Month: May 2016

Microsoft Surface Book hit with “Sleep of Death”

Dan Uff May 31, 2016 0

MSSurfaceBook Microsoft's pricey Surface Book laptop is frustrating buyers with crashes, "unplanned shutdowns," overheating issues and a "Sleep of Death" issue that regularly causes machines to become completely unresponsive during sleep. Users complain that Microsoft isn't addressing the problem.

Addison Snell, the chief executive of Intersect360 Research, wrote about his "nightmare" experience with a top of the line Surface Book he paid over $4,000 for, noting for The Register UK that Microsoft hasn't offered a solution and refused to replace or return his defective machine.

Surface Book is a premium priced, more conventional laptop with a detachable screen that Microsoft introduced last year alongside its fourth edition of the tablet-oriented Surface Pro 4.

"Whenever the system goes to sleep for a few hours or more, chances are it's not going to wake up," Snell wrote. "These long sleep periods, such as overnight, usually result in system crashes. The start of my work day, almost every day, involves bringing my Surface Book back from an unplanned full shutdown."

After three months of trying to find a solution for the Surface, he discovered the problem is so common it has a name: "Sleep of Death." Discussion site Reddit has 50 threads about the issue, and Microsoft's own support site returns over 75,000 results when searching for Surface Sleep of Death.

"A simpler search like 'Surface sleep crash' nets even more: 250,000," Snell wrote.

To read the rest of the AppleInsider.com article, click here.

Announcements

CompuScoop Adds FutureTech Menu Category

Dan Uff May 31, 2016 0

We here at CompuScoop will always be looking for new, and innovative content to bring to our readers.

With the explosion of Voice Recognition hardware and software over the years, it just seemed like an appropriate time for us to start following that area of the tech industry. So we've added a FutureTech category to our menu options above. Clicking on that shows a drop-down menu with options for the different VR options we currently have.

Now users can use their Apple TV (4th Generation) to search for NBC Shows

Dan Uff May 31, 2016 1

Apple has extended its universal search function on the Apple TV to now include NBC shows in its results, provided the user has installed the NBC tvOS app. The search results can be generated either through Siri, or through the Search app, and includes support for searches by title, genre, and actor, among other queries. NBC joins CBS, more recently, among other channels including: Disney Channel; Disney Jr; Disney XD; FOXNOW; FXNOW; HBO GO; HBO NOW; Hulu; Nat Geo TV; Netflix; PBS; PBS Kids; SHOWTIME; SHOWTIME Anytime; Starz, and Watch ABC, all of which are supported by universal search.

For more information, click here: http://apple.co/25lGi5R

United States Nuclear Weapons Control being Run by Floppy Disks (Yes, its true!)

Dan Uff May 27, 2016 0

FloppyDisk According to a new report published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a number of US government agencies are currently still using computing technology for aspects of their operations that data back as much as over 50 years, reports AFP. The most alarming of the findings in the report is that the Department of Defense still uses eight-inch floppy disks on an IBM Series 1 computer system system dating back to the 1970s as part of the nuclear command and control system. The report warns that these systems are both costly and no longer effective.

The Pentagon has defended its use of the antiquated technology. "This system remains in use because, in short, it still works," Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson told AFP. "However, to address obsolescence concerns, the floppy drives are scheduled to be replaced with Secure Digital devices by the end of 2017," she added. "Modernization across the entire Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) enterprise remains ongoing."

To read the rest of the MacNN report, click here.