the workflow can be a bit cumbersome. Beginners and casual users might find the steps involved to be confusing at times. That’s when apps like Espionage comes in to make our lives easy.

Espionage combines the ease of use and elegance Mac apps are known for. If a Mac is your primary computer and if you are looking for an app to simplify the process of securing files and folders, Espionage is what you need. It hardly needs any ground work or heavy lifting from your end. A quick drag and drop is all that you need to do to secure your content.

The Process

As you might know, the journey to encryption universe begins with the creation of a master password. Make sure it’s strong with a combination alphanumerics and special characters for obvious reasons. If you are in doubt, the app has a password strength indicator and warns you when the password you have chosen isn’t secure enough.

Getting Started

Not having to deal with the creation of secure containers and stuff is a big relief for me. Nothing beats a simple drag and drop. The app sits on the menu bar and the encryption process starts as soon as you drop a folder. As you might be aware, the duration of an encryption depends on the volume of data and the processing power of the system. During my trials, I found it to be pretty decent.
Announcing the various stages of the encryption process as and when they happen is a nice touch. At the end of the encryption, the folder and the files located in the drive are moved to the trash. You’re alerted to this fact with a detailed growl style notification.

Accessing Files

Predictably, the files and folders secured by Espionage won’t be visible in the finder. You can quickly access encrypted files by way of a quick toggle action. To manage the settings of individual files and folders, click on the info icon right next to them. Again, a fabulous GUI works wonders when it comes to tackling otherwise complex actions.

In a single click, spotlight accessibility to files and folders can be managed. Enabling spotlight access will result in secured files showing up in search results. So, you might want to think twice before opting for it.

Are you a forgetful person? Then use the timer feature to auto lock folders after a preset duration. The fine grained nature of the auto lock settings is an example of the extent to which Espionage has simplified securing data.

For the paranoid amongst us, the ability to set and use multiple master passwords should help rest easy if and when the unlikely event of forced disclosure at gunpoint occurs!

Final Thoughts

I simply love Espionage. It’s simple, affordable and does a fabulous job of taking the pain out of securing private data. The elegantly designed user interface plays a great deal in making Espionage such a pleasure to use.

The use of the fairly standard info icon for accessing the advanced features section is an interesting design decision though. For me atleast, it appeared to be another useless shortcut for help section or a tip. Replacing it with a new icon that actually evokes curiosity would be great.

I am in the process of moving data from a couple of my computers around and as soon as that’s done, I’m gonna entrust the task of protecting my files to Espionage!

Note: If this Tutorial and News worked for you (and it should work), please leave a comment below. Thanks.

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GifCam - Windows

GIFs are considered an important part of the internet. They are being used extensively on websites as buttons, icons, banners, advertisements and what not. If you are wondering about how to create those images, you should know that creating GIF images may not be one of the most easiest things to do. If you search the internet you will come across a number of tools that can help you create GIF images using GIMP and Photoshop as well but it can be a very time consuming task especially when you don’t have any experience in using these programs.

In case of web applications, they may be better when it comes to creating GIF animations but they may not provide you with as many features as a desktop tool and may not be as simple as you think. Today, we came across a very handy desktop utility, GIFCam that allows users to create animated GIFs from their desktop. It’s more of a screen recording app that records your actions and save them as GIF images.

What is GifCam?

GifCam is a very handy portable utility that allows users to create animated GIF images without installing anything on your computer. You can manually adjust the size of the screen to fit your desktop and start recording. Everything that comes in the frame is recorded and saved in an image format. It might be a better alternative than saving the screencasts as video files as they are larger in size and may not work on every device. The best of all, users can easily share them with anyone they want via email or any other social network.

Features and Usage

Using GifCam is simple and straightforward. To get started, all you have to do is download the portable package from their website and run it. This is the best thing I like about this app, you don’t have to install anything on your computer. Just open the file and it will open GifCam main screen. You can adjust the size of the frame by dragging the window from the corner, same as you do with any other windows app.
After adjusting the frame, just click on Rec and it will start recording anything on your desktop that comes into the frame. You can simply record anything ranging from your desktop to games to YouTube videos or simply anything for that matter. This can be really helpful if you are helping anyone solve some computer related problem or even if you are just showing them how to perform a specific task on their computer.

