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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Google+ Unveils YouTube Live Integration with Hangouts

Since it is only at the beginning of the road, Google+ is still learning about its users’ preferences or requests, and it consequently implements new features, such as YouTube Live integration with its Hangouts function.

Even though they are not willing to make any exception to the no-pseudonym rule, Google+ developers do their best to fulfill any other necessities users may have when accessing the new social network.

As such, the fortunate members who got their Google+ invite have been able to enjoy YouTube videos within their accounts even since the platform was launched.

The newly-announced integration will offer users the possibility to watch live streams within the Hangouts they set up.

According to GigaOM, for now one needs to follow some steps in order to benefit from this feature, but they are quite easy to complete:

* Start a Hangouts session in Google+ and invite your contacts to join you.
* In a separate browser tab, head over to
YouTube.com/Live and select a live stream of your choice
* Copy the YouTube video I.D. of the selected live stream. Not sure how to find it? Just click on the share link below the video. You’ll get to see a link like http://youtu.be/XXXXXXXX – the cryptic code after the slash is the video I.D.
* Switch back to hangouts, open the video tab and search for the I.D.
* Click play, and you’re all set.


Those who are not pleased with the completion of the aforementioned steps will be happy to hear that YouTube is currently working to simplify them considerably.

The goal is to eventually integrate public Hangouts into YouTube pages for live streams, thus becoming accessible to everyone.

The main advantage of this integration is that users will be able to talk to each other in real time when watching a sports game or a concert, as if they were together at the venue.

Even though the Hangouts limit the number of participants to ten, it is more than enough for intimate gatherings and private reunions.

Page Speed Service by Google, Website Optimization Service

 Site Speed Optimization Service by Google
Google has launched a new service that promises to speed up people's websites if they point them to its DNS servers by optimization pages and serving them from the company's servers around the world.

Called the Page Speed Service, the new product will be a paid offering with prices yet to be disclosed, but for now the company is accepting beta testers for free.

It is a continuation of Google's efforts to help webmaster optimize their websites. These previously included the Page Speed browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, the Page Speed Online API and the mod_pagespeed Apache module.

The Page Speed Service works by fetching pages from the user's servers, rewriting them according to web performance best practices like compressing images, concatenating CSS, gzipping resources, etc., and serving them from Google's cache servers.

"Your users will continue to access your site just as they did before, only with faster load times," said Ram Ramani, engineering manager on Google's Make the Web Faster Team.

The team claims the speed improvements observed so far have been between 25% to 60%, depending on the website, and notes that optimizations are still being added to the service.

"Pricing will be competitive and details will be made available later," Ramani said. But in the meantime, interested webmasters can try out for free by requesting access to the service via a web form.

A comparison tool that lets webmasters test their pages in advance of signing up has also been released. However, there is a bug that causes people to actually see slower load times than for the original pages.

This is caused by the use of bare domains like example.com without the www prefix. "Running the tests again with the fully qualified domain such as www.example.com usually fixes the issue and gives you the correct measurement," Google says

AMD Confirms Eight-Core FX-Series Bulldozer CPUs Will Cost Around $300

After many rumors and suppositions, AMD has finally unveiled the approximate retail price of their upcoming high-performance eight-core FX-Series processors. Just as expected, these will cost around $300, which is about the same as the pricing set by Intel for its Sandy Bridge flagship, the Core i7-2600K.

This information was found in the “Terms and Regulations” section of AMD's recent FX Giveaway competition, that offers five eight-core FX-Series CPUs as prizes.

“Top tier prizes: Five (5) AMD FX series eight-core processors. Approximate Retail Value: $300 USD each,” reads the competition's official rules.

In comparison, Intel's fastest desktop processor based on the Sandy Bridge architecture, the Core i7-2600K, also retails for just a bit over $300, which seems to suggest that performance should be about equal.

From what we do know at this point in time, the FX-8150P should be AMD's most powerful FX-series chip as it features four Bulldozer processor modules for a total of eight computing cores, 8MB of Level 2 cache as well as 8MB of Level 3 cache.

The chip will sport a base frequency of 3.6GHz, which can be increased up to 4.2GHz thanks to the Turbo Core technology, and its TDP is set at 125W.

AMD plans to launch this processor together with three other chips, including another eight-core model that is known as the FX-8100, which packs similar specifications with the FX-8150P.

However, the FX-8100 will feature lower clock speeds, 2.8GHz base and 3.7GHz maximum Turbo, to allow AMD to drop its TDP to 95W.

The two other AMD Bulldozer CPUs expected to launch are the FX-6100 and FX-4100, which sport six and four processing cores, respectively.

Both of these include 8MB of L3 cache as their older siblings, but feature less L2 cache and lower clock speeds.

No information regarding the pricing of the six and quad-core processors is available at this point in time. The release date is also unknown, but most rumors place it in September or October of 2011. (via Insiders)

How to Reset Mac OS X Lion Account Passwords?

 A solution if you forgot your Mac account password or you have a new Mac.When you get a trouble when you will login.
It’s human nature to forget little bits of information from time to time and passwords are not an exception. If you forgot your Mac account password or you have a new Mac (bought or inherited) and you don’t know the password needed to login, this tutorial will help you reset an original administrator’s password with or without using a Mac OS X DVD Install disc.

Forgetting a password might seem inconceivable to most people, but it has happened many times. This might happen not only because one cannot memorize things, but also due to using the Automatic login feature in Mac OS X.

Once Automatic login is disabled from System Preferences, by you or anyone else, you will have to enter your account or the administrator password to be able to access the Mac OS X desktop. If you have always trusted your Mac to automatically log you in, this might be a serious problem you have to solve.

Although resetting an (administrator) account’s password might seem a highly intrepid operation, after reading the steps listed below you will see that it’s not.


Reset the administrator password using the Install disc

1. Shut down your Mac and insert your Mac OS X Install disc into the SuperDrive (if not available, you can create your own bootable Leopard Install USB memory stick using the tutorial available HERE).

2. Start your Mac using the power button, while pressing and holding the OPTION key. When the Startup Manager screen appears, select the Install disc using the keyboard arrow keys and hit RETURN.

3. Choose your language and click “Continue”.

4. Go to the Utilities menu available on the top menu bar and choose “Password Reset” (“Reset Password” for a 10.5 or 10.4 Install disc).

5. Select your Mac OS X installation drive (its default name is “Macintosh HD”) and select your administrator account’s name (WARNING: Do not select “System Administrator” – this is the root user).

6. Enter your new password and a new password hint, click “Save” and close password reset utility.

7. From the menu bar choose “Quit the Mac OS X Installer” and click “Restart”

8. Login using your new password.


Reset the administrator password without an Install disc

This method should be used if your DVD drive is not reading the Install disc, if you own a MacBook Air (which has no DVD drive), or if you do not have the Mac OS X Install disc.

1. Restart the Mac and hold down Command-S. A command line will appear on your Mac’s screen.

2. Type in the following command (press Enter/Return after each of them):

/sbin/fsck -y
/sbin/mount -uaw


(these instructions will allow you to access the startup disk in read/write mode)

rm /var/db/.applesetupdone

(this command will delete the .applesetupdone file so that Mac OS X will think that the setup process was never finished)

reboot

Now your Mac will restart and will be as good as new. You will be able to change the password you lost from the account preferences.


Although the above steps will allow you to reset your own password, it also means that others with physical access to your Mac will also be able to use them for accessing your information. To further protect your Mac, you should set an Open Firmware password using Apple's utility and the instructions available HERE.

