Thursday, 6 April 2017
How to Check If an iPhone Is Original?
Serial Number
Each iPhone has a serial number that identifies it. By looking up the serial number, you can verify whether or not it's in Apple's database. Locate the serial number on the iPhone by tapping "Settings," choosing "General" and selecting "About." Scroll down to "Serial Number," and keep the screen open or write down the number. Visit "https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do" and input the serial number. The system lets you know whether or not your iPhone is still within the warranty period. If you receive the message "we're sorry, but this serial number is not valid. Please check your information and try again," it is likely that the iPhone is a fake.
Visible External Clues
The iPhone is identifiable by its distinct hardware features. If you examine your iPhone, you should see a "sleep/wake" button on the top-right corner, a "Home" button centered beneath the screen, and a ringer switch and volume buttons on the upper-left side. Additionally, your iPhone should have an Apple logo imprinted on the back. If any of these components are missing or present in a different location, it's likely that your iPhone is a fake.
Carrier Connectivity
The original iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS were only available on the AT&T network. AT&T is a GSM network, and only one of two such networks in the country -- the other being T-Mobile. If you purchase any of these earlier iPhone models and it's designed for a CDMA network, such as Verizon or Sprint, it's not an original iPhone. An iPhone 4 with a SIM card slot located on the right side is designed for GSM networks, while an iPhone 4 without a SIM card slot is designed for a CDMA network. The iPhone 4S is designed for use on both types of networks. Any discrepancies between hardware and connectivity indicate that the iPhone is not original.
Network Connectivity
All iPhone models should be able to connect to Wi-Fi, EDGE and Bluetooth. All models, except the original iPhone, can also connect to the 3G data network. If you purchase an iPhone that lacks the hardware to connect to one of these networks, it is likely a fake or manufactured for use in another country. You can verify that it’s not simply a glitch by restoring your iPhone and seeing if the feature works. If it doesn't work after being restored, it's likely a replica iPhone.
Syncing
If you purchase an iPhone that is unable to connect to iTunes or is not recognized by iTunes it could be a fake. Before coming to this conclusion, ensure that your iTunes and iOS software are both up to date. If you cannot sync information between your iPhone and your computer, attempt to restore your iPhone through iTunes. An iPhone that doesn't connect to iTunes or the app store after being restored is either fake or damaged.
Applications
The iPhone arrives with native or built in Apple-branded apps. Unless an iPhone is jailbroken, these apps cannot be removed. Some examples of built-in applications include "Contacts," "Compass," "Settings," "Calculator," "Music" and "Photos." If any these applications are missing, the phone is jailbroken or fake. You can restore the original firmware by entering DFU mode and reinstalling the operating system. If native applications are still missing, then your iPhone is likely fake.
Apple Store or Authorized Service Provider
If your iPhone has passed several of these steps, but you still suspect that it's a fake, bring it to your closest Apple store or Apple authorized service provider. A store technician can run diagnostic tests on your iPhone to verify its authenticity or lack of authenticity.
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
Microsoft Shutters CodePlex, Will Migrate Projects to GitHub
In a move that caps off its gradual embrace of open source in a bear hug, Microsoft last week announced that it would shutter its nearly 11-year-old CodePlex project site and migrate its library of work to GitHub.
Microsoft has invested in Visual Studio Team Services as its "One Engineering Project" for proprietary projects and exposed many key open source projects -- such as Visual Studio Code, TypeScript and the Cognitive Toolkit -- on GitHub, noted Brian Harry, vice president for cloud developer services at Microsoft.
The company has been forced to deal with a couple of major issues, such as a 2015 spam epidemic and a substantial decrease in usage, he said, with fewer than 350 projects getting a source commit over the past 30 days.
Microsoft disabled the ability to create new CodePlex projects on Friday. By October, projects on the site will be read-only, and the site will be shut down completely by Dec. 15.
Project Archive
A final complete backup will be taken before decommissioning and shutting down the existing site and servers, and a read-only, lightweight archive will be available. Users will be able to browse through all published projects, including their source code, downloads, documentation, license and issues. Archived files will be available for download in JSON and Markdown formats.
Git users can migrate source code via hosting services like Visual Studio Team Services and BitBucket. Mercurial users also can use the latter to migrate.
Github is working with the CodePlex team to "streamline the experience of importing projects" said Senior Product Manager Sara Ford, and GitHub will continue to support clients who prefer to stick with Subversion [SVN] rather than Git.
Open source Revolution
Microsoft has made significant contributions to open source on GitHub over the years, claiming more than 16,000 open source contributors, which is more than any other organization.
The company made the right decision in shutting down the Codeplex site, said Peter Christy, research director at 451 Research.
"In the time since CP was created, the open source world has evolved enormously, and GitHub is clearly the sharing site of choice,' he told LinuxInsider. "If a project was very MS-Centric, the change might be slightly negative, but the broader direction of OS is to be platform-agnostic, I think."
