Beta Public

Jailbreak iOS 5.1 iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

2012-07-13T16:54:00.000+07:00

iOS 5.1 has been available for sometime and now easy tutorials are available to Jailbreak iOS 5.1 easily.
With this guide, you will be able to ~~Jailbreak~~ iOS 5.1 iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch with Sn0wbreeze.

You can Jailbreak following devices with ~~Sn0wbreeze~~:

~~iPhone~~ 4 (Tethered)
iPhone 3GS: New bootrom (tethered), Old bootrom (untethered)
iPod Touch 4G, 3G (Tethered)
iPad 1 (Tethered)
A5-Devices not supported yet (iPhone 4S, iPad 2)

With Sn0wbreeze you can create a custom firmware to Jailbreak iOS 5.1 on iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod Touch and iPad. The method is also recommended for iPhone users who rely on unlock using UltraSn0w/ Gevey SIM as it preserves baseband for unlocking.

Download Sn0wbreeze 2.9.3 for Windows
iTunes 10.6

Download IOS 5.1 For iPhone 4

iPhone3,1_5.1_9B176_Restore.ipsw iPhone 4 (GSM)
iPhone3,3_5.1_9B176_Restore.ipswiPhone 4 (CDMA)

Download IOS 5.1 For iPhone 3GS

iPhone2,1_5.1_9B176_Restore.ipsw

Download IOS 5.1 For iPad 1

iPad1,1_5.1_9B176_Restore.ipsw

Download IOS 5.1 For iPod Touch 4G

iPod4,1_5.1_9B176_Restore.ipsw

Download IOS 5.1 For iPod Touch 3G

iPod3,1_5.1_9B176_Restore.ipsw

How to Jailbreak iOS 5.1 with Sn0wbreeze

Step 1. With USB cable, connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to iTunes and Run Sn0wBreeze. Hit Ok, and click thenext button.

Step 2. Click Browse and locate the iOS 5.1 IPSW file for your iDevice, hit the Next button.

Step 3. Select the Expert Mode, hit Next, Select General and hit Next;
You can choose whatever you would like to have and click next.

Step 4. Click Build IPSW option and hit next. At this point of time, Sn0wBreeze will start creating custom iOS 5.1 firmware to jailbreak your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
Hit Ok when the process completes. (Custom firmware 5.1 can be found on desktop along with an iBooty folder)

Step 5. Now its time to put your iDevice into DFU mode. Follow onscreen instructions for the same.

Step 6. Open iTunes and while holding shift/Option key, hit restore. Locate & select the custom iOS 5.1 that you built. Let iTunes do its job and soon your device will be running iOS 5.1 jailbroken tethered.

How To Tether Boot
From desktop folder called iBooty, run the iBooty executable. Choose your device from the drop down menu & click “start”. Once again, enter DFU mode using the onscreen instructions.
One you are in DFU mode, iBooty will take care from that point on and your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch would boot Tethered Jailbroken state.

Download GreenPoison RC5 Untethered 4.2.1 Jailbreak for Windows

2012-07-13T16:53:00.000+07:00

Well finally all Windows users can now use the GreenPoison RC5. The guys at Chronic Dev Team have just released the Windows version of GreenPoison RC5 untethered 4.2.1 jailbreak for ~~iPhone~~, iPad and iPod Touch. With no difference than the Mac version, the Windows version is also compatible with ~~iPhone~~ 4, 3GS, iPod Touch 4G/3G/2G and iPad.

Get GreenPoison RC5 from the download link found at the bottom.

If you are a Windows user than you should know that instructions for jailbreaking IOS 4.2.1 untethered are no different than those for the Mac version. Follow our simple tutorial to jailbreak ~~iPhone~~, iPad and iPod Touch on IOS 4.2.1 using untethered GreenPoison RC5.

Download GreenPoison RC5 for Windows

Spirit Jailbreak for iPad and iPhone Out Now!

2012-07-13T16:51:00.002+07:00

Yes, I just got the tweet from comex and the rest of the Chronic Dev Team, the wait is over! Spirit userland Jailbreak is out now! The servers are getting hit hard, so don’t worry if you cant get through right away, it even took me a few page refreshes, Here is a run down of what the Spirit Jailbreak is….

What’s Spirit?
Spirit is an untethered jailbreak for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch on the latest firmwares.
Spirit is not a carrier unlock.
If you currently are using a tethered jailbreak, you have to restore to use Spirit. Do not upgrade if you use an unlock on an iPhone 3G or 3GS. (You can, however, restore to 3.1.2 if you have SHSH blobs for that version.)
Requirements
Any iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch on firmware 3.1.2, 3.1.3, or 3.2.
An activated device: one not stuck on the Connect to iTunes or Emergency Call screen.
Any version of iTunes 9 (including 9.1.1).
Syncing with iTunes before trying this highly recommended.
Note:On iPad, all this is still sort of beta. Some packages in Cydia, not designed for iPad, might screw up your system and require you to restore. Be careful. (And no, Cydia’s appearance is not final.)

If you are planning on jailbreaking your device I hope you have backed up your ECID SHSH blobs, (only for newer iDevices iPhone 3Gs and iPad) cause once Apple releases either a firmware patch or when OS 4.0 is released, you wont be able to downgrade back to either 3.1.3 or 3.2. We will have a complete review and how-to guide for the jailbreak very soon, so keep it right here for all news and updates. Spirit jailbreak is available for Windows and Mac OSX.

EDIT: If you have problems with spirit on windows, I’ve heard if you run it in win98 compatibility mode it works fine” /via @iH8sn0w

Spirit Jailbreak Site

Mirrors:

Spirit Jailbreak for Windows MIRROR

Spirit Jailbreak for Mac OSX MIRROR

Digg Sold To Betaworks, WSJ Says $500,000, Digg’s CEO Claims “The Overall Consideration Is Significantly Larger”

2012-07-13T16:50:00.000+07:00

As someone who’s watched an embarrassing number of Diggnation video casts, it pains me to say that things are not looking good for Digg. Maybe this is a case against investing in a company best represented by a founder who posts videos sponsored by beer? According to the Wall Street Journal, Digg was sold to a company called Betaworks for $500,000, although AllThingsD has a quote from Digg’s current CEO Matt Williams who claims that the “the overall consideration is significantly larger.” According to AllThingsD, this includes cash and equity in Betaworks.

Diggnation enjoyed its final episode earlier this year.

The Wall Street Journal blames brain drain from Social Code, which hired half the site’s skelleton crew; as well as blaming Twitter and Facebook for stealing away subscribers of Digg’s social news feeds to friend feeds.

It’s not as if ~~Digg~~ hadn’t been popular. Even after being surpassed by Reddit at the end of last year, as of May Digg reaches just under 3.8 million people per month. That’s in the United States alone, according to Quantcast.

I suspect the problem was monetization. There were murmurs that Digg was up for sale in 2008, to ~~Google~~ no less, for $200 million, but Google pulled out because they didn’t believe the company would be worth their while. As a result Digg raised more money from investors, as CEO Jay Adelson laid out a plan for “reaching profitability as quickly as possible,” according to an article from ~~Bloomberg Businessweek~~.

So who will be running Digg? Not the current staff, according to the Wall Street Journal’s report. It seems that none of Digg’s remaining employees will be joining Betaworks. If you go to Betaworks’ website, you will find quotes full of “inspiring” web 2.0 jargon: “We are makers. We are not a fund and we are not an incubator; we do things differently at Betaworks.” The company currently runs sites such as Bitly and News.Me.

Betaworks founder and CEO, John Borthwick

Do you think Betaworks will be able to revive Digg, or should the site have been buried long ago? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The iStore Express Is Everything You Love About An Apple Store In A Vending Machine

2012-07-13T16:49:00.000+07:00

Wanting to purchase an Apple product in a hurry? How about just before you are about to board a flight? Well, the folks over at iStore.ca are starting to sell your favourite mobile Apple products like the iPod Touch and iPod Nano, as well as other digital accessories in a vending machine called iStore Express.

iStore is a retail and wholesale ‘digital lifestyle’ brand, offering electronics and accessories for entertainment, information, education and productivity for devices such as iPad, iPhone, iPod from Apple and other brands. There are 15 iStore locations in North American airports with many more planned.

At this time iStore has both small retail outlets and of course the new iStore Express “Apple Store” vending machines in major airports around North America, with new outlets appearing constantly. One of iJailbreak’s readers, Justin Gurinskas sent us a picture of one of these iStore Express vending machines that can be found in the Vancouver YVR airport.

Although personally I do not see myself purchasing an Apple product from a vending machine I am sure it will appeal to those who all of a sudden get a burning desire to own an iPod. Or more realistically, those looking for a last minute gift while visiting family.

What do you think about iStore’s idea of allowing people to purchase Apple products and other digital accessories from vending machines? Share your responses and further thoughts in the comments section below.

NotesEnhancer Adds Rich Text, Copy/Paste Keys, To Default Notes App On iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

2012-07-13T16:48:00.003+07:00

You may remember in last week’s review that I suggested that NotesTab would make a decent base for a more fully featured keyboard extension? It seems that another developer had a similar idea. NotesEnhancer is an app which uses a very similar looking button extension to add more functions into the basic Notes app.

The thing is, NotesEnhancer’s features are also limited just to the Notes app. The added buttons for Enter, Copy and Paste, strike me as somewhat redundant, considering the iPhone’s built in copy and paste functionality, as well as the return button which features prominently on the default keyboard. The buttons for Text Color, Font style, and Font selection are intriguing, but can also be found in the action menu for Ryan Petrich’s Rich Text For Mail (which also adds the functionality to Notes). On the other hand, Petrich’s app costs $4.99 on Cydia.
One thing that strikes me as odd about NotesEnhancer is that it is a paid app, which bears a close resemblance to Notes Tab, down to the Tab key above the keyboard. NotesTab and NotesEnhancer appear to have been published by different developers; perhaps the developers are the same, perhaps this is a coincidence, or perhaps NotesEnhancer’s developer gained permission from NotesTab’s?
NotesEnhancer is a paid App which costs $1 on Cydia. You can find the app in the BigBoss repository. While NotesEnhancer certainly expands on the feature we’ve seen in NotesTab, it wouldn’t be our first choice for a rich text editor. There are already iPhone apps with text editing capabilities, ranging from apps like Evernote (FREE) to Apple’s Pages ($9.99).

Does NoteEnhancer come with this font?

What do you think? Would you pay $1 to turn the default Notes app into a basic rich text editor, or would you use a different iOS app? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Download aTV Flash (black) v1.7 With Trakt.tv Integration And More

2012-07-13T16:48:00.000+07:00

The FireCore Dev-Team has recently tweeted that a new version of their popular aTV Flash (black) tool for the Apple TV 2G is available – aTV Flash (black) v1.7. If you didn’t already know, aTV Flash (black) is a software package that offers a lot of extra features for your Apple TV!

aTV Flash (black) v1.7 includes most notably seamless access to trakt.tv, which is a service that automatically tracks the movies and TV shows you watch, and proves recommendations for related content you might enjoy. Besides trakt.tv integration, aTV Flash (black) v1.7 includes a whack load of bug fixes and other small improvements.

Below is the full changelog for aTV Flash (black) v1.7:

Added trakt.tv integration (scrobbling and ratings)
Added localized movie poster art
Added localized movie ratings
Added AirControl (beta) - an open control API for Apple TV
Added support for embedded DVB subtitles
Added advanced read-ahead buffering for SMB and NFS shares
Added Simplified Chinese translation
Added ‘Update All’ option
Added support for secure web logins
Improved metadata fetching speed
Improved video rotation detection for MOV files
Improved support for YUVJ420 & YUVJ422 formats (used by digital cameras)
Improved top-level menu layouts
Resolved crash when accessing ISO files on certain shares
Resolved potential streaming issues when using an unstable network
Resolved AFP related memory management issues
Other minor improvements & fixes

If you haven’t already installed aTV Flash (black) then you can try it over here, it’s only $29.95. Current users can update to the latest version by navigating to Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu. Let us know what you think of this update in the comments.

Students In South Carolina Plan To Make 52 Apps In A Year, iPhone Homebrew Pioneer Sean Heber Responds On Twitter

2012-07-13T16:47:00.000+07:00

The San Fransisco Chronicle recently ran a story on a group of students who formed a company and are determined to publish at least one app, every week, for a year on the iTunes App Store.

They won’t be coding each app from scratch, they will be using segments of code that they’ve already written to automate large parts of the development process. Chistopher Thibault and Brendan Lee, the student developers behind the start-up (52apps), have previously struck success with smartNote.

The developers behind smartNote will be developing 52 apps over the next year.

Of course the story caught the attention of Sean Heber, a software engineer who was one of Tapulous’ first employees (Remember Tap Tap Revenge?). Why would Heber tweet about the news article of a group of students developing apps at break-neck speed? Because he had a similar experience. In 2007, before there were Apple-sanctioned apps for the iPhone, Heber was engaged in a personal project to create a free app every day for the month of November: iApp-A-Day.

Five years ago is in the realm of “historical record”?

If you don’t remember the Installer days in the early jailbreak community, iApp-A-Day was huge. Not all of the apps were particularly good, but they each tried something new. And they were all free, so who would complain?

I’m not going to go through all thirty apps, so here are the highlights: Collage was a collaborate picture sharing program. There was Burp, which was one of the first food photography apps. There was even a two-player air hockey game. Bard was my personal favorite; a game of hangman which was full of Shakespeare quotes. You can trace the roots of modern app store hits to Heber’s wacky ideas hastily published under iApp-A-Day and just as quickly forgotten.

Keep in mind that the original iApp-A-Day apps were only compatible with very early iPhone firmware. If you manage to snag a copy of Scribble it’s not going to work with your iPad. That said, I would be interested in seeing more clever and lighthearted apps like Bard.

What do you think? Would the thing-a-week formula a good method for creating innovative or unusual apps, or will it just be a scheme to flood the market with gimmicks in hope that something sticks? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

How to jailbreak your iPhone

2012-07-13T16:43:00.000+07:00

What is jailbreaking?

For the uninitiated, jailbreaking is simply the process of enabling read and write access to otherwise locked files on an iPhone, iPod or iPad. There are many benefits of doing this, including the ability to install custom programs that aren't available on Apple's App Store, plus customise your device in ways that Apple doesn't currently allow.
For example, Apple doesn't allow FaceTime video calling over 3G. When you jailbreak your device, you can do this and much more (including installing Siri on an iPhone other than the 4S).
How to protect your iPhone from Theft

Is jailbreaking illegal?

The short answer is that there's nothing in UK law that specifically says it's illegal to hack your device in this way. The relevant UK law is the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003. This basically says that it's okay to break technical measures such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) for interoperability reasons, but not for the purposes of infringing copyright.
As with most laws, it's down to a judge's interpretation of terms such as 'interoperability' to decide whether you've broken the law or not. So far, there hasn't been a test case to set a legal precedent in the UK and chances are, there won't be one.
A word of warning, though. Jailbreaking and rooting are advanced techniques that the inexperienced or risk-averse should not attempt. It's hacking and if done improperly has the potential to turn your phone into an expensive paperweight. You will most likely void the warranty, too.
With that disclaimer out of the way, we'd like to point out that we've never had a problem and it's possible to reverse the jailbreak by restoring your phone to factory settings, leaving the warranty intact.

How to jailbreak an iPhone

We'll focus on the iPhone 4 here, as the warranty will have expired on most handsets. The process is largely the same for other models (including iPod touches and iPad), so the principles still apply.
Before you start, back up your device in iTunes or iCloud. To force a backup in iTunes, right-click on your device in the list on the left and click Back Up.
It's also important to understand the difference between tethered and untethered jailbreaks. The former is something you don't want, as you'll need to connect your phone to a computer in order to reboot it. An untethered jailbreak means you can reboot the phone without consequence: everything will still work afterwards.
Also bear in mind that you must not update your iPhone's software when Apple releases an update. If you do so, it will overwrite the jailbreak and delete all the custom apps you've installed and settings you've made.
The following instructions work for devices running firmware 5.0.1. There is already an updated version of Redsn0w available for 5.1, but this is tethered, so you'll probably want to wait for an untethered version. If you want to jailbreak an Apple A5-powered device such as the iPhone 4S or iPad 2, you'll need Absinthe rather than Redsn0w.
We'll be using Redsn0w as it has always worked flawlessly for us, but there are a variety of other tools available. Download Redsn0w for Windows. Extract the files to a folder and then right-click on the Redsn0w application and choose Run as administrator. When the application launches, click the Jailbreak button.

Connect your iPhone (4 or 3GS) or fourth-generation iPod touch to your computer and power it off by holding the power button until the slider appears. Wait until the phone has completely shut down before proceeding. Redsn0w looks for your device in DFU recovery mode. This is how to enter it:

Press and hold the power button for 3 seconds
Continue to hold the power button and press and hold the Home button for 10 seconds. The Apple logo should disappear during this step.
Release the power button and continue to hold the Home button until your device is in recovery mode. Your computer might detect new hardware or iTunes might launch and warn you that it has found a device in DFU mode.

If you don't manage to press the buttons at the right times, don't worry: just close Redsn0w and start again. If your iPhone or iPod locks up, press and hold the power and home buttons simultaneously until it restarts.

Once in DFU mode Redsn0w will interrogate your device and ensure it's compatible. When complete, you will be presented with some options. Tick the box to install Cydia and click Next. The jailbreaking process is automatic, and you'll see commands scrolling down your device's screen and a pineapple logo - this is all normal. When your phone finally restarts, unlock it and check that the Cydia app is there: this is the only outward sign that your device is jailbroken.

NEXT PAGE: Getting started with Cydia

Last call to wipe DNSChanger before 'Internet doomsday'

2012-07-06T19:50:00.002+07:00

In 10 days, there's a chance you will not be able to access the Internet on your personal computer. No email, no Facebook, no Google, no Twitter — nothing.
This potentially dire situation is due to the nasty DNSChanger Trojan, and the fateful date of July 9, on which the FBI is set to take all computers still infected with the malware offline for good. The date is being dubbed "Internet doomsday" for those who don't take action.
Launched by Estonian cybercriminals, the DNSChanger malware infected Windows PCs, Macs and routers across the world and enabled the crooks to hijack victims' Web traffic and reroute it to rigged sites. After the FBI, in "Operation Ghost Click," busted the criminals last November, the FBI set up surrogate servers to keep the computers infected with the Trojan temporarily online so users could clean them. But on July 9, those surrogate servers are coming down.
[Will the FBI Shut Down My Computer? Questions and Answers]
This is bad news for anyone whose computer is still harboring the malware. According to a new report from Internet Identity,that unfortunate group, which at the time of the FBI sting was made up of 4 million computers and routers worldwide,still includes 12 percent of the Fortune 500.
In his Krebs on Security blog, researcher Brian Krebs cites a statistic from the DNSChanger Working Group, which estimates that more than 300,000 computers are still infected with the malware.
"That number is likely conservative," Krebs said. "The DCWG measures infections by Internet protocol (IP) addresses, not unique systems. Because many systems that are on the same local network often share the same IP address, the actual number of DNSChanger-infected machines is probably quite a bit higher than 300,000.
In the past few weeks, both Google and Facebook have undertaken notification campaigns efforts to warn those who may still be infected with the Trojan. But if you didn't receive a warning, it doesn't mean you're in the clear.
There are ways to eradicate the DNSChanger from your system before July 9. Here's how, in three easy steps.
First, you'll need to change some settings on your computer. Click here for instructions on how to do so. That will make sure you're still able to get on the Internet when July 9 rolls around.
Step two is to run strong anti-virus software that will clean up your computer. You'll probably have to pay for the software. Here's a list of recommended anti-virus software products.
The third step is to check your system again; if you're still seeing the Google alert, check the DNS Changer Check-Up.
If you know your car might explode and crumble into a burning mass of parts in less than two weeks unless you got it serviced, you'd probably get it serviced, right? Do the same with your computer.

The "2012 doomsday" is a hoax...?

2012-07-06T19:49:00.000+07:00

Debunking the "2012 Doomsday"

Rumors of an apocalypse in 2012 are being spread by people in order to make money.

