bad

Apple genius: 'Turn off your phone' for better battery life

The other day I encountered a serious problem with my iTunes account that seemed to require major surgery, so I figured I'd stop in at my local Apple Store and mosey up to the Genius Bar downstairs to see if there was a less draconian fix than the one I'd read about online.

Since I was there during Happy Hour, I figured I'd go for the two-for-one special and also ask why the battery on my new iPhone 4S was puttering out in about 12 hours (with only minimal use), well short of what I was getting with my old 3GS.

For the uninitiated, the Genius Bar is the place where you take your Apple problems. You actually need to make an appointment, and like the doctor's office, the knowledgeable Apple reps who help fix your problems don't necessarily see you right away, especially if you make an appointment at 5:50 p.m. when the place is a madhouse. At least in Manhattan, anyway. … Read more

The 404 926: Where Siri ratted us out (podcast)

We didn't think it would take this long, but somebody finally exploited the iPhone 4S to catch a cheater using the new Find My Friend app on iOS 5.

The scary part of this story, though, is how easy it is to use GPS to lurk on your S.O. using Google Latitude or any one of these mobile spy apps.

In that same vein, today we're chatting about our favorite tech pranks along with the latest news headlines that include BlackBerry freebies, iPhone record breaking, cell phone bill shock, and a fishy story out of Sesame Street.

Fix random lengthy pauses in OS X by correcting bad blocks

If you find your Mac is running slowly, generally there are a few things you can do, including running a general maintenance routine, deleting unneeded files to keep at least 10 percent of your boot drive free, increasing the installed RAM, and quitting unused applications (both foreground and background) that you may have installed. In addition to this, one possible cause of slowdowns is if your hard drive contains undetected bad blocks, and forcing the system to remap them can result in things running smoothly again.

Hard disks are "block-based" storage systems, meaning that their writing surfaces are … Read more

Snappy stats

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a popular first-person shooter game, and competition among players can be intense. If you're a fan of the game and like to frequently check stats--either your own or other players'--try Battlefield Bad Company 2 Stats. This extension for Google Chrome lets you quickly view the game statistics for any Battlefield: Bad Company 2 player.

Like most Chrome extensions, Battlefield Bad Company 2 Stats installs easily, requiring not even so much as a browser restart. The extension appears as an icon to the right of Chrome's address bar, and clicking on it brings … Read more

The 25 worst-named tech products

Companies agonize over what to name a product, and we certainly recognize how difficult a process it is to come up with a good name.

Over the years, we've seen lots of good ones: the Palm Pilot, the Motorola Razr, TiVo, the Flip cam, are just a few.

But today we're not here to celebrate success. No, let us to rejoice in failure and admire some of the truly bad -- and, in some cases, truly awful -- names that have come along in the last 10 years or so, including the latest additions to the list: the Asus FonePad/PadFone, Grace Digital Ecoxgear Ecoxbt, I'm Watch, Nintendo Wii U, and Qi inductive charging. … Read more

Time Warner's iPad app is worth the effort

Time Warner Cable's new iPad app (originally detailed here) requires users to jump through several hoops of varying difficulty just to log in for the first time. In this case, at least, that persistence can pay off, as the end result is a streaming-video product that may be a new killer app for the iPad and eventually other tablets.

The difficult setup process stems from this: We're entering an era of stratification, or even fragmentation, of multimedia IPTV services and apps. It may have started with Web sites (such as BBC.co.uk) restricting what online video streams viewers could see depending on what country their IP addresses came from; now it's moved on to a series of tablet apps that play high-end content, but only if you're connecting through the right ISP.

Like ESPN on the Xbox 360 or the brand-new WatchESPN app for iOS, or the similar Optimum cable TV app, the TWCable TV app lets you tune in to a premium selection of cable TV content, as long as you're connecting through an approved ISP and, in the case of Time Warner, through an approved cable modem (the one connected with your user account).

As a Time Warner customer for at least a decade (although I was unsuccessfully hoping for some new options, such as Fios, when I moved recently), I didn't expect to have too much trouble getting the app to work. Unfortunately, signing in requires more than connecting through the Internet access point of an eligible subscriber (although, if you think about it, that hardware lockout is really all that's needed). I was asked to log in to the app with my Time Warner Cable username and password.

If you're a TWCNYC (as my local Time Warner Cable subsidiary is called) customer and you pay your bill online, you might think you already have a username and password. You would, in the Kafkaesque world of cable companies, be incorrect. You actually have a separate username and password for a payment system called PayXpress that stands apart from any other user account.

And, as a TWCNYC Internet access subscriber, you also have (but have probably never used) your included e-mail account, which is usually something@rr.com (for back when the service was called Road Runner). It's not a big deal that you've never heard of, or used, that account, because that's not the one you need, either. … Read more

Workshop teaches kids to hot-wire cars

It's the kind of skill normally picked up only on the street, but Machine Project, a nonprofit community space in Los Angeles, held a workshop covering the basics of lock mechanics.

"The Good Kids' Guide to Being a Bit Bad: Cars Edition" taught a group of children, aged 7 and up, the ins and outs of breaking into and hot-wiring cars. Instructors and writers Tom Jennings and Jason Torchinsky introduced the pint-sized students to the tools of this illicit trade, such as putty knives and coat hangers, and explained how they can be used to trigger locks … Read more

First-person combat and true-to-life racing: iPhone apps of the week

This week, over at our Signal Strength blog, Maggie Reardon answered questions from readers regarding the upcoming Verizon iPhone. The article is not about the iPhone specifically, but about how a mass exodus from AT&T to Verizon might effect both carriers.

I got the iPhone 4 when it was launched, knowing that I would have to stick with AT&T for two years, but obviously, I had little choice as an iPhone app reviewer. Like many who got the iPhone 4 near launch day, I was sad to hear later that I missed the chance to get an iPhone with Verizon, which many say has the best network. But Maggie has an interesting point: With a mass exodus from AT&T, it will probably mean that those stuck in contracts will experience significantly better signal strength with a lot less users clogging up the network. Also, current Verizon customers have to wonder just how much a huge influx of iPhone users will effect the historically strong Verizon network.

I suppose we'll have to wait and see what effects a Verizon iPhone will have on each carrier, but you have to admit it's heartening to hear that AT&T users might be getting better service as a result of the Verizon iPhone. Hopefully both carriers will benefit from the change so all of us finally get good connection speeds.

This week's apps include the sequel to one of the best racing games for iPhone and the debut of an FPS game formerly only available on desktop computers and consoles.… Read more

Angry Birds' Bad Piggy Bank affords in-game buys

Angry Birds for Android will soon let you pay to get rid of ads, with the currently undisclosed fee charged directly to your phone bill rather than via Google Checkout. The hugely popular game's Finnish developer, Rovio, wants other Android app makers to use its new system too.

Bad Piggy Bank--which will launch in Finland first, and globally next year--will also let players download the Mighty Eagle cheat. As TechCrunch reports, Rovio's Peter Vesterbacka said the company was "not picking on Android particularly, but I think that the payment method up to now has been less than … Read more

Heat lamp for home use

There is no denying the deliciousness of much takeaway food. First of all, many might say the convenience alone ups the flavor factor. Certainly every maker of microwaveable food would agree. But there is more to it than that: Since the beginning of comfort food itself, people have tried to capture that elusive essence that can make a meal felt down to the bones. (And not just the ribs either.) No, the common quality is not necessarily fat (although we all know that equals flavor) or freedom from the kitchen; the elements that all comfort foods have in common are … Read more