Ask Siri to Find You a 7-Eleven, The Response Is Unexpected osxdailynews.blogspot.com

osxdailynews.blogspot.com ® Ask Siri to Find You a 7-Eleven, The Response Is Unexpected

If you’re a regular reader here, you already know that Siri can be used for directions, and you know there’s plenty of funny commands to ask, but this one is an unexpected combination of both… Grab your iPhone (or iPad) and ask Siri to find you a 7-Eleven (yes the global 24 hour convenience store), you’ll get a rather unexpectedly hilarious response. For whatever reason, whether it’s intentional or Siri is trolling everyone, Siri turns your 7-11 inquiry into a math problem.

Try it yourself, bring about Siri and say “Find a 7 11″.

Making this even more funny is that Siri properly converts the “7-11″ request into the correct spelling of the store chain “7-Eleven”, but nonetheless she/he feeds you a mathematical answer of -4 anyway. You’ll even get a nice number line showing where the number is. In reality, this probably has little to do with Siri and more to do with Wolfram Alpha, the engine behind much of Siri’s behavior and responses that also turns up a plotted graph as a response if fed the 7-Eleven question directly.

Of course you can do intentional math with Siri too by feeding your iOS AI brain some simple equations, genuinely useful for things like calculating tips and other brain-offloading tasks.

This was originally discovered by @kylenw on Twitter and, yes, we can confirm it works exactly as shown in the image, assuming you ask the ‘proper’ (or is it improper?) way.

So that’s your goofy Siri response of the day, perhaps better suited to the funny commands list than anything particularly helpful.

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How to Fix an “Unable to Join the Network” Error in iOS osxdailynews.blogspot.com

osxdailynews.blogspot.com ® How to Fix an “Unable to Join the Network” Error in iOS

Considering that so much of the functionality of iOS is dependent on the internet, it’s pretty frustrating if you can’t join a wireless network because of a mystery “Unable to join the network [name]” error popping up on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. You may encounter this alert trying to join a wifi network as usual, or by trying to manually join a network:

With such a nondescript error message, it’s hard to know exactly what the problem with the wi-fi is, but for most cases you can resolve the issue fairly quickly with the multistep process described below:

1. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings


2. Enter the devices passcode and confirm the reset


3. Let the iPhone/iPad restart, you’ll see a spinning cursor on the device as it finishes the reset before the device boots back on


4. Go back to Settings > Wi-Fi and join the network again

Resetting Network Settings removes saved passwords and configuration details, and the device automatically restarts itself to (presumably) dump any residual cache or preferences . Yes, you’ll have to re-enter passwords and specific network information again.

At this point the iPhone / iPad should connect to the network fine as usual. If you’re still having trouble after taking the aforementioned steps, go forget the Wi-Fi network via the iOS Settings and then manually join it again. Manually joining networks is done by choosing “Other” from the Wi-Fi menu and entering the exact router name, network encryption type, and router password.

From personal experience, the “unable to join network” error seems to occur when connecting to certain Wireless N routers more often than anything else, so if you have a dual band router you may just opt for the other network and skip the troubled signal. Sometimes restarting the router can help too, but since not all users have control over that, it’s generally best to offer an iOS client specific resolution.

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How to Fix an “Unable to Join the Network” Error in iOS osxdailynews.blogspot.com

osxdailynews.blogspot.com ® How to Fix an “Unable to Join the Network” Error in iOS

Considering that so much of the functionality of iOS is dependent on the internet, it’s pretty frustrating if you can’t join a wireless network because of a mystery “Unable to join the network [name]” error popping up on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. You may encounter this alert trying to join a wifi network as usual, or by trying to manually join a network:

With such a nondescript error message, it’s hard to know exactly what the problem with the wi-fi is, but for most cases you can resolve the issue fairly quickly with the multistep process described below:

1. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings


2. Enter the devices passcode and confirm the reset


3. Let the iPhone/iPad restart, you’ll see a spinning cursor on the device as it finishes the reset before the device boots back on


4. Go back to Settings > Wi-Fi and join the network again

Resetting Network Settings removes saved passwords and configuration details, and the device automatically restarts itself to (presumably) dump any residual cache or preferences . Yes, you’ll have to re-enter passwords and specific network information again.

At this point the iPhone / iPad should connect to the network fine as usual. If you’re still having trouble after taking the aforementioned steps, go forget the Wi-Fi network via the iOS Settings and then manually join it again. Manually joining networks is done by choosing “Other” from the Wi-Fi menu and entering the exact router name, network encryption type, and router password.

