Apple today has silently updated there iPad 2 smart covers on there website.
Changes include;
No idea if it’s more durable, but I guess time will tell.
What’s your thought? Leave a comment 
.
Archive for the ‘Myth’ category
Apple updates iPad 2 smart covers
October 24th, 2011Why The Wi-Fi In Schools Debate Is Bogus
August 16th, 2010Recently a parent complained to their local school board because their kids would come home with “a racing heart rate, higher body temperature, and nausea”. (Read it here at the Global and Mail).
The proposed cause? The wi-fi (wireless internet) that the school has. The schools in Canada want to be completely wireless by 2025 by some reports.
But the thing is, the report does not state if the kids in question where using wi-fi devices (psp, ipod touch, etc). Because there are things on the internet that can cause those symptoms (“graphic images”).
I say the report is bogus and the parent is raising the red flag for no reason. The children could be ill because of the wi-fi but they said that the symptoms go away at school.
The real cause could be the lighting as school lights are bright, or it could be the computer screens at school. The fact that the symptoms go away on the weekend shows Wi-Fi is not the cause because their neighbours probably have Wi-Fi or satellite/bluetooth/wireless phones/etc.
Top 12 Myths About Defragmenting Your Computer
February 16th, 2010Many people are unsure what is true or false in defragmenting your computer.
I have complied a Top 10 list of myths related to defragmenting.
Defragmenting: To place fragmented (split up files) back together in one piece.
1. It’s Hard
Defragmenting…complicated word it must be hard to do.
Truth: It’s not to complicated. The one included with Windows Vista/7 does a good job of keeping it simple. Although if you want you can purchase or download free software to take more control of your defragmenting experience.
2. You only need to do it once in a blue moon
I only need to defragment now and again because my computer can take care of itself.
Truth: Your computer tries to keep everything neat and tidy (vista/7 even auto defragment) but if you use up nearly all your disk space or have lots of large files it can easily get messy. Defragmenting once a month is fine, but if you tend to add and delete a lot of files than defrag weekly (vista/7 default).
3. It takes forever
Moving your misplaced (not disorganized!) can take a lot of time right?
Truth: Depending on how many fragmenting files there are, the speed of your hard drive, how large the files are, how fragmented the files are, and the software you use it varies. Your first defrag could take all night if you have never done it but if you defrag weekly it usually only takes 2-15 minutes.
4. It doesn’t do much
Many people say that defragmenting is worthless…it just moves files around.
Truth: If your drive is highly fragmented (>10%) then it can help, otherwise yes it could be a waste of your time.
5. It does worse damage than doing nothing
Moving files around means your HD does more work so doesn’t it just do more damage?
Truth: If you defrag daily or more than needed then yes it could cause more damage. But if the files are highly misplaced putting them all back together on a daily basics does more damage then solving the problem.
6. It’s useful for SSD/Flash drives
It works so well for my HD so why not my SSD/USB Flash drive?
Truth: The reason why you need to defragment on a HD is because the hard drive is mechanical. It has to physically move it’s drive head to get the file you request. Since SSD/USB flash drives have no moving parts they don’t need to be defragmented. Defragmenting SSD’s/USB flash drives can actually do more harm then good (wear and tear wise).
7. It doesn’t increase the speed of your computer
Don’t large files take a long time to access so it doesn’t really matter if there in one place?
Truth: While large files (100MB+) do take a long time to access vs seeking (finding) the file a highly fragmented file doesn’t help either. For example if a 3GB file (a movie) was in 500 fragments then it would take more work to put it in one place but if the 500 fragments are highly close together then the HD still may need to over work. Generally the larger the less you need to care about its fragments.
8. You don’t need to do it anymore
I defragmented my computer in 1995, I don’t need to do that with the latest computers!
Truth: While computers are much faster, and with better file-systems…at this point it’s wear and tear rather than speed. While it can access fragmented files fast…lots of fragmented files can heat up the drive and lower its lifespan. So you still need to do it.
9. NTFS doesn’t fragment
NTFS (new technology file system) is better/newer file-system then FAT32 so it’s no longer much of a concern.
