Review: Mountain Lion is the platform more social Macs

The most visible changes shows that the company is encouraging a new experience with the system, leading people to interpret the Mac as an extension of mobile devices. So much so that computers put in three applications that were previously only seen in iOS: Reminders, Notes and Messages. With the first, you can create alerts that will be displayed in other gadgets apple, if the Mac itself, you will make use of other big news: the Central Notification.

The Mountain Lion comes with a sidebar that displays a range of reports. New e-mails, reminders, messages, appointments in Calendar, updating applications ... everything appears in a single space. To check the task list, just click a small icon in the upper right corner of the screen, then the Central Notification appears pushing the desktop to the side.



 

The version 10.8 of OS used in Macs was released for download on Wednesday (25/07), then install OS X the famous Mountain Lion here to show what is most important among the more than 200 updates.

Soon after the installation process (which takes about two hours), the user is already faced with the first - and important - news: the "welcome" of OS X 10.8. The startup configuration is iCloud, which becomes available to Mac users this means that you can share virtually all products from Apple with the help of the cloud.

Share

The bar contains what is perhaps the biggest highlight of this new version of OS X. That way you can write tweets, and soon there will also be connecting with Facebook (something about which more later). We can set this to highlight why sharing is a word that defines well the Mountain Lion - throughout the system were adopted ways to spread content.

When you open the Finder, for example, the owner of the machine note the novelty of two ways: there is a button "Share selected items" and also a "Share" that appears when you right click on something is triggered. The file type defines the possibility of dissemination, such as audio and video, which can not be sent to Twitter but you can send them by e-mail, or airdrop.

In total there are nine options for sharing applications, including Safari (which is now in version 6), Photo Booth, QuickTime, iPhoto and Preview. You have to exchange files via e-mail, messaging, airdrop, Twitter, Vimeo, Flickr and soon on Facebook. And the site of Mark Zuckerberg received a great emphasis on the operating system.

Facebook

There will be a great Mac-Facebook integration from now. The social network will have a number of funds with the OS X 10.8. When you log into the site by the system, the user takes all the contacts into the Mac and, thus, the birth dates are to appear in the Calendar

As we mentioned before, status updates can be made directly by the Central Notification - as well as adding photos to albums. And the sidebar also show site activity.

The Mountain Lion is definitely more social than the previous version and connection with the Facebook came to cover a hole, since the applications to control the network by Mac are not the best. In the case of Twitter, a timeline that shows the integration efficiently is able to kill the application's official Twitter, which already works quite well.

Overall, the system houses more than 200 new features, so if you decide to upgrade your Mac, tell us what features you most attention.

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Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) available today in the Mac Store, check their price

Tim Cook said that Apple will begin a marketing its operating system OS X 10.8, better sonocido As Mountain Lion, the latest version of OS X to date. The announcement came yesterday during the presentation of results of Apple's third quarter, and five months after being announced to the press.
Mountain Lion (version 10.8 of OS X), goes on sale at a price of $ 240.00 pesos, cheaper than it did a year ago to upgrade to OS X 10.7 (aka Lion) and, like it is can purchase and download from the Apple Mac App Store . Another similar to the previous system is that Apple will also allow users to pay for a copy of the operating system may be installed on multiple Macs, something that true maqueros certainly appreciate.

 

According to the developer version, which has been available a few months, users will have installed on their computers at least Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6.8) to any version of Lion (OS X 10.7) to upgrade to Mountain Lion , and any of these equipment listed below:
MacBook (Late 2008 or early 2009 or later)
MacBook Pro (mid / late 2007 or later)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
iMac (Mid 2007 or later)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or later)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Xserve (Early 2009)
Mountain Lion includes a number of characteristics that favor integration between Macs and iOS products like the iPhone or iPad, which includes integration with icloud, and Mac versions of IMessage, Reminders, Notes, Center notifications, integration with Twitter, Game Center and mirroring through AirPlay.
The new operating system for the first time will also include integration with Facebook, social networking notifications will be included in the new Notification Center, and even allow you to upload photos to social networks directly from iPhoto. Facebook contacts and their profiles will also be added to the Contacts application that includes Mountain Lion.
Other new features including Mountain Lion is the usefulness of the new utility Dictation and Power Nap (available in laptops with SSDs) that allows for updates to Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Photos Streaming, Find My Mac and Documents, and then download and install them on computers when they are in standby mode, if they are connected to a power source.

