utility
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Tesla has applied for a license to become a UK energy provider
Tesla has applied for a licence to become an energy provider in the UK, according to the Telegraph. That means it may bring it’s lithium-ion PowerPack battery technology to Britain, much as it did with its 100 megawatt Hornsdale PowerPack installation in south Australia.
800,000 Californians could be without power by the end of the day
By the end of the day, more than half of all California counties could be without power. In an attempt to prevent wildfires, the state's largest utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is rolling out a planned power outage. Once fully implemented, it will leave an estimated 800,000 customers in the dark and span from Silicon Valley to the Sierra.
Microsoft releases its first preview of PowerToys for Windows 10
If you've been a PC user since the days of Windows 95 and Windows XP, then you may recognize the name PowerToys from a set of Microsoft-developed system utilities. After a few generations on the shelf, the concept has returned and now the first preview release of PowerToys for Windows 10 is available. Going along with Microsoft's open source shift, the set of utilities and their source code is available from GitHub, where people can also make suggestions, create utilities of their own or report issues.
NASA ramps up its efforts to understand space weather
This week, NASA selected three proposals for missions that could help us better understand the Sun-driven space weather that occurs near Earth. Space weather, like solar flares, can impact spacecraft and astronauts, and it has the potential to disable utility grids on the ground. As NASA prepares to send more astronauts to space and we become increasingly reliant on technology, the need to protect both has become more pressing.
Renault’s EZ-PRO is a workspace, coffee truck and rolling post office
Renault, one of Europe's major automakers, is trying to help us imagine a world with fewer cars. Earlier this year, it unveiled the EZ-GO concept, a sort of anti-Uber autonomous ride-sharing vehicle for the masses. Now, it has taken the wraps off EZ-PRO, a last-mile autonomous electric delivery vehicle system that can double as a coffee truck, portable office and postal outlet on wheels. The EZ-GO was one of the most interesting concepts we've seen this year, so how does the EZ-PRO stack up? At the company's TechnoCentre near Paris, we get a closer look at Renault's multitasking, multipurpose self-driving solution.
Russian hackers are inside US utility networks
Russian hackers infiltrated the control rooms of US utility companies last year, reaching a point where they "could have thrown switches," The Wall Street Journal reports. The paper cites officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirming that the hackers -- from a state-sponsored group previously known as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear -- gained access to allegedly secure networks, where they could have caused blackouts.
US utility offers clients cheap Tesla batteries for grid backup
For the first time, a power utility has teamed up with Tesla to use its battery packs for extra grid power during peak usage times. Vermont's Green Mountain Power (GMP) is not only installing Tesla's industrial Powerpacks on utility land, it's also subsidizing home Powerwall 2s for up to 2,000 customers. Rather than firing up polluting diesel generators, the utility can use them to provide electricity around the state. At night, when power usage is low, they're charged back up again.
Vermont power company finds malware linked to Russian hackers (updated)
Just a few days ago, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security released a report detailing their assessment that Russian hackers were behind a series of attacks on US agencies and citizens. While the Obama administration issued sanctions, code linked to those hackers has been shared with other agencies, and on Friday, the Burlington Electric Department found malware with a matching signature on one of its laptops. The discovery raises more questions than it answers, but with recent reports of Russian hackers attacking the power grid in Ukraine, it obviously has raised alerts all over.
Tesla will reveal a battery for your home at its April event
You don't have to wonder any longer as to what Tesla will unveil at its April 30th event -- the company just spoiled things in advance. In an email to investors, the company states that its shindig will reveal both a previously-teased battery for your home and a "very large," utility-oriented battery. Details aren't forthcoming (those are for the big show!), but there's a good chance that the hardware will build on the concepts behind existing home batteries, which are often used to store excess solar power and provide backups during outages. The real questions are whether or not Tesla can improve on personal powerplants like it did electric cars, and how much you'll pay versus the competition. You'll likely get the answers to both riddles in just over a week.
LG screen software left Windows PCs open to malware
Taking a shortcut to make your software work properly is a bit like walking across a frozen lake: it saves plenty of time until the ice starts to crack. LG's currently suffering from a similar sort of oh shit moment as it learns that one of its display utilities may have exposed countless PCs to malware. In a piece for Developers Couch, Christopher Bachner has alleged that the Screen Split utility that ships with LG's ultra wide monitors breaks your computer's most basic security provisions.
