Coming Up In 2011!!

Hi everyone!!

Hope you all enjoyed a nice christmas, hope you all were safe during this time.

Anyway, down to business. In 2011 I aim to beat the previous years updates..
Updates will include the following:

Xbox Kinect Review
Performance Tips for Xbox 360 and PS2
Facebook Tips, Tricks and Hidden Features!

And Much Much More.


See you in 2011!

Dan.

Christmas Update! [2 of 2]

In this update:

• Facebook shutdown after interal prototypes leaked!
  

Massively popular social network Facebook, was forced to close the site for a half hour on the 16th of December as a engineer at the company accidentally leaked prototypes of new features onto the public site, such features included a new photo's page and a new feature called memories.

Once the leak had been found, site administrators forced the site offline as they quickly undid the changes to the site. Once it was all done the site returned to normal service.

A screenshot of the new photo's layout is available here, this is not a screenshot from me, even though I was lucky enough to actually experience the new design myself.


Picture From: The Tech Journal


Thanks to all the readers,
Have a happy Christmas, and I'll be back afterwards.
Dan.

Christmas Update! [1 of 2]

In this update:

• Call Of Duty Black Ops Bug
  
  AND a promise to review the Xbox Kinect Accessory next year!

It has come to light that a bug has arisen within the PS3 and PC formats of the game, currently during multiplayer gaming, players are experiencing lagging and freezing games.
The exact cause of this is unknown at the moment, but the developers (TreyArch) are busy creating a fix for the game.
At the current time the Xbox 360 is unaffected by this bug.


Tune in for the second christmas update soon,
Dan.

GTA Link Plug!

Ok, I wouldn't normally do this under any circumstances but in the lead up to the release of the next Grand Theft Auto game, I have built a site in which there will be news of the new game.

Please note there will be NO rumors at all, everything that appears on that site will be genuine information sourced from reliable sources (Credited where applicable)

Anyways enough has been said, the link is over there on the right >>>>>

Go check it out soon (Currently being designed ready for use)

Thanks for reading everyone.

Dan.

Apple IOS 4.2.1 Review

NOTE:Apologies for not posting this on the day I promised, I was caught up in some unexpected work and unfortunately this had to take a back seat.

The Latest addition to Apples Operating System brings on a whole host of new features, these are listed below.

• MultiTasking on iPad; This new function will allow you to run multiple applications at the same time without causing the battery to run down unnecessarily.
• Folders on iPad: Now the iPad can store up to 2400 Apps with the new folders allowing you to drag and drop your apps. (Currently each folder can hold 12 Apps)
• AirPrint: brings you wireless printing from inside your very own wireless network (AirPrint enabled printers are required)
• AirPlay: watch your movies on your Apple TV and AirPlay enabled speakers for that real cinema experience.
• Find My iPhone, iPad or iPod touch: If you've lost it then you can now find it with this new feature (Visit www.me.com for more info on this feature)

Other features include:

• Updated Game Center with more achievements!.
• iTunes Film Rentals.
• Unified Email Inbox.
• Text Search in Webpages.
• Custom Fonts in Notes.
• Event replies in calendar app.
• Keyboard enhancement with 50 new langauges.
• Accessibility enhancement (Wireless keyboard and braille display)
• Better enterprise support (With additional security features)
• New Text tones (iPhone only)

Overall here are my ratings for the new OS:

Looks: 8/10
* STILL no wallpaper for the homescreen
Fluidity: 9/10
* Faster Boot time for iPod Touch 2nd Generation (3rd,4th Gen iPod Touch, iPhone 4 and iPad are untested as yet)
Speed: 9/10
* Faster response to interaction from user
Default Design Concept: 9/10
* Doesn't change the users settings from previous Operating systems, could do with a more custom feel.
Cost: 10/10
*The Upgrade is still FREE so no marks lost!.

Total Score: 45/50

Hopefully this has proved insightful about the new IOS 4.2.1, hope you enjoy it.

Thats all for now

Dan.

