REVIEWS / MAC OS / APPLE INDIA OS X v10.8 Mountain Lion Review

Last year’s Lion doesn’t feel very old, but Apple has sped up its desktop release cycle and released Mountain Lion, the followup that promises a more robust and useful desktop platform, further adoption of concepts from iOS, and a stronger focus on iCloud and third-party online services to tie your digital universe together. If you’re the kind of user who feels extremely restricted on an iPad as opposed to a computer, you might not like what this latest update brings. Mountain Lion is built for the kind of user who doesn’t care where files are saved as long as they exist, and who loves how iPad apps disappear into the background when not needed and magically remember exactly what you were doing when you bring them back. Read on to see if Mountain Lion works for you, or click here to jump directly to our conclusion.

A fresh new Mountain Lion installation. Note the opaque dock and cluttered menu bar.

Apple’s latest financial reports show that the iPhone and iPad lines now make up 72 percent of the company’s business, with Mac sales accounting for only 14 percent. These figures are even more impressive when you consider that the Mac and iOS families were roughly even just four years ago. It therefore shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Apple wants to apply as much of the iOS formula as possible to the Mac line. If iPhone and iPad users are so happy with their experiences, then it makes sense to adopt those conventions and ideas that make those devices so attractive, and provide new ways to bridge the two device classes. Some of these changes do seem logical, but others will aggravate longtime Mac users and those resistant to a general “dumbing down” of personal computers.

OS X v10.8, better known as Mountain Lion, comes almost exactly a year after Lion and marks a transition to a cheaper yearly release cycle, much like what iOS users are accustomed to. Notably, the “Mac” in “Mac OS” has been dropped, and the “X” signifying version 10 has become part of a new name, “OS X”. Previous releases were spaced up to two years apart and cost US$ 129 (Rs. 7,170) each.

Mountain Lion costs only $19.99 (Rs. 1,110) and includes a number of new features that users will see in addition to loads of background improvements. Only specific models of Macs are eligible to run Mountain Lion, with the oldest being the mid-2007 iMac refresh, and other relatively recent models excluded, such as Mac Minis launched before mid-2009.

If you didn’t get it preinstalled on a new Mac, your only option is to download Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store (Macs purchased after June 11, 2012 qualify for a free upgrade). The 4.7 GB download appears as a shortcut in the dock and Launchpad screen, and you can install it whenever you like. The process took us about 40 minutes on a 2008 MacBook and just under 20 minutes on a 2011 MacBook Air, during which time the machines were unusable. 

Five ways to access blocked Internet sites

The internet is a vast expanse and there’s a ton of information out there, most of it legal while some of it illegal. Unfortunately, due to a number of

The Internet is a vast expanse and there’s a ton of information out there, most of it is legal, while some of it is illegal. Unfortunately, due to a number of reasons, sites that have content that may be in the clear might also get blocked by either the authorities, your ISP or sometimes even your office network administrator. Gaining access can be considered to be a very technical and complicated process, but it really isn’t. We’re going to look at some of these ways to unblock sites. Most of these techniques are really simply, while a couple of others might need more than a minute or two to get running. Unblocking by changing your DNS server A DNS server is like an index, with a list of domain names - such as YouTube.com, Tech2.com and pretty much every other site on the Internet. When you type in a website address in your browser, your computer sends a request to the DNS server and it tells you the IP address for that site. One of the easiest ways for ISPs to stop access to a particular site is by removing the entries for the sites that need to be blocked. ISPs can choose to redirect the request to a different site or a notice page as well. A simple DNS server change could open up your connection However, there is a way around this. There are free, fully open third-party DNS services run by organizations and other ISPs. The most popular ones are run by Google and OpenDNS. All you need to do is change your DNS server settings to theirs. In a typical Windows 7 system, head over to the Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings. Right click on your network adapter, click on Internet Protocol Version 4, click on Properties. Click on the Use the following DNS server addresses and enter the DNS server of your choice. Google’s DNS addresses are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, while OpenDNS’ are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. Click on OK to save the settings and reboot your PC. Using browsing proxies Browsing proxies are services that allow you to use their Internet connection, thus bypassing most of the restrictions setup by the ISPs or the network administrators. There are plenty of these on the Internet that can be accessed through your browser. All you need to do is access them and enter the URL of the site that you want to access in the address bar provided by the site. All the requests will then be channeled through that browsing proxy server. One of the many browsing proxies available online The only downside to this of course is that if the browsing proxy itself gets blocked by your ISP, you’ll have to find another one. Some of these browsing proxies, depending on how popular they are, can be slow to access. A quick Google search for ‘anonymous browsing proxy’ will give you a long list of services available on the web.

