“Although he’s #19 on Forbes list of billionaires, Mr. Ballmer should not be allowed to take such incredible risks with investor money and employee jobs. Best he be retired to enjoy his fortune rather than deprive investors and employees of building theirs.”

The company has suffered numerous mishaps while Ballmer has been CEO, such as, Vista, the Zune, and failing to keep up with mobile technology. Microsoft has had little success with tablets and smartphones, while companies like Apple and Google dominate the mobile markets.

When the iPhone launched in 2007, Ballmer and other Microsoft executives didn’t consider it as a threat, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. Google and Apple together have over 80% of the smartphone market, while Microsoft has less than 4% (as of Mar. 2012).

Maybe he is the worst CEO, but he sure can make some funny videos.

Here is a quick explanation of the different types of notifications.

• Notification Center – This is where you can swipe down from any screen (expect the lock screen) and find information on weather, stocks, calendar events, reminders, email, etc.
• Alerts – This is a pop-up box that displays a message. You must tap in the box for the message to disappear. Alerts can be viewed in the lock screen.
• Banners – A pop-up that appears for a few seconds at the top of the screen, then disappears automatically.
• Badges – Shows an image or number on the icon of an app.
• Sounds – Plays an audible alert.

iPad Notification Center

If you go to Setting-> Notifications, there you will see all of the applications that use notifications. The apps are separated into ones that are in and out of the notification center. You can still receive alerts even though the app is not in the notification center.

The image below shows how the Twitter and Reminders apps has alerts set even though they are not in the notification center. If all notifications are off for the app, then there should not be any text here (like Asphalt 6, TWC and Squrl in the photo.)

Here is an example of the Twitter app with all notifications turned off. Notice the alert style is also set to none. You can still get alerts and banner pop-ups if none is not selected here.

Some apps may have some additional settings to turn off push notifications. If you are still getting alerts, badges or sounds for a particular app after turning everything off as we have described, check the setting for the app. Go to Settings and scroll down to the bottom left of the screen to Apps. Select the app and turn off any push notifications.

Here is an example of the Gmail app. As you can see there are additional settings here for notifications that can be turned off.

With the settings configured correctly for your iOS device, you can make the best use of a great iOS feature.

We have posted a tutorial explaining how to downgrade your A5 devices.

What’s old is new again!

Jailbreakers with devices that pre-date the iPad2 will always be able to downgrade (with SHSH blobs) to previous firmware versions due to geohot’s limera1n exploit, which allows us to bypass the restrictions that Apple places on restores. But until now, that ability has been limited to those older devices (if you have an older device and don’t know how to do that, check the popular tutorial sites or ask in the comments below).

Starting with redsn0w version 0.9.11b1, those with newer devices (iPad2, iPad3, and iPhone4S) can join the downgrade fun too! In a radical departure from previous versions of redsn0w, it now directly supports restoring IPSWs to your device. The first use of this new feature implements a hack that allows A5 downgrades without a bootrom-level exploit.

Some important points:

The new feature is at Extras->Even More->Restore
You cannot downgrade without the personalized SHSH blobs for your device at that lower firmware. You need to have fetched those blobs while the signing window was open, using either Cydia’s built-in TSS@Home feature, or with TinyUmbrella. The new Restore screen of redsn0w lets you choose either the remote blobs or local ones (for the earlier firmware). If you don’t know where TinyUmbrella put your blobs, TinyUmbrella has a button that will show you (copy them out of that folder and feed them to redsn0w).
The A5 downgrade method actually updates to the latest firmware before downgrading to the earlier one. This process updates your baseband to whatever is newest. DO NOT USE THIS METHOD IF YOU RELY ON UNOFFICIAL UNLOCKS of your iPhone4S. Those who used the temporary SAM technique to unlock their iPhones to specific SIMs shouldn’t be affected by this baseband update.
This method can be fixed by Apple with a firmware update. It’s a (pleasant) mystery why they haven’t fixed it yet, because reverse-engineering of the restore ramdisk indicates they do know about it. It’s possibly too niche to bother to fix right now.
The least-tested devices with this method are the iPad2,3 and iPad3,2 (because we don’t have those models). If you do and you feel like experimenting, please let us know how it turns out in the comment section below!
This update involves a bunch of new redsn0w code. We recommend sticking to the previous version 0.9.10b8b unless you’re specifically using this new feature, until all the bugs are worked out! (Note: If redsn0w gets stuck at the “Waiting for device” stage for more than 30 seconds, you’ve hit a pesky GUI bug…that will be fixed in an upcoming version!)
Of course all eyes are on @pod2g for his upcoming 5.1 untethered jailbreak. Watch his blog or twitter feed for the latest updates about that, but in the meantime if you accidentally updated your jailbroken A5 device to something later than 5.0.1, feel free to try this new A5 firmware downgrade feature of redsn0w!

