Smartphone Safety

Smartphone Safety in the Connected Age

A guest post by Eva Velasquez, CEO, Identity Theft Resource Center

The US patent for the telephone just celebrated its 141st birthday, but the device most people know of today looks nothing like its famous ancestor. Phones have evolved to include first a dial, then a keypad, then a keyboard, and now, nothing of the kind as touchscreens have reigned supreme. The phones of yesteryear only connected to a central operator hub, while today’s smartphones can call anywhere in the world, send text messages, surf the internet, and control countless apps.

One of the main security flaws with smartphones is simply that users might not understand their devices’ own vulnerabilities. More than just a phone, a smartphone is a handheld computer that can be the same kind of open door to scams, fraud, and identity theft that a desktop PC can be. It’s portable and therefore “losable,” but is also susceptible to viruses and hacking.

In order to secure your smartphone against intruders, there are some key takeaways that all users must be aware of:

1. Physical security – In the wrong hands, your smartphone can be the gateway to your entire identity. The very apps that make a smartphone such a convenient time-saver can also lead a criminal directly to your email account, your social media accounts, even your banking and credit card accounts. That’s why it’s necessary that you deploy the built-in passcode feature, locking up your phone against anyone who doesn’t know the code.You may also choose to engage apps that can track your smartphone in case it’s lost, or even “brick” your device if you have reason to believe it’s actually gone. That way, even if a thief gets their hands on it, the information inside the device will be permanently locked up.


2. App Security – One of the best things about smartphones is how they are fully customizable, to the point that no two devices are the same. The power of these devices is in their apps, which users select and download for themselves. Unfortunately, those apps can be fraught with problems, such as broad-sweeping permissions, the ability to track locations, accessing the user’s address book, or even carrying hidden viruses inside the code.In order to safely use your smartphone, it’s important to know how each of your apps functions and what permissions it requires. When in doubt, set your permission levels to the strictest settings, such as revoking access to the device’s GPS or microphone. You can always grant these permissions later if the functionality of the app is limited without them.


3. Who’s On The Other End? – Finally, one of the most important factors to consider when using a smartphone is that you sometimes cannot know who’s on the other end. Whether it’s phone scams, text message scams, viruses that are downloaded from images or links, or dozens of other ways that you can be put at risk, remember that your smartphone can be the source.It’s important to have antivirus software downloaded on your device, run routine checkups to make sure your apps are up-to-date, make sure your passwords and passcode are strong and changed regularly, and that your sensitive apps aren’t left logged in when you don’t need them.

Delete Your Instagram Search History

How to Delete Your Instagram Search History

by Harry Guinness 

Search histories can be somewhat incriminating, and there’s often very little reason to keep them around. Your Instagram search history is no exception. Here’s how to clear it.

Deleting your history is a great way to help ensure a little privacy, and to help keep things running smoothly. We’ve always recommended clearing your web browser’s history once in a while, and you can apply that same advice to the various apps and services you use. Clearing your Instagram history is super simple, so let’s started.

First, open Instagram and head to the Settings page. We’re doing this on an iPhone, but it should work the same whether you’re using iOS or Android.

Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll see the “Clear Search History” option. Tap that, and then tap the “Yes, I’m Sure” button. Your Instagram search history gets wiped clean just like that.

You should note that clearing your history this way doesn’t provide a completely clear slate. Instagram still shows a list of Suggested accounts at the top of the Search panel. These are people you frequently or most recently interacted with.

Still, your actual search history does get cleared, and you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Take Screenshots

How to Take Screenshots on an Android Phone or Tablet

by Cameron Summerson 

Sometimes it’s necessary to grab a still image of what’s happening on your device’s screen—that’s called a screenshot. While this used to be a hassle on Android (many moons ago), all modern handsets include the capability. Here’s how to do it.

How to Take a Screenshot on Most Android Devices

If you’re using a phone or tablet that was released in the last four years or so, then taking a screenshot is as easy as tapping a couple of buttons. The primary exception here is going to be on Samsung Galaxy devices that predate the S8, but we’ll cover those down below.

For everyone else, just press the Volume Down+Power buttons at the same time. You’ll have to briefly hold this combination, and you’ll be notified that a screenshot was taken by an audible sound, a visual flash, as well as an entry in the notification bar. Easy peasy.

How to Take a Screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Devices

Like I said, if you’re using a Galaxy device that came out before the S8, then the process is slightly different. Instead of pressing volume down + power, you’ll use the Home+Power buttons. This, of course, doesn’t work on the S8, because Samsung ditched the home button. So you’ll use the above method instead.

Again, you’ll know a screenshot was taken by a sound, visual flash on the screen, and a notification in the bar.

How to Share and View Your Screenshots

Regardless of phone model, you can interact with the screenshot directly from the notification, where you’ll find options to share, delete, or even edit it.

To view all the screenshots you’ve taken, fire up the photos app, then slide open the menu on the left side of the screen.

Select “Device Folders,” then “Screenshots.” Boom.

Again, the exception here is on Samsung devices, which store screenshots in the default camera images folder. This means they should show up in the main Photos interface alongside any pictures you’ve taken.

Humvee-Mounted Howitzer

This Humvee-Mounted Howitzer Is Here To "Shoot and Scoot"

The Hawkeye Mobile Weapon System can fire and then move at a moment's notice.

Mandus Group photo
 
By Kyle Mizokami

A new self-propelled howitzer system meets a Humvee—or a Ford F-250 pickup truck—with a 105-millimeter howitzer for an artillery system capable of rapidly moving from one firing position to another. The result is the Hawkeye,a new artillery system that can not only keep up with fast-moving friendly forces but dodge attempts by enemy forces to shut it down.

Howitzers are artillery pieces designed to engage targets out of sight. Like other so-called "indirect fire" systems such as mortars, howitzers fire a heavy projectile at targets miles away. A major problem with indirect fire weapons is that they generate a huge amount of recoil, making it necessary to mount them on heavy vehicles equipped with stabilizers that dig into the dirt, bracing the entire vehicle.

