Showing 71 - 80 of 168
Virus free and quids in after upgrade
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/11/2016
» After some years, I moved from Vipre anti-virus across to BitDefender. Part of the reason was base pricing and the rest was that Vipre still charges a premium for Android device protection, something included in the BitDefender family plan. Changing was as simple as uninstalling one and installing the other. The new product has already flagged a number of infection attempts and also a port scanning incident. Around the same time I started having problems with web browsing. Some sites would be fine and others would not appear for a long time or error out. I changed the SSL validation setting in BitDefender which fixed one issue but the remainder stayed. Doing some research, I found the product NetBalancer which when installed immediately cleared up the problem by taking control over what processes could access the network at specific priorities. I still don't know what was causing the initial problem but if you are having similar problems try NetBalancer, there is a free version for basic functionality.
Samsung fires up new chips
Life, James Hein, Published on 26/10/2016
» The jokes just keep coming at Samsung's expense with labels like "pocket explosive maker" and "next year's exploding phones". To be fair other manufacturers have had similar problems, although not quite to the same extent and usually due to third party batteries. Ignoring all of this for the moment, Samsung has announced that they have started mass production of the world's first 10nm FinFET (Fin-Shaped Field Effect Transistor) system on a chip.
Samsung's woes continue
Life, James Hein, Published on 19/10/2016
» Where to start this week? Samsung's woes just keep on going. The latest versions caused fires within a day in a couple of cases, including a fire on a plane when the unit was off. The Korean giant has now recommended that all Note 7 users turn their phones off and not use them. This will mean a whole new replacement program of some kind. Not sure where this leaves Samsung though their S7 and S7 Edge units all seem to be fine and going well with customers. It will now be interesting to see what happens to the Note range and what the next version will look like. It has cost Samsung around US$2.3 billion, so far.
Android finally matures with sweet new Nougat update
Life, James Hein, Published on 12/10/2016
» Unless you are a Google Nexus owner you may not be aware that Android Version 7 aka Nougat is out. This is an even more stable version than the last one and it finally feels like Android is getting to the place where it has matured as an operating system. Performance is better, multitasking is smoother and the look and feel is familiar. It is essentially the same interface as Marshmallow but there are a few changes like the new Settings menu, though many of the upgrades have occurred behind the scenes.
Online training that won't cost you the earth
Life, James Hein, Published on 28/09/2016
» In the ever-changing world of technology, it is often hard to keep up. You can visit expensive training sites that charge thousands of dollars or you can try some alternatives, like the Softonic site found at deals.softonic.com. I've already used them for a project management bundle, chess course, writing for Kindle using Scrivener, and lately a complete web developers course, all for low double digit US dollar prices. So far the content has been quite good and the web developer course includes free web hosting for a year. They may not be quite as slick as the big providers but the info is there so you might as well save a few shekels.
Samsung's US$16 billion battery hit
Life, James Hein, Published on 21/09/2016
» The news has not been good for Samsung with the Note 7 still causing problems as they recall every unit. This situation is unusual for Samsung as they are normally better at the component supply chain. Apple, of course, is taking advantage after their own antenna gate and I suspect secretly gloating that it has happened to their biggest competitor. As I write this, Samsung has taken a US$16 billion dollar hit at the stock market and has had to drop $25 billion from their market cap value. Samsung has also announced they are selling their printer business to Hewlett Packard.
iPhone fans may need to temper expectations
Life, James Hein, Published on 14/09/2016
» So the iPhone 7 is announced and is basically as expected. Still the small 4.7-inch screen, a 12MP camera, tiny 2GB of RAM average pixel density, reasonable CPU and 4K video recording. All yawn-worthy by comparison to other brands. The model will be somewhat waterproof with the IP67 rating but still no removable battery or microSD support. The 7MP selfie camera is a little bit of an upgrade. While I'm sure the Apple lovers will be over the moon with the new phone, taking a more rational approach there is certainly no wow factor in any of the specs. So apart from the usual upgrades, what is the real attraction with this new model? I do not expect there to be a huge number of sales outside of the usual purchasers for this version.
Fuzzy logic and online translations
Life, James Hein, Published on 07/09/2016
» In the IT world it is very important to get things exactly right, unless of course you are dealing with fuzzy logic. If your banking system, for example, is out by a decimal place, this can lead to some very unhappy customers or some very happy ones and a less than happy bank. There are many areas where calculations and units of measure are vital, just ask one of the Mars exploration landing teams.
How to be a Scrivener
Life, James Hein, Published on 31/08/2016
» As readers might appreciate I have been writing in some form or other for many years. This includes two-and-a-bit novels the first of which I am in the process of final editing and until recently I was using Microsoft Word. In the world of self-publishing and preparing for Amazon’s Mobi or for everyone else’s ePub, Word is not the right tool. My recommendation is Scrivener which is available for Mac or Windows. This appears to be the ultimate tool for the writer, be they fiction, non-fiction, researcher or blogger. The application is inexpensive even for a lifetime licence that covers everyone in your household. It handles everything you will need to prepare what you are writing for publishing apart from your own creativity. My only criticism is the lack of a version for Android but hopefully that will come. You can get a 30-day free trial from www.literatureandlatte.com and there is a lot of free training materials available.
How to be a Scrivener
Life, James Hein, Published on 31/08/2016
» As readers might appreciate I have been writing in some form or other for many years. This includes two-and-a-bit novels the first of which I am in the process of final editing and until recently I was using Microsoft Word. In the world of self-publishing and preparing for Amazon's Mobi or for everyone else's ePub, Word is not the right tool. My recommendation is Scrivener which is available for Mac or Windows. This appears to be the ultimate tool for the writer, be they fiction, non-fiction, researcher or blogger. The application is inexpensive even for a lifetime licence that covers everyone in your household. It handles everything you will need to prepare what you are writing for publishing apart from your own creativity. My only criticism is the lack of a version for Android but hopefully that will come. You can get a 30-day free trial from www.literatureandlatte.com and there is a lot of free training materials available.