DriveMode App Comes to Lessen the Number of Car Accidents

It has become a known fact to everyone that most of the accident that are caused while driving are mainly due to the drivers’ inattentive as they remain busy in their mobile calls and texting messages. A survey, done by AT&T along with other associations, recently proved the fact.

Various Advantages of the App

To reduce the general inclination of every person to look away from the street this, AT&T DriveMode mobile app has been launched. This app will turn on automatically when it senses a speed of twenty-five km per hour and then it will react to the incoming SMS as well as MMS text messages in order that the sender would understand the message recipient is driving a car. For the young car drivers, if the application is turned off, it delivers a warning text to their parents. The application turns off while the mobile does not move and you can start messaging again.

When the car slows its speed to less than 25mph for five minutes, the application gets turn off and the driver or the user would see the calls. This app will drive all calls straight to voicemail in an automatic way. But, the user has also the option to form an allow list or it can may be turned off by hand.

This DriveMode app also provides additional features for security and convenience and these are as follows-

•  The Allow List in the app allows the lets users to choose maximum 5 contact numbers – for example roadside assistance numbers and family members’ number – to send calls and receive it when the app is in operation. 
•  911 is accessible all the time with only a touch of a single button, no matter if the app mode is on. 
•  The settings of Music and Navigation permit one song and one navigation app to operate while DriveMode action is enabled. 
•  After you download the application, you can also automatically take It Can Wait pledge of AT & T, to join various people who have made the promise to not text at the time of driving.

Download Information

You can download the app from Google Play, the App Center of AT&T and also from the Blackberry App World. You only need to enter the words- AT&T DriveMode within the search box. Presently, AT&T DriveMode is accessible only for Android as well as BlackBerry users. But the app makers are still trying to extend its availability to other non-Smartphone users.

A certain amount of charges is applicable in case of text auto replies. However, it is seen that most of the individuals, for example, 8 out of 10, enjoy unlimited texting packages. On the other hand, AT&T is presenting the app at no cost for the BlackBerry devices and Android wireless users though text-messaging charges would be applied for app usage.

It is a good fact that the app is has been optimized to reduce battery consumption. When the app is on, it occasionally uses GPS to find out the car speed and here you may see a little increased battery use but when it is off mode, battery use is negligible.

Finding The Right Manual For The Register In The Building

When people inherit a cash register, they need to make sure that they have a manual that will help them manage the machine. These cash register manuals are easy to read, and they help people to keep the register in good working order. The steps below show how someone can make their register work for them with the user manual.

The Sales

When the register is turned on, it must be set to handle purchases. The most simple cash register is always set to do a purchase, and it must be changed to a different setting to do a void or return. The most primitive registers are going to need a key, and the key settings are explained in the user manual.

The Return

The returns that are done on the machine must be handled according to the cash register manuals. These transactions must come through properly when they are done. The record for the machine needs to show a return, and the machine must be on the right setting if it is to work correctly.

The Voids

When people are voiding purchases, they must follow the instructions in the manual. Most manuals are going to show how to do a void so that it is stricken from the record on the machine. If the record on the machine is not handled properly, no one will be able to tell if the purchase actually occurred or not. Also, the key settings for a void are listed in the manual for the oldest of registers.

The Cash

The cash drawer in the register is used to handle all the cash. The machine knows how much money was dispensed during the day, and it can show that amount of money on the daily record. The machine needs to be used properly so that the cash drawer is always at the right level.

When people want to use old cash registers, they need to read the manuals to make sure they understand the machines. Each and every machine can be programmed to perform a certain task using the manual.

Nothing's Budged on Google Barge Since its Arrival

The Google Barge was build to be a showroom of its products with above standard features. The idea looked like an excellent one and was on the build near the Stockton dock point until the process came to an abrupt stoppage with situation looking extremely dormant in the current time. The Google Barge is nothing more than a piece of conversation in the current scenario and its development stopped due to constant warnings of danger by the coast guard, who came up with the fire safety concerns multiple times. The safety concerns were always there but the guards just did not want to get things to the point of extreme danger that could have led to a major burnout. As far as the current time stands, Google Barge is a dormant vessel.

Points to look at:- 

•  The containments creating the problem: - According for the construction plans, the vessels are supposed to have around 5000 gallons of fuel in the main deck. This is one of the aspects that kept the process always in doubt with respect to safety concerns. With such a substantial combustible material on the deck capable of causing a wide burnout was always going to be a risky factor and finally, the coast guards decided to go against its permit. The twin of the Google Barge in Maine did receive sufficient attention and that caused a generation of the idea to build another one at Stockton. 
•  The twin is also on the downside: - The barge at Maine was thought to be the major vessel and bring success of great levels. But, similar security concerns has also prevented the Maine’s dock to go further and that too at the moment is nothing more than just a piece of conversation . 
•  Continuous safety concerns: - A succession of safety concerns finally did break the project and stopped the development of Google Barge. In the beginning of March 2013, the first case of warning came from the Coast guards side. This was followed by another email in the month of September and this acted as a trigger to either go along or stop the process. A final report a couple of months later stating that the vessel did not match the standard safety concerns and people needed to jump overboard if a case of fire came up ever. 
•  The current situation: - Well, construction began in 2011 and a lot was expected from this project. A 1200 people a day would visit the San Francisco port until it was moved to Stockton but it failed to maintain the standards of security and the process fell out of the tank. With a lot of speculation, the vessel arrived in Stockton but nothing has happened. No signs of work, just a dormant vessel.