How to - Access the blocked web

Since we all know that DoT has implemented orders to curb piracy via torrents, P2P sharing software and ...

Since we all know that DoT has implemented orders to curb piracy via torrents, P2P sharing software and large file hosting portals, most Internet service providers have started practising a mega block on major torrent search engines and file hosting sites, such as Torrentz, The Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents, Torrent Hound, Rapidshare, Mediafire, Hotfile and many others. Obtaining torrents and other files from these websites has now become a difficult task, but there are many other routes that you can take to gain access to these websites and download the files that you need. Let’s check out a few methods whereby, you can fulfill your desire for downloading any type of file. Beware, these methods involve passing through unknown and unauthorized means; it could mean bumping into viruses, malware and spyware or even compromising on your security and risk getting your PC hacked. Do this at your own risk. Method 1: Use of proxy services. A proxy server, as the name suggests, is a website service that allows you to browse through websites from their Internet connection. It means tunneling through the Internet connection into another PC somewhere in the world, and accessing websites or downloading files using their Internet connection. The browsing or downloading speed totally depends on their Internet connection speeds and the number of people accessing the service during the given time. Proxy servers are hosted by common or unknown people who have a (possibly) high-speed open Internet connection in their home or office. No shortage of free web browsing proxies They simply install a web server on their PC and allow other Internet users around the world to surf through their proxy websites and gain access to websites that may be either blocked by their ISP or office administrators. Some of these websites are listed below. Note: Although there are different proxy websites available online, usually these are tracked and hunted by various administrators and blocked, accordingly. While most of these websites get blocked because they are well-known, others that do not publicize much manage to stay under cover until they are discovered. However, it is very simple for them to get themselves unblocked by using a different website name. Here is a tiny list of a few proxy servers that can be used to get around blocked website: Vtunnel.com Ltunnel.com n-tunnel.com imsly.com freetoview.com overridewebsense.com sneakzorz.com apchemistry.info apushistory.info radius.ws linear.ws safeforwork.net apenglish.info factorial.ws circumventer.info graph.ws hidemyass.com UnseenIP.tk weddingface.info anonymise.us These proxy websites are usually created with a weird name, so that they cannot be easily tracked (for example, the website www.weddingface.info) will not even be thought of as a proxy website as the name suggests something else. These websites make their money by hosting advertisements and possibly viruses or malware.

Phones and tablets awaiting Jelly Bean

When Google announced the newest iteration of its Android OS, the Jelly Bean, we wondered when would it reach devices....

