Backing up a file

When you are running a backup on iTunes you are basically making sure that the files in your iOS device are copied into your computer’s hard drive. It is a one way transfer from one device to another. You can back up your calendar, music, video and pictures through iTunes so that in a situation where you lose the portable device, you can always recover those files from your desktop.

Backing up is very much a necessity. You should backup very few weeks. You can set iTunes to automatically backup any time you plug the handset.

Syncing your files

When it comes to syncing you can see it as a form of backup too but it is more like a real time backup where every new file that is added to your handset is automatically added to the the backup through the cloud without you having to lift a finger. But it doesn’t stop there. The advantage of syncing is that you can sync more than one device to the same files stored. So that once the songs on your iPhone have been synced on iTunes, you can set your iPad to get synced to that and you will be able to listen to your songs on the tablet device too or any other device that has been synced. All handsets synced are updated with respect to any changes that takes place on the stored files.

By syncing all your Apple devices you can be sure that your apps, bookmarks, book and audio content on each mobile handset will be the same. And if you lose any of your gadgets you can recover your files on the other one. And even in the weird scenario where a thief came to steal your house and took all your Apple devices, you should still be able to download it back from iCloud.

For the sake of protection it is advice to always encrypt your backups, especially if you intend to sync it with the cloud. A sneaky hacker can always find his way into your online backup but if they are encrypted He will not be able to open them up. Make sure to use a long password when encrypting the files.

You also want to read this: How to protect your iPhone and iPad backup by encrypting the files

The advantage of relying on the Skype app instead of FaceTime is that you can chat with people who do not necessarily own an Apple device. Skype is very much used on other smartphones, tablets and desktops.

If you were on a desktop it would be quite easy to record a call on Skype using any of the desktop recording software available. With the iPad and iPhone the process is a little bit different.

How to record

The are 2 main choices available. You can rely on the in-built recorder app on the iOS device or if you prefer you can also download any other recording app from the App Store and use it. Basically all you have to do is call your online friend on Skype and the minimize the app then switch to the in-built audio recorder. Remember to hit the record button.

You might also want to read this: Yahoo Acquires Video Chat Company OnTheAir as Mayer Sets Sights on Google

In case you want to make sure you don’t lose any word in the conversation, it would be better to first launch the recording app and then switch to Skype afterward.

Quick Voice app

As mentioned earlier there is already an in-built app on the iPad to record voice but if you want to try another one then I would recommend Quick Voice. It is completely free and allows to record your online conversation for any duration. The disadvantage of this app is that you will have to be keep it in the foreground when running it and audio files bigger than 5 MB can not be transfered to another device.

If you are in a situation where you absolutely need the Skype app to be in the foreground you can use Voice Recorder or Audio Memos. Those are also excellent apps but they do not come for free. They don’t cost that much anyway and they come with no limitations

If you want to also take note while listening to the call, apps like Evernote and Notes Plus can be installed. With the Evernote app you can rely on the in-built keyboard to jot down the note. There are other apps that will also allow you to draw anything you want in freehand mode.

Remember, when you are using an app to record your conversation, avoid using earphones or it may only record your side of the conversation. The fact is it will not hear the voice from the person on the other side. Take note of that.

The Facebook director of small business, Dan Levy, said that the vast majority of advertisers on the platform are actually small businesses. He announced the milestone in the New York’s office of the social network during an event.

He added that the feedback they’ve been getting from most businesses is to make the process much simpler. Those businesses might be the reason for which Facebook announced a plan to slash down the number of ad products in order to improve the process the advertisers go through to submit their ad.

Last May, Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg revealed that 16 million small businesses were representing themselves on the social network through Facebook pages. She added that there is room for improvement. Levy noted during the event that the progression to the status of advertiser usually starts as a normal Facebook user who will then launch his business pages and eventually start promoting them through advertising.

The social giant intends to release video ad product but at the last minute it decided to push it to later, probably until the fall.

For the meantime if you are not satisfied with putting your adverts on the right side of the page you may also want to try the promoted post ad. With a business page it can still be a struggle to get your message across through the news feed. Facebook has engineered an algorithm that favors the post it considers interesting and leaves the rest.

To make sure your post has more chances of getting seen you should be willing to pay to get that post promoted. At least the process to share a promoted post is not that complicated. You just have to share a post the usual way and once posted, click on the “Promote” at the bottom of the post. You can then select your preferred audience and set the budget you are willing to spend.