Don't be Scammed!

There are some things you need to know about the rumors of the "end of the world" or "Doomsday" in 2012¹.
The "2012 doomsday" is a hoax, a fraud, and an absolute con job. It is a cruel and disgusting lie being promoted by scam artists after money; First they scare people to death that something terrible is going to happen, then publish books and videos on "how to survive the apocalypse". Get the scam?! You're not going to fall for something like that… right?
The problem is that some people will fall for the scam. Some people will believe it. Some people will waste their money buying fake information on "how to survive". Some people will buy worthless survival kits, and some will even buy spaces in shelters that are not going to be built - ever!.
Some people will die because of these rumours, and we are trying our best to stop them

If you think we are being overly dramatic, then consider this example. In September, 2008, a young woman in India became distraught and depressed after watching well made but over-hyped reports about the Large Hadron Collider. She believed these shows when they said that the LHC would cause a 'miniature big bang' or create a black hole, and destroy the world. She drank insecticide. She was 16.

Remembering Isabel Taylor

On September 24th, 2011, at 3:15 PM, the mother of a teenager named Isabel Taylor found Isabel hanging in her bedroom². Isabel had committed suicide in part over fear and anxiety over the reported doomsday rumors. This is the first well-documented case of suicide that we have seen over fears of the 2012 doomsday. We would really like to think that it will be the last.

Gary and Ingrid Taylor will be attempting to complete a 70 mile stretch of the SW Coastal Path over seven days in early June to raise funds for the Farm Animal Sanctuary in memory of their 16 year old daughter, Isabel, who sadly died in September 2011.

Donations to Isabel's favorite charity can be made here.

Why we made this site

One of us regularly visits local school classrooms, giving an astronomy talk and Q&A session, and has been doing this for 5th and 8th grade classrooms since 2006. Beginning in 2008, a shift in the nature of the questions was noticed over the year before. Instead of the classic "What would happen if you fell into a black hole?" the questions were trending to subjects with a more apocalyptic theme: "What's really going to happen in 2012?" and "Somebody told me a planet is going to hit us in 2012". When the students were asked where they had heard this information, the top two sources named were Yahoo! Answers and YouTube.
A visit to Yahoo! Answers disclosed that A) There were a lot of people asking 2012 questions and B) there were a lot of people giving incorrect information about 2012. We began writing a "2012 hoax" page in January of 2009, and immediately began getting feedback from many different people who were scared and confused by all of the 2012 doomsday talk. Each time a new 'issue' (or rumor) was raised, the article grew.
By April 2009 the article had swelled to several thousand words, and it became apparent that it needed to be broken up into smaller topical articles. In conjunction with other authors, amateur astronomers, astrophysicists, chemists, and school teachers, this site was born.
In May 2009, a teacher left a comment on Astrogeek's blog, commenting on his 2012 hoax article.

…[I] am a teacher and my 3rd graders are hearing about this - A small child is talking about how if its ending, and why she shouldn't just end it now. This isn't anywhere close to funny any more.

On the comments page of this site, a mother of a 7 year old said:

I have a 7 year old that happened to see a documentary on the history channel that scared him so bad, that he became depressed and began to question the meaning of life. He is 7 years old. This nonsense is scaring our children - it must stop immediately. I found this website and tried the best I can to explain to him it was all a hoax.

In order to make some money, several 'authors', 'scientists', video producers, and, in select cases, even the History Channel have churned up an international hoax, which is scaring young people, children, to the point where they are talking about suicide, or questioning the meaning of life (by the way, we have an article on how to help your kids deal with this hoax).
Fear and ignorance can kill. Children are too gullible for these horrible rumors.

This has gone too far.

Recently, one of us took the decision to investigate into the false entrepeneurs selling the scam and found a rather laughable excuse for an e-mail, and here is a brief summary of its content:

"How do I know what's going to happen in 2012? Well I cannot explain in exact detail, but I have researched enough to know how much danger humanity is in.''

This is irrefutable evidence that even those so confident about 'doomsday' are desperately looking for more 'evidence'.
This site is dedicated to exposing and debunking the many claims made about an apocalypse in the year 2012. Hopefully it will be read by those who need to see it. Hopefully they will realise in time that this is not true at all.
Are you listening, History Channel? You HAVE TO STOP

Who are we?

Several of us are astronomers, employed in various fields, and some are still in school. Some of us are fairly young, and some of us are retired. Some of us are not astronomers, but have an interest in astronomy and space. Some of us are professionals in the sciences: Astrophysics, chemistry, etc. Some of us are teachers. We come from all over the world: The U.S., the U.K., Australia, Germany. A few of us contribute directly to the site. Many of us contribute by proofreading or giving feedback, or by contributing to one of the main authors by e-mail.
None of us are part of any vast conspiracy to hide anything.

Feedback

Some recent comments have given the impression that some people doubt that there is a need for this site. We present some of the comments received on this site and on Astrogeek's site as a counterpoint.

Feedback from Astrogeek's Page

This is one of the MOST TRUE articles I have come across in recent times! Down here in South India, local channels are agog with this terrible rumour and believe me, it is very hard to come across anyone without shuffling towards this topic! And this article goes a long way in dispelling this myth.

Thank you so much, I was one of the many people scared about all of this and you have really opened my eyes. I really enjoyed reading what you wrote for us, and thank you very much!

This article is truly amazing. I was terrified after I heard all the 2012 hype, but now after thoroughly reading this article, I understand how poorly educated I was about the facts.
Thank you Astrogeek, for providing true information free from ads and money-making scams, and putting my mind at peace.

Feedback from 2012hoax.org

All I have to say is thank God there is one decent website on here that tells the truth. Anyone that believes the 2012 doomsday theory is just as crazy as the ones that created the hoax.

I want to thank you for putting up this sight and debunking all the rumors.

Thank you for your logical and well-informed site exposing this hoax. I am sending this link to many of my friends.
For those of you who criticize about how they only quote 1 or 2 children becoming fearful from the hype - trust me, MANY MANY adults are also becoming scared. I can't tell you how many of my adult, well-educated (college and beyond) friends and acquaintances are asking me about this. I can only think they come to me because of my background in math and science (aerospace engineering) as well as my reading in various philosophies (mostly Eastern).
I have told them over and over it all crap (and now I can send them your link) ….

A Spanish Language version of this page is now available, thanks to the efforts of Lourdes Cahuich at http://www.seti.cl

You can help fight the 2012 hoax.

Link to us! This is free and easy, and helps drive our ranking higher in the search engines.
Spread the word! Please use one of the bookmarking/social media tools below.
Leave a comment and let us know how we're doing.
If you would like to contribute material to this site, contact the site administrator and ask about becoming a member of the wiki. It's free and easy, and you will be able to edit the pages on this wiki.
Suggest a Site to be reviewed.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Download one of our logos and put it on your blog or website.