Truth: While NTFS is much better at preventing and handling fragments it’s not fool-proof. While you do need to do it much less, you still need to do it.
10. You need purchase software to do an effective job
I just purchased this defragmenting software so it must do a better job then what’s included with windows right?
Truth: Basically no. It doesn’t often do a better job it rather just does it faster or in a special way. Or in the case of business’s includes remote tools. Free defragmenting software (say from Auslogics) does as good as a job as Diskeeper or Perfect Disk.
So it’s up to you on that one, but free software in this case is still better than what’s with Windows.
11: Macs/Linux don’t need to defragment.
Macs/Linux are different than Windows so they must have taken care of this problem?
Truth: Not true! While Macs/Linux doesn’t fragment as often…again it’s not immune.
Macs defragment in the background so it basically takes care of the chore, and Linux basically ignores the problems until a disk check (every 60th boot) will get rid of the worst offenders.
So they don’t necessarily need defragmenting from our end..but still are effected. They just handle it differently.
So that’s the Top 12 myths about defragmenting your computer.
12: Can defragmenting damage my files?
With all the files moving around there is a chance my files can become corrupt…is there a chance?
Truth: The chance of a file becoming corrupt is virtually impossible. Unless the hard drive crashes, or Windows does the file will not become corrupt. The only way a file could become corrupt is if the hard drive itself puts the file on a bad sector (modern HD’s auto detect and fix them).
So you don’t have to worry, but having a backup is always good practice.
Top 5 myths about Google
January 14th, 2010
Contrary to popular belief it's not true.
Myth 1: It’s out to get you.
Many people think Google will get you in some way or fashion.
Truth: No large company is after you. If they did they would be shut down.
Verdict: Busted
Myth 2: Google is after your privacy.
Some people think that with Google owning advertising, YouTube, the largest search engine, blogging platform, browser, DNS service, phone OS, and soon a computer OS, that they are after who you are.
Truth: It is understandable given the about of information that Google does have at its hands. Google though uses the information with respect. Most information is deleted right after its used. Any information that keeps (for any amount of time) is given by your consent so it can improve the advertisements you see, and improve your search engine results. As a result you see less annoying results, and better advertisements. Given people don’t want to give out any 1′s and 0′s and there is ways to avoid that in the first place. Like clearing your browser cache, using a proxy etc.
Verdict: Busted.
Myth 3: Google loves to give its blogging platform blogspot/blogger priority.
Because google runs, and owns Blogger/Blogspot people think it ranks those blogs higher, faster, and with less work. The
Truth: Blogger blogs (*.blogspot.com) is ranked just the same way as any other blog (like *.wordpress.com). It is not ranked higher because Google owns it. It does not index it faster because it owns it. Google does also not give any priority over its blogging platform. If at any case it actually does everything a lot less. There are a lot of spam blogs, made for Adsense blogs, scrapping blogs, etc on the service. Because of that Google will tend to hate its self. No one is immune, and no one is given special care. Your inbound links, quality of those, quality of content, etc matter, not what hosting platform your on.
Verdict: Busted.
Myth 4: It’s easy to get a page rank.
Google gives every website and blog a page rank. A page rank determines its rank in its search engine, and how it treats your blog.
Truth: If people don’t link to your blog, then you won’t get a page rank. The amount of links, and how good they are (what’s there page rank, are they related etc) determines your page rank. A page rank takes lots of hard work to achieve. If you have a ton of useless and irrelevant spam links then Google may even ban you.
Verdict: Busted
Myth 5: The amount of people who use Google Toolbar will affect your Search engine rankings.
Some people think that the more people who use the Google Toolbar on your site will affect how Google treats your site.
Truth: Bogus. The amount of Google toolbar users is irrelevant to what Google will give you as a page rank, or how it thinks about your site.
Verdict: Busted
So that is the top 5 myths about Google.
Myth: You need to wait for SP1 for Windows 7.
October 23rd, 2009Myth: You need to wait for the first service pack before windows 7 becomes usable.
Truth: you don’t need to wait for SP1. It had millions of beta testers and is rock solid stable. All applications work, and so do the drivers.
