Snow Leopard - A highly uncritical review

The good news/features

Faster + More Space + 64 bit computing

Yup. Snow leopard is more faster and occupies less space. Plus it uses 64 bit computing. Enough said.

Little Things

Plus, I love the little things, like ability to resize icons, and to play movies and video files right form the icon. It's pretty handy, and makes Quicklook look a bit useless for media files (although it is a totally useful feature when it comes to documents).

I especially like how the circle around the play icon for music and video files indicates the information of how much music has already been played. It's great to be able to listen to music without even waiting for QuickTime to open.

I also like how QuickTime has a screen recording features. Read more about Quicktime in the "cons" section...

Plus, other changes like naming screenshots with the time and date (for example: "Screen shot 2009-08-31 at 12.51.52 AM.png") are also useful, instead of simply having a generic name like "Picture 1".

Apart from the other little changes, mentioned in various websites on the interwebs, the only other really noticeable change is most likely the wallpaper.

The bad news

Although the new release is great, there are a few bugs I discovered right off the bat. Perhaps they should have let me beta test it.

Notice anything wrong in the screenshot above? No, it's not that my desktop is empty (I did a clean install). Yes, the menubar looks a bit different. What are all my menubar icons doing in the middle of the screen? Shouldn't they be near the end of the screen?

How on earth did this happen you ask? Well, I guess I must qualify this "bug" (which didn't exist in the previous versions since Tiger by the way), by saying that I use 2 monitors. One 19 inch monitor in portrait mode (i.e 1280 x 1024 instead of 1024 x 1280) and the second is the MBP screen.

Turns out that if I unplug my DVI cable from the MBP, Snow Leopard will automatically recognize the change and move my main monitor (the one with the menubar and the dock) from the now disconnected 19" to the MBP screen, however the position of the menubar icons will still reflect the position they were in when they were on the portrait monitor.

Is this a big problem? Not really, but it certainly is a problem that didn't exist before. Perhaps I'm the only one experiencing it, but I don't think that a special case still justifies the bug.

Similarly, Quicktime has lost all it's previously touted features. Although it is easier, the ability to customize settings for the power user have been removed. However, it's not such a big deal since people can still download the older versions, and choose Quicktime 7 during the installation. Nevertheless, I still feel that there should have been a preferences menu at least, since I found it to be highly useful while using my laptop to give presentations.

Another thing that I've found to be interesting is the feature called "Put Back". It was available in previous versions of OS X, but disappeared for a while, and now it's back again. Essentially, it allows a user to right click a file in Trash and "put it back" to the location from which it was placed into the trash. A feature I'm sure Windows users are all to familiar with. However, the problem with this is that if you drag a file from a stack (say the download stack, which is conveniently located right beside trash) and drop it into trash... you won't be able to use the 'put back' feature! It only works when you drag something from Finder!

Apart from these three "bugs" Snow Leopard is great. I'd recommend it to anyone who is running Leopard.

Read More

Free Norton Antivirus, Internet Security and 360 download alternatives

Photo Credit: Sophos Germany via flickr.

Security measures every Windows user must take

Let's face it - viruses exist. Whether one chooses to accept this or not, malicious software can do a lot more damage that you can imagine. Your computer can be turned into a zombie to attack other computers (see botnet) and can be compromised so badly that a malevolent person can track every key stroke and every move that you make (yes, this includes all your e-banking passwords, credit card numbers and e-mail passwords). It's almost as though you are leaving a blank cheque in a public place, free for any person with a malicious intent to take advantage of.
Given this scenario, I'm sure you'll agree that virus protection is necessary. So spending a few dollars to protect your information should be justifiable. However, let’s say that you feel that you’re not such a heavy computer user, and would like to resort to using a free antivirus program. In that case I provide a few free alternatives to paying the yearly fees charged by most commercial security companies.

#1 – Common Sense Antivirus

Yes, that’s right. The number one antivirus that you can use to protect your computer is, well, yourself! Common sense is all it takes as the first line of defense. This means staying away from any questionable content, questionable websites, and suspicious e-mails.

• Don’t download music - The number one source of viruses is – illegal downloads. The music that you can illegally download from Limewire and other such peer to peer services is free for a reason. That reason is hidden malicious content within the downloads. Similarly downloading copyrighted from sources such as bittorrent is also not advisable, for the same reason – trojans, spyware and other bad things are hiding inside the downloads. Downloading things like the latest Ubuntu distro is, in most cases, perfectly fine but if you’re thinking about downloading “Microsoft Office 2007”, think again.
• Don’t visit “bad” websites - Visiting “questionable” (yes, you know what I’m talking about =) websites is also not recommended. These websites will often show you links to downloads that are hazardous to your computer’s health, and can cause a great deal of harm to you.
• Don’t download .exe and other unknown attachments. Most e-mail providers now scan the files for malware, but sometimes the malware escapes the careful watch of the security guards. Even if you get an e-mail from a trusted friend or a relative that contains files like “Photos.exe” or “FreeStuff.doc” don’t open it immediately, ask for a confirmation first. Chances are your friend didn’t send it.
• Don’t click on messenger spam links. If you get a message saying “Hey, click here, I found a picture of YOU!!!” don’t get lured in.

#2 – AVG / Avast / Avira Antiviruses

AVG Free / Avast Home Edition / Avira AntiVir Personal
After common sense, your second line of defense should be a fairly well known antivirus. Keep in mind though that by using a free antivirus, you’ll have to rely more on your common sense as the manufactures of free antivirus usually reserve the most latest updates on malware for only their “premium/paying” subscribers. So even though you have an antivirus scanner, searching for malware, it might not be able to prevent your computer from getting infected.