DotHorizon Goes Mobile AND Apple IOS 4.2 Overview

Thats right everyone, DotHorizon has gone Mobile, check out our Twitter page!!!, The link is over on the right in the Mobile TechBytes section. Please Follow it !.

In other news, tomorrow (Saturday 27th November) I will be updating here with a Full overview and review of the new Apple iPhone Operating system, so be sure to check back for that.

Thats all for now.

All the best

Dan.

Xbox 360 Metro User Interface Review

OK, As promised here is a fairly complete review of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard re-design.

There are 5 main new features to the new dashboard, these include the following:

System Modification: Along with the following updates Microsoft have done some work on the system design of the Xbox, A new Boot screen is implemented for the Xbox, Faster game loading (Only those that are installed on the Hard Drive of the console).
Plus support on European consoles for 16GB USB sticks to be used as extra Xbox disk space. (Cloning and modification of the files saved on the USB's is still not allowed and can result in a ban from XboxLIVE.

Updated Interface: The new interface takes itself from the new Windows 7 Phone, the whole design has lost the "bevel" feel of the green design, however creating your XboxLIVE avatar character is now a whole lot easier with some new tweaks.

Netflix: Netflix has recieved an update in this new UI upgrade, allowing you to browse your films with a lot more ease. However the service is restricted to US residents at the moment (Due to legislation of the content)

Kinect Support: Support for the new motion sensor by Microsoft has been added to the dashboard, this was to co-incide with the release of the accessory (Currently the features haven't been tested by myself, since I don't have a Kinect)

All-new ESPN3: EPSN is supported via the dashboard, however a GOLD subscription is required to use this service.

Below is a video showing off the new features and boot screen




Video is courtesy of: RedmondPie.com
Located on: Youtube, By User: GearLive


I hope this has entertained your needs for the information about the new Metro Update.
Thank you for reading.

All the best,
Dan.

Xbox 360 Metro FULL review

The Xbox 360 Metro review will be published tomorrow (Saturday 20th November)
Many thanks to those who contributed any findings to the review.

GOT ANY FINDINGS???? LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST

All for now guys, thanks to all the readers, your views are appreciated.

Back soon
Dan

Video Streaming Tip

If you suffer from laggy/jerking videos when you attempt to stream a video on YouTube, Dailymotion, GoogleVideos etc, then there is a simple fix which allows you to remove this flaw.

Right Click on the streaming video
Select Settings
Click on each tab until you find the Enable Hardware Acceleration Box
DeSelect the checkbox and apply the settings.
Press F5 and problem solved.

Hope this helps someone.
--dan

Many Apologies

My apologies to those who read this and haven't seen me update in quite a while. This is mainly due to me being busy, but rest assured i will be updating more in the near future.

Still to come:
* Apple Iphone OS 4.2 review and overview
* Microsoft Xbox 360 "Metro" Theme Review
* Plus a few valuable tips and tricks to make your PC / MAC / Games Console run like a dream


See you guys in a little while.

-Dan

BIOS is dead? and 3D is born!

Its come to light that the BIOS mechanism for booting up a computer is soon to be overtaken by a much faster alternative called UEFI, BIOS originally was only designed to be on about 250,000 machines a number that has been exceeded exponentially.

In other news, BSkyB (or Sky as you know them) have launched an official 3D channel!. For those that don't know what 3D actually is, it is the transmission of 2 images caught by 2 seperate camera's that are mounted either next to each other or on top of one another, this gives the impression of one eye seeing one image and the other eye the other.
Once filmed they are then broadcast to the users television as a single broadcast, where the images slightly overlap each other. Until a specialised television is designed for this specific purpose, silly glasses have to be worn in order to fully appreciate the 3D experience.

Look out for a post next week containing some 3D footage (I MUST IMPRESS THE FOOTAGE WILL NOT BE FROM ANY TELEVISUAL BROADCAST OR DIGITAL MEDIA INCLUDED BUT NOT LIMITED TO CINEMA FILMS, DVD'S AND VHS/BETAMAX)

Until then,
All for now
Dan.