Complement your information:
 
Windows 8 vs. Mountain Lion

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Windows 8 vs. Mountain Lion: What operating system succeeded in bringing the mobile to the desktop?

Meanwhile, Microsoft had higher aspirations: Windows 8 will run on your desktop and laptop as it does on your tablet is unlike anything I've done before.
Let's take a closer look at each one, to try to get a better idea of what the system is ahead. We begin
The Home Screen Windows 8
The differences between Windows 8 and Mountain Lion are evident from the moment you start. When launched Windows 8, we saw something completely different: Instead of the common Start menu, toolbar and Windows Explorer, you have a Home Screen, which consists of a square and rectangular icons with your apps called Live Tiles (give more detail below).
 

By default, the Home screen displays each application you installed on your PC, but you can choose what and what not to appear there. You are not restricted with the Apps: you can put other objects on the screen, including booksmarks of your favorite sites and contacts in your address book.
Windows 8 will run also in the traditional computer applications, and will do in a desktop environment that resembles the layout of Windows 7. You probably take a while to get used to the new environment, especially after all applications have Metro.
Launchpad in OS X
 
When you first enter a Mountain Lion, you will see the typical desktop OS X, the menu above, the OS X Dock on a button and a photo topic of space as desktop wallpaper. By clicking on the search icon in the Dock will open the Finder window to locate files and folders. Mountain Lion has a strong approach to the Home screen: Launchpad. With Launchpad obtain a presentation as the iPad with icons for your programs, which makes it easier to locate and access them. Although the IOS runs Launchpad, Mountain Lion feels and looks like a Mac, not an iPad.

Notifications and Live Tiles

The home screen of Windows 8 is more like an app with Live Tiles. In addition, Live Small Tiles act as informational widgets. Applying Climate Bing, for example, shows weather out, while the Live Tile for Cut The Rope game shows your status in the game.

OS X does not have a special feature that compares to Live Tiles, but includes features similar notification. Dock icons may show numerous warnings if an application needs your attention, for example, if you have three unread messages, the Mail icon will be displayed.
Notification Mountain Lion alert
Notifications Center in Mountain Lion is a compilation of statements from various applications. You can see the Notifications Center from anywhere with a simple touch, or giving the start menu click search on your desktop When you give a notification list for each application. Programs may also appear in pop-up style banner that will appear in the top corner. These banners appear at the top whenever you're doing something else on the screen, and will disappear in a few moments.
Windows 8 has pop-up notifications to complement Live Tiles, and have a lot of what has Montain Lion: They also have notices that appear in the top corner of the screen and stay there a while.
Comparison Applications

 

Windows Marketplace is clean and attractively designed
Although still very low for many applications, Microsoft Windows Marketplace is attractive and well designed. From one point of view is quite similar to the Mac App Store: apps are organized into categories, shopping applications with one click and you can view or post user reviews. Although it is too early, we can say that the Windows Marketplace has an advantage over the App Store: test applications. Yes, you can test an application for a period of time before you decide to buy it.

Gestures
Although we have a clear idea of gesture support for Mountain Lion, do not know yet what we see in Windows 8. Mountain Lion allows you to use a trackpad to a number of actions, for example, you can use three fingers to open your applications, or turn left or right with three fingers to change desktop or viewing in full screen. If you have the touch sensor Apple Magic Mouse can use some of these functions.
While Windows 8 has some moves by the time they are all for tablets and touch-screen computers.
We do not know what the gestures that have Windows 8 for laptops. So far it's all in the air, but last year showed a Synaptics touchpad friendly Windows 8 that accepts various gestures.
File Manager
With Mountain Lion, Apple has a small advantage in the Finder, the file manager for OS X. It looks and works much like you do with Lion-if you're using Windows Explorer or an earlier version of Mac OS X, do not take long to know how to use the form on Lion Mountain.
Microsoft may have worked hard with the interface of Metro, but any progress with the file manager still needs more work and use the traditional Windows Explorer. Fortunately, Windows 8, Explorer had an update: now features Ribbon toolbar makes access to common features easier
Switching between Metro and the traditional Windows Explorer is just a bit bumpy and frustrating, so we expect Microsoft to do something to make the Metro file management simpler.

icloud and Windows Live
Windows 8 and Mountain Lion are cloud service from Microsoft and Apple, respectively. Both let you synchronize your data with different devices, and both include some online storage services.
Windows Live is everywhere with Windows 8. You can access Windows 8 using your Windows Live ID. This will let you sync multiple PC settings through Windows 8 devices, and you can access your account on SkyDrive.
Also, when accessing for the first time a Mountain Lion will ask you to enter your account information icloud. From there you can sync email, contacts, calendars, notes, reminders, and recent photos through your Macs and IOS devices.
 