Furthermore, make sure to update your antivirus on a weekly basis, as most of these scanners will update more “passively” than their paid cousins. Sometimes, it might also be necessary for you to run a scan on a suspicious file by right clicking on it and choosing the scan function, as the heuristics in the free versions is not the best available, although it does suffice for simple things like the eicar test string. Remember though, choose one that you like, and only run one at a time. Each has their own features and minus points, but for the average home user, any one of them should be fine.

#3 – AntiMalware Downloads

Apart from anti-virus applications, you’ll also need some kind of spyware/malware/adware removing applications. Here are some of your best bets:

Malwarebytes Free

Malwarebytes is great to remove spyware from your system, but it doesn’t actively scan your computer. So, whenever you download something new, make sure you run a scan through the “right click” context menu. It’s great for removing trojans and spyware.

SuperAntiSpyware Free

The free version again does the same things as Malwarebytes free. It’ll stop malware only if you scan your computer, but it won’t stop you from downloading anything bad to your computer. So download a copy and run it periodically, just incase your antivirus program didn’t do it’s duty (which happens quite a lot in the case of newly released malicious software).
Although you can use more than one malware remover, I’d recommend choosing the two above, and use them monthly or weekly. However, ensure that you update them every time before you run your scans.

#3.5 Use a Firewall

Yes, firewalls are annoying. That’s because it’s hard to predict the culprit from tons of legitimate looking internet traffic. Download a free firewall and turn it on. Enough said.

#4 – Update your computer

Turn on automatic updates and visit Windows/Microsoft Update (through the start menu) once in a while (if you’re using Windows XP that is, Vista gets all hardware updates from Windows Updates already) and make sure that all software is up-to-date on your computer. This will ensure that all security holes are patched up and software like Conficker can’t take advantage of unpatched “boo-boos”.
If you follow the advice above, I’m sure that your computing experience will become less painful. Plus, your wallet will thank you too!

Read More

How to enable Hibernation on a Mac

Did you know that you can still "hibernate" your mac (as in shut down the machine and save all the information in your ram to your hard drive) instead of just putting it to sleep (where the ram is still powered on, and the machine can randomly wake up when it detects change)?

Turns out that Macs also have the hibernate feature. Except, it's not available by default. This is most likely because Apple just wants you to use their sleep feature instead of shutting down the computer all together.

Nevertheless, ever since OS X 10.4.3, all Macs can go into what is called 'Deep Sleep'. How you ask? Very simply put, all you need to do is use this widget called Deep Sleep. Once it's installed (and authenticated) merely clicking on the widget will put your Mac into a deep zzz... To install all you need to do is download it and agree to the prompt that asks you to Install the widget. Then, for your first use, just open Dashboard, and click on the widget. The first time you use it, you will have to authenticate it by providing your administrator password. Thereafter, all you need to do is just click on the moon!

Note: If you have a Intel machine, it should work flawlessly. However, if you have an older PPC machine, you'll have to read the user manual to see if you're in luck.

Alternatively, you can also tinker around with the Terminal if you wish to do so. Normally, this is what the mac uses:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3

However, you can change it to:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 1

to enable DeepSleep.

Happy Zzzzzing!

On a side note: the way I came across this feature by "accident" was when my battery ran out of power. So I removed the battery from the computer and plugged in the computer without the battery installed. Interestingly enough, the computer booted into a state that was exactly they way I left it before my reserve battery power ran out. Knowing this fact piqued my curiosity regarding a possible Windows like hibernate feature on the mac, leading to the discovery of the wonderful widget.

Read More

Best Study Music

I find that there are two categories where music often helps. The first is when you are working out, and need a something to "motivate" you to stay on that treadmill/road for a couple of more minutes. The second is usually when you are trying to study and you just need a little something to improve your concentration. Although I usually prefer silence when I'm trying to learn something, there is the occasional subway ride where having something to listen to in the place of someone showing off their "awesome" guitar playing/singing skills.

As such, I scoured the net to search for some songs other people listened to, and added some of my own favourite songs to the list. This list is by no means complete and will forever be a work in progress, so I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments below, or link to a post in your own blog! I'll be sure to read it.

Anyway, here's what I find I like to listen to:

Best study music/sounds

1. White/Pink/Brown Noise - Sometimes, what you need is not music but noise. Calm, soothing, and unrecognizable noise. I'd recommend that you either get a loop of white noise, or use a web service like SimplyNoise (you can get white noise loops here too) to listen to what most people refer to as "static".

Listening to something, but not something distracting, something you can hum along with or something that might make you think/laugh is, in my opinion, the key to good study music. If it's something that you really like to listen to, you'll probably hum along with it or sing along in your mind. If you something too fast, you might feel like dancing instead of studying. If it's too slow you might fall asleep!

2. Ambient Music - Something like DI.fm (it's a iTunes radio station... and the free version is free for all with an internet connection)is what I'd listen to if I want to listen to music but not listen to music that is going to distract me. Although DI.fm does have the occasional upbeat song, it's usually paced slow enough to make sure that I don't feel like dancing.

3. Misc Albums/Songs:

• Music for Airports (via Lifehacker) - By Brian Eno
• Lost Horizons - By Lemon Jelly (and check our some of their other works as well)
• Instrumental Music - I prefer something with drums (or the tabla) and something medium paced. Some people say that they prefer classical music like the Four Seasons from Vivaldi, or one of Beethoven's Symphonies (especially the 6th symphony Pastorale).
  

Read More