Welcome back!

(web site in german, but you’ll be able to find out how to do it)

German magazine PC Welt has a free version of WinRAR 3.80, yours for the taking.

Go to the web site, fill in first name, last name, and your email (twice), and they’ll send you a link to download a key.

Valid until March 15th 2010. They will also offer a discounted update to version 3.91.

I’m a sucker for MacOS running on all kinds of strange devices ;)

(Via technabob)

Are you worried about your luggage getting lost? Carrying expensive camera or computer gear and want to make sure it arrives at your destination?
Try this (by Bruce Schneier):

“I have a starter pistol for all my cases. All I have to do upon check-in is tell the airline ticket agent that I have a weapon to declare…I’m given a little card to sign, the card is put in the case, the case is given to a TSA official who takes my key and locks the case, and gives my key back to me.

That’s the procedure. The case is extra-tracked…TSA does not want to lose a weapons case. This reduces the chance of the case being lost to virtually zero.

It’s a great way to travel with camera gear…I’ve been doing this since Dec 2001 and have had no problems whatsoever.”

That’s probably the most creative way of getting the TSA to actually do something useful ;)

I recommend the TOEFL test before we send the next guy to Brussels ;)

Sometimes you just want to save a web page to a PDF (maybe while you’re listening to No Agenda in the morning). I used to use my usual PDF creator doPDF for that and simply ‘print to PDF’. Unfortunately, the result was not always perfect, kind of the same issues you might have when printing a web page on your printer.

Today I found out about PDFmyURL.com which makes the whole process so much easier – got to the site, drag their bookmarklet to your URL bar and you’re set. When you stumble upon the next page you want to save, just click the bookmarklet and you’re done.

Very nice.

Hilarious!

When I’m on the road, I usually have my work laptop with built-in 3G with me. I also carry a Nokia 3270 Classic for phone calls (robust, great keyboard, fantastic battery life) and an iPod Nano for podcasts and music (the iPod Touch is a lot more fun, but crap for in-car usage).
My work phone does not have a data plan, so I have to use the Laptop for Twitter and emails. As the &%$%§ Vista machine needs 10 minutes to wake up from standby, this is not exactly perfect. I have a dual SIM for my data card (it’s my personal SIM), so I decided to get a cheap device with QWERTZ keyboard for email and Twitter.

I quickly found a Blackberry 7290 in mint condition on eBay for EUR 50 – not bad for a start!

Now, the problem is that you usually need to buy Blackberry Service from your operator to use data services, which I did not want to do. So the first step was to update to OS 4.1, which allows you to simply enter a GPRS APN that apps can use.

Then of course the BB still refuses to let you use the built-in browser to download apps. In order for the browser to even appear, you usually (again) need to subscribe to BB service, then your operator will push something calles a “Service Book” to your device, which unhides the browser.
It’s a good thing there are smart people out there, so please got to “Blackberry without BIS” where you can simply download a service book and install it through the BB desktop software.

Then use the browser to download some apps – unfortunately not all will work with OS 4.1.

What I got:

• The GMail Client which even works with my Google Apps account, and will flash the LED when new mail arrives. This is as good as push for me, without requiring the BIS service.
• Opera Mini for browsing
• GoTalkMobile for GTalk
• BlackBird as a Twitter client (not great, but haven’t found a better one yet)

All in all, a decent experience with minimum spending. It’s an incredibly robust device with USB charging, outstanding battery life and a great keyboard. Recommended.

Brilliant: Bruce Schneier writes about a contest for a new TSA logo:

“Let’s do it. I’m announcing the TSA Logo Contest. Rules are simple: create a TSA logo. People are welcome to give ideas in the comments, but only actual created logos are eligible to compete. (When my website administrator wakes up, I’ll ask him how we can post images in the comments.) Contest ends on February 6th. Winner receives copies of my books, copies of Patrick Smith’s book, an empty 12-ounce bottle labeled “saline” that you can refill and get through any TSA security checkpoint, and a fake boarding pass on any flight for any date.”

Here’s the first entry: