Apple's Airport Series: A Router Worth Having

In my opinion, having one of these routers in your home is pretty much, if not definitely a necessary requirement. They make things oh-so-easy, and in true Apple style, clean, easy to use and wildly efficient.

Link: http://www.apple.com/au/compare-wifi-models/

Part of my job is to provide advice or make recommendations to my clients on new hardware or software to purchase when faced with a problem  that needs resolving, and usually needs resolving fast and permanent. I don't believe in a bandaid fix in my work, as it usually results in repeat work, and generally an unhappy customer.

Today I had a customer who was in dire need of a new internal network for his office. His modem/router/gateway device, whilst performing efficiently for at least the modem component is very dated and aged, and was starting to have DHCP and routing issues, as well as the wireless signal kept dropping out and was weak rendering it basically unusable. However, having had some experience with the AirPort line of products, I recommended he invest $119 in a small, simple and non-obtrusive device into his network, which would solve a lot of the routing issues, as well as enable easy shared printing.

I gotta tell you, it was great. Not only is the range on this little tiny device excellent, but the built in bonjour services as well as the static allocations for the various devices works excellently. I set the router up to be the PPP dialler also, meaning it handles the internet connection, all the modem needs to do now is keep doing what it does best, handle the data link between it and the DSLAM in the telephone exchange. The best part about this entire setup is that I configured the whole thing (except for the static allocations) without having to plug in a cable.

The AirPort family come in three different flavours currently. The baby of the group (the one I set up today) is the express model, which has a gateway ethernet port (to connect your modem to) and one ethernet port. You can either plug one device into this, such as a network printer, or computer that doesn't have a wireless connection. It has one USB port for either attaching a printer or a storage device, and apart from having the inbuilt wireless, it also has a jack to connect speakers to. Whilst the speaker jack is probably not so effective in an office environment, and probably aimed at the home user, it is great to have. Any Apple device can play music wirelessly through AirPlay to the speakers attached to the AirPort.

The bigger brothers of the AirPort express are the "extreme" models. You can either get one with a hard drive built into it for storing data or making easy backups, or you can get one without the internal storage. The extreme models also have a new technology built into them referred to wireless beaming as well as supporting the 802.11ac wireless standard. If you're streaming HD content, or need the extra range on wireless, this would be a better option over the express version. There are two extra ethernet ports (bringing the total to four, including one gateway port), and the speed of these ports on the extreme models is bumped up to 1gigabit up from 100megabit in the express model).

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"Documents.library-ms" is no longer working, error in Windows 8

"Documents.library-ms" is no longer working. This library can be safely deleted from your computer. Folders that have been included will not be affected.

I've you've got this error, it just means that the link to the folders that Windows is currently using broke, and just needs to be repaired.

Most users won't create new libraries and will just use the default ones included in the system. If this is you, all you need to do is delete them and re-add them.

To do this, open any explorer window, and go to the Libraries option just underneath your favourite links.

Open the Libraries folder and delete the files. Then in the left hand column right click the Libraries and choose restore defaults.

Fixed!

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iOS 7: Coming next week. Why should you update.

Apple's new mobile operating system, iOS is coming next week, and is set to bring about the biggest facelift and change to the operating system since it's introduction back in 2007. As with most updates to the iOS system, Apple has promised over 200 features and new additions to the system.

Many of the applications have been given a flatter perspective and the overall skeuomorphic designs from all of the inbuilt applications has been removed. A whole new pallet of colours have been introduced as well as the obvious facelift throughout the entire system.

From the lock screen there are a number of things that can be done, you can see your notifications, your view of "Today" which is a summary of things that might be relevant to you and your day (more on this in a moment).

There is a new control centre which is also accessible from this screen. The control centre provides you quick access to change some system settings, such as turning off or on:

• Airplane mode
• Bluetooth
• WiFi
• Do Not Disturb mode
• Screen rotation lock

In addition, you can also reach other features such as screen brightness, music controls, the all new AirDrop feature, airplay, as well as the camera, calculator, torch (turn the LED flash on), and compass.

Control centre is available from any screen you are viewing as well as the lock screen. Given that control centre links to applications which are not personally identifiable, this option is available from the lock screen and is on by default. However, you can remove it from the lock screen if you don't wish to have it left there for any reason.




The Today section of notification centre gives you a heads up on what's on your day. It gives you a quick overview of the weather - eg, showers with a high of 18, or sunny with a high of 30. Depending on the time of day it might give you the overnight low. In addition it will let you know if it's anyone's birthday, how long it will take for you to get to common destinations that you travel to such as work, gym, friends house, pub... Below this information will show you your calendar for the next few hours of the day, any stocks your following, and how they've changed throughout the day, and if you get right to the bottom it will even give you a heads up on the next day. Such as, you have an early start tomorrow with your first appointment at 6am.

