5 New Articles on MakeUseOf |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [April 28th 2013]
- How To Mirror The iPhone Or iPad To Your TV [iOS]
- Free Music Buffet: Pick Your Favorite Albums & EPs [Sound Sunday]
- How Can Hackers Hijack My PC? [MakeUseOf Explains]
- What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? [MakeUseOf Poll]
| Cool Websites and Tools [April 28th 2013] Posted: 28 Apr 2013 09:31 PM PDT
These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed. The post Cool Websites and Tools [April 28th 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Mirror The iPhone Or iPad To Your TV [iOS] Posted: 28 Apr 2013 06:01 PM PDT
Instead, you could switch to your computer, or a media center hooked up to your TV. But if you want to enjoy the content from your iPhone or iPad, there’s a third option. You could display the image of your iOS device to your television set. This instantly makes any TV into a smart TV, allowing for Hulu, Netflix, and even apps that do not have a desktop alternative. There are a number of ways to hook up your iOS device to the television screen; both wired and wireless. 1. Use A Video AdapterThe simplest solution to get your iPhone’s or iPad’s video to show on your television screen is to use a hardware adapter. Apple, and other third-party hardware manufacturers, provide adapters to convert Apple’s proprietary 30-pin, or the new Lightning Connector connector to another type of video plug. Check the back of your television set, or its manual to find out which types of plugs are supported and read Video Cables Explained: Difference between VGA, DVI & HDMI to learn more about the differences between these video connectors.
Once you’ve found the right connection, likely HDMI or RCA, check out your local hardware store or the online Apple Store to find a connector. You can try online marketplaces like eBay too and save a big part of the money, but there’s no guarantee the connector will be recognised by your iOS device.
All generation iOS devices support Video Out, which is a framework that lets an app explicitly output video to connected AV adapters. You can expect Video Out to work with most video and photo apps, but it probably won’t be incorporated into your mail or calendar application. Later generation iOS devices (iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and later devices) also support Video Mirroring. Here, you can mirror your entire iPhone or iPad screen to your television set, unless the app explicitly uses the video out feature to show a different image configuration. View this Apple Support article for more compatibility information. (Cydia) DisplayOutApple’s limiting of video mirroring is 80% marketing move. If you’ve jailbroken you’re device, you can use the $2.99 Cydia app DisplayOut to introduce the video mirroring functionality to all iPhones and iPads, regardless of generation and connector type (although, admittedly, HDMI adapters work better than component or composite cables).
Cydia is available through the BigBoss repo. This repo should have been added to Cydia by default. If nothing shows up on your search results, you can still add the BigBoss repo through Manage -> Sources -> More Package Sources. (Cydia) Resupported 4.0+Another Cydia tweak that’ll help you with your video output is Resupported 4.0+. As mentioned earlier on, not all AV adaptor cables are recognised by every iOS device. For example, iPod cables or usually unsupported by iPhones and iPads, even if the connector is essentially the same. Although Resupported 4.0+ provides no guarantee, it all but says to make every iOS AV cable supported again.
This functionality is available for $3.99 through the Cydia store, which is a lot less than you’ll save buying an “unsupported” AV connector. Better yet, you can try the product for free, for ten full days. If you haven’t already jailbroken your iPhone or iPad, these two apps might be sufficient reason to do so. Read MakeUseOf’s guide, How To Jailbreak Your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad by Lachlan Roy, to get started. 2. Stream Over AirPlay To The Apple TVIf you have an Apple TV at home, this process gets a lot less convoluted. Instead of fumbling around with AV connectors, you can simply stream your iPhone or iPad’s image to the Apple TV. The third generation of Apple even supports 1080p video! If that doesn’t tell mean much to you, read our write-up on display resolutions.
