Installing a Boot loader on Your Hackintosh

No Hackintosh is complete without a boot loader and sometimes, the boot loader is the make or break element of the system. While allowing you the ability to boot into your new Mac OS X partition, he boot loader also sends the instructions that fires kexts and drivers and if your boot loader and your hardware aren’t fully in sync, it won’t matter how many fixes you try manually, the system just won’t work.

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Mac OS X Mountain Lion to Feat Social Networking

Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion will release this July for $19.99, $10 less than its predecessor, and narrow the gap between Apple’s mobile and desktop operating systems. Mountain Lion will also take a bite out of social media as it comes with the popular platforms integrated within its presence – something that has been notable in Windows 8.

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The Hackintosh Removal Guide

This is the guide for those who have a system that rejected Hackintosh after the installation and have unfavorable hardware (like an AMD processor) or for those who have slipped away from Mac OS X for other reasons and want to install another Operating System in its place or simply recoup the space. If you haven’t installed Hackinosh but are anxious about it, I recommend you read this too.

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Check if you've got the Flashback Trojan with this Handy Tool

It very rarely happens that the Mac Operating System is hit by viruses, if at all. The latest flavor seems to be something called the Flashback Trojan. What this Trojan does is modify the hosts file to redirect the Mac machine to fraudulent servers allowing the collection of sensitive information and data. According to Doctor Web there are around 550,000 Macs infected with the Flashback virus. Doctor Web later on tweeted a correction, saying that there are actually 600,000 Macs infected. Now, what can you do about it?


Thankfully, the Flashback Trojan, to our knowledge, does not cripple your system so it should be easy to remove the virus, even if you're not technologically inclined.


To check if you've got the Trojan, download the Flashback checker tool here. Unzip the file if necessary and run it.


Hopefully, if you don't have the virus you should see this:

Upon seeing this, it will be clear to you that you do not have the Flashback Trojan.


I ran the scan and it appears that I am infected. What do I do?


If your computer has been infected, you will need to open up Terminal. This can be found in the Utilities folder under Applications. You will need to manually remove the infection. You will need to carefully follow the instructions for removing the infection at F-Secure. 


How can I prevent myself from attaining viruses in the future?


Turn off Safari's auto-open command
In Safari, go to the General section of the preferences and uncheck the option to "Open safe files after downloading." Safari may not open applications, but when checked it will open documents and media that may contain malicious executable code. It is recommended that this option is disabled/turned off.

Install an Antimalware/Antivirus Solution

Many Antivirus companies that provide solutions for PC also provide solutions for Mac. These solutions include Norton, McAfee and even AVG. It is always recommended that you have an Antivirus/Antimalware solution running at all times, not only for your safety, but also for the safety of others.

Never trust a program
If something asks you to install an item on your system, shut it down and confirm the source of the item. Only install programs on your system if you know exactly where they came from.

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Facebook buys Instagram

Instagram, the photo filter sharing wonder that started under two years ago. Instagram started with 4 employees and 0 users. To this day there are more than 150 billion photos shared and over 7 million users.

In the next few days, Facebook Inc. is set to buy the social media network for 1 billion dollars. For a network that has no significant source of revenue, that has become this infectious and still growing as we speak.

By buying Instagram, Facebook Inc. has not only eliminated a huge competition potential, but has also acquired the chance to implement the Instagram filters within it's own iOS and Android apps, but also it's website's image uploading sequence.

With every acquirement, there's always the fear of change. Instagram users enjoy the way the apps work and enjoy their ecosystem of sharing. Upon arrival of this upsetting news, there are various services that have appeared that permit users to export their Instagram image library for instant download. There is still no news on whether Facebook intends to change anything or even take down the Instagram network completely, but we're interested to find out.

We're also interested in some feedback. Do you guys think Facebook's going to change anything or is there belief that they will leave the network untouched? Leave your comments in the section below.

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A Quick Look at OS X Mountain Lion

Apple will be releasing Mountain Lion, the successor to Lion this summer and have given developers and people who go to their site a sneak peak. From its pre-beta stage, Mountain Lion inherits many new features – mainly from iOS. Here are some of the highlights.

 

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iPhone 4S and iPad 2 Untethered Jailbreak Released!

As you may have already known, a Jailbreak "Dream Team" was compiled in order to complete the A5 (iPhone 4S and iPad 2) Untethered Jailbreak. Well, guess what guys? They finally finished it after we waited for so long with baited breath.

There has been quite a bit of anticipation for the jailbreak, especially after the iOS 5 A4-and-less unthethered jailbreak was released. Now, here it is, the iOS 5, A5 Unthered Jailbreak. Pristine in all it's glory, Absinthe. 

You can download Absinthe for Windows: [Direct Link]

Absinthe for Mac is available for download: [Direct Link]

Alternatively, if a guide is necessary, follow this one written up by CydiaHelp.

