Apple OS X Corrects Bug in its Latest Update
Sporting from the embarrassment, Apple has quickly released the second updates to its Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and, as indicated on the accompanying note to its 6.2 release says: provides “for an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account.”
The bug was noticed sometime in early September which deletes both the guest and administrator data when a guest logs of. The guest account is cool as it allows the administrator to create one that allows a guest to use the Mac temporarily. But once the guest logs of, all the data created in the temporary session gets erased, wiping out the administrator’s data as well.
But now that’s history and the new release gets a host of security updates as well. Perhaps someone can update us if the bug has indeed been fixed.
Twitter to Link with LinkedIn
Social networking site Twitter and business networking sites LinkedIn have recently announced a business partnership that will allow their users to cross-post their respective status updates. They have about 50 million registered users between them.
LinkedIn VP for Product Strategy and co-founder announced the partnership in its blog site. The link-up is simple as you can post updates on one or the other and update both. You may wonder why Twitter chose LinkedIn to partner with when the much more popular Facebook is very much compatible with its feeds. Well, the CEOs of each, Twitter’s Biz Stone and Linkedin Reid Hoffman are close friends.
Looking For the Next Bill Gates
Well, it’s not about looking for the next billionaire entrepreneur, but more about the next whiz kid who just might bring us to the next wave of technology as what Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did a good 30 years ago.
There’s a competition sponsored by IT supplier XMA called “The Next Bill Gates.” If your planning to enter a university next year on a technology or science course, all you need is explain in 100 words or create a one-minute video on why you can be the next Bill gates. The contest will be judged by Doug Richard, Dragon’s Den investor and Guy Bates, director of the XMA. Visit the TheNextBillGates.co.uk for competition rules and application.
R.I.M.’s Blackberry Wants More App Developers
Research In Motion, Blackberry’s maker, seems to be getting green with envy at iPhone’s App Store carrying more than 100,000 apps to date. Its own online store only has a few thousands but that could change soon. Just last Monday, RIM set in motion its aim to get more interesting apps for its phones with a conference of blackberry developers in San Francisco.
There are innovations that RIM hopes will put one over what iPhone has. It’s deploying servers that provide push-email servers to do the same push technology to alert users that a new app is available. RIM is also making it easier for developers to write new 3D graphic apps with easier programming toolkits that should speed up writing blackberry apps. With this, perhaps in a year’s time, RIM’s app store can get up to speed with a quarter of what the iPhone store has.
Whew! 100,000 Apps for a cell Phone!
If you’re an Apple iPhone user, it looks like your smartphone won’t ever become obsolete. At least not when it comes to phone application software. The hardware is sure to get better but with 100,000 applications in the Apple App Store, you can download a new app everyday of your life and your handset will have new features everyday.
Now whether that new feature is going to be useful is another matter altogether. When Timothy Cook, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, announced last week that its company has achieved a milestone in mobile telephony, few people were surprised as anyone who has visited the App Store can attest to the dizzying variety and numbers of apps on it, more than a hundred thousand and growing. The stats are quite impressive: 2 billion downloads and growing. Apple has clearly outpaced the competition; the nearest is 10,000 apps for Android phones.
Shutting Down the Internet?
If President Obama and his Democrat senators have their way, a bill currently under legislative agenda could be approved so that the Internet can be shut down and private networks seized on suspicion that there’s terrorist activity taking place in cyberspace.
Misleadingly titled “Cybersecurity Act of 2009,” the bill would empower the President to declare a state of emergency and cause free speech on the internet to be curtailed. The bill’s sponsor, Jay Rockefeller, declares “I know the threats we face. Our enemies are real. They are sophisticated, they are determined and they will not rest.” On that alone, our beloved free speech on the internet could be threatened. Moreover, the bill will required licensing of any person seeking employment as a cyber security professional.
Using LCD TVs instead of LCD Monitors for your PC
It can be done with today’s line of LCD TVs. But just don’t sit up close. LCD TVs and PC monitors may share the same native HD resolution of 1900 x 1080p on widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio but they remain different. LCD TVs are optimized for video watching, with higher contrast ratios, faster responses, blacker blacks and brighter screens so you can watch them even in brightly lit rooms.
On the other hand, LCDs meant for PCs have slightly modest traits in those areas but it edges out the LCD TV in terms of dot pitch so you see small fonts better.
A 22” LCD monitor has more dot pitch density than a 42” LCD TV with the same 1080p resolution. That means you eyes won’t find working on a Word or Excel document on a 42” LCD TV as comfortably as on a 22” monitor, unless you sit banging on your keyboard 3-4 meters away. But if you just want to watch movies from your PC hard drive or Blu-ray drive, a 32” LCD TV is a good option.
Google Out to Conquer SatNav with the New Android 2.0
That may be a little ambitious for a search engine, but it looks like Google has its sights on the SatNav market when it enhanced and released its 2nd full OS edition of the Android designed for the cellphone. Apart from being faster with better synchronization features, Android 2.0 has turn-by-turn navigation features integrated in it.
I don’t know if SatNav makers like TomTom or Garmin are worried, but it looks like cellphones are not content gobbling mp3 markets, PDA, camera, vidcam and game console markets. Now, it looks like SatNav makers will soon have a new competition from cellphones offering full GPS-based turn-by-turn features.
What’s In Store for the Post-DVD Era?
It's online video streaming. Last month, electronic retailer BestBuy entered into a deal with Netflix to allow streaming the latter’s movie library to it Insignia-branded Blu-Ray players. Earlier, Blockbuster went into partnership with Sonic Solutions that would enable streaming movie service to Blockbuster’s customers using electronic devices like TiVo DVRs, Samsung’s HD TVs and Blue-Ray players. BestBuy likewise partnered with Sonic to deliver newly released DVD content streamed to consumers.
The era for the boxed DVD is nearing its end. With the internet and broadband, movies can be sourced online. All these companies realize that this early, they need to get a good handle as they transition to the post-DVD era. According to California based Sonic Solutions whose authoring tools are used by studios to make DVDs, the movie industry is taking the first steps away from discs to electronic distribution direct to consumers.
Downloading HD Movies – The Next Home Video Revolution?
Movie enthusiasts have long harnessed the internet and broadband connections to enjoy high definition movies on their LCD monitors, large or small. Even Blu-ray owners have been known to download mkv files containing compressed 1080p resolution video sourced from Blu-ray rips. And they’re all for free. It makes you wonder where those video pirates earn uploading ripped movies in torrent sites.
But this has got to give movie makers a hint of what the market wants and its behaviors as far as sourcing HD home video. Downloading seems to be the most popular mode of acquiring HD content. While those Blu-ray discs are handsomely packaged with nifty extras like behind the scenes outtakes, the majority of the market just wants to see the movie in glorious HD and at the earliest time. It’s amazing how torrent sites can deliver them to the homes weeks earlier than the studios can release them. The studios must be missing something.