Tag Archives: tech

How to, tech

How to get the BBC IPlayer to work if your not in the uk

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Channel 4’s superb 4OD allows us irish folks to watch all programs on the site while for other reasons the BBC wont allow anyone outside the uk too.

After a bit of research and googling i found and tried a way that does work at least if your in Ireland. Full credit goes to a boards.ie member but heres how to;

Originally Posted by joeyamg View Post
Looked at various ways of doing this, best free way I’ve found for getting iplayer to work:

Step 1: Download and install the latest stable release of Tor using the default options. Run setup and make sure you’re connected to the network. Green onion will appear in system tray if it is working ok.

Step 2: Download and install mgeni, it’s a browser that uses the Tor network to allow you to choose what country you want to route through.

Little bit slow loading webpages (maybe turn off image loading) but video feed is perfect (I’ve only got a 7mb connection). Much easier than messing with foxy proxy or whatever else.

*Doesn’t work for hulu unfortunately

After you get the above software to work wich is easy enough you should be able to watch programs from the BBC site.
tech

How to:Record Streaming video and youtube videos

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There are 3 basic ways to do this;

1) Realplayer Downloader:

The best one and its free and dead simple to use.

2) Record Youtube Videos with TubeZen

You simply paste the youtube video link into the site pick what video format you then download it to your PC.  Its simple and very easy to use.

3) Recording Video Streams:

Sometimes youll want to record a “Live Stream” of a tv show or webcam. The best and easiest way to do this is a program called “WM Recorder 14”. The demo version lets you try it out and you can save 5 mins of almost any live stream on the web. To record more than that you will need to pay for the full version.

tech

Eircom – enacts three strikes rule

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In case youve been living in a cave for the last few days, Eircom irelands largest ISP is now looking for people to disconnect from its service. According to the details a third part compnay called “dTechnet” will be watching downloads of music on popular Peer to Peer Networks like Limewire and Torrents. They will then give those IP addresses to Eircom who will then give you 3 warnings to stop and then they will cut you off. AT which point Eircom will have lost a customer. If Ever a plan to stop Piracy seemed a bit mad then this is surely one of them.

How many people are going to stay with Eircom with kinda crap going on? Any compnay that restricts your internet access is just the same as the chinese government in my book.

You can read more about on the boards.ie forum;

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055919718

tech

Firefox 3 – Uses Huge amounts of Ram and is slow – Solutions

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I love Firefox heck who doest with the fantastic features it has but Firefox 3 is so slow it seems to take ages compared to FireFox 2 and really its just not good enough. Ive tried everything to get it work a bit better, made a new profile etc and did some searching for a solution.

It also seems that Firefox uses a huge amount of ram up to 400mb of ram on my PC and thats not unique according to the searches ive done. Ive found an addon that seems to reduce the crazy amount of ram that Firefox Uses;

AFOM – Memory Recovery & Retention For Firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11922

Im using this addon at the moment and it does seem to work even for the latest FireFox version. There are other Tweeks and solutions on the problem and ive listed some of them below.

  1. Firefox Running Slow? Make It Fast Again Without Re-Installation
  2. Is Firefox slow for you? Here’s some tips to try which might speed it up
  3. Firefox slow? Limit history size for speed improvement
  4. This May Help Your Firefox Memory Leak

This page comes up with a FireFox tweek that ive not yet tested but it might just do the trick;

This little fix will move Firefox to your hard drive when you minimize it, and as a result it will take up less than 10MB of memory while minimized. So far, from my experiences with using this today, when you maximize Firefox it will obviously increase the memory usage. However, it does not seem to go back up to the insane amount that it was at before minimizing it. For example, Firefox was at 180MB of memory usage and then I minimized it and after a few seconds I maximized it. After maximizing it and continuing on my routine business it appeared to only have gone up to 60MB. This seems to be a good solution for me right now since I frequently maximize and minimize Firefox anyways.

  • Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
  • Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
  • In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter.
  • Now select True and then press Enter.
  • Restart Firefox.
    • tech

    Whats the Best Anti-Virus / Firewall? Both Paid and Free?

    2 Comments

    Ive been using Avast 4.8 as my Anti-Virus program for about 4-5 years now and its been quite good however it does seem to have the strange habbit of reporting false postives once in a while which can be very annoying which left me wondering is there a better Anti-Virus out there thats Free.

    Ive been using Comodo Firewall for about the same time too and its very good but it can be annoying to set up which again leads to the question is there a good All in One solution thats not “Norton” which i detest and slows your PC Down way too much.

    Free Anti-Virus:

    Avast:
    After Avast failed me and let in a nasty virus on a USB Stick i use at college and let some bastard hack my world of warcraft account it was time to change Anti-Virus and Firewall Software. So i changed from Windows Vista 64 bit to Windows 7 64 Bit and started using ESET Smart Security and as soon as i plugged in my USB stick ESET Smart Security detected and deleted the Virus. It gave great detail on the virus on what accounts it does etc and it soom became clear that this was the bugger that let my World of Warcraft (inactive) Account get hacked.

    Avast 5:
    Avast have updated there anti-virus and now you can both a firewall and anti-virus. The Anti-Virus solution is free while you will need to pay for the AV and Firewall. It seems a lot better than it use to be the user-interface is a lot clearer and you can find all the settings you need to change.

    AVG:
    Ive never tried AVG but its the one people always reccommend when i ask whats the best free Anti-Virus software out there.

    Microsoft Security Essentials:
    As recommended by a commentor is also Free, ive never heard of it but it seems to be excellent.

    Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

    Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

    Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

    Paid Anti-Virus:

    ESET Smart Security:
    This is one of those All-in-one prodcuts that has a firewall and Anti-Virus it Seems a very good product but its not free buy you can get a 30 day trial and if your a student you can get at a student rate.

    Id recommend it as you hardly know its there and it deletes any viruses it finds and the firewall is very non-intrusive . Ive bought this software at the student rate and its well worth the money. You can get it cheap if your a student which is great.


    Rant, tech

    I Tunes 9.0.3: New I-Tunes Update Screwed my Music Library?

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    I loaded up I-Tunes and updated it to  the lastet version (9.03) and when it updated everything, my music library was gone all the playlists i made as well. What the hell kinda shit is this? I detest I-Tunes its far too restrictive and screws the consumer when you buy music.

    How the hell do i get my library back, now ill probably have to wipe my I-Pod and start again thanks a fucking lot apple.

    EDIT:

    Luckily i backed up my PC yesterday with “Symantic Backup Exec System Recovery 2010” which is very useful for keeping a backup of your PC. So i had to copy the old I-Tunes Library File from a few days ago over and its all working now.

    Rant, tech

    Xbox 360: E 74 Red Light

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    It finnally happened after a year and a half and feck all use until the xmas period my Xbox 360 died with a shitty E74 message and 1 red light. No “goodbye” or “wait a sec im dont feel well”, after playing a DVD i got my Dad for Xmas “The fall and Rise of Reginal Perrin” on the dam “console” when i went back to the dashboard i noticed that my avatar was pixalated thinking “oh shit thats not right” i fired up Assassins Creed 2 (which ive been playing over Xmas) and yep same problem, pixelation and then it sank in, this is bad.

    So i restart the console and black screen E74 message appears and with one red light on the botton right side. I wouldnt mind but i never really used the Xbox much and onyl got it for GTA 4 back in April 2008. At the time i told myself and a mate of mine “Please let me play and finish GTA4, i dont care if you die after that but please let me play. Having heard all about the problems with the Red Ring of Death and the Xbox 360 i knew the Xbox was dodgy but i thought ok. Having hooked it up the main TV downstairs and put on the HD mode with 1080p the graphics the Xbox 360 was displaying were amazing, Assasins Creed 2 was stunning and GTA 4 looked way better than it did when i was using the VGA cable on my PC’s monitor.