---

Although I do not own an iPhone 4S, or any iPhone to begin with, or an iPhone, I'd like to give a big thanks and congratulations to all the members of the iOS 5 A5 JB Dream Team.


Thank you Joshua Hill, aka @p0sixninja


Thank you @pod2g


Thank you Nikias Bassen, aka @pimseks


and last, but most definitely not least, thank you Yiduo David Wang, aka @planetbeing


Thank you for all your time and effort put into this jailbreak and congratulations on the huge improvement. We hope all this work does not go to waste and is fixed in the next iOS release. Good luck on all your future endeavours!

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Triple Booting Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu

Ever wanted to have all three different worlds on your computer at your fingertips? Or did you ever want to have a computer that only has Mac OS X and Ubuntu? Don’t hold your breath, it’s possible! Here’s how.

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Pinning Websites with Google Chrome

While pinning sites in Chrome may not be as intuitive as it is with Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7, most people would likely prefer to use Chrome which updates much more frequently for its speed and ease of use. In this post, you will learn how to pin websites in Windows and Ubuntu and while using Google Chrome.

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iPhone 4S Untethered Jailbreak Update

As you guys might have heard, there's an iOS 5 Jailbreak "Dream Team" that's been assembled that consists of @planetbeing, @pod2g, @MuscleNerd, and @p0sixninja.

The guys at Dream Team JB iOS5 have really been focusing in the past few days/weeks on the A5 Jailbreak and it seems they put more work into it than they would in a 40 hour a week daytime job!

Let's get to the point. The iPhone 4S is JAILBROKEN! Yes, the iPhone 4S finally has an untethered Jailbreak. Here's a video demonstration:




Now, I assume, all that's left is to compile the jailbreak method into an easy to use and simple jailbreak tool.

Happy waiting!

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A Must Have in Notification Center Tweaks [Jailbreak Tweaks]

There are quite a few Notification Center tweaks out there, some I'm fond of, and others not so much. But there's one I would definitely recommend to novice and advanced jailbreakers out there. This particular tweak is named Omnistat for Notification Center.

The tweak provides an at a glance display of useful and commonly searched-for information. Here are some screenshots:

Tapping the R.A.M. Pie Chart will free up as much space as possible without interfering with apps running in the background


Considering the iOS 5 Battery Percentage just won't show even if checked off in redsn0w, here's a good alternative :)


Tapping the "Wifi logo" will bring up a menu that allows you to turn on/off: Airplane Mode, Wifi, Bluetooth, and Location
Tapping the power button will allow you to: Kill BG Apps, Restart Springboard, Reboot and Shutdown


There's not much to do in this page except for view running processes and copy your UDID. This page would be most useful for iOS developers.



Swiping left or right will change the display from page to page. OmniStat for Notification Center is available from the BigBoss repo (a default repo for Cydia).

Happy Tweaking!

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iOS 5 Untethered Jailbreak

It was a few days ago that the iOS 5 untethered jailbreak was was released both as a bundle from greenpois0n AND redsn0w (sorry sn0wbreeze, get with the program.)

This jailbreak is available thanks to @pod2g and his dedicated time and work done on this exploit.

Along with the chronic-dev and iPhone-dev team releases, the corona release is also available from cydia. (no need to re-jailbreak my friends ;) ).

You can jailbreak with either greenpois0n or redsn0w:
redsn0w: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/tagged/redsn0w
greenpois0n: http://greenpois0n.com/?p=150

The process should be clearly explained within the apps but feel free to contact me at nolet.brandon@gmail.com if there are any issues.

Another method (redsn0w users only) that is possible is directly through cydia. Go to Cydia and search for "corona".

I advise restoring then rejailbreaking your iDevice just because it would give a clean slate. But it's not completely necessary.

Note: This jailbreak is only available for pre-A5 devices (iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G, etc.) with iOS 5/5.0.1

Happy Untethered Jailbreaking!!

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Use a USB Key to Install Windows on Any System

Putting the Windows installation on a USB thumb drive has a few advantages—a small USB key is much more convenient to carry around than a DVD. The Operating System will install much faster, and you can use a USB key to install Windows on systems that do not have a DVD drive, such as a netbook. All it requires is some work in Command Prompt and your USB will be Windows installation ready.

 

 

Don’t put the USB drive in yet, that will come later.

 

First, you’ll need to make sure that you have DiskPart utility on the system, it comes free with Windows, but if you don’t have it, you can download DiskPart here.

 

If you are using Windows XP, it is advisable that you run Command Prompt and type the following and hit enter to run it.

DiskPart

Otherwise, for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, launch the DiskPart utility by typing diskpart in the Start Menu.

 

Now, run the list disk command by typing the following in Command Prompt and hit enter to check the status of your drive.

list disk

You will see all of your drives but the USB which is handy because you will run list disk again after inserting the USB.