Promoted posts have worked for many people. A typical example is the case of Galen Ward, the co-founder of a real estate search engine. He used the strategy to promote an article from his blog and it went viral. With a $100 budget he was able to attract 8,500 likes to his Facebook page and that brought thousands of visitors to his website. The post was also set to target only Seattle sport fans who have an interest in Seahawks.

Most small businesses can’t afford to put their adverts on TV but certainly can take advantage of the advertising platform that Facebook has turned into. It has worked for many businesses and it will certainly work for you.

You might also want to read this: Internet Ad revenues: record breaking annual growth according to IAB

Audio monitors have become very popular and parent rely on it to keep an eye on their baby, at least they can hear whatever is going on in the crib even when their eyes are not set on it. There are also new gadgets coming in that you can rely on to keep a close eye on your baby.

There are new baby gadgets that do not only detect sound but also motion. You certainly don’t need to be aware of every single movement or sound your child makes so you can always set the device to alert you when there might be a real problem.

Oma+

A sleeping baby doesn’t have to move much but at least his tummy has to move every few seconds. That is the sign that he is breathing. With the Oma+ monitor you can be there at the right time should the tummy stop moving within a certain amount of time. Usually within a minute if the device does not record any movement it will sound an alert for you to check out what is going on. The device fits easily on the diaper

SafeToSleep Breathing Monitor

Another device used to monitory the breathing habits of the baby. This time you will not need to include it on the diaper. It is basically some sort of electronic mat on which the mother can just lie her child. With her smartphone she will then get a report on the sleeping habits of her newborn. This is an easy way to monitor a child.

Owlet Baby Monitor

This is a wireless device that the parents will have to make the baby wear. It’s like a smart sock that will be put on the new born’s foot. It tracks movement, heart rate, oxygen level and body temperature. All that information will be sent to your mobile device via bluetooth.

Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitor

Another motion sensing mat on which you can lay your child. It tracks sounds, movements too but this time you will not need your smartphone to receive the information. The device comes with its own “Parental Monitoring” unit, which includes a digital display showcasing everything it is measuring.

BabySense Movement Monitor

Here is another sensor padded mat that is good for monitoring movement. You place the sensor atop the mattress and it measures motion. In the case of this device, the breathing and heart rate are not accounted for. It only takes note of body movement. If the baby does not move for a certain period of time, the parents are alerted.

You can have a good night sleep when you know that your newborn is been monitored. This technology will really make life easier for you.

You might also want to read this: Marissa Mayer shares her story on how Yahoo got her in

With RDP Lite you should be able to work on your computer through Wi-Fi connectivity using your iOS device. You can rely on this app to connect to your PC and see files, programs and other resources just as if you were sitting in front of it. The only inconvenience might be that your screen is much smaller but that aside it is still a pleasure to control your PC from the distance. But first you will need to set up Windows in a way that it can be access through a network.

Setup Windows to Access Desktop Connections:

If you are using Windows 7 or Vista you will have to enable the Remote Control feature first. The next step will be to locate the “My Computer” icon and right click on it. In the list of options you will be presented with, you will see “Properties” at the bottom. Click on that. Another window will pop up with different tabs. Select the Remote tab and under it you can select the level of security you want.

If you are using Windows XP, just like above go and right click on “My Computer” and get to the Remote tab. At that point you will have to make sure the option for “Allow users to connect remotely to this computer” is checked. It is important that you check that because you will not be able to connect the iPhone app if that option is not checked.

Once your PC is ready you can now move to your handset.

Installing and Setting up RDP Lite

RDP lite is free so you should be able to install it the usual way via the App Store or iTunes. After installing the app look at the Menu and hit the Edit connections options. That is where you enter the IP of the machine in your network that you are trying to connect to.

Mind you, the screen on the handset is quite small but you can change the display option. So try each of them and stick to the one that you are comfortable with. You can access as many machines as you want so far as you have their IP. The display settings for each machine will be saved separately.

From that point on it should be easy to look inside your PC even when you are on the bed.

