RAW Computing Blog

Abandon MobileMe for iCloud

2012-01-25T10:15:00.000Z

Apple has never been very successful with its web services, first launching iTools, then abandoning it for .Mac. This was killed off and replaced with MobileMe, which was itself ditched and replaced with iCloud. One day Apple might get it right.

All this has left me with a bit of a problem.

Many years ago I only had a Windows computer. However, I had an iPod and I ran iTunes on Windows and had an iTunes store account with Apple ID with my email address and password to log in. Music, podcasts, videos and other items could be downloaded and purchased on my Windows PC.

Then I got a Mac and naturally I signed up for MobileMe when it was launched. It gave me an additional email address, it was useful for backing up, web access to email, calendar and contacts when not on my Mac, iDisk online storage and so on.

When Apple ditched MobileMe it converted my MobileMe account to iCloud. At the same time it enabled iCloud for everyone with an Apple iTunes store account. So now I have two iCloud accounts. The one that used to be MobileMe and the one for my iTunes store account, but neither of them work perfectly.

My ex-MobileMe iCloud can't be used to buy music, download apps, videos and so on, even if they are free because there isn't an iTunes store account associated with it. My iTunes store iCloud has access to music, apps, videos, the Mac App store and more, but it won't sync contacts and calendars and mail doesn't work because there's no MobileMe email account. Even though I've got one.

The ideal solution would be to combine my Ex-MobileMe account with @me.com email address with my iTunes store account, but this doesn't seem to be possible. Entering the MobileMe email address into the iTunes store iCloud account just comes up with an error saying that the email address is invalid because it is already in use. Yes! By Me! Why can't I use it!

The only solution that I can see is to abandon my MobileMe account, deleting it from my iPhone, deleting iCloud and adding iCloud again on my iPhone again using my iTunes store ID. Going into iCloud settings on the iPhone then shows the features that are available. Mail is not, but when it is turned on I am prompted to create a free @me.com email address. This I have now done. So I have a new @me.com email address.

In the process of deleting my old MobileMe account and changing iCloud to my iTunes store ID on my Mac I've discovered that I've wiped out all my contacts and calendars. Probably because they aren't in the new @me.com address book. Oh dear. Now I've got to figure out how to restore them.

iBooks 2 and iBooks Author

2012-01-21T20:58:00.000Z

"Apple iBooks 2.0 slam dunks the educational market." That's just one of many headlines recently praising Apple's latest launch, but is it true or are these just Apple fanatics who simply love everything that Apple does?

It is hard to say how much impact iBooks Author will have and I think that there are some unanswered questions. One blogger talks about how expensive text books are for university courses and then goes on to say how Apple will be selling textbooks for $14.99. Can this be true?

I just can't see publishers selling iPad versions of textbooks that normally cost $50-$100 for just $14.99, bearing in mind that Apple takes a 30% cut of that selling price. What's in it for the publishers? Of course, there are reduced costs in distributing an electronic version, but I still can't see it being worthwhile. The only way it would work is if the books were split into several volumes and students had to buy them all to get the complete book - the equivalent of the paper version. If you get the full book then surely the publisher will lose money on each sale?

One of the textbook examples listed on Apple's website is Glencoe Chemistry Matter and Change. It costs $14.99 in the iTunes store for the iPad. I Googled it and it appears to be on sale at Amazon for $90. That means the iPad version is incredibly cheap. There are links on the Amazon page to other sellers offering it for as little as $40 including shipping. However, there are used copies for around $10. Considering the size and weight of the book, I think it may be worth buying the iPad version for $5 more though. Even cheaper was a link in the Google search results to a free PDF version of the book. I don't know whether this is legal or not, and suspect it might not be.

I think it's too early to say how successful textbooks on the iPad will be. I think that publishers are probably trying a few books as an experiment to see what happens. Whether in the future all students will be buying ebooks instead of the traditional paper books for their studies remains to be seen. No matter how cheap textbooks seem, don't forget to add the cost of an iPad though. Not all families can afford to buy an iPad for each of their children. Imagine if you have three teenage kids, each wanting an iPad for their iBooks textbooks. That's a lot of money and it's beyond some families. Do you want your kids carrying around an expensive iPad? Would they get mugged on the way home and their iPad stolen? I can't see students getting mugged for their hardback copy of Glencoe Chemistry Matter and Change.

Free educational books
There is a legal source of free text books that you can read on your computer, tablet or smartphone. Take a look at Bookboon.com, a great website that has free text books written by university professors. A wide range of subjects is covered and PDFs can be downloaded and transferred to the iPad and read in iBooks.

My latest book

I bought a book this week, Tom Clancy's The Hunt For Red October. I was browsing a bookshop (one of the few left in the high street), and came across this. I recognised it because I'd seen the film and liked it and thought I'd read the book too. It was on sale for £2. The ebook from the iTunes Store is £4.99.

I have yet to read a book on my iPad, I just keep coming across paper books at great prices. I also bought The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, again it was on sale and cheaper as a paper book than an iBook in the iTunes store.

Manage and edit photos with Zoner Photo Studio 14

2012-01-17T16:43:00.000Z

I am a fan of Windows Live Photo Gallery and I think that it is a great utility for organising photos. However, it is not perfect and there are alternatives that are worthy of consideration. For example, Zoner Photo Studio 14 is an excellent tool and it offers features that aren't in the Microsoft program.

Photo Studio 14 comes in three versions and there is a free one with slightly fewer features, a $34.99 Home Edition and a $69.99 Pro Edition. I downloaded the freebie and found it to be packed with useful features. It was last updated about three months ago, so it's still fairly new.

It performs three tasks and there is an organiser/manager, a viewer and an editor. The organiser enables you to browse your photos and a folder tree is displayed in a pane on the left, and thumbnail images are displayed in a pane in the centre. You can assign keywords to photos, add titles and descriptions and everything you would expect from a photo manager.

