How To Get OnLive Desktop Running On Your Mac

The chances are that if you are an owner of a desktop or notebook computer, powerful smartphone or tablet. then at some point you might have felt the need of accessing work based packages such as word processors, presentation creators and spread sheet applications. Generally speaking, a lot of us have software suites such as Apple’s iWork or Microsoft’s Office but if we require the freedom to work anywhere, from any machine, then it could be possible that we have checked out OnLive Desktop to accomplish this task.

On the grand scale of things, the OnLive Desktop service is relatively new, but the developers have already managed to ruffle a few feathers by not promptly fulfilling any indication that the service would be made available for Mac OS X users. The promise of having a set of packages that give instant response creation and editing of documents wherever you are is definitely something that will appeal to the masses, so if you are a disgruntled Mac user who wants to give the OnLive services try then it is now possible with the use of the BlueStacks package and a side loaded .apk file.

Before this can be made possible, there are a few things that are actually required to get things up and running. First of all, a Mac is required, preferably running OS X 10.7 or above. The Alpha 2 or later build of the BlueStacks software is also required as well as a functioning OnLive account of any level.

Step 1: Download and install the free of charge BlueStacks player on your Mac OS X machine.

Step 2: The easiest way to download and run the required OnLive for Android is to visit the required link from within a browser running on the BlueStacks player. By default, the browser within BlueStacks is actually hidden so you will need to open up any app with links, like Twitter, to invoke the web browser.

Step 3: One of the great advantages of Android is the fact that it allows users to side load applications, something that is very fundamental to get this working. Staying within the invoked browser, open up the Google homepage and search for ‘OnLive desktop apk‘ and open up the link from the first returned result.


Step 4: Voila. That is all it takes to get OnLive Desktop up and running on your Mac. Enjoy the OnLive experience.

As is usually the case when installing applications on platforms which they aren’t specifically designed for, there are a few little annoying nuances to take into account and make allowances for. The frame rate at which the BlueStacks software runs at may not be that satisfactory, as well as not being able to force the experience into full-screen mode. If you can live with those shortcomings, then this is a great way of experiencing OnLive Desktop on your Mac until an official release pops up.



(via OnLiveFans) (thanks, Isaac for the hat tip)

How To Create A Bootable OS X Mountain Lion USB Drive / DVD / SD Card The Easy Way

With Apple finally releasing OS X Mountain Lion via the Mac App Store, users can quickly open the store up on their Macs and get their hands on the latest player in the desktop operating system game. The fact that Apple’s new OS is now available is obviously a positive thing, but once again the fact that it only comes as a digital download has caused a few people to raise their eyebrows at the company’s chosen method of distribution.

With Mountain Lion being initially available and distributed through the Mac App Store, it obviously means that it doesn’t come with an installation DVD nor a USB. The lack of a physical installation source causes some people to have flutters incase something actually goes wrong with their Mac, and they can’t get access to the downloaded installer on the machine. Or if they want to install it on multiple machines without having to download it from Mac App Store again and again, or in case they want to install the Mountain Lion as a fresh install. With that in mind, it makes sense to use the downloaded installation file to create a separate and independent bootable USB/SD Card/DVD drive.

The following steps show the simple process involved in creating a Mountain Lion bootable USB/SD Card/DVD drive using the Lion DiskMaker application that is built around AppleScript.

Step 1: Head on over to the Lion DiskMaker site and download the most recent version of the utility (currently version 2.0rc2). Also, download OS X Mountain Lion from Mac App Store.

Step 2: Open up the compressed file from the download location and run the executable file contained within. This will invoke an instance of the Lion DiskMaker utility.

Step 3: When the program window loads, it will provide you with a small amount of information as well as three buttons containing user options. Select the far right button which is labeled ‘Mountain Lion (10.8)’.

Note: In case the utility is unable to find your Mountain Lion image. Go to the Applications folder and find the copy of Mountain Lion you just downloaded.

• Right click on the downloaded file and select “Show Package Contents”.
• Go to “Contents” and jump inside the “SharedSupport” folder and you’ll find a file titled “InstallESD.dmg”.

Step 4: Lion DiskMaker will now present you with option to either “Burn a DVD”, or “Create a boot disk” using Flash drive or SD Card.