You might also want to read this: Control all the electronic devices in your room using gestures

Restart your iOS device

The first assumption is that something went wrong on the device itself and hopefully with a simple restart you might be able to resolve it. To restart, just keep one finger on the on/off button for some few seconds until you see a red slider show on the screen. Use your finger to slide it to the right and you will see your phone go off. Press on the on/off button again and the handset will restart.

Reboot the router

If you don’t get anything working after restarting your phone you might also want to restart the router. Some routers do not come with an on/off button so you just have to unplug it and plug it back for it to reboot. In case you are a bit technical, you can also pass through the admin page to restart the router. In most cases you will need to go to 192.168.1.1 on the browser.

After rebooting both devices you might also want to check the settings on both.

Dealing with the Settings on the handset

Restart the Wi-Fi on your mobile device by going to Settings > Wi-Fi. There you can toggle it off and back on.

You can also choose to temporarily disconnect from your home network. To do that navigate to Settings > Wi-Fi and tap the blue arrow next to the name of your home Wi-Fi. On the next screen tap on “Forget this Network”. If there are other Wi-Fi networks available, try to connect to them and see what happens. This can help you figure out whether the problem is from your own network or not.

You may also choose to reset the network on your phone by going to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

Dealing with settings on your router

If you suspect that the problem might come from the router you can try changing the Wi-Fi channel settings. Also check on the manufacturer’s website if there is no firmware upgrade. Remember that as you keep updating your handset you may also need to update your router.

You might also want to read this: Safari bookmarks disappear on your iOS device

The problem is iPhones are quite expensive gadgets and not everybody can afford to buy one for each carrier he wants to try. Each phone network may offer advantages that every phone owner may want to tap into. It is much more economical to just buy several SIM cards from each of the network and use them on the same device by swapping them. But first you will have to unlock the handset.

There are 2 main ways to get your phone unlock. You can either rely on a software that will hack and unlock your phone or you can request for you carrier to unlock it for you. The easiest way will probably be to simply request for your carrier to do it for you but the condition for that is the contract you have with the network should have expired first. If you are in a hurry you might want to rather rely on software unlock.

Getting the phone officially unlock

By requesting an official unlock from your service provider your phone’s IMEI number is recorded into Apple’s database. The IMEI is like the fingerprint of your handset and once it ends up in Apple’s database sn unlocked you can be sure that you can use the device with any other SIM card without any problem.

The main benefits of officially unlocking the phone is

• You don’t need to personally have any technical knowledge
• It works in 100% of the cases
• no hacking required
• the handset will never switch back to locked again
• the warranty of the device is not void through this method

If you don’t want to directly ask your carrier to officially unlock the handset, you can also pass through other unlocking services. There is a fee involved with that but again your phone will be officially unlocked.

Unlocking the phone using a software

This is for those who can’t wait 2 years. Keep in mind that there are disadvantage involved with software unlock. It doesn’t always work with the latest iPhone. Also after an update, the handset may switch back to it locked status. Aside that if you end up with any technical problem you cannot request for assistance from any customer service. You are trying it at your own risk.

There are many softwares that can be used to unlock an iPhone. The one that we recommend is UltraSn0w. It only works on older hardware but the development team behind it usually comes up with updates quite often. Depending on the iPhone model you might have to use a different trick. Just do a search online with the name of the phone model you have and you will get details on how to unlock it with UltraSn0w.

You might also want to read this: How to protect your iPhone and iPad backup by encrypting the files

This new information was revealed by the The New York Times. The new magazine was able to obtain newly leaked documents that gave more details on how Yahoo ended up becoming part of PRISM, the National Security Agency program that allows the government to retrieve and store information from foreign users by scanning servers of big companies like Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft.

It is not clear how Yahoo managed to challenge the court order because the information provided is not detailed enough. A part of it is still classified. For now the information available is provided by only 2 sources. The sources that were able to provide this type of information are the New York Times and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) Review which published a heavily redacted order online in a PDF file dated August 22, 2008. In the document the ruling did not specify the name of the company that challenged the order but the Times has sources that confirmed it was Yahoo.

The challenge started between 2007 and 2008 when the tech giant refused to comply with a law passed after 9/11. Under the Protect America Act, big online companies were requested to allow certain government agencies to acquire foreign intelligence information with respect to any person believed to be outside the country. Later that law was incorporated into FISA.

