Free Republic

An analysis of smartphone charging times comparing the Apple iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4, Motorola Droid Turbo, Google Nexus 6, Asus Zenfone 2, and HTC OnePlus 2 has been published by Tom's Guide. Here's how the tests were performed: To test each handset, we ran it down until it was powered off. Then, we charged each device back up to 5 percent. This put all of the phones on an even playing field, as some don't power down until the battery is completely dead and others cut out when there's still 3 percent or more battery remaining. Once...

The Note 5 stylus has been causing problems for some users Some early adopters of a new Samsung phone have said the device's stylus suffers from a design flaw.The S-Pen stylus for Galaxy Note 5 models can be stored within the body of the phone, but when inserted upside down it appears to snag on an internal mechanism.Users have reported that when the stylus is then forcibly removed it can damage the S-Pen, the Note 5, or both. Samsung said users should follow the instruction manual.The stylus should be inserted by the pointed end first and is designed to fit...

Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said Apple Watch is off to a strong start and announced steps to deepen the tech giant’s presence in the retailer’s stores. Best Buy continued its remarkable turnaround last quarter, with a big assist from Apple. The largest U.S. electronics retailer reported a rise in domestic comparable sales of 3.8% for the second quarter, well ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, and posted a better than expected profit. While Best Buy has helped its cause by cutting costs and adding floor space to growing categories like smart homes, home theaters, and shops-within-a-shop for top brands, it...

Android users will now be able to use Microsoft’s digital assistant on their devices. After announcing in May, software giant Microsoft has officially rolled out the beta version of its voice-based assistant Cortana to Google’s popular platform. The Cortana app on Android will basically extend the digital assistant’s functionality across any device you carry and will do most of the things it does on your PC or Windows Phone. It will now allow Android users to easily search the web on-the-go, track flight details, set reminders, and also complete tasks across all the devices. You can now change the home...

John McAfee may no longer be associated with the famous security company he founded, but he still writes about and consults on the topic, and he now claims to know the Ashley Madison “hack” was, in fact, data stolen by a “lone female who worked for Avid Life Media.” His argument relies on two separate bits of evidence. First, McAfee says the files found in the leaked database contain some peculiarities that he wouldn’t expect a hacker to normally access. “The data contains actual MySQL database dumps,” he says, adding “this is not just someone copying a table and making...

Apple's Macs, iPhones and iPads are common in the modern workplace, but relatively few of these devices comply with standard security requirements, according to a new survey. Nearly half of all U.S. employees use at least one Apple device at work, but most of those gadgets lack common security protocols required by many enterprises, according to a new survey commissioned by Centrify, a company that sells enterprise security and management software for Apple products.Last month, Centrify asked 1,004 business professionals about how they use computers and smartphones in the workplace. Respondents used a total of 1,309 Apple devices at work,...

Yes, it is true. Ashley Madison was not hacked - the data was stolen by a woman operating on her own who worked for Avid Life Media. The reason that I am so late to the second act of the Ashley Madison affair is that, without a supercomputer, it has taken over a week to finish the analysis of the massive data dumps that the perpetrator has so generously provided us with. A hacker is someone who uses a combination of high-tech cybertools and social engineering to gain illicit access to someone else's data. But this job was done by...

Apple has determined that, in a small percentage of iPhone 6 Plus devices, the iSight camera located on the back of your iPhone 6 Plus has a component that may fail causing your photos to look blurry. The affected units fall into a limited serial number range and were sold primarily between September 2014 and January 2015. If your iPhone 6 Plus is producing blurry photos and falls into the eligible serial number range, Apple will replace your device’s iSight camera, free of charge. If your iPhone 6 Plus is in working order and exhibits the symptom described above, use...

Russian lawyers have filed a complaint calling for an outright ban – or at least tight restrictions – over the sale of Windows 10 in Russia.The complaint to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office argues that Windows 10 collects user information in a way that violates Russian laws. Moscow-based Bubnov and Partners contended that the collection of passwords, location data, typed texts and browsing history and the uploading of the information to Microsoft’s cloud violate Russian privacy legislation. A Communist Party deputy in the Russian Duma (parliament), Vadim Solovyov, also called for the Prosecutor General’s Office to review Microsoft’s technology, over...

Mildly nsfw A Chinese hardware hacker has built a penetration testing toolkit built into high-heeled shoes. The WiFi-popping platforms were forged in a 3D printer and contain spacing so that hacking hardware can be hidden to bypass strict security checks in place at datacentres and the like and later retrieved.The hacker and pen-tester, who goes by the handle "SexyCyborg", showcases the heels she dubs Wu Ying shoes, named after the famed "shadowless kick" that Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung used to distract opponents.The hacker showcased the shoes in a post (somewhat NFSW) showing how a router, backup battery, and...

I had to go back to W8.1 tonight because my passport drive was not compatible with W10. Unless I am doing something wrong. I check the WD website and it said it was not compatible. Has anyone else experienced this?

The arrival of Microsoft Windows 95 on 24 August 1995 brought about a desktop PC boom. With an easier and more intuitive graphical user interface than previous versions, it appealed to more than just business, and Bill Gates’s stated aim of one PC per person per desk was set in motion. This was a time of 320MB hard drives, 8MB of RAM and 15-inch CRT monitors. For most home users, the Internet had only just arrived. Windows 95 introduced the Start menu, powered by a button in the bottom-left corner of the desktop. This gives a central point of entry...

A Nevada based company is suing Apple for patent infringement. The company alleges that Apple's 2-step Apple ID verification system/process violates their patent. Verify Smart Corp. alleges that Apple makes, uses, tests, markets and sells or otherwise provides a system and method for enabling a user to authenticate their identity when initiating an electronic transaction, using a one-time pass-code sent to the user's mobile phone (hereinafter "Apple two-step verification"). They further claim that Apple's two-step verification system is designed to enable secure transactions for their customers. Verify alleges, that Apple's two-step verification infringes claims 2 and 5 of their...

There is so much to admire about Apple. They make superb, beautiful products. Their amazing comeback story is unparalleled in corporate history. Steve Jobs has become something akin to a modern-day patron saint of the tech industry. Tim Cook is, rightly, enormously respected.So why do I think they represent so much of what’s wrong with the tech world?It’s because they have, I think, an almost Shakespearean tragic flaw: their obsession with centralized corporate control of the devices they sell. Apple sells fantastic hardware, and excellent software … and tries to maintain an iron-fisted grip on both, throughout their lifespan. Even...

OLLLLD Free Republic thread...

How do I take a photo from my Android phone and post it to a thread on FReepers?

Data caps on internet bandwidth might make some users think twice about downloading patches, which often include security updates. For some Windows 10 users, the problems keep coming. Just shy of a month since Windows 10 was released to millions of users through a staggered upgrade, many have found they've run out of bandwidth already. That's because their internet provider sets the amount its customers can download in a monthly billing cycle. In many parts of the US, the "cap" is in the low hundreds of gigabytes, like for AT&T and Comcast customers, as well as those using mid-sized providers....

We created a live action first-person zombie shooter in our garden - then invited unsuspecting people on chatroulette, omegle and skype to take control... ...and this is how we did it Many thanks to all involved!

Very interesting! Pure Vanity thread.

UK data protection watchdog orders search engine to remove search result links to news stories about right to be forgotten link removals Google has been ordered by the Information Commissioner’s office to remove nine links to current news stories about older reports which themselves were removed from search results under the ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling. The search engine had previously removed links relating to a 10 year-old criminal offence by an individual after requests made under the right to be forgotten ruling. Removal of those links from Google’s search results for the claimant’s name spurred new news posts detailing...