From personal experience, the “unable to join network” error seems to occur when connecting to certain Wireless N routers more often than anything else, so if you have a dual band router you may just opt for the other network and skip the troubled signal. Sometimes restarting the router can help too, but since not all users have control over that, it’s generally best to offer an iOS client specific resolution.

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2 Critically Important Things Every Apple User Must Do This Weekend osxdailynews.blogspot.com

osxdailynews.blogspot.com ® 2 Critically Important Things Every Apple User Must Do This Weekend

Two hugely important software security updates have been released for many Apple devices recently, and if you haven’t updated your software to the latest versions yet, you really should do it while you have some free time this weekend. Do this for all of your own Apple hardware, do this for your parents Macs, grandparents iPads, aunts iPhone, uncles iPod, cousins SE/30 (just kidding), everyone who owns an Apple device needs to update all of their operating systems to a patched iOS or OS X version as soon as possible.

For those who missed it, the security updates are aimed at plugging the SSL/TSL security flaw that was uncovered a few weeks ago, which leaves nearly every recent Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch vulnerable to the following potential situation we described here:

“… an attacker could use this [security] flaw to intercept data, like email, passwords, banking information, communications, basically anything, if the attacker is on the same network as you, or is otherwise able to get between your computer and a remote server.”

That’s bad, but here’s what’s good; there are updates available for nearly every one to prevent this exploit being used against them.

Got a Mac? Update to OS X 10.9.2 or the Security Update

First things first: Back up your Mac with Time Machine before installing any system software update. It’s always unlikely for something to go wrong, but making a backup takes a few seconds and can prevent a world of frustration in the odd event something goes haywire in the update process (even something unexpected like a power outage mid-update can lead to a broken OS X installation)

Backed up? Good, now go to the  Apple menu and head to “Software Update” to install the update available to you, it will be one of the following, depending on your version of OS X:

• OS X Mavericks users can update to OS X 10.9.2 through Software Update


• OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) users will find the “Security Update 2014-001 (Mountain Lion)” available under Software Update


• OS X Lion (10.7) users will find the “Security Update 2014-001 (Lion)” available from Software Update

Mac users running OS X Snow Leopard won’t find any updates available for them, but that’s because Snow Leopard is not vulnerable to the SSL / TSL bug. In other words, 10.6 is safe from this specific security flaw, despite the load of erroneous hysteria in many other tech publications about Apple ‘dropping support’ for Snow Leopard and leaving them vulnerable. This can be confirmed by any Mac running Snow Leopard using Safari to visit the GoToFail test website.

For Mavericks users, installing OS X 10.9.2 also has nice perks, like resolving the final Mail problems that many Mac users had encountered, and there’s even a few new features added to OS X, like the ability to block iMessages from the Mac.

Those interested can read the release notes of OS X 10.9.2, and one of our readers was nice enough to paste the entire detailed security notes in the comments as well.

Can’t update quite yet for some reason? You really need to do so as soon as you can, whatever your version of OS X, but if you have some reason why you can’t update quite yet follow these basic protection tips in the meantime (for everyone else, it’s good advice to follow in general).

Got an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch? Update to iOS 7.0.6

Before anything else, back up your iPhone or iPad before beginning, you can back it up to iCloud or iTunes, or both. Just don’t forget to back up first. iOS updates usually go without a hitch, but it’s not completely unheard of to wind up with a ‘bricked’ device after installing a minor update, and a backup lets you recover from that situation in minutes rather than hours.

With a fresh backup handy, update directly by going to Settings > Software Update and installing the latest version available. This is known as “OTA” or Over-The-Air updating, and the device needs to be on a wi-fi network to accomplish this.

Advanced users can also go the manual route and download the iOS 7.0.6 IPSW.

Yes, even jailbreakers should update their devices too you can read more about the evasi0n jailbreak for 7.0.6 here.

For nearly everyone, the iOS 7.0.6 update goes without a hitch, but if you have an experience like my iPhone 5 or some of our readers, and happen to experience some truly unusual reduction in battery life post-install, you’ll find the rapid battery draining issue is easily resolved with this simple trick.

Got an Apple TV? An update is available to plug the security hole for you too, found in Settings > Software Update.

Whatever your Apple device, do not leave yourself vulnerable to malicious individuals, update to the patched iOS or OS X version as soon as possible.

