commands

Photo-editing programs seem to come in two flavors: huge programs that provide comprehensive editing suites, and tiny utilities that have only one or two features. Auto Adjust Photo falls into this second category--or at least it would if it worked. The program promises to analyze an image and then set "the most optimal contrast/gamma and color balance for it." Unfortunately, we did not find that to be the case.

Initially, we liked the fact that Auto Adjust Photo seemed so easy to use. It installed without issues and then appeared in the context menu any time we … Read more

At last, the face has taken control of Facebook--well, the mouth part, at least. Once the Firefox fans at Firesay demonstrated that hands-free browsing was possible, it was only a matter of time before the technology was co-opted by the Facebook hive mind.

The original Firesay was a Firefox extension that allowed for Google searching, limited browsing, and even launching specific Hulu videos through voice commands. The new Firesay InPage is an attempt to broaden the reach of the voice-browsing concept, albeit slowly, by offering new voice controls for Facebook and KitchenPC. Right now, the Facebook app only allows users to snap a Webcam pick by uttering a few quick words, while the other offers an introductory platform for hands-free cooking at KitchenPC.com.

Currently, Firesay InPage is a two-trick pony with the further limitations of only being available on Chrome. You'll also want to be running Windows Vista or better. … Read more

When we last saw the Honda CR-V, we were behind the wheel of the 2009 CR-V EX-L 4WD with navigation. A little over two years later, we found ourselves spending a week with the new 2011 CR-V EX-L 4WD with navigation. Not much has changed for Honda's little crossover. Aside from a refreshed front end, physically the CR-V is virtually unchanged. Under the hood, Honda's engineers have been able to coax about 20 more ponies out of the 2.4-liter engine, but you probably wouldn't notice that without back-to-back testing of the two generations. Most heinously, the … Read more

Many users are aware of some boot commands for Mac OS X that provide different functionality for your system. The following is a more comprehensive list of the keyboard commands you know and many you may not.

A recent tweet from @superfetz reminded me of several boot commands I've learned over the years, so I thought a more comprehensive list would be useful for MacFixIt readers.

While you cannot run any code from Terminal or otherwise to set an order of boot devices, you can easily control where your Mac boots via keyboard commands. The following key combinations can … Read more

Legitimate Android apps are being compromised by phony versions that masquerade as the real thing but deliver a payload of malware, according to a Symantec blog published yesterday.

Found on unregulated third-party Android markets, malicious versions of legitimate apps like Steamy Window are difficult to distinguish except for their tendency to request permissions that are more excessive than usual, says Symantec. But once installed, these apps carry a new piece of Android malware dubbed Android.Pjapps.

Even running the app doesn't raise a red flag to the user as the fakes closely look and act like the legitimate versions. … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--The head of the National Security Agency said today that the U.S. military should have the authority to defend "critical networks" from malware and other disruptions.

Gen. Keith Alexander, who is also the head of the Pentagon's U.S. Cyber Command, said at the RSA Conference here that the NSA's "active defenses" designed to defend military networks should be extended to civilian government agencies, and then key private-sector networks as well.

"I believe we have the talent to build a cyber-secure capability that protects our civil liberties and our privacy," … Read more

Editor's note: This story originally ran in 2009. In the spirit of the holidays, we thought we'd run this touching piece again.

On a recent Christmas Eve, Jeff Martin found himself forced to explain to a Canadian general why, when Santa Claus passed through Toronto that night, Google Maps had placed the city in the United States.

Martin, then a senior marketing manager in Google's Geo group, was part of a huge team of people involved in the joint U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command's annual NORAD Santa tracker program, a long-running effort to … Read more

IBM has been tapped by NATO to build a new cloud-based computing system designed to help the 28 member nations better use and share data.

Selected for the project by NATO's Allied Command Transformation (ACT), Big Blue will be called upon to design and demonstrate a cloud-computing environment that would help the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plan and implement critical tasks, such as intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

The goal is to see if NATO members can use a collaborative cloud to access data faster and make decisions more quickly.

Though NATO's 28 countries share common goals, they … Read more

In patent documents released this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple reveals plans to improve voice control on its iOS devices using contextually defined commands selected by users.

Apple purchased the iOS "personal assistant" app maker Siri earlier this year, suggesting it had plans to beef up the voice control functionality in iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. The patent seems to take aspects of the Siri interface and apply them to individually selected apps on a user's device.

AppleInsider discovered the patent filing, originally filed last year and titled "Contextual Voice Commands&… Read more