When Google announced the newest iteration of its Android OS, the Jelly Bean, we wondered when it would reach devices, considering that the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) version hasn't made it to many yet. In fact, when Jelly Bean was launched as Android 4.1 rather than 5.0, it was speculated that manufacturers felt that giving users an ICS upgrade would be redundant as it is just a mere upgrade and not a full-fledged Android version. After the Jelly Bean launch, some major ICS rollout announcements were made, which meant that Google might play the delay game again. Nevertheless, there are now a handful of devices in queue to get Jelly Bean. While many companies are yet to throw out their concrete lists and make those upgrade announcements, this is what we gathered from what’s going on around the web and by speaking with some companies. Samsung There are no brownie points for guessing that the major high-end Samsung brigade will definitely get to taste the Jelly Bean. So far this list is believed to include the newest Samsung Galaxy S3, its predecessor, the Galaxy S2 and the popular Samsung Galaxy Note. The list of Jelly Bean takers will also include Samsung, Google’s Nexus S (not available in India) and Galaxy Nexus. So in case you own any of these devices, there are chances that Jelly Bean is on the way. There is no word as yet on when the Honeycomb and ICS-infused Samsung Tabs will receive the update. Samsung spokesperson refused to confirm when the updates could reach us. Samsung's power play Asus Asus brings the first device to taste Google’s Jelly Bean flavour – the Asus Nexus 7. The 7-inch tablet has been making headlines not just for carrying the newest Android flavour but also because it has been neatly priced in the affordable category. Though we expected it to be an under-15K tablet in India, it has been priced at about 17k - a tad disappointing. The company has also announced the Jelly Bean update for Asus Eee Pad Slider, Transformer Prime, Prime Infinity and the Transformer Pad 300. However, only Asus Eee Pad Slider and Transformer Prime are being sold in India. Karbonn Though Ice Cream Sandwich entered India through a batch of affordable tablets by Zync, iBerry and not-so-popular but efficient Ainol’s Novo 7 Paladin, it came three months after the OS' announcement. So it was surprising to see Karbonn, a low-end device maker, announce the Smart Tab 1 that came saddled with Jelly Bean within a month of the launch of the newest Android OS version. The pre-booking of the Jelly Bean clad Smart Tab 1 has already begun and it will be reaching markets in the next 20 days, said the spokesperson. Moreover, Smart Tab 1 tablets already available and running on ICS are entitled to get an upgrade as well. Karbonn has cut out a competitive price for the Smart Tab 1 at Rs. 6,990. HTC Almost 9 months after ICS was announced, HTC dished out its long list of devices to receive the ICS update and maintained its promise by making ICS releases to some devices like the Sensation XE and Incredible S over the past weeks. Surprisingly, HTC launched the Desire VC just last week that runs on ICS. The spokesperson refused to comment on whether the device will get the Jelly Bean update. This also reminds us that reportedly the Desire HD users will not be getting Jelly Bean. It did launch the value for money HTC Neo V, which we loved, but we’re sure HTC fans anticipated many more devices. However, after the launch of Jelly Bean, HTC didn’t waste time and quickly announced its Jelly Bean adoption plans that include the update coming to devices like HTC One S, HTC One X and One XL soon.  On asking about the rollouts, the HTC spokesperson said that they are still in the process and cannot reveal anything so far. HTC's One Series Sony Sony did manage to disappoint its users when it announced that none of the 2011 phones would receive Jelly Bean, but were quick enough to call it an error through a blog post. So, some Sony Xperia phones from 2011 will be getting the update after all. The Xperia U, P, S and Sola launched around April and May this year were disappointingly based on Gingerbread, and now some are upgradeable to ICS. Nevertheless, we feel the Arc S is likely to get Jelly Bean. The Sony spokesperson told us that the company plans a meet in Mumbai some time later this month to discuss its plans for the Xperia line-up and could possibly make some announcements about upgrades as well. Motorola As Google has acquired Motorola, we expected some nifty Jelly Bean updates to quickly make it to the Motorola devices. We didn’t come across any concrete announcements about the update from Motorola and the newly launched Defy Mini and few others were launched running on Gingerbread. It did make one quick roll out as the U.S. has already got the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi version tablet a 79MB Jelly Bean update over the air, but is yet to roll out to other countries. Going by the buzz, Motorola Droid Razr, Razr Maxx and Atrix 2 are potential contenders for the newest upgrade. However, as per reports, users who got the Atrix 2 loaded with ICS were facing some problems and had to switch back to Gingerbread. First device to flaunt Jelly Bean - Asus nexus 7 LG LG hasn’t been very prompt at updating its handset line-up with updates. Till now, there is nothing in the queue for India at least. After receiving flak for ICS not reaching many devices, we hope Google, along with its manufacturers, is quick enough with its Jelly Bean rollout.

Hacker claims security flaw with Apple's iPhone

Ahacker Friday revealed a security flaw that he claimed could make Apple's iPhone particularly vulnerable to text message cheating. The flaw has existed since iPhone was first launched in 2007, and is still not solved in the beta version of iOS 6, the next operating system for iPhone, the hacker under the name "Pod2g" said in a blog post, reported Xinhua.

Still has a notable security flaw

Under the protocols handling the exchange of SMS (Short Message Service) text between mobile phones, the sender of a message can technically change the reply-to phone number to something different from the original number, Pod2g explained. In a good implementation, the receiver of the message would see both the original phone number and the reply-to one. But using iPhone's SMS feature, when receivers see the message, it seems to come from the reply-to number, while the original phone number of the sender is hidden. The loophole means that someone could send iPhone users messages pretending to be from the receivers' banks or other trusted sources, asking for some private information, or cheating them to go to a dedicated website to obtain users' information.

Pod2g called the security flaw "severe" and urged Apple to fix it before the final release of the iOS 6 software."Now you are alerted. Never trust any SMS you received on your iPhone at first sight," Pod2g wrote in the blog post .Apple Inc. could not be reached for comments.