Step 5: Sit back and enjoy the magic that comes from running a fully automated tool that has the intelligence to make itself look like black magic.

So there you have it. A simple and pain-free process to create an bootable disk containing OS X Mountain Lion.

TrackPad++ Brings Inertial, Inverse Scrolling And Multitouch Gestures Of OS X To Windows On Macs

Many of us here around the world use Windows on a Mac. There are two reasons behind this controversial use of a Mac. The first is that because productivity takes a huge hit when you can’t find certain things in OS X that you’ve been sub-consciously using in Windows for so many years; we’re not saying these features aren’t there, it’s just that it takes extra time and effort to find them. Secondly, there are a few programs that are either not available on OS X (Windows Live Writer and Visual Studio is a prime example) or doesn’t work as well (Google Chrome, for instance!).

Installing Windows on a Mac is easy, but when using it you will notice certain limitations. The most immediately noticeable limitation is the bad touchpad support. Moving from the smooth, gesture oriented touchpad of OS X to Windows can be a jarring experience.

But that doesn’t have to be the case anymore as we’ve come across a third-party touchpad driver that gets rid of these touchpad limitations. Check it out after the jump.

Developed by Vladimir Plenskiy, TrackPad++ is a software driver for MacBook Pro and Macbook Air's touchpads that significantly improves input. Instead of the dumbed down support that come with official Apple drivers, TrackPad++ lets you enjoy essentially all of your favorite gestures and familiar scrolling from OS X on Windows.

Not only do you get the default OS X three and four finger gestures like swiping, tapping for actions like going back / forward, zooming in and out, maximizing or minimizing all windows, but you can also customize them to whatever you like. You can choose between inertial and inverse scrolling (used on iOS). There are even options to ignore accidental taps on the touchpad while typing. Additionally, the software claims “improved pointer ballistics”, bug-free dragging and an extra control module for even better customizability.

Download link and installation instructions can be found on the official website here. Please note that TrackPad++ only works on Windows 7 on unibody MacBook Pros and Airs.

Be sure to let us know what you think of TrackPad++ by leaving a comment.

(via Lifehacker)

DNSChanger May Shutdown Your Internet On Monday, Here’s How To Check Your PC / Mac For This Malware And Remove It

It’s all over the news these days, a malware by the name of DNSChanger is scheduled to “go into effect” on Monday whereby infected computers would lose access to the Internet. It’s a scary thing to hear for sure, but there are ways to detect the malware and remove it.
The story behind DNSChanger is actually pretty interesting. The malware is a variant of the famousZlob Trojan; once it is installed on your computer, it goes into the Windows registry and changes the DNS name servers so that when you browse the internet, you are automatically re-routed to the culprit’s ad-ridden websites from which they earn money (the group of hackers made over $10 million from it).

They were caught late last year by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the German Information Security Agency. Their entire system of re-routing Internet traffic from infected PCs was adjusted so that traffic wouldn’t be re-routed. Both agencies decided to let the system continue running as shutting it down would mean potential hundreds of thousands of people without Internet access (as traffic from infected systems went through their system).

Now, due to cost concerns, the system will be shut down on Monday. What this means is if you are infected with the DNSChanger malware, you will lose Internet access on your computer. That’s the bad news.

I’m clean! Yay!

The good news is that it is actually pretty easy to check if your computer is infected by DNSChanger or not. All it takes is a visit to www.dns-ok.us. The website is maintained by the folks over atDNSChanger Working Group (DCWG) which was created to fight against the dangerous DNSChanger malware.

If dns-ok shows up a red flag, you are suggested to go to McAfee’s DNSChanger Detection And Removal Tool. If it detects the presence of DNSChanger, it will help you remove any changes the malware made when it installed itself on your computer.

I sincerely hope you got a green flag from the above mentioned websites. I would highly suggest sharing this post with your friends and family so that they can continue browsing Facebook and enjoy LOLcat images over on Reddit.

