TrueCrypt has just what you are looking for, provided you are looking for free USB flash drive encryption software utilities.
The best feature of TrueCrypt is the automatic, on-the-fly, real-time encryption process. So it’s completely transparent.
The other great feature is the Plausible Deniability feature which provides two levels for you.
Level 1: Hidden volumes. This is where a volume is created within another volume by TrueCrypt. The upper level (the one seen by a person forcing you to get the content) is filled with random data, so you can show them “Look man, there’s nothing there!”
Level 2: A volume appears to consist of nothing more than random data, no signature or typology what-so-ever. Therefore, it is impossible to prove that a file, a partition or a device has been encrypted.
To round out the offerings of this free USB encryption software, TrueCrypt includes a key-log which records the time and date the last time modifications were made. Such as password changes, data access or more concerning information such as last time the device was mounted in an OS, or attempted to be mounted.
The only down side, which I feel
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Kithara Software has a USB toolkit for quick development of USB devices in the Windows environment. The USB driver development kit also supports the most recent, Vista OS.
The biggest claim: non-technical folks can get their hands into USB driver development with little or no previous experience with USB. Simply edit an INF file and configure the USB stack to perform just about any function you desire.
Now, I’m no programmer, but have been around enough that I know nothing is quite this easy. None-the-less, with the popularity of USB, development kits such as the Kithara USB toolkit is a welcomed sign.
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So the makers who brought you Drops just released another fun and adictive game called ZACK.
Simple. Place the colored squares in the grid without getting stuck. The color of your stone must match the color to the left, right, top or bottom. You do have gray stones as jokers whereby you can place them anywhere there is a free slot. When you fill a complete row or column it’s removed from the grid.
I guess one guy got so into this game, he emailed in and said:
I lost my wife because of this game. Thank you Derbrill
XnView is now available for U3 enabled flash drives. XnView is a powerful graphics tool for viewing and converting files from one format to another.
I would recommend this software if you’re a blogger, but have a job where there is no graphic editor software like Photoshop. Load up your U3 flash drive and edit anywhere, on any PC. I particularly like the slide show feature XnView offers.
The list of features is insane long so here’s the cut-n-paste:
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So here’s a guy who took geekness to the next level. After the enclosure broke off Russell’s 1GB UFD Voyager, he decided to up the durability factor by a Thousand.
Russell home brewed an aluminum UFD case to insure breakage never happened again. I’d probably do the same if I had access to this equipment.
Using 1/4″ aluminum stock and some hex head screws he created one master piece enclosure even the indestructible guys would be proud of.
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So here is a simple project to groom your child into the geek parent you are. Over at Hacked Gadgets Alan pointed out a “how-to” on creating your own USB charger from Lego’s.
The charger uses a Lego motor to generate current which passes through a voltage regulator and off to the USB port. If you don’t already have the Lego motor you can pick them up at target and the voltage regulator at Radio Shack.
When all done, rather then sending your kid to time-out, have them hand-crank and recharge your favorite MP3 player.
Here is a picture of the hand crank with electronics already installed.
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The latest addition to U3 is the Junior edition of MathOwns software. Yep, now it’s possible to drill your kids via USB in their math abilities.
For the competitive parent this is an ideal tool to sharpen skills based off pre-reselected criteria and math levels. Forget flash cards as the MathOwns software auto-generates exercises and provides email or PDF notification options upon completion of drills.
Sarcasm set aside, anything to make kids learn more and make it more interactive and fun is definitely a plus. I have first hand seen the interest kids have when working on computers and to have math lessons and exercises loaded on their Spongebob flash drive is a nice benefit.
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The buzz about Apple TV remains strong, especially with new hacks and plugins. The most recent is an RSS reader plugin which is fully functioning with RSS1.x and 2.x. You can grab this plugin from the folks who cranked it out, twenty08. Only downer is the lack of support from ATOM feeds, but that group is a minority these days.
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I read an interesting report from Dark Reading today regarding hacking Bluetooth and how USB can play a roll. (Not that hacking for the dark force is anything cool) You don’t hear much about Bluetooth hacks because the tools needed (sniffers) start at about 10Grand.
A couple of security engineers where able to use a Cambridge Silicon Radio chip-based USB dongle, some flash memory and Bluetooth 2.x technology and some code hacked from a commercial Bluetooth sniffer to hack into a device’s communication via the Bluetooth signal.
There was no specific USB hack How-To information but the point is that if a simple USB dongle can be construed to do Bluetooth hacking then security risks for not only communication but device control could become a huge big problem.
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I came across this handy USB disk drive backup software utility the other day. Tom Bell did a nice job putting this package together. The program automatically starts when the UFD is connected to the PC. Backing up your thumb drive could never be easier.
USB Backup looks for a specific configuration file – when found – it begins the auto backup. The USB backup will archive the information to a directory of your choice. If the config file isn’t found on your UFD then a simple guide will walk you through setup.
Get USB Backup. The utility is in Beta now, so download and give him feedback. The back story for why Tom created this:
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Another Update:Use external drive via USB for unlimited storage!
Update: The guys at AwkwardTV.org have been very busy. Here are some quick links to their wiki site with some great AppleTV hacks.
The full wiki is here. None of this could be done without the hard work of Ozy and his clan at AwkwardTV.org
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Ozy from AwkwardTV.org figured out how to write a bootstrap from USB so that he can now start to hack AppleTV without opening the box. Here is a showcase of the USB boot.
If you’re interested in more details on this hack and others, visit AwkwardTV.org for updates.
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CNET posted a fun little tutorial on how to convert a floppy disk into a USB flash drive. Not that it would matter, but the USB connection doesn’t read off the floppy disk, we’re just talking case modification.
You can get the thin USB flash drive from Amazon to do this mod yourself.
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