Track flights for free with Air UK Free
AirUK is an app developed by Fikret Urgan. It requires iOS 6.0 or later, is compatible with iPad and iPod touch, and is optimized for iPhone 5. A user can track flight statuses by following the movement of tiny plane icons. If you press on one of the planes, the app displays the flight number in green right above the icon. You can zoom in and out using your fingers or the (+) and (-) symbols at the bottom left corner. I checked a few of the flights online and they seemed to be accurate. I'm sure there's room for error as some flights might lose the ability to update their flight status in some situation. There is not a way to search for a flight by number however, so you have to actually scroll through and find the plane yourself, which is very inefficient. The app is free but is full of advertisements. Some of the ads cause the app to crash. There are apps on the top of the screen which are irritating and distracting, and the full screen ads honestly make me want to throw away the app altogether. When you zoom in and out to find a specific area where you would like to track a plane, the app takes a long time to load because there are way too many tiny plane icons that have to readjust their location. I'm sure it's still faster than looking up the flight status online depending on the airline. I think it would be better if there was a way to search for one specific flight number and let that be the only icon on the screen. I doubt anyone would want to know the flight status of every plane coming and going from their town. AirRadar UK is very plain and straight forward design wise. It's clearly for utility and not for entertainment. A little more design effort could persuade a user to go "Pro" though. The planes are very low res; however as previously stated, there are so many of them so they probably have no choice but to make them small and easy to load all of the icons on a tiny mobile screen. I would recommend AirUK to travelers and their family who need a fast way to check in on a flight status via mobile. This app is great for business executives, flight attendants, travel enthusiasts, and their loved ones who want to know where they are even when they are in the sky. From a car or from home you can check and see where a flight is and if it is on schedule for on time arrival.
Get Backup Pro is a solid backup utility for Macs
Yes, there is Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper!. All have their place and are terrific backup utilities, but it's also nice to see something new on the scene that adds a few tricks to your backup bag. Get Backup, from Belight Software (on sale for US$9.95) is a Yosemite-ready utility that does automatic folder syncing, makes bootable backups, allows for encrypted backups, follows automated schedules and does data archiving for things like your iTunes Library, your documents folder, or your iPhoto Library. Folder syncing is particularly nice and it's not available on most backup programs. Get Backup allows you to synchronize files and folders on your Mac with another computer or mounted drive using the sync features. Sync in one direction or update files in both locations using bidirectional synchronization. A good example is my iTunes Library. I'm constantly adding files, and the Library is on an external drive. With Get Backup I can have that folder replicated to another drive on an automated schedule and keep my copy up to date. Cloning is supported so you can copy one entire drive to another drive, and boot from the copy in an emergency. This is also a feature of Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper!. Get Backup also lets you encrypt via AES-128, AES-256, Blowfish, or Triple DES. You can back up to another hard drive, a network drive, or a CD or DVD disc. I tried several of the backup features and found the program easy to use and foolproof. The user interface is pretty self-explanatory, and if you need more information there is built-in help. I didn't experience any glitches, although backing up to a network drive was pretty slow. It all depends on the speed of your network, and mine is not all that flashy. If you'd like to try the software at no risk, there is a free version that is pretty basic. It allows full backups. versioned backups and one-way folder sync. The Pro version is much more versatile, and allows incremental backups. encrypted backups. restoring of selected files and folders, and two-way sync. I think the Pro version is the best way to go. Almost all of the available backup programs use routines from the Unix core underlying OS X. The programs are simply a front end for executing those commands, but they are all a lot easier to use than entering terminal commands. There is also a version of Get Backup at the Mac App Store, but due to Apple rules on what features utility software can have, it's not really full-featured. It lacks full cloned backups because Apple does not allow software sold in the Mac App Store to invoke administrative privileges. That being the case, I would opt for the full version from Belight. All the backup applications mentioned are ready to use with OS X Yosemite. Check out all the features on the different apps before committing to one, and find out which works best for your particular situation.