An unusual feature is the ability to add audio notes to photos. You can assign an audio file from disk or record audio directly and attach it to a photo. Many photo managers read the GPS data embedded within photos these days, but Photo Studio also lets you set the location a photo was taken using Google Earth or view the location in Google Earth. You have to have Google Earth installed on your PC of course. You can filter your photos by location and it's possible to select a position on a Google map and then display all the photos taken within a certain distance. That's quite clever.

Another clever feature is the ability to create 3D photos. You take two photos with your camera moving the camera sideways a couple of inches - about the distance between your eyes. Photo Studio then analyses the two images and creates a 3D image from them. You view the image with those cardboard glasses with red and blue plastic lenses. It's a bit of fun.

Photo Studio will stitch together photos to create panoramic images too. You select two or more images and then start a wizard. It asks you to put them in order and then it automatically stitches them together. It's much easier than doing it manually in a photo editor.

The software enables you to view photos and it can turn them into slide shows. There are special effects when new photos appear on the screen, you can add music and more. The photo editing capabilities are excellent for a free photo manager and there is a wide range of tools and special effects. The effects include grayscale, old photograph, explosion, oil paint, waves, pencil drawing, pixelise, emboss, texture, fading borders and more. The tools include crop, morphing mesh, align horizon, red-eye reduction, clone stamp and several more. The colours, levels and colour temperature can be adjusted, there is sharpen and blur and so on.

Photos can be uploaded to Facebook, Flickr and Picasa albums, turned into slide shows, wallpaper and calendars, and more. There is too much in Photo Studio 14 to cover here and you should at least download the free version.

Defragment your disks with UltraDefrag 5.01

2012-01-12T10:19:00.001Z

Everyone knows that the files on disk drives can become fragmented or literally broken into small parts during everyday computer use. This affects Windows performance because it takes longer to access the data they contain than if the files are stored as a complete block on the disk.

Drive manufacturers have improved the performance of disks over the years and this means that less time is wasted accessing fragmented files than it used to. The large capacity of drives also helps to reduce fragmentation too because there's always lots of free space. The result is that fragmentation isn't as big an issue as it used to be, at least not on new PCs.

Not everyone has a brand new PC with the latest 2Tb disk drive or ultra fast SSD (solid state disk) though and many people struggle to keep an old computer running with limited processing power, memory and disk drive. If you are one of them, then you might be interested in UltraDefrag 5.01 disk defragmenter.

It has some useful features and the .01 in the version number means that it has had a bug fix patch - never use version v1.0 or any x.0 release of software, wait for the bug fix release.

Another useful feature is that it doesn't add any startup programs or add any services. If you are trying to speed up an old PC then adding software that is loaded on startup is counter productive.

UltraDefrag lists the disk drives and you can select one then analyse it. A disk usage map shows used and free parts of the disk, fragmented and not fragmented areas. The options are: defragment, quick optimisation, full optimisation, and optimise MFT. You can choose what to do when defragmentation is done such as shut down the PC, restart, go into standby mode and so on.

There is also an option to run UltraDefrag when the PC starts, before Windows loads, and this enables it to defragment files that are normally locked because Windows is using them.

UltraDefrag 5.01 is not the best disk defragmenter, but it is a good choice for old PCs. It is free, it requires just 1Mb of disk space and doesn't use any memory or processing time when not running. You just run it when you need it.

PerfectDisk optimises the disk drive for performance

2012-01-05T21:37:00.000Z

Over time the contents of hard disk drives become fragmented and files are literally broken into small pieces that are scattered all over the place. When they need to be accessed the drive has to perform all sorts of gymnastics in order to find and read all the pieces. This slows down disk activity.

To combat fragmentation there is a disk defragmenter built into Windows. It runs in the background at regular intervals and reduces the fragmented files by combining the parts.

Windows Disk Defragmenter is OK, but it isn't the best that is possible and there are other tools that do a better job. For example, Raxco PerfectDisk 12.5, which was recently updated. One of the ways it improves on Windows Disk Defragmenter is by offfering boot time defragging. This runs before Windows loads and therefore is able to defragment files that are normally in use and locked.

It also offers several different defragmentation methods including SMARTPlacement Classic, Classic Alternate, Performance, Performance Aggressive and Conservative. The reason for all these different methods is that files can be placed in such a way as to make them easier to access or easier to keep defragmented, to reduce wear on the disk drive components and so on. For example, frequently used files can be placed on the part of the disk that is the fastest to access. None of these options are in Windows Disk Defragmenter.

A feature called Stealth Patrol prevents fragmentation before it happens. A nice extra is the ability to specify times are days when auto-optimisation is not allowed. You can also specify that optimisation doesn't occur when certain programs run, such as a game where it might affect the play.

A new feature in PerfectDisk 12.5 is Space Management. It recovers disk space by detecting and removing duplicate files such as text documents, pictures, music, and videos. Of course, there are other utilities that can do this, but it's nice to have it built into the disk defragmenter.

PerfectDisk monitors S.M.A.R.T. that records the health of the disk drive, it has resource and CPU throttling so that the PC doesn't grind to a halt when it is running, and it works with solid state drives too - in an intelligent way because normal defragmentation methods shouldn't be used on SSDs.

I like PerfectDisk. It works well, has lots of features and is reasonably priced. I'm not sure it's worth upgrading from the previous version, but if you don't have a disk defragmenter then it is recommended.

Help! I have over 1000 registry errors!

2012-01-04T10:20:00.000Z

"Help, I have over 1,000 registry errors!" said an email I got recently. The person had been running one of those Windows cleanup tools that scan the registry for errors, scan the disk for junk files, and produce long lists of errors. These tools often say that the hundreds or even thousands of errors that are found are slowing down the computer or causing problems and it can be frightening and very worrying for many users to see all these errors on their computer.

The software being used was Auslogics BoostSpeed, and version 5.2 was released just a few weeks ago. I like this program and it contains many useful tools, but using it, and the many other registry and cleanup tools like it, can be alarming to many people. You need to know what these errors are and what they mean.