Yahoo made mention of the 4th Amendment when arguing that the order was unconstitutional and for any agency to be provided with that type of information, it was mandatory that a warrant had to be presented. The FISC confirmed the order but Yahoo’s motion was dismissed. Nonetheless the company wouldn’t easily give up on the issue and requested a review. Unfortunately while awaiting the review, it was forced to give away its servers data.

At the end, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review ruled against Yahoo as well under the claim that the company had to make an exception for the sake of America’s national security. The court argued that the order did not present any evidence of actual harm or broad potential for abuse. The judges argued that the order involved the acquisition of foreign intelligence that can help protect national security. They recognized that the government was particularly interested in that information.

So the final decision was that efforts made by the government to protect national security should not be frustrated by the court. Currently Yahoo denies any involvement with PRISM, just like the other online companies

You might also want to read this: Indeed the NSA is tapping into internet and phone records through Verizon

It is going to be much more difficult to differentiate between fake and original products when buying online. Amazon or eBay cannot guarantee the quality of the product. Even if you decide to avoid extremely cheap cases and buy from sellers that have excellent reviews, there is still a chance that you receive a counterfeit product.

How to avoid fake phone cases

1. If you want to buy online then preferably buy from the case manufacturer’s website. In most cases the recognized brands have their own website where they sell their products. No need to go to Amazon or eBay. On the manufacturer’s site you may also get a list of their authorized resellers. If those resellers happen to live in a area closer to your neighborhood, you can also decide to buy from them.

2. There are credible retailers who would usually make sure that no fake products end up on the shells. You can try Best Buy or Wal-Mart by going to their site or visit their store.

3. You probably already know that if the product is too cheap, it is probably not worth it.

4. As mentioned above, the fact that a seller on eBay are Amazon has a good rating doesn’t necessarily imply that he is selling original cases. Sometimes, just by carefully looking at the picture showcased you might see some slight differences compared to the real one. If you know exactly what you are looking for, you will not be easily deceived by what they are trying to portray on their pictures.

When buying from a store

Maybe you are the type that still prefers to enter a retail store to purchase gadgets. That is still a good idea considering that the net is not as safe as we want it to be. In this situation there are other detail you will have to pay attention to.

1. Look for the holographic sticker. It is a 3D image that reflects light in a certain pattern when held in a certain angle. Note that not all brands include holographic stickers but if you happen to see one on the box, it is a good sign.

2. Look for typing mistakes. Those who focus on producing fake products don’t usually take the time to get everything right. They are only interested in producing an item while it is still hot and sell it quickly. That is why there are usually many typos on the box made for fake products. Just one typo is enough for you to conclude that it is a fake. Pay attention to the quality of the printing too. If the printed letters are a little bit blur, it is a knockoff.

If you suspect anything at all, don’t bother to buy. Only invest in something you are sure is good quality.

You might want to read this too: Top 5 Fashion Covers for your iPhone

Computer scientists from the University of Washington have developed a technology based on gesture-recognition that brings up something close enough to the scenarios mentioned above. They have shown it is possible to take advantage of the Wi-Fi signals that are already around us and transmit specific movement without needing to put sensors on the body of a person.

By relying on a Wi-Fi router that is adapted for the scenario in combination with other wireless devices in the living room, a person should be able to control all the electronics and household appliances in their home irrespective of the room they happen to be in. They just have to use simple gestures.

This is just like using the wireless signal that is already in our homes and re-purposing it for something else. Shyam Gollakota, a lead researcher involved in this project mentioned that this wireless technology can actually be used for gesture recognition without having to add any more sensors.

The findings of the study was published this week by the UW research team. They named the technology “WiSee”. It is to make its first appearance at the The 19th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking.

If you own an Xbox, this technology might remind you of the Kinect. But this is much cheaper, much simpler and you don’t have to be in the same room as the device you are trying to control. Kinect relies on camera to pick up your gestures so it is necessary to be in the room where you want to operate. WiSee relies on Wi-Fi signals. So the same way all your computers connect through your Wi-Fi router without having to be in your room, you can also tap on that to send your commands everywhere in your house.

Basically, the way it works is through a built in “smart” receiver designed by the UW researchers for which the role is to listen to all the electronic devices which are Wi-Fi enabled. That includes smartphones, laptops and tablets. Standard Wi-Fis can also be adapted to act as receivers.

