Can't attach files to Yahoo! Mail?

I have been having problems with Yahoo! Mail recently and it works fine except for one thing. I cannot attach a file to an email. I click the attach button, select a file, and Yahoo! Mail tries to upload it and fails. Every time no matter what file it is or what size it is. A search of the web found other people with this problem, but no solutions. However, I found a work-around that fixes it.

I've been using Yahoo! for years and have sent a zillion emails with attachments, so it crossed my mind that my mail account might be full. I can't see any usage indication in Yahoo! Mail, so I don't know whether it is full or not. I searched for old sent files with attachments and deleted them, freeing up some space. I still couldn't attach any files.

It crossed my mind that it could be the browser and I normally use Google Chrome. I fired up Internet Explorer, but it was no different and files could not be attached to emails. The problem seemed to be independent of the browser.

The Attach button in Yahoo! Mail is actually Flash. I uninstalled Flash ages ago partly because it isn't needed so much these days and partly because Chrome has Flash built in so you don't need to install it separately. It is also known to cause various problems too. Well, I am also using Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10 has Flash built in too. So both Chrome and IE have Flash and neither browser would attach files to emails. Unlike normal Flash, you cannot upgrade the Flash plugin in these browsers because it is built in and you have to wait for a browser update.

The solution was to use Firefox. This is completely Flash-free because I've not installed Flash in Windows and it is not built into the browser. If you access Yahoo! Mail with it, the mail page detects that you don't have Flash and displays a regular non-Flash button. This attaches files to emails just fine.

So there you have it. If you can't attache files to Yahoo! Mail messages it is Flash and without Flash it is fine.

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Beware of Skype malware and con tricks

I just got a call on Skype that was obviously designed to con people out of money or install malware. I have heard of people being called on the telephone with this sort of scam, but not by Skype. This is new to me. It goes like this:

"This is an important security notice. We have detected that your computer is not running properly and it may be infected with a virus/malware. Your security software has been deactivated and you and your computer are at serious risk. To reactivate your security software and repair the security problem go to www.blah blah..."

No doubt some malware or crapware will be installed that will hold your PC to ransom and cost an arm and a leg to remove. It didn't fool me for one second, but not everyone is as suspicious as I am of fake calls, emails, and pop-up messages.

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Living without Flash

Some time ago I decided to delete Flash from my computer and try to live without it. Is it really necessary? Actually it is, but as I pointed out, you can still live without it because Google's Chrome browser has it built in. This means that you don't need to install Flash separately. It is one less application cluttering up the disk drive and using valuable resources. Even Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8 has Flash built in. It only works with a few sites though and it isn't as compatible as Chrome, but it's a step in the right direction.

I don't have Flash installed, but since Flash is in Chrome then I can still access Flash websites. It is possible to go a step further and disable the Flash plug-in in Chrome. Click the menu button to the right of the address box and select Settings. Click Advanced settings to reveal the hidden settings and then click Content settings in the Privacy section. In the Plug-ins section select Click to play. Close the settings tab and restart Chrome.

Chrome should be faster (solving a problem that some people have with Chrome running very slowly on some computers). When there is Flash content on a web page you will see a blank space where it should be and when the mouse moves over it, a message says Click to run Adobe Flash Player. If you really need the item, click it and Flash runs, but if it is just an advert then don't bother.

A plug-ins button appears at the right side of the address box when plug-ins are disabled and clicking it enables you to add the website as an exception. This means that you can run Flash on your favourite websites, but have it disabled on all the others. It is one more step towards getting rid of Flash completely. You find that browsing the web is faster and less prone to lock-ups and crashes with fewer plug-ins.

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Access secret features in Android

There are some secret features in Google's Android operating system for mobile phones and tablets. They are sometimes called Easter Eggs because you have to hunt for them and find them.

Apparently there is a hidden jellybean screen saver in Android 4.2. This article here describes how you can get it by repeatedly tapping the Android version number in Settings, About.

It did nothing on my Google Nexus 7 running Android 4.2 though. I pressed it 20 times or more, but got nowhere. This may be specific to mobile phones because there's a comment on the above article from someone with a Google Nexus 10 that said they couldn't access it either.

I thought I would try tapping the build number instead, thinking that it may be different on my Nexus 7 and after a few taps it started to display a countdown message reporting that I was soon to become a developer. After a few more taps and I was a full blown Android developer.