 

 

 

Now run select disk 1 by typing the following and hit enter where the number is the corresponding number of your USB drive.

select disk 1

Then you will clean the disk by typing the following and hitting enter. This will erase everything off the disk in the process.

clean

Now, you can run create partition primary by typing the following and hitting enter.

create partition primary

Make the partition active by typing the following and hitting enter.

active

 

 

Next comes the file system, type the following and hit enter.

format fs=fat32 quick

OR

format fs=ntfs quick

Next, you need to be able to access it from Windows Explorer by assigning it a drive letter. Type the following and hit enter.

assign

 

Now, go to Windows Explorer, and copy the contents from the Windows setup disk to the USB. You can do so by dragging and dropping. You can close Command Prompt and DiskPart since the USB is now complete.

 

Once the copy is done you can eject the USB and use it to install on other systems. To boot off the USB, at boot, hit whatever key it says will run set up. Once you are in the BIOS, you will go to Disk Priority, a small exploration won’t hurt and set the removable disk to first priority. If that doesn’t work, then you will look for the hard drive priority and make the USB priority over the main – the USB will be recognized as a hard drive. Once the install is done, or it reboots, enter the BIOS setup again and reverse what you did and let the rest of the setup and the Operating System finish installing itself and run on its own.

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iPhone 4S Untethered Jailbreak Looks To Be A Go!

Earlier today pod2g, an iOS "Hacker", reported that he was close to untether jailbreaking the iPhone 4S but was having issues.

"The untether fails right now because I'm having processor cache issues.

I'm close, but I can't figure out what happens. It certainly has something to do with the Cortex-A9 cache management.

I could sort it out quick, it's a matter of chance."

Now, things seem to be looking up as he notes in his latest blog post:

"OK, figured it out, the A5 cache is not a problem anymore.

I sorted it out by doing the untether in a single thread and by flushing all the dcache then all the icache in a row at a strategical point of the process.

It took me like a hundred of tests to find the key. Hard for the nerves."

Congratulations pod2g, you're a huge hero.

Stay tuned for more information on the iOS 5 Untethered Jailbreak

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iPhone/iPod Touch Backgrounds 2 [Download]

A few weeks ago, what was started was a series of iPhone/iPod Touch backgrounds
(sets of ten) that were available for download and selected by yours truly. Here is the second installment of the series.

http://fileape.com/dl/mPKaCIkuV7b8vnpZ

Happy Backgrounding!

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Combining Tabs in Safari on Mac to Be More Productive

You ever find yourself with multiple windows in Safari an you just feel so cluttered? What about when you just get home from work and you want to take a quick check at your favourite news outlets before you get to making supper? Well our buddy, Freedom McFlyy, has compiled a video showing you how to organize and 'productivize' yourself.

Here's his video:




So there you have it, we look forward to presenting you with more Mac tips in the future!

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iPod/iPhone Backgrounds Selection 1 [Debut]

Here at CSIYF, we're passionate about the backgrounds we use and I've compiled a big selection of my favourite iOS backgrounds. Over the next few months or so, I will be uploading a batch of 10 backgrounds at a time.

As a debut, I have already uploaded 10 and you can download them here.

We at CSIYF hope that you will enjoy these backgrounds as much as I do.

Happy Backgrounding!

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New Feature Found In iOS 5: Panorama Camera Mode [Update: It's up!]

In the early days of the iOS 5 beta, there were bits of code that showed a panorama feature. Now, Conrad Kramer has found a way to enable this feature.

 Why this wasn't added in the original iOS 5 release? We have no idea. However, Conrad intends to release a tool (jailbreak tweak) that would allow any user to easily enable it:

Here are a few screenshots:

and here's the image taken in panorama mode:

Note: The jailbreak tweak has now been released. It is called firebreak and is available in the BigBoss Cydia repository.

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sn0wbreeze Jailbreak Works With iBooks :)

I've been trying to get an alternative to iBooks for quite a while. While I found a way by using BlueFire, unfortunately, it required me to SSH the files over to my iPod and move them around using iFile. However, iH8snow, seems to have found a way to get iBooks working in perfect fashion (without using some complicated method). He has implemented the fix in his latest of jailbreaks into sn0wbreeze which would require you to do a restore with a custom IPSW made by the tool.

Here's a demonstration:

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Features Apple Could've Implemented in iOS 5 (But Didn't)

As I delve into my usage adventure of the update to the iDevice software iOS 5, I seem to find little features that could have made iOS 5 just a bit better. Here's my list:

• Multiple voices for Siri, the iPhone 4S vocal aided assistant
• Ability to launch apps from the notification center (Aka, some sort of favouriting system)
• Facebook integration as well
• Tweeting from the notification center
• Colored "Reminders" lists
• Color custimization
• Icons that represent certain "waiting" notifications, in the status bar

These are just a few improvements that could be added, but I'm sure there are much more.

Happy iOS 5'ing

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