Notes Plus is a terrific note taker for iPad
Notes Plus (iPad only, US$9.99) is an app for taking notes. It sounds simple enough, and you'd expect that it's certainly a needed app for people who are drawing, scribbling and writing down anything from lecture notes to making diagrams or designs. Of course, Notes Plus goes far beyond just taking notes. This latest update adds some features and makes the app iOS 8-friendly. The app lets you write naturally with either a finger or a stylus, with smooth and readable vector graphic strokes. You can also create a text box to type inside, with a wide choice of type styles and colors. Once anything is on the Notes Plus screen, it can be resized or moved. Scaling is smooth and shows no artifacts. The app supports both left- and right-handed users. Notes Plus also lets you record audio, and the recording continues in the background if you leave the app. Notes Plus also allows you to import a PDF or Word document for annotation. The app supports pre-drawn shapes, and images can be imported from your iPad. Notes Plus gives you automatic backup using Dropbox, as well as a folder structure that lets you define places to put things. You get a nice choice of notebook designs, and many styles of paper to write on. Handwriting recognition to turn your words into text is available as a $2.99 in-app purchase. I used the app quite a bit over the last few days, and it really is terrific. However, don't expect to simply pick up your iPad and start taking notes right away. The app requires you to learn special gestures, and you'll need to accommodate the structure Notes Plus offers. That's not a negative -- the app can't be powerful and yet have no learning curve to overcome. Once you do learn Notes Plus, helped by a well done quick-start document and extensive detailed help, you'll be on your way. I did not try the app with a stylus, and it probably feels more natural to write with one. Once I adjusted, it worked fine with my finger as a "pen". If I was still a student and taking lots of notes, this app would be indispensable. It's great for business use, and even creative writers or just list makers will find it extremely useful. I wish there was an iPhone version of this app, because I always have my iPhone with me but don't usually run around with my iPad. It wold be challenging to do this app on an iPhone, but as we know, iPhone screens are getting bigger so the conversion should be easier. Notes Plus is not a cheap app, but the $10.00 price is fair given the power and flexibility. I'm not happy about the extra in-app purchase, as I think handwriting recognition should be a basic built-in feature. Apps that you purchase that keep asking for more just irk me, and I really wish the practice would diminish. Notes Plus is a terrific app that deserves a look if you have the need for its many features. It requires iOS 7 or greater, and was very smooth under iOS 8. Highly recommended.
1Password 5 now available for your downloading pleasure
So many people use AgileBits' 1Password app to keep track of the hundreds -- nay, thousands -- of passwords in their lives that this is worthy of a separate announcement. 1Password 5 has just dropped in the App Store, and you can pick up your copy for free now. We've discussed the upgrade here previously, but in case you missed those posts, here's the skinny on 1Password 5 from AgileBits: v5 for iOS and all Pro features are a free upgrade to all existing v4 owners New customers can unlock All v5 Pro features with a one-time in-app purchase We have App Extensions for Safari and third-party apps, Touch ID, Adaptive UI, and so much more 1Password 5 for iOS is now iOS 8-only iCloud sync requires iCloud Drive and will only work with iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 Yosemite. If users sync with Mac via iCloud, they might want to disable automatic app updates until both iOS 8 and Yosemite are available. Here's some extra info on this from AgileBits.
Aplos is a very flawed, but beautiful new Twitter client
Aplos is a brand new Twitter app for iPhone that tries to shove important user features into a minimalistic design. Some highlights include a unified timeline for multiple accounts, web browsing reminiscent of Facebook's chat heads and intelligent tweet actions for each account. In a very crowded App Store category, Aplos enters as a US$4.99 Twitter client for iOS 7.0 or later. As far as first impressions go, Aplos makes a terrific one. The design is nothing short of beautiful. The app even comes in six different color themes, including the default red and white, if you want to give it a nice paint job. The timeline streams tweets live from all of your Twitter accounts, which is clear by the profile picture thumbnails on the top left. Tap them to switch to individual views. The UI for tweet actions harkens back to the era of Tweetie, which featured a left-swipe gesture on any tweet to reply, retweet, favorite and some other actions. This works nicely in Aplos and helps keep the main timeline cleaner. Another feature I love is the chat head-like web browsing. Tap any link in Aplos, including tweet permalinks, and a thumbnail of that page bounces out from where you tapped and pleasantly lands in the bottom right hand corner. Tapping multiple links will store all of them in that corner and they all open up in a tab view when you're ready. In recent years, Twitter has been severely limiting the capabilities of third-party clients by restricting API access as well as just flat-out not providing APIs for features like seeing when people retweet or favorite your tweets. Aplos suffers from this hindrance, but it's not fair to blame this app or any others. Unfortunately, those are far from the only features Aplos is missing. There is absolutely no sign of direct messages anywhere within the app, which now more than ever is a prominent part of Twitter. Even worse, the app doesn't suggest usernames or hashtags when you start typing either in a tweet, forcing you to use memory as your only source, which most of the time (at least in my experience) doesn't work out so well. Twitter profiles only display the bio, location, website and information about who you know that follows the account and if the account follows you. Aplos lacks a way to view tweets from an individual account. It also lacks a way to view individual tweets themselves. Yes, a permalink is present, but that inadequately opens the tweet in an in-app browser window. The fact that Aplos is missing this smorgasbord of Twitter essentials is downright disappointing. I'm reminded a bit of the iPhone when it first debuted. Its gorgeous design and functionality successfully distracted from it lacking many basics such as video recording and MMS messaging. There's no doubt this Twitter client mimics the stunning design aspect, but functionally, Aplos is missing too much right now to recommend -- especially with its relatively high price tag of $4.99.