Mandus Group, a defense contractor that specializes in field artillery maintenance, figured out that the key to reducing howitzer weight was to reduce recoil. Once that was accomplished, a howitzer could be parked on top of much lighter vehicles. At 2,550 pounds, Mandus claims the Hawkeye is the world's lightest self-propelled howitzer.

The Hawkeye's hydraulic recoil-dampening system reduces recoil by seventy percent. This makes it possible for 105-millimeter howitzers, which used to be mounted in armored vehicles, to fit on a flatbed M1152A1 Humvee, a trailer, and even a Ford F-250 pickup. A single button retracts the hydraulic stabilizers, and the Hawkeye is ready to hit the road just thirty seconds later.

The ability to pack up everything and move quickly is not just useful to support friendly forces. Although artillery typically stays far behind friendly lines, howitzers like Hawkeye are routinely targeted in wartime by so-called "counterbattery" missions conducted by an adversary's own artillery. Counterbattery relies on sound-locating equipment or radar to detect the point of origin of incoming artillery rounds, which is then showered with indirect fire.


Mandus Group

The key to staying in the fight and not getting blown up is what artillerymen call "shoot and scoot" —firing from one position, moving, and then firing from another. The faster an artillery unit can displace to its next firing position, the better its chances of survival.

Hawkeye can fire up to eight 105-millimeter rounds a minute for three minutes, meaning a battery of six vehicles can rain down 144 105-millimeter shells on the enemy before the gun barrel gets so hot it needs a rest. It can fire high explosive, illumination, and smoke rounds to a range of 7.2 miles. It can fire rocket assisted projectiles that sacrifice payload for a rocket motor that increases effective range to 12.2 miles.


Mandus Group photo

Hawkeye could be very useful for U.S. Army light infantry brigades and Marines, and both services have reportedly shown interest. The Hawkeye is currently being exhibited at the Modern Day Marine trade show at Quantico, Virginia. It is scheduled to strut its stuff next week at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and later Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the home of the U.S. Army artillery branch.

Source: Defensetech

Recover a Deleted File

How to Recover a Deleted File: The Ultimate Guide

by Chris Hoffman

It’s happened to most of us. You delete a file, and then realize you need it back. This guide explains when you can get that file back and how to go about it.

We’ve covered a variety of tools for recovering deleted files in the past, but this guide goes more in-depth. We’ll cover everything you need to know if you want to successfully recover deleted files.

Is the File Really Deleted?

If you’re not sure whether you permanently deleted a file, be sure to look around for it first. Try performing a search in File Explorer. Hopefully, you just misplaced the file and you can find it again.

In Windows, take a peek in the Recycle Bin. You can search the Recycle Bin using the search box at the top-right corner of the window, which may help if you have a lot of files in there.

You can also right-click in the Recycle Bin window, and then choose Sort By > Date Deleted to more easily view recently deleted files.

Note: By default, programs like CCleaner empty your Recycle Bin when you run them, so having CCleaner or a similar program automatically run in the background can prevent you from recovering files from the Recycle Bin. CCleaner—and similar apps—do let you disable cleaning the Reycle Bin, so that may be an option worth exploring if you like to hang on to deleted files until you’re ready for them to go.

If your file was stored in a cloud storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive, be sure to log into your account on the service’s website and check your deleted files there—you may find the file is still recoverable. This is the cloud storage version of the Recycle Bin.

Check Your Backups

You should be making regular backups of your most important files so you won’t lose too much critical data if your files ever vanish on you. If you do have a backup, now’s the time to check it for a copy of the file you deleted. And if you don’t have a backup, you really should. Windows has some good backup tools built in. In particular, Windows’ File History tool is useful for easily recovering deleted files and older versions of files, but it’s not enabled by default.

Magnetic Hard Drives vs. Solid-state Drives

If you’ve made it this far and haven’t managed to restore your file yet, the only way you’re getting that file back is with file-recovery software. However, there’s some bad news: This may be impossible on some computers.

Traditional magnetic hard drives and solid-state drives work differently. When you delete a file on a magnetic hard drive, its data isn’t immediately erased from the disk. Instead, the pointer to that data is removed, so that the data can be overwritten. It may be possible to scan the hard drive for leftover data and restore deleted files that haven’t yet been overwritten.

When a file is deleted from a solid-state drive, that file is immediately erased with the TRIM command to free up the space, and ensure the SSD can be quickly written to in the future. That means that you can’t recover data deleted from solid-state drives—once it’s gone, it’s gone. Very old solid-state drives and old operating systems like Windows Vista don’t support TRIM, but modern solid-state drives and Windows 7 through 10 all support TRIM.

The Safest Way to Recover a Deleted File

If you deleted a file on a magnetic hard drive and you’re still using that computer, the safest thing to do is shut down the computer immediately. If you continue using the computer—even if you’re just installing file-recovery software—it’s possible that a program on your computer could write data that overwrites the deleted file’s data on your hard drive.

With the computer shut down, you should boot from a file-recovery live CD or USB drive, or remove the hard drive from the computer entirely and place it in another computer as a secondary drive. The key is to avoid writing to the drive entirely. Use file-recovery software to scan the drive, and hopefully you’ll find the deleted file. If you deleted the file recently and haven’t written to the drive much, you have a fairly good chance of recovering it. If you deleted the file two weeks ago, and have written to the drive quite a bit, it’s very unlikely that you’ll recover the file.

We’ve covered using the ntfsundelete and photorec tools to do this from a Ubuntu live CD or USB drive.

The Quicker, Riskier Way to Recover a Deleted File

If you’d like to get a deleted file back, but the file isn’t extremely important and you don’t want to go to much additional effort, there is an easier, riskier way than using a live CD. Just install a file-recovery tool like Recuva, from the makers of the popular CCleaner application. Use that application to scan your hard drive for deleted files and restore the one you want back, if you can find it.

This method is riskier because it involves writing to the drive. When you install a tool like Recuva on the drive, it’s possible that you could overwrite the deleted file’s data with the Recuva program data. It’s also possible that other programs running in the background could write to disk and overwrite the data. All it takes is for a portion of the file to be overwritten, and the file may become completely corrupt.