Multitasking has been given a number of really excellent updates too, and not only aesthetically. For starters switching between apps is simple, easy and straight forward. In a similar fashion to what is currently the process, double clicking the home button will show your open apps, with a screen preview of what it looks like. You can then tap that screen preview to go straight back to where you were or you can swipe the screen away to close the application. There's also a number of stuff going on behind the scenes too for multitasking. From Apple's website:

Multitasking has always been a smart way to switch between apps. Now it’s even smarter. Because iOS 7 learns when you like to use your apps and can update your content before you launch them. So if you tend to check your favourite social app at 9:00 am every day, your feed will be ready and waiting for you. That’s multitasking in iOS 7. It knows what you want to do before you do.

Photos have also been improved, with a number of live filters you can set when taking a shot, and the way that the photos you have in your library are organised. iOS 7 automatically sorts your pictures into events or collections related to a holiday or a day trip you took somewhere. You can zoom all the way out too to get a year's glance at all your photos you have taken.

The last feature I'll mention here is the Air Drop feature. If you want to send a file or link or picture, or.. pretty much anything, you can with Air Drop. iOS 7 recognizes other devices around you and shows that persons face or name as a person you can send a file to. According to Apple:

Sending a photo or a document to someone via text or email is fine. But if that someone is right next to you, a text or an email suddenly feels like too many steps. Enter AirDrop for iOS. It lets you quickly and easily share photos, videos, contacts — and anything else from any app with a Share button. Just tap Share, then select the person you want to share with. AirDrop does the rest using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. No setup required. And transfers are encrypted, so what you share is highly secure.

There are many, many more features coming with iOS 7 next week, and these are just a few. If you want to see more, check out Apple's website which will have more info on iOS and you can see all the features there too.
http://www.apple.com/au/ios/ios7/



iOS 7 Promo video, from Apple:

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How to tether your iPhone with your computer

This is one I get asked a lot.

I have an iPhone/tablet/iPad and I want to share the Internet connection it has with my laptop when I'm on the road. How do I set it up?

Luckily, this is an easy one!

From your iDevice, hit the settings icon

Then choose the personal hotspot menu option (usually 3rd or 4th option)

Then slide the switch on the following page to "on".

After this is done, go to your laptop, and search for available wireless networks. Your iPhone's name should be in the list, and all you need to do is enter the password on your iPhones screen. Mine in this case is cheese47

Once connected on your laptop you should be able to get online and browse the Internet.

Note that this also works for any other devices you need to connect to the Internet that have a wifi connection, but no 3G or 4G or LTE access.

Hope this helped!

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Windows XP support ending

One year from today, Windows XP will be officially unsupported by Microsoft.

As noted on their life-cycle support page, there will be no more updates coming out of Redmond for the unbelievable success that is Windows XP. This operating system has been going since 2001, which makes it 12 years at time of writing. For software to last that long in the industry where things are changing every minute, and people have a hard time keeping up with the trends this is a huge deal, and massive success.

However, as mentioned, this success is coming to an end. Microsoft will be officially discontinuing the product. What does this mean for you?

• Security vulnerabilities. If hackers find an exploit in Windows XP that is currently unpatched, they might choose to wait till after the product is discontinued before attempting their attacks on a system, or systems. This is a very real threat, that could cause loss of data, identity theft, etc. Having an up-to-date system is very important to receive regular updates on these vulnerabilities, and ensure your computer is patched and updated.
• Hardware support. With new hardware coming out and the discontinuation of XP, getting digitally signed drivers for your hardware will become a very difficult task. You may not get the best performance out of your hardware, or worse, it might not even work, as there may not be a driver for it available.
• Software support. Newer programs such as Microsoft Office, Internet browsers, etc may stop receiving support for XP, and as such, you'd experience a slower performance, web-pages may not display properly, or not at all, and some programs may cease to operate altogether.

So, with the above in mind, you'll probably need to get a new system. Unless your computer is as old as XP is, there is a good chance that it will work fine with some of the newer versions of Windows that are available.

Purchasing a copy of Windows 7 is impossible through Microsoft I've been informed both by trying myself online on the Microsoft store, and on the phone, but it is available if you go to computer shops and retailers that may still have copies left available for sale.

If you missed out on the Windows 8 upgrade offer from Microsoft when Windows 8 was first announced for $39, Windows 8 is available for sale on the Microsoft Store for AU $149.99, which will get you the Windows 8 operating system. However, some places are selling copies of Windows 8 for $59 on the store shelves, I have seen it available at JB-HiFi (if you live in Australia). Even if you don't need it now, you should probably get it before stocks run out at that price, and you'll have to pay nearly 3 times that later.

