Aron Smetana

Tutorial: The beginners guide to iMessage in iOS 5

2012-01-29T06:44:00.001-08:00

Tutorial: The beginners guide to iMessage in iOS 5

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One of the big new features in iOS 5 – the latest update to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad's operating system – is iMessage, which lets you send free messages to any other iOS 5 device, provided you have a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.

Better still, if you have more than one device, your messages (largely) get synchronised between them.

On the iPhone, iMessage works seamlessly alongside regular SMS and MMS messages.

If you've got a data connection and your recipient has iMessage too, your message will be sent this way, and appears in blue on the screen. If you don't have a data connection, or your friend has a non-Apple phone, your message will be sent as a regular SMS or MMS, appearing in green.

You can receive iMessages using your phone number (if you have an iPhone) or any email addresses that you link to your iMessage account. iMessages use data networks and only work on iOS devices, and SMS messages use the phone networks.

Wi-Fi-only iPads and iPod touches can text iPhones with iMessage-linked phone numbers, but the phone needs a data connection to receive them.

If you're abroad with Data Roaming switched off when not on a Wi-Fi network, you won't receive the message, even though it was directed to your phone number. Furthermore, only iMessages sync between devices: SMS texts remain on your iPhone only, as do any iMessages sent to your phone number.

With this in mind, it's best to tell people to use your iMessage email address instead, which gives you the most flexibility.

Set up your email addresses for iMessage

1. Enable iMessage

If you haven't already, tap Settings > Messages to switch on iMessage. You have to sign in with your Apple ID, but you can later remove this address if, say, you want to set your children up with iMessage on your Apple ID.

2. Add more addresses

Tap Receive At > Add Another Email and tap in the email address you'd like to receive iMessages at. Add as many as you want, so long as they're not already tied to an Apple ID. When you press Return, 'Verifying' will appear.

3. Check your email

Now check your email inbox. You'll receive an email with a link in it to prove you own that address. Click Verify Now, then enter your Apple ID and password on the web page, and you're all set to receive iMessages.

Start sending free messages

1. Change your Caller ID

In Settings > Messages > Receive At is a Caller ID option. It's best to use an email address rather than your phone number, to enable syncing between iPhones and other iOS devices. Use the same Caller ID on all devices.

2. Toggle Read Receipts

In Settings > Messages is a Send Read Receipts toggle. If you set this to On, anyone who sends you an iMessage will see when you've read it. It's marked as read when you tap into the Messages app and view it there.

3. Add your recipient

To send someone an iMessage, you need to know the address they use. The easiest way to send them is to add the recipient to your Contacts app. Tap it, then tap +, and type in the person's details. Tap Done when you're ready.

4. Compose your message

Tap Home, then Messages. Tap the compose message icon to write a message, then start typing the person's name. Their full name and address should appear. Tap it, then tap in the text field below to write your message. Tap Send when ready.

5. iMessage or SMS?

If you sent the message as an iMessage, it appears in blue. If you sent it from an iPhone and it's gone as an SMS, it'll be green – but your iPhone may try to deliver as an iMessage first, then retry as an SMS if it's unsuccessful.

6. Has it got there?

If your message went as an iMessage, you'll be able to see if it's been delivered. Look for confirmation in small writing just below the message bubble. If someone's enabled Read Receipts, you'll see when they read it.

Send MMS messages for free, too!

1. Send a picture

Tap the Camera button next to the text field to add an image to a message. Take a new photo or send one from your Camera Roll. Tap the image, then tap Choose to add it to your message. A thumbnail appears with the text.

2. How it appears

Images take longer to send because of their size, and appear in a separate speech bubble on your and the recipient's devices. They're free to send as iMessages, provided you don't exceed your data allowance.

3. Disable MMS

If iMessage isn't available, your iPhone could attempt to send your picture message as an SMS or costlier MMS. To prevent this, tap Home, then tap Settings > Messages and toggle 'Send As SMS' and/or 'MMS Messaging' to Off.

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10 things IT pros do that lead to burnout

2012-01-28T10:42:00.001-08:00

10 things IT pros do that lead to burnout

10 Things

Stress, exhaustion, health problems, poor job performance, apathy -- all these can be yours if you commit a few career sins and get burned out.

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Comodo Cleaning Essentials

2012-01-27T17:32:00.001-08:00

Comodo Cleaning Essentials

PC Magazine: New Product Reviews

If malware actively prevents installation of your full-blown antivirus, the free Comodo Cleaning Essentials can help. It works hard to wipe out all active malware traces and doesn't sweat the non-executable junk.

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Tutorial: How to reinstall Windows

2012-01-26T11:48:00.001-08:00

Tutorial: How to reinstall Windows

TechRadar: All latest feeds

Reinstall Windows: Introduction

The process of reinstalling Windows on your computer is simpler than you might think.

The very idea can often induce a mild sense of panic, but the benefits of reinstalling Windows far outweigh any perceived risks, particularly as you can eliminate those dangers simply by making sure you back things up as you go.

Reinstalling Windows offers a number of benefits. It can revive a sluggish system by clearing out all the clutter and letting you start from scratch.

You'll be amazed at how quick your PC suddenly feels, and it'll be more stable too, with corrupt files and problematic programs removed from the equation. In many circumstances it can also clean your computer of malware, although it's important to note that this isn't guaranteed.

There are three different levels of reinstalling you can perform depending on how far you want to go, and in this feature we'll cover them all – from a quick over-the-top reinstall to try and fix minor problems to a full-blown reorganisation of your hard drive, complete with formatting and fresh installation.

Whatever ails your computer, there's a reinstall solution to help fix it.

If you're reinstalling Windows because you think your system needs a quick refresh, then a repair installation is worth considering. The whole process takes less than an hour, and basically installs a fresh copy of Windows over the top of your existing, jaded copy, so that programs, settings and data remain intact.

There are two ways to perform a repair install: if your copy of Windows was pre-loaded by your manufacturer, follow its instructions for a system recovery, choosing 'non-destructive' when prompted. This may involve recovery discs, but in most cases can be done by rebooting and before Windows loads, pressing the key to access recovery options.

Not all manufacturers provide a non-destructive option – if the only options you can see involve partitioning, formatting or wiping your existing installation, you'll have to jump to the next section and perform a full-blown reinstall instead.

If you installed Windows from an installation disc, then the process is a little more complicated. If you've installed any Service Packs since Windows was first installed, then these will need to be removed as the installation disc will detect a 'newer' version of Windows and refuse to install over the top of it. If you're unable to remove the Service Pack or you're unable to boot into Windows at all, then you'll need to perform a full reinstall instead.

NOTE: Commenter badvok66 rightly points out that if you have apps that require authorisation or authentication (such as iTunes, some anti-virus programs or Adobe Creative Suite) then you ought to deactivate these before reinstalling your system to prevent any problems when reactivating.

Perform the installation

The step-by-step guide below reveals how to perform a repair installation in Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Windows XP users do things differently: start by rebooting with the Windows XP CD inserted.

Press any key when prompted – if you get a message about Windows not being able to recognise your drive, you'll need SATA drivers on a floppy disk (check the manufacturer's site for a make-disk utility). Then restart the process, pressing F2 when prompted to load the drivers.

When the Welcome screen appears, don't press R – instead, press Return to set up Windows as directed. Press F8 and Windows will scan for your existing installation. Make sure it's selected and then press R to repair it.

Windows XP will now delete all system files and copy replacements from the installation disc. Setup will then initialise and save your configuration, then reboot. Ignore any request to boot from CD.

When prompted for your language settings click Customize – set both options to English (United Kingdom), then switch to the Advanced tab and do the same. Click OK > Details. If it's present, select English (United Kingdom) – United Kingdom from the menu or click Add to pick it from the list.

Once done, pick the US entry and click Remove followed by Apply, then click OK twice. Click Next, then enter your product key – you should find this with your installation disc. Then click Next.

Once complete, Windows XP will restart – click Next at the first screen, opt whether or not to register and click Next again followed by Finish.

Post repair steps

Once the repair process is complete, you should find yourself back at your desktop. Your programs, files and user settings should be intact, although some things, such as System Restore points, will be lost. Some programs may also stop working – try installing the program over the top of itself to resolve these lingering problems.

All that's left to do is to bring your PC back up to date. Open Windows Update to check for and install updates – you may have to repeat the process a few times, rebooting Windows when prompted, before it finally tells you everything is current. A repair install can resolve many niggling stability issues, but if the problems continue it's time to perform a complete reinstallation.

Repair installation: Get a new PC in 30 minutes! (Win Vista/7)

1. Remove service packs

If you've installed a Service Pack after Windows was first installed or loaded on to your computer, you'll need to remove it first. Open the Programs and Features Control Panel and select View installed updates. Scroll down, select Service Pack for Windows and click Uninstall to remove it.

2. Start repair process

The repair installation process must be run from Windows itself – boot into Safe mode if necessary to start it. Pop your Windows disc into the drive and if the Autoplay dialogue box appears, click Run setup.exe. If it doesn't appear, click Start > Computer and double-click the DVD drive icon.

3. Get updates

Click Yes followed by Install Now to start the process. When prompted, click Go online to get the latest updates for installation (recommended) and wait for them to be downloaded. Once done, the process will automatically restart.

4. Choose upgrade installation

Read the licence, then tick I accept the license terms before clicking Next. Windows Vista will ask for your product key (Windows 7 will skip this step), then at the next screen choose Upgrade. Now wait while the compatibility check is performed.

5. Make a cup of tea

Once complete, Windows will install over the top of itself, following a similar – but not identical – process to a fresh install. It will restart several times during the process, but can be safely left to its own devices. Expect this to take half an hour or so.

6. Complete repair process

When prompted, enter your product key and click Next. Choose Use Recommended Settings, then work your way through the rest of the set-up wizard verifying your time zone and network settings – click Skip to ignore any irrelevant parts.

Reinstall Windows: A fresh reinstall

A repair installation can fix some problems, but it won't clean up your PC or do much to speed it up.

If all the clean-up tutorials in the world have no effect on your PC's performance, if its reliability is at an all-time low, or you can't even boot into Windows, a complete format and reinstall is – in most cases – the solution.

Formatting your hard drive will erase everything on that drive, so it's important you back up all your data – documents, photos, email, settings and so on – before you begin. Open your backup tool and perform a manual backup to ensure the latest versions of your files are secure.

If you're unable to boot into Windows, or want the security of knowing every possible file on your computer is protected, you will need to take a complete backup – known as a 'drive image' – of your hard drive. If anything goes wrong, simply restore this backup and start again.

Again, the procedure for reinstalling Windows differs depending on whether your computer came with a recovery disc or partition, or a Windows installation disc. As with the repair installation procedure, if you're using built-in recovery options, set this procedure in motion when starting your PC – either boot from the disc or press the key when prompted to access them.

The key difference between this and a repair restore is that you want to perform a 'destructive' recovery – one which wipes all existing data from the Windows partition and returns your computer to the exact state it was in when you first switched it on.

A full reinstall

Reinstalling from the Windows installation disc is reasonably straightforward – unplug any non-essential USB devices such as printers, then pop in your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.

When prompted to press any key to boot from CD or DVD, do so, and the installation process will begin proper.

This process differs depending on whether you're reinstalling Windows XP or Windows Vista/Windows 7. For a complete guide on reinstalling Windows XP you can check out this page which should have all bases covered. Win 7 and Vista users can read on.

After Windows has loaded the basic set-up files you'll be asked to set your language: click the Time and Currency format menu to select English (United Kingdom), which is above the default setting of English (United States). Click Next followed by Install Now to continue.

Windows Vista users will be prompted to enter their product key here – do so before clicking Next. After reading the licence agreement, tick I accept the license terms and click Next again.

When prompted for the installation type, choose Custom (Advanced). A list of your hard drives and partitions will appear – select the one with your current installation and click Drive Options for more options. Click Format, read the warning – this is the point of no return – and click Yes to format the hard drive.

Sit back and wait

Once formatted, click Next and the installation proper will begin. This will take 30 minutes or so depending on the speed of your hard drive.

Once done, Windows will reboot – ignore the prompt to boot from CD or DVD this time – and you're ready to configure your new installation.

Configuration is straightforward: supply a username, a name for your computer (to identify it on your network) and a password for your account. Windows 7 users will then be prompted to enter their product key. Once done, click Use recommended settings to ensure Windows stays up to date, then verify your time zone.

The final stage involves connecting to your network: if Windows installed wireless and/or Ethernet drivers, you'll be prompted to connect to any wireless network. Once done, Windows will complete the set-up process and you'll have a fresh, uncluttered installation to work with.

Restore backups

Once you're back at your desktop, follow the instructions in the post-restore box to bring your computer back to working order.

Once done, the final step is to restore your data and settings using your backup tool. Whether you're using the built-in Backup and Restore tool in Windows, or using your own backup tool, you'll need to manually select your backup – in the case of the Windows Backup tool, after clicking Restore you'll be told the backup can't be found.