When a person moves in a environment where there is a Wi-Fi signal, the wireless signal goes under slight changes in frequency and the receiver can detect these changes that are referred to as the Doppler frequency shift. These frequency changes are relatively small compared to Wi-Fi signals that operate at magnitudes 1000 times higher. What the researchers did is to just develop an algorithm that detects the slight changes. Then they just had to create a situation where the receiver could now interpret simple body gestures. Currently it can pick up 9 whole body gesture ranging from pulling, pushing and punching. Tests have shown that WiSee is 94% accurate.

By the time this product hits the market it will be the first whole-home gesture recognition system that will not require the user to buy many different hardware to install in each room.

You might also want to read this: Use flutter to control your computer without touching it the mouse

Anytime somebody buys a drink at Evr he makes Charlie Shrem a little bit richer. Charlie Shrem is the co-owner of the Evr bar which is located in midtown Manhattan and it accepts Bitcoins for transactions. The reason for that has nothing to do with the fact that chamomile sour costs 0.16 BTC ($17). The reality is when somebody uses Bitcoin, the value of the currency tends to increase. The more the demand rises for the digital currency the higher the price goes. Shrem started investing in the cryptocurrency in 2011 when he bought thousands of it for $20 each. Since then the value of the digital coin has moved up to $109.

Shrem is now 23 years old and now a millionaire just because he was one of the handful of early Bitcoin investors who believed in the new cryptocurrency. They started their own company and invested in others.

In an interview with journalists, Shrem said that they need to continue building infrastructures like financial software, payment products and exchange facilities in order to turn this currency mainstream. Aside from investing in his bar, Shrem founded Bitinstant, a company who offers individuals the ability to buy bitcoins at 7-eleven and Kmart. He is also a member of BitAngels. BitAngel is an investment group that was founded this year with the goal of helping any startup that has to do with the cryptocurrency to evolve from the garage operation to a status where it can be seen as a real company.

Shrem might be a Bitcoin Angel but his pocket is not as deep as the entrepreneur-turned-investors who had their success at Silicon Valley. Among those you can count people like Vinod Khosla and Steve Case. Their net worth is estimated to be more than $1 billion. That said the heavy billionaires have not yet shown a keen interest in the subject and might invest something substantial just to see how things progress. As the conventional investors begin to show interest in the digital currency they will have to rely on the experience of small tycoons like Shrem who now acts as an ambassador for it.

He said that the early guys are in most cases those who run the show. In this digital world, how long you’ve been around counts.

The first businesses that decided to try bitcoin gave it a chance out of pure curiosity. The currency was first accepted in gambling sites, a farm that specialized in the sale of alpaca socks and narcotics delivery services. But Shrem and other entrepreneurs who believed in it started thinking ahead to try to find a way to turn it mainstream so they created a company that can as much as possible comply with the laws of the state.

You might also want to read this: Why so much noise about Bitcoin?

The reason why they believe in this currency is that the number of bitcoins to be created is limited to a maximum of 21 million. So far 11.3 million have been mined. This implies that the more people continue to buy this currency the greater the value. The CEO of Bitpay, Anthony Gallippi said one key reason why early adopters of the digital coin are reinvesting in it is to make sure they get more profit as the value rises. Bitpay is an Atlanta based company that specializes in helping other companies receive bitcoin payments.

Gallipi added that dynamic that took place during the dot-com days cannot compare to what is happening with bitcoin. He claims that he and his business partner Stephen Pair now own thousands of bitcoins that they purchased at a time it cost only $1 to $2. He reasons that even now it is still profitable for a person to buy one bitcoin as the value still increases.

The success that the digital currency has had with its early adopters has attracted interest from mainstream venture capitalists. For example, just last May, Shrem’s company received an investment of $1.5 million from a firm that belonged to the Winklevoss twins (the twins the sued Mark Zuckerberg claiming that he copied their original idea of Facebook). That aside Facebook’s first major investor, Peter Thiel, through his venture fund invested $3 million in Bitpay.

The serious investments now coming in the way of bitcoin is a sign that the cryptocurrency is getting endorsed by key players. But according to Roger Ver, one of the early investors to the currency, it is not yet clear what that implies for the future. The entrepreneur now 34 admitted investing his life savings into the currency and the profit he has made from it allow him to invest over $1 million in more than a dozen of other Bitcoin startups including Shrem’s bar. He wrote in an email from Tokyo that typically he would invest around $100 000 at a time. He added that he is motivated by the way the use of the digital currency has been positively accepted and how it turns the world into a better place.

