I’ve had my T-Mobile Dash for just over a year and it was starting to show it’s age. The Windows Mobile operating system was dragging to a crawl. Applications were taking 30 seconds to load and the overall experience just started to feel muddy. It’s horrible when a device can’t keep up with you.

I then found SKTools Lite for smartphones which cleans up temporary files and frees up storage space. After running the program it found 542 files that could safely be removed and my phone felt new again. Apps would open up right away, there was no lag when typing, and the Internet even seemed a bit speedier. So if you are frustrated with your Windows Mobile phone because it’s as slow as a rainy weekend then give SKTools a try. And if you are looking for other great WinMo apps, check out this thread.

Engadget is reporting on a digital camera with super slow motion capabilities from Casio. The EX-F1, which was announced at the annual Consumer Electronics Show today, is a typical 6 megapixel still camera but with some serious frame-burst technology. The video modes on the camera offer three settings for slow motion: 300 frames per second (fps) at 512 × 384 resolution, 600fps at 432 × 192, and 1200fps at 336 × 96. To put things into perspective, 1200fps is about 40 times more frames than real time which is 30 fps. The more frames that need to be played back the longer the clip duration will be resulting in slow motion. It’s a drag the frame size drops to a web video size for the slowest of slow motion, but at least it is there. Before this camera, the closest thing to getting slow motion footage of this caliber would require an investment of at least 5 figures. Now this specialized camera can be yours for just over 3 digits at $1,000!

Not to say that the video is only good for slow motion, the Casio EX-F1 can also shoot 1080i HD video as well as 60 fps at the full 6 megapixel resolution in still mode. First hand reports claim this thing sounds like a machine gun when you release the shutter like InfoSyncWorld.com who said “The shutter release sounds more like a machine gun or a whirring fan than a camera shutter.”

Engadget posted some sample video from the press conference:

This camera has some power to drool over, especially for those specifically interested in slow motion video. I always wanted to explore slow motion video but I never had access to any cameras that could do it. I am always weary about camera that try to do both video and still photos in the same device because they usually end up suffering in both areas. But each year we keep seeing the two mediums come closer together with acceptable results. If I were in highschool right now I would be saving up to get a camera like this especially with social networking and YouTube being so big. I wish I had all of this stuff when I was a kid when I had the time to play around with it.

You can see the full specs of this beast over at DPreview.com but oyu won’t be able to get your grubby little hands on one until March.

I just joined the official Zune group on Facebook the other day and when I looked at the number of fans I saw this…

I’m sure lots of Zune haters will get a kick out of any reference to Hell and the Microsoft device. I am actually a fan and my review will be coming in a couple of days.

It has been nearly a month and I thought I would update everyone about the last Zune in the DC area. I managed to sell the digital media player on the Amazon Marketplace for $329.99, a 32% markup over the original price. I still needed an MP3 player for my daily commute and with the profit I decided to buy another Zune 80 online via Amazon.com instead of in person at Target. In this situation buying online was a much better deal for the following reasons:

1. Buying the player in person results in sales tax being tacked on. Here in Maryland, the sales tax is 5% so that would add an additional $12.50. Amazon.com doesn’t charge sales tax for Maryland residents.
2. Amazon.com offers a 30 day price match on it’s own products. If the price drops within 30 days of a purchase, Amazon will refund the difference. When I ordered the player on December 2nd, it was $249.00. Today it is being sold for $239.99, a difference of $9.00. Claiming a refund is easy. Just go to Amazon.com/refunds and send customer service an e-mail. If you don’t want to keep track of the price differences yourself, check out PriceProtectr.com which will send you an e-mail if there is any drop.
3. Both Amazon.com and any local store are sold out of the device, so I would have to wait either way. I don’t mind waiting which is why I decided to sell my first one when the demand was high.

Here is a final breakdown of the math:

1st Zune Bought at Target
$249.99
+$12.50 Sales Tax
= $262.49 Total

Sold on Amazon.com Marketplace
$329.99 Price Sold
+$7.48 Shipping Credit from Amazon.com
- $10.35 Actual Shipping Cost (Added insurance to the cost)
-$28.14 Amazon Fee
- $262.49 Cost to Acquire
= $36.49 Profit

2nd Zune Bought on Amazon.com
$248.99
+$5.58 Shipping and Handling
-$5.58 Free Super Saver Shipping
-$9.00 Price Difference Refund
= $239.99

Final price for my Zune
$239.99 for 2nd Zune
-$36.49 Profit From 1st Zune
= $203.50

Not bad for waiting a little bit longer and taking advantage of a unique situation.

Much of our digital information is stored and accessed through online accounts, most of which only offer a standard username and password authentication process. While this single factor authentication is sufficient for most cases, two-factor authentication offers enhanced security. But before I go any further, lets make clear what single-factor and two-factor authentication actually are.