Professional Data Recovery

If the data is particularly critical, you don’t have any backups, and you failed to recover the data using other methods, you might want to consider a professional data recovery service. First things first, though: power off the computer immediately if it’s not already off. The longer the computer runs, the more data will be written to its hard drive and the less chance you’ll have of recovering your data.

Professional data recovery services deal with everything from deleted and overwritten files to dying hard drives that need to be disassembled and repaired. These services can be extremely pricey, costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars, so they’re not the ideal solution. However, if you have extremely important data that you can’t recover or replace and you’re willing to pay up, this is an option available to you. Of course, these services can’t guarantee anything—they may be unable to recover your data. They’ll also probably charge you for their work even if they ultimately can’t recover your data.

Avoiding Deleted File Scares

The best way to ensure you’ll never have to recover a deleted file is to perform regular backups. Even just enabling the File History or Windows Backup functionality in your version of Windows will give you some peace of mind. It’s still possible for a file to be deleted, but if you’re performing regular backups, you won’t lose much data. You’ll have much more luck restoring backups than recovering deleted files. Backup services are cheaper than professional data recovery services, too.

---

Deleted files aren’t necessarily gone forever, but they’re not always easy to recover. As solid-state drives are used in more and more new computers, proper backup procedures are becoming even more important.

Taco Bell & Forever 21

Taco Bell and Forever 21's New Clothing Line Is the Ultimate Generation Z Bait

For teens who want to wear their love of Doritos Locos tacos on their sleeve

by Whitney Filloon@whitneyfilloon

Behold Taco Bell’s first fashion collab Taco Bell

Behold, the ultimate Generation Z bait: Taco Bell has teamed up with teen outfitter Forever 21 for a line of clothing and accessories. The chain’s logo and imagery will be splashed across items such as bodysuits, cropped hoodies. sweatshirts, anoraks, and graphic tees: Think a pink pullover sweatshirt with an embroidered “Live Mas” logo on the chest, or a tank top designed to look like a packet of the chain’s signature Fire Sauce.

The collection will be available in Forever 21 stores and via Forever21.com beginning Wednesday, October 11, with a preview event slated for October 10 in downtown LA’s Fashion District.


Taco Bell

Though this does mark Taco Bell’s first fashion collection collab, it’s not the first time the fast-food chain has slapped its branding and imagery on merch: The flagship Taco Bell Cantina on the Vegas Strip is home to a shop hawking taco-print t-shirts and beach towels, among other items. Some diehard fans have also taken matters into their own hands, with one bride-to-be painstakingly creating a Taco Bell wedding dress out of burrito wrappers.

Will teens actually fork over their taco money to wear Taco Bell ads on their chest? Stay tuned.

Trivia

Eccentric Billionaire Howard Hughes Once Bought An Entire Casino In Order To?

Live On The Top Floor                    Convert It To A Bowling Arena

Shutter Its Rooftop Bar                    Disable Its Sign

Answer: Disable Its Sign

Howard Hughes is one of the characters in the history of America that looms larger than life for more than a few reasons. He was a businessman at heart, a maverick film director, and then, not content at making a name for himself in one industry, he founded an aircraft company and made a name for himself all over again (setting multiple air speed records in the process).

But, as is often the case, it’s not things like founding companies or amassing wealth that people like Hughes are remembered for, but the eccentricities. Hughes is remembered for being particularly eccentric, even among the ranks of his ultra-wealthy peers, because he suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder. In ways that a regular OCD-stricken Joe with a regular Joe budget could never afford to indulge his compulsions, Hughes effectively had an unlimited budget. The combination of billions of dollars in the bank with unorthodox attitudes towards the world around him led Hughes to often spend money in ways that seems absurd to the rest of us.

One of the more notable (and certainly most visible) ways in which Hughes would use his money to cultivate his immediate environment to his liking was the 1968 purchase of the Silver Slipper casino in Las Vegas. Hughes had previously purchased other Las Vegas hotels and casinos (he had a strong desire to glamorize Las Vegas and invested heavily in it), but the purchase of the Silver Slipper for 5.4 million dollars (~38.5 million dollars, adjusted for inflation) had nothing to do with business. The motivation for his purchase was to gain control of the Silver Slipper’s giant iconic slipper sign.

The reason given was that the brightly lit slipper shined in Hughes’ bedroom window (he was living at the nearby Desert Inn) but, given the sheer number of very bright lights in Las Vegas, that reason seems a bit flimsy. It was later revealed that Hughes’ primary motivation was a paranoia that someone could access the slipper and use it as a roost to spy on (and photograph) him from across the way. After purchasing the casino, Hughes had the lights turned off, the sign’s rotation motor dismantled, and had the entire casino sealed up so nobody could get inside it.

The sign remained in that state until the demise of the hotel (it was purchased in 1988, demolished, and turned into a parking lot for the Frontier next door). The slipper went into storage and was, only recently (2009), restored and displayed as part of a collection of vintage signs along the median of Las Vegas Boulevard North.

Sports News

Derek Jeter Has The Keys To The Marlins. Now What?

Lindsey Adler

Alex Goodlett/Getty

Wednesday afternoon, MLB owners unanimously approved the sale of the Miami Marlins to Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman, setting up the $1.2 billion sale to close on Monday, after the conclusion of the regular season. This is Rob Manfred’s wet dream, and the rest of us are just living it.

You’d expect the combination of 1) getting Jeffrey Loria the hell out of baseball and 2) beloved megastar Derek Jeter buying a major league franchise to carry more excitement, more emotion, more anything maybe. As for the first, this is not Frank and Jamie McCourt being forced to sell the Dodgers, with the historic club ultimately winding up in the hands of Magic Johnson and some wildly, wildly rich Guggenheim dudes. We didn’t get the pleasure of Loria being kicked out of the ownership club by a big rubber boot, metaphorically speaking. And he’s going out the door comically wealthier than he came in.

