Y Lolfa, a small printer and publisher of Welsh Language books based near Aberystwyth, is leading a campaign to bring Welsh language reading material to the Amazon Kindle range of ebook readers. Up to now, Welsh hasn’t been an option for those looking to distribute books over the Amazon Kindle store.
Over the past few days there has been a large attack against WordPress and Joomla websites, supposedly in an attempt to compromise the servers and build a hugely powerful botnet.
The hacking effort is using a dictionary attack to brute force the passwords of the default administrator account.
We have several recommendations owners of any content managed website should take, but especially Continue reading
We recently took on a new client with an old SBS 2003 server hosting an EPOS database in SQL 2000. The client went to their outgoing support provider for handover details (usernames/password etc) and the next morning they came in to find their EPOS database had data from several key tables deleted. Coincidence? Quite possibly, who am I to comment. Continue reading
As many of you may have heard Microsoft’s next operating system (Windows 8 ) is nearly ready for release. As I have a keen interest in IT I very much look forward to looking at the latest technology this being hardware and software.
Jim asked me to do some research on Windows 8, I found out some facts and also that a release preview is available for download through the Microsoft’s website. Jim said go ahead and see if we can get it working on the server in the office. I downloaded the ISO image of the preview of Windows 8 and installed it using Hyper V which is a virtualization system.
I created a new virtual machine; this included setting a set amount of disk space for Windows 8 to use on the server. I named this ‘Win 8 Test’. After selecting the ISO from the server , Windows 8 set up screen appeared.
If you do not have a virtual machine to test different opearating systems, Microsoft offer a Windows Disk Image Burner that allows the ISO to be converted, this will then act as a bootable disk that can be saved on to a memory stick and allow installation that way.
Windows 8 – Setup
A personalise screen appears allowing the user to set up a colour scheme for that paticular user.
Personalise Computer
The setups basically the same as previous Windows operating systems. A screen appears during setup asking for you to assign an email address to the computer. I’d imagine this is used for syncing documents, calendars an emails to different Windows devices.
Sign in to PC screen
An express setup screen appears allowing the user to choose the express settings for setup, this makes it easier for the user to setup Windows 8.
Settings for Windows 8
After Windows 8 is setup it asks for a username and password for the user, this is very similar to previous operating systems from Microsoft.
Last step! – User account setup
Windows 8 will then configure the user account and a screen will appear which will be known as Windows 8.
Start Screen
Start Screen – All Apps
This is Windows 8, it looks very different from previous versions of the operating system but not to worry as a tool can be installed to allow it to look similar to Windows 7.
The blocks you can see are known as applications, these are also referred to as tiles. The main tiles you can see allow the user to have full screen applications running. The weather tile will be able to be used as a live tile when Windows 8 is ready for public release, this means that the tile you will see on the display will show weather conditions for the location that has been set by the user, this can also be set by using location services.
Internet Explorer – Full screen application
Weather – Full screen application
As you can see from the start menu, you have the choice of viewing the desktop, this looks the same as Windows 7 except it has no start button!
Windows 8 Desktop – No Start Button!
As the above image shows Windows 8 desktop screen doesnt show a start button, Microsoft would like users to use the new screen to select applications by using the different tiles.
As many users of Windows dont like change an application has been developed by Stardock called Stardock Start8. This application is free to download and can be installed on Windows 8 this will show a start button.
Windows 8 Desktop – Start button thanks to Stardock
Windows 8 looks different from previous operating systems, I think that Windows 8 will perform well on touch screen devices for example Microsofts tablet computers. The new Windows 8 screen will be easier to use with hand gestures rather than an input device such as a mouse.
Many users won’t like the new layout of the operating system, thanks to Stardock Windows 8 can easilly look like previous Windows opearing systems (Vista & 7). I think getting use to the new menu won’t take long and I look forward to eventually using it on a tablet PC.
When I look into Windows 8 further I will add more screen shots of what it is capable of doing and what cool features are hidden away.
Ever since the dawn of IT Support, tools which allow you to administer a computer from afar have been standard in any IT Support person’s toolbox. Today, with fuel prices as they are, they become even more important and they are the reason we can offer our excellent value Unlimited IT Support deals. From the ubiquitous Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), built into Microsoft operating systems, through VNC, Logmein, GotoAssist, CrossLoop etc they all let you have that hands on experience from the comfort of your office! Orbits tool of choice has been, and I should imagine will be for some time to come, the Teamviewer suite of applications. Ideal for quick support or regular system access, as well as screen sharing and online meeting/conferences, Teamviewer does just what we need and a fair bit more.
Those engineers at Teamviewer never slow down. First we had the app to allow us to control our PCs/Servers from our iPhones and iPads, then came the same tool for Android phones and Tablets. They have gone one step further now by Quick Support tool for your Android system. Control your phone fully from your PC – it’s a revolution I tell thee. The application is currently only approved for Samsung phones but I have it working just fine on my modded HTC One X and it really is a joy to use. Control is natural and fluid and response is nice and fast over wireless – I am yet to test it over 3G.
You can find the apk (install file) here: http://www.teamviewer.com/download/TeamViewer_QuickSupport_Samsung.apk and if you have a stock (unmodified) Samsung Android system then tyou are good to go. If you don’t have a Sammy but you do have a another Android phone, then try it. It might just work like mine does!
I can hear the mobile phone support technicians partying as I type this!
According to the latest news, an alleged Xbox 720 development kit, code-named ‘Durango’, has been sold $20,000 (or, approximately £12,833) on eBay!
The kit was sold by an individual going under the alias of ‘DaE’, who is apparently the same individual who leaked the very first images of the dev kit and the ‘Kinect 2.0′.
Recently, he announced via Twitter that he had sold one of the two dev kits that were allegedly in his possession – “I sold one of two I own. I still have the one that featured in news, the other one wasn’t really necessary to keep as a leg rest”.
As for the auction itself, the dev kit managed to attract forty-three bids from eighteen bidders. The winner who, from what I can tell, has remained anonymous, did not actually place a bid until the auction reached its later stages. The bidder did, however, make quite the significant leap to win the auction, taking the highest bid from $16,000 to $20,000.
DaE’s most recent tweets seem to suggest that he does not expect there to be any problems with the sale. That being said, development kits tend to remain property of the manufacturer and if they are distributed, they are usually done so under very strict guidelines. It will be interesting to see whether or not Microsoft gets involved in this matter however, if they do get involved, I should imagine that the consequences imposed should be rather hefty, to say the least.
The ‘Durango’ development kit was first mentioned back in February. The information was tweeted by ‘Crytek’ (who’s Twitter account has apparently been removed), although we have yet to receive any official confirmation from Microsoft on the development kit’s existence.
Following a deal between BT and the Welsh Government, Wales should be on the receiving end of broadband speeds up to 15x what we have now (which if you are in rural Wales means you could get that elusive 2mbps!) by the end of 2015. The £400+ million deal will increase Wale’s super fast broadband availability from the 34% it currently is to up to 96% – in line with Northern Ireland, where super fast broadband has been a focus for some years.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said:
“Our partnership with BT will see to it that Wales does more than simply catch with our neighbours.”
“We intend to catch-up, overtake and then set the pace that others will strive to match.”
Another plus is that BT have said they will create 50 new jobs and 100 new apprenticeships as part of the deal.
I for one look forward to watching Taff Wars without any buffering in the future!
Ever since the heady days of the Windows Server 2003 suite of operating systems, Microsoft has been helping the smaller businesses of this world by releasing a version called Small Business Server 20xx. Based on the latest server kernels, Small Business Server bundled the latest versions of Exchange, Sharepoint and SQL into one OS, and priced it well below the cost of buying each feature separately. This allowed small businesses to implement a Windows server environment without breaking the bank and Microsoft knew that once they were on a Windows environment and even if they out grew their SBS server they would stick with Windows. Everyone was a winner. Continue reading
If you worked through the last tutorial, you will most likely be somewhat confident with using SSH to access your iDevice’s file system.
