Lifehacker has listed the top 10 apps that make installing AIR worth your time and effort. Among them are social networking widgets, RSS readers, and other utilities. As you may know, AIR is a set of cross-platform runtimes that allow developers to create rich internet apps that work on various different operating systems. The runtime environment is just as straightforward to install as any other ( JRE, for example).

Snackr and Twhirl, are both staples here at Hack a Day HQ for tracking news. We’ve also heard good things about Google Analytics Report Suite, which can be really useful for tracking site traffic. Still, we’re inclined to think that our audience could write software that’s at least as creative or useful. If you think you’re up to it, download the Adobe AIR SDK and get crackin’.

A fundamental problem with flash memory has just gone mainstream. A detective successfully recovered data from a refurbished iPhone purchased from Apple. Flash memory controllers write to blocks randomly so using standard secure erase techniques are no guarantee that all of the storage space will be written.

[Rich Mogull] has posted a method that should wipe out almost all remnants of your personal data. You start by restoring the iPhone in iTunes and turning off all the syncing options. Next you create 3 playlists large enough to consume all of the phone’s storage space. Sync each playlist in turn and your residual personal data should be obliterated. All that’s left to do is sit back and wonder when the first article about the MacBook Air SSD being impossible to securely erase will be published…