Hmm

I haven't got any news to post at the moment, mainly due to my lack of following the media sites and aggregators.

Sorry to those who like to read the regular updates from me.


Just a thought though? Who wants me to start a Twitter for DotHorizon?

Leave comments below please!

Yours
Dan!

Xbox 360 Flaw?

After using my 360 today I believe I have encountered a flaw within the design. (The Software design)

After Plugging In A 2GB PNY USB stick my xbox recognised it as a portable device, Once I scooted to the Memory panel in the system settings It recognised the USB as a 360 Hard Disk Drive.

Curiously I am able to transfer ANY game save and gamer profile to AND from the system. Modifications won't be done to this since This can lead to a perma-ban from Microsoft.

Odd flaw? or cunningly devised loophole?

You decide!!

All for now
Dan.

Internet Explorer 9 (Beta)

Picture located at DeviceMag.com)

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) is the latest web browsing incarnation from Microsoft, since this is in Beta mode at the moment most features are not available or missing. However I will cast some judgements over the new revised design.

The Interface is much more fluid, allowing for a larger browsing panel. The status bar has been removed and replaced with a Floating Tooltip in its place, Tabs are retained and so are other features found in IE8.

The Speed of the browser is greatly (emphasis on greatly) improved over that of previous browsers, page loading is faster still however the launch speed of the browser is hampered by whatever add-ons you might posess (McAfee, Norton etc).

Overall it looks good and I look forward to using the new browser when it fully releases sometime in the future.

All the best and all for now,
Yours,
Dan.

Technology News & Halo:Reach

To start things off, Apple have not revealed that they will allow those who use the Adobe Packager to submit there apps to the app store! This is a brilliant step forward for those who are developing apps. (I'm currently developing a basic app) for the Ipod Touch.

In other news Halo:Reach is due to be released at midnight tonight (the 13th of September, since release is 00:00 GMT 14th September 2010). Due to the game being released on filesharing websites (No don't look for links here) Microsoft warned of swift punishment on those caught playing any authorised copies of the game.

After midnight tonight there will be millions of copies ready to be played, however the "nerd" style gamers will be playing right from the outset, so those who are playing on Xbox Live at midnight will most likely endure chronic lagging in games due to heavy traffic (Even though games are hosted by other players they still have to connect via the internet so lagging is inevitable.)

Contrary to most, i personally haven't pre-ordered it and won't be purchasing it on launch day, so no hints and tips here.
However when i purchase it i will write a full review and walkthrough.

Stay Cool,
dan.

Pokemon SoulSilver Review

In this review I will be looking into the various aspects of the Pokemon SoulSilver game.

To start all this off with a storyline would deem it to be boring, however as we all know the pokemon games start off with a simple storyline in the form of title credits to lay out the basis of the game (although not giving away too many clues from the outset).

Anyway, the game is based around the original second series of games (Silver, Gold and Crystal) with various different parts of the story interwoven into it.
The storyline of the story is very well put together considering that it is effectivly 3 seperate stories acting as one.

Since I haven't fully completed the game yet (I've only owned the game 2-3 days at the time of the blog being posted), It would be impossible for me to fully judge the game.

Overall the game seems to retain its great replayability (Although the general story remains the same).

My scores for the game are as follows
(Full Review and Scores will be posted on completion of the game)

Graphics: 8/10 (Still needs improvement from previous versions, however better graphics overall)
Gameplay: 9/10 (Same-ish but enjoyable)
New Pokemon: 0 (Seriously 493 is a good enough number, but with black and white being released in the future it looks like it is set to increase past 530)
Sound: 10/10 New scores created for the game giving it a uplifting feel instead of 8Bit music.

Anyway Thats all for now.
Yours
Dan.

PS3 Hacking chip banned (temporarily) + Anti-Facebook nears launch date.

Playstation creators Sony have won a temporary ban which prevents distributors in Austrailia selling a hardware based hack for the PS3.