Supported applications, like Apple’s own Video app, or in fact any web video, will show an AirPlay icon when there’s an Apple TV connected to your local network. Pressing the AirPlay icon and selecting your Apple TV will start wirelessly streaming your screen. Learn more about AirPlay from What's AirPlay, And How To Use It In Mac OS X Mountain Lion. If you want to mirror your iOS device’s screen from unsupported apps, there’s usually not much you can do. However, if you’ve jailbroken your device, the Cydia DisplayOut app discussed above also lets you mirror your device’s screen to the Apple TV on iOS 5+. 3. Stream Over AirPlay To Your ComputerMirroring your iPhone or iPad’s screen to your television set might be a new obstacle, but chances are you’ve already found a way to connect your computer to your TV. In fact, most laptop nowadays come with HDMI ports, as do most new TV’s. This makes hooking up your computer to your TV easier than ever before. If you’ve already connected your computer to your TV, you could simply project your iOS device’s screen to your computer and get the same results. This adds an additional device in the chain, but it may keep you from needlessly buying additional hardware.
AirServer transforms your Mac or PC into an AirPlay receiver. Instead of shelling out over a hundred bucks to purchase an Apple TV, you can purchase AirServer for $14.99 to transform your computer into one. With AirServer installed, you can stream video from your iPad to your computer, full-screen. In fact, you can even mirror multiple devices side-by-side! How do you go about mirroring iOS to your television set? Do you prefer cables or wireless? Let us know in the comments section below the article! Image credit: Television via Shutterstock The post How To Mirror The iPhone Or iPad To Your TV [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Free Music Buffet: Pick Your Favorite Albums & EPs [Sound Sunday] Posted: 28 Apr 2013 01:30 PM PDT
Note that name your price albums can be downloaded for free by entering 0 in the price field. That said, we strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars for music you enjoy! You are welcome to submit your music, send suggestions with free albums you have discovered, or request genres I haven't covered in a while. For all Sound Sunday related inquiries, please contact Tina [tina at makeuseof dot com]. EP: Frigid – Dust & DebrisGenre: alternative, indie, blues Frigid is the solo project of Joffrey Dumas. The artist from Montréal writes on his Facebook profile: I was dead but I’m back to life… Under my spell the world is alright! Dust & Debris is a free download from Bandcamp. Dirtwire – SelftitledGenre: electronic, americana, blues From their Bandcamp profile: David Satori and Evan Fraser met at California Institute of the Arts where they studied World Music and Composition. There they formed The Funnies (psychedelic liquid space funk) then after moving to the SF Bay Area, Evan joined Hamsa Lila (hypnotic world groove) and Stellamara (Eastern European) while David helped form Beats Antique, (electronic) & it became the force that it is… Now Dirtwire! Dirtwire is a name your price download from Bandcamp. The Blue Stones – How’s That Sound?Genre: alternative, blues, rock, soul, garage rock, psychedelic rock From their Bandcamp profile: Hailing from Windsor, Ontario, The Blue Stones duo provide an edgy blues rock sound with accompanying alternative rock accents. The duo have been featured at Canadian Music Week; NXNE; FAM Fest; Shores of Erie Winefest and Orangeville Blues & Jazz Fest. In the last year, they’ve opened for acts such as The Stone Foxes, Current Swell, Justin Nozuka, Fitz and The Tantrums, Joel Plaskett and more. How’s That Sound? is a name your price download from Bandcamp. Thot – Remixed byGenre: alterantive, ambient, industrial, electro, rock, post rock From thot’s Bandcamp profile: Spreading his universe with protagonists such as electrical thistles, speaking hills or mute windmills, Thot cleverly mixes rock and electronic music, industrial and acoustics sounds, freeing itself from any codes and turning stages upside down. Remixed by is a free download from Bandcamp. Lendrone – UNOGenre: experimental, instrumental, synthesizer, rock Lendrone are Jorge, Andrés, and Juan from A Coruña, Spain. UNO is their debut album, which was prefaced with a selftitled EP, also available from Bandcamp. UNO is a name your price download from Bandcamp. Rhett Price (w/ Josh Knowles) – Rhett & JoshGenre: instrumental, pop, rock From his Facebook profile: I’m Rhett. I play violin and I have HUGE dreams. Rhett and Josh have been busking at the Boston Subway. They have built a following with their violin interpretations of popular music. Rhett & Josh is a free download from Bandcamp. Black Chamber – SelftitledGenre: electronic, instrumental, jazz, jazzy hip hop From their Facebook page: Black Chamber is a Portland, Oregon-based trio playing music that blends the improvisational sounds of modal jazz with the moods and rhythms of downtempo electronica. Black Chamber is a name your price download from Bandcamp or free from MediaFire. EP: Child Actor – PartnerGenre: indie, electronic, pop, r&b Child Actor is an American indie duo formed in 2012. Partner is a name your price download from Bandcamp. Mean Deep – SelftitledGenre: acoustic, indie, electronic, pop, rap From Mean Deep’s Bandcamp