If you have any questions or you want further details regarding the steps you have to take for resetting your Mac OS X account’s password, leave a comment below.

How to Create a Bootable Mac OS X USB Disk?

Let's go to try! A great info for Apple Lovers around the world.
This tutorial will allow you to learn the necessary steps for creating your own bootable Mac OS X Leopard (or Lion) image on a USB memory stick. This might be needed if your Mac needs a reinstall or a “Repair Disk” procedure and it has problems reading the bundled Install disc. To use this tutorial a second Mac computer with a working SuperDrive or a Mac OS X Install disc DMG file will be needed.

If you ever had problems with your Mac OS X installation you know that the first thing you should do is to check the startup volume using Disk Utility.

After the check has ended and, if the errors exceed a certain level of seriousness, the Disk Utility application will require you to restart your Mac and use its Mac OS X Install disc counterpart.

Other users may have to reinstall OS X altogether, but will find, or already know, that their SuperDrive (a CD/DVD reader and write combo drive) is not functioning properly and it will not be able to read the Install disc.

Although this might happen to Mac OS X Leopard users due to faulty hardware, the vast majority of problematic SuperDrives will be encountered inside Snow Leopard running Macs.

This is due to the updated SuperDrive firmware included in either the Install disc or the software updates one has to install to reach the latest version of OS X, namely 10.6.6. 


This can be fixed by flashing the SuperDrive’s stock firmware using free command line tools that one can find for free online (I will write about this process also, but at a later time because this article only focuses on allowing you to create your own alternative USB boot disc).

If you are reading this last bit of information with skepticism, than you should know that it happened to me too. Despite all my tries to make it work properly, the SuperDrive kept on munching any inserted DVDs and just popped them out in about twenty seconds.

The workaround to this issue was to create my own Leopard bootable USB memory stick. I am not suggesting a Snow Leopard bootable stick mainly because there are lots of users that have decided to buy the cheaper, Upgrade version, which I have not tested and, therefore, I’m not sure if it will work properly once written to a USB disk.

And now, here are the exact steps you should follow in order to obtain a fully bootable Leopard (or Lion) Install disc.


Step 1 (If you already have the Leopard install disc DMG file you can skip to Step 2)

Launch Disk Utility (you can find it inside /Applications/Utilities). Here select the Leopard Install disc in the list of drives on the left and click on the New Image menu entry at the top of the window. A save message will appear where you will have to select the Desktop as a destination.

Step 2

After Disk Utility has finished creating the Leopard DMG, insert your USB stick and erase all data and reformat the disk. To do this select the USB in the list of drives on the left and, after clicking on the Erase tab on the right side of the window, choose the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format and click the Erase button beneath.

Step 3

After the USB has been reformatted, download the SuperDuper app from HERE and launch it. Once SuperDuper starts, you will only have to select the DMG in the Copy drop-down menu, your USB memory stick on the right and hit the “Copy Now” button.

One can also use Disk Utility for this task but creating a bootable USB stick failed 2 out 4 times when copying the DMG to the stick (with the exact same settings each time). Creating the bootable stick using SuperDuper proved to be the perfect way to do it because it worked each of the 4 times I tested it.


The steps above can also be used to create a bootable Mac OS X Lion USB by using the InstallESD.dmg image you can find inside the Lion installer (named “Install Mac OS X Lion.app”) downloaded from the Mac App Store.
To locate the InstallESD.dmg right click the Lion installer, select the “Show Package Contents” entry, go inside the “Contents” folder, and from there into the “SharedSupport” folder. Inside this folder you can find the InstallESD.dmg you can use to create your own bootable Mac OS X Lion USB stick. To do so, go to the third step described above and use the InstallESD.dmg as the DMG to be copied to your USB disc.


That’s it! Once the process ends you will have a fully bootable Leopard (or Lion) USB disk that you can use as an alternative to the Apple’s DVD Install disc that comes bundled with all Macs.

To use your newly created bootable disk you will have to restart the Mac, press and hold the OPTION key until the Startup Manager appears. Here, select the Mac OS X Install disk using your keyboard arrows and press return to start from the selected drive.

If you have any questions or any problems while following the above steps, leave a comment and I will get back to you with an answer as soon as possible.


enjoy your day with Apple.. get a different feature, a new experience for everyone! 

How It’s Made - Cutting Out the Apple Logo

A patent application signed Apple Inc. reveals a potential method of cutting out the Apple logo in various products, if not the actual method used by the Mac maker.

The application (ID number 20110183580), filed January 25, 2010 with the U.S Patent and Trademark office, explains that various techniques have been employed to generate precision cuts in materials used in consumer goods.



“As may be expected, certain techniques are better suited for certain materials and/or for certain types of cuts,” Apple says.

The company takes machining (the method used to cut out the unibody chassis of all MacBook computers) as an example, and explains that it may not be desirable for forming intricate cuts with sharp and/or acutely angled features.

Delving into the particularities of this technology, Apple notes that “sharp features forming an apex of an angle cannot be easily produced with a rotary cutter. Generally, these sharp features are approximated by using cutters having increasingly smaller diameters.”


“However, as the size of the cutter decreases, the machining cycle time (and cost) is greatly increased, making the process economically infeasible for large-scale production of consumer goods,” the filing reads.

Apple also tried other techniques, such as computer numerical control (CNC) milling, water jet cutting, laser cutting, and still found these inadequate to produce sharp features at a reasonable cost.

Thus these are deemed unacceptable. So what is acceptable in both function and cost?

As simple as it sounds, a cutting apparatus that looks a bit like those displayed in images #1 and #2 on the left side of this article (click to enlarge).

“The cutting apparatus includes a base member and an elongate member extending from the base member,” Apple explains.

“The elongate member includes a tapered region having an abrasive surface. The tapered region defines at least one vertex defining an angle of a desired cutout shape. Additionally, the tapered region is toothless.”

Apple credits engineer Kevin M. Kenney for the invention.

Windows 8 Upgrades and Downgrades Part of Windows Intune 2012

One easy way for customers to make sure that they’ll be able to make the jump seamlessly to Windows 8 in 2012 without paying a single cent to license the operating system is to subscribe to Windows Intune.

Windows Intune is Microsoft’s Cloud-based PC management and security offering, which offers upgrade benefits as part of a comprehensive collection of services for just $11 per computer per month.

The first version of Intune went live earlier this year, and Microsoft is cooking the second release, which is in Beta development state at this point in time.

The upcoming iteration of Windows Intune will be made available to customers by the end of 2011, and will also cost $11 per PC per month, despite the evolution from the first version.

Windows 7 Enterprise upgrade rights are an inherent benefit of a Windows Intune subscription today.

“All of your managed PCs covered by Windows Intune may be upgraded to Windows 7 Enterprise as long as the qualifying OS is one of the following business editions of Windows: Business, Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise,” the Redmond company notes.

One of my Microsoft contacts confirmed to me that Windows 8 upgrade benefits will inherently be included into Windows Intune 2012.

At the same time, the software giant also mentions downgrade rights as a part of the Windows Intune subscription.

Windows downgrades, as some readers might know, allow customers to run an older version of Windows and then upgrade to the latest release through the same license agreement, and without paying anything extra. Companies can get two versions of Windows at the price of one, so to speak.