How to avoid July 9 'Internet Doomsday': fix the DNSChanger malware

2012-07-06T19:43:00.000+07:00

The lingering effects of an online advertising scam are affecting hundreds of thousands of Internet users -- and the FBI’s final fix for the problem may leave them without Internet access.
The problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. The FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers, but that system will shut down July 9. At that point, infected users won’t be able to connect to the Internet.

"We started to realize that we might have a little bit of a problem on our hands because ... if we just pulled the plug on their criminal infrastructure and threw everybody in jail, the victims of this were going to be without Internet service," said Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent. "The average user would open up Internet Explorer and get `page not found' and think the Internet is broken."
The FBI touts the DNS Changer Working Group’s website, which can discern whether you’re infected and explain how to fix the problem. But there are other ways.
Testing for the presence of the malware is easy. Because it redirects your web traffic from “good” to “bad” sites, a simple test at the DNSChanger Eye Chart can readily discern where it sends you. If the site goes red, you’re in harm’s way. Green means clean.
The FBI also has a lookup form on its website, PCMag.com reports. The user can type in the IP address of the DNS server configured on the machine to find out if it is one of the malicious ones identified by law enforcement authorities.
And Kaspersky Lab offers TDSSKiller, a rootkit removal tool, which can also detect DNSChanger and remove it from infected systems, PCMag.com reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Doomsday internet virus deadline approaching

2012-07-06T19:41:00.000+07:00

CHARLOTTE, N.C -- July 9 could be doomsday for your internet access!
A computer virus originated by a bunch of hackers in Estonia infected hundreds of thousands of computers in the U.S. alone.
The ring was cracked by the FBI earlier this year. The purpose was to gather data by using other computers.
In other words, your computer may have been used as a gathering arm for this hacker and you may not even know it.
The FBI has built a special virus detector, and all you have to do is click the URL link next to where it says "English."
https://forms.fbi.gov/check-to-see-if-your-computer-is-using-rogue-DNS
It runs a test and if a green background shows up, you're in the clear. But if it's red, you need to take your computer in for professional service.

Mermaids, Zombies, UFOs: The U.S. Government Denies Everything

2012-07-06T19:40:00.002+07:00

Reuters

Alexander Abad-Santos 4,103 Views Jul 3, 2012

Our world just got a little less magical today, as we found out that the U.S. government has denied the existence of mermaids. "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found," the National Ocean Service said in a post last week. " Just to be a total buzz-killer, the National Ocean Service spokeswoman Carol Kavanaugh told The BBC, "We don't have a mermaid science program."
With stuff like Syria, Eric Holder, and the American Women's Gymnastics team swirling in the news cycle, it seems a bit silly that a government agency would spend time denying the existence of human-fish hybrids. Like, why isn't Kavanaugh talking about the whale sanctuary plan that was just shut down?
But we can actually understand why Kavanaugh and her team would issue a denial of mermaids: It's fun, and breezy, and it's a chance for a government agency to show its sense of humor. There's also an appeal from news outlets that eat this sort of thing up, since they're also bored by a lot of the stories out there. So here are some of the U.S. government's most recent and supernatural denials and media hoopla behind them:

Mermaids

Cause: The Discovery Channel's Mermaids: The Body Found. "The programme was a work of fiction but its wink-and-nod format apparently led some viewers to believe it was a science education show, the Discovery Channel has acknowledged," reports The BBC. Viewers wrote in public droves to the NOS, hence the post.

Zombies

The cause: The face-biting episode in Miami and The Huffington Post's Andy Campbell. Campbell called up the CDC and asked about a zombie virus, and came back with this:

CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms),” wrote agency spokesman David Daigle in an email to The Huffington Post.

And as Discovery magazine's Carl Zimmer reported, HuffPo gave it this snappy headline: "Zombie Apocalypse: CDC Denies Existence Of Zombies Despite Cannibal Incidents," which promted Zimmer to write: "That’s perhaps the finest deployment of the word despite in the history of journalism." Nevertheless, it led to headlines and stories like "CDC: No Zombies, despite cannibal attacks" (The Daily Caller) and "CDC silent on zombie-inducing parasites that live in human brains" (ibid).
Though, all the blame can't be placed on overzealous (or over-clever) journalist looking to milk a story. The CDC set themselves up for this mess by publishing this jokey Zombie Preparedness guide last year.

Aliens

The cause: A "We The People" Petition and thousands of signatures. Back in 2011, around 17,500 people signed petitions asking the White House to "formally acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race" and to "immediately disclose the government’s knowledge of and communications with extraterrestrial beings," reported Mashable at the time. It was White House policy then to pass petitions gaining at least 25,000 signatures to officials for an official response, but they made an exception to these two and penned a statement anyway. Phil Larson who, at the time worked on space policy and communications at the White House, had this response:

The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race. In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye. ...
Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them [aliens]—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved.
But that's all statistics and speculation. The fact is we have no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.

Now if all the idea of aliens, mermaids, and zombies not being part of this world and journalists itchy for a fun headline has got you down, you might able to take solace in that the government hasn't denied sasquatch yet and that there are many states where shooting a sasquatch is illegal. And not much has been said about vampires and/or werewolves. The truth is out there..

There are no mermaids: US government

2012-07-06T19:39:00.000+07:00

The United States government has assured its citizens that, much like zombies, mermaids probably do not exist, saying in an official post: "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found."

"Mermaids -- those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea -- are legendary sea creatures," read the online statement from the National Ocean Service (NOS).
The agency, charged with responding to natural hazards, received letters inquiring about the existence of the sea maidens after the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet network broadcast "Mermaids: The Body Found" in May.
The show "paints a wildly convincing picture of the existence of mermaids, what they may look like, and why they've stayed hidden... until now," a Discovery Channel press release says.
Conversely, the US government declaration offered no conclusive proof to deny the existence of mermaids.
The statement comes after another government agency, this time the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), declared there was no conclusive evidence for the existence of zombies.
The CDC had published instructional materials on how to survive a "zombie apocalypse," in what the agency now calls "a tongue in cheek campaign to engage new audiences with messages of preparedness messages."
The campaign was followed by a series of cannibalistic attacks in North America.
In one such attack on May 26, a 31-year-old Miami man stripped naked and chewed off most of a homeless man's face.
The Twittersphere was suddenly alive with people talking about the real and present danger of a zombie apocalypse.
The CDC was quick to respond to allegations of corpses rising from the dead to eat the living.
"CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead," a government spokesperson wrote in an email to The Huffington Post.
While zombies would be a big problem, popular folklore holds that mermaids are relatively benign creatures.
But the NOS statement associated the finned friends with more threatening mythological beasts.
"Half-human creatures, called chimeras, also abound in mythology -- in addition to mermaids, there were wise centaurs, wild satyrs, and frightful minotaurs, to name but a few," it said.

