I downloaded My Backup Pro to use as a secondary backup on my Google Nexus 7 device which is running Android 4.2. When attempting to configure the the email address and password associated to the My Backup Pro account it continued to reject the information I was providing. Initially I thought the password must be too long, which it was, but even after shortening it to the allowed fifteen characters it continued to reject my settings. It ended up being the email address I used not being accepted because it included a “-”. Below I describe a bit more and provide a screenshot of the screen in question.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have never had an Android device before so pretty much everything is new to me at this point. I will be writing a bunch of articles regarding the basics of Android and more specifically the basics of Android 4.2 on a Google Nexus 7. In the process of working to root the Nexus 7 I needed to backup everything on the Nexus 7 device including everything that has been configured to date. I also have taken a bunch of screenshots that I wanted to make sure got backed up before I proceed with rooting it. Backing up the Google Nexus 7 is easy but there are a couple steps to make sure you get everything which I have outlined below.

Read the rest of this entry »

I use TextMate on Mac OSX Mountain Lion to write notes. One thing I find myself needing a bunch is to insert the current date and time so I can track specific events. For instance if I am writing an article for Question-Defense.com and I am doing the initial formatting in TextMate, which is a typical scenario for me, I might take ten screenshots and I like to note the current date/time in case I get pulled away from the article writing for something else. So having a keyboard shortcut that outputs the current date/time is really valuable so I don’t have to type it out by hand. Below I describe how to install a OSX Service that will provide various date/time outputs via Keyboard Shortcuts. The OSX Service called WordService also provides a bunch of extra awesome services which I briefly touch on below as well.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you recently purchased a Google Nexus 7 you likely will think, like I did, that you will plug it into your Mac and it will mount automatically so you can browse the disk. Unfortunately that is not the case and it takes installing the Android File Transfer app. The reason for this is the fact that Android uses the MTP or Media Transfer Protocol to talk to OSX Mountain Lion. Follow the directions below to enable communication between your Mac and Google Nexus 7 running Android.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you use btscanner, which is a Bluetooth scanner found in Backtrack Linux, a lot like I do then you will notice that the Public OUI list included is pretty far out of date. The OUI or Organizationally Unique Identifier list is what matches MAC addresses to manufacturers or vendors. This is how you can determine who produced a specific product that is talking on a network for instance a Bluetooth device that is attempting to communicate with your phone or your computer.

Read the rest of this entry »