“In addition to Windows 7 upgrade rights, Windows Intune customers will have rights to upgrade to future versions of Windows, as well as downgrade rights to older versions. As long as your subscription is active, you will have access to the best version of Windows for your business to standardize on—making your PC environment easier to manage,” Microsoft notes.

The thing to remember is that with Windows Intune 2012, the Windows 7 Enterprise upgrade benefits will become Windows 8 upgrade benefits.

How to Download OS X Lion for Free?

 It's some solution and info if you want to Download OS X Lion for Free..


2. Download OS X 10.7 Lion for Free via Apple’s Up-To-Date Program
3.




Notes: risk at your own :)

Saturday, July 30, 2011

New Rhythm Heaven and 3DS Lead the Charts in Japan

The Nintendo 3DS might be going through a rough patch at the moment, as seen by the fact that the company is set to slash the price significantly to make customers more interested, but the device continues to do very well in Japan where it has managed to top the video game hardware sales chart yet again.

The Nintendo handheld has sold 31,826 units during the week that ended on July 24, according to the figures compiled by Japanese tracking firm Media Create, which is about 15,000 less than it has managed during the previous seven-day period.

Meanwhile second place was locked up by the PlayStation Portable from Sony, which managed to sell 26,854 units, while the last place on the podium predictably went to the PlayStation 3 which moved 23,343 consoles to players.

The Wii has again had a pretty weak time, though not as bad as some weeks during the early part of the year, selling 17,114 units while the various members of the DSi family are hovering around the 5,000 units sales mark.

The PSP Go refuses to die and has managed to sell 14 devices.

When it comes to video games, the big performer of the week has been newcomer Everyone's Rhythm Heaven for the Nintendo Wii, which managed to sell 118,173 units during its first week on store shelves.

The Capcom published Capcom’s Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes for the PlayStation Portable also did well during its first week and managed to get 82,798 copies to eager players while No More Heroes: Red Zone Edition captured third spot with 40,313 units sold.

The rest of the top ten is made up of Inazuma Eleven Strikers, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2011, Taiko Drum Master Portable DX, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2011, Noora and the Time Studio: The Witch of the Misty Forest, Alice Madness Returns and Wii Sports Resort.

OS X Lion Random Crashes, Black Screen Reported by Users

Apple may have to push Mac OS X 10.7.1 out the door sooner rather than later, if it wants to tone down some of the threads actively discussing the various issues surrounding Lion, the company’s latest Mac OS version.

A quick trip to Apple Support Communities will soon reveal even to the untrained eye that something is going on with OS X 10.7 (Lion), the latest iteration of Apple’s desktop operating system.

Notably the most common complaint of all is Lion crashing randomly, followed by a black screen with the computer remaining unresponsive.

Customers have found that the only way to get the system working again is to shut it down by force.
“Lion crashes ever now and thenand [sic] stays on a black screen. Its totally unresponsive, all I can do is force shut down but I've done this about 4 times already today,” writes whetty101 in a thread that has racked up over 12,000 hits so far.

The discussion is ongoing, with most commenters sharing a similar experience. At 18 pages long, it appears these customers are not going to run out of anger fuel any time too soon.

While some are trying to troubleshoot the issues themselves, others are pointing fingers at Apple demanding a fix.

It is worth noting that “Lion randomly crashes - black screen” is just one of multiple ongoing discussions on the same topic.

Numerous threads containing similar (and sometimes almost identical stories) have recently emerged on Apple Support Communities, of which we can highlight the following:

iMac screen randomly going black after lion upgrade
Screen goes black after upgrading to lion!
OS Lion keeps randomly crashing. Anyone else?
Mac OS X Lion 10.7 black screen crashes (and SSD stalls again)

It is fair to give Apple the benefit of the doubt here, as many of these customers have “upgraded” from Snow Leopard to Lion.

These threads merely act as confirmation that a fresh install will always do an OS justice, but that doesn’t take the ball out of Apple’s court either.

It was the company’s job to ensure Lion would install properly on a large number of configurations with an even larger number of potential scenarios for failure.
Bear in mind that this is just one of multiple issues reported with OS X Lion. As noted above, we expect Apple to ship the first maintenance release of Lion (OS X 10.7.1) relatively soon.

The Mac maker is known to be actively testing OS X 10.7.2 already with a focus on iCloud services.

Have you upgraded to Lion? How has your experience been so far?

Friday, July 29, 2011

How to Enable OS X Lion-style ‘Natural Scrolling’ in Ubuntu

OS X Lion introduced natural/reverse scrolling where by “content tracks finger movement”. 
If you’ve ever used a touchscreen smartphone you’ll already be familiar with how this works: you drag down to scroll up; you drag up to scroll down.

Natural Scrolling‘ by Charalampos brings reverse scrolling to Ubuntu.


Reverse Scrolling is likely better demonstrated than explained. If you can’t quite get your head around it the following video does an excellent job of  showing it off: -


Download Natural Scrolling for Ubuntu 

Natural Scrolling’ requires a handful of dependencies: -
Once the above dependencies have been installed you can proceed to download the .Deb installer.
Double-click on the .Deb to open it in the Ubuntu Software Centre. Hit the ‘Install’ button to install, then launch from the Dash by searching for ‘Natural Scrolling’ once completed.

You can toggle Natural Scrolling using the Application Indicator present in the top panel. When Natural Scrolling is active a small ‘tick’ will be shown. Click again to disable it.

Note that at the time of writing the ‘Autostart at login’ feature is broken.

Download Google Chrome 14.0.835.8 for Mac OS X

The Google Chrome Dev channel has been updated to version 14.0.835.8 for all supported platforms, including Mac OS X. This release comes with the usual bag of updates and fixes, including more maintenance for OS X Lion gesture-input support.

Superseding the latest Dev channel refresh issued earlier this week, Chrome 14.0.835.8 for Mac, Windows, Linux and Chrome Frame features an updated V8 engine (V8 - 3.4.14.2).

A bug causing the browser to fail opening PDF files has been addressed. A Windows-specific fix targets net-internals.

For Chrome fans using a Mac, Google engineers have implemented new code to allow the open source web browser to “respect natural/inverted scroll direction on Lion when gesturing.”

OS X Lion brings to the table a bunch of new Multi-Touch gestures giving Chrome developers a rough time, but it appears that things are progressing on the Dev channel.

It is fairly likely that we’ll see Chrome 14 advance to Beta as early as this week, though next week is probably a safer bet.

As usual, full details about what changes are in this build are available in the SVN revision log, according to Jason Kersey, of the Google Chrome development team.

Testers are encouraged to use the bug reporter whenever they stumble upon anything that doesn’t work properly.

Download Google Chrome for Mac OS X (Free)


 WARNING: This release is not appropriate for general consumer use. Several features, such as bookmarks password import and certain privacy features, are unavailable at this time. DOWNLOAD THIS only if you are a developer or take great pleasure in incomplete, unpredictable, and potentially crashing software.
Running the application requires an Intel-based machine (PowerPC systems are not supported), and a minimum 128 MB of RAM.

For users relying on Chrome for their work, or other important tasks, we recommend installing Chrome 12 Stable.

The Stable build contains an updated Flash plugin, various security fixes, and other minor tweaks that enable the browser to run smoothly on pretty much any computer configuration, as long as the aforementioned specs are met.

Download 'Colosseum' for Android RPG Now

Developed by the popular mobile games publisher and developer GAMEVIL, Collosseum for Android is now available for download from Android Market.

The game has been categorized as RPG, but judging by the gameplay, Colosseum is just a simple, but addictive hack-and-slash game.