The registry is basically a database that is used to store configuration settings for Windows and for the software you have installed. Errors can occur in the registry for all sorts of reasons, but many are not serious. In fact, after a clean install of Windows Auslogics BoostSpeed detected 86 problems. How can this be?

Let's take a look at an example of a common registry error. Suppose you install a program, such as a to-do list organiser, and it saves files of the type .tdo like MyTasks.tdo. A registry entry is created that associates .tdo files with the to-do list organiser. This enables you to double click the MyTasks.tdo file in an Explorer window or on the desktop to open it in the application.

Now suppose you decide you don't want the to-do list organiser any more (it may have been a freeware or shareware program you tried). You uninstall it. It's quite common for uninstallers to leave behind registry entries instead of deleting them, so suppose the association between .tdo and the organiser remains.

A registry cleanup tool will examine the association between .tdo and the organiser and realise the organiser no longer exists. It is therefore flagged as a registry error. However, you will never use .tdo files again after uninstalling the organiser and Windows will therefore never have any need to access that registry entry. Although strictly speaking it is an error, it is simply a registry entry that will never be used. This means that it is doing no harm, it is not causing any error messages, and is not slowing the computer down. It's just an unused registry entry and the registry is just a database. It's like a contact in your contact manager that has moved away, but if you never call them anyway, what does it matter?

This is just one type of error, but hopefully it illustrates the point that some types of error are not serious and Windows will run perfectly well with dozens or even hundreds of them. They are just registry entries that are no longer used. If Windows doesn't use them,what does it matter?

This isn't always the case though and some registry errors really are serious. The problem is that many registry cleanup tools do not distinguish between serious and non-serious errors. They just report the number and this can be frightening.

Should the person with 1000+ errors go ahead and let BoostSpeed (or any registry cleanup tool) fix all those problems? There's no way I'd let it or any other a program do this. They are not perfect and on rare occasions they can actually cause problems. This isn't a criticism of BoostSpeed, which I like, but of registry cleaners in general.

You should select a small number of problems and fix them. Make sure the computer is running OK by using it for a couple of days, then you can run the utility again and select a few more errors to fix. It is essential that you create backups each time so that you can undo the changes if a problem arises. Most good registry cleaners do this automatically, but it is worth checking before you use it.

The reason for fixing just a few errors is that it i easier to solve problems. If you fix 1000+ and discover that something went wrong, you don't know which of the 1000+ is the cause. Fixing a small number at a time means you can narrow down a problem to just those few errors that were fixed. You can then investigate further or undo the action without having to undo the lot.

Registry cleaners like BoostSpeed are useful, but just remember that not all registry errors that they find are serious. Fixing some registry errors has little or no effect on the stability or performance of Windows.

Browsing one step ahead of the crowd

2012-01-02T22:36:00.002Z

Web browsers are upgraded more than any other program and there seems to be a new version almost every month. It's hard to keep up with the latest developments they happen so fast and last year Firefox went from version 4 to 9, or was it 10? It was a lot of versions to be sure.

Most people use the regular version of Chrome and Firefox, but if you want cutting edge technology and want to be one step ahead of everyone else you should join the beta channel. I've been running Firefox betas for a long time and haven't had any issues with them at all, and I get the latest features before everyone else. You can get Firefox beta from here.

Once you start using the beta then updates automatically download and install just the same as the regular version, so you are always ahead of the crowd. One thing I would suggest doing though is to download and install the Add-on Compatibility Reporter extension. With the beta version of Firefox add-ons and extensions may be disabled simply because they haven't been tested and passed as OK and fit for use. Add-on Compatibility Reporter allows you to enable any auto-disabled add-ons. You can test them yourself and if they work then you can carry on using them. If there is a problem then you can disable the add-ons.

Internet Explorer beta, which is currently version 10, is available here, but it is only for Windows Developer Preview (Windows 8 in other words). You can download Windows 8 and install it on a PC or in VirtualBox if you really want to try IE10, but it's a shame it won't run on Windows 7.

The beta version of Chrome is available here. If you want to read all about the latest developments for the Chrome web browser you should regularly read the Google Chrome Blog and The Chromium Blog. Google offers even more and there is the standard release, a beta version, a developer version and a Canary build. The developer version or Dev Channel is updated with the latest features once or twice a week, but Canary offers almost daily builds! Download the Canary version of Chrome and it's no more than a day or so old! You don't get more bleeding edge than that! Get the developer version here and Canary here.

These are all Windows versions of Chrome, but you can get Mac and Linux versions too. All the download links are here.

Update the OS before adding new hardware

2011-12-28T09:48:00.001Z

This is the time of year when we often treat ourselves to new hardware for our computers or pockets. A new phone, a new music player, a new printer, a new tablet and so on. There are lots of sales on and this is the peak selling period for many stores.

If you have just bought or are about to buy a new gadget, accessory or peripheral for your computer there are some simple maintenance steps to take that will ensure that everything works well together. There is nothing more irritating than buying something new and then finding that it isn't compatible with your computer or that it doesn't work as expected.

The first thing you should do is to use the operating system's update facility and this means Windows Update on PCs or Software Update on Apple Macs. (Linux users should use their distro's update facility too.) Make sure that you select optional updates and not just the compulsory ones.

What this does is to ensure that all the drivers and patches are installed and that the operating system's database of supported hardware is up to date. Operating systems maintain a compatibility list of supported hardware and if you have an outdated list then a brand new gadget might be flagged as incompatible when in fact the OS has recently been updated to support it.

After updating and rebooting you should then plug in the new hardware. Should you install the software that came with the device? Modern operating systems contain basic support for a wide range of devices and frequently simply plugging in the hardware is enough to get it working. The OS has drivers for webcams, scanners, printers and other devices, so if you want to keep the system light and fast then don't install the supplied software.

The only snag is that operating systems usually only provide basic support for devices, so it will work, but special functions may not. What's more, sometimes the software supplied with devices is pretty good and has useful functions and features. It is often a good idea to ignore the software supplied with a device because it is on CD and was probably written moths ago. Instead, go to the manufacturer's website and download the latest version of the software. I recommend installing that instead of the CD.