Don't panic: choose Select another backup (Windows 7) or Advanced restore > Files from a backup made on a different computer (Windows Vista) to locate it yourself. When you come to restore the backup, the default setting should be to restore the files to their original location, which should be the correct option in most cases.

Once your files have been restored, launch your backup tool again and create a new backup plan to ensure your files are protected in the future.

Before you reinstall: Don't start installing without this checklist

1. Get backed up

Make sure all your important files and settings are backed up – use the Windows Backup tool, or try Comodo Backup 3. Also you can take a fail-safe drive image of your entire hard drive using backup software such as Redo. You can also back up your programs and settings with our handy guide.

2. Source drivers

Make sure you can reconnect to the internet after you've reinstalled Windows: if you're reinstalling from an installation disc, you'll need to download the modem (USB connection), Ethernet (network cable) or wireless drivers from your manufacturer.

3. Verify programs

Make sure you've got any program installation discs and relevant product keys safely written down or backed up. Try Belarc Advisor if you can't find those keys, or be prepared to pay $25 for Recover Keys.

Three reasons to reinstall: Check out the benefits of taking the plunge

1. Speed up

Over time Windows gets bogged down with clutter: too many programs, leftover traces of old programs, redundant files and so on. Reinstalling Windows from scratch clears out all of this rubbish, speeding up your computer as a result.

2. Fix problems

A fresh reinstall fixes most non-hardware related problems. If your PC has reliability issues or crashes regularly, and you've ruled out hardware causes like a faulty power supply or failing hard drive, a reinstall should make it much more stable.

3. Take full control

A clean slate lets you craft Windows to your tastes and needs. Take a drive image once your 'perfect' set-up is in place, and you'll never have to reinstall again – instead, just restore the drive image and bring it up to date.

Reinstall Windows: The ultimate reinstall

One of the biggest hassles when it comes to reinstalling Windows is having to back up and restore data and certain settings each time, because there's always a danger you'll be caught short and miss something, which will never be seen again.

Our recommended – but most complicated – procedure for reinstalling Windows therefore involves splitting off your documents, photographs and other files from Windows by storing them on a separate partition or hard drive.

An increasing number of computers come with the hard drive already split into two partitions, but if you only have a single hard drive visible in Windows you'll need to divide it in two by a process called partitioning.

Partitioning simply consists of a virtual marker being placed somewhere on the drive – on one side it's treated like one virtual disk, on the other, it's another disk.

Keep things separate

Storing your files on the second 'data' partition rather than on the same partition as the operating system insulates them from problems with Windows. Then if Windows goes belly up, you can format your Windows partition and reinstall without worrying about your data, which is kept safe on the data partition.

Note that partitioning your drive isn't a substitute for backing up – you still need to protect your data by storing a separate copy elsewhere, either on a backup drive or online.

Once your hard drive is partitioned, you need to move all your files to your newly created data drive – and although many manufacturers provide a second partition, they often continue to store your data on the same partition as Windows by default, so even if your drive came ready-partitioned, if there's no trace of your data on the D drive, read on.

Transferring your files to your newly created data partition is a pretty simple process. Start by creating a suitably named folder, such as your name or 'My Files' on the new drive. Next, click Start and select your username to open your personal user folder.

Assuming all your key files and settings are stored in these folders, just drag each one across to the folder you've just created on your data drive, where they'll be duplicated. It's possible to store other files and settings here on your new data partition too, including your all-important email messages. If you're running Outlook Express (Windows XP), Windows Mail (Windows Vista) or Windows Live Mail, the process is practically identical.

People running Outlook Express and Windows Mail should choose the Tools > Options > Maintenance tab; Windows Live Mail users should click on the menu button and choose the Options > Mail > Advanced tab, and then click Maintenance.

Next, select Store Folder, click on Change and then browse to and select a suitable folder – such as Email – inside the folder you created earlier. Follow the prompts to move your email messages across, and verify that the messages have moved after you restarted your email program by checking the contents of the Email folder on your data partition, which should no longer be empty.

You should also be able to move your email folders in other email applications too – just check the program's website for details on how to go about moving its data folders to a new location.

Reinstall Windows

Once your data and key settings have been moved to the data partition (usually the D drive), we'd still recommend taking a fail-safe drive image of your Windows partition to ensure no files are lost. You can then reinstall Windows proper following the guide outlined above.

After reinstalling Windows, your drivers and any outstanding updates, the next step is to reinstall your email program if necessary, set it up and repeat the procedure you followed earlier to point it towards the Email folder on your data partition, at which point you should have access to all your email messages again.

Next, open your User folder. People running Windows XP should now right-click on My Documents and select Properties; Windows Vista and Windows 7 users should right-click on Documents and select Properties > Location tab. Click the Move button and browse to your newly created partition or data drive. When prompted, click Yes to transfer your data to this new drive.

Now click OK and double-click on the Documents folder – you should see all the files that you've transferred to the data partition appear, indicating the process has been successful. Windows 7 and Windows Vista users should now repeat the process for other folders, including Pictures, Music and Videos.

With these changes in place, take a drive image of your finished set-up – when you next want to reinstall Windows from scratch, simply restore this drive image instead. It'll speed up the reinstallation process considerably – once that's done, all you have to do is download any Windows and driver updates released since the drive image was taken – plus it will ensure you never have to worry about taking a fresh backup of your data or key settings prior to reinstalling Windows again.

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In Depth: Best browser 2012: which should you be using?

2012-01-26T08:34:00.001-08:00

In Depth: Best browser 2012: which should you be using?

TechRadar: All latest feeds

Best browser 2012: which should you choose?

Competition among browsers is more fierce than ever.

Google's knocking out new versions of Chrome at an alarming rate, Mozilla's been pulling nightshifts to improve Firefox, and Microsoft's rejuvenated IE team is doing great things with its browser.

There are great browsers from Opera and Apple too, not to mention mobile browsers for smartphones and tablets.

So which browser should you be using?

Let's find out which ones offer the best blend of power, expandability and all-round awesomeness.

The best browser for speed

We tested the latest official releases of the big browsers: IE9, Safari 5.1, Firefox 9, Chrome 16 and Opera 11.6 to see how they performed on the desktop. All of the big browsers deliver speedy browsing, but there are still differences when it comes to things such as JavaScript performance, which affects the speed at which web apps and complex websites work.

In the Sunspider JavaScript benchmarks Firefox left its rivals in the dust, storming through the tests in a hugely impressive 189.4ms. Safari was next with 219.6ms, followed by IE9 (247.9ms), Opera (254.3ms) and Chrome (291.0ms). We saw similar results in Windows Vista, with Firefox narrowly pipping its rivals to take first place.

These figures are based on brand new installations without any plugins, extensions or similar: once you start loading your browser up with goodies, performance is likely to take a nose-dive.

WOW: Firefox is the speed king on Windows and on OS X, but there isn't much in it: all the browsers are swift

The best browser for add-ons

You can get add-ons for all the main browsers, but Firefox has the edge here: its huge number of add-ons and Greasemonkey scripts mean that its reputation as the Swiss Army Knife of web browsers is well deserved. It's far and away the most expandable web browser, and it's got the best browser sync features too. Bear in mind, though, that all of the main browsers are expandable, and while some - such as Safari - don't have enormous libraries of add-ons, you can still get the essential ones such as ad blockers, Twitter utilities and Gmail notifiers.

Opera deserves a special mention here because it's more than just a browser. It has integrated email, newsgroups and IRC chat, the Opera Unite file server, Opera Turbo to improve performance on crappy mobile connections, and Sidebar-style widgets for games, web applications and utilities.

The best browser for Windows 7

Safari's the first to fall here: it just looks odd on Windows, and doesn't offer anything over its rivals. IE9 and Opera are both very nice to use on Windows 7 and make good use of taskbar pinning and jump lists, but Firefox has the edge in both speed and expandability and it's our pick here.

UNEXPECTED?: Opera's a joy to use and worth considering if you like the idea of widgets, integrated email and file sharing

The best browser for Windows Vista

IE9 flies on Vista - it hammered through Sunspider in 193.7ms - but Firefox is faster still, scoring 192.2ms in the same benchmarks. Safari ran through the benchmarks in 224.4ms, Chrome 246.6ms, and Opera in 251.2ms. Firefox isn't just the speediest browser on Vista, but the most expandable too.

The best browser for Windows XP

Internet Explorer takes an early bath here, because Microsoft doesn't make IE9 for its ageing OS. That leaves Safari 5.1, Firefox 9, Chrome 16 and Opera 11.6; of the four, Chrome demands the least RAM and hard disk space, making it the best bet for older XP systems. That means Chrome's the best browser for netbooks too: its more modest hardware requirements are a boon on relatively low-spec machines.

The best browser for OS X

Firefox was massively in the lead on OS X Lion, rocketing through Sunspider in 153.8ms compared to Safari's 209.2ms, Opera's 214.7ms and Chrome's 225.3. However, it's worth noting that while Safari's figures look good on paper, they don't reflect the way it chugged through the benchmarks as if it were wading through treacle.

Firefox's speed is countered by what we think is a faintly horrible interface. If that isn't your top priority then Firefox is the best browser for Mac users; if it annoys you, then Opera or Chrome is a better bet. While Safari is a perfectly decent browser, its rivals performed better in our tests.

The best browser for privacy

All of the browsers we tested had excellent privacy protection including private browsing and warnings of suspicious web pages, but IE9 is marginally ahead of the pack here: its tracking protection enables you to subscribe to lists that tell specific kinds of websites not to track you, which is potentially more useful than a global "do not track" option.

The best browser for HTML5

All of the main browsers support the important bits of HTML5, but when it comes to full standards support Chrome and Firefox are in the lead by a significant margin. According to the excellent Caniuse.com, Firefox and Chrome score 89% for HTML5 standards support, with Safari at 78%, Opera 74% and IE9 52%. If you add CSS support into the equation the scores are 87% for Firefox and Chrome, 83% for Safari, 75% for Opera and 59% for IE.

LAGGING BEHIND: All the browsers support key HTML5 features, but IE9 lags behind when it comes to full standards support

The best browser for Android

The stock Android browser is pretty good, but we think Opera Mobile has the edge for smartphones: it's got a lovely interface, goes like the clappers - we've previously described it as "comically fast" on decent kit - and synchronises well with its desktop cousin. On tablets, the standard browser is still our preferred option: while Dolphin for Pad and Firefox are looking pretty nifty, they're both still in beta.

CACHE KING: Opera Mobile for Android is particularly good on mobile phones. It's "comically fast" on decent kit

The best browser for iPad

The lack of tabs in Apple's Safari drove us daft on the original iPad, but now it's got tabbed browsing and iCloud syncing we think it's the best browser on the platform, especially on the iPad 2: in our experience it's faster and more reliable than iCab Mobile, considerably nicer to look at than Atomic Browser, and less likely to dump you back to the home screen for no good reason than non-Apple browsers.

NATIVE THE BEST: Tabbed browsing and iCloud synchronisation make Apple's own Safari the best bet for iPad owners

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How to backup your Mac App Store apps

2012-01-23T13:44:00.001-08:00

How to backup your Mac App Store apps

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

The excellent ReadNow application, which allows you to easily read articles from your Instapaper and Read It Later articles on your Mac, has been pulled from the Mac App Store "...because of an infringement letter." Developer Michael Schneider added "[i]n my current situation I'm not allowed to provide any further information."

The good news is that if you have already purchased the app, you can still download it from the "Purchases" tab in the App Store.app even though the iTunes page for ReadNow now leads to the message, "Your request could not be completed."

However, as I waited for the Mac App Store to load on my iMac this morning, I found myself wondering "What would I do if I couldn't re-download it from the Mac App Store?"

Fortunately I have the app on my MacBook Air, so I could go to /Applications/ReadNow.app and then select File » Compress "Read Now" (or control+click the app and choose "Compress" from the menu).

Terminal option

If you wanted to make a copy of ReadNow (or any app) on the command line, I believe that your best option is using ditto like this:

sudo ditto -v --keepParent -kc ReadNow.app ReadNow.zip

(I don't claim to be a ditto expert, but I can tell you that worked for me. The -k option tells ditto to make zip archives. The --rsrc --extattr and --qtn options are all the default, so they don't need to be explicitly specified.)

I then copied the 'ReadNow.zip' file to my Dropbox so I would have it, just in case Apple removes the option to download it.

This should work for all Mac App Store apps (Xcode and "Install Lion" excepted), but may not work for other apps which use an installer and may install other files besides the ones in /Applications/.

Show me all of my Mac App Store apps

Speaking of the command line, if you want to see a list of all the Mac App Store apps that you have installed on your computer, you can run this command in Terminal.app:

find /Applications \
-path '*Contents/_MASReceipt/receipt' \
-maxdepth 4 -print |\
sed 's#.app/Contents/_MASReceipt/receipt#.app#g; s#/Applications/##'

Note: this won't show you Xcode, because Xcode is an unusual case. It is an installer which installs Xcode and then the installer is removed.

