bioneural.net » Rant

Apple silence and secrecy

Bruce — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:10:45 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

This Dilbert strip may shed some light on why Apple engineers won't publicly acknowledge a defect that causes the 7200rpm Seagate drive upgrades in June 2009 MacBook Pros to make clicking and beeping noises associated with pauses in system responsiveness. Apple's cloak of corporate silence is becoming notorious, with the recent disclosure of an exploding iPod-related gagging order. Google returns many hits relating to Apple's culture of secrecy. It seems like a sure-fire way to alienate the traditionally loyal customer base.

The MacBeep Pause

Bruce — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:11:52 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Potential buyers of Apple's new (June 2009) MacBook Pro should be cautious about specifying a configure-to-order faster and larger hard drive 'upgrade'. The drive supplied by Apple, a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 (model number ST9500420ASG) appears to be operating improperly, with some users experiencing random pauses in disk activity associated with disturbing clicks and beeps. Apple are telling some of us that their top-of-the-line laptop is supposed to lock up frequently, and that the beep is normal too (so I guess my previous Macs were all defective as they lacked such 'features'). Here is the content of my letter of complaint to Apple: 14 July 2009 Customer Relations Apple Operations Europe Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill Cork REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Dear Sir/Madam, Re: AppleCare no: supplied MacBook Pro serial: supplied Case reference: supplied Issue: Unacceptable performance of ST9500420ASG (Momentus 7200.4) On 30 June 2009 I reported to AppleCare a loud random beeping that I suspected was related to the hard drive in my MacBook Pro, with a configure-to-order 7200rpm 500GB drive 'upgrade' as above. As advised I took it to my nearest Apple Service Centre, who heard the beep and thought it was possibly related to drive calibration and of no concern so long as it was infrequent. Subsequently the beeping became more frequent (ranging from several times a minute to several times an hour) and more evidently associated with complete system pauses. This is demonstrated in a video posted to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsg84yqzvhs. Multiple users with the same drive are reporting this same issue at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2049659. Tier 2 Support then sent me an Apple app called Data Capture ...

A Nikon lens with double vision

Bruce — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:24:30 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

I was most disappointed with the images I obtained during our recent trip to Florida. Many telephoto shots appeared out-of-focus despite the well-regarded image stablilization (vibration reduction) built into the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR DX attached to my new Nikon D90 body on it's debut outing. As was my habit, to protect my investment the lens was fitted with a screw-on skylight filter. I couldn't believe how poor my shots were when viewed on a 24" display: Was the camera (still in warranty) malfunctioning? Had my photographic skills regressed? Could something be wrong with the (now out-of-waranty) lens? Why was the centre of some images sharp, with progressive blurring or even 'double vision' towards the peripheries? These were questions for Nikon to answer. The image below illustrates the problem nicely (showing why I discarded 4 in 5 images I shot). It was taken in bright sunlight while standing still, handheld with VR active, on Auto program mode at f7.1 with a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second. AF lock was confirmed in Nikon View and corresponds to the central circle overlaid on the image: The bannisters in the central circle are in sharp focus; the bannisters in the peripheral circles are blurred, perhaps even double, with the amount of blurring seemingly worsening as you move towards the image edge. Each circle is the same focal distance from the sensor. I was at a loss to understand the optics behind such a result, and my local camera store recommended I speak ...

The dark art of AirPort networking

Bruce — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 08:29:23 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Until recently I was using the dodgy BeBox supplied by my Internet access provider as both a DSL modem and wireless router. The ST585v6 could create a wireless distribution system (WDS) to extend my home LAN to the attic iMac, but only over insecure WEP. So we bought a new dual-band (2.4 and 5GHz, 802.11b/g/n) Apple Time Capsule, thinking it would simplify connecting to an AirPort Express and at the same time provide wireless Time Machine backups with shared network-attached storage (NAS). In the event fully integrating this new device consumed hours, with victory arriving only after the discovery of occult keystroke trickery—not at all the Apple experience I have come to expect. Bridging WAN and LAN The first step was to get my BeBox working in bridge mode, functioning as a DSL modem only and handing over my public IP address to the Time Capsule. For the record (in case I need to repeat the exercise), Be sent me this advice: If you would like to, you could switch the BeBox into bridged mode, it would then behave entirely as a modem without routing function. To do this, please follow this procedure: Access the SpeedTouch configuration page by opening a web browser and typing in the Address Bar 192.168.1.254; Click on SpeedTouch > Set up; Click Next, then choose Multi IP 3 Data Ports; Click Next, then Start. After that your BeBox will no longer be accessible through the web interface and telnet server. This will set your be box in bridge mode. Things actually proved more ...

