From the iPhone Release Notes below copyright Apple I can already see the many new features and improvements being made to the iOS software on the iPhone.  In my opinion those owning an iPhone 4 need not upgrade to the iPhone 4s because you get lots of the same new features with this update.  Best to wait for the release of the iPhone 5 which is predicted to come out in 2012.  All in all, I can’t say enough about the benefits of owning an iPhone.  Steve Jobs may have been many things both negative and a constant pusher of ingenuity but you cannot take away the assets of the iPhone.  You have a personal computer that fits in your pocket and apps that help you find cheapest gas, store deals by location, health info, and so much more at your fingertips.  Technology is and will continue to be a double edged sword with info overload, as well as many benefits.  It is up to the individual to regulate ones self.  For any tech tips please contact me directly and please share my blog.  Peace!

Dr Mill

“iOS 5 Software Update

This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

• Notifications

◦      Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Center

◦      New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen

◦      View notifications from lock screen

◦      Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app

• iMessage

◦      Send and receive unlimited text, photo, and video messages with other iOS 5 users

◦      Track messages with delivery and read receipts

◦      Group messaging and secure encryption

◦      Works over cellular network and Wi-Fi*

• Newsstand

◦      Automatically organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen

◦      Displays the cover of the latest issue

◦      Background downloads of new issues

• Reminders for managing to do lists

◦      Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook

◦      Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

• Built-in support for Twitter

◦           Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube

◦           Add location to any tweet

◦           View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts

• Camera improvements for devices with cameras

◦           Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)

◦            Volume Up button to take a picture

◦            Optional grid lines to line up shots

◦            Pinch to zoom in the preview screen

◦            Swipe to camera roll from preview screen

◦            Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock

• Photo improvements for devices with cameras

◦             Crop and rotate

◦             Red eye removal

◦             One tap enhance

◦             Organize photos into albums

• Mail improvements

◦             Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts

◦             Indentation control

◦             Drag to rearrange names in address fields

◦             Flag messages

◦             Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread

◦             Customize mail alert sounds

◦              S/MIME

• Calendar improvements

◦             Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch

◦             Tap to create an event

◦             View and add event attachments

• Game Center improvements

◦             Use personal photos for your Game Center account

◦             Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends

◦             Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends

◦             Discover new games with custom game recommendations

• AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
• Multitasking Gestures for iPad

◦             Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen

◦             Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar

◦             Swipe left or right to switch between apps

• On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant
• Software updates available over the air without tethering
• iCloud support

◦              iTunes in the Cloud

◦              Photo Stream

◦              Documents in the Cloud

◦              Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history

◦              Backup

◦              Contacts, Calendar, and Mail

◦              Find My iPhone

• Redesigned Music app for iPad
• Hourly weather forecast
• Real-time stock quotes
• Wireless sync to iTunes
• Keyboard improvements

◦             Split keyboard for iPad

◦             Improved autocorrection accuracy

◦             Improved Chinese and Japanese input

◦             New Emoji keyboard

◦             Personal dictionary for autocorrection

◦             Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words

• Accessibility improvements

◦             Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

◦             Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone

◦             New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices

◦             Option to speak a selection of text

◦             Custom element labeling for VoiceOver

• Exchange ActiveSync improvements

◦             Wirelessly sync tasks

◦             Mark messages as flagged, read or unread

◦             Improved offline support

◦             Save a new contact from a GAL service

• More than 1,500 new developer APIs
• Bug fixes

Products compatible with this software update:

• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2
• iPad
• iPod touch (4th generation)
• iPod touch (3rd generation)

* Normal carrier data rates may apply. Messages will be sent as SMS when iMessage is unavailable, carrier messaging fees apply.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222  “

You see GrandPod has a frozen Facebook app on his iPhone 4 since this weekend and he doesn’t know what to do. Oh did I forget to mention I helped him get on Facebook where he interacts with childhood pals and grandkids at college alike? So this post with instructions is for GrandPod in Nyack, NY and any other seniors out there who refuse to be left behind.

If there is no way to restore the Facebook or any other application to its normal state after restarting the phone, then the best option is to delete the app (application) and re-install it from the app store. You can delete it and re-install if by following the steps below.

1. hold finger or stylus over the app icon until it is shaking and has a black “x” on the corner of it
2. click on the “x” and that will remove/delete the application. It may ask you if you are sure you wish to delete it
3. once the icon is gone, go into the blue App Store icon from Apple, search for your application of choice, in GrandPod’s case “Facebook” and select install.

Application Delete on iPhone

App Store Icon

You will then have a completely new installation of the Facebook app and will have to sign in again once you tap on it to open it. It is also a wise move to turn your iPhone off and back on every few days as it will clear it’s memory and keep things from hanging up. It is in fact a pocket computer after all, not simply a phone.

We hope this has been a helpful post for our GrandPod and all the other GrandPod’s out there who make up a solid demographic of social media and gadget sales. For personal assistance over the phone or in your home in the NY/NJ area call Dr. Mill at 973-356-9019.

For additional help and resources feel free to contact us.

Who's Looking At You Scam

Dr. Mill just finished replacing a Hitachi failed hard drive on a customer’s Toshiba laptop which was likely the victim of some malware attack to one of it’s partitions. Although hard drives can fail for other reasons, like if they overheat; often times the attack comes in some form of file or link you downloaded or clicked on.