Jailbreak iOS 6 Beta 2 Using Redsn0w 0.9.13dev2

The second beta version of iOS 6 – currently only available to registered developers – has just landed, and thanks to Dev Team’s Redsn0w, it can be jailbroken already on A4 devices like the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4G, iPhone 3GS. Of course, the jailbreak is tethered, which means you will need to connect your device to a computer with Redsn0w installed each time your device is turned off or rebooted, but you knew that already.
We have tested and can confirm that the current Redsn0w 0.9.13dev2 works with iOS 6 beta 2.

You will need to "point" Redsn0w in the direction of your older iOS 6 beta 1 firmware in order to spoof the jailbreaking tool into freeing up your device, but keep in mind that you have to use Redsn0w 0.9.13dev2 for the process, links at the end of this post.

The process is none too difficult, and we expect you already know what you’re doing, however for those who haven’t followed the process through in the past, please check out the link to our previous tutorial, by simply heading over to the link at the end of this post.

iOS 6 has quite a few new treasures for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, but no matter how much research Apple does, there are still many glaring oversights within the software as a whole, which is one of the main reasons why the jailbreak community continues to thrive.
Not only has Cydia offered most of the upcoming iOS 6 features for years now, but most of the newfeatures have already been ported through to those running the older firmware. For example, thanks to a little search through Cydia, my device already has the Notification Center tweet widget, and most of the other niceties from the WWDC announcement have been picked off the new firmware like a scavenger hunt.
Still, those running the dev-only release iOS 6 can now enjoy the best of both worlds by jailbreaking their newly-updated devices, and although iOS 6 beta 2 isn’t a spectacular update by any stretch of the imagination, it’s worth downloading and keeping up with the progress of Apple’s latest, supposedly greatest iteration of the iconic mobile operating system.

It is important to note here that installing Cydia on dev releases of iOS 6 is officially not supported yet. Therefore this jailbreak as expected wont install Cydia on your device. You will however have root access on your device, which means that you can install any app using SSH or afc2.

If you’re looking to jailbreak with iPhone Dev Team’s Redsn0w tool, please click on this link for a step-by-step tutorial. As aforementioned, it is tethered, but I suspect those happy to run an unfinished, potentially buggy version of iOS won’t see booting tethered as a massive inconvenience.

Download Redsn0w 0.9.13dev2 [Windows / OS X] 

Install / Flash ClockworkMod Touch Recovery On Galaxy S III GT-i9300 [How-To Tutorial]

ClockworkMod Recovery is the de facto standard when it comes to custom recoveries on Android. After the release of the touch-based TWRP, developer koush announced ClockworkMod Touch which is the CWM everyone knows very well but with the ability to use the touchscreen for navigating around the menus (instead of Volume Up/Down and Power buttons). Most high-end Android smartphones already have CWM Touch and now the Samsung Galaxy S III is the latest to receive it. We’ve got a step-by-step guide ready right after the jump which will help you flash CWM Touch to your 4.8” monster.

DISCLAIMER: I will not be held responsible for any damage incurred to your device as a result of following this guide. Follow at your own risk.

Step 1: Download recovery-clockwork-touch-5.8.4.3-i9300.tar [Direct Link] andOdin_v3.04_Files.zip [Direct Link].

Step 2: Extract the contents of Odin’s ZIP file using a suitable software (we’re fans of PeaZip). Launch Odin3_v3.04.exe.

Step 3: Shut down your Galaxy S III. Press and hold Home, Volume Down, Power buttons until you see a big, scary Warning! screen. Press Volume Up to get into Download Mode.

Step 4: Connect your device with your PC using a USB cable. Odin should detect your device; you’ll see an Added! message in Odin.

Step 5: Click on PDA and select the .tar file you downloaded in Step 1.

Step 6: Ensure that only Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are enabled in ODIN.

Step 7: Click on Start under ODIN to begin the flashing process.

If you followed the steps correctly, your Samsung Galaxy S III International Version will have ClockworkMod Touch Recovery ready to be used. You can access it by shutting down your device and then pressing and holding Home, Volume Up, Power buttons until you see the iconic ClockworkMod icon.
This doesn’t root your Samsung Galaxy S III, by the way. For that, you will have to follow our guide on how to root Galaxy S III GT-i9300 (International Version). If you’re scared of rooting your newsmartphone or need some motivation, you should check out our post on why you should root your Android device, be it smartphone or tablet.

For queries, please visit the official thread over on XDA Developers.