When Codeplex made its debut, Microsoft was a great deal more protective of its intellectual property, and the company management had a pretty open disdain for open source at the time.
Bite the Bullet
The transfer from Codeplex to Github was inevitable, observed Al Gillen, group vice president for software development and open source at IDC . After taking the helm at Microsoft in 2014, Satya Nadella adopted a more pragmatic approach toward embracing the open source community.
"Steve Ballmer was ceding ground to supporting open source software within Microsoft where it was necessary, but when Satya Nadella took over the helm, the willingness to work more collaboratively with open source communities and technologies accelerated pretty dramatically," Gillen told LinuxInsider.
"Ballmer and Nadella came from very different backgrounds within Microsoft, and Nadella did not have the same 'not invented here' bias that Ballmer did," he pointed out.
Microsoft released open source Visual Studio Code for multiple .Net languages and the non-.Net language Go, and it open sourced the Azure Container Language, SQL Server and Powershell.
"Concrete actions matter more than words," said Paul Teich, principal analyst at Tirias Research .
"Microsoft is backing up its recent statements and attitudes toward open source," he told LinuxInsider.
In an important symbolic move, Microsoft joined The Linux Foundation as a platinum member, which it announced last year during the Microsoft Connect conference. John Gossman, architect of the company's Azure team, joined the board of directors.
"Long term, this means that GitHub continues to be a central technology used broadly within the industry," said IDC's Gillen, and it is "incrementally more credible today than it was a week ago.
Syria attack: evidence points to nerve gas says, WHO!
"Some cases appear to show additional signs consistent with exposure to organo-phosphorus chemicals, a category of chemicals that includes nerve agents," WHO said in a statement, confirming the death toll at at least 70.
The United States has said the deaths were caused by sarin nerve gas dropped by Syrian aircraft. Russia said the poison gas leaked from a rebel chemical weapons depot struck by Syrian bombs.
Sarin is an organo-phosporus compound and a nerve agent. Chlorine and mustard gas, which are also believed to have been used in the past in Syria, are not.
A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman did not say what agent was used in the attack but suggested the rebels had used the same chemical weapons in Aleppo last year.
The WHO said sufferers had no apparent external injuries and died from a rapid onset of common symptoms, including acute respiratory distress.
It said its experts in Turkey were giving guidance to overwhelmed health workers in Idlib on the diagnosis and treatment of patients, and medicines such as Atropine, an antidote for some types of chemical exposure, and steroids for symptomatic treatment had been sent.
A United Nations Commission of Inquiry into human rights in Syria has previously said forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have used lethal chlorine gas on multiple occasions.
Hundreds of civilians died in a sarin gas attack in Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus in August 2013. Assad's government has always denied responsibility for that attack.
Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Moscow and Washington. But Russia, a Syrian ally, and China have repeatedly vetoed any United Nations move to sanction Assad or refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
"These types of weapons are banned by international law because they represent an intolerable barbarism," Peter Salama, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said in the statement.
Thursday, 23 March 2017
Deadly stampede at Chinese school
At least one child has died in a stampede at a primary school in China when the pupils rushed to the toilet before a morning exam, domestic media said.
Another two children were in a critical condition and at least a further 18 were injured in the crush at the school in Puyang, in central China’s Henan province, reports said.
Chinese schools are often poorly designed and built with sub-standard materials.
Teachers at the Third Experimental Primary School told the Beijing News that the stampede happened just after 8.20am after children rushed to use the toilet in a ten-minute break between a reading class and a monthly exam.
The newspaper said two children were killed, and that a wall in the toilets collapsed due to the pressure from the pupils.
The k618.cn news portal cited local family planning officials saying there was one death, although it is unclear how old the children in the stampede were.
The headmaster was removed from his post, said the newspaper, which is affiliated with the local government.
Local authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Chinese schools have previously seen deadly stampedes, and some have resulted in parents protesting against education officials.
Six pupils were killed and another 25 injured in 2014 in a stampede at a primary school in Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan.
The children, who were aged six and seven, died when they were trampled on or crushed on a stairway.
That incident came after fourteen people were killed and 10 injured in a stampede at a mosque in the northern province of Ningxia.
China’s deadliest stampede in recent years occurred in 2015 during the New Year celebrations on Shanghai’s riverfront.
A total of 36 people died during the crush, with many victims’ families blaming lax security and poor event planning for the accident.
MIRANDA NAMED BRAZIL CAPTAIN
The Inter defender will reclaim the armband for Thursday's World Cup qualifier against Uruguay as Selecao coach Tite continues his rotation policy
Inter Milan defender Miranda will captain Brazil in their World Cup qualifier against Uruguay on Thursday.
Coach Tite elected not to appoint a full-time skipper following his June 2016 appointment, instead preferring to rotate the armband around the senior members of the squad.