    So alas my Xbox lies in a cardboard box as i pack it off to get fixed back to Microsoft, its still in warranty thank god but i feel really disapointed that the console quit on me like that and right during xmas on the break from college and with Assasins Creed 2 being incredable.

    Articles on the E74 Problem and there are many:

    Microsoft revises warranties to cover new E74 defects for Xbox 360

    Xbox 360 E74 Hardware Failures are on the Rise and Full of Fail

    EDIT:

    Microsoft retuned the Xbox faster than expected and all is good again and 1 month Xbox Live. I have to say Microsoft are very good at the whole process from collecting it to returning it back just hope it never happens agan.

    Games, tech

    How to CLEAN your PC from keyloggers.

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    wowkoAfter having my World of Warcraft Account hacked i set about searching for how to remove any viruses and other crap that had made there way on to my PC so a quick google came up with these two great tips.

    1) A program called KeyScrambler — it is free for your web browser.
    2) An addon for Firefox called “NoScript” — this defaults to denying scripts to run on pages you view. But, if you are absolutely certain that the site is safe, you can quite easily allow scripts.
    3) A program called “SnoopFree Privacy Shield 1.0.7″ — which alerts you to any program trying to attach itself to your computers keystrokes.

    Magekíd’s guide: How to CLEAN your PC from keyloggers.

    Hi all, this guide will help you on how to clean your pc from keyloggers.
    Please take a look.

    Screenshots have now been added!!!
    Please also take a look at the Unofficial Helper’s Forum (with IRC!)
    > http://forum.anayra.info/ < (Thanks to Anayra for running this!)

    English is not my mother tongue, so some things are hard for me to explain, but I think i’m doing a good job, in general ^^

    First of all, a note: Hijackthis is a tool, used for finding infections in your computer. Please note: THIS IS NOT A SCANNER. It shows both malicous rules, but also LEGIT rules. Do not fix rules in Hijackthis yourself!
    You can find a list of forums that are qualified to look at your Hijackthis log here: http://asap.maddoktor2.com
    In addition, here’s a list of forums where you can post your hijackthis logfile. – If you know any others, please let me know in a comment/reply!
    Dutch/Belgium:
    www.hijackthis.nl/forum
    www.minatica.be/forum.php
    http://www.antispywareoffensief.nl/forum/

    English:
    http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/
    http://forums.techguy.org/
    http://www.techsupportforum.com/

    Before posting a Hijackthis log, please do the following steps upfront. I know this is alot of work, but that way most malware is already deleted and your logfile can be looked at faster.
    Please remember: Follow ALL steps, including step 7

    Note: Vista Users must run installations and the downloaded programs as Administrator. You can do this by right-clicking the program and select Run as Administrator (The screenshot shows it for Hijackthis, You must use this for every program we use here)
    http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6665/guide1bb5.jpg <– Screenshot

    1. Download ATF Cleaner here:  http://www.atribune.org/ccount/click.php?id=1 – and save it somewhere (Desktop for example)

    – Start ATF Cleaner and check everything except “Prefetch” at the tab “Main“. Then press “Empty Selected”
    http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5641/guide2xo7.jpg <– screenshot

    – If you use Firefox as your browser, go to the Firefox tab and check everything except “Firefox Saved passwords”. Then press “Empty Selected”
    http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9761/guide2qu7.jpg <– Screenshot

    – If you use Opera as your browser, go to the Opera tab and check everything except “Saved Passwords“. Then press Empty Selected.