Basically, players are challenged to defend themselves against endless waves of monsters, while they are 'confined' in a coliseum, the Roman version of an arena.

Obviously, players will have a wide range of weapons at their disposal to face off and defeat various types of monsters to defeat, including a variety of melee and ranged weapons, such as swords, maces, throwing knives, bombs and more.

Even though it may sound easy to beat, players will have to employ different tactics and master the skills of their various melee and ranged weapons if they want to be successful in this endeavor, otherwise they will quickly succumb against the throng of attacking monsters.

However, mastering weapons is not the only tactic needed to successfully fend off the waves of monster, as the game also offers players the option to use magic effects such as ice, lightning and fire.

We're excited to finally bring Colosseum to Android and we're also working on new versions too. As part of deal done with GAMEVIL's Partner Fund, COCOSOFT has developed a great pickup-and-play RPG title that has garnered many fans, and we're happy now to bring it to Android so players can finally join in on the fun,” said Kyu Lee, head of GAMEVIL USA.

Furthermore, each slayed monster will give players certain amounts of money that can be used to upgrade their weapons and equipment inventory.

Only after each round successfully completed, victorious heroes will be rewarded with loot for upgrading their equipment and gaining new weapons.

Colosseum for Android is now available for download from Android Market for $0.99 and is compatible with all smartphones running Android 2.1 or newer.

Apple Details OS X Lion Keyboards

Soon after the release of OS X Lion, Apple quietly introduced slightly modified versions of its Macintosh keyboards, changing some of the F keys to accommodate a number of Lion-specific features, including Launchpad and Mission Control.

Although not officially announced by Apple, the keyboards were spotted in Italy.

As Apple itself confirms in a Support document posted online this week, “Wired and wireless keyboards designed for use with OS X Lion feature Launchpad and Mission Control function keys.”

The Mac maker felt it was necessary to explain that “Although these keyboards are designed for and work best using OS X Lion, they also work with Mac OS X v10.6.8 Snow Leopard and iOS—such as with iPad and iPhone. When used with Snow Leopard, the Launchpad key functions as a Dashboard key instead.”

Customers may not want to rush their purchase of a brand new Apple keyboard just yet.

According to the people in Cupertino, California, “Using these keyboards with operating system software other than Snow Leopard, Lion, or iOS may result in some keys not working as expected; keyboard-based brightness controls, music and video navigation keys, and volume controls may not work as expected.”

Should customers run into these issues, there are workarounds.

For example, brightness and volume can be controlled from the System Preferences panes, according to Apple.

“Music and video navigation can be controlled from applications such as iTunes or QuickTime Player,” the company adds.

To make one thing clear (since Apple somehow fails to do so) OS X Lion does not require a new keyboard, provided that you have one of the relatively new aluminum keyboards that ship with iMacs since 2008.

Both the F3 and F4 keys will work as expected under Lion - as in F3 will allow you to access Mission Control, and F4 takes you to the Dashboard.

To access Launchpad, either click its icon in the Dock (provided that you haven’t poof’ed it out upon installing Lion) or, if you’re using a trackpad, swipe four fingers inwards to invoke it.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Free Download KDE Software Compilation 4.7

KDE Software Compilation 4.7 was in development for about two months, since May 25th when the first Beta was released, and it brings very nice new features, various software improvements, and overall stability.

KDE Software Compilation 4.7.0 is composed of the KDE Plasma Workspace, the KDE Applications and the KDE Development Platform.

Highlights of KDE Software Compilation 4.7.0:

· New IM (Instant Messaging) solution for KDE, integrated directly into desktop;
· Adium themes support in the default Instant Messaging client;
· Support for OpenGL-ES 2.0 on the KWin window manager;
· Major improvements on the Dolphin file manager;
· Support for the GRUB2 bootloader on KDM (KDE's login manager);
· Support for offline address search on Marble;
· Plasma Workspaces has been improved for touchscreens and mobile devices;
· Updated Oxygen icons;
· Better blending of GNOME/GTK applications in KDE;
· Activity Manager allows grouping of applications, documents and widgets;
· Initial support for NetworkManager 0.9 in Plasma Workspaces;
· Bluetooth tethering support in Plasma Workspaces;
· VPN, 3G, and MAC spoofing support in Plasma Workspaces;
· Added breadcrumbs to the Kickoff application launcher;
· Konsole doesn't block the removal of USB flash drives;
· PulseAudio support in KMix;
· Semantic capabilities in KDE.

Over 12,000 bugs have been fixed in the new KDE Software Compilation 4.7, since the previous 4.6 release, making it even more stable than ever before.


Lots of other applications included in KDE Software Compilation 4.7 have been updated to new versions, especially Kontact and Digikam. KDE Software Compilation 4.7 is translated into more than 55 languages.

Download KDE Software Compilation 4.7 

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G Coming Soon to TELUS

Although Samsung confirmed that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G tablet will reach Canadian shores this summer, the Korean handset manufacturer has yet to announce the exact release date of the device.

However, it appears that TELUS has picked the tablet, as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G is now listed on the carrier's “Coming Soon” webpage, which means that its launch is imminent.

There's no information regarding the tablet's price options yet, but customers who wish to purchase it should know that the Wi-Fi version is going for $499.99.

As the name suggests, the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G features an impressive 10.1-inch touchscreen display with resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels.

This is TELUS’ first 4G tablet and can be purchased with the Tablet Flex Plan, which provides customers with cost certainty and usage flexibility, without unexpected overage fees.

The tablet is equipped with a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor and is powered by Google's Android 3.1 Honeycomb operating system.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G is thinner (8.6mm) and lighter (600g, battery included) than an average tablet, and features a sleek form factor with allows for impressive power and mobility.

In addition, the tablet comes with Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz UX user interface and offers users a wide range of rich multimedia features, refined multitasking capabilities, customized user interface options, unique Samsung Hub services, integrated Office programs and more.

With full support for Adobe Flash 10.2, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G makes it easier for users to stay connected while on the go within TELUS' 4G network.

TELUS Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 TELUS
sports a 3.0-megapixel photo snapper with LED flash and video recording capabilities (720p HD), as well as a secondary 2.0-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls.

The tablet packs 16GB of internal memory and 1GB of RAM, but lacks a microSD card slot for memory expansion.

Download AMD OverDrive 4.0.3 Utility with FX-Series CPU Support

Together with the 11.7 version of the Catalyst graphics driver, AMD has also released today a new edition, 4.0.3 to be more precise, of the OverDrive utility which now brings official support for the company's Family 15h processors, known to enthusiasts by the name of Bulldozer.

AMD OverDrive is a hardware tweaking and overclocking utility that works right from Windows and enables users to control and monitor a wide variety of system settings.

This includes fan speed settings, CPU voltages, CPU FSB, memory voltages and timings, to name just a few. The utility also supports smart profiles for saving customized overclocking settings for the applications installed.

The most important feature brought by this latest version is the support for AMD's Family 15h of processors, which includes all chips based on the Bulldozer architecture.

To complement this change, OverDrive also received support for the recently released 900-series chipsets, which together with the FX-series CPUs form the Scorpio desktop platform.

In addition to the newly supported hardware, AMD's tool now comes with a redesigned user interface skin and layout as well as with an improved benchmark calculation algorithm.

Users who own older processors based on the Daned architecture have also received a minor update as AOD now features a DQS reading enhancement for Family 10h and later memory controllers.