An ounce of prevention

There has been no indication that Apple will remove ReadNow from your list of Purchased apps, I just wanted to have a backup 'just in case.' Hopefully the "infringement letter" issue will be settled soon and it will be available again. However, if the iOS App Store is any indication, eventually jettisoned apps will become unavailable for re-download. Also, the upcoming sandboxing requirements may lead to some existing applications being removed.

As always, it's good to have your own backups rather than relying on being able to re-download anything from "the cloud." I wrote a small shell script which will look in /Applications/ for any applications which have the Mac App Store receipt, and create a .zip file for each of them. (While I have tested it myself and it works for me, YMMV, use only at your own risk, etc.)

To use it, download the script to your Desktop (or wherever) and then run:

chmod 755 ~/Desktop/backupmas.sh

And then run it via

~/Desktop/backupmas.sh

(Obviously if you saved it somewhere else, use that path instead of ~/Desktop/.)

It may ask for your administrator password. If so, that's the one you use to log in to your computer, not your Mac App Store password.

How to backup your Mac App Store apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Week's Reading - 20120123

2012-01-23T07:20:00.001-08:00

Five apps for crapware cleanup | TechRepublic

Five tools for getting rid of duplicate files | TechRepublic

DIY: Two-step process for blocking spam in WordPress | TechRepublic

5 Ways to Encourage Responsible, Productive Behavior in Your Kids | PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement

Daily Mac App: AirBeam

http://www.wimp.com/mountaintop/ - Crazy mountain top motorcycle ride!

10 problems with outsourcing IT | TechRepublic

Article: Windows Server 2008 R2: Optimize the Branch Office Experience | TechNet Magazine

2012-01-20T12:55:00.001-08:00

Windows Server 2008 R2: Optimize the Branch Office Experience | TechNet Magazine
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/hh750393.aspx

Windows Server 2008 R2: Optimize the Branch Office Experience

Using BranchCache and read-only domain controllers can help you ensure a smooth experience for your branch office users.

Brien M. Posey

Branch offices always present a special set of challenges. Without an on-site IT staff, branch offices tend to be more difficult to manage and secure. Employees at branch offices often experience slow response times when they try to access resources stored on servers located at the main office. There are several features in Windows Server 2008 R2 that directly address the unique performance and security needs of branch office environments.

BranchCache

BranchCache helps alleviate some of the WAN congestion that occurs when users try to access data from the corporate network over a WAN connection. BranchCache does this by locally caching frequently used data so it doesn't need to retrieve it across the WAN every time it's requested.

To use BranchCache, all of the workstations in the branch office must be running Windows 7. All file servers and Web servers in the main office must be running Windows Server 2008 R2.

There are two different modes available when using BranchCache. The mode you should use depends largely on the size of your branch office. If your branch office has fewer than 50 users, you won't need a BranchCache server. Instead, you can run BranchCache and Distributed Cache Mode. In this mode, each Windows 7 workstation is able to cache network contents and provide access to the cache to the branch office users.

The primary limitation to using Distributed Cache Mode is that it only supports a single subnet at the branch office. If your branch office uses multiple subnets, then each Windows 7 workstation will only be able to provide caching data to other workstations within the same subnet.

The other BranchCache mode is better suited for larger branch offices; it's called Hosted Cache Mode. In this mode, BranchCache resides on a designated Windows Server 2008 R2 machine. Each Windows 7 workstation has a fully qualified domain name of the server to which it should look for the cached content.

BranchCache is disabled by default in Windows Server 2008 R2. To enable BranchCache, open Server Manager on your BranchCache server, click on the Features container, and then click on the Add Features link. Choose the BranchCache option from the list of available features (see Figure 1), click Next, followed by Install and Close.

Figure 1 You have to enable and configure BranchCache as a feature.

Configuring the BranchCache Server

The exact method of BranchCache configuration you'll need to do will vary depending on the types of content you want to cache. BranchCache can cache file server data, Intranet Server data or BITS application server data. Because caching file server data is the most common use for BranchCache, I'll cover the file server configuration process.

The first step in configuring BranchCache to cache file server data is to enable the BranchCache for Network Files role service on your file servers. Do this on any Windows Server 2008 R2 file server containing data you need to cache. Do this by adding the BranchCache for Network Files role service to the File Server role (see Figure 2).

Figure 2 You'll need to add the BranchCache for Network Files role service to your file servers.

The next step in the process is to use Group Policy to configure the BranchCache server. Assuming you have a single BranchCache server, you can do this in the BranchCache server's local security policy.

Open the Group Policy Editor and navigate through the console tree to Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Network | Lanman Server. Double-click on Hash Publication for BranchCache setting and click Enabled. You'll have to choose either Allow Hash Publications for All File Shares or the Allow Hash Publication for File Shares Tagged with Windows BranchCache Support option (see Figure 3). After making your selection, click OK.

Figure 3 You must allow hash publication for file shares.

While you're at the BranchCache Server, you should also configure the amount of hard disk space available for cached content. By default, BranchCache uses up to five percent of available hard disk space. You may want to increase this amount, especially if you have a dedicated server. Setting the disk space limits involves registry editing, so make a full system backup prior to editing the registry. Making a mistake while editing the registry can destroy Windows.

Open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters. Double-click on the HashStorageLimitPercent value. Specify how much of the server's hard disk space you want to use for cached data (see Figure 4). Enter the value as a percentage. You'll need to create a HashStorageLimitPercent value if one doesn't already exist.

Figure 4 You can use the system registry to regulate the amount of disk space that's used by BranchCache.

The last server-side configuration task is to set the BranchCache support tag on your file shares. To do so, right-click on a file share and select the Properties command from the shortcut menu. When the properties sheet for the file share is displayed, select the Sharing tab and click the Advanced Sharing button, followed by the Caching button. Select the Only the Files and Programs that Users Specify Are Available Offline option, as well as the Enable BranchCache option (see Figure 5), then click OK.

Figure 5 You must enable BranchCache on each individual file share for which you want to allow caching.

Configuring BranchCache Clients

Once you've enabled BranchCache on your server, you'll have to configure the clients in the branch office. The best way to do this is to modify the Group Policy for the computers in the branch office.

Use the Group Policy Editor to open the group policy that controls the security settings for your branch office. Navigate through the policy tree to Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Network | BranchCache. You'll see several group policy settings related to BranchCache. Double click on the Turn on BranchCache setting, click Enabled, then OK. Next, double-click on Turn on BranchCache – Hosted Cache Mode and click Enabled, then OK.

You'll also have to enable the BranchCache for Network Files setting. When you enable this setting, you have the option of specifying a latency value (in milliseconds) above which files should be cached. In other words, you have the option of only caching files that take a while to access. This is handy if you have a file server in the branch office and only want to cache content being pulled from a remote file server, or if you only want to cache very large files.

Depending on how your network is configured, you might also have to create a firewall rule to facilitate using BranchCache. In hosted cache mode, you must configure clients to accept HTTP traffic from the BranchCache server.

Read-Only Domain Controllers

Read-only domain controllers (RODCs) can also help optimize the end-user experience in branch offices. Every version of Windows Server since Windows 2000 Server has used a multi-master domain model. This means you can write changes to the Active Directory of any DC and the DC will replicate the changes to the other DCs within the domain.

However, you can't directly update the copy of the Active Directory database stored on an RODC. You're only allowed to write updates to writable DCs. Those updates are then replicated to all other DCs in the domain, including RODCs.

There are two main reasons why RODCs are beneficial for branch office support. The first reason has to do with availability. DCs authenticate user logon requests. If a branch office doesn't have a local DC, then those users are forced to authenticate against a DC in the main office. Not only is this slow, but if the WAN link fails, then users in the branch office won't be able to access a DC.

Placing a DC in the branch office can help avoid this situation. If a WAN link fails, users can still authenticate onto the network. The problem with setting up a DC in a branch office is the lack of adequate physical security. Often times, the DC is simply set up in a closet with no real physical security and no on-site support.

RODCs are ideal for use in these types of situations. They're hardened in a way that helps make up for the lack of physical security. The most obvious security feature RODCs offer is the read-only copy of the Active Directory database.

Because the database copy is read-only, you won't have to worry about someone gaining physical access to the DC, manipulating the Active Directory, and replicating unauthorized modifications across the network. The only changes to the database occur when authorized DCs replicate updates to the RODC.

Another way RODCs improve branch office security is by storing an incomplete copy of the Active Directory database. The Active Directory database normally contains the credentials for all of the domain's user and computer accounts. However, RODCs don't store any user or computer credentials by default. When a user authenticates, a password replication policy determines whether to cache the user's password on the RODC.

Caching passwords ensures the RODC is able to process user logons. It prevents the DC from having a full set of cached credentials for that domain. Only branch office users where the RODC resides should have their credentials cached.

While you can improve the security of the RODC by leaving credential caching disabled, doing so may defeat the purpose of deploying an RODC. All authentication requests would then have to be processed by a writable DC.

Deploying an RODC

Before you can deploy an RODC, make sure the forest functional level of the Active Directory is set to Windows Server 2003 or later. You'll also need to use ADPREP to prepare the Active Directory forest (ADPREP/ForestPrep) and the domain that will contain the RODC (ADPREP/DomainPrep /gpprep).

If the domain is presently running on Windows Server 2003 DCs, then you'll also need to run ADPREP with the /rodcprep switch. Incidentally, you'll also need to deploy at least one writable Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2 DC prior to deploying your first RODC.

Otherwise, the actual deployment process for RODCs is simple. When you run Dcpromo to promote the server to a DC, the wizard contains a check box you can use to make the server an RODC (see Figure 6).

Figure 6 Select the option to make the domain controller read-only.

The Password Replication Policy will control whether user credentials are stored on the RODC. This policy is essentially a list that controls the users and groups that are allowed to have their credentials replicated. As you build the list, you can either allow or deny the ability to replicate a user or group's password.

You should avoid replicating administrative passwords. You should also create an Active Directory security group for users whose passwords you want to replicate. Then you can allow replication for that group instead of dealing with each user individually. Keep in mind that denials take precedence over approvals in the event of policy setting contradictions.

You can access the Password Replication Policy by opening the Active Directory Users and Computers console. Expand the DCs container, right-click on your RODC and choose the Properties command from the shortcut menu. Then you'll see the properties sheet for the RODC. You can manage the Password Replication Policy through the Password Replication Policy tab (see Figure 7).

Figure 7 You have the option of authorizing the replication of user credentials.

WAN bandwidth congestion can be a major issue for branch offices. Using BranchCache and locally deployed RODCs can significantly reduce WAN bandwidth usage, while also improving security. Both of those factors can help you improve the branch office experience for your users.

Brien M. Posey is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and freelance technical writer with thousands of articles and dozens of books to his credit. You can visit his Web site at brienposey.com.

Another LinkedIn Question-Answer

2012-01-18T12:15:00.001-08:00

The following question was posted on LinkedIn in the Apple Professionals group:

Microsoft Exchange Online in a Mac-centric Environment?

Hi all,

My consulting firm has traditionally recommended Google Apps for clients that want to use a hosted email/calendar/contact solution instead of running their own servers. However, the current inability to delete Google calendar events in iCal is driving some clients crazy, and the weirdness that is Google contact syncing in Address Book has been an ongoing pain.

With the very strong Exchange support in iOS and OS X Lion (and to a slightly lesser extent Snow Leopard), we're considering recommending hosted Exchange solutions instead. I was wondering if anyone here has experience with Microsoft's hosted Exchange offering (Exchange Online), good, bad, or ugly. Tales of joy and/or woe are all accepted!

I recently setup a small office with about 10 users on Office365 (Microsoft's own hosted Exchange/SharePoint platform) and it's been stellar. The users are mostly Windows desktops/laptops and all iPhones/iPads and it's as good or better than running your own Exchange server. Mail quota is 25GB per user and it's priced at $6/per user per month, which is quite reasonable and competitive with the commercial version of Google Apps. I've connected Apple Mail, iPhones, Outlook for Windows (2007 & 2010) & Mac (2011) to it with no issues and the web mail interface is very robust including the ability for users to remotely wipe lost phones.

If you or your users are used to having Exchange-level functionality, it makes a strong case. The others are fine products but the pricing Microsoft introduced with Office365 makes it extremely competitive and not to sound like a Microsoft pundit but it's the real thing.

Based on my experience, which includes administering Exchange versions through the current, it gives you the full functionality you'd expect of running Exchange yourself with much lower maintenance and cost.

Recent LinkedIn Question About a small office server

2012-01-18T10:47:00.001-08:00

On Linked in in the Apple Professionals group the following question appeared and I posted my suggestions:

I am looking to set up a small mac/cloud network for my office with about 5 staff members using iphones for diary/tasks/email/storage should i invest a server or just run it from a iMac?