After installing the software and the hardware, restart the computer and then use the operating system update facility again. This will ensure that if there are newer drivers for the device then they will be downloaded and installed.

To summarise then,

Use the operating system's update facility
Download the latest software from the manufacturer's website
Install the software and the device
Use the operating system's update facility

Want a loan? Pick your Facebook friends carefully

2011-12-21T09:46:00.000Z

There is an interesting story I came across recently on BetaBeat that reveals how banks and other financial institutions are considering using social media to assess your credit rating. The next time you apply for a credit card or a loan they may turn you down on the grounds that they don't like your Facebook friends. It's a scary thought don't you think?

It's all because of a company called Lenddo that uses social networking to analyse your credit worthiness. It is an online loan service and when you sign up you must provide details of all the social networks that you belong to. In the FAQ is this description:

"Lenddo is a scoring engine that analyzes your online social footprint (sometimes called a social graph) and provides a score that can be used to access financial services such as personal loans."

So it looks at your friends, relatives and work colleagues that you are connected to in your social networks and...

"Friends that don't pay their debts will negatively impact your Lenddo score, and your ability to access credit."

This means that you can't be friends with anyone who struggles to pay their bills because they will negatively affect your own credit rating. Just think, if you have a problem and miss a loan or credit card payment your friends won't help you, they'll all abandon you because you're affecting their credit rating. Got a problem? You're on your own!

It gets worse and just take a look at this from Lenddo's FAQ:

"Failure to repay will negatively impact your Lenddo score, as well as the score of your Lenddo friends. Lenddo MAINTAINS THE RIGHT TO NOTIFY YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY."

Yes, they'll tell all your friends, family and contacts that you've slipped up and missed a bill payment or two. Do they post messages on your Facebook wall? That's a scary thought!

Now Lenddo is based in the Phillippines, so it won't effect most people, but you can bet that western banks and other financial institutions are looking at this and considering it themselves. It makes you wonder whether social networking is a good idea if it can be used against you in this way.

App updates from iTunes

2011-12-13T10:01:00.000Z

If you have an Apple iOS device like the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch then it is also likely that you have a large collection of great apps downloaded from the App Store. Keeping them up to date sometimes seems like a full time job if you have a lot of apps. The badge on the App Store on the home screen tells you how many updates are available for your apps and I don't know about you, but it is rarely zero on my iPhone or iPad.

How do you update the apps on your iOS device? The obvious way is to tap the App Store icon on the home screen and then go to Updates. You can then update them all in one go or individually.

However, this is not always convenient. Some of the apps are large and they can be 200Mb or more. If there are several then the downloads can amount to a gigabyte or more.

This is only possible over Wi-Fi and only small apps of around 10Mb or less can be downloaded on 3G (to avoid running up huge data bills.)

A better option is to download the updates on your computer and then to plug in the iOS device and sync it. You can download large files much more quickly and easily with a desktop computer than with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

If you have a fast broadband internet connection you should start iTunes and then select Apps in the left panel. Down in the bottom right corner is a link showing the number of app updates that are available. Click it.

A grid showing all the app updates is displayed and you can click the Get Update button next to the ones you want or click Download All Free Updates to get them all.

You can plug your iOS device into the computer afterwards (or the next time that is convenient), and sync it.

SkyDrive improved file handling

2011-12-08T09:28:00.001Z

Microsoft's free cloud storage service, SkyDrive was recently updated and there are a few welcome changes that people have been asking for for quite some time. One is the way that PDF files are handled online. If you have uploaded a PDF document to your SkyDrive online drive, what should happen when you click it? Should it be displayed in the web browser or downloaded to the local disk drive?

Up until recently there wasn't a choice and a PDF file was treated simply as a file and you could only download it. This was irritating if you wanted to read it because you would need to download it first, then run a PDF reader like Foxit or Adobe, then delete the PDF afterwards or leave it cluttering up the disk drive.

A recent update now enables you to read PDFs in SkyDrive in the web browser. If you click a PDF file the browser uses whatever plug-in, add-on or extension is available to display the document. This is useful. (If you do actually want to download a PDF you just tick the box next to it and click the download link on the right.)

The new feature appears to be experiencing some teething troubles though. I prefer Foxit Reader to Adobe Acrobat because it is a small, lightweight and fast application. Foxit is a 14Mb download (36Mb installed) and Adobe is 65Mb (108Mb installed), which gives an indication of the size difference. I've always found Foxit Reader to have fewer problems than Adobe Reader too. However, SkyDrive doesn't recognise Foxit. Click PDFs on other websites and you can view them in the browser using Foxit, but not on SkyDrive. It just says go and get Adobe Reader. Chrome works fine though and this is because it has a built in PDF viewer.

If you want to view PDF documents on SkyDrive without downloading them the only option is to install Adobe Reader at the moment. This works as advertised and it's a shame I can't use my preferred reader, Foxit.

Apple Macs will dominate in 2050

2011-12-01T09:41:00.001Z

Apple Macs will dominate the computer market in 2050. How do I know? Take a look at the data at Netmarketshare.

I am joking of course. It's not that it couldn't happen, but it's simply too hard to predict what will happen next year never mind in 40 years time. It is interesting to look at data like this though and to see the trends over the past year.

Usage of Microsoft Windows is down by just over 1%, but Apple Macs is up by 1%. If the trend was to continue this way then Macs would be the dominent computer platform by around 2050 (hence the headline). However, we are going to see a lot of changes to Windows and Macs over that time so there is no reason to assume that this year's trend will continue for another 40 years though. Apple and Apple fans frequently boast about the fantastic growth in sales and usage and how poorly Windows and PC companies are doing in comparison, yet the figures from Netmarketshare don't really reflect this. Yes, the Apple Mac market share is growing and Windows PC is declining, but the change is tiny. It's a lot less than Apple fans would have you believe.