As usual, this latest version of OverDrive also includes a series of bug fixes for issues ranging from temperature reporting on SB800 south bridge controller chips to some strange AOD behavior when attaching two displays via VGA and HDMI.

The newly released AMD OverDrive 4.0.3 is available for download by following this link. The utility is compatible with Windows XP or newer operating systems (32 or 64-bit).

Free Download AMD Catalyst 11.7 Graphics Driver

AMD released their monthly update to the Catalyst driver suite for Radeon HD graphics solution, which has now come to version 11.7 and introduces a series of bug fixes and WHQL certification for the recently introduced AMD A-Series accelerated processing units.

According to the documentation released by AMD, this latest release doesn't bring any new features of performance improvements and instead focuses on improving stability.

On that note, AMD introduced quite a few bug fixes, including one for those annoying mouse cursor lag issues that have been plaguing so many users until now.

Consumers who use monitors connected through HDMI and DisplayPort can also rejoice as Catalyst 11.7 resolves the system hangs that were introduced with the previous version of the driver.

Together with these, the Catalyst driver team also fixed a series of video playback problems, some of them application-specific and some generic. This includes the hardware acceleration issues spotted in VLC Player version 1.1.9.

On the gaming front, the list of bug fixes is greatly smaller than the one regarding video playback. Arguably the most important of these is the removal of the chequerboard corruption witnesses in DirectX 10 titles when using a CrossFire configuration with Eyefinity enabled.

Other fixes regard Shogun II, Portal 2, and Hamilton’s Great Adventure. According to AMD, the latter will now function correctly when using CrossFire configurations.

As is usually the case with Catalyst driver, this latest version supports cards from both the desktop Radeon and Mobility Radeon series, together with AMD's FireStream GPGPU solutions and integrated (chipset and APU) graphics cores.

The AMD Catalyst 11.7 driver. can be downloaded by using the following links. Please download the version that corresponds to your operating system.

AMD Catalyst Display Driver 11.7 for XP
AMD Catalyst Display Driver 11.7 for XP64
AMD Catalyst Display Driver 11.7 for Vista, Win7
AMD Catalyst Display Driver 11.7 for Vista64, Win7 x64

Free Download Citibank for iPad Application

Citibank is continuing its efforts to become the world’s first digital bank with the release of an iPad application specifically designed for the masses.

Providing U.S. consumer banking clients with an engaging, visually rich tool to track, analyze and plan their finances, Citibank for iPad is the first app from a major U.S. bank to offer graphs and visual representations of consumer accounts and transactions, departing from traditional ledger-style banking.

Thanks to its intuitive user interface, clients can easily check balances, control their cash flow, pay bills, transfer funds, access rewards and find nearbyATMs and branches.

Commenting on their release, Tracey Weber, head of Internet and Mobile Banking, North America Consumer Banking, Citi, said “Our iPad app is all about listening to our clients and understanding that they need their digital banking experience to be more engaging and dynamic – beyond the standard static tables you find with other iPad apps.”

“We’re offering a whole new way of banking, with enhanced visuals and interactive tools. We’re focused on continually offering modern solutions that help put ease into our clients’ financial lives, wherever and whenever,” added Weber.

The app not only provides all the necessary services with a few taps, it also offers access to resources and information that help users manage their financial lives.

This includes direct access to an exclusive Citibank service - Citi Personal Wealth Management and Women & Co., with continually updated content.

Advanced features allow users to view information and take actions like:

- Plan cash outflows with the help of a unique interactive chart of past and future payments and transfers;
- Analyze personal spending habits through automatically generated, customizable charts of payee spending;
- Compare personal spending habits with general consumer data, filtering by location, age group, income bracket and purchase category.

Citibank for iPad is an exclusive tablet app (which means it’s not available on iPhone and iPod touch) and requires iOS 3.2 or later.

Download Citibank for iPad (Free)

How to Uninstall OS X 10.7 Lion Server

Customers who wish to have OS X Lion server uninstalled from their computers can do so following a few easy steps outlined by Apple in a Support document issued this week.

Unlike previous versions of Mac OS X, the Server side of OS X 10.7 Lion comes as an application that behaves much like an add-on for the Client OS. Lion Server is a $39.99 download from the Mac App Store in the Productivity section.

Designed both for Mac computers and iOS devices, Lion Server makes it easy to share files, schedule meetings, synchronize contacts, host your own website, remotely access your network, publish wikis, distribute podcasts, and everything else you can do with a server.

By making Mac OS X Server a set of applications users can purchase right from the Mac App Store, Apple aims to enable anyone to quickly and easily turn a Mac running Lion into a home, office, or school server.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant behind Mac OS X specifically notes that “Lion Server is an app and collection of services that can be added to OS X Lion.”

For those who have installed Lion Server and decide that they no longer want to use it (for whatever reason), Apple has laid out the instructions to properly disable this portion of Mac OS X.

The steps are reproduced below, in their entirety. The original Apple Support document is located here.

1. Open Server app.

2. If you see a Welcome screen and a button named Configure, you have not yet set up Lion Server; quit Server app and skip to step 8.
Otherwise, if you don't see a Welcome screen and a Configure button, continue to step 3.
 
3. Check the Services list on the left side of the Server app window. Select each one that is on (as indicated by a green dot) and flip the switch in the upper right from On to Off.

4. Click on the icon for your computer in the Hardware list, on the left beneath the Services list.

5. Click the Settings tab.

6. If the box next to "Dedicate system resources to server services" is checked, uncheck it. This will display a message telling you that you must restart your computer for the change to take effect. Click "Restart Later".

7. Quit Server app.

8. Remove Server app from your Dock. You may delete it from your Applications folder, but it is not necessary. You may also remove the Server folder containing the advanced Server Admin Tools if you installed them separately.

9. Restart your computer, if you were instructed to in step 6.

Download Apple iSync 3.0.2 for Mac OS

Apple iSync 3.0.2it's free download
Apple iSync will sync your Address Book/iCal between Macs and digital devices.

Edit By BS Editor: The iSync application lets you automatically Transfer information from iCal calendars and Address Book contacts on a Mac to your third-party mobile device. For example, your third-party mobile phone device can be synchronized using iSync to display your latest Events, and your contact list can always be Up-to-date with your Mac.

Requirements: Mac OS X 10.5 or higher
Platform: PowerPC / Intel

   Source: http://mac.brothersoft.com/apple-isync.html


More info about Apple iSync :

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Missing iSync Application
  When Mac OS X 10.7 Lion debuts this summer, it will be missing a few in-house developed applications, like Front Row, and according to more recent digging through the software’s code, iSync.

Privileged Lion testers are signaling that a fresh installation of OS X Lion comes without iSync, the utility that lets you synchronize the information on your computer with your bluetooth-capable devices
.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Free Download CentOS 6.0 Live CDs and installable DVD

Download of the Live CD and Live DVD ISO images for the recently released CentOS 6.0 operating system.

After the official release of the CentOS 6.0 Linux distribution two weeks ago, on July 10th, we are now proud to announce that Live CD images are also available for anyone who want to try this wonderful operating system without installing.

CentOS 6.0 Live CD is powered by Linux kernel 2.6.32 and the GNOME 2.28.2 desktop environment. It includes popular applications, such as Mozilla Firefox 3.6.9, Mozilla Thunderbird 3.1.3, The GIMP 2.6.9, and Pidgin 2.6.6.

Because of space constraints the CentOS developers could not include all the usual desktop applications, therefore they are available on the CentOS 6.0 Live DVD images (see the download link at the end of the article).