Personally, for an office your size, I'd do a combination of hosted and local. For e-mail and collaborating with external users (clients or vendors), it's hard to beat hosted Google Apps (still free if you have 10 or fewer users and the basic feature-set is sufficient). I also setup a client with Office365 which works great and gives you native Outlook (Mac & Windows) connectivity and functionality.

You will still likely also need some local server functionality, at least file services and for that I also vote for the Mac Mini Server. I have one of the current models but replaced one of the two internal hard drives with an OWC SSD drive for the operating system (much faster and theoretically more reliable) and house the user/web/shares on the other internal drive. For more storage, you can add a Drobo or better yet, if budget allows it, the Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt array. Don't forget to back it up and if you're using Open Directory, Time Machine isn't sufficient, you'll need to use something like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy.

Windows 7 Clients and Latency-Slowness Saving to and Accessing Network Files

2012-01-18T10:23:00.001-08:00

We recently had an issue with a client site after deploying several Apple iMacs running Bootcamp with Windows 7 x64. The environment includes two file servers, one housing the mapped shared drive and redirected Desktop and My Documents and the other housing flat files for a company specific application with a fat client installed locally and the clients access the files on the second file server. The shared drive and redirected homes is a Windows Server 2008 x64 (original release) patched to SP2 with all updates and the application specific file server is Windows Server 2003 x64.

Usually after 15 - 60 minutes of operation the clients would experience significant latency in opening network files or saving to the network locations. We tried lots of things short of turning off redirected folders, including disabling offline folder syncing.

I eventually stumbled across this thread on the Technet site and toward the bottom is a post by camelCasus that mentions this:

Clients are a mix of WinXP and Win 7 and Office 2003/2007/2010 in all possible combinations (except 2010 on WinXP) and experienced serious delays in opening and often also closing of Word and Excel files not matching the expected speed of the setup with GBit ethernet all over.
For the Win 7 clients with Office 2007/2010 solution was this (turning on the Web Client) in combination with switching off indexing of off-line files as suggested by James Nelson.
For the Win 7 clients with Office 2003 and WinXP clients, this didn't change much (for WinXP the Web Client was already set to Automatic). However, turning off OFV (Office File Validation) made the trick. This is explained here next to the bottom:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg985445%28office.12%29.aspx
<quote>
To prevent Office File Validation from validating files you must create the following registry key and assign it a value of “0” for the specified application in Office 2003 or Office 2007:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\<11.0 or 12.0>\<application>\Security\FileValidation, where <11.0 or 12.0> represents the version of Office and where <application> represents the specific Office application for which Office File Validation is installed, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
All necessary parameters for configuring the registry key are listed as follows:
Value: EnableOnLoad
Type: REG_DWORD
Default: 2
Description: Disable Office File Validation
0 = Don’t validate
1 = Validate
2 = Validate unless called via object model

</quote>
For Office 2010 replace the key above (11.0 or 12.0) with 14.0
Thanks for all the contributions to this thread! I can't imagine how I otherwise should have come across the Web Client and indexing of off-line files.
/gustav

I then enabled Automatic start up of the Web Client service on the affected computers and created a GPO covering the parent OU of the relevant computers to disable offline folder indexing.

The initial reports are good from the users.

Interestingly, we support several environments with Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit clients) and varying servers from 2003 to 2008R2 and in only one have we encountered this.

Understanding FSMO Roles in Server 2008 Active Directory

2012-01-17T22:35:00.001-08:00

Understanding FSMO Roles in Server 2008 Active Directory

Petri IT Knowledgebase

Overview

FSMO stands for Flexible Single Master Operations, and FSMO roles (also known as operations master roles) help you prevent conflicts in your Active Directory.

In this article we'll examine the difference between the single and multi-master models in Windows Server 2000, 2003 and 2008 and we'll go through what you need to know about the different FSMO roles. We'll also take a look at FSMO reliability and availability and what's new with FSMO in Windows Server 2008.

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Windows 2000/2003/2008 Multi-Master Model

For most Active Directory objects, the task of updating can be performed by any Domain Controller except those Domain Controllers that are read-only. Updates such as computer object properties, renamed organizational units, and user account password resets can be handled by any writable domain controller.

Also see » Test drive Mailscape: Exchange tool named "Best Messaging Product of the Year"

After an object is changed on one domain controller, those changes are propagated to the other domain controllers through replication. During replication all of the Domain Controllers share their updates. So a user that has their password reset in one part of the domain may have to wait until those changes are replicated to the Domain Controller that they are signing in from.

This model works very well for most objects. In the case of any conflicts, such as a user's password being reset by both the central helpdesk as well as an administrator working at the user's site, then conflicts are resolved by whichever made the last change. However, there are some changes that are too important, and are not well suited to this model.

Windows 2000/2003/2008 Single-Master Model

There are 5 specific types of updates to Active Directory that are very specific, and conflicts should be avoided. To help alleviate any potential conflicts, those updates are all performed on a single Domain Controller. And though each type of update must be performed on a single Domain Controller, they do not all have to be handled by the same Domain Controller.

These types of updates are handled by Domain Controllers Flexible Single Master Operations roles, or FSMO roles. Each of the five roles is assigned to only one domain controller.

There are five of these FSMO roles in every forest. They are:

Schema Master
Domain Naming Master
Infrastructure Master
Relative ID (RID) Master
Primary Domain Controller (PDC) Emulator

Additionally, three of those FSMO roles are needed once in every domain in the forest:

Infrastructure Master
Relative ID (RID) Master
Primary Domain Controller (PDC) Emulator

Here is what you need to know about the different FSMO roles.

• All Schema Changes and Updates to Active Directory are Processed by the DC with the Schema Master Role

Whenever the schema is modified at all, those updates are always completed by the domain controller with the schema master role. Schema is updated during the normal replication, and the schema updates are replicated throughout all the domains in the forest. Since the schema master role is only needed once in the forest, it is kept in the forest root domain. It's advisable to place the schema master role on the same domain controller (DC) as the primary domain controller (PDC) emulator.

• Changes to Which Domains are Part of the Forest are Processed by the DC with the Domain Naming Master Role

As domains join or leave the forest, the domain naming master makes the updates into active directory. Only this DC actually commits those changes into the directory. The domain naming master also commits the changes to application partitions. Like the schema master role, this role is a forest level FSMO, and it is only needed once across all domains in a forest. Also like the schema master, it is suggested to let this role be handled by the same domain controller – the PDC emulator in the forest root.

• Each Domain in a Forest Translates Names for Other Domains Through Their Infrastructure Master

The infrastructure master is a translator, between globally unique identifiers (GUIDs), security identifiers (SIDs), and distinguished names (DNs) for foreign domain objects. If you've ever looked at group memberships of a domain local group which has members from other domains, you can sometimes see those users and groups from the other domain listed only by their SID. The infrastructure master of the domain of which those accounts are in is responsible for translating those from a SID into their name.

Each domain has their own infrastructure master, including the forest root and every child domain. Usually, you do not put the infrastructure master role on a domain that holds the global catalog. However, if you're in a single domain forest, the infrastructure master has no work to do, since there is no translation of foreign principals. In that case it's acceptable to place the infrastructure master it on any domain controller (DC), even if it has the global catalog. For a forest with multiple domains, if there's even one domain controller that doesn't have the global catalog on it, then you need to put the infrastructure master role on a domain controller that does not have the global catalog.

• The Unique Part of a Security Identifier is Assigned from the Relative ID (RID) Master

One of the first things understood about a security identifier (SID) is that they are unique. There are two parts of a SID: the domain identifier (domain ID), and the relative ID (RID). The domain identifier part of the SID is uniform among all security principals in the domain. When looking at a list of SIDs in a domain, it's easy to identify the domain SIDs – they all look the same. On the contrary, the relative ID part of the SID is the unique part. The two parts together make up what we commonly identify as a SID.

It is conceivable, then, that if two or more domain controllers were responsible for determining the relative IDs for the SIDs that two domain controllers may come up with the same relative ID for two different objects before they've replicated with each other.

That is impossible when only one DC in a domain is responsible for the creation of the relative IDs for SIDs. The relative ID master, or RID master, hands out batches of relative IDs to individual domain controllers, then each domain controller can use their allotment to create new users, groups, and computers. When domain controllers need more relative IDs in reserve, they request them from, and are assigned by, the domain controller with the RID master FSMO role.

Every domain in a forest must have a domain controller with the RID master FSMO role assigned to it. It is recommended that the RID master FSMO role be assigned to whichever domain controller has the PDC emulator FSMO role.

• The Domain Controller (DC) That is the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) Emulator is the Authoritative DC in a Domain

The domain controller that has the PDC emulator FSMO role assigned to it has many duties and responsibilities in the domain. For example, the DC with the PDC emulator role is the DC that updates passwords for users and computers. When a user attempts to login, and enters a bad password, it's the DC with the PDC emulator FSMO role that is consulted to determine if the password has been changed without the replica DC's knowledge. The PDC emulator is also the default domain controller for many administrative tools, and is likewise the default DC used when Group Policies are updated.

Additionally, it's the PDC emulator which maintains the accurate time that the domain is regulated by. It's the time on the PDC emulator which identifies when the last write time for an object was (to resolve conflicts, for example.) If it's a forest with multiple domains, then the forest root PDC is the authoritative time source for all domains in the forest.

Each domain in the forest needs its own PDC emulator.

FSMO Reliability and Availability

Due to the importance of the FSMO roles, the domain controllers need to be online at the time the services are needed. For some of the FSMO roles, such as schema master, this is not very much. It only needs to be online when the schema is updated. For other roles, such as the PDC emulator, it needs to be online and accessible all the time.

Ideally, you put the PDC emulator on the domain controller with the best hardware available, and ensure that it's in a reliable hub site. It should have other domain controllers in the same active directory domain and site to replicate with. Then, to reduce administration and complexity, you also assign at least some of the other FSMO roles to the same DC – the RID master to the PDC of each domain, and the schema master and domain naming master the PDC of the forest root.

In the event that a DC with one of the FSMO roles is unavailable, especially the PDC emulator, it is critical for the domain to get that FSMO role back. If, for example, you know that the PDC emulator is going to have to be turned off for scheduled maintenance, you should transfer the FSMO role to a different domain controller. In the unfortunate event that the PDC emulator has crashed and is now down with an unplanned outage, you will have domain errors until the PDC emulator is bought back online. If you cannot get the PDC emulator back online, you may have to seize the FSMO role to another domain controller. It is always better to transfer ahead of time then have to seize the role after a crash. Seizing a role should be done only as a last resort. In the event of a seizure, you cannot ever bring the DC that previously held the role back online.

New with Windows Server 2008 Active Directory is the ability to designate ahead of time a standby operations master. This domain controller is connected directly to the primary operations master role holders through replication to

Summary

When updating a part of Active Directory is too critical of an operation to risk a conflict, Windows Active Directory Domains utilize a single-server model to provide updates to those services. The right to update or perform certain duties in Active Directory is granted to domain controllers through the assignment of one of the Flexible Single-Master roles, or FSMO roles.

There are five FSMO roles. Two of them, schema master and domain naming master, are only assigned once in the forest, in the domain at the forest root. The other three FSMO roles: RID master, PCD emulator, and the infrastructure master, are assigned in each domain, typically all to the same domain controller.

The availability requirements of the domain controller with an FSMO role are dependent on the role. For example, the schema master may be offline without causing any concern until an update to the schema is attempted. FSMO roles can be transferred to another domain controller to improve performance or to allow for continued access during a scheduled outage. In the event of an unscheduled outage, FSMO roles may be seized as a last resort.

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This Week's Reading - 20120116

2012-01-17T21:49:00.001-08:00

How to cope with HTML5's dueling standards bodies - ComputerWorld

12 effective habits of indispensible IT pros - ComputerWorld

The top 10 tech priorities of CIOs - Computerworld

News Analysis: Why Americans Think the Tax Rate is High, and Why They’re Wrong - NY Times, really interesting read

Akai MPC Fly turns iPads into beat machines - TechRadar

Gary Marshall: Dear Apple: hands off our books! - TechRadar

10 best iOS apps for keeping in touch | News | TechRadar

Security+ Social Engineering – Video Lesson

2012-01-16T12:04:00.001-08:00

Security+ Social Engineering – Video Lesson

Petri IT Knowledgebase

Overview

In this lesson, you will get to know the basics of social engineering, be familiar with the most commonly used techniques, and learn how you can best safeguard your organization from these types of attacks.

(Instructional video below provides a walkthrough of the steps contained in this article.)

Social Engineering

Because social engineers largely build on the gullibility, enthusiasm, and in general, the desire of most individuals to please, it's very hard to defend against a social engineering attack. In most cases, the victims, i.e. company employees and even executives, don't even realize that they've been duped.

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Those who utilize social engineering in attacking a company have similar objectives as that of any other type of fraudster: to gain access to the company's money, sensitive information, and/or IT resources. Or, they may simply be motivated by curiosity or the desire to sabotage.