It’s not unexpected that people think you need to wait for SP1 I mean look at windows’ track record…it was hell until SP1-SP2 rolls around. Not with windows 7.
Windows 7 has 75,000 certified to work devices, anything that works with vista works with windows 7, and by now even the slowest devs have added support for vista.
Windows 7′s 8 million beta testers (including me!) meant that it was solidly tested. In beta there was a wiping bug with MP3′s but that was fixed very quickly.
Unlike vista windows 7 was not pushed out the door so all your apps work with windows 7.
The only problem is that some apps like live messenger, and Firefox work but not work fully (the new taskbar issues).
It’s not slow, its fast and lean.
So really don’t wait to get windows 7. Trust me its stable, and is free of bugs.
I tried beta, and have been on the RC for 6 months now, and not one windows 7 crash was seen. A couple of games from 05 had issues making the move but was fixed with a right-click and compatibility set to XP.
So Myth Busted.
Are mac users really immune to virus/malware infections?
September 21st, 2009Myth: Mac users are immune to virus infections.
Fact: No, although there is a lot less floating around there still out there for macs (and that goes for linux users to!).
Although Apple keep says safe and free from malware infections they couldn’t be more wrong. The reason mac users currently have a low risk is because they only have <12% of the market share. It’s much more cost-effective to go after the bigger share (windows).
This couldn’t be made more true than Mac OS X 10.6 coming with malware protection (you read right). 10.6 snow leopard comes with few malware identification to block the obvious malware (like the free i-Life bot-net). It’s updated via software update.
Apple at one time even post a document saying macs are not free from infection but has since pulled it.
So here is my advice. Avoid the bad and obvious ways to get infected (search for tips to prevent from being infection on this site), and you’ll be fine.
Are your governments reading your email?
September 18th, 2009Myth: The Government (any of them) reads your email.
Fact: Its false; they don’t have the time, the need, the money, or the want to read what you and your grandma are saying in your email.
Unless you did something to want them to read your email there not. Its that simple. They don’t have the resources of any kind to scan, read, and view your email. Even if they did, who wants to be hired to read random emails? Although there is software for that, your odds of landing a view are so small, plus you have to say the right things.
Do computer cookies track you online?
September 17th, 2009Myth: Computer cookies track you online (aka tracking cookies).
First up: What are computer cookies? They are tiny files that are saved to your hard drive when you visit a website.
Fact: Most computer cookies are there for legitimate reasons ranging from;
1. To save your login for the next time you visit the website.
2. To record that you viewed the site. (Location, time, browser, flash, java). This helps website authors see where there users are coming from and see if there computer working with the website.
3. To make sure you don’t see the same advertisement over and over. This is purely to help advertisers reach a interested audience. Note: Google ads are website based so you may/may not see the same ads. You are only recorded if you click the ads. This is purely for statics.
4. To save your settings (e.g. Location based websites that record your settings so they don’t ask you again).
Those are the main reasons. So in the end most cookies are not tracking cookies. If if your antivirus detects them its purely just to fluff up there detection rates (see most commonly with paid antivirus software).
Note: If you get a prompt saying that adbrite/and/or adsense is on my blog its fine. Although if you find a bad ad tell me.
Keep the computer on all day or turn it off at night?
September 14th, 2009
Myth: Turning Your Computer On and Off at night causes more wear and tear then leaving it on.
Fact: Unless you are rapidly turning your computer on and off (more then twice an hour) then your computer will be fine.
Not only does turning off your computer save you money, its also better for the computer!
Why? Well a computer that stays on all day and night not only becomes slow with things in memory, it also heats up. Turning it off at night allows it to cool off and allow it to purge its components.
Although that leads to your computer expanding and shrinking right?
Yes, but its a minuscule amount, if the flexing was a real issue then you would see computers in the repair shop for this issue, but you don’t. As all products expand and contract when they are used and that is part of normal wear and tear.
Plus it will be more silent in your house if you turn it off.
This goes for Windows machines, macs, and linux’s. While you may not feel the need to turn it off, its better as your using it less (which means less wear and tear!).
Naturally this doesn’t apply to servers as they have to be on day and night for your websites.