Internet Doomsday Is Nearing

2012-07-06T19:36:00.000+07:00

REDDING, Calif. - On July 9, 2012 you could lose all access to the internet on your computer.

The DNS Changer Malware began infecting millions of PC’s worldwide in late 2011. The FBI started cleaning it up, and now they say 300,000 are still infected.

Once the malware is installed it takes over all control of your internet. The FBI decided to shut down those servers by July 9th, meaning computers need to clear the infection by that date or their systems become inoperable.

For more details on the DNS Changer, visit the Nerds On Call website. Plus, their site has a link that can test your computer.

"Internet doomsday" July 9, claims FBI

2012-07-06T19:24:00.000+07:00

The ‘DNS Changer’ virus will cause more than 350,000 computers to lose web access on July 9, the FBI has claimed.

Up to 350,000 computers could lose web access on July 9, the FBI has said Photo: CLARE KENDALL

DNS Changer was a virus run by an Estonian crime ring until authorities and the American FBI broke it up in November. At its peak it infected more than 500,000 PCs and Macs.

The virus, first used in 2007, hijacked users’ computers without their knowledge to generate fraudulent clicks on adverts. Although its only obvious effects were to slightly slow internet connections and to disable antivirus software, it also redirected computers to the fraudsters’ servers.

Turning that server off would have left users without any web access, so the FBI temporarily replaced it with a site to check whether visiting computers had the virus.

The “DNS Checker Page” allows users to see if they have the virus and to remove it, and has been largely responsible for the fall in the virus’s prevalence.

Now the Bureau wants to turn off the server because it is costing tens of thousands of dollars to operate each month. It has announced that on July 9 it will pull the plug, potentially leaving the 350,000 computers that are still infected, 20,000 of which are in the UK and 85,000 in America, without access to the web.

Internet doomsday on July 9th? Don't panic!

2012-07-06T19:23:00.000+07:00

Here in SophosLabs, we have been receiving a fair number of requests from the general public asking about the supposed "internet doomsday", said to strike on July 9th, which will leave "hundreds of thousands of internet users without internet access".

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams: Don't Panic

First, let's back the train up into the station and give you a quick history on this.
Back in November 2011, the FBI seized control of a bunch of rogue DNS servers that were being used by the bad guys to redirect PCs infected with the DNS Changer malware machines to various scams with the intention of making money.

More than 350,000 computers around the world are thought to still be using the DNS servers, which have now been made harmless. But it's US taxpayer dollars which are keeping the DNS servers up and running, and that's not a situation that can carry on indefinitely.

The best solution is for people to fix the DNS settings on their computers.
The original plan was for the the DNS servers to be shut down on March 8th 2012, but the FBI has asked for more time, delaying the shutoff date to July 9th.

Essentially the FBI is trying to give innocent folks time to clean their machines up.

And computers should be fixed - because if the DNS servers go down, any computer relying on them for DNS name services will cease to be able to browse the web, read email or do just about anything on the internet at all.

The issue is discussed in greater detail in Sophos Chet Chat podcast 86, that was published last month. (The DNS Changer part of the podcast starts at 4'30".):

Now a bit of good news for Sophos customers, Sophos can detect various variants of the DNS Changer malware under names such as Troj/DNSChan-A.

Furthermore, Sophos products can detect if your computer is one of the ones whose DNS settings have been meddled with - identifying them as CXmal/DNSCha-A, and help repair the damage.

And finally, if you want to see if your computer is one of those which might be affected on July 9th, you can check via the DNS Changer Working Group website (DCWG).

The FBI also has a look-up form on its site.
If you were one of the unfortunate people whose computers were hit by the DNS Changer malware, your access to the internet does not have to disappear on July 9th.

Take the right steps now to avoid a headache later.

Internet Doomsday on July 9, 2012?

2012-07-06T19:21:00.002+07:00

According to scary warnings circulating online and off for the past week or so, hundreds of thousands of people are poised to lose Internet access this coming July due to the proliferation of a class of malicious software known to network security experts as DNS Changer malware.

Q: Are these reports of a July 9, 2012 "Internet Doomsday" accurate?

A: Yes, if a bit overblown for effect.

Internet doomsday, explained

2012-07-06T19:20:00.000+07:00

According to media reports, July 9 will be our online apocalypse. The better story is how this crazy rumor started

The apocalyptic story line was once reserved for truly apocalyptic events. Nuclear war. The return of Christ. Environmental or economic collapse. But it’s 2012, and the apocalypse has become the basis for everything from Super Bowl commercials to summer romantic comedies – and no media story is too small to have an apocalyptic moniker attached to it. (Remember Snowmageddon?) If you want to get the world’s attention, simply proclaim that the world will soon end — or the Internet. Just read coverage of the so-called Internet Doomsday virus, which will supposedly strike and shut down the Web on July 9.

Here’s how the story got started. Back in October, the FBI announced that it had broken up an international crime ring when it arrested six Estonians in what was then heralded as “the biggest cyber criminal takedown in history.” The Estonians had, over the course of four years, hijacked more than 4 million computers in 100 countries through the use of malware known as DNSChanger. By redirecting the infected browsers of unwitting users, DNSChanger was able to send high volumes of traffic to the criminal ring’s rogue websites and servers, collecting more than $14 million in fraudulent advertising revenue and exposing their victims to information theft in the process.

“Operation Ghost Click” (as the FBI dubbed its sting operation) put an end to the Estonian scheme, but a problem remained. If the feds simply shut down the Estonian servers, the 4 million infected machines — nearly 1 million of which were in the United States — would be unable to reach the Internet. To give the cyber-crime victims time to clean up their machines, the FBI contracted the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) to maintain valid servers in place of the criminal servers. The new servers would remain online until March 8, 2012.
And so it came to pass that the FBI tried to warn the people, but the people were not listening. The people were too busy swatting the pop-up ads that buzzed like flies around TMZ.