Breakdown Buddy: How does it break down
Breakdown Buddy (US$0.99) is a useful app for organizing information needed in case of a car breakdown. The app works on all iOS devices running iOs 7.1 or later. There are two functions of the app; the ability to find your current location on a map and a section that holds details for a breakdown, including the number of a tow truck, car registration, your telephone number, insurance policy number, and a notes section. Having all of that on your phone helpful in stressful situations. It would be even more useful if you could tap on a number in the "breakdown telephone number" field to place a call. It seems a little awkward to have to exit the app to dial a number its storing. The location finder is a basic map that lists street names but not addresses. This is helpful in telling approximately where you are broken down at, but you could also just open up a maps application to find your location with even more accuracy. Breakdown Buddy has a very clean interface and this reinforces the goal of storing all of this important information in one easily accessible place. With some tuning of each feature, this app would definitely be a great help if you find yourself stuck on the side of the road with a broken down car. Breakdown Buddy is US$0.99 on the App Store. It needs a couple of changes to be worth the money as you get more benefit currently from saving your breakdown information in a note taking app and a maps app when used together.
Panik is an assault alert app with social integration
Currently free, with in-app purchases, the Panik assault alarm app goes beyond the standard alerts and offers layers of security to keep you safe. Panik works on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch running iOS 7.0 or later. It would be great if we lived in a world where we could walk home at 2 AM and not worry about anything, but we don't. Everyone needs an assault alarm app on their phone, especially if you live in a city and frequently travel by foot or public transportation. You may already have an alarm app, but it likely has limited options. Most apps blare a loud noise and maybe send a few SMS messages, like Attack Alarm SMS. Panik is different. When you open the app, the first thing that you see is an alarm button. You have three options here, flashing lights, a loud siren or both. For added protection, you can set a pin lock to prevent your attacker from shutting off the alarm. I can't say enough about this feature. Most people in cities will ignore a loud alarm if it only lasts a few seconds. The pin lock makes sure that people pay attention. Smartly, Panik has a shake to activate feature, because who has time to swipe an alarm on when they're being attacked? The key here is to have the app open on your phone and have your phone accessible. As someone who's lived in both New York and New Orleans, you should always keep your phone within reach when you are out. You need to draw attention to your situation quickly, you can't be fumbling with your phone. There's also a flashlight, and most importantly, an S.O.S. button. When you push it, your phone will automatically dial the number of your choice. Panik defaults this number to 911. You can change it, but your best bet is to leave it. None of the above are particularly revolutionary, so here's what Panik has that other alarm apps don't - social integration. Connect the app with your Facebook and Twitter accounts, type in a distress message (or use the default message) and Panik will post that message plus your current location when you activate the app. Like I mentioned above, there are apps that send SMS alerts to a few individuals, but Panik widens that reach to hundreds of people. This app does have an SMS feature, but there is a drawback. With iOS you can't automatically send SMS messages. You have to manually hit send. This can cost you precious time and be downright impossible to do if you are being attacked. Given this restriction, the social aspect of Panik is invaluable. The social integration feature, including SMS, is a US$0.99 purchase. A very small price to pay for your personal safety.
