task

A robot in Singapore can successfully assemble a piece of IKEA furniture. But there's still a long way before it can match human abilities, let alone be a superior alternative. The robot is the work of Nanyang Technological University students and ... is made up of two robotic arms and a 3D camera. The furniture in question is the "Stefan chair." It's a very basic chair frame that in theory is extremely simple to construct, however, the main reason it is challenging to build is due to a few screws that need to burrow quite deep in to wood. It therefore takes a surprising number of ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Mike B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I run a Windows Server 2003 box that has been fine until two days ago. Now, my CPU usage is 100% with multiple 'Update_Windows.exe' processes running. I've deleted the Update_Windows.exe tasks in ... Task Manager, but it keeps propagating. I did a virus scan, but it did not find anything; Malwarebytes antimalware also is not reporting anything. Prior to the infection, I installed the emergency May 2017 update to avoid the Windows SMB exploit / WannaCry ransomware infection . I understand Windows Server 2003 is no longer supported by Microsoft and ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Vema H. writes: " Dear Dennis I just upgraded to Windows 10 and one thing that really bothers me is the taskbar thumbnail previews. For example, if I place my mouse over top of a task on the taskbar, a preview will show up. The ... problem is that most of the time I don't mean to do this, so part of the screen is being taken away by some task preview that I don't care about. Is there any way to disable the taskbar thumbnail previews? It's driving me nuts! " My response: I completely agree with you - I have never had any use for this feature which I believe started some time ... (view more)

Infopackets Shelly R. writes: " Dear Dennis, Every once in a while, when I try and delete a folder on my network share, Windows tells me that 'This action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in another program'. I click the ... 'Try again' button multiple times but that rarely ever works. Can you please tell me why this keeps happening and what I can do to delete the file / folder? " My response: The reason why you receive the 'File in use' error (or 'Folder in use' error) is exactly that - the file or folder is in use by some other program, however, Windows isn't saying ... (view more)

Computer and mobile device owners have been warned to carefully review links before clicking on them, after the creation of a website that can either slow down or crash smart phones completely. The site in question uses a simple but effective ... technique to cause the problem. The site's web address is simply the words "crash" and "safari" next to one another (with no space in between), and is a "dot com" domain name. Trouble-makers online have been spreading links to the problematic site through email and social media. It's worth checking links carefully as ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John P. writes: " I just upgraded to Windows 10. Yesterday I went to go use the Edge browser, but it immediately opened with window stating that my computer has a serious virus and then asked me to call 866-628-4936 to remove the ... virus. The whole time the window was open, there was a computer-generated voice speaking to me. I realize this is a scam, but there is no close button to shut it off. [Other numbers associated with this scam include: 1-866-928-0684, 1-866-436-9418, 1-866-978-1337, 1-866-560-5093, 1-866-362-8280, 1-866-453-2895, 1-866-594-0204, and 1-866-582- ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bob C. writes: " Dear Dennis, Which processor is better: Intel or AMD? The reason I ask is that my laptop is roughly 6 years old and it's time for me to purchase a new one. That said, I can't seem to find the definitive answer as ... to which processor I should get for my next laptop. AMD seems to have cheaper processors, whereas Intel processors are usually always much more expensive. Can you shed light on which processor is better? " My Response: Update 20180620 : I have updated this article to include new information considering AMD's Ryzen line of ... (view more)