Computer and internet briefs

Dec 4, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Delete or archive back-ups from Apple devices

Berlin (dpa) - Apple devices iPhone and iPad regularly produce backups of their memory when connected to a computer. That is practical if there is a malfunction, but over the long haul it takes up a lot of hard drive space.

No longer necessary backups can be deleted in iTunes settings, according to the German magazine iPhone Welt (iPhone World).

The relevant menu can be found under 'Devices.' To ease the decision-making process, the records are categorized according to device and date of creation.

Those who do not want to delete the back-ups but would rather archive them on a separate data store have a somewhat more complicated task.

The files are hidden in a different directory depending on the operating system but can be located by searching for 'Apple Computer.' The displaying of hidden files must however be activated.

The individual back-up folders are listed with long, cryptic strings of characters, which is the identification number of the Apple device. The so-called UDID will appear by clicking 'Serial number' in the device overview on iTunes.

Don't click on it, don't copy it - Stopping Facebook spam

Berlin (dpa) - Another wave of spam with pornographic pictures, violent recordings and celebrity photomontages is making its way around Facebook.

And the curiosity of users can open the door to hackers. Therefore, Facebook suggests that users should never go to the location shown in the browser's address bar of suspicious posts or click on such links.

That also goes for posts that supposedly come from a friend. Those who click on the link or copy and use the code can in the worst case give spammers access to their account, which can then be used to send more spam in the name of the account holder.

Should the spammer already have gained access, the user must act quickly by changing their password, deleting unknown and unintentional applications and deleting entries they did not write themselves.