The above headline and following story explains why I never buy Seagate drives. I stick with Western Digital and have never been disappointed. Sometime ago, I ran a story showing that Seagate drives have the highest failure rates among cloud storage companies. They were higher than anyone, but not like like this latest batch…47% is over the top. Trust me, stick with WD.
I told you last time I had more Apple updates for you, at least for me. If you remember, I bought the 27” Apple iMac 5K Retina computer at the end of last year. A couple of weeks ago, while still suffering the affects of my nasal infection, I went to the local Apple store with a friend to check out their new Force Touch Trackpad…introduced with the new MacBook computer that just went on sale last week. And while I could not see that computer, Apple did put the trackpad on a new version of the MacBook Pro, along with a faster processor and faster SSD drive…and they were there on display.
I went to see it because one on-line company took $250 off of the MacBook Pro without the new track pad. To make a long story short, the Apple Store employee, after seeing the $250 sale ad, gave me a great discount and I walked out of the store with the latest and greatest MacBook Pro with Retina Screen. I truly did not intend to buy a laptop that day, but I did anyway. And I must say, I really like it and use it. PS: Great battery life…9-13 hours.
In case you didn’t hear about the Force Touch Trackpad, its another piece of great Apple engineering. The trackpad has no moving parts, but when you push down on it, you feel the click as if it did. Push even harder, and you will feel a double click.
Force sensors detect how much pressure you’re applying, and the new Taptic Engine provides a click sensation when you press anywhere on the surface. It fools your brain into thinking it felt a click. Turn off the power and you feel nothing. There are no moving parts!
So now I own a PC and a MAC desktop, and Windows 8.1 Laptop and a MacBook laptop. What’s a nerd to do?
Some interesting news and tips in this edition so have a gander and I hope you find something good to help out your computing life. -JRC
Tech News and Opinions
Backblaze pulls thousands of Seagates drive out of service
Backblaze, the excellent cloud backup provider, pulled almost 5,000 3TB Seagate drives out of service after the annual failure rate reached a startling 47 percent. Here is why you should think twice about buying a Seagate drive.
Target settles with MasterCard for $19M over data breach
The money will compensate financial institutions that had to cancel credit-card accounts and issue replacement cards with new account numbers following the 2013 data breach at the retail giant.
EU Formally Charges Google with Antitrust Violations
European Union competition commissioner formally accused Google of violating antitrust laws by abusing its dominance in Internet search. Additionally, the European Commission was investigating whether Google forces phone makers to favor its own services on the Android mobile OS.
Chromecast vs. Apple TV vs. Roku vs. Amazon Fire TV
Which has the most apps? Which has the coolest features? Which one is the best? The most popular media streamers all have their merits, so we'll help you decide which box is right for you.
Microsoft promises drastic cuts in disk space use for Windows 10
The increasing popularity of SSDs and flash-based storage have created a big problem for Windows, and that problem is getting worse as OEMs shrink storage on cheap tablets to save costs. To address the problem, Microsoft is making some radical changes in Windows 10.
Computer Tips and Tricks
How to safely test file and image backups
Imagine this: You’ve lost important files, but when you go to restore them, you discover that your backups are completely unusable — and your next words are unprintable. Here’s how to ensure that your backup files are valid, complete, and usable.
The Best M.2 Solid-State Drives
SSDs are shrinking, thanks to the new "gumstick" M.2 format—and, in some cases, getting a lot faster. Here's how to buy one, with reviews of a half-dozen of the latest.
14 Google Calendar Tricks You're Probably Not Using
Take a look at 14 neat little tricks that you can do inside Google Calendar. There will definitely be some you didn't know.
5 ways to use Note Links, Evernote's secret weapon for getting organized
Note Links, available in the desktop version of Evernote, is a powerful way to impose structure on your unruly data dump. This function lets you hyperlink notes to each other so you can create relationships between them and link to notes from external applications for easy reference.
The Best Free Antivirus for 2015
Yes, Windows now comes with antivirus protection, but lab tests show that it's not enough. Don't worry, you don't have to pay to keep your PC safe.
Mobile Computing
50 Best Free iPhone Apps for 2015
Plenty of iPhone apps are worth paying for, but there are plenty of great free ones, too. Here are 50 of the best.
The Best Android Phones of 2015
Big, small, stock, or skinned, if you're in the market for a new smartphone, chances are there's an Android option to fit your fancy.
Lost Your Android Phone? Now You Can Just Google It
Google can help you find almost anything, but it’s no good if you’ve lost your smartphone – until today. The search engine now has the ability to look up your lost device directly from its homepage.
Android 5.1 Lollipop vs. Android 5.0 Lollipop: Everything You Need To Know
Android 5.1 Lollipop improves the overall stability, battery life and performance of Android devices compared to the previous release. Most of these changes are under the hood, but there are also several new features that Android 5.1 Lollipop brings.
How to opt out of Verizon's 'supercookie' tracking program
Here's what you can do to prevent Verizon from tracking your mobile activity.
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