Remember, while we play games online, surf the web, and remain oblivious – hackers out there creating viruses, trojans, and malware of all kinds to infect our computers. Stay safe by updating all the patches that Microsoft and software creators freely offer on a daily basis. Although this can seem like a hassle to spend the time and download the update, restart the computer when needed, it can potentially save you from spending between $300-500 on a repair, and losing precious files and family photos. I know lots of you have been there already. I’ve been there myself. You wouldn’t jump out of a plane without a parachute would you? Well, that is what we do on a daily basis when we fail to heed the warnings and update our software. Another good idea is to regularly back up your important files either on an external hard drive or a thumbnail USB drive. Both are fairly cheap now and can fit in your laptop bag or key chain.

If you are unfortunate enough to become a victim of an attack and your computer fails, you’ve tried everything, and can’t get your machine to re-boot or work – feel free to call Dr. Mill for a complete diagnostics service and reasonably priced repair. We don’t rape our customers and we aim to please! See our testimonials on our website:

www.DrMillComputerWiz.com

I don’t know about you, but when I left the office daily if not weekly, I’d make it a point to put all those folders back where they belong to tidy things up and de-clutter for the following week. It’s the same thing on your computer. De-fragmenting your hard drive puts all those folders and bits of data you accessed back in it’s rightful place. This will make your computer happy and will help everything be right in its world. Call it feng shui for computers. Do it! Tidy up at least once a month, clear cookies, clear history, run anti-malware, and your machine will thank you. For one on one assistance call Dr Mill at 973-356-9019. Happy Friday! And happy Father’s Day to all those Dad’s. Hope you get all the gadgets you want!   

Computer Crash

PCs will eventually crash for several different reasons.  You might have recently installed software that is causing a conflict with existing software on your machine.  You may have memory problems that are boggling down your system, or the driver that “drives” the actions in programs is faulty or needs to be updated via the manufacturer website. It is important to not panic and follow some simple steps to alleviate and sometimes resolve the problem yourself.

There are several different types of computer crashes.  Your screen hangs up, won’t load, or freezes.  Sometimes you see what people have called the “Blue Screen of Death,” where the screen goes blue and displays all sorts of incoherent instructions to the average user.  If you see that, you know you are DONE!

The first thing you can try after a crash is to restart the computer. It is a good thing if your machine manages to reboot successfully.  Still, the crash and problem will have most likely left behind errors within the PC’s registry.  These can continue to cause problems over time.

The registry provides instruction for every program on a Windows computer; it tells your PC what it should do next. If there is an error in your registry, your computer might not know what to do. It is not a good idea to try to fix the registry on your own if you are not an expert. There is software that can do it for you; we recommend System Mechanic which includes tools to fix a corrupted registry.

If your computer won’t restart, your next move should be to try restarting it in Safe Mode. By rebooting/restarting the computer in Safe Mode it disables most of those drivers which could possibly get your machine restarted.

To reboot or restart in Safe Mode, HOLD DOWN the F8 key while restarting — the Windows Advanced Options menu will appear.  This advanced Boot menu will provide some choices to pick from.  You need to use the arrow keys (not the mouse) to make a selection (Start in Safe Mode), and press Enter.

When your computer restarts in Safe Mode, it will look very different than what you are used to — for example, it will display using fewer colors in a smaller screen resolution, and certain components won’t work.  You should not use your computer in Safe Mode for very long. The advantage is that from Safe Mode you can uninstall any programs you may have recently installed which may be causing the errors and crashing.  From Safe Mode you can try to determine the cause of the crash to disable or uninstall the culprit.

Another possible cause could be the drivers that tell your computer’s devices how to operate. To check your drivers for errors, click Start and then Control Panel. Click System and then the Hardware tab. Select the Device Manager to bring up a full list of your drivers; right-click on any one and select Properties. Errors will appear with a yellow “X” or an exclamation point, helping identify the cause of the crash.

If crashes continue to occur, your computer may have problems that require more than a do-it-yourself diagnosis and repair. In that case, we recommend www.DrMillComputerWiz.com that provides expert PC repair service remotely, over the phone, and if you are in the NYC and North Jersey or Rockland, NY areas we will come to your home or office.

Signs that your computer is infected are = sluggishness, won’t boot, web pages hung up while loading, strange error messages popping up on screen either during use, or after a restart, will not allow you to use CTRL, ALT, DELETE to force a shut down.  If you are experiencing any of these symptoms and would like a free diagnosis and estimate call us at 973.356.9019 or email DrMill@DrMillComputerWiz.com

We offer Senior Citizen discounts, Refer A Friend discounts, in home computer lessons, virus cleaning special including 1 year virus protection installation.  We also create and maintain business and personal web sites, personal portraits, DVD photo memory slide shows of your weddings, birthday’s and any event, graphic design, logos, business branding on social media sites and more.  Feel free to check out our site for samples and customer testimonials at:

www.DrMillComputerWiz.com is the main site for Montejos Montage and Graphix Mill.  Thanks for stopping by!

There is yet another worm people. Stop liking every thing you see on your news feed. Instead search for the page in the top search bar to see if it really exists within Facebook. It appears that a new worm has been spreading via LIKES which will redirect you once clicked to a blank page. While it appears to be rather harmless it will still infect your computer. So steer clear!

Steer Clear of Bugs