CentOS 6.0 Live comes as CD and DVD ISO images, available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. CentOS 6.0 Live CD images can now be installed on the local hard drive, but they can also run directly for CD media or USB flash drivers.
Review  image
CentOS 6.0 Live CD
CentOS 6.0 Live can be successfully used as a powerful workstation. Being based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 distribution, CentOS 6.0 brings all its features, with which is 100% binary compatible.

The CentOS 6.0 Linux distribution was completely rebuilt using a brand-new build system and library checks, in order to confirm RHEL binary compatibility.

About CentOS

CentOS is a community enterprise operating system, based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux sources and available for the following architectures: Intel 32-bit, Intel IA-64 (Itanium 64-bit), 64-bit (AMD's AMD64 and Intel's Intel 64). Additionally, CentOS is a 100% free Linux distribution fully compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Here are some key features of "CentOS":

· easy maintenance
· suitability for long term use in production environments
· friendly environment for users and package maintainers
· long-term support of the core
· active development
· community infrastructure
· open management
· open business model
· commercial support - offered by a partner vendor


Download CentOS 6.0 Live CD and Live DVD images

Download CentOS 6.0 installable DVD images

Free Download QuickBooks Mobile for Android

Intuit, the company behind the popular small business accounting program QuickBooks, has just announced the availability of the Android version of the application.

The application provides mobile access to QuickBooks data for the more than 4 million small businesses using QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Online.

According to Intuit, the mobile version of QuickBooks releases data from the desktop and provides solutions designed specifically for a small business owner’s who is on the go.

In addition, Android users will have the ability to create estimates, manage invoices, view customer details and more all from their mobile smartphone.

It seems that QuickBooks Mobile automatically syncs with QuickBooks, which provides users with the latest information available, whether they are in or out of the office.

The majority of small and medium-sized business owners feel that staying connected through wireless devices is critical to the success of their business,” said Dan Wernikoff, vice president and general manager of Intuit's Financial Management Solutions division.

Other interesting features offered by the Android application include:

- Saves time by checking customer balances and creating estimates while on the move;
- Increased productivity by invoicing at the job site, without having to go back to the office;
- Access to the latest information as customer and sales information syncs automatically between QuickBooks and QuickBooks Mobile.

QuickBooks Mobile access is free for any current QuickBooks Online subscriber and is available to QuickBooks Pro and Premier 2011 customers through a subscription.

As the demand for mobile access continues to accelerate, we’re working to give customers the solutions they need most so they can save time and make money wherever their business takes them,” concluded Wernikoff.

Furthermore, the application is now available as a free download from the Android Market and is compatible with devices running Android 2.1 or higher.


What's in this version QuickBooks Mobile for Android:
  1. Fixed an issue which was not allowing some users to sign into the application

G+me Chrome Extension Enhances the Google+ Experience

If you're an avid Google+ user with a lot of followers, chances are a new extension called G+me could help you control the flood of incoming posts and significantly improve your experience on the service.

The extension has many features that arguably make Google+ better. For one, its toolbar icon shows G+ notifications in real-time.

This means that users don't need to be on Google-related tabs to see if there's anything new happening on G+. The notifications are now visible everywhere.

However, the central feature of this extension is that its ability to collapse read posts while remembering their last state for future sessions.

Additionally, if users want to keep the posts expanded but not see all the associated comments, G+me gives them the option to hide the comment stream.


The collapsed comments bar will continue to show and update the comment number at the end and if a new one is posted, hovering the mouse pointer over the comment number will display a pop-up with the content.

Similarly, hovering the mouse pointer over a collapsed post will display a fully-functional preview of its extended version. Users can also opt for list-mode view which keeps all posts collapsed by default and allows a single one to be extended at a time.

The comments left by users on both the Chrome Web Store and the developer's blog are largely favorable and people seem to be very happy with the extension.

"I have no technical comment. However, this has made Google+ far more usable to me. Kudos, if I may use a term that should be deprecated," said one user. It's creator, a coder named Huy Zing, is also considering writing a version for Firefox.

A week old, the extension has already been deployed by over 6,000 users from the Chrome Web Store where it has a five-star rating from 100 votes.

AMD 16-Core Interlagos Server CPUs to Begin Shipping in August

In the company's latest conference call with financial analysts, AMD has confirmed that its high-performance Interlagos server processors, which can sport up to 16-core and are based on the Bulldozer architecture, will start shipping next month with availability expected by the end of the year.

"Interlagos, which is our server-based product, will begin shipping initial production next month," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of products group at AMD, during a conference call with financial analysts, reports Xbit Labs.

AMD's Interlagos processors are based on the company's high-performance Bulldozer architecture and will have either 12 or 16 processing cores, while also featuring a series of improvements that should increase their performance when compared with the current Opteron 6100-series CPUs.

The chips will also feature support for AMD's Turbo Core dynamic overclocking technology, a configurable TDP, and come with advanced power saving technologies.

Interlagos CPUs features a multi-chip design (the processor is built by joining together two six or eight core Valencia dies) and are compatible with the existing G34 socket.

"We expect to begin shipping our first server platform featuring the Bulldozer this quarter. The Interlagos platform is our first server offering optimized for today's cloud datacenters,” said Thomas Seifert, AMD's interim CEO.

“The [Bulldozer] architecture excels at compute-intensive and HPC workloads, where it will deliver up to 35% performance improvements compared to our current offerings.

“Customer excitement for Interlagos is high: all of our major customers are expected to introduce servers based on the new platform this year. We are committed to the server market and are focused on returning the business to a growth trajectory,” he added.

One of the first machines to include the new server CPUs will be built by Cray and is expected to arrive in the second half of this year. The XK6 pairs AMD's multi-core processors with Nvidia's Tesla 2000-series compute boards.

The AMD representatives haven't disclosed any information regarding the release date of the Valencia server processors, or about the desktop version of these Bulldozer CPUs. However, a recent FX-Series advertising movie seems to suggest the latter will arrive on September 19.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Facebook for iPad App Revealed

Although most Facebook users don’t have much to complain about when it comes to their social networking service of choice, there are a few types that would love shouting in Mark Zuckerberg’s ear: “give us the iPad version already!”

Well, you can stop your inner cries because, apparently, Facebook technicians are pretty much done coding the tablet version of the Facebook iOS application.

Already confirmed as scheduled for release sometime this year, the iPad version of Facebook was discovered in the form of hidden, executable code in the latest iPhone version of the app.

A maintenance update issued last week mistakenly (or not) contained all the code required to blow up the app for the 9.7-inch screen, complete with additional features.

Unearthed by TechCrunch (as well as by a Canadian engineering student going by the name of Marvin Bernal), the iPad Facebook app is described as being nothing short of spectacular, meaning everything the small iOS version lacked is there on the big screen.

If words aren’t enough for you, there’s also a gallery filled with screenshots of the app in action.

According to those who’ve tested it, the software feels final. It is unknown when Facebook was planning to launch their iPad application officially, but it is believed that the timetable will change, now that the cat is out of the bag.

And while Facebook has no obligation to announce when their app has been submitted to Apple for approval, we believe that should be the first step towards assuring customers that the wait is over (much like Opera and Google did).

Now, for those of you owning an iPhone and an iPad, TechCrunch notes that extracting the iPad version is possible, but not without some tinkering.

Something tells us that tinkering may involve a jailbreaking of the tablet device - a practice that we don't encourage.

