Apple's finally ended the speculation on when the iPhone event is going to take place (as well as the speculation on if it was taking place at all), but the guesses as to what's going into the phone will last until 10AM PT, October 4. More »

Millions of websites could be effected by an exploit in Secure Socket Layer security, Skype's iOS app is vulnerable to data theft, and Foursquare now keeps your home address private. More »

Stream workout music from Pandora, organize your Facebook friends automatically, and video chat with 3 friends on your phone with Fring. More »

Microsoft has just beefed up its Hotmail security with new features that make it easier to report hacked email accounts. More »

Fresh on the heels of today's Google+ announcement (and likely because of that announcement), the search giant just launched Google Takeout—an update to their previously mentioned Data Liberation Front that allows you to export your data from several Google products in one simple download. Currently Takeout supports mass exodus from Buzz, Contacts and Circles (the latter of which is new to Google+), Picasa Web Albums, your Profile, and Stream (also part of Google+). More »

Dropbox accidentally dropped the need for password authentication this past Sunday so anyone could log into anyone else's Dropbox account with any password—all they'd need was an email address. This lasted four hours and, according to Dropbox, less than 1% of users were affected. Still, this is another good reason why you should add an extra layer of security to the data in your Dropbox—particularly if you're putting sensitive data in there. More »

Microsoft releases the software development kit for Kinect hacking, IBM turns 100, and Evernote for Windows Phone 7 launches. More »

The Oxford English Dictionary adds OMG, LOL and FYI to its online index, Droid X and Droid 2 users get Gingerbread a little early, and American Express raises the curtain on a new digital payment platform. More »

If you eat a little more than you'd like to, getting more sleep at night might help curb your appetite, a new study shows. Researchers at Columbia University found that people actually consume more food when they're sleep-deprived—nearly 300 calories worth, which is enough to "lead to rapid and robust weight gain" if maintained, said Eve Van Cauter of University of Chicago. They aren't necessarily eating healthy foods, either. Most of the extra calories came from high-fat foods like ice cream or fast food, and the effect was greater for women than for men. Overall, it's just one more reason to reboot your sleep cycle and get the sleep you deserve. Hit the link to read more about the study. [American Heart Association via Consumerist] Photo by Deeleea. More »

Know somebody who needs a helpful how-to guide to go with the Android they're getting this holiday season? Grab the digital version of The Complete Android Guide, a 280-page how-to guide written by yours truly. The ebook is normally $9, but we're feeling the holiday spirit: use the coupon code android tuesday during the ebook checkout (on the right), and you'll get the how-to for just 99 cents. More »

Need a good motivator to use different passwords for each site and pick passwords that aren't easily hacked? How about learning that, during the January security breach in China, Google's password and authentication system, "Gaia," was compromised by hackers. Google states that the intruders didn't get access to actual passwords, and they've been moving swiftly to make changes to Gaia ever since, but having access to Google's Gaia source code could pose problems to the search giant down the line—and users who once believed at least one cloud-based server system was mostly unbreakable. More »

Big enterprises that force their workers to change their access passwords on a regular basis, and adhere to complex rules when they do, might be their own worst enemy. At least that's how Boston Globe editor Mark Pothier sees it, and he cites a Microsoft research paper as part of his argument against that and other seemingly perfunctory IT rules. We prefer using a solid root password and subtle variations to implement secure passwords, along with easy-but-secure browser tools. What does your own office require of your passwords, and do you think it helps or hurts? [Boston Globe via Gizmodo] More »

Flash has taken quite a beating lately by everyone from Apple (no Flash on iPad or iPhones) to YouTube (transitioning to HTML5 video) to users sick of security exploits and sluggish browsers. Everyone's looking for the silver bullet that kills Flash, but is HTML5 it? More »

A while back we highlighted a Google Voice Quick Reference cheatsheet you can keep near your phone that lays out Google Voice's voicemail menu tree so you can quickly skip to whatever action you want. The cheatsheet (above) just updated with a few more details here and there, so if you're a Voice user, it's worth grabbing. [Cool Geex]