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2 Critically Important Things Every Apple User Must Do This Weekend osxdailynews.blogspot.com

osxdailynews.blogspot.com ® 2 Critically Important Things Every Apple User Must Do This Weekend

Two hugely important software security updates have been released for many Apple devices recently, and if you haven’t updated your software to the latest versions yet, you really should do it while you have some free time this weekend. Do this for all of your own Apple hardware, do this for your parents Macs, grandparents iPads, aunts iPhone, uncles iPod, cousins SE/30 (just kidding), everyone who owns an Apple device needs to update all of their operating systems to a patched iOS or OS X version as soon as possible.

For those who missed it, the security updates are aimed at plugging the SSL/TSL security flaw that was uncovered a few weeks ago, which leaves nearly every recent Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch vulnerable to the following potential situation we described here:

“… an attacker could use this [security] flaw to intercept data, like email, passwords, banking information, communications, basically anything, if the attacker is on the same network as you, or is otherwise able to get between your computer and a remote server.”

That’s bad, but here’s what’s good; there are updates available for nearly every one to prevent this exploit being used against them.

Got a Mac? Update to OS X 10.9.2 or the Security Update

First things first: Back up your Mac with Time Machine before installing any system software update. It’s always unlikely for something to go wrong, but making a backup takes a few seconds and can prevent a world of frustration in the odd event something goes haywire in the update process (even something unexpected like a power outage mid-update can lead to a broken OS X installation)

Backed up? Good, now go to the  Apple menu and head to “Software Update” to install the update available to you, it will be one of the following, depending on your version of OS X:

• OS X Mavericks users can update to OS X 10.9.2 through Software Update


• OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) users will find the “Security Update 2014-001 (Mountain Lion)” available under Software Update


• OS X Lion (10.7) users will find the “Security Update 2014-001 (Lion)” available from Software Update

Mac users running OS X Snow Leopard won’t find any updates available for them, but that’s because Snow Leopard is not vulnerable to the SSL / TSL bug. In other words, 10.6 is safe from this specific security flaw, despite the load of erroneous hysteria in many other tech publications about Apple ‘dropping support’ for Snow Leopard and leaving them vulnerable. This can be confirmed by any Mac running Snow Leopard using Safari to visit the GoToFail test website.

For Mavericks users, installing OS X 10.9.2 also has nice perks, like resolving the final Mail problems that many Mac users had encountered, and there’s even a few new features added to OS X, like the ability to block iMessages from the Mac.

Those interested can read the release notes of OS X 10.9.2, and one of our readers was nice enough to paste the entire detailed security notes in the comments as well.

Can’t update quite yet for some reason? You really need to do so as soon as you can, whatever your version of OS X, but if you have some reason why you can’t update quite yet follow these basic protection tips in the meantime (for everyone else, it’s good advice to follow in general).

Got an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch? Update to iOS 7.0.6

Before anything else, back up your iPhone or iPad before beginning, you can back it up to iCloud or iTunes, or both. Just don’t forget to back up first. iOS updates usually go without a hitch, but it’s not completely unheard of to wind up with a ‘bricked’ device after installing a minor update, and a backup lets you recover from that situation in minutes rather than hours.

With a fresh backup handy, update directly by going to Settings > Software Update and installing the latest version available. This is known as “OTA” or Over-The-Air updating, and the device needs to be on a wi-fi network to accomplish this.

Advanced users can also go the manual route and download the iOS 7.0.6 IPSW.

Yes, even jailbreakers should update their devices too you can read more about the evasi0n jailbreak for 7.0.6 here.

For nearly everyone, the iOS 7.0.6 update goes without a hitch, but if you have an experience like my iPhone 5 or some of our readers, and happen to experience some truly unusual reduction in battery life post-install, you’ll find the rapid battery draining issue is easily resolved with this simple trick.

Got an Apple TV? An update is available to plug the security hole for you too, found in Settings > Software Update.

Whatever your Apple device, do not leave yourself vulnerable to malicious individuals, update to the patched iOS or OS X version as soon as possible.

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Reduce Data Usage When Web Browsing on iPhone with Chrome osxdailynews.blogspot.com

osxdailynews.blogspot.com ® Reduce Data Usage When Web Browsing on iPhone with Chrome

The latest versions of Chrome for iOS offer an optional data compression feature that uses Google servers to further compress web pages visited before accessing them from your iPhone or iPad. Put simply, toggling this setting can help to reduce your cellular data consumption when browsing the web within the Chrome app for iOS, and for some users it may even offer a bit of a speed improvement to their mobile web browsing experience too.