The dongle, aptly named PS3Jailbreak would allow users to run homemade(homebrew) and pirated games. Sony now has until August 31st 2010 to apply for a permanent ban over the dongle, which has recieved mixed reviews from gamers.


In other news, Diaspora (An Open Source "Privacy Aware") social networking platform has set upon launching the new site on the 15th September. Since the site is open source, this means that people will be able to download and modify the source code to fit with other sites.

Thats all for now,
Take Care,
Dan.

Halo: Reach leaked and Rockstar 'ban-hammer' Red Dead Redemption cheats

Ok so Microsoft have been looking into a spectacular breach in pre-game hype, which saw the final chapter in the Halo series (Halo: Reach) leaked onto the internet, within hours it was live across many torrent sites. Microsoft attempting to determine the cause of the breach but have as yet turned up empty handed.

Also in the news, Rockstar Games, The critcally acclaimed studio behind the controversial and successful Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption has decided to apply a taste of Ban-Hammer to those that illegally modify exp on the game, the game studio has warned that the cheaters have a few days to delete the modifications or face and indefinite ban from online multiplayer of the game.

More news when it develops.
All for now,
Dan.

PS3 hacked?, Xbox Live attacked!

First off the PS3 has reportedly been hacked, this new hack pertains to the user buying a USB dongle which has software upon it, this software somehow allows the user to then run homebrew and various other games on the system as if it was in debug mode or even DEVPS3 mode(s).

Sony and the creator of the device have so far not commented on this but a distributor has said that he has tested the device and will be selling them soon.

In other news a spate of port flooding on the Xbox Live system has allowed various cyber criminals to gain users IP addresses and essentially flood the ports that the XBOX uses, hereby stopping the player from playing, this is commonly done to the host if the attacker was in a game and they lost. This can be constrived as a revenge tactic.

Microsoft have said that they are looking into this and anyone caught doing so will be banned from XBL.

All for now
Dan.

Grand Theft Auto V (5)

Since Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5 is still in production, I will update this blog with information about it as soon as it is released.

Hopefully the release will be sometime late in 2010 or early 2011. Either way I do hope to see it released soon.

All for now
Dan.

4.0.2 update

So apple have released a update called 4.0.2 which fixes a major security flaw in which you can inject malicious code or programs into a PDF file, it also fixes the 4.0 jailbreak method via the website, so currently there is no way to jailbreak any iPod touch or iPhone whose firmware is 4.0.2

In other news there are a few new issues with the update since they still haven't updated it to sole the wifi signal problem.

That's all for now

IOS4 Review

Okay so here is my in-depth review of Apples latest Operating System for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Disclaimer: Please note this review focuses around the effects, usage etc etc of the iPod Touch only!

----

The review begins with Apple constantly nagging me via iTunes to update my iPod' OS from Version 3.1.2 to 4.0, after being annoyed with the alert/pop-up message for so long I finally decided to upgrade the OS to IOS4.

After clicking the "Download and Install" button I proceeded to be verified by Apple that I was genuinly installing the software, once all these minor technicalities were out of the way I sat back and contemplated the new features that were supposed to be available. ( I guess this is the right place and time to say that my iPod is a 8GB 2nd Generation Touch NON-Jailbroken).

Like so many others I ran headlong into difficulties straight away with the backup process taking a abnormally long time to even start, I researched it and various fixes were listed. However I found myself a new one, Popping open the Task Manager I proceeded to find the Apple Mobile Device Backup process. Highlighting this I selected "End Process" and followed the command through. In less than a minute the backup was complete and all the data was safely stored.

After approximatly 10 minutes of various restarts the iPod finally let me in to see the new design and layout, after another 3-4 minutes of restoring, all my Applications, Photo's, Videos and Music were all back in place. I decided to keep the screen tidy I'd organise my apps into the folders that were included in the update. Now I have a much tidier and quicker HomeScreen.

Personally I can find little or nothing wrong with the new IOS4, However having said that, I do note that for some unknown reason the iPod Touch varient of the OS has a "Airplane Mode" which typically denotes the transmitter for phone signals is turned off. However the iPod Touch doesn't have a phone transmitter, so therefore that particular function is obsolete.