The Mountain Lion has new documents is the cloud, which allows you to store your documents in the icloud service from Apple. If you have a icloud, you can save your documents directly on a hard drive, if your applications to take information from this feature.

At first glance Documenmtos in the Cloud Mountain Lion is silly and stupid, you can access any document stored in the cloud through the Finder, for example. We hope that these characteristics are improved. icloud is free and comes with 5GB of storage, but you can buy additional storage.

With SkyDrive, Microsoft has a subtle and more traditional approach: Using SkyDrive using a separate application through which you can access to everything you saved on SkyDrive. It is also free but limits you to 25GB of storage. 
What about the tablets?

One of the major points in favor of Windows 8 is that it has "commitments" this operating system runs on your desktop, laptop, tablet PC or touch screen. This advantage is useful when you have to pass your information from one device to another.

On the other hand, Apple still has a big difference between the IOS of mobile devices and Macs. Despite the strong influence on their computers, OS X is OS X. It seems that Apple's philosophy is to keep each system in its authenticity, and some characteristics between the devices are similar and family.


Microsoft seems to want that the tablets are an extension of the PC, while Apple seems to be only a support for Macs. Resumámoslo well, Microsoft wants the tablets represent the next step in the evolution of the PC, not a separate category.


Both Apple and Microsoft are trying to bring the features of their mobile operating systems to the corresponding desktop OS, but their attempts are quite different.

Originally, Mac OS X is still an operating system designed for desktops and laptops. Sure, Apple has added features of IOS, but OS X is still based on windows, menus, folders, and so on. 

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Twitter seeks ways to retrieve old posts

 

"Twitter CEO says the company is working on an export tool that will compile all the tweets that a user has logged on the network"

Twitter is working on a tool that allows users to export each Tuite has been done on the site, said the chief executive, Dick Costolo, the American newspaper The New York Times .

But why would anyone want all of your tweets - possibly going back to all stories published since 2006, when Twitter was first released?

Facebook now allows users to download a "personnel file" which includes a list of all messages you have sent to someone, a list of every friend you have on the network, copies of any photos or videos you've sent site and more. I recently looked for my file and was surprised at the amount of data shared - a package of 46 MB of files and folders - and look what I consider a user is not so active.

Now imagine the data of 140 million users of Twitter, which are firing 140-character tweets throughout the day - every day - or about his personal life or about his thoughts about current news and repercussions they have.

In fact, Twitter has become a major news feed and real-time communication tool. Consider as examples only a few events that accounted for the most popular ' tweets per second '(TPS) last year: a half-hour show of Madonna's Super Bowl (10,245 TPS), the Tim Tebow touchdown during a playoff in American Football Conference (American Football Conference in free translation) on January 8 (TPS 9420) and the death of Steve Jobs (6049 TPS).

So the idea of ​​a person being able to see perhaps tens of thousands of his thoughts over time, all in one place, is quite convincing. For some people this would act as a virtual diary and journal information - all in one place.

Currently the Twitter only gives users access to a number of tweets and Costolo did not say when the company will launch the export tool in which people are working. Meanwhile, recover old posts is important to you, try SocialSafe.net , which backs up social networks, or CloudMagic , which is a lightning fast way to search for things Exchange, Twitter, Gmail, Google Apps , Chat, Docs, Calendar and Contacts.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the tool that Twitter is developing is only to users of the tweets themselves, not to "dig" the entire network. "They are two separate problems of engineering search," the Times said Costolo. "It's a different way of architecting the research, going through all the tweets of all time. You can not just put three engineers working on it."

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Virus attacks nuclear power plant in Iran and requires computers to play AC / DC

 

"E-mails sent by a scientist from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran reported that a malware has forced computers to play "Thunderstruck" at maximum volume"

Scientists reported earlier this week that computers of a nuclear plant in Iran were attacked by a virus that forced them to play the song "Thunderstruck" the Australian band AC / DC - and at maximum volume.

