Did you know that if you turn on your cell phone during takeoff or landing on a commercial airline flight, the engines will spontaneously combust and the plane will drop from the sky like a brick? No? Well, that’s because I just made that up.
However, a similar falsehood has been dictating FAA gadget policy for years, and it’s equally frustrating. The myth is that using your cell phone or other electronic gadgets will interfere with the plane's instruments.
The MythBusters proved in 2006 that your wireless devices don't really interfere with airplane instruments.So, the guy who picked up a paperback John Grisham novel at the overpriced airport gift shop is free to read from wheels up to wheels down. But, if you have that same novel downloaded to your Kindle, iPad, or other device, you're prohibited from reading it until the plane reaches 10,000 feet—and you have to shut it down when the plane descends past 10,000 feet again during landing.
AT&T is embroiled in controversy after revealing that only customers subscribed to certain plans will have access to FaceTime over the AT&T cellular network. AT&T has attempted to explain its way out of the mess, but the fact is that AT&T is using FaceTime as a bargaining chip to force customers to the new data plans.
Critics have accused the AT&T policy of violating FCC net neutrality rules. Skype, Google+, and other video chat apps are able to be used freely without regard for which data plan the customer subscribes to, so why should AT&T single out FaceTime?
AT&T is using FaceTime as a pawn to drive customers to new data plans.AT&T responded in a blog post to defend itself against those allegations. AT&T explains that the FCC regulations do not require that AT&T allow any pre-installed apps at all, and simply prevent AT&T from blocking apps that might compete with its own voice or video technologies
$199? An anonymous “inside source” told Engadget that the Microsoft Surface RT tablet will sell for the amazingly low price of only $199. It would be out of character for Microsoft, but if the pricing is truly that aggressive the Windows tablet could quickly claim significant market share.
Onuora Amobi of Windows8Update.com writes, “I am skeptical of this story for one reason and one reason only--it would be so brilliant that it would be inconsistent with the moves Microsoft have been making.”
For $199 I might buy two Microsoft Surface RT tablets.Amobi adds, “At $199, it would be sold out on day one and would create huge Windows 8 buzz on day one. It would get Windows 8 into the homes of millions of adults, children and students immediately.”
The countdown to Windows 8 is on. In just over two months the new flagship operating system from Microsoft will be available to the general public. For businesses looking to upgrade, though, there is a decision to be made between just getting Windows 8 itself, and subscribing to Windows InTune instead.
Businesses that have already moved to Windows 7 may feel little incentive to move to Windows 8 already, but those still on Windows XP should seriously consider a switch to Windows 8. The end of life for Microsoft support of Windows XP is quickly approaching, and Microsoft is sweetening the deal by making the Windows 8 upgrade a mere $40.
Windows InTune provides a lot of bang for the buck.There’s more than one way to get Windows 8, though. Rather than purchasing the operating system itself, a business can subscribe to Windows InTune--which includes a perpetual license for the most current version of Windows as well.
Google has agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to settle charges related to Google placing tracking cookies to spy on user activity in Apple’s Safari Web browser. While $22.5 million is a record fine for the FTC, it’s a drop in the bucket that won’t be missed by Google and shows how US government agencies have their priorities backward.
Were you watching the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show performed by Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson? Did you see Janet Jackson’s nipple during the now-infamous “wardrobe malfunction”? Probably not. It was so brief that most of the world would never even know it happened if it hadn’t been replayed a million times in slow motion. It hardly seems worthy of any attention.
Google agreed to a $22.5 million fine related to spying on Safari Web browser users.The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) apparently didn’t agree. The FCC threw the proverbial book at CBS and levied a record $550,000 fine for the audacity of accidentally airing a fraction of a second of nudity on public television.
Lenovo has revealed it’s planned Windows 8 Pro tablet--the ThinkPad Tablet 2. It seems to have reasonable specs for running Windows 8, but Lenovo failed to provide the key information that everyone is really interested in: the price.
The ThinkPad Tablet 2 boasts an Intel Atom processor (although Lenovo didn’t provide any more specific details about exactly which one(s) it plans to offer) in a 10.1-inch tablet a mere 0.39 inches thick and weighing in at only 1.3 pounds. The ThinkPad 2 will also have a micro SD memory card slot, mini HDMI and USB 2.0 ports, and a docking connector, along with a 2 megapixel front, and 8 megapixel rear camera.
Lenovo follows in Microsoft's footsteps--unveiling Windows 8 tablet with no pricing info.Impressive? Who knows. Specs don’t matter in the real world. Rivals of the iPad have been beating the Apple tablet on paper since the tablet wars began, yet almost none of them have delivered a tablet experience even remotely close to what the iPad has to offer.
Ten dreaded words: “Just sign this form and fax it over to me.” This is 2012—going on 2013. Faxing is so 1998, and a little bit like loaning someone a movie on a Betamax cassette tape. Increasingly, businesses and people don't even have traditional landline phones to connect a fax machine to.
Still, the concept of signing and returning documents is still going strong, and eFax brings faxing into this century by enabling you to receive and send “fax” documents directly from your PC. With Office 2013 on the immediate horizon, eFax is ready with the first online fax app that integrates with the Microsoft productivity suite.
I own one of these...it's just in the attic and I refuse to use it.I maintain that faxing is not any different than signing a document, scanning it, and emailing it to its destination. In theory, that’s all the fax machine is doing anyway. For some reason, though, certain industries--finance and investments in particular--still rely on the antiquated technology, and occasionally I run into a company that will only accept an actual fax that arrives on an actual fax machine.