In order to authenticate who you are online, you need to demonstrate one or more of the following factors:

• “Something you know”, such as a password or PIN.
• “Something you have”, such as a mobile phone, credit card or hardware security token.
• “Something you are”, such as a fingerprint, a retinal scan, or other biometric.

Most online systems require only something you know, usually a username and password combination. The weakness of this system is the password because if it is too short or easily guessable then an attacker can brute force, or systematically guess every possible combination, until they have access and compromise your account. A password that is too long and convoluted can be a burden to remember though harder to guess by a third party. Adding another authentication factor will greatly increase your security as well as making the login process less cumbersome.

This is where VeriSign comes in. They have developed an identity protection service that gives you access to a random, one-time use password that piggybacks on your existing username and password credentials. The device used to deliver the 6-digit code is the size of a credit card and easily fits into a wallet. With the press of a button, a new set of numbers will be generated for you to authenticate with when logging in to protected sites.

The system isn’t perfect as the card costs $54 and only works with members of the VeriSign Identity Protection Network. Right now that network includes eBay, Paypal, and VeriSigns own OpenID service. Keep in mind this is still in testing mode. With online identity protection becoming a bigger issue, I can see this growing and including more members in the near future.

Some sites that I would really like to see participating in this program would be Amazon.com, GMail, and my bank USAA.com. If I relied more heavily on PayPal and eBay for my income I would definitely sign up, but for now I will sit out and wait for more sites to join before plunking down the $50.

For more information about two-factor authentication check out episode #94 of Steve Gibson’s Security Now Podcast.

My 60 GB Creative Zen Vision:M recently died and I have bee looking for a worthy replacement for the past month. The 2nd generation Zune, known as the Zune 80, is the best digital media player out there. I started looking online for a site that has the player in stock and came out with nothing. Then on a whim I looked for Target stores in my area that might have a Zune 80 available and there was only one left at the Target at Route 198 and 295. The customer service rep I talked with said they weren’t selling that well, HA! I rushed out and picked it up.

You are probably thinking that is where the story ends? I got the player I wanted and everything is grande! But this is the first time I have an item that is in frenzied demand. Such a high demand that people are willing to pay more than retail in order to get it before it comes back in stock, which could take 2-6 weeks. So I listed it on Amazon and made a post on the DC area Craigslist with a hearty markup. If it doesn’t sell in a couple of days, then I will open it up and use it, but if I can find a buyer I have no problem waiting a couple weeks to get a Zune 80 at the regular price.

Canon announced two new super telephoto lenses for their EOS DSLR line today. The first is a 200mm f/2L prime (right photo) with image stabilization and an ultra sonic motor (USM) for focusing. USM lenses usually provided faster auto focusing that is quieter than their non USM counterparts. The second lens is a monster 800mm f/5.6L prime (left photo) which also features image stabilization and USM.

Both of these lenses are geared towards professional sports photographers, and out of reach for mere mortals like me, but it is still fun to think about what it must be like to shoot with one of these. On the other hand, I won’t be complaining about lugging that monster 800mm lens where ever I go. There are pros and cons to everything I guess.

A 20GB Xbox 360! Though it doesn’t include an A/C adapter, A/V cables, or controllers, it was a good deal at $125. After purchasing the most expensive thrift store purchase in my life, I took it to a friend’s house to test it out. It powers up just fine and even included a game, though the game was heavily scratched. Now it is off to eBay to buy the few things needed to get this thing up and running.

DIYLife.com has a great feature all about film rigs for scrappy independent filmmakers. DIY Film School consists of links to instructions on building tons of great film tools for a fraction of the price of buying things new. I have made some of these and of course they take a lot of time and the quality is a little low. But hey, you get what you paid for but just don’t expect Hollywood results from this stuff.
The list of things you can build includes:

• $14 Steadycam
• Body Brace Steadycam
• $60 Camera Jib
• Backseat View Car Mount
• Exterior Car Mount
• Bike Mount
• PVC Pipe Fig Rig
• and an Underwater Camera Housing

If you’re itching for more of this kind of stuff then check out Home Built Stabilizers for tons of homemade movie-tool goodness. So much for your free time this weekend

Browsing New Egg I stumbled on two quad core HP desktop PC’s for under $1,500 which left me in a state of shock. This HP Pavilion m8150n comes with a quad core 2.4ghz CPU, 3GB of RAM, 2x 320GB hard drives, a HD-DVD Rom drive, and a tuner card for recording TV signals.

I occasionally eye PC’s checking out specs and pricing. One day I will replace my 17″ desktop-replacement laptop with a true desktop that I can gradually upgrade. I don’t know when I will take the plunge and plunk down a couple thousand dollars on a new system but since I spend most of my time at work, it seems rather trivial to get a big honking system with all the trimmings.

Still, this system on New Egg sounds like a great deal. I would need to upgrade the graphics card so I can run dual-monitors and the case looks too small for adding extra hard drives. Even with these upgrades, the price is still lower than custom building your own.

Alas, this deal is too good to be true since it is currently out of stock. I guess I’ll keep looking.