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Computers/Internet (General/Chat)

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  • Apple needs to get better at dying

    08/29/2016 6:15:01 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 61 replies
    Computerworld ^ | Aug 29, 2016 5:53 AM PT | By Jonny Evans
    Credit: AppleMust Just because the subject is challenging doesn't mean it can be ignored. Apple and the rest of the technology industry must face up to death, it’s too important to ignore. The lost son To illustrate my point, Apple has refused to unlock a Mac belonging to a man’s murdered son. The victim was a painter and musician with a trove of precious creative work stashed on his machine, and his dad wants to be able to see the data there. You can see his point. Apple has declined to open up the Mac because: "It is impossible to...
  • Google sending Trump emails to Spam

    08/29/2016 6:04:21 PM PDT · by stocksthatgoup · 38 replies
    Vanity | 8/28/2016 | Self
    Looked into my gmail today for updates from Trump. All Trump emails are being sent to Spam by Google. ============================ Donald J. Trump to me 1 day agoDetails Why is this message in Spam? It's similar to messages that were detected by our spam filters. Show images
  • Apple will unveil the next iPhone on September 7

    08/29/2016 3:29:32 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 65 replies
    Techcrunch ^ | August 29, 2016 | by Romain Dillet
    Apple just sent out invites for a press conference on Wednesday, September 7. The company will most likely unveil the next iPhone. The invite doesn’t say much. Apple usually likes to give hints — but this time, it just says “See you on the 7th.” The event will be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. This large venue has already been used for the WWDC keynote in June. For the past three years, Apple has unveiled a new iPhone in early September. Everything indicates that Apple is going to follow the same pattern this year...
  • 1.5m US iPhone users are about to switch to Android

    08/28/2016 4:19:35 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 48 replies
    Computerworld ^ | August 26, 2016 | by Jonny Evans
    But almost 4 million Android users will switch to iPhone The latest Fluent data suggests interest in the next iPhone 7 is muted in contrast to previous years, with only one in three existing users thinking its release is a big deal. All the same, Apple is attracting far more Android switchers than it is losing iPhone users.iPhone quitters If we take ComScore figures for January 2016 we see that around 198.5 million people in the US own smartphones. 52.8 percent of these use Android and 43.6 percent use iPhones, ComScore claims.If we use ComScore’s figures as base we can...
  • (Vanity): New iPad, iPhone Safari phishing lockup and how to get out of it.

    08/28/2016 1:50:52 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 30 replies
    Swordmaker | August 28, 2016 | Swordmaker
    My girlfriend opened her iPad this morning and was presented with a pop-up requestor that stated "It's time to change your iPhone/iPad passcode." with a CONTINUE button. Apple NEVER requires users to change their device passcode. This was an attempt by some bad actor to gain access to her iPad for a nefarious reason. This took her to another requestor that had three entry boxes. Two were for a new passcode, and a check of the new passcode, and the third was to enter your current passcode. One could NOT make this go away, nor could the home button bring...
  • Apple making big profits but Chinese workers’ wage on the slide

    08/28/2016 1:14:18 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 14 replies
    China Labor Watch ^ | August 24, 2016 | China Labor Watch
    Executive Summary Apple controls costs associated with purchases and workers’ in the supply chain. In manufacturing the IPhone, over 80% of materials are purchased by Apple. In addition, Apple supplies the manufacturing equipment whilst factories only purchase cases, screens, circuit boards, packaging and other materials. In the assembly department, labor costs include workers’ costs which are calculated according to the minimum wage standard for the region. in addition to management fees for the factory. Since Tim Cook became CEO of Apple, the company has required suppliers to not only increase their productivity but to also decrease costs at a rate...
  • Virus Warning For Website "A Dog's Purpose" Too late for me.

