Tuesday, June 24, 2014

10 tech support requests you never want to hear from your family

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  Hungry ants knock out FiOS service … again | At Google I/O, expect smartwatches as Android spreads to new screens
 
 
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10 tech support requests you never want to hear from your family
  "Image by Archiboldian licensed under CC BY 2.0If you're a techie it's likely that someone in your family will ask you a question about their cell phone, their computer, their iPad, their you-name-it … and not long after the whole family will use you as their personal tech support. You become the go-to guy for every tech question. I's hard to turn down a plea from your mother or sweet Aunt Mabel. While some problems are easily solved ("There's no 'any' key, Mom, it means just press any key") there are other questions that will make your blood run cold. Here are the worst of the worst family support requests. If you have favorite family support requests, please comment below then follow me on Twitter, App.net, and Facebook.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 


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Hungry ants knock out FiOS service … again
Everyone keeps asking if the ants actually ate their way through the fiber optic cable and I do not know the answer. What is certain is that they chewed through the outer casing and caused enough damage to knock out TV, phone and Internet service to my house: the Verizon triple no-play.I also know that it takes about five years for ants to accomplish such a task, because the same thing happened in June 2009.The box housing the cable splice that brings FiOS into my home is located across the street about five feet up on a utility pole. When the Verizon technician opened the box it was filled with hundreds of ants (I had actually forgotten about the earlier ant episode, but he clearly expected them to be there). And when he shooed away enough of the critters to get a look inside, the red glow of a stripped fiber optic cable was clearly visible.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

At Google I/O, expect smartwatches as Android spreads to new screens
Expected news around smartwatches, health systems and Android-connected devices at Google's I/O conference, which starts Wednesday, is sure to draw attention from consumers as the search giant tries to connect a wide range of home and personal devices.Google I/O, the company's biggest event of the year, is officially aimed at helping third-party engineers build products using Google tools for the Android and Chrome platforms. The tech tools, though, are aimed at the development of new consumer products. Some of these products make a splash during the show itself, such as with the launch of Glass two years ago and the handout of Google's US$1,000-plus Chromebook Pixel laptop last year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Researchers expect large wave of rootkits targeting 64-bit systems
Following a downward trend during the past two years, the number of new rootkit samples rose in the first quarter of this year to a level not seen since 2011, according to statistics from security vendor McAfee.The sudden spike in rootkit infections during the first three months of the year was caused primarily by a single rootkit family that targeted 32-bit Windows systems. However, new rootkits designed for 64-bit systems will likely lead to a rise in this type of attack in the future, researchers from McAfee said in a report published Tuesday.Rootkits are malware programs designed to hide other malicious applications and activities from users. They typically run inside the OS kernel with the highest possible system privileges, making their removal and detection hard for security products.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Smooth like btrfs: Inside Facebook's Linux-powered infrastructure
Facebook engineer Chris Mason is unequivocal about the primacy of Linux in Facebook's storage infrastructure."If it runs on a computer, and it's storing important data," he said, "it's running Linux."Mason, speaking at the Linux Enterprise End-User Summit on Monday in New York, joined Facebook just six months ago in order to spearhead the social network's move to btrfs (usually pronounced "butter eff ess."), the Linux-based file system that he created in 2008 while working at Oracle.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Why Facebook's SDN switch won't affect Cisco's customers | OpenStack chair: Linux at the cutting edge of the cloud +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

 

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VMware: We're aiming to be a top 3 cloud provider
Gartner's annual Magic Quadrant is a sort of who's who of the cloud computing market. And while VMware made the company's most recent list, it didn't receive the highest of marks.VMware fell somewhere in the back half of the field when the research firm ranked the top 14 IaaS cloud providers (the ranking is based on a combination of revenue size, independent judgement, customer case studies and other criteria). But executives at the company say VMware is in the cloud market for the long haul, and the market is still in its early stages. +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Amazon still leads Gartner's Magic Quadrant, but Microsoft is catching up | A Wakeup call for the cloud +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Apple planning to release 12-inch MacBook Air later this year
According to a recent report in Digitimes, Apple is prepping plans to manufacture a 12-inch MacBook Air during the third quarter of 2014. As it stands now, the MacBook Air comes in 11 and 13-inch flavors so it remains unclear if Apple's svelte notebook will be available in three distinct sizes or if one of the aforementioned form factors will be shown the door. The sources pointed out that Apple is releasing a 12-inch MacBook Air because its 11-inch model has a screen size similar to its iPad series products and iPad's increasing sales are impacting MacBook demand and therefore the company is looking to establish a clear boundary between the two product lines.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

10 PC-centric announcements we'd love to see at Google I/O
Bringing it all together at Google I/OWe'll no doubt hear plenty about Android and wearable technology at the Google I/O conference this week, but hopefully not at the expense of new features for Chrome, laptops, desktops, and productivity in general. Google has a real chance to make its multi-tentacled ecosystem far more productive for PC users—and a lot (but not all) of that opportunity ties into those mobile devices and wearables expected to steal the spotlight at I/O.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

OpenStack chair: Linux at the cutting edge of the cloud
The cloud-dominated world of modern IT is the perfect breeding ground for the spread of Linux in particular and open-source software in general, according to the man responsible for guiding one of the most important open-source projects.SUSE director of industry initiatives and open-source Alan Clark is also the chair of the OpenStack Foundation. Speaking Monday at the Linux Enterprise End-User Summit in New York, he said that the efficiencies in money and time provided by an open development model are proving to be potent draws for new adopters.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: The future of networking is a NOS on your choice of bare metal, says Cumulus Networks | Google I/O 2014: What to expect as Google increases its focus on 'connected' tech +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Surface Pro 3 not a notebook replacement to DIYers who want inside
Microsoft may pitch its Surface Pro 3 as a notebook replacement, but to do-it-yourselfers, it's a tablet pure and simple, iFixit concluded today.San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based iFixit -- one of the Web's best-known electronics repair firms -- picked up a Surface Pro 3, which went on sale last Friday, and pulled it apart to see what Microsoft had put inside, and to gauge how easy or difficult it was to reach components, like the battery, that DIY aficionados might want to replace.iFixit assigned the Surface Pro 3 a repair score of just 1 out of a possible 10, its lowest-possible rating.The company blamed several characteristics of the Surface Pro 3 for the low score, including what it called "paper-thin display glass" that cracked when its team tried to pry apart the tablet-cum-notebook.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

 

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