So it’s not only an unsatisfying end to Loria’s ownership, but will the Marlins really be that much better under Jeter? Sure, he’s Mr. Unobjectionable, but what does Derek Jeter mean to Marlins fans in any way that could rally or energize a beaten-down fanbase in Miami? Jeter and Sherman come into ownership with a lot of debt, and Jeter has already been reported to be intent on cutting payroll. Even before getting official run of the business, he’s begun cleaning house, from Loria’s son-in-law David Samson up at the top to guys like Andre Dawson, Jeff Conine, Tony Perez, and Jack McKeon for seemingly no other reason than to mark his territory.

Jeter seems intent on meddling in the baseball ops side of things, though he’s rumored to want to bring in Yankees VP of Player Development Gary Denbo, and is possibly keeping President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill. Jeter is certainly well-connected and should theoretically be able to recruit brighter, smarter people to Miami than Loria was able to, but even with a strong braintrust, he wants to be an involved owner, unlikely to be content sitting back and doing some corny tweets like Magic. Which is fine. But why should anyone trust he knows what the hell he’s doing? We know about Jeter’s playing credentials, but when exactly did he learn anything about payroll, roster construction, scouting philosophy, analytics, how to build an attractive overall product—all the things that actually matter when you’re sitting in the owners’ box instead of playing shortstop? This isn’t Steinbrenner’s Yankees, contented during Jeter’s stint to spend, spend, spend, and draw fans in through success and lore. Is there any way to set a DVR for the first time Jeter tries to negotiate with the Dave Dombrowskis and Andrew Friedmans of the world?

The Marlins don’t have the cachet of Jeter’s old team, or nearly any team in the league other than like, Tampa Bay. They’re a team that needs elbow grease (to say nothing of a ton of money). All things considered, Loria is leaving the team floating somewhere within the relative vicinity of a competitive roster, but it’s all but certain that Jeter’s gonna blow it up to get some of the bigger contracts off the books.

I asked a few (a scientifically significant sample size, clearly) Marlins fans about the sale of the team, and one thing a couple of them brought up independently that could be an easy, significant move for Jeter’s ownership and management would be to pursue a roster stacked with notable Hispanic/Latin American talent. They think Jeter’s tenure could do well to encourage the Hispanic baseball culture that should theoretically be represented in a Miami fanbase; I think that for fans tired of seeing photos of their empty, strange ballpark mocked nationally, the joy and excitement of the World Baseball Classic clicked some things into place.

There is one player on the 40-man roster from Cuba (reliever Odrisamer Despaigne), and none from the Miami area. Jeter’s certainly not going to lure in Manny “Mr. Miami” Machado in free agency, but if the team’s going to go through the slog of roster turnover, a fun, relatable guy or two is at least a good place to start while the pieces of a winning franchise come together. It’s not like fans are asking for an Estonian starter who throws six different pitches; guys with ties to Cuba (and other Latin American countries represented in Miami), and to the Miami area itself, are out there, at a variety of price points. It’s entirely achievable to build the first Marlins teams that feels like it represents Miami.

Taking control of the Marlins could be the first thing Jeter does in his career that really puts him outside his comfort zone (a metaphorical first step to his left, you might say). He’ll be vulnerable and he’ll be more scrutinized than most first-time owners. He can’t afford to be bland, even though bland is the only thing he’s ever been. Godspeed, Miami.

Entertainment News

Spoiler Room: Scoop on Once Upon a Time, Grey's Anatomy, The Flash, and more

NATALIE ABRAMS@NATALIEABRAMS

JACK ROWAND/ABC; ERIC MCCANDLESS/ABC; KATIE YU/THE CW

Want scoop on your favorite shows? Then come hang out in the Spoiler Room, where I attempt to satiate your need to find out what’s coming up on TV. If you want spoilers on a specific show, send Qs to my Twitter: @NatalieAbrams.

Is there anything you can tease about the dynamic between Roni and Henry in Hyperion Heights on Once Upon a Time? — Melissa

While they don’t know that they’re mother and son — there’s a good joke about that in the premiere — that doesn’t mean they won’t form a bond. “The bar that she works at becomes a bit of a haven for him and a bit of a home base for him when he’s in Hyperion Heights,” Andrew J. West teases. “She’s somebody that he can commiserate with and that he can bounce ideas off of, and they develop a partnership because they both find that they have a common goal in Hyperion Heights.”

Anything about Arizona on Grey’s Anatomy? — Manu

Sure, everyone is thinking about Teddy’s return in terms of Owen, but let’s not forget that Teddy was actually BFFs with Arizona. “They pick up exactly where they left off,” Jessica Capshaw tells me. “They stayed friends. You are to imagine that, in Shondaland, they have remained friends ever since.” There’s even quite a hilarious scene in which they first reunite and Arizona realizes, well, she’s forgotten to update Teddy on a few things.

Any news on The Flash‘s Westallen wedding during the crossover will be greatly appreciated! — Fowsia

How about pre-crossover? That “Girls Night Out” episode I previously told you about? It is indeed the respective bachelor and bachelorette parties for Barry and Iris. Here’s what you should know: Cisco’s best-laid plans go awry with the guys, while a familiar face crashes the girls’ party.

What do you have on Connor from How to Get Away with Murder? — Linda

I can exclusively reveal that D.W. Moffett has booked a role on Murder as Connor’s father. It’s all part and parcel of Connor going through some trials and tribulations this season. “Connor is going to be having an existential crisis about what type of person he wants to be, and I think that’s what the wedding proposal really does for him,” EP Pete Nowalk says. “Is he the marrying type or is he the guy that wants to be a shark, or a lawyer, and like a mini-Annalise?”

What can you tease of Cooper’s storyline on The Blacklist this season? — Godard

What would you say if I told you that we’re going to see Cooper, the pillar of morality, actually team up with Red this season? “Cooper has a great storyline coming up where we actually get to see Cooper and Reddington step outside the Post Office and knock on a few doors together,” EP Jon Bokenkamp. “[He’s] not really setting the badge aside, but we get to see them team up, which is something that we haven’t done before. Cooper has a story that’s incredibly personal to him that’s going to be coming to roost quite soon.”

