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Networking

Wi-Fi Issues Continue For OS X Users Despite Updates 120

Posted by Soulskill from the no-motivation-to-fix dept.
itwbennett writes: Although Apple has never officially acknowledged issues surrounding Yosemite and Wi-Fi connectivity, the company is clearly aware of the problem: Leading off the improvements offered in the update 10.10.2 update released Tuesday was 'resolves an issue that might cause Wi-Fi to disconnect,' according to the release notes. Despite this, Apple's support forum was filled with tales of frustrated users. And Mac owners aren't the only Apple users experiencing wireless connection failures after updating their OS. Wi-Fi connectivity issues have also dogged iOS 8 since Apple released the mobile OS on Sept. 17.
Youtube

YouTube Ditches Flash For HTML5 Video By Default 225

Posted by Soulskill from the now-if-they-can-ditch-the-commenters dept.
An anonymous reader writes: YouTube today announced it has finally stopped using Adobe Flash by default. The site now uses its HTML5 video player by default in Google's Chrome, Microsoft's IE11, Apple's Safari 8, and in beta versions of Mozilla's Firefox browser. At the same time, YouTube is now also defaulting to its HTML5 player on the web. In fact, the company is deprecating the "old style" Flash object embeds and its Flash API, pointing users to the iFrame API instead, since the latter can adapt depending on the device and browser you're using.

Comment Re:Pierce, Buchanan, and now Obama (Score 1, Insightful) 189

by virtualXTC (#48762759) Attached to: White House Responds To Petition To Fire Aaron Swartz's Prosecutor
If I were a mod, I won't know whether to mod you at Troll or Insightful: Your history lesson on Buchanan and Pierce vs Lincoln was enlightening, but you are totally overlooking the shit-stained victory that is ObamaCare - At this point there's no way the republican's can appeal it, it would cause a mass uprising now that people realize Obamacare isn't really going to kill grandma, and makes it easier to stay insured (COBRA was a ripoff) if your unemployment insurance runs out, or if you decide to become an consultant. ...and there's something to be said about a passing a law that not even the Kennedy's or Clinton's could.
Movies

Porn Companies Are Going After GitHub 165

Posted by samzenpus from the take-it-down dept.
rossgneumann writes Porn production companies are currently engaged in a scorched earth copyright infringement campaign against torrenting sites with URLs containing specific keywords and Github is getting caught in the crossfire. Several Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaints filed to Google by companies representing various porn companies in the last month alone have resulted in dozens of legitimate Github URLs being removed from the search engine's results, TorrentFreak first reported."

Comment Re:FM reception (Score 1) 65

by virtualXTC (#48753019) Attached to: Wireless Charging Standards Groups Agree To Merge
I have had the oppsite exprence:

The cheap (~$10) chineese chargers = no interference, but you really need a 3A supply if you are going to use it with GPS on and hope to keep your device at least even on power. I bought 2 because the first one didn't use a micro usb input which meant I had to have an extra cable if I wanted to directly connect for a faster charge.

The expensive OWL charger ($50 and also not mini or micro usb) which I got for my dad as a present totally messes up the radio and only comes with a 1A charger so I'm guessing it can't keep up (never used it long enough to find out due to the radio interference and aux in hiss it generated). I contacted OWL about a fix or refund, but have yet to receive a response.

Comment Re: Clearly (Score 2) 391

by virtualXTC (#48751727) Attached to: Sony Thinks You'll Pay $1200 For a Digital Walkman

It costs a couple of bucks to produce a headphone, and the bulk of the research into sound quality was finished decades ago, yet people still spend 300-5000 on high end headphones that don't sound much better than a 50 dollar pair.

WRONG: I've never heard a $50 pair of head phones that are anywhere as accurate as the Etymotic er6i which had an MSRP of $99. Unfortunately, I broke mine and Etymotic discontinued production. I found their newer offerings are to uncomfortable for extended use, so I switched to the Shure SE215-K, which also has an MSRP of $99. The SE215-Ks sound almost as good, but are far more durable, and like the ER-6is, no $50 headphone compares.