One feature I like about GifCam is that if the software finds out that the previous frame is same as the new recorded frame, it will automatically add delay instead of adding new frames which increases the size of the GIF. If you want, you can even record a single frame as well. Clicking on the Frame button multiple times will increase the delay time (in milliseconds).

The tool also allows users to view the created GIF image and edit frames before saving the final product. From within the app, you can easily adjust the delay time, add/remove different frames and more. Just right click on any frame and it will show you all the options that can be used to edit the image.

The tool also offers a wide range of saving options to its users as well. By default, the save mode is set to Quantize but you can easily change the saving options to 256 colors, 20 colors, grayscale or monochrome in order to manage the size of the created GIF image. Now, just save the file and you are done.

Here is a sample of something I created using GifCam. The delay time in the image below is set to 0.2 seconds but you can change it easily from the edit screen.

Wrap Up

In the past, I have used many online utilities and even Photoshop, to create GIF images but it cannot get any simpler than this. It’s all up to your creativity on what you can create using this tool. If you want, you can take a look at some of the samples the developer has created using this tool and you will be amazed.
Best of all, the tool does not require you to install any third party add-on or tool to make it work, it’s portable. I am one of those people who never installs anything on my computer until and unless I find the tool really useful. In conclusion, I must say that it’s a very useful portable application that can come in handy in many different situations such as creating images or even guides to help other users.

Did you try GifCam? Feel free to share your thoughts about it in the comments below.

Note: If this Tutorial and News worked for you (and it should work), please leave a comment below. Thanks.

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Batman: Arkham City Lockdown v1.0.1 - Android

Stem a zombie attack on your Android!

Get ready to soil your plants in the hit PopCap® strategy game Plants vs. Zombies! A mob of fun-loving zombies is about to invade your home, and your only defense is an arsenal of 49 zombie-zapping plants. Use peashooters, wall-nuts, cherry bombs and more to slow down, confuse, weaken and mulchify 26 types of zombies before they can reach your front door.

One of the top tower defense action games ever, Plants vs. Zombies features zombies with their own special skills, so you'll need to think fast and plant faster to have a successful strategy and combat them all. But be careful how you use your limited supply of greens and seeds in this tower defense action game... as you dash to battle the fun-dead, obstacles like a setting sun, creeping fog and a swimming pool add to the challenge.
Plants vs Zombies is a favorite for all ages, from those who grew up with classic arcade action games to kids. The zombie fun never dies!

Game Features

• • Conquer zombies in all 50 levels of Adventure mode — through day, night and fog, in a swimming pool and on the rooftop
• • Battle 26 types of zombies including pole-vaulters, snorkelers and bucket-heads
• • Earn 49 powerful perennial plants and collect coins to buy a pet snail, power-ups and more
• • Open the Almanac to see all the plants and zombies, plus amusing "facts" and quotes
• • Collect 10 fun-dead achievements in your zombie tower defense adventure
• • Enjoy all the zombie-zapping fun of the hit PC/Mac game — fully optimized for Android!
• • Hilarious graphics, great soundtrack and a bonus music video 
• • Made by PopCap, the creators of Bejeweled, the #1 puzzle game in the world

Download today to stem a zombie attack on your Android device!

Voted Game of the Year* by over 30 publications including PC Gamer, USAToday.com and Chicago Sun-Times

• *PC/Mac version

Language Support: English, French, Italian, German, Russian, Spanish, Simplified & Traditional Chinese

Requirements:

• • Supports HVGA, FWVGA-WVGA and qHD resolutions. 
• • Requires Android 2.2+ 
• • Features may vary by mobile device

Note: If this Tutorial and News worked for you (and it should work), please leave a comment below. Thanks.

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