There is a good chance Facebook has already sent their iPad binary to Apple, which means Cupertino could be reviewing the bits as you are reading these lines.

Download FL Studio Mobile iOS for iPhone, iPod touch or iPad

FL Studio Mobile, a music production app that allows you to create and save complete multi-track projects on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, has been updated with the ability to employ custom instruments, Sonoma AudioCopy, and more.

FL Studio Mobile allows users to load their projects into the 'FL Studio Desktop version and further edit them.

“If it’s a beat on the step sequencer, a melody on the piano roll or a full song on the playlist, FL Studio Mobile has you covered,” says Image-Line, the Belgian development house behind FL Studio (formerly known as Fruity Loops).

Scott Fisher, Image-Line’s communications manager, has reached Softpedia with news that FL Studio 1.1 is now available for download.

“FL Studio Mobile was an instant success charting in the top 10 musical applications since it was launched last month, peaking at #2 in less than 24 hours,” Scott told us.

“We are now pleased to announce the FL Studio Mobile 1.1 update,” he said in his email.

Scott highlighted all the new additions, starting with the ability to create “user instruments” from .instr and .zip files. A video demonstration is available here.

Sonoma AudioCopy allows audio to be sent to other apps via AudioCopy from the Export window, and the new clipboard in the bar editor lets users tap and hold a selection to see the copy and paste buttons.

FL Studio mobile now does filter track editing in the bar editor, features a record button in the Filter screen, and features an enhanced piano-roll editor where pitch-bend is visualized with curved lines.

Other enhancements include:

- Heavy Mute: tuning improved
- Drum pad touch response improved
- Fix: undo after loop recording fixed
- Fix: step buttons were not displayed at signatures other than 4/4
- Bug fixes and performance improvements


Upon its launch, FL Studio Mobile was available at a discounted price - $9.99 for small iOS devices, and $14,99 for the iPad.

The promotion is now over, and the apps are now (normally) priced five dollars higher each.

Download FL Studio Mobile for iPhone, iPod touch

What's New in This Release FL Studio Mobile 1.1: [ read full changelog ]

· User custom instruments can be created from .zip and .instr files
· Sonoma AudioCopy: mixdowns (wav files) can be sent to other apps via AudioCopy Export window option
· Clipboard in the bar editor: tap and hold a selection to see the copy and paste buttons
· Filter track editing in the bar editor
· Record button in the Filter screen
· Piano-roll editor: pitch-bend is visualized with curved lines
· Heavy Mute: tuning improved
· Drum pad touch response improved
· Fix: undo after loop recording fixed
· Fix: step buttons were not displayed at signatures other than 4/4
· Bug fixes and performance improvement

 
Download FL Studio Mobile HD for iPad

What's New in This Release FL Studio Mobile HD 1.1 : [ read full changelog ]

· User custom instruments can be created from .zip and .instr files
· Sonoma AudioCopy: mixdowns (wav files) can be sent to other apps via AudioCopy Export window option
· Clipboard in the bar editor: tap and hold a selection to see the copy and paste buttons
· Filter track editing in the bar editor
· Record button in the Filter screen
· Piano-roll editor: pitch-bend is visualized with curved lines
· Heavy Mute: tuning improved
· Drum pad touch response improved
· Fix: undo after loop recording fixed
· Fix: step buttons were not displayed at signatures other than 4/4
· Bug fixes and performance improvements
  

Freeverse Discontinues Several Mac Video Games

Desktop & mobile gaming studio Freeverse is making the “hard decision” to discontinue several of its titles, amid Apple’s OS X Lion launch, as well as in light of their GameSmith phase-out.

Addressing all its “outstanding and good-lookin' customers,” Freeverse explains on its blog that “Apple released a new version of OS X, 10.7 Lion.”

“This new version includes awesome new features and technology, representing all we've come to expect from our favorite fruit company,” the gaming studio notes.

“We here at Freeverse have been focusing on creating fantastic mobile games like Fantastic Fish, Skee-Ball and Flick Fishing. Of course with said focus on mobile games, some of our Mac titles have not gotten the attention that we would have liked to provide them,” says the company.

“Rather than leaving our customers with a sub-par experience running certain titles under OS X Lion, and in light of phasing out our GameSmith service later this summer, we've made the hard decision to discontinue the following titles,” Freeverse is said to inform its fans.

The discontinued titles are: Airburst; Burning Monkey Casino; Burning Monkey Mahjong; Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab; Burning Monkey Solitaire; Enigma; Periscope; Squabble; ToySight; 3D Bridge; 3D Crazy 8s; Euchre Deluxe; Hearts Deluxe; Pitch-Setback; Spades Deluxe; CrossCards; X-Words Deluxe.

Although it chose to phase out these games from its inventory, Freeverse pledges to continue to provide support for these titles running on versions of OS X prior to 10.7 Lion (i.e. Snow Leopard, Leopard, Tiger).

To take away some of the pain, Freeverse is proud to confirm that they have several new announcements in the pipeline, involving “some great titles […] that we think you'll love,” the studio admits.

Freeverse is not the only gaming studio forced to inform fans of certain incompatibilities with OS X Lion.

Aspyr Media, the company whose portfolio of Mac video game titles eclipses that of Freeverse and other studios, confirmed last week that several of the games it sold would not work on Lion.

While not discontinued, games like Medal of Honor: Allied Assault War Chest, Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, and many others distributed by Aspyr have been confirmed as unsupported on Mac OS X 10.7.

Jailbreak Artist Comex Nominated for Pwnie Award

iPhone Dev Team member Musclenerd is spreading the word on Twitter that his fellow hacker Comex has just been nominated to a Pwnie Award for Best Client-Side Bug.

Notorious for his jailbreaking feats on Apple’s iOS, Comex has been able to produce what is arguably the simplest jailbreak utility using a PDF exploit for which the people at pwnies.com are now crediting the hacker.

The word comes via Musclenerd, one of the more vocal iPhone Dev Team members, who informs on the microblogging service, Twitter, that Comex has been nominated for one of the categories:

“Congrats to @comex for the @PwnieAwards nomination is.gd/jriZqE (that whole nominations page is a great read!),” reads Musclenerd’s tweet.

Specifically, Comex has been nominated for “Pwnie for Best Client-Side Bug.” The award in this category goes to “the person who discovered or exploited the most technically sophisticated and interesting client-side bug.”

“These days, ‘client’ is pretty much synonymous with ‘web browser,’ but don't forget about all the media player integer overflows!”, the people at pwnies.com explain.

A description of Comex’s PDF vulnerability is also offered (reproduced below).

FreeType vulnerability in iOS (CVE-2010-1797)
Credit: Comex

Comex exploited a vulnerability in the interpreter for Type 1 font programs in the FreeType library used by MobileSafari. This
exploit is a great example of programming a weird machine to exploit a modern system. Comex used his control over the interpreter to construct a highly sophisticated ROP payload at runtime and bypass the ASLR protection in iOS. Furthermore, the ROP payload exploited a kernel vulnerability to execute code in the kernel and disable code-signing. The exploit was hosted on jailbreakme.com and was successfully used by thousands of people to jailbreak their iOS devices.

The flaw has been patched in iOS 4.3.4, a recently released software update specifically tasked with closing this hole and, implicitly, erase all hacks resulted from accessing jailbreakme.com.

Apple Equips Cupertino Commuters with iBikes

Apple employees working at the Mac maker’s Cupertino, California HQ are being offered aluminum bicycles to commute across the huge Cupertino campus.

