IT Technology Services New Orleans

New Orleans Technology Services

Menu
Nov 01
0

Google Earth 7: More 3D Imagery

By | Apple, Apps, Droid, Google, iPhone, IT Blog, Microsoft, news | No Comments
Google has updated the desktop version of Google Earth with 3D imagery that was previously only available to mobile users of the mapping program. A new tour guide feature—also included in the Google Earth update—allows you to fly over given areas where Google has prepared guided tours.

Google Earth 7 now has 3D imagery of Boulder, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Lawrence, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Seattle, Tampa, Tucson, Rome and the San Francisco Bay Area (including the Peninsula and East Bay). The application also provides 3D coverage of metropolitan regions in Avignon, France; Austin, Texas; Munich, Germany; Phoenix, Arizona; and Mannheim, Germany.

These are the same areas with 3D imagery on Google Earth for iOS and Android. “The experience of flying through these areas and seeing the buildings, terrain and even the trees rendered in 3D is now consistent across both mobile and desktop devices,” Peter Birch, Google Earth Product Manager, wrote in a Wednesday blog post. When zooming in, the viewing angle in the desktop version of Google Earth now tilts at a higher elevation in order to showcase 3D imagery.

The other new feature in Google Earth 7 is tour guide. Instead of searching for tours, thumbnails highlighting pre-created tours for any area you’re viewing in Google Earth appear at the bottom of the screen. When you go on a tour, you get a flyover of historical and cultural sites nearby, whether it’s Rome, the Great Wall of China, or Stonehenge. There are more than 11,000 of such guided tours, including for all the cities with 3D imagery. Guided tours also include factoid popovers pulled from Wikipedia.

Google Earth 7 is a free download for both Windows and Mac users.

Oct 26
0

The 25 most common passwords of 2012

By | IT Blog | No Comments

Do you think your password is secure? Try comparing it with the 25 most common passwords of 2012.

According password management company SplashData, the top three passwords of the year are “password,” “123456,” and “12345678.” The company’s list of the “25 worst passwords of the year” was compiled using data that hackers have posted online, which are said to be stolen passwords.

“Even though each year hacking tools get more sophisticated, thieves still tend to prefer easy targets,” SplashData chief executive officer Morgan Slain said in a press release. “Just a little bit more effort in choosing better passwords will go a long way toward making you safer online.”

How can consumer protect themselves? SplashData suggests these tips for making more secure passwords:

  • Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. One way to create longer, more secure passwords that are easy to remember is to use short words with spaces or other characters separating them. For example, “eat cake at 8!” or “car_park_city?”
  • Avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites. Especially risky is using the same password for entertainment sites that you do for online email, social networking, and financial services. Use different passwords for each new website or service you sign up for.
  • Having trouble remembering all those different passwords? Try using a password manager application that organizes and protects passwords and can automatically log you into websites. There are numerous applications available, but choose one with a strong track record of reliability and security like SplashID Safe, which has a 10 year history and over 1 million users. SplashID Safe has versions available for Windows and Mac as well as smartphones and tablet devices.

Here are the 25 most common passwords of 2012, along with the change in rank from last year.

1. password (Unchanged)

2, 123456 (Unchanged)

3. 12345678 (Unchanged)

4. abc123 (Up 1)

5. qwerty (Down 1)

6. monkey (Unchanged)

7. letmein (Up 1)

8. dragon (Up 2)

9. 111111 (Up 3)

10. baseball (Up 1)

11. iloveyou (Up 2)

12. trustno1 (Down 3)

13. 1234567 (Down 6)

14. sunshine (Up 1)

15. master (Down 1)

16. 123123 (Up 4)

17. welcome (New)

18. shadow (Up 1)

19. ashley (Down 3)

20. football (Up 5)

21. jesus (New)

22. michael (Up 2)

23. ninja (New)

24. mustang (New)

25. password1 (New)