Apple has released a fix for the battery life issues in iOS 5 that it recently ‘fessed up to.

The catch is that the update for iOS 5 is only available for developers as a beta right now, though, it shouldn’t be too long before it is released to the public.

Beta build of iOS, numbered 5.0.1, to developers Wednesday afternoon.

The build, 9A402, “fixes bugs affecting battery life, adds multitasking gestures for the original iPad.

Resolves bugs with documents in iCloud, improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation, and contains security improvements,” according to the release notes.

OS 5 and the iPhone 4S have been linked to several categories of complaints over battery life and power usage.

Apple is aware of the issue and released a statement confirming the issue and promising a fix within “a few weeks.

The iOS 5.0.1 Beta appears to be the first step by the Cupertino-based company to resolve the issues via software.

Being only a few hours old, it is still too soon to determine the overall effect of 5.0.1 on battery life.

We will update this article once we have more feedback from users.

9to5Mac now reports that 5.0.1 fixes this issue.

Specifically, with the new build, an iPad will not be able to go to sleep using a Smart Cover while the Power Off screen is displayed.

A prerequisite of the former security flaw, as with all developer builds, Apple’s timetable for general release is unknown.

It’s a safe bet, however, with complaints about iOS 5 and iPhone 4S battery life mounting, that the company is aiming for release as soon as possible.

One thing that is for certain, however, is that iOS 5.0.1 resolves a strange bug, first reported by 9to5Mac.

That allowed anyone with a Smart Cover to unlock a passcode-locked iPad and gain access to the las running application.

As with all developer builds, Apple’s timetable for general release is unknown. It’s a safe bet, however.

With complaints about iOS 5 and iPhone 4S battery life mounting, that the company is aiming for release as soon as possible.

9to5Mac.

The Board members will get a rough draft of changes in the school district’s social media policy during their meeting Monday.

The Springfield School Board is expected Monday to start discussing whether to allow teachers and students to connect on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, and possible other changes in social network policy.

The plan won’t be made public until after the board and organizations representing teachers and principals have weighed in on it, Springfield School District’s spokesman.

There is no indication whether the district will consider allowing social media use inside actual schools.

“We know that we want the district and maybe even the schools … to use social media for public engagement,”

The hard part is at the teacher-student level, what to allow or whether to allow any at all.

eStrata, a Canadian web development company, announced its brand-new online application which features tools specifically tailored to meet the needs of strata councils and condo boards.

eStrata makes it easy and affordable for strata councils and property managers to create community web portals with news, articles, public and private pages, document storage, private messaging, issue management and more.

To kick off the product launch, eStrata is offering a month of free hosting to each new client.

Carla Cacovic, Director of Sales states “We believe people should have affordable access to products that make life easier.

Our web application provides great communication tools for board members and residents alike and helps build a sense of community by giving residents the opportunity to get to know each other on a personal level.”

eStrata offers apps built by skilled industry veterans, superior customer service, and a willingness to continually roll out cutting-edge features.

Check out the eStrata site for more information or try the online demo.

About eStrata:

eStrata builds web apps specifically for strata councils, condo boards and homeowner associations.

eStrata strives to offer high quality, professional designs that are backed by excellent customer service.

To learn more about eStrata, please contact Carla Cacovic at carla.cacovic ( @ ) estrata dot com or visit us online today: http://estrata dot ca

Contact Information:

eStrata, Victoria BC
Carla Cacovic, Director of Sales
Phone: 250-514-2208
Email: carla.cacovic ( @ ) estrata dot ca
URL: http://estrata.ca

emaratech, the leading IT and Technology Solutions Company in the Middle East, today has launched a package of new services for the public and private sectors with a view to providing intelligent and creative solutions for its esteemed clients.

emaratech announced this in the press conference held in Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre on the sidelines of its participation in GITEX 2011.

The new services package includes Noqoodi for online payment and financial services, Play at Work Service, Enterprise Manager Service, and smart e-gate service, known as Iris gate.

H.E. Thani Alzaffin, Director General & Board Member of emaratech said: In emaratech, we endeavor to fully support organizations by providing high quality and creative technology solutions that contribute and improve the productivity and the professionalism of corporate employees, which positively facilitates and expedites customer services performance.

emaratech has taken a quantum leap forward in IT at the government and private levels of performance.

We are currently working on devising creative services to develop the performance of organizations and support the UAE sustainable development. Added Alzaffin.

emaratech has produced a chain of important services for several government organizations in the UAE such as ID Card Pre Registration for Emirates Identity Authority, Face Capture System in all UAE ports for the Ministry of Interior, the Prosecution System for Dubai Public Prosecution.

Government Resources Planning (GRP) for the Dubai Civil Defense and Hares for Road and Transport Authority.

emaratech has several subsidiaries including Emirates Real Estate Solutions (ERES), Zajil Courier Company, Business Service Center.

