GeekwithEnvy

internet

Where is the Network Utility in OS X Mavericks?

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OS X Network Utility icon

In OS X the network utility has been a efficient and convenient way to perform basic tests on your network like ping , trace route, netstat, whois, finger, and port scan. The utility provides all of these tools with the benefit of having a nice graphical user interface to work with (GUI).

The Network Utility has always been included with the installation of OS X and it still is with Mavericks, but it’s no longer in your main applications folder. It has been moved to (/System/Library/CoreServices/Applications).

  • You can easily find the Network Utility in OS X Mavericks by Using Spotlight (the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the screen) and Typing “Network Utility”.

Amazon Prime Air Wants to Fly Things To Your House in 30 Min

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In what could be one of the craziest and most brilliant ideas, Amazon has announced that they are working on a new delivery service called “Amazon Prime Air“. The new delivery system uses a small unmanned aerial robot to fly packages you order from Amazon directly to your house in 30 minutes or less!

This delivery option would be absolutely amazing if it could work properly. More consumers than ever before purchase items online, in fact statistics show that e-commerce alone has brought in nearly $289 billion in the U.S for 2012. There’s no doubt that the will be a huge demand for this type of service but whether or not it can be done remains to be seen.

Amazon admits that it will take many years for this service to get up an running on a commercial scale and that one of the first major hurdles will be lining up FAA rules and regulations, but the service could be up and running as soon as 2015. What do you think about this service?

AmazonPrimeAir

Windows XP Users, It’s Time To Move On

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xpLogo

 

Windows XP has stood the test of time quite well and has remained one of the most popular versions of Windows for over a decade. Many personal users and businesses are still using Windows XP right now, but that needs to change, and soon.

Why? Microsoft will be killing ALL support for XP on April 8th 2014. How does that affect you? The main reason is security or lack thereof. If Microsoft isn’t providing routine security patches to the operating system then it can quickly become vulnerable to attack. There’s no doubt that once the deadline passes, Windows XP will likely become a breeding ground for malicious code like viruses and spyware since XP will basically have a target on it’s back for not having official support. For this reason alone it’s worth it to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1 and unfortunately for some users that may mean buying a new PC.

Of course there are other reasons to upgrade as well including driver support, live technical support from Microsoft, newer applications that won’t run on XP, website compatibility,  and not to mention the fact that a newer PC running Windows 7 or 8 will likely be many times faster. Although Windows 8 got off to a rocky start because of criticism over it’s user interface design, it’s probably one of Microsoft’s fastest versions of Windows.

So don’t wait till after the deadline to make your changes, start the upgrade now or at least put together a game plan, especially if you’re a business.

YouTube Could Offer Paid Subscription Service

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YouTube Logo

Billboard has reported that YouTube may be offering a paid subscription service later this year that focuses on music, more specifically, music videos. The service will likely have both premium and free content that will be available on any device.

The challenge for Google is that many users already enjoy their favorite music for free at anytime on YouTube, so how could they design a service you would want to pay a fee for? It’s likely that some features may include the removal of ads, access to full albums, and exclusive “premium only” content. In many ways this service will be similar to what Spotify currently offers and with the massive audience that YouTube has, this could be a very sucessful move for them.

As of this posting there is no official confirmation from YouTube on whether or not such a service will launch or if it does, when, although some have speculated a holiday launch later this year.

Did you know, Firefox is not a “Fox” at all

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Red Panda

Fun Fact:

We all know Mozilla’s Firefox browser, and by the name and logo, you would probably assume that it is a Red Fox. However, Firefox is another name for the Red Panda and that’s exactly what Mozilla’s Firefox is! To learn more about the Red Panda check out National Geographic.