First the PS4, now the XBox One with bad units

Can't anyone make a console that actually works.  You would imagine with the months, if not years of work and testing, these issues would be resolved.  After months of waiting, gamers on Friday finally got their hands on Microsoft's Xbox One, but not everyone was happy with their new console.

Since the next-generation system went on sale this past Friday, a number of early adopters have reported problems with the disc drive. Some say the drive is making loud noises when they insert a disc, while others say the console isn't reading their discs at all.

Many users have taken to YouTube to document the problem (below). After inserting a disc, you can hear loud, unpleasant grinding and clicking noises, and in one case it appeared the disc wouldn't even go into the system at all.

Others have taken to Reddit and Microsoft's Support Forum to complain about the problem, while some have left unhappy Xbox One reviews on Amazon.

Switching to Android from IOS? Here's a guide on how

I am an IOS guy, but I know that many, if not most of you, are not.  If you have grown tired of iPhone and are thinking of switching to Android, there are some things you need to do and consider.  To that end, check out the article under What's New, from Eric Schmidt, on how to best migrate your information from the IOS platform to the Android system.  Pretty simple and helpful.  Now you can sell your iPhone on Gazelle and make a little money. 

More on Verizon's 5$ a day data plan for tablets

Need to connect your tablet to Verizon’s 4G LTE network, but only for a couple of hours? No problem. The carrier now offers a daily plan that gets you 300MB of data over 24 hours for $5, and you don’t have to pay any activation fees.

You need to have a Verizon SIM in your device in order to get service. When you launch your tablet’s Web browser, you’ll be brought to Verizon’s wireless broadband portal, where you’ll be able to choose the $5 service plan, which will connect you to either 3G or 4G LTE if available. There’s no limit to the amount of times you can do this – you can try it out just once, or use it every day (though in that case, it would probably be cheaper to sign up for a standard Share Everything plan).

I think this is convenient for tablet users that might occasionally need access to cellular service – while traveling, for instance – but don’t want to commit to a monthly plan. $5 seems like a reasonable price, and 300MB is more than enough data to access email and your browse the Web while on the go. If you run through 300MB before your 24 hours is up, you’ll be able to purchase another 300MB of data for $5.

AT&T offers a similar daily plan, though you only get 250MB of data for $5. And T-Mobile shouldn’t be discounted either – the carrier offers all users 200MB of free data per month just for keeping their tablet on its network.

The Case for Two-Factor authentification

Security on the Internet is terrible. That’s always been true, but it’s wildly obvious these days. Right and left, people are losing their passwords, ending up in botnets, and some days it seems like you might as well post your bank details on Pastebin, just to get it over with.

Embarrassingly, a pro-Syrian government group called the Syrian Electronic Army took over the Twitter accounts of the Associated Press, FIFA, and even The Onion. After this, Twitter finally rolled out something called two-factor authentication to make its users more secure.

Website two-factor authentication works with something you know (a password) and something you have (a mobile phone). It’s not perfect, especially if you don’t have or want to connect a phone to your Twitter account. But if you can use it, you should. If you get tricked out of your password, someone still has to mug you for your phone before they can tweet names for human genitalia repeatedly from your work account. It’s available for Google, Dropbox, Yahoo, probably your bank, and many more.

The truth is, many companies don’t care about securing their customer data because they don’t have to care. If they get hacked, they are considered the victims, not you—no matter how badly they secure your information. In fact, until California passed a disclosure law 11 years ago, companies didn’t even have to tell you that your data was lost.

We have to demand better from software. But the first step is using what we have now—and turning on two-factor authentication for our accounts.

Tracking you has come to your retail stores..

You may have little control over the fact that some stores may be tracking you as you walk through the store.  No, not by the security cameras, but by your own phone.  The tracking is possible because of the MAC (Media Access Control) address that all Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-enabled devices have—a unique, 12-digit code to help routers send data to the right recipient. When a Wi-Fi card is on, looking for networks to join, it is detectable by local routers, such as those in a retail establishment.

Through that, the company can learn how long people stand in line at a cash register, what aisles they visit and for how long, what promotions are more effective, who visits their stores more than once, what spot in the store draws the most people and much more.

This information is logged and uploaded to third-party companies that conduct data analytics. According to Jules Polonetsky, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), nine firms have most of the market for analyzing tracking data, but there are 40 or more in the field.

The obvious goal of all this is, on its face, rather benign. "They want to sell you stuff," Rambam said. But privacy advocates say it can and does go well beyond that.

"This tracking is happening generally without people knowing, and it doesn't even leave cookies or make connections that you can monitor," said Parker Higgins, an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

"It also ignores that different norms govern what's reasonable in different environments. Your doctor can ask questions that would seem much more invasive asked by your mechanic," he added.

They also contend it is not as benign as simply providing consumers with more relevant ads. "Threats to our privacy aren't isolated—they work together," Higgins said. "A tracking device that catches you walking regularly past the door of a store next to a medical clinic may reveal a lot more than intended."

New Page: Decrap your new Computer!

Desktop and laptop manufacturers like HP, Sony, Asus and Dell often load their computers with a ton of bloatware out of the box, making the end user experience sluggish. These apps are often deeply integrated into the operating system, making them hard to remove by users. I don’t know anybody who wants that crappy navigation software from Dell, or Toshiba’s clean up tool to get rid of junk files. It’s your PC, and you should have the complete control over it. If you are looking for a handy Windows software that can easily get rid of all such preinstalled unwanted apps off your computer in one go, then look no further than Decrap. It’s a small program that enables you to easily and safely remove all bloatware that comes preinstalled by different PC manufacturers, without any hassle.  Check out the rest of the article under What's New or click here