Create an Un-guessable Passcode for your iOS Devices

It is easy to type accented characters (like ä, the letter “a” with two dots placed over it) using the virtual keyboard of your iPhone and iPad. Just tap and hold a key and it will show you a list of related characters that have accent marks. →

Use accented characters as passcodes on your iPhone and iPad – like strâtégý

Strong Passcode for your iPhone & iPad

The passcode of your iPhone /iPad is generally made up of digits but if you would like to use a more strong and un-guessable passcode, consider using one or more of these accented characters. For instance, a word like Äpplë is much more difficult to guess than just Apple.

If you do not see the option to use alphanumeric characters as the passcode for your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings -> General -> Passcode Lock and turn off Simple Passcode.

Also see: Keyboard Shortcuts for iPhone & iPad

This is an iOS specific feature. Android devices support alphanumeric characters for screen passwords but accented characters aren’t allowed. And in the case of Windows Phone 8, you can only use digits to lock /unlock the screen.

The tip was originally shared by @ade494 on Reddit.

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This story, Create an Un-guessable Passcode for your iOS Devices, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 21/01/2013 under IPad, IPhone, Password, Software.

How to Continuously Monitor your Internet Connection

The internet connection has been flaky for the past few days. It works fine for 10-15 minutes, breaks for about a minute and the connection is then automatically restored. This erratic on/off cycle repeats itself throughout the day. →

It is most likely an ISP issue as the modem, the router, the DNS server, and the network connections seem perfect. Even power cycling the hardware failed to fix the problem.

While the ISP resolves the issue, I have to continuously monitor the Internet connection as certain actions – like submitting web forms – would fail if initiated while the computer is offline. Luckily, there isn’t a need to download another utility as the included ping command can itself help monitor the downtime.

Ping to Monitor your Internet Connection

Open your command prompt (Start -> Run -> type cmd). Now type “ping -t 8.8.8.8″ and hit Enter. The “-t” switch is important as it means that the ping command will run forever unless stopped manually by hitting Ctrl + C. (8.8.8.8 is Google’s DNS Server)

The output of the ping command, as illustrated in the above screenshot, shows the live status of your Internet connection. If the status reads as “reply from 8.8.8.8,” the machine is online and in all other cases, the Internet connection is down.

Read more ways to troubleshoot your Internet connection.

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This story, How to Continuously Monitor your Internet Connection, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 21/01/2013 under DOS, Networking, Internet.