Miranda was Tite’s first Brazil captain, awarded the role in the 3-0 victory over Ecuador in Quito in September 2016.
Daniel Alves has twice worn the armband (versus Colombia and Argentina), while Fernandinho (Peru), Filipe Luis (Venezuela) and Renato Augusto (Bolivia) have also led the team.
Robinho and Diego, meanwhile, each captained the side during January’s friendly against Colombia, in a match that was restricted to home-based players.
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
High stakes for Trump in vote on U.S. health-care plan
President Donald Trump may face his first major legislative hurdle on Thursday: a do-or-die vote in the House of Representatives on a plan that would roll back the signature health care law of former President Barack Obama.
Trump has been billed by some lawmakers as "the closer" to seal the deal on the replacement healthcare plan in a vote Republican leaders hoped to hold on Thursday, but there were signs late on Wednesday night that the deadline could be pushed back.
It was unclear whether Trump had convinced enough Republicans to back the bill. That uncertainty has rattled financial markets.
Trump has been billed by some lawmakers as "the closer" to seal the deal on the replacement healthcare plan in a vote Republican leaders hoped to hold on Thursday, but there were signs late on Wednesday night that the deadline could be pushed back.
It was unclear whether Trump had convinced enough Republicans to back the bill. That uncertainty has rattled financial markets.
Failure to pass the legislation, called the American Health Care Act, would cast doubt on Trump's ability to deliver other parts of his agenda that need the cooperation of the Republican-controlled Congress, including ambitious plans to overhaul the tax code and invest in infrastructure.
Stocks on Tuesday posted their biggest one-day drop since the Nov. 8 presidential election on concerns about the healthcare drama.
The vote on the House floor had been initially expected by around 7 p.m. on Thursday. But by midnight on Wednesday, lawmakers had not yet settled on the timing of the vote as conservative and moderate Republicans split on whether there should be additional changes to the proposal.
House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions said the vote could happen as early as Thursday or as late as Monday.
Democratic representatives are united against the bill, which seeks to repeal and replace Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan need strong support from their side of the aisle on the bill, and can only afford to lose 21 Republican votes.
But conservative Republicans have complained about the replacement for being too similar to Obamacare, and some moderate Republicans are concerned it will hurt the health care coverage of millions of voters.
Stocks on Tuesday posted their biggest one-day drop since the Nov. 8 presidential election on concerns about the healthcare drama.
The vote on the House floor had been initially expected by around 7 p.m. on Thursday. But by midnight on Wednesday, lawmakers had not yet settled on the timing of the vote as conservative and moderate Republicans split on whether there should be additional changes to the proposal.
House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions said the vote could happen as early as Thursday or as late as Monday.
Democratic representatives are united against the bill, which seeks to repeal and replace Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan need strong support from their side of the aisle on the bill, and can only afford to lose 21 Republican votes.
But conservative Republicans have complained about the replacement for being too similar to Obamacare, and some moderate Republicans are concerned it will hurt the health care coverage of millions of voters.
An aide to the conservative House Freedom Caucus said at one point on Wednesday that more than 25 of its members were opposed to the plan. The chairman of the group, Representative Mark Meadows, said negotiations late on Wednesday were making headway.
Moderate Republicans huddled late into the evening in House Speaker Paul Ryan's office. Afterwards, Representative Charlie Dent issued a statement saying he could not back the bill.
Trump and fellow Republicans campaigned during last year's elections on a promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, a program that aimed to boost the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies.
Republicans said Obamacare marked an excessive government intrusion into the healthcare marketplace and blamed it for pushing insurance premium costs higher.
Their replacement plan would rescind the taxes created by Obamacare, repeal a penalty against people who do not buy coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, and modify tax subsidies that help individuals buy plans.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 14 million people would lose medical coverage under the Republican plan by next year. It also said that 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026.
Moderate Republicans huddled late into the evening in House Speaker Paul Ryan's office. Afterwards, Representative Charlie Dent issued a statement saying he could not back the bill.
Trump and fellow Republicans campaigned during last year's elections on a promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, a program that aimed to boost the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies.
Republicans said Obamacare marked an excessive government intrusion into the healthcare marketplace and blamed it for pushing insurance premium costs higher.
Their replacement plan would rescind the taxes created by Obamacare, repeal a penalty against people who do not buy coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, and modify tax subsidies that help individuals buy plans.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 14 million people would lose medical coverage under the Republican plan by next year. It also said that 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026.
Even if the legislation passes the House, its faces a second hurdle in the Senate, where a number of Republicans have spoken out against the House version.
Trump and Republican leaders have said they hope to have the bill finalized in early April so Trump can sign it into law by the middle of the month.
Trump and Republican leaders have said they hope to have the bill finalized in early April so Trump can sign it into law by the middle of the month.
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