MacMagazine.br admits the transportation devices are not actually called iBikes (which, in fact, would be a tad too much even for Apple), but the bikes offered by the Mac maker are all aluminum, minimalistic (they have only three gears), and a lot of white, which makes them look like genuine Apple products.

They’re equipped with bags for a MacBook, an iPad, and other hardware and personal belongings.

By offering its staffers bicycles, Apple is continuing its efforts to be as green of a company as possible.

Bicycles not only promote a healthy way of living, but may also become indispensable as Apple is spreading employees between the 1 Infinite Loop HQ, a number of newly-leased buildings, and the upcoming UFO establishment set to open its doors in a few years from now.

On June 7, 2011, CEO Steve Jobs announced at a city council meeting that his company was planning to move forward with the building of a new campus in Cupertino where between 12,000 and 13,000 employees would be housed.

Jobs told Cupertino high-ups last month that his new ring-shaped building would be mostly self sustained, and that the whole campus would use as much clean energy as possible, as well as have entire orchards of trees.

According to a report by Cupertino officials, Apple owns a total of 180 acres in Cupertino in the area of the proposed new campus.

“A hallmark of Apple's technology has been innovation and the high value that the company places on design,” said Mayor Gilbert Wong, on June 7.

“We have learned to expect that Apple will bring this same high standard to all of its projects,” added Wong.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Download Linux Kernel 3.0 Released, Adds Support for Microsoft Kinect

Linux Kernel 3.0 availability for download of the highly anticipated Linux kernel 3.0, announced by its father, Linus Torvalds.

Among the new features included in Linux kernel 3.0 we can mention Btrfs data scrubbing and automatic defragmentation, Berkeley Packet Filter JIT filtering, unprivileged ICMP_ECHO, XEN Dom0 support, wake on WLAN, lots of new drivers and support for many hardware components.

"So there it is. Gone are the 2.6.< bignum > days, and 3.0 is out. This obviously also opens the merge window for the next kernel, which will be 3.1. The stable team will take the third digit, so 3.0.1 will be the first stable release based on 3.0."

"That said, judging by past experience, the summer merge windows often tend to be quieter, so maybe I worry needlessly. Much of Europe is starting to go on vacation, and parts of the US are being fried to a crisp, so maybe 3.1 will be calm too." - said Linus Torvalds in the announcement.

Highlights of Linux Kernel 3.0:

· Automatic defragmentation, performance improvements and scrubbing for the Btrfs filesystem;
· sendmmsg(): batching of sendmsg() calls;
· XEN dom0 support;
· Cleancache;
· Berkeley Packet Filter just-in-time filtering;
· Support for Wake on WLAN;
· Unprivileged ICMP_ECHO messages;
· setns() syscall: better namespace handling;
· Alarm-timers;
· Support for Microsoft Kinect;
· Support for Apple iSight webcam;
· Support for AMD Llano Fusion APUs;
· Support for Intel iwlwifi 105 and 135;
· Support for Intel C600 serial-attached-scsi controller;
· Support for Ralink RT5370 USB;
· Support for several realtek rtl81xx devices;
· Lots of new drivers;
· Many bugfixes and improvements.

These are just a few of the new features available in Linux kernel 3.0. For a complete list of all the newly supported devices, newly added drivers, etc., please visit the official changelog.

  Download Linux kernel 3.0

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Download Best Browser for Ubuntu 11.04

Ubuntu 11.04 (code named as Natty Narwhal) is the latest version (Released few months ago) from the Canonical. This post is aimed to choose the best browser among the current web browsers available for Ubuntu 11.04. Ubuntu users typically use – Firefox (It’s installed by default on all versions of Ubuntu), Google Chrome, Opera, Chromium (almost similar to Chrome) for their common tasks such as – surfing, web Apps, web development etc.

So I’m going to help you in finding the best web browser for you (of course on Ubuntu platform it may vary on other Operating systems such as Windows or Mac OS X), based on your tasks and the way use it. The one simple truth is that – what is best for you? depends on a lot of other factors rather than few generic factors (that we will discuss here) so you can only decide the actual best stuffs for you and it’s not only with the browser but anything in your Life.

Best Web Browser for Surfing : Google Chrome

Google Chrome (Latest stable version is Chrome 12 ) is the best web browser but why ? Ok.. here are some points which makes Chrome a great web browser for internet surfers.



Why Google Chrome is Best for web surfing ?
  1. Chrome is the fastest web browser on Ubuntu.
  2. You can enjoy heavy surfing with a bunch of tab/windows open simultaneously (If you will do the same thing in other browser such as Firefox – then you will be pissed off).
  3. Chrome is the most stable browser on Ubuntu.
  4. It’s secure, in fact security has been the first preference in Google Chrome.
  5. It has a lot of useful and innovative features e.g Sync will store all your bookmarks in Google Cloud, you can access (go to Google Docs) and synchronize (just enter the Google Account login details) bookmarks, Themes, Password, Extensions, Apps etc. anywhere from this planet (I mean Earth, got it?).
  6. It supports modern web (web 2.0) standards and technology (such as HTML 5, CSS 3, OpenGL … ), so we can enjoy the next generation features and sites easily with Chrome.
Get Google Chrome for Ubuntu
Download Latest version of Google Chrome

Best Web Browser for Web Development : Mozilla Firefox

Firefox comes by default on Linux based distributions such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora etc and Firefox is a very popular web browser but it has having hard time on Linux platform. Firefox rocks on Windows but if we compare the same version on Ubuntu, you might say that – it’s horrible. Despite of providing poor performance on GNU/Linux, Firefox is very extensible. A lot of exclusive plugins available for Firefox users makes it very popular among web developers. The latest version Firefox 5 is available now for Ubuntu 10.10/11.04 users.

Free, fastest, secure simple and powerfull..

How to Upgrade to Mac OS X Lion 10.7

It's simple way to How to Upgrade to Mac OS X Lion..
A great info for Apple lovers.. Simple and so easy. :)



Go to Mac App Store and click on Upgrade Now, buy it in $29.99. Then, Download the Mac OS X Lion, follow few on-screen instructions …and You are Done! Really?
yes..it is so easy! Have Fun!

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion system (hardware/software) requirements

  • Intel based Mac Computer with Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor
  • min 2GB of RAM
  • Latest version of Snow Leopard
  • min 4 GB memory space is required although 10 GB is recommended in general


That’s All.. Now if you are done with above requirements then...


Source: http://www.apple.com/macosx/how-to-buy/

Upgrade to OS X Lion from The  Mac App Stor
To upgrade your Mac to OS X Lion, you don’t need to drive to a store, bring home a box, and install a bunch of discs. All you do is click the Mac App Store icon, buy Lion for $29.99, and your Mac does the rest. Just make sure you have what you need to download Lion to your Mac.


Step 1: Make sure your Mac can run Lion.

Your Mac must have an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor to run Lion. Find out if your current Mac has one of these processors by clicking the Apple icon at the top left of your screen, then choosing About This Mac.

Step 2: Make sure you have the latest version of Snow Leopard.

Get up to date with the latest version of OS X Snow Leopard to purchase OS X Lion from the Mac App Store. If you have Snow Leopard, click the Apple icon and choose Software Update to install Snow Leopard v10.6.8, the latest version.

Step 3: Download OS X Lion from the Mac App Store.

Open the Mac App Store from your Dock to buy and download it. Then follow the onscreen instructions to install Lion.