Ahmed Al Banna

Public Relations Manager

The National Media

M: 00971 55 22 67 222

T: 00971 6 74 55 474

F: 00971 6 744 91 96

ahmed.b@thenationalmedia.ae />

Subscriptions, which launched last week, lets you see people’s public posts in your News Feed, without having to friend them.

And while Facebook Subscriptions is an interesting way to broaden your network and connect with people you otherwise wouldn’t have contact with, some critics have panned it for its complexity.

If you don’t use it correctly, Facebook’s new subscription feature can lead to a social networking mess private posts and comments shown publicly, a cluttered news feed and spam.

If you decide to opt in to Facebook Subscriptions, you’ll need to understand some key concepts. Here are five caveats before turning on the subscribe button on your profile, or subscribing to people’s profiles.

1. Is This Post Public?

In your new privacy settings is the default privacy setting, which you can set to either public, friends or customize it. But the word default is misleading here.

Whichever you choose will not be the privacy setting for everything you post on Facebook, it’s just the default setting for when you use a Facebook app that doesn’t have the drop-down menu with privacy options, such as the Facebook BlackBerry app.

Warning: The next time you post something to Facebook, it will automatically be posted publicly since that was the last setting you chose.

Unless it’s a post you want shared with everyone, remember to select the desired privacy setting from the drop-down menu.

2. Public Post, Public Comments

When you subscribe to people’s Facebook posts, everything they post publicly will appear in your News Feed. What’s important to remember is that since their posts are public, so will any comments you add to their photo, link or discussion.

Also, keep in mind that the person you’re subscribing to may have set their profile to be searchable on Google. This means that your comments can be visible to everyone on the Web when a search for them is performed.

So it’s wise to keep your comments on public posts professional.

3. Polluting the News Feed

When you subscribe to a Facebook user’s profile, most everything they share publicly will appear in your News Feed.

This can quickly lead to clutter. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t yet have the ability to view posts only from Subscriptions, or to group your subscriptions into a list.

Cleaning up the clutter is going to take a bit of work. While a default setting for all your subscriptions would be useful, right now you need to adjust each one individually. Here’s how to do it.

4. Subscriptions or Spam?

Last week, I decided to open up my profile to subscribers to test the feature and bam! I was hit by an influx of what appeared to be spam or fake Facebook accounts subscribing to me.

When you opt-in to subscriptions, you don’t have the option to remove or block individuals subscribing to you.

Your only controls are managing whether or not your subscribers are allowed to comment on your posts, and whether you receive notifications about new subscribers.

This notification setting doesn’t appear to be working properly yet; I’ve only received one e-mail alerting me of new subscribers.

5. Update Profile Privacy

While you may think you have done a good job at maintaining your privacy settings, be sure to use the “View As” feature to fine-tune your profile before opening the flood gates to subscribers.

To view how your profile appears to the public, click the “View As…” button on the top right of your profile.

While you can enter individual friends’ names into the search bar, you won’t be able to search for “Public.”

Instead, click the “public” link that appears in the text above.

This will show you how people not on your friends list will view your profile.

The Large organized crime syndicates have been launching sophisticated attacks against individuals and major corporations for decades. The result of their efforts is the theft of billions of dollars every year, and a large, ongoing presence in many of our most sensitive computer systems.

There are probably some corporations and credit cards that haven’t been hacked,” said Kim Peretti, director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ forensic services practice. “But you have to assume you’ve been compromised.

Organized cybercrime is a truly international affair, but the most advanced attacks tend to stem from Russia. The Russian mob is incredibly talented for a reason: After the Iron Curtain lifted in the 1990s, a number of ex-KGB cyberspies realized they could use their expert skills and training to make money off of the hacked information they had previously been retrieving for government espionage purposes.

Former spies grouped together to form the Russian Business Network, a criminal enterprise that is capable of some truly scary attacks. It’s just one of many organized cybercriminal organizations, but it’s one of the oldest and the largest.

Where hacktivists lack patience and most fraudsters lack skill, organized crime syndicates like the RBN possess the necessary tools to hack just about any target they set their sights upon.

Once a hacker in an organized crime unit has gained entry to a targeted system and reached the limit of his expertise, he’ll send the hack up the chain to a more expert attacker. That continues until it reaches an organization’s top hacker, who will often steal whatever information the organization wants and cover the previous hackers trails.

Though credit cards continue to be a source of revenue for organized crime syndicates, experts say there’s a supply and demand issue: There are so many stolen cards on the black market, they’re not selling for nearly as much as they were several years ago.

Most hackers have an identity on underground chat rooms, but more sophisticated criminals stay away from public or even password-protected boards, making them more difficult to catch. Some stay on smaller boards where they don’t even use a handle — they just use numbers.