Update #1: We accidentally left out one of the two flavors (“9A406”) of 5.0.1 for iPhone4S. It’ll be in the next update, but in the meantime check if Cydia or TU saved your blobs for the other 5.0.1 for iPhone4S (“9A405”).

[Via iPhone-Dev Team]

You could also use iCloud to transfer Windows documents to your iPad, but that requires you to purchase Pages, Numbers or Keynote for iOS. Converting your documents to PDFs will allow you to view them in the Free iBooks app and PDFs are multi-platform. That means you can email them and know that the recipient will be able to view them on a Mac, PC, Android or iOS device.

Converting Windows Documents to PDFs

You will need to download a third-party program to your PC to convert the document to a PDF. Here are two Free (not Shareware) tools for converting documents to PDFs;

1. DoPDF
2. CutePDF Writer

They both add a PDF function to your printer driver, so after you install one of the applications you can click print, then choose to “Print to PDF” instead of your printer.
You can also select the location you want to save the file or they will be save to your documents folder by default.

Add PDFs to iTunes

After the file has been saved as a PDF, you can add it to iTunes. If you already have a book or PDF in iTunes you can open iTunes, click on Books in the sidebar and drag and drop your PDF to the Books section.

If you do not see Books in the sidebar;
1. Go to File
2. Click on Add File to Library.
3. Locate the file
4. Click Open.

Sync PDFs to iPad

Now, all you have to do is sync the PDFs or books to your iPad.

1. Plug your iPad into your computer.
2. Click on the iPad under Devices on the left.
3. Click on Books at the top of the screen.
4. Check “Sync Books” and select All books or Select books (you will need to check each box next to the book or PDF.)
5. Click Apply, then sync your iPad.

After your iPad finishes syncing, you can turn it on and open iBooks. Then, tap on Collections, select PDFs and view your files on your iPad.

You can then choose to send a message or play a sound to help you find it or set a passcode lock to prevent anyone from accessing your personal data. If you are really serious about keeping your personal information out of the hands of a stranger, you can also remotely wipe the device to remove all of your information.

Using Find My iPad to locate a Wi-Fi only iPad can be a problem since the feature requires a data connection. However, you can get an email alert if the device joins a Wi-Fi network.

To get an email notification when your iPad is found;

Go to iCloud.com, click on the Find My iPhone icon, select your device and check the box next to “Email me when this iPad is found”.

Find My iPad / iPhone is a completely free service and I highly recommend setting it up on all of your Apple devices, but if you haven’t you may be able to use FaceTime, iMessage, Skype, etc. to call or send a message to your iPad. Of course, this would only work if the apps have already been set up on the device.

Will Apple help me with my lost or stolen device?

Apple does not have a process to track or flag lost or stolen product. However, you can use find a list of serial numbers that have been purchased or registered with your Apple ID by using My Support Profile.

To get your serial number:
1. Go to My Support Profile*.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID.
3. View your purchases in “My Products”.

Although, Apple does not track or flag stolen products, if law enforcement recovers an Apple Product they know is lost or stolen they can contact Apple Corporate Security directly to notify you using your contact information. Apple will send you an email similar to this;

Dear Steve,

You are receiving this email because a law enforcement agency has contacted Apple regarding an iPad they recently recovered.

Our records indicate the iPad was registered with Apple using this email address.

To discuss this matter, please contact the following law enforcement representative:

Detective’s name
Police Department Name and Phone Number
Case Number

We understand that your privacy is important. Please be assured that Apple has not shared any of your personal information with this third party. You may review Apple’s Privacy policy at http://www.apple.com/legal/privacy.

This concern has been documented in Apple case number *******4.

Best regards,

Apple Customer Care

Report it Stolen

Your next step will be to report the stolen device to your local law enforcement agency. Make sure you have the serial number to give to law enforcement.

You can also report your device as stolen online using websites like Stolen-Property.com. This is a free website that enters your item into a database that is used by pawn shops and others to track stolen property that comes into their business.

Hopefully, you will find your iPad, but if your are unable to recover it you may be able to file an insurance claim if it was stolen from your home or car. Check with your insurance agent to find out if the device was covered under your policy.