Secondly the Wi-Fi signal interpretation is very very sketchy since it now reports that I have little or no Wi-Fi signal when I'm literally no more than 5 feet from the router/hub/access point.
Hopefully Apple will rectify this in a later update, as this is very inconvientient for those that have the IOS4.

My Final notice is that from what I can see the battery life is reduced, however I cannot confirm this until I have performed a few tests (Life with WiFi On/Off etc).

Overall here are my ratings for the new OS:

Looks: 8/10
* Still no wallpaper for the homescreen, Any reason why, Apple?
Fluidity: 9/10
* Sleek, Elegant and not overly cumbersome.
Speed: 9/10
* Laggy in places but overall fast and appreciated
Default Design Concept: 7/10
* Changes the layout of the first screens Applications/Utilities, to something Apple prefer. Next time please leave it alone?
Cost: 10/10
*It's FREE so I can't dock any marks for that.

Total Score: 43/50

There we are Apple, and readers. My personal review of the New IOS4, I hope this has been an insight into the new OS.

For all those who read this, happy browsing.

Thanks and tune in next time.
Dan.

Games Games Games

OK, so its now official.

I'm on the official mailing list for the new GTA Game(s) from RockStar and also on the lists for Halo:Reach and Guitar Hero W.O.R

Can't wait for the release of the games.

Dan

Long time no update

Ok so since i last updated there has been a few changes with the technology world; Apple have had a mixed reception of the new iPhone 4 because of a silly antenna issue within the device, which ultimately causes the phone to lose signal and since that have said they will provide all users with a FREE case which apparently stops the users hand causing this problem.

My Thoughts? completely stupid design on behalf of Apple, then again they did just effectivly go and add a new camera to it and give it a metallic casing.. Oh dear? could metal be doing the antenna issue?? hmm, ok thats a thought isn't it.

In other news my Xbox 360 has seemingly managed to scratch another one of my games.
(GTA IV Episodes of Liberty City), and from what I can gather its also losing some of my game saves. But hey I don't mind wasting 19 hours to redo the whole GTA4 game again. :)

No matter, i look forward to the drop in price for the Microsoft Kinect product, currently £129.99 in the UK, and am now looking forward to the release of Halo: Reach, and the new Guitar Hero Game. (Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock)

Anyways, thanks for tuning in this week.
All the best to the readers.
Dan.

Facebook login fix?

It seems to me now, that the cause of the Facebook login issue, is to do with a cookie setting on the system.

Astonishingly the fix Facebook themselves give is supposed to work with IE7 and often IE8, it doesn't work with IE8, even deleting the cookies and starting afresh with them doesn't work.
The fix I've found is to completely wipe the OS on the machine and re-install it, And for now it seems to have worked, I'm still logged in and happy with the result.

All for now
Dan.

XP Help and Support Security Vulnerability

XP's Help and Support system has come under attack from hackers, seemingly from the use of Remote support.

Currently the exploit allows certain virus's and trojans to enter the system, currently those known are;


Trojan:Win32/Swrort.A
TrojanDownloader:Win32/Obitel.gen!A
Spammer:Win32/Tedroo.AB
Trojan:Win32/Oficla.M
TrojanSpy:Win32/Neetro.A
Virus:JS/Decdec.A

ProtectionIn addition to the mitigations listed in the advisory, customers using Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft Forefront Client Security, Windows Live OneCare, the Forefront Threat Management Gateway, and the Windows Live Safety Platform have had coverage for this exploit since June 10th through the following two antimalware signatures:

Exploit:Win32/CVE-2010-1885.A
Exploit:Win32/CVE-2010-1885.gen

Signature builds 1.83.1561 and later contain both signatures.
Payloads are detected by the signatures mentioned above.

The above in italics is a quote directly from Microsoft Malware Protection Center, Threat Research & Response Blog


Hope none of you out there get caught out by this.

