December 10, 2012
by sjvn01
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IOS 6 Wi-Fi problems keep hanging on

t never got a fraction of the attention of the Apple iOS 6 map debacle, but months after its release some Apple device users still can’t get Wi-Fi to work properly with iOS6.

The release of iOS 6.01 in early November continued to leave users with grayed out, unusable Wi-Fi. The “official” Apple Wi-Fi fix:

Try the following steps and attempt to enable Wi-Fi or Bluetooth after each one.

1. Verify that Airplane Mode is off.
2. Restart your iOS device.
3. Update your iOS device.
4. Reset Network Settings, by tapping Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
5. Restore your iOS device in iTunes.

Doesn’t work for some users.

IOS 6 Wi-Fi problems keep hanging on. More >

December 9, 2012
by sjvn01
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Free software father declared Ubuntu Linux to contain spyware

Richard M. Stallman, aka RMS, creator of the Gnu Public License (GPL) and the Free Software Foundation has announced that as far as he’s concerned, Ubuntu contains spyware and that Linux supporters should shun Ubuntu for spying.

Specifically, RMS hates that Ubuntu 12.10 incorporated Amazon search into its default search function. So, if you searched for say “Hobbit.” you’d get results from both your PC and Amazon. When it was introduced, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu, defended this change by saying Ubuntu wasn’t going to incorporate ads into the operating system, which Microsoft has done with Windows 8, and that no personalized data would be sent to Amazon.

Slideshow: Say hello to Ubuntu 12.10 Linux

Later, Ubuntu make Amazon search an optional feature, while leaving it on by default. That’s not good enough for RMS.

Free software father declared Ubuntu Linux to contain spyware. More >

December 6, 2012
by sjvn01
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Microsoft’s DroidRage Twitter campaign goes painfully wrong

Trash-talking, whether it’s on the basketball court or on online forums, has a bad habit of blowing up when you can’t back it up. So when Microsoft decided to launch a win a free Windows Phone Twitter campaign with “Do you have an Android malware horror story? Reply with #DroidRage with your best/worst story and we may have a get-well present for you” on Twitter and Chris DiBona, Google’s Director of Open Source, fired back, “Wanna see what Flop Sweat looks like? Follow:@windowsphone” I knew this wasn’t going to end well for Microsoft.

True, Android malware is a real problem. True, Google needs to do more about blocking malware applications from ever reaching users in the first place via the Google Play Store. But, there’s also a lot of Android malware FUD and Android now has over 75% of the smartphone market—Windows Phone 8 doesn’t even show up as noise in mobile marketshare–and, what’s far more important for a public relations campaign, a passionate fan-base . So, what do you think happened?

Thanks for Hashtags.org a site that monitors Twitter hashtag usage and Twitter’s built-in search function, we now know from tweets like these:

Microsoft’s DroidRage Twitter campaign goes painfully wrong. More >

December 6, 2012
by sjvn01
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Speeding up Chrome on Macs

Google’s Chrome is my favorite Web browser on any platform. On Macs, though, I’ve noticed that it has a tendency to get really, really slow over time. I checked into this and I’ve found two common reasons for this and their solutions.

1) Adobe Flash crashes and slow performance

The first problem actually springs from one of Chrome’s features. Chrome comes with Adobe Flash built into the browser so you don’t need to download it. But, say you use another browser, such as Safari or Firefox, on the same Mac, guess what happens? That’s right, you end up with a downloaded copy of Flash and Chrome’s native Flash player.

The immediate result is Chrome will run slower. You will also start to see Flash crashes in the browser as the browser grows increasing confused about which version of Flash to call.

Speeding up Chrome on Macs. More >

December 5, 2012
by sjvn01
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Netflix & Disney: The Good News & The Bad News

People like to moan about there not being anything to watch on Netflix are over-joyed that Netflix has just signed an exclusive movie deal with Disney. I’m excited about it too, but there’s one little thing we all seem to be forgetting: We’re not going to see any of this new big-time content until 2016.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great deal. In the short run, by 2013, Netflix will be getting “high-profile Disney direct-to-video new releases.” In other words, that’s not going to be top favorite titles such as Beauty and the Beast or Lion King but I’m sure it will be something that your children will like. Netflix will also be some older Disney titles in the same time-frame. This will include such movies as Dumbo, Pocahontas, and Alice in Wonderland.

Netflix & Disney: The Good News & The Bad News. More >

Practical Technology

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