Anything on The Gifted? I wish Amy Acker were playing a mutant! — Megan

Hey, she’s got plenty coming up, even as a mom without mutant powers. As Caitlin Strucker, she’ll have a lot of internal drama to wrestle with: “When she finds out that her kids are mutants and that her daughter has actually been hiding this from them for a few years and that her son is just finding his abilities, it really starts her questioning whether she’s been believing all the wrong things all this time,” Acker teases. “Maybe she hasn’t spoken up for the things she should have, and maybe she’s been too complacent. It’s a really interesting part to think about: Even if something doesn’t affect us, should we have been fighting for that?” In other words, don’t expect Acker to play a shrinking violet when things start spiraling out of control.

What’s up with Hawaii Five-0‘s Danno? — Cynthia

The show is really going to lean into seeing more of his social life, particularly how he feels about his daughter now being in a serious relationship with Grover’s son, exploring his future plans with McGarrett and his dynamic with new recruit Tani. “His relationship with Tani is a big deal,” EP Peter Lenkov says, explaining that it’s purely platonic between them. “He’s the one that, in some ways, bonds with her very early on, not romantically, just in terms of connecting as team members. Mutual respect. They bond really early, and very much like McGarrett mentoring Junior, Danny’s got that kind of relationship with Tani.”

What’s in store for Sheldon and Amy outside their relationship this year on The Big Bang Theory? — Alicia

Yes, they’re on the path to get married, but there’s trouble in paradise ahead, particularly when it comes to their jobs. “The physics world, especially with the Large Hadron Collider, they were expecting much bigger breakthroughs that they really haven’t seen, whereas neuroscience is really flourishing, it’s such an exciting field and it’s getting a lot of money thrown at it,” EP Steve Holland tells me. “So one of the things we’re going to deal with in a little bit of an arc for Sheldon and Amy is that her career is really taking off and his isn’t doing as well. That’s an interesting place for Sheldon to be. Not only does he think he’s there greatest scientist, but he thinks that physics is the greatest science. He obviously loves and respects Amy, so having him have to deal with those emotions is going to be really fun.”

Anything on Rafael’s situation on Jane the Virgin? — Maria

When he moves in with the Villanueva women for a bit, he’ll do some surprising bonding with Alba. “He and Alba strike up an interesting friendship,” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman says. ” She starts to get really into his protein smoothies, and he starts to train her a little bit, and they track their Fitbit steps together. It definitely opens up possibilities.” All that being said, Urman adds that Rafael will remain focused on getting his money back.

Will Olivia still be wearing the white hat during the final season of Scandal? — Derren

How Olivia handles certain situations in the premiere will definitely make you question whether power has corrupted her — and who is actually in charge in the Oval Office. “I do believe in that saying that fame doesn’t change you, it reveals who you are, so that’s a lot of what this season has been,” Kerry Washington says. “There’s been a lot of exploration of how can she navigate this extraordinary amount of power being the Chief of Staff of the president and running B613?”

Don’t Conform.

Don’t Conform. Be Transformed!

Don’t Conform. Be Transformed!

By Rick Warren

“Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God” (Romans 12:2a GNT).

You have two choices in life. You’ll either be conformed or transformed.

There’s no middle ground.

Just ask Daniel.

Daniel faced a choice. Either he could take the king’s food and be conformed to the ways of the Babylonian Empire, or he could refuse to defile his body and stay true to his values.

Daniel stayed strong. He never forgot who he was. He said, “You can change my address. You can change my clothing. You can change my name. But you’re not going to change my heart. I won’t be conformed to the ways of this society.”

Too many of us choose differently than Daniel did. Instead of sticking to our values, we live like everyone else. We conform.

But the Bible reminds us, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God” (Romans 12:2a GNT).

I talk to people all the time who can’t figure out what God wants them to do with their lives because they’re conformed to the world. They’re more interested in being like everyone else than in being the unique person that God made them to be. As long as you’re worried about conforming, you won’t worry about God transforming you. And in that case, you won’t know the will of God.

But if you make Daniel’s choice and choose God’s best for your life, he’ll transform you. Then you’ll know the will of God.

Not a Destination but a Path

Prayer: Not a Destination but a Path by Kathi Lambrides Westlund

We are sojourners in this life. Each day, we travel an unfamiliar path toward a sure destination. God is our ever-present companion--guiding and protecting, comforting and convicting us, but we are often unaware of Him... Prayer is our means of acknowledging God’s presence and seeking His help on our daily journey. It is God’s way of giving us access to Him. He commands us to pray because He knows that we need Him. We need His redemption, His guidance, His courage, His forgiveness, His sustenance, His peace. He knows that we need what He has--that we have no where else to turn!... In heeding God’s command to pray, we become part of a humbling and powerful collaboration: God hears us and answers us. (Jeremiah 33:3) Jesus prays for us. (Romans 8:34) The Holy Spirit helps us pray. (Romans 8:26) When God calls us to pray, He isn’t calling us to do something for Him. He’s calling us to receive something from Him--something we need: His light for our daily journey. We, sojourners, have Jesus as our light and the Holy Spirit as our guide...We are not traveling alone. The presence and the power of the Triune God are ours. We’ve all had the experience of carefully relying on a map or GPS to navigate a complicated route to a new place. Then, gradually, with repeated trips on the same road, we don’t need to rely on navigational tools. We have internalized the map. It has become part of us. We know the way. The same thing happens with prayer. Prayer should not be a formula but a pattern - not a chain but a path--to help you as you make your way. God uses well-established spiritual disciplines to guide us when our emotions run thin and our motivations are weak. Every Christian is prayerless in some, perhaps many, seasons of life. Like any frequently traveled path, a path of prayer allows our faltering steps to progress, even if our hearts are not fully engaged. Often, the heart is sparked by the comforting routine of prayer, courage is restored, joy eventually returns. We are all, gradually, moving toward hard times in life, if we haven’t gone through them already. You won’t learn to pray in the emergency room--that’s where you’ll speechlessly lean into Jesus. You won’t learn to pray in your overturned car--that’s where you’ll just cry out His name. You won’t learn to pray in your living room while reeling from a loved one’s bad decisions--that’s when you’ll just weep to God. Learning the way when life is somewhat stable makes us familiar with the path so that we can run straight to Him in the dark, like a nightmare-scared child instinctively making his way to his parents’ bed. We are with God all the way; He is the route, and He is the destination.