All the best
Dan

Windows Update

So I recently downloaded a update from Microsoft regarding Windows 7 Security, the full update name was: Security Update for Windows 7 (KB975561).

Yeh this update fixes a potential issue with attackers compromising the system however it also seems to be messing up built-in wireless adapters, connections keep dropping and then re-connecting.

The system will show this as the default gateway being unavailable and will ask you to check your router/modem settings.

No fix as yet but i'm looking into it.

Yours
Dan

So its not all it appears.

So, it turns out this "Fix" doesn't actually work at all, the function still doesn't "Keep Me Logged In" as it properly should.
I have filed a bug report with Facebook themselves along with a detailed process of what has been done. Still no reply from them but I will be delighted to see if this is resolved.

Not surprisingly Facebook do continue to disappoint me as everyone very well knows the privacy settings are all stupid, quite honestly I looked into my own settings and found that ALL my information was on show to everyone, I've since re-done all the settings to how I would prefer it and it works so much better.

The new Javascript/Ajax pop-up messages for notifications? Ok why not just pension off the entire toolbar at the top, since you would no longer need it. Wait!! I believe they might have removed them, alas in the absence of a small popup we now have 100px by 100px icons of the friend in the notifications list alongside a brief overview of the notification.

Seriously Facebook need to get there act together and make something everyone would enjoy, perhaps a small modification to the Ajax chat? or if they are going to keep the new additions, why not have a rollback feature for those that dont actually use/like them?

I have ranted on enough, so take care everyone,
Dan

Facebook Login Issue Fix?

I have recently found the fix to the sporadic login/cookie issues with Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8.

It all lies with the security settings within IE8!! Unfortunatly I cannot access them at the moment since I'm using a restricted system, but rest assured I will be updating this from my personal laptop to bring you the fix.

In the mean time, enjoy.

All the best,
Dan

Login issues

Recently a couple of people have experienced login issues with facebook, in the sense that they CAN log in, but the usage of "Remember Me" or "Keep Me Logged In" doesn't entirely live up to its name.

I haven't yet researched the fix for this, but rest assured I will update when I find it, Either that or a member of the public can help out by commenting this post.

Anyway, All the best.

Dan

Basic news

So I haven't been around lately.. apologies for that but life got in the way.

Since I've been offline, Apple have released the Ipad, honestly its a overblown Ipod Touch, nothing more..


I thought I could concentrate this update on the GTA Series, mainly because I recently decided to see how quickly I could complete the latest full story (GTA4). Turns out the guide time in one of the achievements for Xbox 360 is slightly out.. missing out the side missions and cutscenes you can complete the entire story mission section all 90 or so mission in just under 21 and a half hours, provided you are thorough and don't waste time.

I also have done the two expansion packs for GTA4, (The Ballad Of Gay Tony *TBOGT, and The Lost and Damned *TLaD. Both games were great in graphics, sounds and continuity of characters against the original storyline, however two or three characters changed voices from the original.

Niko's voice changed in the TBOGT game
Brucies in TBOGT and finally Ray Buccino in TLaD.
I'm sure the voice actors were the same but the accents were very vague.

Overall the Base game (GTA4) is very good in storyline, continuity and also in the content it provides, the expansion packs are also very good at the same points, however they do lack a sense of timeline in the fact that the missions and storyline don't really hold themselves together. This is more obvious in the The Lost and Damned.

Personally I find the games very good and I look forward to seeing the fifth GTA game being released, sadly no news of that as yet but looking forwards we hope something good will happen.

Anyway, I've rambled on too long for some of you.
All the best,
Dan.

Apple and the Flash Issue

Yeh this has achieved a lot of media speculation and yes its a tedious issue for those who read about it day in and day out with Apple being so fastidious about allowing Adobe's Flash player into the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad.

Fine, here is my to cents worth, Apple should in the long run, create a version of the OS to support Flash and if users want it they pay for it! Simple!.

I personally would like to see this because then there can be a $20 or so OS you can buy from Apple which allows it.. those who don't want it don't upgrade. So simple if you ask me.