Also see » A Case Study of Outback Steakhouse

A social engineer may therefore be anyone who has something to gain from getting hold of important data - counterfeiters, hackers, competitors,or even an ex-employee who has an axe to grind against the company. For these people, social engineering strategies may yet provide the perfect recipe for them to wreak havoc.

It is thus imperative for company employees to be aware of the various social engineering techniques employed by fraudulent individuals and how they should react accordingly when faced with these types of scenarios.

So let's get on with the all-important question - just what is social engineering?

Social Engineering: An Overview

Social engineering is defined as the art of manipulating people into divulging confidential information or performing certain actions that could lead to the disclosure of or access to the sensitive information. Rather than using conventional hacking techniques to break into a system, a social engineer makes use of psychological trickery on legitimate users to obtain the data he needs to gain access to the system.

Social engineering is basically a con game where the attacker resorts to all kinds of strategies to get the person - an authorized employee, for instance - to trust him. Once this person's defenses are lowered, it's easy enough for the fraudster to get the information he wants. In doing this, he can use both technical or non-technical methods.

Companies spend huge sums on technical controls such as authentication systems and intrusion prevention systems but the truth is, all this would be for naught if users will bypass these controls and hand over the crucial information to attackers.

If you therefore think about it, security all boils down to trust. Organizations rely on their protection and authenticity systems to keep intruders away, but they often fail to take into account a person's tendency to easily trust. This is why the human willingness to accept another person at his word is considered by experts as the weakest link in the security chain.

There are many reasons why social engineering works.

On top of the list is fear - fear of authority, of doing something wrong, or of making someone angry. Some give in out of plain laziness or complacency. Then there are those who are motivated by the desire to obtain rewards or money that attackers may promise. Others simply want to be of help especially when being helpful is the nature of their job as with receptionists or help desk employees, and some just easily fall for flattery and distraction.

But the one crucial factor that really makes social engineering work, encompassing all of the other reasons given, is the lack of awareness.

This is why the need for awareness and education can never be overemphasized. An uninformed employee is the most vulnerable to a social engineering attack. Not only do you need to teach about social engineering, you also have to teach them to be less nice.

A company's awareness and education program should therefore include clear policies and procedures on social engineering. For instance, employees should be aware of the steps that are to be taken in determining whether visitors in the company premises are indeed authorized. Social engineering mitigation need to be written into job descriptions and included in the company's quarterly goals and objectives.

In addition, companies are also advised to have mandatory training on social engineering and a routine for continued training and reminders. After all, the social engineering strategies currently being utilized may be tweaked from time to time, thus, awareness programs have to be kept fresh and up-to-date.

Social engineering awareness programs should also be part of new hire training, and prominently featured in monthly newsletters and on posters and fliers in the office.

One last tip: make it safe for employees to report if they have been duped. You'd want to know of a social engineering attack sooner rather than later.

Now let's proceed with the different types of social engineering.

Impersonation

Impersonation can only be pulled off successfully by an attacker with some pretexting. This means creating an invented scenario that carries a sense of urgency to pressure the victim into doing something he will not do or revealing information he will not divulge under normal circumstances.

Impersonation can be done over the phone where the attacker can pretend to be:

A fellow employee or boss needing immediate information;
An authority figure (like a fire marshal or building inspector) requesting for entry into the building;
A survey taker asking about the operating systems or computer software the company is using, and even
A potential customer purportedly getting to know the company first before doing business with them.

With any of these impersonators, the tone used could either be extremely nice and polite, or very urgent and in desperate need of information.

To counter against these methods, employee training should include a clear definition of what type of information should never be told over the phone. Equally important, a help desk personnel should also require proper identification before accommodating a request for password reset.

Impersonation can also be done in person where the attacker poses as an employee, a maintenance person, or a delivery guy. Employees should be trained to verify if any of these outsiders have in fact been requested for by authorized personnel and are allowed to enter. And even if their identities are properly verified, non-employees should still be escorted when inside the building.

One last note on impersonation: whether on the phone or in person, one of the most successful social engineering techniques is impersonating a technical expert. This is something that both staff members and executives should be warned about.

Tailgating

Tailgating is when a person passes through a security checkpoint without using his own credentials. The attacker enters a restricted area by simply walking behind a person with legitimate access.

You've probably seen this happen in apartment buildings where a tenant uses his key or swipe card to gain entry, while someone else considerately holds the door open and follows inside. More often than not, the tenant would be too polite to ask whether that person is a resident too or has a legitimate reason for being there. The two can even exchange smiles or pleasantries, but the truth is, that stranger could be somebody who intends to harm.

The same thing is only too common in the workplace as well. No matter how sophisticated or state-of-the-art your security system is, it is completely useless if someone can just tailgate his way through it.

Now the term piggybacking is one that's closely related to tailgating, though not used as often. Piggybacking is commonly used to denote entry 'with consent' as in the illustration given earlier where the interaction between the resident and stranger is marked with smiles, pleasantries, and/or door-holding. By not saying no outright, the authorized person is giving his implied consent.

In comparison, tailgating in that context would mean a 'without consent' scenario such as when the intruder sneaks in with a group of people unnoticed.

For purposes of this discussion however, we would be using the term 'tailgating' to refer to a situation where an attacker goes past a card reader or any security checkpoint along with an authorized user, with or without consent.

We've already mentioned common tailgating methods like when the attacker confidently follows a person who has just legitimately swiped his way in, and blending in with a large crowd. Other concrete examples of tailgating include:

Having hands full so that an authorized user will graciously hold the door open earning him (the attacker) a free pass;
Convincing an authorized user that he is an authorized person as well but forgot or lost his ID.

The risks of tailgating can be mitigated when the company puts in place an ironclad policy to have each and every employee authenticate, i.e. swipe their card, at all times. If someone forgets his card, specific procedures should be followed like reporting to the security office and getting a temporary card for the day.

Conspicuous signs and posters on the door or entrance of the building would serve as constant reminders for employees, keeping them on their toes against potential tailgaters.

Dumpster Diving

Dumpster diving is the act of going through the trash or recycling bin by an unauthorized individual to gain information. Dumpster divers are on the lookout for improperly discarded papers, data, or devices.

Dumpster diving is often used as a precursor to impersonation and other social engineering techniques. This means the data that the attacker gleans from this activity would come in handy on sizing up his would-be victims or creating a scenario that can get people to divulge information.

For example, to impersonate an employee, an attacker would need to know more about the company's lingo, department structure, phone numbers, and any other useful bits of information. By knowing these details, the attacker would know who to impersonate, use the right words, and ask the right questions. In other words, having the right information would make him sound like an 'insider'.

Security leaks in the trash may also include: organizational charts, memos, corporate policy manuals, calendars of meetings, important company affairs, and staff vacations, software manuals, hard copies of login names and passwords, discarded hard disks, company letterhead and envelopes, and unused hardware.

To prevent against dumpster diving, organizations should have a proper disposal policy for paper, data, and devices. There are third-party disposal companies available who can readily dispose or recycle trash in a secure manner.

As a side note, be aware that dumpster divers on private property are subject to trespassing laws, although there are no clear cut laws for individuals going through other people's trash. Still, if an employee does manage to catch a dumspter diver red-handed, it would be best to call the police even if no formal charges can be filed.

To reiterate, social engineering attacks via dumpster diving can be avoided if employees are alert and mindful of people loitering around or digging through trash bins. More importantly, employees should be trained to follow established policies on paper shredding and media/equipment disposal.

Shoulder Surfing

Shoulder surfing is gathering unauthorized information by means of direct observation methods. The attacker, often a real or impersonated delivery, cleaning, or maintenance person, observes over the employee's shoulder when he (employee) is typing in passwords or working with confidential information.

What could even be more potentially dangerous for the company is when the one who engineers the attack is a malicious insider. For this shoulder surfing employee, getting valuable information is easier because he can loiter around and observe as much as he wants. Other employees will likely think nothing of his presence (even when he's in an area where he isn't supposed to be) because of the level of trust they have by virtue of his being a co-worker.

Using shoulder surfing, an attacker can obtain the following information: passwords, PIN, credit card numbers, or any other important data.

For a shoulder surfing technique to work, the attacker must have physical access to the targeted employee or area, and ideally for them, unaccompanied physical access.

There are two other related strategies that fall under shoulder surfing - eavesdropping and snooping.

Eavesdropping is listening in on a conversation to get information; it's pretty much like shoulder surfing with one's ears. On the other hand, snooping is rifling through files and papers to gain information. In searching for tidbits of information, a snooper would likely check under your keyboard first or look through other places where users normally "hide" their passwords.

The chances of an attacker shoulder surfing and eavesdropping can be significantly reduced if employees are trained to be aware of their surroundings at all times. And to prevent snooping, employees should be required to have a clean desk at all times. Further, guests should always be accompanied when inside company property.

Phishing

The term phishing is generally used to describe a method of acquiring personal information by posing as a trustworthy person like an IT administrator, or a trustworthy company such as online payment processor, credit card company, or online banking institution.

The phishing technique is usually done using a generic email sent out to thousands of email addresses. If you happen to be one of the recipients, a phishing email will require you to respond by performing any of the following actions:

Directly replying to the sender with your personal information;
Clicking on a link that will take you to a fake website where you are supposed to enter your personal information; or
Calling the "customer service" representative on the phone to whom you will give your personal information.

Fraudsters are able to pull off a phishing attack if they can convince the email recipients/users that they are indeed a legitimate entity. In practically all cases, the fake website where the user is taken to, looks and feels like the real thing. Using logos and color schemes that come as close as possible to the real site, the attackers not only make it appear like the emails come from the company, they also manage to take advantage of the trust that consumers have of these reputable companies.

True, you may be wary of receiving some random email asking for your Social Security Number from a company that you don't do business with. However, you will be more likely to respond if the communication were to come from your bank informing you of an important concern regarding your account.

Like most other social engineering tactics, a phishing attack creates a scenario of urgency and fear to trick victims into divulging information. Phishers even take it a step further by actually talking about security risks to add even more pressure to the user to act immediately.

Spam filters will come in handy for warding off phishing schemes. But a user's best practice is still to refrain from giving any personal information such as Social Security Number, Driver's License, account numbers, and other pertinent data to just any email sender.

At the very least, users should first verify if the email isn't a scam before following any instructions. Users should also be trained to not click on links given in any unverified email. The bottom line really is, no personal information should be asked or given through email.

When in doubt, doing a Google search helps. Most phishing scams are likely to have been around for some time already and some victims would have reported of these attacks.

There are also sub-types to the phishing strategy. These are Vishing, Spear Phishing, and Whaling.

Vishing is actually phishing using VoIP (Voice over IP) This method takes advantage of the public's trust in the telephone service. VoIP hackers manipuate the caller ID system to make it appear that the call comes from somewhere it actually didn't. This makes it very difficult to trace a vishing call.

A common vishing tactic used by fraudsters is leaving a recorded message purportedly from a credit card company, informing the user of a problem with his card. The message often ends with the urgent request that the user call a given "customer service" number immediately to have the issue settled. When the user makes the return call, he is then asked of his credit card number. Of course, this means that the user has just given his card number not to a bank representative, but to a clever social engineer and most likely, an identity thief.

Users should be trained to always call the number printed on the credit card should a problem arise, instead of calling the number provided in a recorded message. In doing this, they would be able to verify from legitimate help desk personnel whether the problem is real or the call was simply a scam.

Spear fishing is a phishing attack that uses specific information about the targeted victim - the victim's name, the people he knows, the bank he maintains an account with, and so on. While the attacker would have to expend more time and effort before he can put this plan into action, these are also the types of schemes that are most successful. The information used for spear phishing could have been obtained from dumpster diving or shoulder surfing.

Whaling is the type of phishing method that targets senior executives of an organization, high-profile victims, or people with access to especially sensitive information. After all, isn't it better to get hold of the system admin's or CIO's passwords than those of the staff in the office cubicles? Fact is, both small and big fish are found in the cyber crime sea.

Hoaxes

Hoaxes are chain mails or posts on social media sites that are intended to misinform the public. Users need to keep in mind that companies - even the biggest and most established ones at that - are not going to give out gift certificates or checks for forwarding emails.

Hoaxes are notable for their implausible threats such as illness and death if the email is not forwarded, or far-fetched promises such as saving sick children, if it is. Ironically, most email hoaxes use big, bright-red font that say "This is not a joke," but they clearly are.

While hoaxes are generally harmless, they are more than a simple annoyance. Hoax emails can prove to be a complete waste of time and resources if users and employees fall for them. Think of the loss in productivity when you forward the email to all your other contacts, the space it can take up in your email database and backup systems, and the paper used when you have these printed out.

As soon as users receive hoax emails about computer viruses or read about these on Facebook and other social media platforms, they are bound to get concerned and report this to the IT staff. If they feel it necessary, users can notify IT department over and over again.