With the twin vessel being dismantled in August, it is sure that this one too will have the similar fate unless security features are enhanced and they come to a meet with the coast guards.

Microsoft fixes '19-year-old' bug with emergency patch

The 19-year-old software bug that was discovered by IBM has not been fixed by Microsoft. IBM came to know about this flaw long back (May) but wanted to get the issue fixed as it was affecting office and windows products before making any statement to the general public.

According to IBM, this software bug was present in every single version of Windows since 1995. Windows users are being requested to download the update for the respective windows version, as hackers and attackers will be easily able to exploit their personal computer, which is already affected with the bug. Microsoft has already addressed this issue in their monthly security update and has added more patches to fix the other security issues of the users. They are currently working on few more updates and patches, which will be rolled out soon.

Robert Freeman, IBM researcher has explained the susceptibility in depth in his blog post. He has written that this bug can be easily used by any attacker for creating drive-by attacks and easily run codes remotely on anyone’s computer and they can practically take over the entire machine or system. A drive-by attack in a computer security means that the system attacker will be able to make the user of the system download vulnerable and malicious software.

According to the reports given by IBM, this bug was practically hiding in the plain sight. On the CVSS (the Common Vulnerability Scoring System), the vulnerability - dubbed WinShock has been rated 9.3 out of a possible 10. This means a severity in terms of computer security.

Potential disaster: 

Another bug that has been identified affects the Windows Server platforms of Microsoft. This potentially puts the security of websites at risk, which mainly handle the encrypted data. This bug has been specifically linked with Schannel, which is the company’s software for applying the secure transfer of data. Schannel is also known as Microsoft’s secure channel. Some of the major problems discovered in secure standards include GNUTLS, Apple SecureTransport, NSS, OpenSSL, and Schannel now.

This security flaws has also been compared with Heartbleed bug by the security experts. However, they have also added that the impact of the bug might be on the similar scale as that of Heartbleed bug but the level of exploitation will be difficult for the attackers. When it came to Heartbleed bug, the technological vulnerability was associated with the exploitation of the secure data transfer also known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

Now, the bug has been identified by IBM and a patch has already been released by Microsoft to tackle the issue, there is been no evidence of any complaints being received about potential attacks. However, security experts believe that there are chances of security attacks in the system, which are out of date.

According to the Market researchers, if the bug had been sold out to hackers and attackers, the worth of the same would have easily been in six figures. According to Gavin from Tenable Network Security, just because there is no evidence of any attacks, we should not leave out the security concerns.

Owing your Personal Data – the Key to Activity Tracking!

In the past few months, the market has been on the brink of saturation as far as fitness trackers and smartwatches are concerned. Every week sees a new announcement from one of the OEMs about a smartwatch, a smartband or a fitness tracker.

All these devices are aimed at doing one thing – gather raw data and churn them into useful information for the user. Yet if you even have to migrate from one of these devices to another, the process of reclaiming your data collected can be a tough journey.

Exporting from Activity Trackers

In case you own a fitness/activity tracker like Fitbit, Jawbone Nike+, Withings, etc. you would want to own all the precious data that these devices have collected over a period of time and when you make the switch, the old data should still be available.

Among them, the best exporting services is provided by Jawbone – just login to your account and export the data in CSV format by year for free. The next in line comes Fitbit – exporting is available in either of CSV or XLS formats but only if you happen to have a premium account for $ 49.99 a year. For others, you may need IFFFT recipes from the IFFFT websites, which let you export your data.

Exporting from Smartwatch

Smartwatch on the other hand collect less data and provide more “phone”-like facility like notifications, playing music, checking emails, etc. The data collected is usually synced with a smartphone. Since this means that there is a dedicated app on your smartwatch running for this, the data in theory can be extracted and archived if wished. Note that smartwatch are more power hungry devices and will not last as long as activity trackers often requiring daily recharge.

Smartphone and Health Services

The biometric data tracking does not end with wearable devices. Modern smartphones are very capable of collecting such data and then churning out the information. The three big competitors – Apple, Google and Microsoft are already in the game with integrated health services where all the data are stored in huge databases and can be exported i.e. Apple Health makes it possible to export all the data.

Microsoft on the other hand seems to be platform agnostic i.e. their recently launched smartband supports IOS, Android and Windows Phone whereas Google and Apple are more keen on supporting their platforms without compatibility across others.

The Recommendation

Going by all the choices, the Jawbone activity tracker seems the most promising – free export of all the data in CSV without any hassle. Next in line would be Fitbit with a premium account that provides the same with XLS and CSV support. As for the others, the long route of IFFFT recipe is the way out. For smartwatches, the scenario is different.

These devices do not provide stellar battery life and data tracking is limited in nature – they are more an all-rounder. However the Microsoft smartband seems a good proposition with cross platform support and data export in some form should be arriving in future.