Home-made DVDs won't mount or copy on Mac

Bruce — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:39:07 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Home-made DVDs of our travels and family events were backed up as disk images (.dmg) onto an external hard drive as they were made. When these were inadvertently deleted I attempted to re-create the backup using Disk Utility to create new disk images. I was very concerned to find that about a third of my collection would either fail to mount on the OS X desktop or, if so, caused Disk Utility to report an input/ output error resulting in failure to copy. So what gives Apple? Why can my Mac not mount, copy, or play back Mac-made DVDs—when my consumer player handles them fine? All the DVDs in question were made using iDVD (various versions), using several brands of media (mainly Apple and Imation), between 2001 and 2007. Here's what I found: Some disks mounted under OS X 10.5.4 via a slot-loading drive (Intel MacBook) and Disk Utility was able to create .dmg files; Of the remainder some mounted under OS X 10.5.4 via a slot-loading drive (Intel MacBook) and Disk Utility failed to create .dmg files, citing in input/ output error; Of the remainder some mounted under OS X 10.5.4 via a slot-loading drive (Intel MacBook) and Carbon Copy Cloner was able to create .dmg files; Of the remainder some mounted under OS X 10.5.4 via a tray-loading drive (G4 iMac) and Disk Utility was able to create .dmg files; Of the remainder some mounted under OS X 10.5.4 via a tray-loading drive (G4 iMac) and Disk Utility failed to create .dmg files, citing ...

Silent and grey iTunes movie rentals

Bruce — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:47:51 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Well behind the American iTunes Store, earlier this month (June 2008) Apple gave iTunes Store customers in the UK the chance to rent (or purchase) movie downloads. Initially I wasn't sure I'd want to watch movies at my computer, even though I have a good screen and sound system. But I had to try it. With a 17Mbps downstream broadband connection getting the movie onto the computer posed no problem (a typical 1GB movie takes a few minutes). Trouble is all I see is a grey box with no audio. Now that I can't do it, of course I'm more inclined to want to. My iTunes Store account allows me to playback my DRM-protected iTunes music, a free TV episode, and a purchased short film with no problems. I'm running the latest version of OS X (10.5.3) with the latest version of iTunes (7.6.2) and QuickTime (7.5). I've now tried renting two films, hearing nothing and seeing only this during desktop playback: Hmmm.. if I wanted to look at nothing but dull grey I shouldn't have to pay for it—I can just look out the window at English skies. Oddly, when I moved the movie onto my iPhone I could watch it (and hear it) as expected. It seems I'm not alone having this issue, according to discussion in the Apple Support Forums. A number of suggestions have been made, most of which I have tried to no avail: Re-installed QuickTime 7.5 (on top of the previous: there is no "uninstaller"); Re-installed iTunes; Removed ...

Resolving router issues with Be Unlimited

Bruce — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:02:48 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Be Unlimited provide ADSL2+ services in the UK, supplying a Be-branded Thompson SpeedTouch wireless router called the BeBox. The Member Forum is full of complaints about router instability and errant behaviour. My 780WL had been doing well for around 6 months, then started resetting itself sometimes several times within a short period, but at least daily. Sometimes after a reset I was left with no Internet connectivity. Eventually Be sent me a replacement router, which came with replacement problems. So how do you turn a flaky BeBox into a rock-solid Internet router? Just take the "Be" out of your BeBox. Be deny any blame Be offered me a variety of explanations and solutions for the frequent disconnection/ resets I was experiencing: The router firmware was corrupt (this was suggested by each of the 4 support staff I contacted—perhaps a stock response. I explained I couldn't replace it using a Mac—see below); Local errors my router reported were indicative of a problem between the router and my computer; Local errors my router reported were likely due to line noise (despite very good data rates it seems, and a clear Quiet Line Test—17070 option 2); The replacement router was disconnecting because I was using the wrong DNS server IP addresses (I was; Be's instructions for configuring the replacement router for a static IP were completely wrong; I got no connection at all until I was given the correct gateway IP address over the phone); Ongoing issues with the replacement router indicated that the problem was "something on my network", ...