To prevent such a scenario, employees should be kept abreast of current hoaxes so that they don't have to spend valuable time and energy forwarding emails and calling up IT. Using spam filters can also help in keeping hoaxes out. Or better yet, employees should be instructed to never forward any non work-related email to other users.

If spam emails do manage to get through however, it's important that users know how to check if an email is a hoax. They can visit the Snopes website, or avail of the services of various malware vendors to get updates on the latest hoaxes in circulation. In fact, companies should make it a point to have links to hoax checkers right on their corporate internet.

Reverse Social Engineering

Reverse social engineering is called such because this time, it is the victim that actually approaches the attacker and offers some personal information.

Of course, this usually doesn't happen without some well-planned scheming from the attacker. The set-up may start with the attacker making himself interesting or available to the potential victim. By sending an email, participating in forums, or giving out business cards, the attacker establishes himself as an expert in a certain field, and therefore, in a position to help the victim at some point in the future.

For example, the hacker can pose as a network administrator or IT expert. If something goes wrong with the network - a situation that the attacker may have engineered himself, guess who the victim is likely to call? The person he thinks is 'best' for the job of course. Eager to get on with his work, the victim/user/employee will willingly go ahead and give the hacker a.k.a. 'expert' the pertinent information that may be needed to fix the problem: login ID, password, user name, SSN, employee ID, and so on.

In effect therefore, reverse social engineering is almost like an impersonation scheme, only in this case, the hacker simply sets up the scenario that makes the victim approach or call for him and give the much sought-after information without any prodding. Most reverse attacks are started with the use of other social engineering methods.

A reverse social engineering attack is usually done by an insider or a person pretending to be one, so organizations should see to it that users are trained to verify the identity of people who offer help, especially when the expertise is in the tech- or IT-related field. For all they know, it could be a reverse social engineering hacker in action.

Conclusion

As a final reminder, allow me reiterate that employee awareness and education are the keys to mitigating the risks of social engineering. Whether it's the receptionist, the system administrator, or the company CEO, everyone needs to be alert and be aware that personal and confidential information should be kept just that at all times.

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Tutorial: How to fix exposure online

2012-01-15T08:19:00.001-08:00

Tutorial: How to fix exposure online:

How to fix exposure online
Getting exposure wrong in-camera is one of the easiest mistakes to make when taking pictures, but fixing it can be rather hit and miss.
Exposure is a complicated blend of brightness, luminance and contrast, so simply changing one of those factors won't result in a well-balanced image.
Moreover, an image that's badly exposed is starting on shaky ground – it doesn't matter how good the rest of your image is in terms of its subject, composition or sharpness – if it's too bright or too dark, people's eyes will simply skip over it and move on.
Fixing exposure can be the work of mere minutes once you know what you're looking for. The tool you need can be found in any photo editor worth its salt, from totally free software like Picasa to high-end software costing hundreds of pounds like the full edition of Photoshop.
We'll also be demonstrating how you can edit your photos effectively without using any software at all, and how to make the most accurate adjustments, whatever monitor and camera you're using.
The right photo
Choosing your shot for this one should be simple, right? Simply find an image that's too bright or too dark and go from there. Not quite.
It's true that modern photos, even JPEGs, contain a huge amount of data beyond what you see in the final image, and that finding and using that data is the secret to successful photo editing.
For instance, just because your image appears far too dark doesn't mean there aren't significant areas of detail lurking within the shadows, which can be brought to light by a judicious tweak of the exposure slider.
As always, this kind of photo editing isn't infallible. Large areas of shadow in your image might contain as much unwanted noise as they do desirable detail, so attempting to salvage a big under-exposure might produce as many problems as it solves. Likewise, badly over-exposed images might appear muddy grey once you've attempted to tone down the white highlights.
That means you should choose the image you want to work on carefully – it's not enough to see a very dark or very bright image and try to correct it, because the worse the problem is, the less likely you are to produce a successful result – even if you're using high-end software.
Choose an image that is successful in every other important way, and is only slightly too dark or too light. Consign everything else to the recycle bin, and resolve to do better next time you're behind a camera!
What you'll need
With this tutorial, we're attempting something different. Standalone desktop software is phenomenally powerful these days, and attempting to persuade a professional photographer to abandon Photoshop in favour of an online product might result in actual violence.
For everyone else though, there's some fantastic software available online. You don't need to pay for it, you don't need to download it to your computer, and because it's on the internet, you don't need to worry about upgrading it. In this case, we'll use Google-owned Picnik.
Google bought Picnik last year, and it's the default editor you see if you choose 'Edit' from photo-sharing site Flickr. It's a sensationally useful resource; simply upload a photo to it and all the normal tools are there. If you want higher-end tools, you can pay for a Picnik Premium subscription, although the tools we're using this month are available in the free version.
Another of Picnik's benefits is that you don't need to worry about uploading a high-resolution image, which can take quite some time on a standard internet connection. If your image is already uploaded to one of the many supported photo sharing or social networking sites, you can supply your details and choose from your existing online albums.
For example, if you've got a lot of photo albums on Facebook, you can access your shots directly from Picnik. Clever stuff.
Getting going
Using an online photo editor keeps life pretty simple – go to www.picnik.com and you're ready to begin.
Picnik's home page is fairly busy, but if you click on the 'Library' tab at the top of the page you'll be able to choose your shots. 'Get from computer' is what you want if your images are on your hard disk, or you can choose from one of the other options along the top row if you want to edit a shot that's already been posted online. You can enter the URL of any image on the internet – just make sure it's not protected by copyright first.
Once you've chosen your image, you'll be taken to the editing screen. This is bursting with features, although it defaults to the basic edits screen, which is what we want for fixing exposure.
There's plenty to explore, particularly under the 'Effects' tab. Here you'll find tools for adding high-quality effects for your images in single click.
How it works
Exposure refers to the way an image is created – that is, the result of light hitting the sensor in your camera. Any exposure is the result of your camera's sensor being exposed to light for a certain amount of time; the longer the sensor is exposed, the brighter the resulting image will be. Logically, the less time the sensor is exposed, the darker your shot will be.
The problem is that, even with a decent camera making all the decisions for you, getting exposure right can be difficult. Cameras are easily fooled, and snowy scenes or pictures of very dark coloured things will fool a camera into thinking it's looking at a very bright or very dark scene, producing the wrong exposure time and a dodgy image.
Correcting exposure isn't just about adjusting the brightness of an image – it's a cocktail of contrast and luminance values, and is easy to get wrong. Even photo editors with dedicated exposure correction tools will struggle, so while exposure correction can be a very useful tool, take a look at 'In-camera editing' for more on getting things right first time.
In-camera editing
Getting your exposures right when you take your photos is important for two reasons. The first is that every time you make a post-production change to the exposure level in your image, you're removing a bit of detail. Most of the time this detail loss is controlled and unnoticeable in the final image, but sometimes this loss will result in a less sharp image.
The second reason is a simple question of time: if you come back from a holiday with hundreds of shots, the last thing you want to do is spend a day fixing them all because they're under-exposed. Even if it only takes 30 seconds to fix each shot, that's a decent amount of time wasted if you've filled a memory card.
Getting your shots right in-camera means learning how to use the light meter. All DSLRs, some high-end compact and some super-zoom cameras have one. The light meter is a scale in your viewfinder that tells you whether the camera thinks it's about to take a good exposure. A scale ranges from under-exposed to over-exposed, and a pointer moves up and down to tell you what would happen if you pushed the shutter button at that moment.
It's most useful when you're using a manual mode like aperture or shutter priority, but getting to grips with your camera's exposure compensation function will also help you nail more shots in camera, and spend less time editing later.
How to fix minor exposure mistakes online using Google Picnik
1. Connect to Facebook
In this tutorial, we'll import a shot into Picnik from Facebook. Getting started is simple – go to the 'Library' tab at www.picnik.com, and choose Facebook.
You need to authenticate your account, which means logging into Facebook, and you may prefer to click the cross next to the box that allows Picnik to post on your wall if you want to avoid potentially annoying your friends.
2. Access albums
Once you're logged in, you can choose from your albums, or the public photos of any of your friends. The default view is pictures of you; click the box marked 'Album' to see all of these, organised by album.
They may take a while to load, depending on the speed of your internet connection, but once they're loaded you can start rifling through them to see the ones that need a bit of help.
3. Pick your shot
Double-clicking any thumbnail will load Picnik's editor. Here, the main subject is a dark colour, there are bright highlights from the headlamps and there's an overcast sky in the background.
These could all contribute to a camera getting things wrong if it's in Automatic mode. Crucially, the exposure isn't too far off, meaning that most basic editors will be able to correct it without losing stacks of detail.
4. Adjust brightness
Picnik's exposure tool is found under 'Basic edits'. Click 'Exposure' to access the main tool, plus options for adjusting highlights, shadows and contrast.
For now, adjust the main slider in small increments – left will make your shot darker, right will make it brighter. The numbers on the slider don't correspond to stops, but if you move the slider beyond 50 either way, you run the risk of losing detail
5. Apply changes
The rest of the exposure tools are fairly blunt instruments, and you need to take care to avoid creating rough gradients. Once you're happy, click 'Apply'.
This doesn't save your image just yet – it simply applies the effect you've chosen and lets you start experimenting with Picnik's other tools. These range from the realistic to the weird and wacky. Picnik is non-destructive, so don't be afraid to experiment.
6. Save and share
The 'Save and share' tab is your next stop. The default action is saving it back to Facebook, but there are lots of other options, including downloading the finished file to your PC as either a JPEG or a PNG, and sending the image to your Flickr account. There's also an email client built-in to Picnik, or you can opt to print straight from your web browser. Not bad for a free application.

(Via TechRadar: All latest feeds)

Hidden secret apps of CoreServices

2012-01-13T19:25:00.001-08:00

Hidden secret apps of CoreServices

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Nestled within the bosom of your Mac's system folder lie many powerful and curious applications. Not intended for direct access, the denizens of the CoreServices directory work as clients for other OS apps such as System Preferences or Safari. There are several CoreServices apps we use often at TUAW. Here are some of our favorites.

When Safari cannot connect to the Internet, you may be prompted to run Network Diagnostics.app to find the problem. The app lets you choose a network port you wish to work with (Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or an external modem), and test it. It is one of many apps found inside your /System/Library/CoreServices folder. It's also one that you may want to stick into your dock for a bit when you're messing around with a new router or have upgraded your cable modem.

Screen Sharing.app gives you remote access to any enabled computer on your local network using the VNC protocol. Some of us prefer using Chicken of the VNC, but Screen Sharing.app is a simple alternative already built into your system.

You enable this feature in System Preferences > Sharing > Screen Sharing (hint, click Computer Settings and add a password). When launched, just enter the host name or address of a sharable computer (e.g. Banana.local or 192.168.0.15) and start controlling that system remotely.

Use the Wi-Fi Diagnostics.app to capture network events and enable debugging logs. It provides a way to collect traffic for analysis.

Anyone who regularly works with Apple development may be pleased to realize they can access the Certificate Assistant.app directly instead of always having to launch the Keychain utility. The assistant allows you to create certificate signing requests, which are used in the dev process to request authenticated items like certificates for development provisions.

The VoiceOver.app utility enables spoken descriptions of your OS X screen. It provides an audio interface for your computer. Once enabled, you can quickly switch out of VoiceOver mode with Command-F5. (You can turn on VoiceOver via System Preferences/Accessibility, as well.

You're probably used to using the Archive Utility.app through the Finder's contextual pop-up, but if you drag it into your dock, you can use it as a drag and drop compression utility. Very handy!

Got other favorite secret apps? Tell us about them in the comments!

Hidden secret apps of CoreServices originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In Depth: Best of the web: 19 sites you shouldn't be without

2012-01-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

In Depth: Best of the web: 19 sites you shouldn't be without

TechRadar: All latest feeds

The best of the web

Groundbreaking websites are all around us, and if you believed every company that positioned itself as the latest, greatest thing, you'd have an awful lot of bookmarks in your browser.

Sites come and sites go, but it's rare that one makes enough of an impact on your life to revolutionise how you use the internet.

But occasionally sites come along that offer a genuinely new way of finding, storing or curating stuff on the web. We've put together a list of 20 websites we think could let you use the internet in a way you haven't done before, save you time, make you money and let you enjoy yourself in the process.

We've found new sites that offer functionalities not found elsewhere, but we've also included a few that have been around for a while, but have really come into their own in recent years. We may have highlighted them because they are about to come out of beta, or because they have just matured into popular and interesting tools worthy of an introduction if you missed them the first time around, or a re-evaluation if you didn't.

What we do on our PCs is moving increasingly to the cloud, with free storage and utilities becoming the norm. We like to think we've found the sites that can help you get the best web services available to make your online life as pleasurable as possible.

The breadth of services online means you really can change your life using the internet. With the websites we've covered you can discover new music, set up your own radio station, play the latest high-end games, book holidays or bring down a corrupt corporation, all from your web browser.