Alternatively, if you have XP on an old machine, and you don't think it will last more than a year, you may be better off just holding out, and buying a new computer next year which will come with Windows pre-loaded on it.

Any questions? Fire away in the comments section below!

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Easy steps to keep your Windows 8 PC backed up

With the recent release of Windows 8 from Microsoft, keeping your PC protected and backed up is simple and effective in the rare event of a system failure. Let's get it setup!

To start, lets move the mouse to the right hand side of the screen, and choose the search option from the charms that appear on the right. (see pic). In the box that appears type "recovery". Choose the settings option underneath the search box, and one of the options in the list should be labeled windows 7 file recovery. Don't worry about the fact it says windows 7, this is just carried over from the previous versions of windows, so if you already have a backup, you can continue to use it.

The next screen that appears should look something like this:

As you can see, this computer that I'm using is already backing up to a network location, however if you haven't already got yours setup, there should be a setup backup option you can click on to start the wizard which will guide you through the process.

The first screen will ask you where you want to save your backup. I'd recommend saving it to a external hard drive, or a network drive, as there is no point saving it to the same hard drive your computer is currently using, as that would render the whole back up process pointless if your hard drive fails :)

As you can see, I have a few hard drives and a network location saved on this computer to use. I'm going with the network drive option. If you want to save on a network also, you can click save on a network button which will take you to a separate screen to get setup.

Once you've chosen what your location, you then need to choose what you want to back up. You can let windows decide, or you can choose what you want to back up. I like this option, as I feel it gives me more control over what will be backed up, opposed to what might be backed up. The next screen, asks what specifically I want backed up.

In this instance I am backing up my libraries, and everything on my system drive. If you only have one hard drive, I'd recommend choosing to enable the system image option.

Clicking next will review the settings you've selected and you can save and exit the wizard. The computer will then start backing up your files.

Things to note:

1. If you've selected an external backup drive, make sure it's plugged in when you want to back up
2. If it's not, Windows will wait till the next time it is to make the backup
3. I'd suggest to come back to the back up page every now and then to make sure it still is backing things up for you and that the settings are still up to date.

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iOS 6's Do Not Disturb feature mode not functioning

Image: Engadget

If you've got an iDevice (iPhone, iPad, iPod) and you've been using the new iOS 6 that Apple release late last year, you may have become familiar with a feature called Do Not Disturb.

When activated, a crescent moon appears in the notification bar up the top of the screen, indicating that it is activated. This mode silences all sounds and notifications, and prevents the screen from illuminating.

However since the turn of the year, many users have reported (myself included) that this feature doesn't work properly when you have it set to a schedule. Either it doesn't activate at the right time, or is doesn't come out of DND mode, meaning that until you manually turn it off, your device will remain silenced. As you can imagine, this is really annoying for some people who will have missed phone calls or messages because they didn't know their phone wasn't ringing.

Apple have acknowledged the problem, but instead of sending out a fix they've suggested to just use the mode manually until after January 7, where the problem is expected to resolve itself.

Symptoms

After January 1st, 2013, Do Not Disturb mode stays on past its scheduled end time.

Resolution

Do Not Disturb scheduling feature will resume normal functionality after January 7, 2013. Before this date, you should manually turn the Do Not Disturb feature on or off.
To turn off the scheduling feature, tap Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb and switch Scheduled to Off.

Apple has had problems in the past with New Year's bug's where alarm clocks set in the new year wouldn't sound off causing people to be late for work, miss flights etc. The company also promised at the time the problem would "resolve itself" by the first Monday of the year.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 "Sudden Death"

If you aren't already aware, there is a current issue plaguing Samsung's Flagship mobile phone product the Galaxy S 3 where after normal usage, or charging, that the phone becomes "bricked" or unusable.

There have been many widespread reports about this phone, but so far it seems that the international model - i.e. any country not from North America is the only one with the issue.

The shutting down for no apparent reason and not restarting thereafter, or “Sudden Death” issue has been reported on popular forums and on various tech news websites, and popular Android website XDA-Developers, which has more than 150 pages of posts where people have reported the same problem.

But there is some good news! A few hours ago a Dutch website Tweakers reported that a Samsung spokesperson has said: "The problem seems to be affect a “limited number of Galaxy S3 models with 16GB memory,” and it’s caused by a firmware bug."

A fix for this bug is luckily software related, but at time of writing the release date for the patch which resolves the issue is not available.

Samsung has admitted the fault is theirs, and with the upcoming patch to resolve the issue, we shouldn't see any more of this in the future. Rest assured if you are victim to this bug and  have a bricked S3, you should be able to organise a replacement or a fix through the warranty.

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