Starting a new diet

Today, I started a new diet. What does this have to do with Technology you ask?

Well, I have downloaded and installed a few apps on my Windows Phone to assist me in my endeavors. And these apps are pretty cool, and utilize all sorts of new and exciting technologies!

The first is Microsoft’s own but entirely unknown app called HealthVault, which allows you to create a profile in the totally secure Microsoft Cloud, accessible to you (and your Doctor should you enable the option) from anywhere on the planet. Enter your medicines, allergies, conditions, etc into the app and they are always available to you and your doctor.

What’s really nice about this database is that it accepts input from certain health related devices, like body scales, blood pressure devices, etc.

The next is LiveScape, my personal favorite of the three. This app accesses HealthVault to store any daily dietary updates. This includes what you ate today, what exercising you’ve done (it will automatically calculate calorie intake and amount of calories burned), etc.

The really nice aspect of this app is the ability to map your progress through charts, but also includes a built-in pedometer to measure your exercise regimen, and a map to show your route.

The last to be installed was Your Shape, the sidekick app that helps you track your exercise regimen from “Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012” on the XBox 360 w/Kinect.

I’ll try reviewing each app in the near future, so check back for updates!

So Your WordPress got Hacked…

I’m a geek, and I love technology, so it’s not surprising that I have several websites for my different audiences: multiple public facing websites, private family websites, and local community websites.  I consider “In My Mobile World” to be one of my public facing websites.

Unfortunately, as a result of a vulnerability found in a PHP sub-routine called “Tim Thumb” (used in the WordPress Theme called “The Morning After…”), a hacker was able to gain access to my WordPress PHP code.  This particular Theme was used on one of my local community websites, so over the course of time the hacker also gained access to ALL of my websites since they are all accessible with root privileges on my hosting account.

I believe that I have now corrected all of the known “vectors of attack” in my websites by plugging all of the known vulnerabilities. Of course, only time will tell, and hackers may find additional new vulnerabilities with my websites in the future, so this is going to be an uphill battle.  So let’s see what we can do to prepare you for the same battle.

Windows Phone Marketplace

Great news for 13 new storefronts around the world for Windows Phone apps and games!

Per the Windows Phone Blog: “The new Marketplaces are Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela. Throw in the ones we launched earlier this year in Argentina, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, and the Philippines, and it brings the total number of Marketplace storefronts to 54.”

Well done Microsoft!

An Improved Facebook App!

Microsoft announced today that they are releasing version 2.3 of the official Facebook application!

Improvements include panorama and profile designs, as well as better news feed performance and navigation, new filters, and “much, much more”.

To update your installation of Facebook, simply tap on your Marketplace hub when the update notification teaches your phone.

If you don’t have it installed yet, you can go here to download it!

Freakin’ 2Wire Router Strikes again!

2wire-red-logo-thumbIt appears that my AT&T U-verse 2Wire Router was getting bored because I haven’t paid it any attention in the last 90 days, so it decided to screw with me over the last couple of days.

I’m guessing that 2Wire sent another firmware update without notification and it messed-up the DHCP settings. 

It appeared that everything was good on the 2Wire side, because I could plug my laptop in directly and it worked fine.  That inferred that the problem was with a downstream router (I utilize a “router-behind-a-router” network to reduce domain collisions and increase security), so I performed a power cycle on the unit, and when that failed to correct the issue, did a Factory Reset.   It still didn’t work, so I plugged in a spare router, still nada.   This was good evidence that the upstream 2Wire really was the cause of the problem. 

So I went back to the 2Wire router and looked around.   Then I saw it: the DHCP Mask, which is usually 255.255.255.0.   But on the 2Wire, it was 255.255.252.0.   Doh!

AT&T seems to be mucking around with my customized settings….