This is a reasonably new feature, so you’ll need to update to the latest version of Chrome for iOS to get access to the feature. If you’re not sure if you have it, check the App Store for any updates and download what is available before beginning.

1. Launch the Chrome app if you haven’t yet


2. Go to any webpage, then access the Chrome Settings by tapping on the [=] menu button alongside the URL bar, choosing “Settings” from the pull-down menu options


3. Scroll down near the bottom and select “Bandwidth”, then choose the “Reduce Data Usage” option
   

   

   
   


4. Flip “Reduce Data Usage” to ON then tap “Done”


5. Use Chrome as usual, the effect is automated

Once the feature has been turned on, the Data Usage settings panel in Chrome will convert into a ‘Data Savings’ graph, demonstrating the amount of bandwidth that has been saved by compressing pages before downloading them to the device.

As noted in the app Settings, neither SSL (secure sites and pages) or Incognito (anonymous browsing) pages are included in Chrome pre-compression.

Because most of the web is reasonably compressed these days, you’ll probably see between a 5%-15% reduction in bandwidth on average over time. That may not sound like much, but if you’re frequently hitting the data caps on your cellular plan and it’s because you’re browsing the web often, it can make a difference between getting whacked with overage charges or falling within the limits.

To be perfectly clear, this only impacts web browsing through the Chrome app in iOS, and it has no effect on any other form of data transfer through the iPhone or cellular iPad, and no impact on Safari. For the time being, this is limited to the mobile versions of Chrome, so if you rely on the personal wi-fi hotspot to tether your Mac to the phone and are running into excess data usage issues, you’ll need to follow some other tips to reduce that. Considering how handy this is, and how Chrome offers built-in bandwidth usage charting on the desktop through a hidden internal feature, it’s certainly possible the desktop Chrome apps will adopt such a feature in the future. We can hope the native Safari browser will get something similar too.

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Reduce Data Usage When Web Browsing on iPhone with Chrome osxdailynews.blogspot.com

osxdailynews.blogspot.com ® Reduce Data Usage When Web Browsing on iPhone with Chrome

The latest versions of Chrome for iOS offer an optional data compression feature that uses Google servers to further compress web pages visited before accessing them from your iPhone or iPad. Put simply, toggling this setting can help to reduce your cellular data consumption when browsing the web within the Chrome app for iOS, and for some users it may even offer a bit of a speed improvement to their mobile web browsing experience too.

This is a reasonably new feature, so you’ll need to update to the latest version of Chrome for iOS to get access to the feature. If you’re not sure if you have it, check the App Store for any updates and download what is available before beginning.

1. Launch the Chrome app if you haven’t yet


2. Go to any webpage, then access the Chrome Settings by tapping on the [=] menu button alongside the URL bar, choosing “Settings” from the pull-down menu options


3. Scroll down near the bottom and select “Bandwidth”, then choose the “Reduce Data Usage” option
   

   

   
   


4. Flip “Reduce Data Usage” to ON then tap “Done”


5. Use Chrome as usual, the effect is automated

Once the feature has been turned on, the Data Usage settings panel in Chrome will convert into a ‘Data Savings’ graph, demonstrating the amount of bandwidth that has been saved by compressing pages before downloading them to the device.

As noted in the app Settings, neither SSL (secure sites and pages) or Incognito (anonymous browsing) pages are included in Chrome pre-compression.

Because most of the web is reasonably compressed these days, you’ll probably see between a 5%-15% reduction in bandwidth on average over time. That may not sound like much, but if you’re frequently hitting the data caps on your cellular plan and it’s because you’re browsing the web often, it can make a difference between getting whacked with overage charges or falling within the limits.

To be perfectly clear, this only impacts web browsing through the Chrome app in iOS, and it has no effect on any other form of data transfer through the iPhone or cellular iPad, and no impact on Safari. For the time being, this is limited to the mobile versions of Chrome, so if you rely on the personal wi-fi hotspot to tether your Mac to the phone and are running into excess data usage issues, you’ll need to follow some other tips to reduce that. Considering how handy this is, and how Chrome offers built-in bandwidth usage charting on the desktop through a hidden internal feature, it’s certainly possible the desktop Chrome apps will adopt such a feature in the future. We can hope the native Safari browser will get something similar too.

Email this Reduce Data Usage When Web Browsing on iPhone with Chrome to a Friend! Receive Articles like this one direct to your email box! Subscribe for free today!