You may recall the mention of a password called ‘alpine’. This is the default root password that is assigned to any and all iDevices upon installing the OpenSSH package from Cydia. Obviously, keeping your root password as alpine, could potentially lead to security risks, albeit that chance of being affected by such risks is extremely low. Still, it would be wise to change your root password, if only for peace of mind.
Okay, so the steps are rather simple. Let’s get right into it.
Step One:
First of all, you will need to download the ‘Mobile Terminal’ package from Cydia. Once installed, open it.
Step Two:
Next, you will be presented with a rather simple CLI (command line interface) which you can use to input commands. This is a powerful tool, however, it is more than likely that you will only ever use it to change your root password.
Now that you are in the terminal app, enter the su root command.
Step Three:
You will be prompted to enter a password. Of course, the password is alpine, so enter alpine into the CLI.
Step Four:
If you entered the password correctly, you will now be logged into your device’s file system with root-level access. What you will need to do at this point is alter your existing password. As you might expect, you must enter the passwd command to accomplish this.
Step Five:
At this point, you will be prompted to enter a password. Instead of entering ‘alpine’ as the password, enter what you want your new password to be. After you have done this, you will be prompted to re-enter your new password. Enter it once more and you are done.
Step Six:
Finally, safely exit the CLI by entering the exit command. The app will most likely output a message along the lines of “type anything to restart”. As there is no need to restart, simply press the home button once to exit the application.
Regardless of how you feel about Apple, it is difficult to deny that their ideas are both innovative and stylish, however, I digress.
The vast majority of individuals own one of Apple’s well-know smart phones. That being said, the vast majority of iPhone users know little about the capabilities of their device. Most people tend to accept the iPhone for what it is and that is that. There are, however, a handful of individuals (including myself) that are dissatisfied with the various restrictions that owning an iDevice imposes on you.
So, what is the point of this blog post? Well, if you are one of the minority, you will most likely have jailbroken your iDevice. Why jailbreak? The short and effective answer is that jailbreaking greatly enhances your device, allowing you to customize and modify it as you see fit. Unfortunately, I will not discuss how to jailbreak here, as it goes beyond the scope of this tutorial.
This tutorial is aimed at those who have already jailbroken their device, but are unsure of what to do next. The first thing you will want to do, is enable SSH access to your iDevice. What does this do, you ask? It enables you to access your device’s file system from a PC or Mac, allowing you to freely modify the files on your device, as well as transfer files such as customized themes to and from the device.
So, without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Step One:
Ensure that your iPhone/iPad is jailbroken. Then, go to Cydia, which should be located somewhere on your homescreen, and type ‘OpenSSH’ into the search bar. Click on ‘OpenSSH’ and click ‘Install’.
Step Two:
Move away from your iDevice for a moment. If you are using a Mac, open the ‘Terminal’ application. If you are using a Windows PC, download and install WinSCP from here (Alternatively, you could use some other SSH tool).Open one of the two programs and you are almost done.
Step Three:
Go back to your iDevice. Now it is time for you to connect to your preferred wifi network if you have not already done so. After you have connected, you will need to check what your IP address is. To do this, on your iDevice, go to:
Settings > Wi-Fi > Networks
Click on the arrow next to the network you are connected to. Your IP address should be listed with some additional information that is not needed for this tutorial.
Step Four:
Go back to the SSH program that you are using and connect to your device. If you are using a Mac, you will need to run the following command in Terminal:
ssh root@<ip-address>
(Where ‘<ip-address>’ is replaced by the IP you found in the previous step).
If you are a Windows user, the process of SSH’ing via WinSCP should be rather straight forward. Simply, type root into the ‘username’ field. Then, type alpine into the ‘password’ field (you may wish to change this password later) and type the IP address into the ‘host name’ field. As for the protocol, make sure that it is set to SFTP.
Step Five:
If you are presented with any warning messages, do not panic, this is normal. Click ‘Allow’/'Yes’ to dismiss the message(s).
If everything checks out okay, then congratulations! You have successfully, SSH’ed into your iDevice, and you now have a vast sea of options at your disposal, however, be warned that mindlessly editing the files on your device can lead to problems. Only edit files if you know what you are doing, or have done prior research!