The Developer menu appears in Settings and it provides access to a number of functions. To be honest, few of them are useful if you are not an Android developer, but it's interesting anyway. The Stay Awake option might be useful if you want your device to stay on and not blank the screen after a minute or two. There's an option to protect USB storage, and one to show CPU usage. The rest, well, I'll leave them for developers.

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33 percent of Windows users intend to buy a Mac

There are some fun quotes about statistics, such as "There are lies, damned lies and statistics," and "90% of all statistics are made up," (including that one). You can manipulate statistics to support any point of view you  like. There is always some statistic somewhere that you can quite. Examine the figures though and things aren't quite what they seem.

Here is an article: 33% of Windows users intend to buy a Mac or iPad instead of upgrading to Windows 8. The original source is an Avast! survey reported in USA Today.

It sounds like 33% of Windows users intend to buy an iPad or Mac instead of Windows 8. After all, that's what the headline says. But here is the original information:

Avast's poll of U.S. Windows users found 16% planned to purchase a new computer. While 68% indicated they would get one of the new Windows 8 models, 30% planned to buy an Apple iPad touch tablet, and 12%, an Apple Macintosh computer.

So only 16% of Windows users planned to buy a new computer and 30% of these planned to buy an iPad. That is 30% of the 16% that intend to buy a new computer, which is 4.8% of the total surveyed. Only 12% planned to buy a Mac, which is 12% of 16% or 1.92%.

Add them together and the headline should say: 6.72% of Windows users intend to buy a Mac or iPad instead of upgrading to Windows 8. Actually, I'm not sure about the word 'instead'. It's possible that people could upgrade to Windows 8 and buy an iPad. I have both for instance. It depends on how the survey questions were phrased.

An alternative headline would be: 94% of Windows users reject the iPad and Mac as an upgrade option. After all, only 16% are planning to buy new hardware and 68% of those are planning to buy a Windows 8 PC. The things you can do with statistics.

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Get the Bing Winter Wallpaper pack free

Some people stick with the default Windows wallpaper, icons, mouse pointers, screen saver and so on, but others like to customise their desktop. What sort of user are you? If you like giving your PC a brand new look then here is a great new theme from Microsoft - Bing Wallpaper and Screen Saver Pack: Winter. It works on Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

Download the file then go to the Downloads folder and run DefaultPack.exe. You will be asked if you want to set your browser's home page and search provider to Bing. It's your choice. Clear the tick boxes if you don't want to change anything.

After installation you'll see a winter scene on the desktop. Bing has some fantastic photos and these themes are excellent. Right click the desktop afterwards and select Personalize. The theme is listed in the My Themes section and you can switch back to the standard theme at any time. Click Desktop Background to see the wallpaper settings. By default it changes once a day to a new photo, but you can  change the frequency if you want to swap photos more often.

Click Screen Saver if you want to change the screen saver settings, such as how long to wait before it kicks in. Use the Preview button to see what the screen saver will look like without having to wait.

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Mountain Lion Notification Center is broken

Notification Center in OS X Mountain Lion on the Apple Mac is a great idea: Whenever important events occur you are notified on the screen and messages are stored in the Notification Center, which slides in the from the right side of the screen. It works well for Apple services, but for anything else it is very temperamental and if the wind's blowing in the right direction and you cross your fingers, you may just see a notification, or perhaps not. It seems that Notification Center is broken.

When Mountain Lion was installed I added my Google Mail account to the Mail App, set up notifications for everything, went to the website and logged in so Safari stored the password and so on. The first day, possibly two, I can't remember now, Google Mail notifications appeared in the notifications panel. Since then there has been nothing. There are emails in the notification panel that are over 100 days old. They just seem stuck and there hasn't been an update for months.

Facebook integration was added to Mountain Lion after the launch as an update and this has also proved troublesome. There are currently two Facebook items in my notifications panel, one is four days old and the other is 10 days old. I don't think I've ever seen anything from Twitter in there.

I've deleted all the notifications in the panel (items were days, weeks or even moths old) and it is currently empty. Whether it will ever get anything new is anyone's guess. I'll just have to wait and see.

The one glimmer of hope is that Calendar notifications work fine.

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