profile: Classically trained sarod & tabla player, palm-wine guitarist, singer, beat maker, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, producer. Mean Deep is a name your price download from Bandcamp. EP: Aural Method – Let Us Face the Evening Skies with Child-Like EyesGenre: ambient, inspirational, soundscape, post-rock From his Facebook profile: My name is Matthew. I play guitar for a living. This is my solo project. I write (or at least direct) all the music you will hear from it. I get friends to play the instruments I can’t. Let Us Face the Evening Skies with Child-Like Eyes is a name your price download from Bandcamp. GOLD – RebirthGenre: electronic, ambient, synth From their Facebook profile: Properly claiming a 2012 genesis, the Los Angeles based LEGION OF DOOM collective draws a diverse group of producers closer together with a single creative goal. Spearheaded by founder and prolific musician GOLD, the group cum label began as an umbrella for fellow crafters ATLAS, RVW KOLLVGE, VVDS and Artificial Intelligence to rally under before quickly expanding to encompass a total of 15 members. Rebirth is a name your price download from Bandcamp. And More…Enjoyed one of these albums? Pay it back and share this article or the albums you liked. If you really appreciated a particular album, please donate to the respective artist, so they can continue releasing great music. New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here. Are you using ifttt? Check out these recipes for receiving notifications of new Sound Sunday releases to GTalk and Pushover for mobile devices. Thank you @Vampie! Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below. The post Free Music Buffet: Pick Your Favorite Albums & EPs [Sound Sunday] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How Can Hackers Hijack My PC? [MakeUseOf Explains] Posted: 28 Apr 2013 11:31 AM PDT
This is the holy grail for how hackers hack, so it’s important to understand how it can occur and what you can do to protect yourself. Social EngineeringThis is the most common attack method, and we’ve given a full account of one such process before, involving a scam technical support call that goes something like this:
The fake technical support scam isn’t the only way this can occur of course – if you leave your computer in the hands of someone you can’t completely trust, there’s always a chance backdoor software could be installed. Although there’s no cases recorded, a Best Buy employee was found stealing raunchy pictures from a user’s PC – so there’s nothing to stop rogue repair technicians installing trojan software either. While rogue technicians are certainly rare – the fake technical support scam is all too prevalent, and I’ve personally had to deal with the aftermath on family machines where they’ve fallen for it. The key to protecting yourself and your family is education – explain to less technically capable friends and family that these support calls are fake and they should simply hang up.
For single user computers, it’s also quite likely they’re using the administrator account by default. The safest thing to do would be to set up a restricted user account for them to use on a daily basis, and ask them to never use the administrator account without talking to you first. Also, note that while Microsoft will never call you personally, they do sometimes contact home users – but only via their ISP so that they can confirm they are an existing customer, and charges will never be made. This happened recently in 2010, when Microsoft set about cleaning 6.5 million computers of the botnet they were a part of. Browser Vulnerabilities – Flash & JavaModern browsers are themselves rather secure. Chrome and more recently others run website tabs in their own sandboxed environment, where no changes can be made to the local filesystem. However, plugins such as Java operate outside of this sandbox, so these remain a concern. If these plugins are enabled and not blocked by the browser, malicious Java or Flash code can be run as soon as you visit an infected site, or even loaded through the untrusted ad-network of a trusted site. Thankfully, most of these problems are mitigated by simply :
Really, no decent website uses Java anymore (note: Java and Javascript are completely different), and the average home user does not run Java applications.
Chris has explained the problem of browser plugin security before, so I’ll point you there for ways of either disabling or checking your particular browser and setup. Port ScanningI’m listing this last as it’s the least likely to affect home computers that are connected via a router. If you’ve read our explanation of what port forwarding is, you’ll understand that any application that needs to receive information over the network is required to open a port. Sometimes these are predetermined – such as a web server on port 80 – and other times they’re just random. By default, unused ports are closed, so that’s where the difficulties around port forwarding arise. If you want to run a web server from your home PC, you’ll need to configure the router specifically to take incoming traffic for port 80 and forward it to your PC. Some applications and devices use uPnP, which handles this configuration of opening ports as and when required. If you have an Xbox 360 for instance and regularly play online, it’s using this to configure ports dynamically.