It is also interesting the see how slowly Linux usage is growing and a mere 0.3% in a year is odd. Linux enthusiasts will tell you how great the operating system is and how people are switching to it in droves. That's not borne out by the figures. Linux is free, so if it really is that good, why don't more people use it? The answer must surely be that Linux does not satisfy people's needs. It just doesn't do what people want, otherwise why would they reject something that is free?

There are also some fascinating web browser usage statistics at the Netmarketshare website. Internet Explorer is clearly the most used web browser and this is hardly surprising because it's part of Windows and Windows accounts for 92% of all desktops. It's use has fallen over the year though and it is down from 58% to 52%. The question is, what are people switching too?

For several years Firefox grew its market share and it has been steadily catching up with Internet Explorer, but the browser stagnated and new versions were slow in coming. This could be why Firefox market share has fallen over the year from 23% to 22%. However, there have been several significant updates this year - Firefox 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 - so it might start growing again soon. I used to use Firefox, stopped, and then started again as it picked up development speed again this year.

Opera's market share is down and this must be so disappointing for the developers. It has been banging away at this for 10 years or more and it's never had more than a couple of percent market share. It is hard to see why because the browser has some unique features. Perhaps people want simplicity and speed though. This could be why so many people are switching to Google Chrome. This browser's market share is up and it has grown from 11 to 18%. This time next year it could be well ahead of Firefox and be the second most used web browser.

Is all this data accurate and where does it come from? There can be few people these days that don't use the internet on their computer and never visit any websites, so if you collect browser and OS statistics from enough websites covering a sufficiently wide range of subjects and interests then it should be good. Netmarketshare gets its information comes from around 40,000 websites and such a large number means that it should be quite accurate.

iPhone 5 to have 4in screen?

2011-11-28T09:20:00.001Z

MacRumours has posted an article on its website that suggests that the next generation of the iPhone will have a 4in screen instead of the 3.5in unit it currently has. The source is an Asian blogger who quotes an unnamed source. There are so many Apple product rumours and so many turn out to be wrong it is hard not to be sceptical about this one. In fact, there are so many rumours it wouldn't surprise me if Apple was the source of some of them. It loves secrecy and putting out a few false rumours would put investigators off the trail of the real product.

I have to say though, that the iPhone does look small next to many of the other top of the range smartphones these days. Many popular models have 4in screens and some are even bigger. There is an optimum size for phones and anything much over 4in is awkward to carry. After all, trouser pockets are only so big. For me, a 4in screen would be the ideal size - not too big and not too small. The fact that the iPhone has remained at 3.5in when larger screens are available suggests that Apple believes that the optimum size is 3.5in, so whether we will actually see a bigger iPhone is anyone's guess.

Of course, changing the screen size would be awkward for apps because they wouldn't be designed to work in the new resolution. Unless, that is, the screen resolution was kept the same. That would suit me because one thing that frequently irritates me about the iPhone is the small size of the text in some apps (forgive me if I've mentioned it before). I've even deleted some apps because the text was too small to comfortably read. The perfect iPhone 5 for me would have a 4in screen with the current resolution, or rather pixels count, so that everything is that little bit bigger.

Social networking madness

2011-11-21T09:05:00.001Z

Facebook has been incredibly successful and it has rocketed from obscurity to become the most visited website on the world in no time at all. Twitter has also grown rapidly to become hugely successful over just a few short years. It seems that everyone wants to share everything and interact with their friends, relatives and work colleagues, or do they?

I think it is wrong to assume that everyone wants to share everything and the amount of social networking facilities built into modern computer software and mobile phone and tablet apps is actually becoming irritating. It seems that every program and every app assumes you want to share every detail of your life online and to connect with all your friends, relatives and work colleagues. Programs and apps have buttons, links and menus to access sharing features and everything you do they say, "Do you want to share that on Facebook and Twitter?"

The latest madness is the app I have from my gas and electric company. At one time they used to send someone round to my house to read the gas and electricity meters to see how much I had used before sending a bill. Now there is an app for that. I can read the gas and electricity meters myself, tap the numbers into the app on my mobile phone and it sends it to the company. It's more convenient for both of us.

I got an email recently asking me for the latest meter readings and I dutifully went and read the meters and entered the values into the app. That's fine, but then it asked if I would like to share this on Facebook. Yes, there was a Facebook button in the gas and electric app so I can share my gas and electric bills with all my friends, relatives and work colleagues. I just know they are tingling with anticipation of news of the latest figures.

This is ridiculous. Who on earth wants to share their gas and electric meter readings on Facebook? I declined the offer. Perhaps I should have tried it just to see what is posted, but enough rubbish gets posted and I didn't want to bore everyone with trivia. Just think, in the future I would have been able to look back using Facebook's timeline feature to see the fun I had reading the gas and electric meters back in 2011.

Beware of Trojans posing as legitimate Mac apps

2011-11-18T09:04:00.001Z

The Apple Mac is is a fairly secure operating system and it is hard to create malware like a virus that automatically installs without your knowledge. Malware authors are fully aware of this and they use a different tactic to get their malicious software onto your computer. They trick you into installing it or they disguise it as legitimate software. You may think that you are installing a well known application and because of this you might even enter your administrator password when prompted during the setup, but you end up with an infected Mac. The app you wanted installs, but it has an unwanted payload.

DevilRobber, or Backdoor:OSX/DevilRobber.A to give it its full name, installs applications related to Bitcoin mining. (Bitcoin is an online digital currency used to buy goods or services in some parts of the world). The malware opens various ports to allow communications over the internet and someone or some app could remotely execute commands on your Mac. DevilRobber can access your keychain stored on the Mac where all your passwords are held, your Safari web browsing history, your IP address, it takes screenshots, it accesses 1Password (a password manager) if you have it, and more.

So how do you get infected? From legitimate applications like PixelMator, Graphic Converter and others. It was discovered that the original applications had been modified and the malware hidden inside them. When you install these apps they install the malware too.

Before you start panicing, I must point out that these apps came from The Pirate Bay, a website notorious for pirated illegal software. The malware author must have got the original software, which is clean, added his own code, and uploaded it to The Pirate Bay. It is a tempting download. Even if you don't use The Pirate Bay or other dodgy websites yourself, your mates might if if they then pass on the app to you, you can become infected.