Anyways thats my rant for today.

All the best

Dan

Hijacked Machine!

Anyone ever heard about the phrase, "Oh its perfect!"??

WRONG!! Nothing is ever perfect, kinda like my machine.

The other day I was browsing the internet and came across a website proclaiming to give away serial keys and so on (I won't name it so don't ask). Little did I know I was about to become infected with mulitple virus's and malware..

Eventually after only 3 minutes browsing the site, My computer became infected with 3 threats, 2 were Malware (back door programs) and one was a simple trojan virus.
After initially seeking help on the subject I then made my own move on it and Re-Installed my OS completely wiping the threats from existance.

Its now give or take about 4 days since I fixed my computer and its still going strong.

Heres hoping it holds out for longer.
all the best
Dan.

Technical Observation

This is just a quick update since I'm a little pushed for time, but has anyone read the open letter sent out by Steve Jobs?.

If you have you wood have spotted that the letter says Adobe Flash is blocked from the Ipod Touch, iPhone and iPad due to flash being developed for the mouse and PC era, well a touch screen works just as well, however they also say its because its proprietary peice of software because the software is solely under the control of Adobe.

BUT, for another matter each and every Ipod Touch, iPhone and iPad are using software that is solely under the control of Apple, its of course iTunes.

When Apple let users add there own music Without iTunes that will be the day

I will update this more later

All the best

Dan

Fake anti-virus software

All to common nowadays is the emergence of Fake anti-virus software, you know the kind I'm on about. That stuff that appears when you click the link of what looks like a perfectly innocent website and before you know it your getting repeated alerts saying your system is compromised and needs to scan, or it attempts to show you a Explorer window and pretend its scanning.

Examples of these are as such.

You have the common Javascript based alert which when you click ok takes you to a page where you can input your details (For harvesting, (this is where the criminals can take your details and pose as you)). After which a download occurs and implants malicious code into your system, often enough this malicious software scans for credit card details, passwords and other valuable information.

The next example is even easier to spot it bases itself upon the XP interface and attempts to fool you into downloading the software, something I'm sure all Vista and 7 users would easily be able to distinguish

Because? the XP fake antivirus page looks like this:
http://www.tdaxp.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/fake_antivirus_antimalwarescanner-480x422.png In its attempt to fool you.

However Windows 7 looks like this:
http://homepage.mac.com/uomoragno/RSSMac.info/files/windows7desk.png

So I implore all readers, if you come across the XP looking screen and you have Vista or 7, open your task manager (CTRL+Alt+Del) and close Internet Explorer, Chrome, whatever you use) Don't worry about anything you haven't saved.. A lost email is no issue compared to a infected computer.

Anyways
All the best for now,
Dan

Xp left Unpatched!, Sims 2 (PC) Glitch

I realise its been a fair while since I last updated here so here we go.

Recently there has been a spate of RootKits (Software that buries deep in the system to evade detection) attacking the Windows XP operating system, a patch is available for it but due to the nature of the RootKit, the installer for the patch will quit before it can complete the install, so its therefore ineffective.

The best method to resolve this is to get a copy of any of the below:
AVG Anti-Virus, Avira, McAfee, Panda, Kaspersky.

Run any of them and you should be able to fix the issue with the rootkit.

As for the Sims 2 glitch, if you use the MoveObjects cheat your are able to move the Sim anywhere at anytime, however if you move the sim whilst they are using the toilet you are able to somehow make the sim walk on walls!

Anyways thats all for now
take care
Dan.

Windows 7: The Verdict

So 7 arrived and I've installed it on my machine, it took just 20 minutes to install (No joke!!). Since its been installed I've been scouting around to see how it works and what the major changes are to the system.

Can't say that I found many changes, the arcitecture seems to be built around the XP system with Vista's graphics.

The performance of 7 on here is fantastic, on 1GB of RAM and a Intel Core 2 Duo processor it works relativly well, 59 seconds to boot from pressing the on button, and 22 seconds to shutdown (Not accounting for updates to be configured). Also these are the notes I have collected from the task manager.