Comment Re:which are not 'ai' (Score 1) 455

That's because Alva Noe has no clue about what it's talking about. I have programmed and used biology much like we do a computer, and just because we prefer our computers not use basiean inference to give us answers to problems, which is arguably the way that we think, doesn't restrict us from programming them that way.

Comment Re:It's an issue of free-will (Score 1) 455

You only believe that because you are convoluting consciousness with sentience.

I'm not exactly a neuroscientist but at this point feel it's pretty safe to say that consciousness is just he sum of electrical impulses though a weighted connection of neurons and it's correlative magnetic field (a bunch of wires with amplifiers and resistors and electricity running thought them); and depending on your philosophy, this may also require that some (or most) of the electrical input be triggered in response to an environment. Given that computers respond to key strokes, they may well be conscious. Either way (brain or computer) no electrical activity = no consciousness. Sentience on the other hand is a bit harder to pinpoint, and there is even scientific rational that children under 5 may not be fully sentient (with respect to adults), or conversely most animals with fur are sentient as sentience is often reduced to be ones ability to experience pain and pleasure based on environmental input, rather than be strictly reactionary to that input.

Comment The article is trolling; this is barely news (Score 1) 105

by virtualXTC (#48392699) Attached to: Google Wallet API For Digital Goods Will Be Retired On March 2, 2015
As it's already been said, Wallet NFC and the user app are not going anywhere. It just makes no sense to have a product that takes a cut from vendors, when you can now send mony by email (via Wallet) to anyone for free. Thus a dedicated api for 3rd party purchases no longer makes sense.
Bug

Apple Yanks iOS 8 Update 203

Posted by samzenpus from the our-bad dept.
alphadogg writes Within hours of releasing an iOS 8 update to address assorted bugs in the new iPhone and iPad operating system Apple has been forced to pull the patch, which itself was causing iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users grief. Reports filled Apple support forums that the iOS 8 update was cutting off users' cell service and making Touch ID inoperable. The Wall Street Journal received this statement from Apple: "We have received reports of an issue with the iOS 8.0.1 update. We are actively investigating these reports and will provide information as quickly as we can. In the meantime we have pulled back the iOS 8.0.1 update."
Iphone

Friendly Reminder: Do Not Place Your iPhone In a Microwave 240

Posted by samzenpus from the bad-ideas dept.
Nerval's Lobster writes Placing your iPhone in the microwave will destroy the phone, and possibly the microwave. While that might seem obvious to some people, others have fallen for the "Wave" hoax making its way around online. The fake advertisement insists that the new iOS 8 allows users to charge their iPhones by placing them in a "household microwave for a minute and a half." Microwave energy will not charge your smartphone. To the contrary, it will scorch the device and render it inoperable. If you nuke your smartphone and subsequently complain about it online, people will probably make fun of you. (If you want a full list of things not to place in a microwave, no matter how pretty the flames, check this out.)
Build

Video Are Matt's Robot Hexapods Creepy or Cute? (Video) 35

Posted by Roblimo from the you-put-your-right-foot-in-you-put-your-right-foot-out-you-pick-up-a-human-and-shake-it-all-about dept.
University of Arizona grad student Matt Bunting doesn't come across as a mad scientist. That's a very good thing, because his robot hexapod creations are easy to imagine crawling across the USA in large hordes, devouring everything in their path and using all the electricity they come across to feed their Queen Hexapod, a 3-D printer mounted on a hexapod chassis that turns everything fed to it into more robots. Luckily, the real life Matt is an affable (self-described) "Roboticist, Electrical Engineer, Musician, and Rock Crawler" who freely admits that at this time his robotic creations have no practical application whatsoever. This is probably true, except for the fact that they can liven up a music video like mad, as you can see on YouTube in Pedals Music Video (featuring REAL robots) . Our little video is a lot simpler, of course. In it, we interview Matt and he tells us what he's up to with his robots, and gives some 'how to get started with robotics' advice for budding young engineers. (Alternate Video Link)

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