This emphasises the importance of getting your software only from trusted sources and this means the Mac App Store, direct from the software developer's website, a download site like Download.com, Softpedia, and similar places. These sources are clean.

How do you know if you have it and more importantly, how do you remove it? If you have DevilRobber go to your Library folder (in OS X Lion click the Go menu, hold down the Option key and click Library), and delete the Library/mdsa1331 folder. Go into the Library/LaunchAgents folder and delete com.apple.legion.plist. If you have the latest version of DevilRobber installed from PixelMator from The Pirate Bay website then delete the Library/Pixel_Mator folder and Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.pixel.plist. Don't run the app dodgy app again or it will reinstall the malware.

F-Secure has more information about DevilRobber here, here and here.

Kindle Fire - everything you need to know

2011-11-16T09:47:00.001Z

The Kindle Fire is Amazon's answer to Apple's iPad - a brand new tablet with some interesting features and a killer price. Will you be buying one this Christmas, either for yourself or your family? Here is a roundup of Kindle Fire information that will help you to decide:

Mobile Flash is dead

2011-11-16T09:22:00.001Z

Last week Adobe announced that it would end development of Flash on mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets. It said, "We are no longer going to be actively developing the Flash Player for Mobile Browsers." This is disappointing, but at the same time it is also not surprising.

The reason is that Flash works fine on Windows computers, but the company has always had difficulties getting it to run satisfactorily on other platforms. For example, it has been on the Apple Mac for years, but Flash has had problems with performance and using too much resources. In fact, at times in the past Flash has been so bad on OS X that some MacBook laptop users disabled Flash and prevented it from running using utilities like Click to Flash (go to the Safari menu and click Extensions to install it). Open a couple of web browser tabs with Flash on, even simple adverts, and the CPU usage would be up to 50 or 60%!

Adobe converted Flash to the Android platform and it appeared on some smartphones and tablets, but it didn't take long for YouTube videos to appear that showed the battery charge running down at an alarming speed. Flash on mobile devices was not good and it still isn't. It sort of works, but it doesn't work well.

So Steve Jobs was right, Flash has no place on mobile devices. However, it is hard to see why Flash couldn't have been made to work on mobiles and tablets. Some have fast dual core processors and lots of memory and future models will surely be even more powerful. Adobe just seems to have given up. Perhaps HTML5 and other technologies are simply better in the long run. That may be true, but there are a lot of websites right now using Flash that can't be accessed on mobile devices and it's irritating.

Is Siri a threat to Google?

2011-11-11T10:02:00.001Z

Siri is the voice controlled personal assistant on the new Apple iPhone 4S and there has been a lot of talk recently about the threat that it poses to Google. For example, there is Yes, Google, Siri is a serious threat, Siri, are you stealing searchers from Google?, How Siri will eat Google's lunch, and even Google's Eric Schmidt: Apple's Siri could pose a threat.

Does Siri really spell the end of everything for Google? Of course not. Siri is one app on one mobile phone and it is just a drop in the ocean when it comes to search. The mount of publicity the iPhone gets you would think that 90% of the world was using it and that anything it does will completely revolutionise the way the world works. The reality is that iPhone users are a very small minority of global mobile phone users and an even smaller percentage of the total searches occurring on a daily basis, most of which come from desktop and laptop computers and not iPhones.

This does not mean that Siri is insignificant and can be ignored and it could have quite a big effect on search, at least for Apple iPhone users. If you want to search for something, such as local businesses, pizza, cinemas and so on, an iPhone 4S user with Siri will simply speak into the phone. Siri will then go and look up the information you need and display or speak the results. The problem for Google is that Apple controls the whole process and decides which service to use to perform the search. Apple may not use Google search and it may use someone else's or even create its own. Google searches return a long list of results and these included sponsored links and adverts from which it earns money. Siri's results do not, so Google loses out.

However, Google is already losing out on searches on the iPhone anyway and if you want to locate local businesses, services, entertainment and other things, there are lots of apps that do that. Apps like Yelp, Qype, AroundMe, Thompsonlocal, Acrossair, Layer, Flixter, Booking.com, Voucher Cloud and many more are all available. When you want to find something you use these rather than using Google search anyway. Siri may pose a bigger threat to these apps and whether you want a pizza or a plumber you may simply ask Siri where the nearest one is. Who needs Yelp, Qype or AroundMe?

Don't forget that Google search is the default on Android phones and the Android market is growing at a phenomenal rate. Siri on just on the iPhone 4S and therefore isn't much of a threat. There just aren't enough users for it to make a difference. Even a few years down the line when all iPhones have Siri, it will still be just one one among a sea of Android devices all with Google search. Is Siri really that much of a threat?

Where is Apple going with OS X?

2011-11-06T15:17:00.000Z

First Apple introduced the Mac App Store as a one-stop shop where Mac users could purchase and download software, now there is sandboxing. What does this mean and where is Apple going with OS X?

Sandboxing is a programming term and it means that an application is limited in what it can access on the computer (or device). It can't delete files, it can't install and run other apps, it can't control other apps, it can't mess up your system. An app can only access its own files and private workspace. Sandboxing was created as a security feature that prevents malware and malicious apps from doing things they shouldn't. If an app can't access the rest of the system then it can't do any damage.

In some situations sandboxing is useful and if a web browser is run in a sandbox then any malware you come across on the web cannot damage or infect the computer because it can't access it.

Sandboxing is not useful in all cases though because it limits what an application can do. For example, suppose you want a utility that scans the disk searching for files. I recently looked at several of these and they are very useful. If these were limited to running in a sandbox then they would not have access to the system and they would not work. You want to find files fast on your Mac? Tough. (Spotlight does not find all files everywhere - it is a limited search facility.)