    08/28/2016 12:36:56 PM PDT · by Excellence · 3 replies
    http://www.youtube.com ^ | August 28, 2016 | self
    A Dog's Purpose is a real movie, but the website is infected. The trailer is on YouTube, just do not go to the website.
  • Trump Numbers Among Liberal Users on Zip Surprising

    08/27/2016 10:26:27 PM PDT · by 11th_VA · 28 replies
    pressreleaserocket.net ^ | August 25, 2016 | By PR Rocket
    Zip, the social platform that made national news last week, has released more information regarding public opinion on Trump and Hillary. After stating a strong showing for Trump among users prior to last week, the social media app began analyzing its anonymous data to garner further results on the status of the national political campaign.From a sample size of 5,885 unique Zip users in the United States over the age of 18 identified as Liberal based on their anonymous responses on Zip, 35% chose Trump when asked who they would vote for. As for Democrats, out of a sample size...
  • I like Tuesdays weather!!

    08/27/2016 6:19:44 PM PDT · by djf · 61 replies
  • It’s ‘Digital Heroin’: How Screens Turn Kids Into Psychotic Junkies

    08/27/2016 6:10:44 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 52 replies
    New York Post ^ | August 27, 2016
    Susan* bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “I thought ‘why not let him get a jump on things?’ ” she told me during a therapy session. John’s school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades—and his technology teacher had raved about their educational benefits—so Susan wanted to do what was best for her sandy-haired boy who loved reading and playing baseball. She started letting John play different educational games on his iPad. Eventually, he discovered Minecraft, which the technology teacher assured her was “just like electronic Lego.”
  • How well does Facebook know your politics?

    08/27/2016 7:34:44 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 16 replies
    KGW.com ^ | 5:25 PM. PDT August 26, 2016 | Natalie Brand
    Davidson said advertisers and political campaigns can also search and sort based on demographics and geography. In searching the city of Seattle, for example, Facebook estimates a potential reach of more than 800,000 likely, liberal leaning individuals, compared to more than 50,000 likely conservatives. Davidson explained campaigns are primarily focused on targeting “persuadable voters,” who are likely to be found in the moderate or basic liberal or conservative groupings, as opposed to the extreme categories on either side. Targeting can then be further narrowed based on profile information such as age, gender, even estimated income and lifestyle. “If you have...
  • Rare Apple I ‘Celebration’ model fetches $815k in auction, falling short of $1m estimates

    08/26/2016 6:24:32 PM PDT · by Swordmaker · 41 replies
    9 to 5 Mac ^ | August 25, 2016 | By Chance Miller
    Earlier this summer, we reported on a “Celebration Edition” Apple I that would be going up for auction. Initial estimates pegged a value of over $1 million for the computer, but the auction today came to a close with a final selling price of $815,000. 10 percent of the proceeds from the Charitybuzz auction will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Near the end of the auction, the Apple I reached a peak of $1.2 million, but the final bid was apparently cancelled at the very last second, giving the device a final sale price of $815,000 with 39 bids.The...
  • Spying Wifi Router

    08/26/2016 2:24:10 AM PDT · by conserv8 · 21 replies
    As people move through a space with a Wi-Fi signal, their bodies affect it, absorbing some waves and reflecting others in various directions. By analyzing the exact ways that a Wi-Fi signal is altered when a human moves through it, researchers can “see” what someone writes with their finger in the air, identify a particular person by the way that they walk, and even read a person’s lips with startling accuracy—in some cases even if a router isn’t in the same room as the person performing the actions.
  • APPLE BOOSTS IPHONE SECURITY AFTER MIDEAST SPYWARE DISCOVERY

    08/25/2016 10:35:00 AM PDT · by Swordmaker · 50 replies
    AP Paris ^ | August 25, 2016
    PARIS (AP) -- Apple says it is issuing a security update after powerful espionage software was found targeting an activist's iPhone in the Middle East. Computer forensics experts tell The Associated Press the spyware takes advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple's mobile operating system to take complete control of iPhone handsets. Two reports published Thursday by the San Francisco-based Lookout and internet watchdog group Citizen Lab outline how the spyware could compromise an iPhone with the tap of a finger, a trick so coveted in the world of cyberespionage that one spyware broker said last year that it...
  • Kindle Paperwhites turn Windows 10 PCs into paperweights: Plugging one in 'triggers a BSOD'