Sat Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

Somebody said that marriage is like flies on a screen door – the ones on the outside are trying to get in and the ones on the inside are trying to get out. I can tell you as a pastor I talk to singles who are frustrated because they are not married, and I talk with married people who are frustrated, because they are married. Jesus is going to give both groups a lot to think about. The single person needs to listen to what Jesus said before he or she gets married. The married person had better listen to what Jesus said, before they think about ending their marriage.

The verses in Matthew 19 summarize pretty much everything Jesus says about marriage and divorce to those who are single, married, or divorced.

The reason Jesus even got into this topic was because of a question that His ever present antagonist, the Pharisees, asked Him.

“And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?’” (Matthew 19:3)

To put this in modern day terms what they were saying was, “Is there any such thing as a ‘no fault’ divorce?” California was the first state in the country that passed a law saying that basically you could get divorced for any reason or no reason. That view is practically held now in all 50 states.

These Pharisees, being sticklers for the law, were asking, “Is it biblical to get a divorce for any reason? Is it right?” In God’s eyes can you get a divorce for any reason and get away with it? You have to understand that in that day there were two primary schools of thought about divorce that were led by two very prominent rabbis. One was a liberal and one was a conservative. The liberal view said that if your wife burned the biscuits you could get a divorce. If your wife had too many wrinkles you could get a divorce. If she looked bad or cooked bad you could tell her, “Hit the road Jackie!” Another school of thought was a lot more conservative and had basically narrowed down the reason for divorce being some type of sexual sin.

Notice that one thing has not changed in 2000 years. The Pharisees were looking for reasons that a couple could divorce instead of looking for a recipe on how to stay married. They were really asking two questions: #1- “In God’s eyes how can you get out of a marriage” and #2- “If you can get out of a marriage how do you get back in?”

Once again Jesus didn’t answer their question. Why? Because they were asking the wrong question. Instead of answering the question, “How can you get out of a marriage?” Jesus answered this question, “Why should you stay in a marriage?” Jesus gives the right answer to the right question – short, succinct, simple, but garlic-breath strong.

“He answered, ‘Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.’” (Matthew 19:4-6)

Jesus goes way back thousands of years, 39 books, to the first book and second chapter of the Bible. He simply says, “There is your answer.”

The reason Jesus did that is simple. What He just said and what you just read is God’s default position for marriage. If you are familiar with computers this is God’s homepage for marriage. If you want to know what God says about marriage it is our key take away. Key Take Away: One and done.

Entire Island Evacuated

Entire Island Evacuated as Volcano Rumbles

Vanuatu orders all 11K people off Ambae

By Newser Editors and Wire Services

This photo provided by the New Zealand Defense Force shows huge columns of smoke, ash. and volcanic rocks billowing from the crater of an erupting volcano on Vanuatu's Ambae Island.   (New Zealand Defense Force)

(NEWSER) – Vanuatu officials on Thursday ordered the complete evacuation of an island in the Pacific archipelago where a rumbling, belching volcano is threatening to blow. Government spokesman Hilaire Bule says ministers decided they couldn't risk people's lives and so ordered the compulsory evacuation of Ambae island, which is home to about 11,000 people. Island resident Lilian Garae tells the AP she can see "smoke coming out from the hills" and hear regular booming noises from the Manaro volcano. Ambae is one of about 65 inhabited islands in the Pacific nation, which is about one-quarter of the way from Australia to Hawaii.

Officials last weekend raised the volcano's activity measure to Level 4, on a scale in which Level 5 represents a major eruption. "People are quite afraid with the sound of rumbling going on," says Dickinson Tevi, a spokesman for the Vanuatu Red Cross Society. "They are very uncertain and afraid." Some residents have already left the island voluntarily. For them, it's a waiting game to see whether the volcano erupts or returns to normal activity that's not a threat. Officials say they have no real way of predicting what the volcano will do next and that evacuees will just have to wait it out. Bule says the evacuation will be carried out by boat and continue through Oct. 6. He says residents will be moved onto nearby islands.

OLED vs. Samsung’s QLED TVs

What’s the Difference Between OLED and Samsung’s QLED TVs?

by Michael Crider 

Organic light-emitting diodes, abbreviated as OLED, are all the rage for high-end HD televisions. The technology has jumped from phones and tablets to larger screens, and its vibrant colors and “perfect” black levels make for amazing picture quality. But it isn’t the only player in town.

At the moment, Sony and LG are pushing OLED technology hard on their top-tier televisions, but Samsung seems to be doubling down on improvements of conventional LED screens instead. (Which is an odd move, since Samsung is one of the biggest manufacturers of OLED screens for mobile devices.) Instead, Samsung says that its new “QLED” televisions, using a marketing abbreviation for “Quantum Dot LED,” are better than LG’s best OLED screens. But not only is that something of an apples-to-oranges comparison, it’s also a bit of intentional confusion on Samsung’s part.

What Makes OLED TVs So Special?

This Consumer Reports photo shows the dramatic difference in black levels between OLED (left) and LED (right).

The biggest difference between organic LEDs and more conventional designs is the backlight mechanism—or more precisely, the lack of one. Because of the molecular structure of the organic compounds involved in its fabrication, each individual OLED pixel is illuminated when electrical current is applied. Those pixels that have no current applied—for example, when a full black, 0-0-0 RGB value is called for by the display mechanism—simply don’t activate. This allows OLED screens to achieve “true black,” since the portions of the screen displaying full black are completely un-powered when showing a black image. Conventional LCD or LED screens need some kind of powered backlight across the entire screen whenever they dispaly any image. As a result, the contrast ratios for OLED screens are incredible.

