Tech Prognosis Blog Technology Tips for Businesses in Round Rock, TX

Security Breach And The High Cost of Recovery

February 1, 2014 by Daniel Ihonvbere

Security Breach seem to be in the news every day, from TJ Maxx, to RSA, Target, Neiman Marcus, CNN and a host of others. These breaches highlight the challenges most organizations (big and small) have in protecting their perimeters, especially when targeted by attackers who are highly motivated, and possibly funded by nation states and … Read more

How To Fix “Checking Battery State” Error

July 11, 2013 by Daniel Ihonvbere

We recently ran into a “checking battery state” error on a Zorin Linux v7 installation where the system just hung for a long time at the “checking battery state” stage when starting up. Zorin Linux is a very easy to use operating system, especially for those making the transition from a Windows environment. As it turned out, this wierd error was quite easy to rectify.

How To Fix Low Graphics Mode Error After Kernel Update

April 22, 2013 by Daniel Ihonvbere

A low graphics mode error can be an irritating message most Linux users don’t want to see. After recently updating a Linux installation to kernel 3.2.0-40, we suddenly started having all kinds of problems with a Linux Operating System:
First, reboot seemed to hang at the boot screen for a very long time – for Ubuntu, a blank screen; for Peppermint, the Peppermint Logo, for Zorin 6, the wheel.

Next, when the system finally booted, it gave a low graphics mode error message, along with options to:

Run in low-graphics mode for just one session
Reconfigure graphics
Troubleshoot error
Exit to console login
Read more

Is The Desktop Really (Pretty Much) Dead?

April 6, 2013 by Daniel Ihonvbere

I read an article recently claiming that “The desktop is (pretty much) dead” and I could not help but wonder if this was just an attempt at riling people up, drawing readership (they got me to read it), or just plain fantasy that “cloud” providers cook up to justify their continued push for ever increasing budgets with limited returns.

Sure, they bombard us with International Data Corporation (IDC) statistics and charts to bolster their arguments. But like sports analysts who glowingly call U.S. MLB, NBA & NFL champions “World” champions, one is forced to ask “what “World” are they referring to?”

How To Fix CentOS 6.4 Boot Hang After Upgrade

April 3, 2013 by Daniel Ihonvbere

The Community Enterprise Operating System, commonly known as CentOS is a solid Linux Operating system similar to Red Hat Linux. We recently ran into a GUI boot problem after upgrading to CentOS 6.4 in a VirtualBox environment. Upon restarting after the upgrade, we noticed that during the boot process, the system showed either a blank screen or the CentOS progress bar for an extended period, almost one hour.

Apparently, the CentOS 6.4 upgrade broke X11 (the UNIX/Linux Graphical User Interface or GUI). A few attempts at repairing the boot loader using the CentOS 6.4 installation disc did not help.

Mobile App Permissions: Are Users Really the Problem?

January 8, 2017March 30, 2013 by Daniel Ihonvbere

While there have been a lot of news-worthy events in the past couple of years involving corporate breaches, one thing has not changed. Users are still considered the greatest obstacle to information security. Whether it is phishing, opening infected attachments, or “just being stupid and lazy”.

Our focus in this article will be on the “stupid and lazy” part of this equation. We will take a quick look at the way users tackle mobile app permissions in the android market place otherwise known as Google Play. A cursory look at some apps on Google Play and the permissions required by these apps, and the ratings given by users, even to apps with seemingly over-reaching or meaningless permissions, explains a lot about why security will continue to be a problem for a very long time.