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at security company F-Secure, says he received "a series of e-mails from Iran" this weekend about the attack. The emails have been sent by a scientist at Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI, which stands for Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, in free translation).

One of the emails was published by the analyst in a blog post on F-Secure , on Monday (23/7).

"I am writing to inform you that our nuclear program was once again attacked and compromised by a new virus that ended our network automation at Natanz and Fordo another facility near Qom [...] The automation network and hardware Siemens were attacked and shut down. [...] There were also some random songs playing in several of the workstations in the middle of the night at full volume. "

However, Hypponen ended the post stating that there "can confirm any details. However, we can confirm that the researcher was sending and receiving e-mails from within the AEOI."

It is not the first time Hypponen has been bombarded with e-mails of this type. Last month, the analyst would have written in Wired about his experience of having received an email from the Computer Emergency Team of Iran, who reported on the discovery of the Flame.

For those who do not remember, the Flame is a spy supervirus developed at the behest of the U.S. government in partnership with Israel, in order to attack and destroy the program of uranium enrichment in Iran

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Bought a new PC? See tips for configuring the software

"Do not simply install the operating system. Update the BIOS, install drivers and make adjustments to achieve maximum performance and stability"

Assembling a PC is a process composed of multiple steps. First you must choose a platform and an office that meets your needs. Then you need to make a good market research and purchase individual components. Once you have them all in hand, you can start the assembly itself. We detail the process in the first article in this series, called " The primary care with hardware for installation in a PC . "

But the process does not end after you close the cabinet of the machine, since you need to install software before you can use your PC for anything. Unfortunately, many inexperienced assemblers simply snap the parts, install an operating system "anyway" and give the service terminated. In fact, several steps are needed to ensure that your new computer is running reliably and at peak performance.

It is necessary, for example, confirm that all components have the latest versions of BIOS or firmware and the latest drivers. The operating system must also be fully updated, and we must not forget those small adjustments that can help you get some extra performance of the components. Shall we begin?

BIOS and Firmware

Some say that it is not necessary to update the BIOS or firmware of a component other than to solve a specific problem, while others find that keeping all components updated to prevent future headaches is a good idea. I am the second opinion, as an updated firmware usually resolves compatibility issues and performance (you may not even know they are happening), and occasionally brings new features.

When you're building your new PC, check the manufacturers' websites for new versions of BIOS or firmware components such as motherboards, solid state drives, optical drives, RAID controllers and video cards. Many components purchased in stores or online may have been standing on a shelf for weeks, maybe months, during which time the manufacturer may have continued to refine and enhance the firmware. To take advantage of these improvements, you will need to update it.

Manufacturers of motherboards frequently update their products to solve incompatibilities, improve the ability to overclock or add support for new processors and memory technologies, among many other things. Most modern motherboards have integrated tools for installing an updated version of BIOS. It can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website, copied to a USB stick and then installed using the integrated tools. If you have an older motherboard without an integrated update mechanism, you may need to boot your machine from a "bootable disk" containing a minimum version of DOS and a tool provided by the manufacturer.

 
Modern motherboards BIOS bring sophisticated, like this one from ASUS with integrated update mechanism

Firmware updates for solid state disks and optical drives vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some provide utilities that run on Windows, while others run from the DOS bootable disks. In the case of optical drives, firmware upgrades usually resolve compatibility issues with new media, and often improves performance when burning discs. Have updates SSD drives tend to be much more substantial, since they are a relatively new technology. It is not uncommon an update to completely change the performance of the drive - usually for the better. But keep in mind that many upgrades for SSD drives are destructive, ie, result in the loss of all information stored in them. Check if this is the case, and always make a backup before proceeding.

Have updates to RAID controllers are less common, but it never hurts to check the manufacturer's website. They can improve performance and resolve problems related to data corruption. Have updates for GPUs (graphics cards) usually resolve incompatibilities with specific models of motherboards and resolve bugs.

Operating System Installation

Although there is a good variety of choices when it comes to operating system, in this article assume that you are a Windows user. Even though this is not the case, a correct installation and update is important in any system.

Installing an operating system does not end when you give your first boot. And unfortunately that is the point where many users begin to install applications and pollute the system with "junk" downloaded from the web. Instead, immediately after completing the installation of Windows to connect to the web (which may require the installation of drivers for the network card or Wi-Fi interface) and run Windows Update.