Like many early enthusiasts of the new currency, Ver who spent 10 months in prison because he sold fireworks on eBay, was attracted to Bitcoin because he didn’t want the government to put its nose in his business. He believes if the new currency replaces the old national ones it could get to the point where the government can’t finance their wars by simply printing money.

Ver’s view of the arrival of mainstream investor into the Bitcoin economy is that it could turn it to something a lot less idealistic. Their involvement with the new currency might boost its political and economic implications but he thinks they will just not understand how revolutionary Bitcoin is.

This is why encrypting your backup files becomes so important. Here is how it is done.

Start iTunes on your computer. Preferable launch the software before connecting the phone. Once the app has fully launched you can plug in your handset through a working USB cable.

On the iTunes window you should now look and the left menu bar and should see under the DEVICES, the name of your handset if it is properly connected. Click on your phone.

In most case when you click on the handset icon, the window on the right should show you the summary tab. If you notice another tab is open click on the summary tab. You will see 3 different sections. The upper one talks about the information related to the handset itself. It includes the name of your device and its capacity. The second section talks about the version of the iOS you are using and the last time it was updated.

The last section is what we are interested in, that is the “Options” section. There you will notice many check boxes that will allow you to choose how you want your files to be synced. The last check box says “Encrypt (Device) backup”. That is the box you are interested in. You will have to check that box to encrypt your files. By encrypting your backup files it will now be necessary to provide a password to be able to unlock it. The implication is anybody that succeeds in copying the backup will note be able to access the files inside. So make sure to use and really long, difficult to guess password just to make sure nobody can get the information hidden in your backup.

You may also delete all the older backup files that were not encrypted if you know they are already included in your newest backup. If you can also sync the backup files to the cloud, all the better. You have a double guarantee that you just can’t lose it.

You might also want to read this: Sync not working: “Session could not be started with iPhone” iTunes error fix

Here are the many useful functions of the app

• Notability gives you the ability to either type your notes or hand-write it and that includes the auto correction feature.
• If you are not that fast at typing you might rely on the record feature and add some few descriptions to it as the recording progresses.
• With the auto backup function you are sure that your notes will never get lost because you can keep them safe on iTunes and even sync them with other Apple devices.
• You can also import PDF files on to it. Not only you can read the document but you can also annotate it. Not all note taking apps have this feature.
• It so easy to organize your notes using Notability. You can organize the notes according to the subject, the day, and the category. For example you can put notes related to math under one folder but that folder can be subdivided according to the days in which they were taken or you can choose to put geometry in a different category while trigonometry in another.
• With the camera on the iPad you can take pictures and insert it in the notes.
• When you are done you can then export your notes in a PDF format

The advantage of using the stylus in Notability

• You can always choose between the many highlighter colors available. You can also choose their size.
• With the zoom box available that you can rely on it to write smaller letter and still keep them neat. You don’t need to worry about your handwriting no matter how bad it may be. The program make sure to pick up the stylus well so the writing remains readable.
• You also have many types of papers you can choose from. There are 15 different colors available and the users can choose between plain, lined or grid paper.
• With the stylus you are not only allowed to write but you can even draw geometrical shapes or even biological diagrams like the eye or the kidney.

Conclusion

Apple has recognized Notability as one of the Top 25 apps in the store. It goes for $1.99 which is a bargain considering all the features it has to offer. The fact is, taken notes with the iPad is much more fan and convenient compared to relying on a paper and pen. You save a lot of time. It is indeed worth the investment. Notability is for those who want to make their lives easy.

You might also want to read this: 5 customized iPad mods for different purposes

If you look at the graph below it shows the relation between the workload on the brain and the ability of the person to pay attention. OSPAN stands for Operation Span for subject that were put under highest level of distraction having to solve a math equation and memorize at the same time.

To put this graph in context you you need to take into consideration the fact that another study was already done by the National Safety Council showing that the reaction time of driver speaking on the phone was slower than if they took an amount of alcohol that was considered to be legally OK.

But with the AAA study the distraction brought about by speech-to-text communication is even worse in comparison. The study doesn’t even mention the Operation Span when those drivers try to text manually while on the road, that would have been much worse. Indeed other statistics have shown that trying to text while driving is comparable to driving while blindfolded.