Port mapping involves a hacker scanning your router from the outside and systematically talking to every single port number, looking for open services. Once the services are found, the hacker is able to check certain characteristics that identify the version of software being run (“software footprints”). The version is then cross-checked against a database of known vulnerabilities, and if a match is found they can proceed with the exploit. Although this sounds laborious, in practice it’s a single tool to scan, cross-check and deliver the exploit. Unless you’re doing things like setting up your own network servers and performing manual port forwarding, it’s unlikely you’re vulnerable to simple port scanning. However, if you’re curious about what ports are open on your home network, there’s a quick Internet-based tool available here, though you’re limited to the standard ports and 500 others. If you run Linux, check out the nmap tool for a more full test.
The exception to being protected by a router is when you’re connected to public Wifi. You’re placed on the same network as everyone else, and any one of them could be running a port scanner looking for vulnerable services. Finally, Matt wrote a great PDF guide - HackerProof, Your Guide to PC Security - which should be considered essential reading on the topic. Have you ever had your computer hijacked, and if so, what happened? Do you know how they got in? The post How Can Hackers Hijack My PC? [MakeUseOf Explains] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? [MakeUseOf Poll] Posted: 28 Apr 2013 10:30 AM PDT
Out of 427 votes in total, the breakdown was as follows: 1% have no apps installed, 6% have 1-10 apps, 10% have 11-20 apps, another 10% have 21-30 apps, 6% have 31-40 apps, 9% have 41-50 apps, a full 20% of the voters have 51-100 to apps, and, incredibly, 39% have over 100 apps. Seems like I underestimated our readers! Full results and this week’s poll after the jump. Don’t forget to check out last week’s best comment by David R, who impressed us all with his efficient use of apps, even at 77, and won 150 reward points for his comment!
This week’s poll question is: What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? Want to make some extra MakeUseOf reward points? The most useful comment on the poll will be awarded 150 points! Do you remember when Facebook was free of ads? At the beginning of the social-network boom, the companies who run them were still looking for the right way to make money. Today it’s pretty clear: ads. But on most networks, these are not regular ads like you see on many websites, or even on Facebook’s right sidebar, but rather sponsored or promoted posts. You can see these on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and many other platforms, where companies pay to have their content appear in a prominent place on our feed. Granted, it’s not the only way to place ads, but it’s a good way to make sure we see them. What do you think of this trend? Do you mind these posts? Do you use them? Would you rather see regular ads or pay to prevent them from appearing? Mind that this poll is not about ads on websites in general, but specifically about sponsored posts on social networks. We already had a great discussion about general ads in the past. Don’t forget to tell us why you mind or don’t mind these sponsored posts, and how you deal with them. Add your opinion below! The post What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? [MakeUseOf Poll] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
![muo Cool Websites and Tools [April 28th 2013]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/muo.jpg "Cool Websites and Tools [April 28th 2013] image")
Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. Most of the listed websites are FREE or come with a decent free account option. If you want to have similar cool website round-ups delivered to your daily email, subscribe 
The iPad (or even the iPhone) is a great device to enjoy apps and video while you’re on the road, or in bed. In fact, you can enjoy your media wherever you are. However, sitting a small distance from your big television set, some of this media might be wasted on the small screen of your iOS device.
Malware is usually very specific in what it does to your PC, whether that’s displaying ads, taking over your browser homepage and search bar, or nagging you to pay for some fake anti-virus. Hijacking however is potentially far more devastating, giving the hacker backdoor remote access to your entire PC.
![polls What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? [MakeUseOf Poll]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/polls.png "What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? [MakeUseOf Poll] image")
Last week we asked you how many apps you have installed on your phone. As a former graduate student, I must say I expected the results to form a nice ![poll results april 26 What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? [MakeUseOf Poll]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/poll-results-april-26.png "What Do You Think Of Sponsored Posts On Social Networks? [MakeUseOf Poll] image")
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