Fotopedia is closing, but Evernote wants to rescue your photos
Last week Fotopedia announced it would be closing its doors on August 10, leaving fans of the site wondering where they could take their photos. Well, you're in luck Fotopedia users: Evernote is here to help. The note-saving turned data-saving service has launched a special website explaining how Fotopedia users can connect their accounts to Evernote to transfer their pictures. In a statement to The Next Web, Evernote developer Matt Carroll explained why the fix is just happening two days before Fotopedia shuts down: This is a Fotopedia importer into Evernote. I started working on this after the announcement and just finished testing and deploying this morning. Traffic is still early and I'm trying to get the word out now to help the more casual users of Fotopedia that may not want to go to the trouble of downloading and keeping track of the zipped HTML files Fotopedia is providing now. You can find the Evernote-Fotopedia importer right here for free.
TUAW at Macworld/iWorld 2014: Hider 2 from MacPaw Software
The best way to make sure that nobody steals or reads documents on your Mac that you don't want to share is to make them invisible. That's what Hider 2 from MacPaw Software accomplishes quickly and easily! The app isn't live in the Mac App Store until Wednesday, but we were able to get you a very good look at how it works. The video is just over a minute long and introduces you to this worthwhile security application. Hider 2 will normally sell for US$19.95, but will be available for about 50 percent off as an introductory offer.
Second Gear releases Photos+, a new way to look at photos on your iPhone
Second Gear, the company behind the popular text editor Elements 2 and Github manager Committed, moved away from its text-based roots and added a new photo app to its lineup today. Now available from the iOS App Store, Photos+ promises to be "the best way to manage photos on your phone." Rather than being a copycat, Photos+ re-imagines the Photos app and tacks on a few key features. Instead of a grid of small thumbnails, Photos+ uses the full screen to present your photos in a layout that is more like a montage. Image previews are larger, allowing you to detect subtle differences between shots, like which photos are the raw shots and which ones are the edits. One other bonus of this layout is that you can easily tell when a photo has been shot in portrait mode and when it has been snapped in landscape. Photos+ also adds two significant features that'll have any photographer jumping for joy. First, the app reads and displays all the EXIF data. iOS 7 saves all the camera settings for each photo, but the default Photos app hides this information from the user. Photos+ adds this functionality and does so in an easy-to-use and easy-to-read way. Geotagging is another area where Photos+ shines. The app pulls up a map for each photo that has GPS location data stored along with image. The map is large enough for your see precisely where you took the photo. By combining GPS along with the EXIF data, Photos+ allows you to see where, when and how you took a photo -- three very valuable pieces of information. Photos+ does have its limitations. While viewing individual photos is snappy, the app won't load thumbnails when scrolling through a large library of photos. I can easily swipe down through my photos (all 800 of them), but I can't see anything until I stop scrolling. Once I stop, the images are filled in quickly with their appropriate photo previews. This is by design for the first version of the app as the generation of thumbnails while scrolling is memory intensive. That being said, it still makes it difficult to see where you are while scrolling when everything is white. Hopefully, this will improve in future versions of the app. I would also love to see some natural organization of the photos by date, instead of one long column. When I want to find a photo I took last month, I have to scroll and stop to see where I am in my photos, guess at the date and scroll again until I find the right spot. It would be convenient to have some markers that show the date as I scroll. Also, the management part of the app is slightly limited. You can move photos between the photo albums, but you cannot create new albums on the fly when you are viewing your photos. You have to add a new album by going to the album browser first and then adding it there. Then you can go back to your photos and add them to the newly created album. Also, there is no option to delete your photos, which is a missed opportunity due to Apple not providing an API for that feature. The larger thumbnails make it easy to see duds in your photo stream, but there is no way to delete them from within the app. I can select individual or multiple photos to share them or add them to an album, though. Despite these limitations, I am still making space on my phone for Photos+. The larger thumbnails, coupled with the map location and EXIF data, are worth the app's weight in gold. Plus, it's the first version of the app, and I believe some of these missing features will be added in subsequent releases. Second Gear has a proven track record with Elements and Committed, so I expect them to have the same diligence and attention to detail with its Photos+ app. Photos+ is available for US$2.99 from the iOS App Store.