As things turned out, a cabal of Estonian thieves in an international crime ring wasn’t enough to get the public’s attention. By early February, nearly half of all Fortune 500 companies and half of all major federal agencies still had computers infected with the virus — along with 400,000 other computers around the world. If the government shut down its proxy servers on March 8, as was planned, all of these computers would be unable to access the Internet. (The FBI, frankly, hadn’t done the best job in getting the word out about DNSChanger: It slapped up a PDF on the Web and assumed people would find it.)
And then it happened. Somebody put two and two together. There was a larger, more familiar narrative at work here. The tale of Operation Ghost Click and DNSChanger held all the elements of a familiar story. A set date. The need for the wayward computer users to repent before the date came. The smug satisfaction that when the date finally came, the non-believers would be cast into a disconnected hell, with nary a Google Map to lead them out of it. Have you not accepted Norton AntiVirus as your savior? IT nerds across the nation waved their MacBooks in contemptuous indignation.
This wasn’t just any old computer virus. For those who did not repent — or at least scan their computers for the virus — March 8 would be INTERNET DOOMSDAY.
Let’s back up for a moment: “Doomsday?” one might ask. Really? Some accountant at Hormel might not be able to access the Internet one day because of slovenly security habits, and that becomes doomsday? Has the apocalyptic bar really been set that low?
In fact, it has — and there are three reasons for this.
Understanding the first reason requires a quick trip back to the last time apocalyptic rhetoric was as mainstream as it is today — the 1970s, when the country was buffeted by oil shocks, stagflation, Watergate, spiraling crime, inner-city decay, and defeat in Vietnam. A paranoid and pun-filled tome soon emerged to explain the chaos as signs of the end of the world — Hal Lindsey’s “The Late Great Planet Earth,” the “No. 1 nonfiction seller of the decade” (as the New York Times put it), which found its way onto the bookshelves of more than 15 million Americans. And now the teens and 20-somethings who had clutched copies of “The Late Great Planet Earth” in the 1970s are editors, writers and producers, and they bring to the media landscape the narrative of their youth, in much the same way that indie music from the 1980s and ’90s, which never sold very well at the time, has reached a wider audience in the 2000s as Gen Xers find themselves program directors at radio stations or music supervisors at ad agencies and television networks.
The second reason came at the dawn of the next decade, with the launch of CNN in 1980. The rise of cable news (and, in the late ’90s and early 2000s, the rise of the Internet) didn’t merely transform the media landscape; it exponentially expanded it. Prior to 1980, the “Big 3” networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — programmed little more than three hours of news per day. Nowadays, even the “24-hour news cycle” seems like an antiquated idea; Twitter has brought us the 24-minute news cycle, with reporters on their Tweetdecks chasing headlines like little kids playing soccer. In this new media landscape, where speed and hyperbole trump investigation and accuracy, apocalyptic headlines draw the all-important consumer eyeball, regardless of the story that runs beneath.
The third reason that we so readily embrace the apocalyptic story line — not merely as producers of news, but as consumers — can be found in the decade behind us. As we’ve written before, the first decade of the 21st century was a decade punctuated by historic events that seemed (or were treated as) nearly apocalyptic in scope. From preparations for Y2K to the attacks of Sept. 11, from rising evidence that climate change has arrived to the economic collapse of 2008 in which we still find ourselves entangled, the belief that the world is coming undone — that the final straw is just moments away from being lowered onto the camel’s back — has surged from the edges of conspiracy and into the center of our public discourse.
The problem with this arms race toward the ever more apocalyptic is that it depletes our reservoirs of concern. If everything is an apocalyptic threat, then nothing is. And when each overhyped threat passes with nothing happening — where are you now, Ebola virus? — we find ourselves more capable of dismissing real concerns like climate change as overhyped as well.
We called the FBI Press Office to ask them why they were trying to frighten people with their overheated rhetoric about “doomsday.” Didn’t they know that small children also used the Internet, and might be haunted by nightmares of never feeding their Moshi Monsters again? “I don’t think we’ve ever used that word,” the press officer who answered at FBI headquarters assured us. “We’ve never called it ‘Internet doomsday.’”
Ever since Y2K, the media has mastered the technique of combining any potential threat — no matter how remote the probability and no matter how localized or contained its likely impact — with the apocalyptic story line. The result has been an increasing hyperbole in the news, and an endless parade of stories that imagine the “end of the world” in the most unlikely of scenarios, from solar flares to polar shifts to … well, some get-rich-quick scheme cooked up by some hoodlums in Estonia.
Take, as another example, the headlines in March that warned us that an impending solar flare could knock out most of our satellite communications, GPS and utilities, plunging the world into unplugged chaos. Beneath the headlines, usually in the final paragraph, was a little-noticed caveat: Such flares occurred with regularity a decade ago, with virtually zero impact.
But it’s the headlines that matter, not the details or the subsequent paragraphs, and “Internet Doomsday” was a great headline. The blogs lit up with stories about the horrors that might befall us if we couldn’t access Gawker. And like all good apocalyptic narratives, the Internet Doomsday quickly took a turn toward the conspiratorial: The FBI itself was going to pull the plug on the Internet on March 8, it was said. Government efforts to protect computer users had become a government plot to unplug computer users. There was much logging on, and rumors of not logging on.
But this was not yet the end. A judge, apparently consulting with Harold Camping (who knew much about the flexibility of having a backup date for the apocalypse), ordered the FBI to keep its goodly proxy servers going for another 120 days, until July 9, to give the unrepentant more time to download Kaspersky. And the FBI became more Internet savvy: A few weeks ago, it unveiled a new website where computer users could check to see if their computers were infected with DNSChanger.
The press dutifully reported on the FBI’s valiant effort to help the remaining victims of the scam — perhaps 200,000 out of 2.3 billion Internet users in the world — repair their computers. The most common headline? You guessed it: “Internet Doomsday Coming July 9.”

Mathew Gross is considered one of America's top new-media strategists. Together with Mel Gilles he is the author of "The Last Myth". More Mathew Gross.

Mel Gilles is a writer and a former advocate for victims of domestic abuse. Her essay, "The Politics of Victimization," went viral in 2004, reaching more than 2 million readers. More Mel Gilles.

July 9 could be "Internet doomsday" for some (so check your PC or Mac)

2012-07-06T19:17:00.000+07:00

July 9 might be "Internet doomsday" for PC and Mac users who haven't taken steps to make sure their systems are not infected with what's being called DNSChanger malware.

That's right: Your Internet connection may not work that day because the safety net now in place from the FBI against the malware will be removed then, and if your computer is infected, you won't be able to get to the Internet.
Let's back up a minute to give you some quick background. Last fall, the FBI arrested six Estonian nationals who were charged with using malware and rogue DNS servers to hijack millions of computers worldwide.
At that time, Trend Micro's Feike Hacquebord called it the "biggest cybercriminal takedown in history." The company was one of several that worked with the FBI on the takedown, and described the scheme:

A variety of methods of monetizing the DNSChanger botnet [are] being used by criminals, including replacing advertisements on websites that are loaded by victims, hijacking of search results and pushing additional malware.

Because the malware is so nasty — it's strong enough to wipe out a computer's anti-virus software — the FBI set up a safety net using government computers to prevent any Internet disruptions for users whose computers may be infected.
That safety net was set to go away in February, but the date has been extended to July 9 because the agency is concerned that not enough users are aware of the problem.
Says the FBI:

To assist victims affected by the DNSChanger malicious software, the FBI obtained a court order authorizing the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) to deploy and maintain temporary clean DNS servers. This solution is temporary, providing additional time for victims to clean affected computers and restore their normal DNS settings. The clean DNS servers will be turned off on July 9, 2012, and computers still impacted by DNSChanger may lose Internet connectivity at that time.