When it comes to car infotainment most people rely on navigation system and music playing from their smartphone, but that is just the beginning. Car companies are getting to that point where they are now trying to integrate voice assistants like Siri and speech recognition apps to the vehicle. But according the study from AAA this is only going to change the road into a much more dangerous place. The conclusion based n the data obtained suggest that if customers should rush into acquiring these cars that offers a voice based interaction between the users and the vehicle, there will be unintended consequences affecting safety on the road.

The research emphasized on the fact that distractions that takes the drivers eyes away from the road are one of the key areas of concern. Those who have developed the habit of taking their hands off the wheel are much more in danger. There is another form of distraction referred to cognitive distraction where the driver’s eye mays seem to look at the road but his mind is somewhere else.

The president of AAA who is also the CEO of the foundation, Robert Darbelnet, referred to the increase in text-to-speech integration into vehicles a “a looming public safety crisis ahead.”. On the website he called for action. His suggestion is to limit the number of distracting technologies that are getting their way into cars. It is important to re-educate the public for it to understand that hands-free doesn’t necessarily mean risk-free.

Navigation systems in cars, even though can help users find their way, have to be used with caution and preferable while the car is stopped. Now that text-to-speech is becoming fashion nowadays drivers might feel like their car is even safer but that might not be the case. Soon, with Siri integrated, some users should be able to browse their Facebook news feed and read their email while driving. That shouldn’t be the way forward. The public will have to be educated about the risk involved.

You might also want to read this: An Augmented Reality 3D-Tracking App to Help You Fix Your Car

There is a short term solution to that

If you are in a hurry to check a particular page that doesn’t seem to open properly you may have to rely on the private browsing. To enable private mode go to Settings > Safari > Private Browsing. There, you just have to toggle the feature on. When browsing in this mode, there are no cookies or history saved for you. You are basically browsing anonymously and because no cookies are having any effect, you should be able to open the pages as if it was the first time you were opening them on your browser.

The long term fix

You will notice that with the new version of Safari, certain old Settings are not available, they have been replace by other Settings. For example when it comes to cookies, you now have to tap on Settings >Safari >Accept Cookies and there you can now change it to either “From visited” or “Always”. This helps determine how you want the app to take in new cookies.

To get rid of the websites’ history and cookies, if the usual method doesn’t work, you will have to go to Settings> Safari > Advanced > Website Data. There you have to hit the button for “Remove All Web Site Data”. That button will be at the bottom of the screen.

Another method that some users suggest to tried has to do with the Date and Time. You can shift the Date one year ahead and try browsing again. To do that go to Settings > General > Date & Time. Once there, Toggle “Set Automatically” off. You will see another option appearing at the bottom giving you the chance to set the date manually. Press on it and change the date. After checking your browser, if this trick works you can now change the time back to the actual one.

For professionals in the field there is another option. By connecting your handset to a Mac computer you can use the Developer menu to inspect and look through whatever is wrong with the browser and possibly clear out the cache if that is what yo want. If you are not used to doing that, it is preferable not to try it at all.

You might also want to read this: iOS: Safari freezes, fix

For once Apple users can enjoy the coolest, prettiest keyboard that can last for long. It is a bluetooth keyboard made of aluminum that can be used for any iOS device and even tablets from other manufacturers like HP or Samsung. The key caps, bottom cover and face are molded with polycarbonate plastic that makes it look beautifully good.

Whenever you want to type, the keys can be elevated from inside the gadget and there are lights coming from the background that illuminate the letters. So even in the dark you can type without any problem. When the keys are not in used the backlighting goes off and they are withdrawn from the face of the electronic device moving backward. It is like the letters disappear making the equipment look like just a nice black rectangle.

There is a kickstand included in the whole package the user can rely on to make sure that the iOS device he is using can be kept at an angle between 20° to 30°. Because each mobile device has its own thickness this angle can be adjusted accordingly. For being only 12.5 mm thick this is the best keyboard for traveling. It fits perfectly in your bag.

The designer behind this product, James Stumpf, came up with an idea to create a portable keyboard with collapsible keys. The feature is a game changer because one can finally say goodbye to sticky keys based on the fact that dirt cannot get stuck in the crevices. Also it is impossible for those keys to be accidentally pressed when inside the bag.