Another example is an FTP program. I use one to upload pages from my Mac to my websites. It would not work in a sandbox because it could not access any files apart from its own. iOS on the iPad and iPhone uses sandboxing and apps cannot access anything outside of their own workspace, except where iOS lets it - usually just the photos and videos. Install an FTP app on the iPad or iPhone and it is practically useless. If you have a note-taking app or an accounts program or some other app that saves files, just try loading those files into another app. You can't.

It is acceptable to have sandboxing on an iPhone because the apps you use are simple anyway, but a desktop computer is a completely different thing. Sandboxing may be secure, but the lack of freedom is very limiting and we might end up with only dumbed down apps that have limited functionality in the Mac App Store. Apps that do clever things by accessing the system, or adding extensions, plug-ins and add-ons, won't be possible.

Apple is forcing all apps in the Mac App Store to run in a sandbox. The deadline to implement this was originally November, but it has been extended to next March.

What is worrying is that this is yet another step towards the iOS way of thinking. The Mac/OS X has an app store like iOS. There are iOS-like features in OS X Lion. There is sandboxing of apps just like iOS. What is next?

I suspect that in the not too distant future Apple will decree that all apps for the Mac must be purchased and installed from the Mac App Store, just as with iOS. No apps will be installable from elsewhere. There are two reasons for doing this is and one is that Apple likes to keep control of everything, just as with iOS apps. Apple believes that if it controls what apps are available and what they can do, it will reduce user problems and user support because only approved apps will work.

another reason is the money and Apple takes a cut of every app sold in the Mac App Store. At the moment developers only put their software in it out of choice, but if every app for the Mac had to be purchased from there, just think of the revenue Apple would generate. It would get loads of money for doing very little, just as with iOS apps. I think this would be very tempting for Apple.

This scenario may work on the iPad and iPhone, but it is not one I would like on the Mac. I don't want to be limited to running only apps that Apple lets me run, I don't want apps to be limited to only functions that Apple says I can use, and I don't want Apple block useful apps I use just because it doesn't approve.

Get Magican for Apple Mac OS X

2011-11-01T10:07:00.000Z

It is useful to be able to monitor various aspects of the Mac, such as whether downloads or uploads are taking place and how fast, the amount of memory being used and the amount free, the disk space used and how much is left, how much CPU time an app is using, and so on. One day we may have hardware that is so powerful we don't need to worry about these things, but CPU power, memory, disk space and internet bandwidth are limited right now and this doesn't look set to change any time soon. The problem is even greater if you have an older Mac with lower specifications.

It is surprising that facilities aren't built into the operating system to do this. Of course, there is Activity Monitor in OS X, but when it is maximised the window is too big and when it is minimised there is too little information available. If only there was something in between, a small app that provides updates on the essential resources.

There are several utilities available and one that is worth a look is Magican. It is currently free, although I suspect that at some point in the future you'll have to pay for it. It's only version 0.9.53 at the moment, so maybe that's why it is free. Grab it while you can!

Once it is installed you will notice two things and the first is a menu bar icon. It only provides access to uninstall, preferences and quit though. The main feature is the mini toolbar in the bottom right corner of the screen.

In the screen shot it is showing the up and download speeds (nothing is using the internet at the moment), but clicking the icon at the right hand side shows CPU, GPU and disk temperatures. It can automatically alert you if they rise too much.

Mouse-over this mini toolbar and a small window pops up that displays either the top apps using the most memory or the most CPU. Move the mouse away and it disappears.

The icon at the left-hand side opens the full application window and this has six tabs that display a variety of information and provide access to various tools. Here is a snapshot of the Stat tab (click to zoom in):

This is great information and it is attractively presented too. You can see the disk space, temperatures, battery health, memory usage, CPU and network activity. There are subtabs too, showing processes, network and file activity.

The other tab icons in the toolbar access cleaning functions so you can erase caches and logs, unused languages and duplicate files. You can view installed applications, widgets, plug-ins and other items, and remove unwanted ones. You can view documents, movies and music, send items to the Trash or permanently delete them, and get information about your Mac.

This is a really nice app and it is well worth installing if you want to monitor your Mac and access cleanup functions. The only downside is that it uses more memory than I'd like for a system monitor - around 120Mb.

Is your webcam spying on you?

2011-10-28T10:30:00.001+01:00

There have been reports recently that it is possible for a web page to activate the webcam in a Mac computer in order to spy on you. Websites can certainly activate a webcam if you have one, such as the iSight camera that is built into iMacs and MacBooks and you may have used these facilities to take a photo or a video clip and post it on the web. You can do it at Facebook for example. However, they should not be able to do it without your knowledge or permission.

Do websites secretly activate the webcam and spy on you though? Is it possible to activate it without your knowledge?

Here is a link to the blog that highlighted the problem and another blog, and here are two demos of the security flaw: demo 1 and demo 2. I have to say that I can't get either of the demos to work, so maybe this security flaw has been fixed.

However, when one security hole is plugged, often another one opens up. We will just have to wait and see. It's not the first time I've heard of webcams being activated and it has been going on for years.

My advice: Never sit naked at your computer! You never know who might be watching!

What is the point of transparency?

2011-10-20T17:06:00.000+01:00

I wish programmers would stop using transparency. It is commonly used these days and Windows default desktop theme has transparent window borders, Lion on the Apple Mac has user interface elements that are semi transparent, and even Facebook uses transparency effects when you view a photo.

Semi transparent objects do not improve a user interface or make things easier to use. They make it harder. To see the effect of transparency, get a marker pen and write something on the window, then write something on a white piece of paper and compare the two. Which is easier to read? It's really hard to read what's on the window because you see right through it to the background. We don't use complete transparency in programs and user interfaces on computers and devices, and usually semi-transparent items are used. This isn't quite as bad, but it still makes things awkward to see.

It's a no-brainer, but programmers don't seem to understand this. It is a clever graphical effect that looks impressive when you first see it, but it just makes things harder to use. Graphical effects should only be used where they make things simpler and easier, and they are not to simply show off a programmer's skills.

Whenever possible I turn off transparency effects, but there often isn't the option to do this and we have to suffer the problem of trying to read text or view something when the background is showing through and confusing us.