Without a backlight mechanism, OLED screens can also be made physically thinner and smaller than LED screens, and are easier to curve in the most premium designs. Drawbacks for OLED screens include much greater expense in manufacturing (at least at the moment) and a greater tendency towards a burn-in effect when used to display static images for hours at a time.

What’s Quantum Dot Tech About?

Samsung’s QLED displays still rely on a conventional LED backlight.

QLED is Samsung’s abbreviation for Quantum Dot LED, a more advanced form of a conventional LED screen. In addition to an LED backlighting system—which is blue instead of the standard white—the layer of quantum dots allows that light to be specifically tuned on a per-pixel basis using higher or lower frequencies. In this configuration, the standard red-green-blue subpixel structure that’s the foundation of most LCD technology is split up: blue light is controlled by the backlight, while red and green light is tuned by the respective dots on the quantum dot layer. Combine different levels of blue LED output with differently-tuned red and green quantum dots, and you get an RGB picture that’s brighter and more vibrant than a standard LED screen while being less expensive to produce than OLED.

But, while quantum dot technology is impressive as an improvement on today’s LEDs, it still needs a standard LED backlight to produce a picture. That means that it can’t produce the pure blacks and vivid contrast that are possible in OLED’s combined color-and-light-in-one approach.

Samsung’s QLED Branding Is a Bit Confusing

Samsung is pushing quantum dot technology hard in its premium television sets, and there’s no reason that it shouldn’t—the results are impressive and economical, especially for content that benefits from bright colors, like HDR. But the company is also presenting quantum dot tech as an alternative—and indeed, a superior alternative—to OLED screens from LG and Sony.

That’s problematic. Not because OLED is so objectively better than QLED, because that isn’t true. But directly comparing OLED technology and quantum dot-equipped LCDs will produce different strengths in different areas for both screens.

Samsung isn’t the only manufacturer to use quantum dot layers in its high-end televisions, and that’s an important point…because it is the only one that uses the abbreviation “QLED.” In fact, Samsung started making quantum dot televisions back in 2016, and marketed them with the fully spelled-out “Quantum Dot” label, along with more specialized terms like “SUHD.” But starting with televisions and monitor models in 2017, Samsung switched to “QLED” branding with the logo below:

Squint a bit, or simply don’t pay attention, and Samsung’s font on “QLED TV” looks an awful lot like “OLED TV.” With the flurry of marketing surrounding any high-end television purchase, and the generally pushy nature of high-end retail sales, it would be easy to conclude that Samsung shifting from “Quantum Dot SUHD” branding to “QLED” branding is intended to cause confusion between the features of its own televisions and similarly-priced LG and Sony sets.

Try Before You Buy

It’s still a bit early to call this battle in favor of OLED over conventional LEDs, or even over quantum dot LEDs. But Samsung has made a big bet that the more expensive OLED manufacturing process won’t spread to even more competition. At present, the company has not publicly stated any intention to enter the OLED market for larger-scale screens.

That being said, just because Samsung is being less than frank with its branding and package design doesn’t mean its televisions aren’t pretty good. If you’re in the market for a high-end television of any design, make sure to go to a retailer like Best Buy to see all of your options in person, and read detailed reviews at sites like Rtings.

Credit Freeze: What Should You Do?

Credit Freeze vs. Fraud Alert: What Should You Do?

If you’ve followed the news since the Equifax data breach, you’ve heard loads of advice on how to protect yourself from identity theft: credit freezes, fraud alerts, and even talk of changing your Social Security number. So, which is better: credit freezes or fraud alerts? We’ve done the research, so you can make an informed decision.

Setting a Credit Freeze

A credit freeze locks down your credit report at one of the four credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, or Innovis) so that it can only be viewed by companies you already do business with. Businesses won’t extend credit until they check your credit report, so a freeze prevents thieves from opening accounts using your name. Different businesses buy information from different credit bureaus, so you need to set up credit freezes at all four.

To place a credit freeze, call or visit the credit bureau website, submit your name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number (SSN), then pay a fee, which will vary by bureau and by state. Once your freeze request is processed, the credit bureau sends you a confirmation letter with a unique PIN number or password that you can use to access your credit report. If you ever need to unfreeze your account to apply for credit, you’ll enter your PIN number and pay another fee.  A credit freeze does not prevent you from changing credit limits on your existing accounts. In fact, it doesn’t affect existing credit relationships in any way. Credit freezes remain in effect until you cancel them unless you live in Kentucky, Nebraska, Pennsylvania or South Dakota, where they expire after 7 years.

Setting a Fraud Alert

A fraud alert requires any potential creditor to take extra steps to confirm an applicant’s identity before extending credit. This can halt identity thieves, and if you’re contacted about an application you didn’t make, you’ll know something fishy is going on. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you can place a fraud alert for free by contacting any one of the three major credit bureaus and providing proof of your identity. Whichever bureau you contact is required to notify the other two to place an alert on your file. An initial alert only lasts 90 days, but you can renew as many times as you like. If you do become a victim of identity theft, you can file a police report, and then you are entitled to set up a free 7-year fraud alert.

What to Do?

Both credit freezes and fraud alerts are good tools to protect yourself from identity theft. If you don’t plan to apply for credit anytime soon and you don’t mind the fees, set credit freezes at all the bureaus. Just keep good track of your PIN numbers in case you need to thaw your reports in future. If you plan to apply for credit, setting a fraud alert is a good alternative. It’s free, convenient, and can slow down thieves enough that they’ll give up. And some experts expect that Equifax breach victims will be allowed to set 7-year alerts without proof of identity theft.

Regardless which option you choose, know that neither credit freezes or fraud alerts provide absolute protection. As Consumer Reports recently pointed out, the Equifax breach exposed enough data for thieves to steal your tax return, tap your Medicare/Medicaid benefits, or create a bogus driver’s license in your name. So, in addition to whatever preventive measures you take, be sure to also take steps to help yourself recover if identity theft happens to you.

Apples's Glass-Backed iPhone

Apple's Glass-Backed iPhone Costs a Fortune to Fix

A shattered screen is bad, but a broken back is even worse.