So, what do you need to do? Make sure your computer is clean. You can do that first, by visiting this FBI-backed website, DNS-OK, which will tell you whether your computer is infected with DNSChanger malware.
The FBI says that if you see green, that's good. Red means you're infected. Still, the bureau notes, some systems that appear to be clean may appear that way because of their service provider: "If your ISP is redirecting DNS traffic for its customers, you would have reached this site even though you are infected."
So the next step, definitely if you're "red," but even a good idea if you're "green," is to go to this site, run by the DNS Changer Working Group. The DNS Changer Working Group will detect whether your computer has been "violated," and if so, will point you to the right fix for your computer.
The sooner you do this, the better. You don't want to wait until July 9 to chance an "Internet doomsday" happening.

Ezy Start Menu Brings Back Old Windows Start Menu on Windows 8

2012-07-03T14:42:00.000+07:00

Those of you who had tried Windows 8 Consumer Preview or Release Preview will know that, Microsoft has removed start menu as well as orb from the taskbar. Every time when you hover you mouse at left corner of the screen, it will present a small metro screen and clicking on it will switch your classic desktop to metro screen.

You will be wondering, how you can access all the program files, shutdown, search, control panel and other options, well there is one way by which you can access few of this options. On Windows 8 Microsoft has added new keyboard shortcut, Win+X which brings the quick access menu from where you can navigate to control panel, search, command prompt and other various options which our good old start menu used to provide.

But those switching from Windows 7 or Vista to Windows 8 may find it annoying and hard to work without start menu, for those users here is Ezy Start Menu for Windows 8. Ezy Start Menu is perfect replacement for Windows 8 metro menu.

Once you download and install Ezy Start Menu, you will notice a new Windows 8 metro icon added in the left corner, in place for Windows start menu orb in taskbar. Clicking on this icon brings you all the shortcuts and menu options of Windows old start menu.

Ezy Start menu offers three different sections to combine different shortcuts. Start, folders and shutdown. Under Start option tab you can access run prompt, command prompt, my computer, control panel, windows help, search and shortcuts where you can add your own shortcuts to prompts and folders.

Under Folders option tab you have access to desktop, my documents, recent, favorites, network and programs as well as all the shorts cuts to important Windows folders such as Windows administrator tools, maintenance, Windows Ease of access, system folder etc.

Shutdown tab provides options to shutdown, restart, logoff, hibernate, sleep and power options.

Overall Ezy Start Menu is good option as Windows 8 Start menu, it may not have eye candy user interface but does the job of bringing back old start menu on Widows 8 very well.

Download Ezy Start Menu for Windows 8.

Download Nvidia GeForce 302.82 WHQL Drivers for Windows 8 Release Preview

2012-07-03T14:41:00.000+07:00

Back in Windows 8 Consumer Preview days we had posted beta version of Nvidia GeForce drivers. As time is passing Windows 8 is reaching to final version and latest public Windows 8 Release preview is already up and available for download. Despite Nvidia making announcement that their GeForce drivers certified with WHQL are ready for Windows 8 Release Preview, it took them more than week to release WHQL drivers

Finally today Nvidia has released WHQL-certified GeForce 302.82 desktop drivers for the Windows 8 Release Preview build. You can download 32-bit as well as 64-bit GeForce drivers for Windows 8 Release Preview using below links.

The drivers are exclusively for Windows 8 and shouldn’t be installed in older version of Windows. You can find more details about these drivers here.

Download Nvidia Geforce 302.82 WHQL Drivers for Windows 8 RP 32-bit.

Download Nvidia Geforce 302.82 WHQL Drivers for Windows 8 RP 64-bit.

Take 3D Photos (Anaglyph or Stereo) on Windows Phone 7 with ShutterPro

2012-07-03T14:39:00.000+07:00

3D videos and photos are new fascination of modern world. From 3D TVs to 3D cameras capable of taking 3D videos and photos are available in market. But that doesn’t mean your good old digicam is obsolete. In fact if you have two webcams connected to your PC then you can take 3D videos using Red Cyan Camera software.

Now if you own Windows Phone 7 based mobile phone, then here is good news for you. You can now take 3D stereo photos or stereoscopic photos with your smartphone camera. ShutterPro is free app for Windows Phone 7 phones which lets you add many filter to photos taken from phone camera and make it look awesome like taken by pro photographers.

Once you install ShutterPro on your Windows Phone 7, go and start ShutterPro app. Under app settings you can set how you would like to take pictures, using dedicated camera button or tap on screen to take pictures. Under share tab you can share photo taken using shutter pro on facebook.

If you want to take 3D photos then you need to set 3D stereo or 3D anaglyph it under effects before taking photos. As the procedure to take 3D photos is not one click process. You need to take two different photos for that.

For all other photo effects, you can either select effect first or take photo and then apply effects. Once you got the picture of your choice you need to tap on save button. ShutterPro offers following effects, normal, negative, black&white, sepia, solarize, multicolor, tilt shift, 3D anaglyph and 3D stereo jpeg. Each effect also has different modes and settings which you can change from customize button.

Overall ShutterPro is pretty good app for those who want to make their photos awesome but doesn’t have photography skills. With ShutterPro you can instantly make them cool looking ready to be shared on your social network.

Pros: Easy to use, has good number of photo effects, lets you take 3D photos.
Cons: ShutterPro free version adds watermark on every photo taken using ShutterPro.

Download ShutterPro Windows Phone 7 App.

Check Out: View, Share or Edit 3D Stereo Photos on Windows.

Four Best Network Profile/Connection Manager For Windows 7

2012-07-03T14:38:00.000+07:00

Are the different network settings on your Laptop/Desktop creating trouble for you? Then a Network Profile Manager is the must-have software for you. These managers help you create and manage different network profiles on your device and enable you to have a hassle-free experience while switching networks (for example your workplace network and your home network).

NetSetMan

NetSetMan is a Network Profile Manager that gets things done. It has a simplistic user interface that is neatly laid out.

It offers upto six different network profile presets. Each preset can be configured according to personal use.
The Tools menu enlists the important Windows Network Setup Tools like the Windows Network Connections and Windows WiFi Management under one menu which is very helpful.

NetSetMan also enables users to export or import the profiles and settings of the Software from one PC to another.

Overall, NetSetMan offers great functionality and is a very capable Network Profile Manager.
Download here.

TCP/IP Manager

TCP/IP Manager is a Network Profile Manager that lets you create and manage different network profiles with ease. Switching between different network profiles is a breeze.

NetCon Manager

NetCon Manager is another Network Profile manager which lets you create different profiles for different network connections. Read our review here.

Mobile Net Switch

Mobile Net Switch is one of the best Network Connection managers we tested. It is straightforward to use and has a lot of configurable options.

Read our full review here.

Download Mobile Net Switch