Vista:

CPU Usage: 40 - 50 (Percent %)

Physical Usage: 70-80 (Percent %)


7:

CPU Usage: 0-20%
Physical Usage: 45 - When totally idle
Physical Usage: 56 - When running 2 programs

So after 3 days of testing it, I find 7 to be a good OS, its so far living up to its hype on the market, and I look forward to using it more.

However, if you plan on using the 32-bit version/system, Make sure you have atleast 2GB of RAM in your system, and for 64-bit versions/systems, make sure you have atleast 4GB of RAM, this will ensure it will run smoothly and perform to your expectations.

This is all for now.

All the best,

Dan

Windows 7 and a couple other things

Well, I will first start off by apologising for not being around for a while as I have been somewhat busy, however I am back now and aim to make this a weekly update, with the exception of security issues pertaining to technology or serious updates that you should install on your system.

Anyways, to the main point, I have recently purchased online a DVD-ROM of Windows 7 and whilst it is winging its way to me via Mail, I wait with a great anticipation as to the benefits of this, since I'm currently using a Windows Vista OS (Yes shocking I know).

I have been reading through my fair share of reviews and seem to have noticed a unanimous lean towards people liking it for its quicker search, boot-up/shutdown times and also that it simply doesn't bloat itself to the point of swallowing all your RAM, however having said that, I know they say 1GB is a requirement, in all seriousness 2GB is well worth it since you have got that little bit extra that allows you to do that little bit more.

I guess once the disc arrives its a case of seeing if Microsoft have pulled out the stops and actually listened to the consumers, but thats left to be known later.

Also as a footnote, I STILL haven't seen any browser suggestion screen as sent out by Microsoft, even though I have been through at least 15 or so updates.

However thats all for now,

Check back for more soon,
Dan.

Windows Vista Operating System

Alike a DVD has easter eggs, Windows OS's have them.

However, in Windows these aren't exactly a good thing, for example Windows Vista has a fair few of them.

The most common of these (not) wonderful easter eggs is the fact that if you try to upgrade the system from any of the Vista editions (Home, Premium, Business, Ultimate) to the new Windows 7 operating system, you still carry a high volume of Vista based information such as edits in the registry, programs in your C:/ drive and all kinds of misc settings that are just not worth it.

The best form of purging yourself against the failed operating system that is MS Vista, is to buy yourself a Windows 7 disc and perform a "clean" install, thereby removing any traces of that Vista-esque bloat.

I'm sure that in the future there will be more failed OS's from the giants that are Microsoft, but thats to be expected.

Anyways, I'll let you all crawl about on the world of the interweb.

Take care out there,

until next time,

Dan

Browser rejection

Its really rather weird how with a little CSS and Javascript code you can force certain browsers to leave your site.

I find it a very useful tool for when your wanting to make your site not work with certain browsers.

Anyways, just a little note

Back soon

Dan 

Microsofts Alternative Browser Screen!

So, Microsoft sent out a optional update containing the alternative browsers screen (For those not in the know, a screen that allows you to download and install a different web browser, this was forced upon MS due to its sheer monopoly of the Web Browser market with its often Infamous Internet Explorer (IE) browser.)

So anyway I downloaded the upload which was miniscule (Not even 200kb (Kilobytes)), I then proceeded to let it install, after it verified it installed sucessfully I restarted my computer, however, From information I resourced from various news articles and RSS articles I was led to believe a Screen would pop on my desktop. A screen that is not too dissimilar from this

http://cache.techie-buzz.com/images/posts/pallab/browser_ballot.jpg

(Credit to Techie Buzz for the image)

After several restarts at various points over 2-3 days, the screen still hasn't made any introduction to me, personally I am not that worried since my machine runs Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer - Perhaps that is why i cannot see the Alternative browser screen.

So all in all, its not too great a compromise for Microsoft considering my machine doesn't seem to show the screen.

I will keep you posted if it does make any appearance to me.

Stay Safe

Dan.