Then there's the social side, where we've discovered sites that enable you to use online pinboards, create compelling stories from social media, share free music and even write your autobiography, all of which can help you find a new way of expressing yourself, or find others who are interested in the same thing as you.

Whether it's keeping aide-mémoires, finding images and notes, solving problems using crowd sourcing or automating admin tasks, we reckon we've got a site that will change your web browsing habits forever.

1. Ifttt

The whole point of computers when they were first introduced to the workplace was to automate tasks to make humans' lives easier. Complex calculations could be done in seconds, freeing up the human operators to concentrate on more cerebral matters. Nowadays, it's the computers themselves that are creating more and more menial and repetitive tasks that keep us away from the important things in life.

These range from keeping up with social networks and backing up photos and documents to weeding out the important emails from the morass of special deals from shops and reminders about internet services you signed up to five years ago.

Wouldn't it be nice to cut through all that and make the internet work for you? For it to do these tasks automatically, or tell you when something happens that you are genuinely interested in?

What if every time you uploaded a picture to Instagram it was automatically backed up to your Dropbox account? Or if the release dates for new films magically appeared in your Google calendar? Wouldn't it be good if, when you were 'working from home', you got a text message letting you know when your boss had emailed you? Yes? Then Ifttt is for you.

'Ifttt' stands for 'if this, then that'. This type of command is the basic premise behind most programming languages. The Ifttt website enables you to link commonly used services and devices (or 'channels', as it refers to them) and arrange for an action to occur on one service when certain conditions have been fulfilled on another.

These channels include a great variety of common tools - social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, photo services including Instagram and Flickr, note-making apps such as Evernote and Instapaper, and even phone-based services such as generating text messages and making calls.

Each of these channels can be connected to another, and when triggers are applied to them - say 'every time one of my tweets contains a certain hashtag, back it up to Evernote, the note-making tool' - it will carry them out automatically, saving you time and helping you stay organised.

If you feel your programming skills may not be up to the task, there are 'recipes' so you can get commonly used linkups and apply them to your own services. It's deceptively simple and powerful, and as more services are added it could revolutionise the way you use the web.

2. Diaspora

Back in April 2010, four computer science students from New York University were so unimpressed by Facebook's lack of privacy controls that they decided to create their own decentralised open source social network.

To do this they tried to raise $10,000 on kickstarter.com, but the idea of a more controllable network was so popular that by June they had raised over $200,000. This caused a flurry of media interest that talked it up as the next big thing and then, as so often happens, it was quietly forgotten. Since then it has gone through a buggy alpha developer build and is just about to appear in beta form. So why are we championing it as a new way to use the internet?

Diaspora was built as a reaction to the privacy issues of Facebook, and these issues are still a worry today. What's more, with the latest changes to Facebook (such as the forced implementation of the Timeline) taking even more control away from the user, maybe it's time for a site that's described as "the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all distributed open source social network".

Diaspora wants to make privacy key to social networking - it doesn't plan to share any of your information. You control every aspect of your Diaspora experience, without having to wade through pages of settings to keep your profile secure.

You can also control what you see and how you see it. Diaspora came up with Google+'s Circles before Google did - except it calls them Aspects - so you can choose to share your posts and photos with only those groups of friends you choose. It also enables you to integrate other social networking services, including Twitter and Facebook. It's a truly open social experience that puts you back in the driving seat.

Some people are saying Diaspora is too late to the party, and it's certainly true that it's been teasing us with the beta version for a while. But if you value your privacy and want to control how your data is seen by others, it's likely that you'll end up on Diaspora in 2012, even just to give it a try - if its developers can manage to get it out of beta in time.

3. Evernote

Although it calls itself a note-making site, Evernote can be used for much more than that. In short, Evernote lets you quickly create a searchable database of all your interests and aide-mémoires, whatever form they take - from photographs and audio clips to screenshots and webpages, Evernote will keep it all for you, and has some clever little tools to let you find them again.

For example, if you want to upload a picture with some text on it, Evernote has OCR (optical character recognition) technologies built into it, so those words are automatically analysed and added to its database. This means that any archived pictures of people with name tags, slides from important presentations or screenshots of useful websites are only a text search away.

You can also search Evernote's database by the date on which the note was created, or by the tags you use to label your data. You can organise your notes and photos into Notebooks, keeping similarly themed information together in the same place. If you're worried about the sensitivity of information you are placing on Evernote, you can encrypt notes to make them as secure as possible. You can also share notes or notebooks with others so you can collaborate on projects together, making it a handy business tool too.

Another handy feature of Evernote is the web clipper. This website extension lets you save the HTML of a webpage as a note. Instead of bookmarking a site, you save the info on that page, future-proofing yourself against the web page disappearing from that site.

Much like services such as Dropbox, Evernote will also sync all your information between any of your web-enabled devices, so the same notes and information are accessible whether you're on your work PC, on your phone or using a laptop on the train.

Evernote syncs automatically each time you turn your device on, so it all happens in the background without you having to think about it. It also changes the way it works slightly according to whether you're using it on a desktop PC, phone or tablet so that its functionality suits the platform. For note-taking on the go, Evernote may mean you never forget or lose anything again.

Read our full Evernote review

4. ChallengePost

What's the best way to find the answer to a problem? Ask as many people as possible until you find the perfect solution, of course. How do you get people to take the time to solve your problems? Simple, offer a reward for the best solution.

This is what ChallengePost does. It offers challenges from companies, charities and even governments to see if the public can help solve them, usually for a cash reward. It's a clever idea: crowd sourcing offers the best way to get as many perspectives as possible.

Creator Brandon Kessler came up with the idea after seeing a blog post that offered $100 to anyone who made a program that would run Windows on a Mac. Other people also had the same problem, and added to the prize fund to the tune of a staggering $14,000. A programmer soon came up with a solution to the challenge, which he wrote in three days. Kessler was so impressed with the idea that he decided to create an eBay of challenge-based problem solving and hired the blog post writer as his chief of product.

Once created, ChallengePost soon picked up high-profile clients, including an app developer contest for the City of New York and a healthy eating campaign headed up by Michelle Obama. ChallengePost has also been named the official online 'challenge platform' of the US Federal Government.

The site clearly works; setting something as a public challenge can lead to a lot more people getting involved, creates more awareness of the problem, and often generates innovation in a way that isn't usually possible using more conventional methods.

It isn't just the financial reward that motivates people either - acclaim or just a recognised need to solve a problem seem to be just as powerful, often leading to solutions involving a lot more work than the reward would normally warrant. It seems ChallengePost is encouraging altruism simply by making people aware that the problem is there.

So, a website that challenges you to make the world a better place and rewards you for sharing your ideas or fully-fledged concepts? If this isn't the future we'd like to be part of, we don't know what is.

Websites for learning

5. Open Yale Courses

You can now study Yale courses from the comfort of your own home. The Open Yale Courses website provides free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by lecturers and scholars from the university.

The courses cover subjects from evolutionary biology to Spanish and Portuguese, with the course materials available to anyone who wants them.

The courses are available to download in video, audio, and text formats. You can even download them from iTunes.

6. Instapaper

Increasingly we find ourselves dismissing online text longer than two paragraphs because it takes up too much time to read. Instapaper thinks it has the answer.

This service enables you to save web articles with the click of a 'read later' button, and assembles them into a newspaper-like sheet for you to read when you have time. You can also email links to it, or use it in with Google Reader.

It's rare that we get the chance to appreciate great writing, but with Instapaper's ability to save up to 20 articles in an easy-to-navigate grid format, you can catch up on all the fantastic articles you've been missing out on.

7. Storify

Currently in beta, Storify is here to enable you to tell stories using social media. You can create a story from any content that is online and publicly available, be it posts, photos or videos.

Storify's search interface enables you to drag and drop media and text to your story, keeping their metadata in the process so you don't need to quote sources. You just order the elements and add text to give background information or context.

You can edit and add to a story after it's published. The results can be quite compelling.

8. WorldWide Science

WorldWide Science is a search engine that hopes to make sharing scientific knowledge as easy as possible.

Developed by the US Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), WorldWideScience is a simple website that combines national and international scientific databases and portals into a one-stop shop.

It also enables real-time searching and translation of material from all around the globe. This means that any researcher, scientist or curious member of the public can search the site and read it in their native language.

9. Openleaks

Openleaks is an off shoot of Wikileaks set up by defectors from the original site, but without any political leanings that may colour how the whistle-blowing information is seen by the general media.

It is also not interested in publishing the material itself - it just wants to be a mechanism that enables users to upload documents safely and anonymously so they can be shared by the Openleaks community.

Once a document is uploaded, it's added to a database so it can be shared with organisations such as local support groups, newspapers, NGOs and labour unions, who can publish it themselves.

Websites for entertaining

10. Grooveshark

Grooveshark's music service is web-based and easy to navigate, and you can be listening to music you like within seconds of opening the site. You don't even need to log in - you can just search for a song and play it. The search even autocompletes with popular artists and songs.

If you do log in, you can save playlists of other people's songs or upload your own. You can also follow other users and comment on their playlists.

There may be questions about Grooveshark's legality, but it insists it is doing nothing wrong, and is paying artists for the use of their songs.

11. OnLive

With OnLive, cloud gaming is a reality. The service requires no discs, hard drive space or high-end components, enabling you to play on devices such as laptops and tablets.

The grunt comes from OnLive's servers, which it upgrades every month with the latest graphics cards and extra RAM. Basically, you play remotely via the internet.

Press a button and the command is sent to the OnLive servers, which interpret the command and send pictures to your screen showing the result. If you have a good broadband connection, your gameplay should be lag-free.

Read our full OnLive review

12. 8tracks

Do you remember the days of making a mixtape (or even CD) for your friends with a special note or image in it? Well, 8tracks has taken that premise online.

Positioning itself as a hand-crafted radio station, 8tracks enables you to upload or search for the music you like to create compilations at least 30 minutes long (or about eight tracks' worth).

You can then add a description and pictures to your compilation and share it with other 8tracks users, who can rate and comment on your mix.

13. Deezer

Deezer is another music site well worth tuning into. It's been around in the US for a while and already has over 20 million users, but it plans to open its 13 million licensed tracks up to 130 more countries, including the UK.

Deezer is determined to be a legitimate, licensed music site, supporting musicians and others who earn a living from music. It's easy to dismiss as just another streaming service, but it has big plans.

Deezer's founders feel that MP3s have robbed people of the feeling of browsing your shelves and listening to complete albums, and want to restore the lost art of music curation to the masses.

Websites for work and networking

14. Kickstarter

Got an idea that you think would work, but don't know how to get the word out and start raising funds? If so, Kickstarter may be a good place to start.

Whether you're an artist, designer, filmmaker, inventor, musician, journalist or explorer, Kickstarter can provide you with a no-risk way of seeing if your idea is good enough to get patronage from a wide variety of interested parties.

Simply say what you want to do, how much you want to raise and by when, and if you hit your target by the deadline you have set, you get the money to fund it.

15. 3liveshop

Phone operator 3 has mixed the high street with the convenience of online shopping. Well, in Sweden at least, where the 3liveshop trial was carried out.

You ask a real person questions about the product you want to buy via video chat, and not only can they answer in real time, they can add details to the chat screen such as images of the product, or details of talk plans or your online shopping basket.

It's powered by bespoke Flash multi-touch technology - you can see part of the assistant's desktop so they can drag and drop images and info onto the screen.

16. Join.me

How often have you tried to explain how a website works to somebody over the phone, only to find that they are lost, two pages behind, looking at the wrong menu? Wouldn't it be great if they could see what you were doing on your desktop?

Before join.me came along, the best way to do this was to take your laptop to them or send a series of screenshots by email. Now you can let up to 250 people share your desktop from anywhere in the world.

It's ideal for training, product demos andPC support, because you can let others see your desktop from any web-connected device.

17. Pinterest

Pinterest is a way to keep an online pinboard of the beautiful things you find on the web. It also enables you to browse and draw inspiration from the collections of others.

If you see something in somebody else's collection that you admire, you can pin it to your own collection, or just comment on it. It's oddly addictive, but has some real world uses too. People have used it for design inspirations when planning to refurnish a room, or to collect ideas for a wedding.

With millions of people giving it a try, Pinterest is already proving a compelling way to share ideas.

18. Rapportive

Like Xobni for Microsoft Outlook, Rapportive helps you make sense of the people you interact with on Gmail. Once installed, it simply adds their information to the side of email messages where the ads would normally appear.

It can pull in information from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype, Flickr and MySpace among others, so if they use the same email address on all these services you can get a lot of information about your email contact all displayed in the Gmail window.

Now you never need to admit to forgetting a business contact again!

19. Hipmunk

As anyone who has ever tried to compare flights will tell you it's a confusing business. Different airlines have different costs, flight lengths and changes, and trying to keep track of it all to work out which flight is the best for you is nigh on impossible.

That's the problem Hipmunk was created to solve, and it does it very well. Enter where you want to go and when into its search engine, and Hipmunk will organise all the available flights in a simple timeline.

