On the road to fitness, making the initial decision is easy, putting in the actual work is the tricky part. If you’re looking for some statistical motivation you might want to check out the Fitbit.The device accurately tracks, calories burned, distance traveled, and even hours slept.

According to the website, Fitbit uses 3D motion sensor technology similar to the Nintendo Wii to track movement in three dimensions creating an accurate report on your daily exercise activities. The collected data is collected every time you walk by the wireless base included in the setup.

A little larger than a quarter, the Fitbit can be clipped to the waist of your pants, slipped into a wallet, or attached to the included wristband to record your every move. Retailing at $99, the Fitbit is a nifty device that can help kick your exercise regiment into the next gear.

Via Engadget

More: continued here

Dozens of people have been arrested in the US and in Egypt, accused of links to an alleged international identity theft ring targeting American banks.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said about 100 arrests were expected across the US states of California, Nevada and North Carolina as well as in Egypt.

The alleged ring is accused of using an internet "phishing" scheme to get data allowing it to access bank accounts.

Victims may together have lost about $2m (£1.3m), Ms Eimiller said.

The investigation has led to the indictment of the largest number of defendants ever charged in a cyber crime case, according to the FBI in Los Angeles.

The ring used a sophisticated phishing scheme - where people are lured into revealing their details on fake websites - to obtain personal information from thousands of people and defraud American banks, the FBI statement said.

Police in the US arrested 33 of 53 suspects named in Operation Phish Phry on Wednesday morning, with several more currently being sought.

The authorities in Egypt have charged 47 people in connection with the scheme, the statement added.

‘Significant impact’

The 51-count indictment accuses all the suspects of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, charges which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.

Some are also charged with bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit computer fraud.

According to the indictment, computer hackers in Egypt used the phishing scheme to obtain bank account numbers and security details from an unknown number of bank customers.

With the help of US co-conspirators, they used those details to hack into accounts at two US banks and illegally transfer funds into newly created fraudulent bank accounts, the indictment says.

Some of that money was then sent to the hackers in Egypt.

Acting US Attorney George Cardona said: "This international phishing ring had a significant impact on two banks and caused huge headaches for hundreds, perhaps thousands of bank customers.

"Organised, international crime rings can only be confronted by an organised response by law enforcement across international borders, which we have seen in this case."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

More: continued here

If you’re interested in dropping your overpriced monthly cable bill but aren’t sure how you’d survive without your TV favorites, the gadget gurus at Gizmodo turn an eye toward their pocketbooks and discover life without cable isn’t as hard as you’d think.

Back in January Kevin detailed how he cut the cable for good with Boxee and Apple TV. Gizmodo’s Sean Fallon takes a similar approach, but opts for a small Windows box over Apple TV so he’s got more options to easily try out different media center software as it comes out. After ditching his cable package for a month for media he could stream for free with services like Hulu or Netflix, how did he feel?

When all was said and done, I found my experience without standard cable television to be more liberating than anything else. Sure, streaming video isn’t always HD quality, not all of my favorite shows are readily available, and I have to search around a bit more for the things I want to watch—but I didn’t suffer and I didn’t feel like I was missing out. The added expense [of cable] was not justifiable—especially when I was paying for a bunch of things I never watched. The best part is that I was able to get pretty much everything I needed with a basic set of tools that anyone with a computer can take advantage of right away.

It’s worth noting that Fallon didn’t even “cheat” and use BitTorrent, so all the content he was accessing was freely and legitimately available on the internet.

Have we got any ex-cable or -satellite subscribers who’ve made the transition away from their bloated subscription packages? Let’s hear more about your experience in the comments.

More: continued here