Speed up Safari by 13% on the Mac

2011-10-19T13:52:00.000+01:00

Operating system updates tend to add more code and bloat to the system and they don't often result in increased speed. There are frequently bug fixes, security patches and the occasional new feature, but speed isn't usually a benefit. However, if you download and install the latest update to OS X Lion on the Mac you'll find that 10.7.2 includes an update to Safari that makes it 13% faster. Now that is a useful speed boost to the web browser.

Speed has become the focal point for all web browsers and all like to claim that theirs is faster than everyone else's. It often depends on which speed tests you run though. Safari's speed boost comes from an improved JavaScript engine that is 13% faster in Safari 5.1.1 than the previous 5.1. JavaScript is used a lot in web pages, especially for the more complex types of pages that include online applications, so it's a useful update.

In addition to the increased performance there have been many bug fixes and some improvements, such as better handling of video sharing websites like Vimeo. A much needed security update is the removal of .dmg and .pkg from the safe file types list. Safari used to download and automatically open these types of files and virus writers have taken advantage of this to install malware on the Mac. However, it is still better to disable auto-opening of all file types, not just these. Go to Safari, Preferences, General and clear the tick against Open safe files after downloading.

OS X 10.7.2 includes better support for iCloud, which is the replacement for MobileMe and you really need it to complete the transition from the old service. After updating the system you will be prompted to log in to iCloud by the new iCloud pane in System Preferences.

To get OS X 10.7.2 click Software Update on the Apple menu. Warning: It's huge, so you need a fast internet connection.

iTunes sync is too dumb

2011-10-14T10:09:00.001+01:00

I've just spent a frustrating hour or so with an iPhone, Mac and iTunes, although it could just as easily been an iPod Touch or iPad, Windows PC and iTunes. The common factor being iTunes. It lacks an intelligent sync facility and it's just too dumb.

Here is what often happens with my computer and iOS devices - an iPhone and iPad. I delete an app I no longer need on the iPhone, such as a game I either don't like or that I'm bored with after playing it to death. Some time later I plug it into my computer and sync. Some people never sync, but it's useful because it backs up the device among other things. However, iTunes keeps a copy of all the apps on the device on the computer and when you sync it sees a missing app on the device, the one that was deleted, and copies it across. So apps you have deleted reappear on the device and you have to delete them all over again!

That's irritating and especially so when they are big apps that use up a lot of space. The reverse can happen too and if you delete an app off the computer in the Apps section of iTunes, it is copied back from the device. To guarantee that an app really is deleted you need to delete it both on the device and in iTunes and then sync them.

It seems that the way iTunes sync works is to simply make both the computer and the device the same. If a file is missing on one, it is copied from the other, ignoring the fact that you deliberately deleted it. Sync could be more intelligent and file and folder sync utilities like Dropbox handle it properly. Delete a file on one computer and when you next use another computer with Dropbox it is deleted on there too, it doesn't get synced back to the original computer. That would be just dumb. iTunes does it though.

Another irritation is that some apps work on both the iPad and the iPhone. If I download an iPad app from the iTunes store, then sync the iPad it is copied across to the computer so both locations are the same. Now when I plug in my iPhone and sync it it sees an iPhone app that's on the computer, but not on the device, so it copies it across. I now have an iPad app on my iPhone.

Both devices are different and they are used in different ways. I have different apps on each device and I don't want iPad apps on my iPhone and vice versa. For example, I have a sat-nav app on my iPhone, but because it also runs on the iPad it was copied to it when I synced. I don't use sat-nav on my iPad though and so I had to delete the app.

It would be useful if each iOS device could be treated separately so that each has its own apps. They shouldn't be copied from one to another unless specifically requested. iTunes isn't completely dumb though and after copying an app from one device to the other, if it is then deleted it stays deleted. It's just that initial sync and iTunes syncs it because it is a new purchase. There are settings to turn off automatic syncing of new apps, but that's not what is needed, it's auto syncing of apps purchased on one device with another device. Is there a setting for that? I've not seen it.

What's the big deal with iMessage on the iPhone?

2011-10-11T10:27:00.000+01:00

I've just been reading an article on Apple Insider about iMessage, a new messaging service that is built into iOS 5. It's called "Apple's free iMessage expected to undermine carriers' high-profit SMS business." It's like Apple just invented instant messaging. Can this really be true? Are there no instant messaging apps for the iPhone?

A quick search at Google turned up plenty of references to instant messaging apps and How to instant message on an iPhone was written in 2007. That's how long instant messaging has been around! A more recent article is Top 5 instant messenger apps for iPhone which was written earlier this year. So what's the big deal with iMessage?

Well, iMessage should be superior to other instant messenger apps because Apple makes the OS and iMessage is integrated more closely with it. It will have access to features and functions that are off limits to other third party apps. So expect a really cool app with some great features when iOS 5 finally becomes available for download.

No matter how good it is though, it is limited to iOS devices and when you have lots of friends with other types of phones you still need a mobile phone contract with a good text message allowance. Perhaps mobile phone contracts are different here in the UK than the US, but for most people here texting isn't really an issue. Contracts typically bundle hundreds or even thousands of texts a month, so it costs nothing extra to send or receive them. It's quick, easy, cheap, and every phone has it. (Even if you're on a pre-pay pay-as-you-go tariff, it's free to receive texts, which I think is different in some other parts of the world.)

iMessage will be useful only if all or most of your friends, relatives and business contacts have iPhones, but this is rarely the case. It's about as much use as FaceTime, which is another Apple app that's limited to iOS devices (and the Mac in this case though). I use Skype because it runs on anything. It does instant messaging too, so I can call iPhones, Android phones, desktop computers, tablets - anyone, anywhere, on any device.

I'll be upgrading to iOS 5 when it becomes available (not long to wait now), but iMessage won't get a lot of use on my iPhone and I don't think my mobile phone service provider will be worried. If I do use it, it just means less bandwidth used on their system and this will benefit them if anything.