    08/25/2016 10:23:42 AM PDT · by dayglored · 38 replies
    The Register ^ | Aug 25, 2016 | Chris Williams
    Plugging a Kindle Paperwhite into a PC running Windows 10 with the Anniversary Update installed sparks a full system meltdown, it is claimed. Connecting the Amazon e-reader to a fully up-to-date W10 machine via USB triggers an immediate Blue Screen of Death, according to complaints on Microsoft's support forum. All the trouble started when people downloaded and installed the Anniversary Update, which arrived at the turn of the month. That's the same upgrade that has knackered millions of webcams and caused some systems to freeze up. The crash kicks off in the storage partition driver partmgr.sys, with a bugcheck code...
  • World's first self-driving taxis debut in Singapore

    08/25/2016 6:20:05 AM PDT · by C19fan · 8 replies
    AP ^ | August 25, 2016 | Annabelle Liang and Dee-Ann Durbin
    The world's first self-driving taxis will be picking up passengers in Singapore starting Thursday. Select members of the public will be able to hail a free ride through their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup. While multiple companies, including Google and Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for several years, nuTonomy says it will be the first to offer rides to the public. It will beat ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, by a few weeks.
  • Windows 10 cumulative update KB 3176934 breaks PowerShell

    08/24/2016 7:07:32 PM PDT · by Dalberg-Acton · 35 replies
    InfoWorld ^ | Aug 24, 2016 | Woody Leonhard
    Microsoft's update for version 1607 doesn't fix two widespread problems with Windows 10 Anniversary Update, and it breaks PowerShell DSC operations Yesterday afternoon, Microsoft released KB 3176934 for those PCs running Windows 10 Anniversary Update. It's the fifth cumulative update for version 1607 (three were released before the product rolled out on Aug. 2) and brings the build number up to 14393.82. You can see the long list of official changes -- primarily bug fixes -- on the Windows 10 update history page. Anniversary Update customers also received an update to the "servicing stack" -- the subsystem within Windows 10...
  • Open Source Windows May Not Be that Big a Long Shot After All (Microsoft Hearts Linux...)

    08/24/2016 5:42:34 PM PDT · by dayglored · 10 replies
    Fortune ^ | Aug 23, 2016 | Barb Darrow
    How far is Microsoft willing to go on this open-source charm offensive? Here’s a burning question for the tech universe: Could Microsoft, which built its Windows cash cow on proprietary or closed-source software, reverse course and open-source Windows itself? That would be roughly akin to CocaCola posting its top-secret formula online. Crazy, right? Maybe not, although the very notion would have been unthinkable not too long ago. But it is now on the table considering all the things Microsoft has done over the past few years to embrace the open-source community. The most recent example is last week’s news that...
  • Five-storey Blue Screen Of Death spotted in Thailand (awesome photo)

    08/23/2016 5:39:13 PM PDT · by dayglored · 21 replies
    The Register ^ | Aug 22, 2016 | Richard Chirgwin
    Windows crashing and producing the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is seldom pleasant, or convenient. It's also seldom as conspicuously displayed as in the image below, which The Register found on Facebook late last week. By your correspondent's reckoning, that there is a five-storey BSOD. If you can't see the pic below, click here (it is planted in Facebook's garden, so if you'd prefer not to visit, you were warned).
  • Microsoft's HoloLens secret sauce: A 28nm customized 24-core DSP engine built by TSMC

    08/23/2016 5:26:19 PM PDT · by dayglored · 30 replies
    The Register ^ | Aug 22, 2016 | Chris Williams
    Hot Chips Microsoft today revealed a first look at the inside of its Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) chip used in its virtual reality HoloLens specs. The secretive HPU is a custom-designed TSMC-fabricated 28nm coprocessor that has 24 Tensilica DSP cores arranged in 12 clusters. It has about 65 million logic gates, 8MB of SRAM, and a layer of 1GB of low-power DDR3 RAM on top, all in a 12mm-by-12mm BGA package. We understand it can perform a trillion calculations a second. It handles all the environment sensing and other input and output necessary for the virtual-reality goggles. It aggregates data...