TomTom latest map guarantee trap

Bruce — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:18:12 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Just bought a new TomTom with a 30-day latest map guarantee? Don't download any map update as prompted by TomTom HOME on the day you register your device. Why not? Because if TomTom do release a new map in 30 days time, you won't be allowed to download it. You may still be within 30 days, but you will have the map that was current on the day you got your device. If, however, you carefully count to day 30 before downloading any map updates, you will get the latest map as of that time. The ambiguous guarantee is not for the latest map within 30 days—it's for a map within that period. Once again: Don't download any map update as prompted by TomTom HOME on the day you register your device. We ordered a TomTom One v3 with Western Europe maps which we received on 21.04.08. We'd seen it discounted in PC World, but it was an even better bargain online. The maps that came with my TomTom Navigator 5 were very out-of-date, and too costly to upgrade in relation to buying a new device with better software. Since we are driving to the Continent shortly the latest map guarantee we'd seen on the packaging would be very timely, we thought, negating any concerns I had that the unit may have been sitting around for months and the maps already outdated. As a marketing tool it was an effective device. The misleading leaflet that isn't what it seems Inside the packaging was a leaflet ...

Unarranged overdraft bank charges

Bruce — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:56:47 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

When you inadvertently write a cheque from the wrong account putting said account into overdraft, you expect to pay for your mistake. But would you expect to pay four different charges, incurring a total liability in fees nearly four times the size of the overdraft—even though it was rectified within 6 working days? If you bank with Halifax, who always give you extra, you can indeed. A costly mistake We had seven Halifax chequebooks on hand: I grabbed the wrong one, writing a small cheque from an unused (almost empty) account. The account went into overdraft by £23.96 when the cheque was cleared on the day we went abroad. When we returned from holiday the bank had informed me via two online letters of the unarranged overdraft and the fees I had incurred: A £35 charge for going overdrawn without arrangement; A monthly unauthorised overdraft charge for April (covering 3 working days); A monthly unauthorised overdraft charge for May (covering 3 working days); Debit interest, amount undisclosed. When Halifax say they give you extra, they mean it Needless to say I was annoyed at my mistake—but we were outraged at the charges. Specifically we took issue with the fact that: Fees of £91 (excluding interest) were out of proportion to the overdraft amount of £23.96; There was no "grace period" to allow rectification. The bank's response by telephone Immediately after reading the letters online I telephoned the bank; the stub confirmed I had written the cheque from the wrong book. Centralised customer support agreed to waive the £35 charge as a "goodwill" gesture, ...

ATMs should be avoided. The Internet too.

Bruce — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:59:22 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Some cretin recently cloned our debit card, in reflection of rising UK and international rates of card fraud despite technological countermeasures like "chip and pin". Of course it makes us angry, and think of doing all sorts of unsavoury things to the perpetrators if we could confront the cowardly faecoliths. But the good news is we will get a 100% refund from the bank because they acknowledge we were victims of a security lapse; our credit rating is unaffected; and new cards were issued promptly with new numbers. Of course we wanted to know if there was anything we could to reduce the risk of this happening again. We asked the bank if it was safer to use the ATM inside the branch rather than the hole-in-the-wall outside. They said probably so, since it would be harder to attach a device to the machine inside without being noticed. But we would be better still to make over-the-counter cash withdrawals and avoid using ATMs altogether, they said. That's reassuring—not. ATM without (top)/ with (below) "skimmer" attached (© APACS) There are still lots of people out there that won't go near online commerce, because they perceive it to be unsafe. I'd always thought someone was more likely to double-swipe or copy my card out the back of a restaurant than commit fraud online, but actually the risk is around 1:2. Figures from 2007 for UK-issued cards show that phone, Internet and mail order fraud (card-not-present fraud) amounted to £290.5 million, while counterfeit (skimmed/ cloned) card fraud ...