    2. Download Ad-aware 2008 Free here: http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5&cdlPid=10903602 –  and install it. If you get an license note during the installation, press Use Free After the installation, start Ad-Aware and press Update.
    http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/3198/guide3po0.jpg <– screenshot
    When Ad-Aware is finished updating, press Scan and do a Full system scan
    When the scanning is completed, You’ll see two tabs with infected objects. The first tab contains Critical Objects and the second tab Privacy Objects Check everything at both tabs and press Remove At the top of both tabs you see a number which says the amount of infections found. Please wait until both numbers say “0” and then press Complete.
    http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2029/guide4pg7.jpg <– screenshot
    Close Ad-Aware

    3. Download Spybot Search & Destroy here: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html –  and install it. During the installation, uncheck “Use Internet Explorer protection (SDHelper)” and “Use system settings Protection (TeaTimer)”

    When the installation is completed, start Spybot S&D and press OK at the notice you get about Ad-Aware. It may also notify you about deleting temporary files. Just select yes Follow the Wizard, and when the wizard is done press Update in Spybot. Search for updates, check all available updates and install the updates. After that press the Immunize tab and Immunize your system. When the Immunization is done, press the Search & Destroy tab and start scanning your computer.
    http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7301/guide5br0.jpg <– screenshot

    When Spybot S&D is done scanning. Check all found objects and press Fix Selected Problems.
    If Spybot S&D cannot delete all found objects, it will ask if it can scan at the next reboot to fix the problems. Press Yes.
    http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/439/guide6uc1.gif <– screenshot
    Now close Spybot S&D.

    4. Download MBAM (MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware) here: http://www.besttechie.net/tools/mbam-setup.exe –  and install it. Make sure that at the end of the installation, Update MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware and Start MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware is checked.
    http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9350/guide7bi9.jpg <– screenshot
    When MBAM is started. Go to the Scanner tab and do a Full scan
    http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/9767/guide8iv5.jpg <– screenshot
    Once MBAM is done scanning, press Show Results and make sure all found objects are selected. After that press Remove Selected
    http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5509/guide9sm1.jpg <– screenshot
    When MBAM is done deleting objects a logfile will open. You can close this logfile.
    The Logfile will automatically be saved at the Logs tab in MBAM.

    If MBAM found objects that can’t be deleted, it will ask to reboot your computer. Allow this and restart your computer.

    4. If you didn’t restart your computer after running MBAM, restart it now anyway.

    5. Do a full system scan with your virusscanner and remove all found infections.
    If you do not have a virusscanner, you can scan online with one of these scanners. (Use Internet Explorer to scan)

    BitDefender: http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
    Panda: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
    Kaspersky: http://www.kaspersky.nl/scanner

    Remove all infections found.

    6. Restart your computer.

    7. Download Hijackthis here: http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/hijackthis/HJTInstall.exe – and install it. After the installation Hijackthis will open. Press Do a systemscan and save a logfile.
    http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4533/guide10pz1.jpg <– screenshot
    A notepad file will open. In the Notepad file, press CTRL + A to select everything, CTRL + C to Copy everything. Then press CTRL + V in a new topic at the forum you want to post the log.

    Also paste the MBAM log on the forum you place the Hijackthis logfile.

    Many thanks for reading, if you have questions or problems, please ask Smiley

    Also: Please note: Doing this all, is NOT A GUARANTEE your computer is not infected. There is no scanner that has a 100% detection rate.

    – Magekid

    tech

    Windows 7 – is it worth it?

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    500x_win-7-guide-headLifehacker’s Complete Guide to Windows 7:
    This is a dam awesome guide on just about everything you wanted to know about Windows 7 its a must read.

    Src: lifehacker.com

    windows 7 vs Vista and CP – Gaming Benchmarks:
    Heres another article that shows benchmarks between the 2 Windows Os’s and basically says that windows 7 is better than Vista. The benchmarks show a tiny difference but i using Windows 7 myself it sure does seem a little faster;

    src: gamespot.com

    Windows 7 on multicore: How much faster?
    Is Windows 7 better with multicore Processors well not quite but a little seems to be the answer.

    src: infoworld.com