By Sarah Rense

When Apple launched the iPhone 8, it made sure to highlight the new glass back on the phone, one of the few features that differentiates the 8 from the iPhone 7. The glass back is pretty, sure,and it allows the iPhone 8 to have wireless charging, but you better hope you don't break it. Apple claims it is "durable" but a smash-up—if and when it happens—will cost you more to repair than a shattered screen.

While the glass screens on iPhone 8 cost only $29 to replace under AppleCare+, the iPhone 8's glass back will cost $99 to replace, AppleInsider confirmed. The glass back falls under a different category for AppleCare+ repairs—"other damage"—making it more expensive. And don't forget, AppleCare+ costs $129 for the iPhone 8 and $149 for the iPhone 8 Plus, and only covers two additional repairs at that lesser price.

Prying apart the iPhone 8 helps to explain the price jump. While the glass screen is still relatively easy to pop out, the glass back is glued to a panel that holds the wireless charging coil in place. iFixit, which deconstructed the iPhone 8 for an instructional video, said this made it harder to get the back out without damaging other iPhone innards. So in-store and at-home repairs won't be breezy.

iPhone 8 screens cost $149 to replace ($169 for the Plus) if out of warranty and not covered by AppleCare+. No replacement costs are confirmed for the iPhone X, but because it also has a glass back, we can assume Apple will apply different pricing. Really, the takeaway here is buy a protective phone case. That's an investment worth making.

From: Esquire

"Program Files (x86)" & "Program Files"

What’s the Difference Between the “Program Files (x86)” and “Program Files” Folders in Windows?

by Chris Hoffman 

There’s a good chance you have both the “C:\Program Files” and “C:\Program Files (x86)” folders on your Windows PC. If you poke around, you’ll see that some of your programs are installed in one folder, and some are installed in the other.

32-bit vs. 64-bit Windows

Originally, Windows was only available as a 32-bit operating system. On 32-bit versions of Windows—even 32-bit versions of Windows 10, which are still available today—you’ll only see a “C:\Program Files” folder.

This Program Files folder is the recommended location where programs you install should store their executable, data, and other files. In other words, programs install to the Program Files folder.

On 64-bit versions of Windows, 64-bit applications install to the Program Files folder. However, 64-bit versions of Windows also support 32-bit programs, and Microsoft doesn’t want 32-bit and 64-bit software getting mixed up in the same place. So, 32-bit programs get installed to the “C:\Program Files (x86)” folder, instead.

Windows runs 32-bit applications on 64-bit versions of Windows using something called WOW64, which stands for “Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit.”

When you run a 32-bit program on a 64-bit edition of Windows, the WOW64 emulation layer seamlessly redirects its file access from “C:\Program Files” to “C:\Program Files (x86).” The 32-bit program tries to access the Program Files directory and is pointed to the Program Files (x86) folder. 64-bit programs still use the normal Program Files folder.

What’s Stored In Each Folder

In summary, on a 32-bit version of Windows, you just have a “C:\Program Files” folder. This contains all your installed programs, all of which are 32-bit.

On a 64-bit version of Windows, 64-bit programs are stored in the “C:\Program Files” folder and 32-bit programs are stored in the “C:\Program Files (x86)” folder.

That’s why different programs are spread across the two Program Files folders, seemingly at random. The ones in the “C:\Program Files” folder are 64-bit, while the ones in the “C:\Program Files (x86)” folder are 32-bit.

Why Are They Split Up?

This is a compatibility feature designed for old 32-bit programs. These 32-bit programs may not be aware that a 64-bit version of Windows even exists, so Windows keeps them away from that 64-bit code.

32-bit programs can’t load 64-bit libraries (DLL files), and could crash if they tried to load a specific DLL file and found a 64-bit one instead of a 32-bit one. The same goes for 64-bit programs. Keeping different program files for different CPU architectures separate prevents errors like these from happening.

For example, let’s say Windows just used a single Program Files folder. A 32-bit application might go looking for a Microsoft Office DLL file found in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office and try to load it. However, if you had a 64-bit version of Microsoft Office installed, the application would crash and not function properly. With the separate folders, that application won’t be able to find the DLL at all, because the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office would be at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office and the 32-bit application would be looking in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office.

This also helps when a developer creates both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of an application, especially if both need to be installed at once in some situations. The 32-bit version automatically installs to C:\Program Files (x86), and the 64-bit version automatically installs to the C:\Program Files. If Windows used a single folder, the application’s developer would have to have the 64-bit folder install to a different folder to keep them separate. And there would likely be no real standard for where developers installed different versions.

Why Is The 32-bit Folder Named (x86)?

You won’t always see “32-bit” and “64-bit.” Instead, you’ll sometimes see “x86” and “x64” to refer to these two different architectures. That’s because early computers used the Intel 8086 chip. The original chips were 16-bit, but newer versions became 32-bit. “x86” now refers to the pre-64-bit architecture—whether that’s 16-bit or 32-bit. The newer 64-bit architecture is referred to as “x64” instead.

That’s what “Program Files (x86)” means. It’s the Program Files folder for programs using the older x86 CPU architecture. Just note, however, that 64-bit versions of Windows can’t run 16-bit code.

This Doesn’t Normally Matter

It doesn’t normally matter whether a program’s files are stored in Program Files or Program Files (x86). Windows automatically installs programs to the correct folder, so you don’t have to think about it. Programs appear in the Start menu and function normally, no matter where they’re installed. Both 32-bit and 64-bit programs should store your data in folders like AppData and ProgramData, and not in any Program Files folder. Just let your programs automatically decide which Program Files folder to use.

You’ll sometimes need to know where a program is stored. For example, let’s say you want to go into your Steam directory to back up some files. You’ll find it in C:\Program Files (x86), as Steam is a 32-bit program.

If you’re not sure whether a program you installed is 64-bit or not and you’re looking for its installation folder, you may need to look in both Program Files folders to find it.

You can also look in Windows 10’s Task Manager.

On 64-bit versions of Windows, 32-bit programs are tagged with the additional “(32-bit)” text, giving you an indication that you’ll find them in C:\Program Files (x86).