This shows you the difference in cost, the difference in airport changes, or the actual times of the flights in one glance.

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Brief message sent from a handheld device.

Music I Used to Listen To

2012-01-10T18:25:00.001-08:00

My good friend from high school and college, Eric Jones, sent me an article from Wired about wishful thinking reunions. Wow, fond memories and some truly great music…. Thanks for the flashback, Eric.

10 Band Reunions We’d Like to See at Coachella | Underwire | Wired.com

This Week's Reading - 20120109

2012-01-09T07:12:00.001-08:00

How to use services in Mac OS X | Macworld

Finding hotels on Hipmunk is 'ecstasy' | The Download Blog - Download.com

Five free Windows registry cleaners to keep your system running smoothly | TechRepublic

10 things that could make 2012 a banner year for open source | TechRepublic

Yahoo's New Chief: A CIO To CEO Story - Global-cio - Executive insights/interviews - Informationweek

StumbleUpon (for iPhone) Review & Rating | PCMag.com

2011: The Year Google & Bing Took Away From SEOs & Publishers

http://www.icontact-archive.com/pejrmX-GSQdxW73uDfwx8ZSX7si2ktI3?w=4 - Micromat's TechTool Pro 6 for cloning your Mac hard drive

Pigeon: Impossible - YouTube - Cute video

parislemon • Why I Hate Android - Interesting read, good points and a good explanation on the large scale

World travelers beware: 4G LTE phones won't work abroad | Signal Strength - CNET News

Fix dropout problems when streaming music over Airport Express g - Mac OS X Hints

Free Webinar: Top 25 Free Tools for VMware vSphere - Petri

How to set up iCloud on your Mac | News | TechRadar

Six Reasons Small Businesses Need Virtualization - CIO Magazine

Best iPhone and iPad photography apps

2012-01-08T07:56:00.001-08:00

Best iPhone and iPad photography apps

TechRadar: All latest feeds

HPR-Solutions Longtime Exposure Calculator

Longtime Exposure Calculator

Price: Free/ Available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

Long-exposure photography fanatics will know that an ND filter can be essential when it comes to extending exposure time for those all-important open shutter shots.

Longtime Exposure Calculator by HPR-Solutions is a free iPhone, iPad and iPod touch app that enables you to dial in a projected shutter speed to one column and then 'add' an ND filter as graded in both f/stops and filter names (eg 3 stop or ND8) in the other column. The app then calculates the adjusted exposure.

While it is, in part, possible to TTL meter with an ND filter attached to the front of a camera's lens, the results won't always be accurate, and there's a point where things get so dark that it's not possible - especially with in-vogue super-dense filters. Having an off-camera calculation method such as this makes it quick and easy to figure out exposures without so much as needing to put those brain cells into overdrive while scrawling workings-out on paper.

The Longtime Exposure Calculator app has exposure in-put values that range from 30 seconds to 1/8,000th of a second, which encompasses the range of even a professional DSLR.

The ND filters list is detailed too, covering from ND2 (1 stop) all the way down to ND1,000,000 (20 stops) and even puts in useful references for filter stacking, such as '2x ND8' or 'ND2 + ND3' to enhance that connection with reality.

A variety of filter types that could be dragged and dropped to create customised user stacks would improve the app, although this could complicate things for the more casual user.

On the downside, this app isn't going to be particularly helpful to film users, because it doesn't take into account film types or reciprocity failure (which varies depending on which film you're using).

The app also resets when it's exited (even with iOS 4), which means you'll have to remember the given exposure value. And, seeing as that can range from 1/8,000th of a second all the way up to a year, there could be a lot to remember if you have a lot of filters.

Verdict

Hey, it's a free app, so it's hard to complain. Longtime Exposure Calculator performs a calculation task, and it does it well.

TappyTaps Geotag Photos Pro

Geotag Photos Pro

Price: £2.49/ Available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

Geotagging is the process of adding latitudinal and longitudinal geographic information to an image's metadata, and has seen a sharp rise in popularity of late.

In part, this rise in popularity due to the number of GPS-enabled smartphones and other connected devices. Yet there are very few cameras with such technology, and there's not a single GPS-enabled DSLR (granted the Sony A55 and Alpha 77 may be half-exceptions, but there SLTs).

While there are other dedicated GPS accessories to add to your camera, the potential cost incurred from adding these can be extortionate – Nikon's GP-1 module, for example, retails for just under £200.

As a workaround, why not download Geotag Photos Pro to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch?

Geotag Photos Pro an app designed to track your location and then make the data available to apply to external (ie not the iPhone's camera) images. The app can track your current location using GPS and, assuming the phone and camera's times and dates match (this is essential), the Geotag Photos Pro desktop computer software makes it easy to connect the phone's GPX file (located via iTunes) to your folder of photos.

Accuracy settings determine whether new tags are made for every 10m through to 1km of movement, and the Autologging feature can add a new GPS location upon every movement or once every hour – it's up to you.

A free 'Lite' version of the app is available, albeit without Autologging enabled (bar a free eight-hour trial).

Verdict

It's a shame there's no way to directly sync the phone to the camera itself, as a dedicated GPS accessory will immediately sync data to a shot. This is a slower workaround but, while applying the metadata to images may take a few more clicks than a dedicated GPS accessory, it's a process that can work in a matter of seconds.

Think of it this way – those extra few clicks could save you hundreds of pounds. That's none too bad in our books. We were tempted to award it five stars based on cost alone.

Viewpoint Photography DOFMaster

DOFMaster

Price £1.49/ Available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

DOFMaster is targeted at higher-end photographers looking to calculate depth of field in photographs on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

The app is able to calculate the hyperfocal distance – that is the closest distance a lens can focus on an object while maintaining acceptable sharpness to infinity – based on the type of camera and lens combination being used.

Different sensor sizes and focal lengths will pronounce depth of field in different ways, and for landscape photographers with focus-depth window lenses, this is often an essential tool to ensure accurate manual focus is made for the sharpest and most resolute final shots.

To calculate hyperfocal distance in your head is no mean feat. Break down the mathematical equation into approximate English and hyperfocal distance equals ((focal length squared) divided by (aperture value multiplied by the circle of confusion limit)) plus focal length. Thankfully, there's an app for that!

DOFMaster has a decent enough array of cameras listed in its Format list, although rather than extensively listing each and every camera model, the brands tend to be generalised by sensor size.

Film, DSLRs, Cinematography and Circle of Confusion (by inches or millimetres) are the four main divisions. For compact cameras, the Compact Digital selection is vague given the variance in sensor sizes – although there are 1/2-inch and 2/3-inch sizes available in the 'Cinematography' bracket.

Lens focal lengths range from 3mm to 1200mm, and aperture values from f/1.0-f/64 will encompass all but pinhole photographers, while the Focus box can accept seemingly infinite values by feet, inches, metres or centimetres.

Verdict

DOFMaster may not be able to take on board characteristics of specific lenses, but the criteria it does offer provides a decent overview of what knowledgeable photographers will be looking for.

Specific to high-end photographers, you'll find you get a lot of use from this app if you're one of them.

RoadTour OutDoors Great Britain

OutDoors Great Britain

Price £1.99/ Available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

OutDoors Great Britain by RoadTour, with national parks Ordnance Survey maps, is an ideal app for walkers and hikers, with an obvious overlap for landscape photographers looking for known walking routes throughout the UK.

The basic £1.99 app comes with a pre-loaded 1:250K map of Great Britain, but for 1:50k scale Ordnance Survey downloads you can pay anything from nothing (for one or two maps only) up to £29.99 (for a full county, which is around 600MB of data).

The National Park OS map costs £11.99, while regional maps for the South East England and North East England cost £9.99.

Where this app beats traditional mapping is in its tie-in to your iPhone's GPS. It's possible to track your exact location, and even create your own routes in real time.

Better still, head to everytrail.com and it's possible to download other users' GPX files to import maps from fellow walkers, although you'll still need the (pay-for) scale map download for that associated area to reap the benefits at a decent, close-up scale.

Without the need for an internet connection (Wi-Fi and 3G will make no odds to performance, because they're not used), once the map data is downloaded it's ready to go.

Verdict

Despite the accuracy of OS Maps (we're talking the standard Ordnance Survey with keys and interest points – not the paved roadways of Google Maps), there's not a distinct photographic angle here. Teaming up with fellow photographers to share pictures, locations and routes is something that can, in part, be achieved without requiring an app in the first instance.

It's a useful app for landscape photographers whether they are planning a shoot, out with a camera or reviewing and keywording images.

Crookneck Consulting The Photographer's Ephemeris

The Photographer's Ephemeris

Price £5.99/ Available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

The Photographer's Ephemeris by Crookneck Consulting will be a godsend of an app for forward-thinking landscape photographers who want to organise photo shoots based on when and where light will fall.

At its most basic, the app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Macs or PCs uses Google Maps to show projections of sun and moon rise and set paths. But it can do so for any date and time of year, down to the nearest minute.

This can produce an accurate map of where light will fall and at what time, all wrapped up in a visual package where you can zoom in anywhere around the globe (well, anywhere that Google Maps has been) to view basic maps or actual terrain.

But that's not all, and here's where the app gets that bit more advanced: Knowing that objects can easily fall in the way of the light's path, Ephemeris also takes on board altitude.

By acknowledging your current (or projected future) position, a secondary drop pin can be placed onto surrounding objects to assess their height in relation to the sun or moon and whether light will be blocked. If it does, then you may want to tweak the clock and/or location to work out when you should be at your chosen location for the best possible results – meaning it's possible to calculate when to be at your destination.

Verdict

There's very little wrong with The Photographer's Ephemeris. The only tweak we'd like to see made is for a more social build – one where it would be possible to share your perfect location and times with fellow app users, and attach associated pictures to bring on a more visual linkage of shots taken in specific locations.

On occasion, Google Maps' terrain view won't zoom in to a desirable level either, but that's outside of the app's control. Otherwise we're very impressed with this excellent app on our iPad 2, despite the fact the desktop version for Mac and PC can be downloaded for free.

Future Publishing Teach Yourself Photoshop

Teach Yourself Photoshop

Price £11.99/ Available for iPad

Teach Yourself Photoshop does what it says on the tin. Less interactive and very much video tutorial-based, the app is far more accessible than a DVD approach because it can run right alongside your computer on an iPad while you imitate processes onscreen.

It's even possible to download the images used in the tutorial to your computer (not to the tablet, however, because the Zip format isn't compatible) in order to feel more immersed in the editing processes taking place.

With 10 main categories each broken down into six videos (that's 60 videos and hours of tuition) the bite-sized chunks are easy to digest and it's simple to pause or rewind sections to pinpoint specific frames, should you ever need a quick refresher.

George Cairns' narration is clear, easy to follow and never patronising. He talks through the basics at a Photoshop Elements level, to raw processing in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), up to more advanced techniques in the latest Photoshop CS5.

Full topic titles include Photo Editing Basics, Getting Started With Raw, Improve Exposure, Master Selections, Get To Grips With Layers, Retouch Your Photos, Solve Common Problems, Black and White Made Easy, Digital Darkroom Effects and Organising Your Images.

Verdict

The videos show good quality reproductions of the Adobe software, although the occasional cutaway does look over-compressed from time to time.

If you want a taster of what the app is like, then the first chapter of videos are available online to give you an idea of what's on offer.

We like it, but there are more interactive approaches available elsewhere – this is more DVD-like than other apps.

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Brief message sent from a mobile device

Aron Smetana

Tutorial: The beginners guide to iMessage in iOS 5

Set up your email addresses for iMessage

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Send MMS messages for free, too!

10 things IT pros do that lead to burnout

Comodo Cleaning Essentials

Tutorial: How to reinstall Windows

Reinstall Windows: Introduction

Perform the installation

Post repair steps

Repair installation: Get a new PC in 30 minutes! (Win Vista/7)

Reinstall Windows: A fresh reinstall

A full reinstall

Sit back and wait

Restore backups

Before you reinstall: Don't start installing without this checklist

Three reasons to reinstall: Check out the benefits of taking the plunge

Reinstall Windows: The ultimate reinstall

Keep things separate

Reinstall Windows

In Depth: Best browser 2012: which should you be using?

Best browser 2012: which should you choose?

The best browser for speed

The best browser for add-ons

The best browser for Windows 7

The best browser for Windows Vista

The best browser for Windows XP

The best browser for OS X

The best browser for privacy

The best browser for HTML5

The best browser for Android

The best browser for iPad

How to backup your Mac App Store apps

Terminal option

Show me all of my Mac App Store apps

An ounce of prevention

This Week's Reading - 20120123

Article: Windows Server 2008 R2: Optimize the Branch Office Experience | TechNet Magazine

Windows Server 2008 R2: Optimize the Branch Office Experience

Brien M. Posey

BranchCache

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Configuring BranchCache Clients

Read-Only Domain Controllers

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This Week's Reading - 20120116

Security+ Social Engineering – Video Lesson

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