bugs

Google+ is multiplying some notification e-mails

Many users of Google's new Google+ social-networking service, which is still in beta and mostly closed to the public, have been tweeting this afternoon about getting the same e-mail notification multiple times--some as many as 40 times or more.

"I just got 29 emails telling me that [another user] is following me on google +. What a weird glitch," writes Twitter user Nolongermusing, whose post was typical of those still streaming in Saturday afternoon.

It's hard to know just how widespread the glitch is. Google did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the problem. And while … Read more

Bite this! Handheld device sniffs out bedbugs

Look out bedbugs. Technology is out to get you--again. Decades ago, using chemical pesticides, humanity seemed to have conquered the scourge of little bugs that were nibbling away at us while we slept, sometimes even while we were having nightmares about them. Then, about 10 years ago, after we discovered that pesticides were doing more than just wiping out bedbugs, they started to come back with a vengeance, like a bygone sci-fi franchise re-emerging to produce some lackluster prequels.

But while the nasty pests were busily frolicking from hotel rooms in Denver to movie theaters in New York, inventor Chris Goggin was having none of it. He designed a handheld bedbug detector that essentially works likes a dog's nose to literally sniff out the notoriously tiny and hard-to-find insects and their eggs.

Bedbugs don't carry any scary diseases, but the very concept of little bugs in your bed is just plain creepy and the bites can be itchy and irritating and prone to infection if not properly cleaned or treated, just like any other bug bite. All the more onerous is the fact that the creeps can normally be tricky to track down because they tend to hide in cracks and crevices, but Goggin's gadget leaves them nowhere to hide, instantly detecting their scent so you can toss your sheets in the drier to fry the little critters--or move to another county. … Read more

Adobe warns of severe but rare Lightroom bug

Adobe plans to update its Lightroom software and Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop next week to address a "potentially severe bug" involving JPEG files.

The problem could affect people saving JPEG images taken with cameras that store large amounts of private camera information in the file's metadata--textual information such as captions, keywords, and titles that can accompany the actual photo.

"To date we've only found one camera that generates these large blocks of private data, the HP PhotoSmart R607," said Lightroom program manager Tom Hogarty in a blog post today. He added:

This bug … Read more

Phones and Androids at Google I/O

Google I/O is mostly for developers, but the show can offer a lot of interesting sights for your average smartphone geek. Between robots, a Switch Pitch ball, and giant Android figures that doubled as device charging stations, the conference can be a visual feast. That's provided, of course, that you like the color green.

My biggest attraction, though, is the glass case that shows Andorid phones from around the world. It's a great resource for checking out handsets that aren't sold by a U.S carrier. And unlike last year, Google thoughtfully packed its display case … Read more

VLC update fixes MP4 security bug

The VLC media player for OS X has been updated with a small fix that addresses a potential security flaw in the MP4 decoder. As with many security flaws, the problem results in a buffer overflow that can crash the program and potentially lead to arbitrary code execution. This is a relatively minor issue, but is one that has the potential to cause problems for people who regularly use VLC to play Internet videos.

The bug would require a specifically crafted malicious video file in order for unwanted code to run on the system, and it is more likely that … Read more

Submitting feedback and bug reports to Apple

There may be times when using your Mac where you might have suggestions or other feedback for Apple's engineers. Perhaps a system feature could be used in a different manner, or you would like to see a particular window be resizable, or you have noticed a bug where a program does not behave the way you think it should.

Apple has a number of methods to submit feedback, so if you have suggestions you would like to submit there are several ways to do it. Keep in mind that Apple will likely not contact you back, but submissions are … Read more

Apple update squishes Apple TV graphics bug

Following the recent OS X 10.6.7 update that in part specifically addressed a graphics bugs being experienced by new 2011 MacBook Pro owners, Apple has also released an Apple TV update that addresses the graphics flickering experienced after the recent 4.2 software update for that system. We outlined the initial bug in a previous article.

The latest update, version 4.2.1, is issued with the following features:

TV compatibility: addresses issues that may cause the screen to flicker or display incorrect color on some older TVs. Wake from sleep: addresses a problem in which the Apple … Read more

Missing e-mail, folder bug in Hotmail fixed

A bug that made e-mails and folders go missing for some Windows Live Hotmail users has been fixed according to Microsoft.

"We have identified the source of the issue (and) have restored e=mail access to those who were affected," the company said on the Windows Live Solution Center help site yesterday afternoon. "We recognize that even though we restored e-mail access, some of the affected users did not receive mail sent to them during the last 24 to 72 hours."

Microsoft says the issue was fixed early this morning, although if users are still having … Read more

Skype blames recent outage on buggy software

Skype has pinned the blame for last week's outage in part on a buggy version of its software for Windows.

In a blog posted today, Chief Information Officer Lars Rabbe explained the house of cards that took down the service the morning of Wednesday, December 22, and kept it offline for many until the following day.

On December 22, a number of support servers that handle offline instant messaging became overloaded, according to Rabbe. Because of that, some Skype clients didn't receive responses as quickly as usual. A bug in one particular Skype client for Windows (version 5.… Read more

Apple still seeding: iOS 4.2.1 Gold Master now available

Apple has just released a new version of the highly anticipated iOS 4.2 update for developers, iOS 4.2.1 Gold Master. Though the first Gold Master of iOS 4.2 was released weeks ago, Apple has yet to initiate a public release.

This version of iOS has build number 8C134 and instructions from Apple for developers to retest their iOS 4.2 applications using the 4.2.1 build.

Apple says only minor fixes are included in this build. iOS 4.2 will bring a vast array of features to iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads including AirPlay, AirPrint, … Read more