After completing the first round of updates, run Windows Update again until there are no more updates available. Many security holes in Windows, and applications included with it, need to be fixed after installing the system, and it is best to close these "holes" once to avoid the risk of being subjected to attacks or malware infection. Some updates also fix compatibility problems with third-party software or add new features to the operating system.

Drivers, get them all


After updating the firmware and the operating system it's time to install the latest drivers for all components. This is the most crucial point to ensure the best performance and stability of your machine. I recommend that if possible you do not install drivers from Windows Update or CD / DVD that came with a product. As I mentioned, Windows Update has often older drivers and those who are on the CD or DVD may be even older.
I recommend visiting the website of each manufacturer to download the drivers from your placa-mãe/chipset, video card, sound card, network card and any other hardware on your computer. But in the case of video cards, forget the card manufacturer. Go straight to the manufacturer's website GPU (usually AMD or Nvidia), and download the latest drivers available for your card. This step is especially important to gamers, as new video drivers usually fix bugs or improve performance in certain games.

Updating a video driver can visibly improve performance in games

Also note that you must install the drivers in a specific order. There is an immutable rule, but it is recommended to get the drivers from the motherboard or chipset, since it typically also affects USB and SATA controllers, the PCI Express bus (to which the plates are connected) and other adjustments under level. Then install the drivers for video card, and then the rest.

Fine Tuning
After completing the driver installation, you can proceed with the finishing touches. There are a number of Windows settings that can improve performance or virtually any other aspect of the operating system. In fact, so many that it is impossible to cover in one article. But I can give you some tips.

There are many adjustments to specific components that are worth. If your machine has a solid state disk (SSD) recommend running the SSD Tweaker . This utility modifies various operating system parameters, such as indexing service and some options legacy NTFS file system, to increase the performance of SSD in general and long-term reliability. In the case of video cards for third-party utilities such as Afterburner MSI or EVGA Precision of which make easier the task of adjusting the speed of a fan or overclock the GPU.

 
The SSD Tweaker adjusts the system to get the best out of your SSD

Adjust Windows itself for best performance (and minimum hassle) is recommended. Manually specify a swap file (pagefile) static is a good way to make sure your PC will never run out of virtual memory, and to minimize accesses to the hard drive or SSD in writing unnecessary.

But do not disable virtual memory, although it is not always necessary, some applications still need it to work properly. I also recommend replacing some of the applications included with Windows for higher versions developed by third parties. For example, you can replace the defrag tool by Defraggler , and complement the Disk Cleanup utility to CCleaner , both from Piriform.

After completing all installation and settings, run the Disk Cleanup Utility (and CCleaner) to sweep the remaining garbage and temporary files, and recover as much disk space as possible. Do not be surprised if you win a few gigabytes of extra space, even on a machine supposedly "clean". And if your PC has a traditional hard drive, then he is clean do a defragmentation (but never do it on a SSD).

Although it is impossible to cover all settings and nuances of all possible combinations of hardware and software in this article, I hope you managed to give you an overview of how to properly configure and optimize your new PC. Just remember: the process is not finished just because you joined the pieces and ran the Windows installer. Update the BIOS and firmware, operating system, install the latest drivers and put the garbage out before declaring that your PC is "ready."

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Now the plants are watered themselves

 

Have you already tired of watering your plants or just have time to do it? So this could definitely be the solution you're looking for, and thanks to the miracle technology we have today, plants are able to be irrigated by themselves .
The system we see in the image, created by Randy Sarafan, works easily and is quite basic. All you need is one of the excellent control plates Arduino, a sensor for soil moisture and a small water pump. How does this work? It is something simple and you probably already have noticed: when the sensor detects that the land of the plant lack moisture, sends a signal to the Arduino board, which causes the pump to give it a refreshed our little green friend until the sensor indicates that the moisture is sufficient. But beware, because for this to work you need to have water pump and the electric power system has provided.

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Facebook for iPhone app would be updated in the coming months

 

The Facebook application for iPhone requires something called speed, and this is something that users of the app have been waiting a while. According to recent reports, the update that will give the Facebook app for all the speed you need will be arriving just in the coming months, so the only option left for now is to wait.
Further states that Facebook has hired former employees of Apple to work on the new update and some more. In any case, the new version of the application has no confirmed date and apparently take longer than everyone expected.

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