Whenever the user is ready to type he just has to press one button and the the keys are magically raised with the back light turned on. The gadget is relatively versatile since it can work for other tablets but the designer did focus on coming up with something that is as compatible as possible with iPad. That is why you will notice on it 5 different iPad specific buttons including the Home button trigger.
There is one potential weakness that is found on the Levitatr. That could be a deal breaker. The engineers who worked on it decided to integrated it with the 4 AAA type battery. It is not a keyboard that you can just charge like your iPhone or iPad. The implication is you may have to buy those batteries every once in a while unless you have the rechargeable type. Of course there are certain AAA batteries that are really durable so you will have to also make the investment for that if you want to enjoy the Levitatr keyboard.

In case your bluetooth doesn’t seem to work, you need to read this: Bluetooth not working on iPhone or iPad, how to fix

Before trying any complicated stuff you need to check that your Wi-Fi is really working. Maybe your network went off as the app was trying to update itself. So check that your Internet connection is fine. Then restart your handset by holding on the on/off button for a few seconds until the slider comes. You just have to slide it in the right direction for the phone to go off. Then you can press on the same button to restart it.

If a simple restart doesn’t work out try a reset. To reset the phone you will have to keep one finger on the on/off button while you keep another one on the home button for some few seconds. Even if the slider shows up, don’t pay attention to it. Wait until the Apple logo appears before you can release the buttons. As the phone restarts your problem should be solved.

Removing and re-installing the app

If after a reset, if the problem doesn’t seem to be solved you can also choose to remove the problematic app and reinstall it. To do that, tap on Home button twice for the list of apps in the background to show up. Press and hold one finger on the app that is malfunctioning until you see it wiggle. Then an X button will appear on the upper left corner of the icon. When you hit that button, the app will be removed.

You can then go back to the App Store, look for that same application and try to install it the same way you previously did. If this trick doesn’t work, keep reading.

Solving the problem from the App Store

A user by the pseudonym of Yakimadude proposed a solution that worked for him in one of the Apple forums.

Go to the App Store and search for the app that is not properly updating. You will notice that the icon for that particular app will have a progress bar on it and it says “Installing”. Tap on that icon and it will return you to the location of the app on your phone. Tap the icon of that stuck app in your phone and this time the status is supposed to change to “Waiting”. After some few seconds you will see it change to Downloading and then Installing.

If everything goes well the app will finally install and you can use it.

You might also want to read this: Common iOS 6 iPhone 5 problems & bugs, How to troubleshoot and fix

Have you heard of Infoencrypt. That is the tool you need. A free tool that will garble up every message you send and make it unreadable to any other third person except that person the message was intended to. To have an idea of how it is, take a look below.

As you can see, the interface is quite simple. You are given the space where you type your message and below that you are required to enter a password to encrypt it. Let’s suppose for example that you wrote some few words and you encrypted it. Here is what comes back after encryption.

You can see the text has been encoded is completely changed into something else that is completely unreadable. This is the text that you are supposed to send your your recipient. Just copy and paste it into an email and send. Even the person to whom you send that encrypted message will not be able to read it unless he has your password.

He will have to take the encoded message back ton infoencrypt and type your password for the website to reconvert the text to something that is readable. So it is now up to you to make sure he receives the secret password. This should be something you would have sent to him through another mean. Remember the reason why you chose to encrypt your message is because you suspect that a third party has been reading it so it wouldn’t be a smart idea to send the password for the encrypted message through email. The best would be to hand over the password when you meet face to face. Not even on the phone.

The encryption is very effective due to the fact that there is no one-for-one character substitution. It is not like one can guess that all H letters should be replace by P or the number 2 should be replace by Z. One character in this type of encryption can actually stand for multiple other characters simultaneously. Even when counting the number of letters found in the encrypted text it doesn’t match the one in the original text. You cannot hope for a better way to keep your messages secured.

Remember that in this scenario the security of your message is totally depended on the password so make sure to pick one that is extremely difficult to guess. It should be at least 8 characters long, contain numbers and letters, some of which should be in capital. Don’t use the same password for all your encrypted messages, Keep changing them and never send the password for an encrypted message through email.

You might also want to read this: 10 social networks where you won’t lose your private life