Can’t Login to Mac OS X Lion Anymore? Here’s the solution

 Technology  No Responses »
Mar 012012
 

I just (like an hour ago) had a huge problem as shown above in the video of not being able to log in to my Mac OS X Lion (it’s not my video, but it shows the same problem). The problem is a corrupted profile or something like that. I didn’t find out the reason why that happened.

Advanced Options under Users & Groups Preferences

Here are the “possible” steps to go around solving this problem, as I have.

  1. Boot into recovery and do a disk verify and repair under disk utility.
  2. Somehow get root access (or if you can log in as administrator) to log into your Mac OS X (I was lucky enough to have root enabled).
  3. Go to Users & Groups preferences -> Unlock to make changes -> Right Click on your profile -> Advanced Options (see picture above).
  4. Click on “Create New” beside the “UUID” as seen above.
  5. Reboot.
  6. You should be able to log in again.

That’s it. If anyone knows how to change the UUID in terminal, that will really help those who can’t get past step 2.

Mac OS X Lion Passwords Compromised by a Security Flaw

 Security, Technology  No Responses »
Sep 272011
 

Do you really think Mac OS X is safe from viruses and hacks? Well, Patrick Dunstan, famous for his article back in 2009 “Cracking Mac OS X passwords“, has found a security flaw within your Mac OS X Lion that essentially allows non-root users to easily view and extract the SHA512 hash using Directory Services (dscl command).

After getting the SHA512 hash, you can basically use your regular brute-force techniques to discover the user password. I’ve tried it out personally, so I know it works.

Interesting? Indeed. Check out his full article - Cracking OS X Lion Passwords.

iTwin now available for Mac OS X Lion and Snow Leopard too

 Technology  No Responses »
Sep 222011
 

Remember iTwin, the secured wireless usb cable that connects 2 computers together? Last year, it was only available on the PC. iTwin just recently released a Mac version that supports Mac OS X Lion (10.7) and Snow Leopard (10.6). If you’ve bought an iTwin before, you don’t need to buy another one, just download the iTwin software for Mac and everything will just work. Yes, you can even connect a PC to a Mac too with iTwin.

For more information - http://www.itwin.com/mac/

Getting Samsung Kies to install on Mac OS X Lion

 Technology  27 Responses »
Aug 272011
 

I recently had to install Samsung Kies on my Mac OS X Lion, and apparently the latest version doesn’t want to be installed on the Mac OS X Lion, stating that this OS is not supported. In order to get the latest version to work with your Mac OS X Lion, you’ll have to download the older version of Samsung Kies and install it.

Launch the Samsung Kies app, go to “Preferences > Update” and update your Samsung Kies app to the latest version. It’ll just take a few minutes depending on your internet connection speed. After a bit of churning, it should be installed and you’re good to connect your Samsung device.

Download KiesMac_1.0.0.11055_7.dmg. Latest version as of writing is KiesMac_1.0.0.11081_4_1.dmg.

UOB Personal Internet Banking doesn’t work on Mac OS X Lion because of Java Applet + Workaround

 Technology  17 Responses »
Aug 012011
 

For those thinking (or who have) upgraded to Mac OS X Lion, you’ll realize that Java is unavailable for Mac OS X Lion. Naturally, the first thing you should do is to download and install Java for Mac OS X Lion. However, UOB Personal Internet Banking still doesn’t work on any browser including Safari, Chrome, Opera, Firefox.

The workaround for now is to use Firefox, install User Agent Switcher extension and switch your user-agent to the iPhone. Try loading up the UOB Personal Internet Banking again. It should work now and you’ll be able to log in.

Remember to switch back to your default user-agent if you’re using it to browse other websites, otherwise you might have a weird web surfing experience.

Parallels 6 new build compatible with Mac OS X Lion (Upgrade discount code)

 Technology  2 Responses »
Jul 212011
 

The new updated builds of Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac, Parallels Server for Mac 4.0 and Parallels Server for Mac, Mac mini Edition will run on Lion. The current version of Parallels Transporter app already in the Mac App Store will also run on Lion.

Parallels is encouraging users of Parallels Desktop 4 and Parallels Desktop 5 to upgrade to Parallels Desktop 6 if they want to run Lion. For a limited time, Parallels is offering users of Parallels Desktop 4 and Parallels Desktop 5 upgrades to Parallels Desktop 6 for only US$39.99 (25% discount, US$10 off). Use the code “lion_upgrade” to get ANOTHER US$10 off.

Apple WWDC 2011 Summary

 Technology  7 Responses »
Jun 072011
 

These are my notes from the Apple WWDC 2011 Keynote which I’ll sort out later:

Apple Mac OS X Lion

  • over 250 new features
  • multi-touch gestures
    • Scrollbars appear only when you scroll
  • full screen applications
    • new control in the upper-right to go full
    • Safari, iMovie, iCal, Preview, Photo Booth, etc.
  • Mission Control
    • Unifies Expose and Spaces
    • Shows all apps and all the documents
    • All your spaces up top, all your widgets on the upper-left
    • Multiple views of apps
    • three-finger swipe upward
    • Hit spacebar while hovering over any app will give you a zoomed-in preview.
    • upper-right to create a new Space
    • click and drag any window you want into the space
    • click the X in the upper-left to delete a Space and the windows all fly right back to the main view.
  • Mac App Store
    • Now built-in to Lion
    • in-app purchases
    • push notifications
    • built-in sandboxing mode to boost security
    • delta updates
  • Launchpad
    • pinch gesture and all your apps appear, multiple pages in a big grid
  • Resume
    • brings you right back to where you left off in an app
    • Windows, selections, tools, even highlighted text are just the way you left them
    • system-wide, including window placement, Spaces, everything
  • Auto Save
    • automatically save the document without doing anything
    • Up on the menu bar, select the document name to prevent auto-saves from happening, or revert to how it was when you opened it.
    • easily duplicate, creating a second one
    • only the deltas are saved
    • switch between them, copy / paste from one to the other, time-machine on documents
  • Airdrop
    • Peer to peer Wifi
    • Auto discovery and setup
    • Confirm to send and receive
    • Fully encrypted transfer
  • Mail
    • new search suggestions
    • create rules based on searches
    • new conversation view. Shows all the messages all inline.
    • favorites bar — just click to get to whatever folder you’re most often in.
    • search for people, or something more general, or select whether to search in the body, the subject
    • suggest e-mail subjects to search for
  • Windows Migration assistant, FileVault 2, FaceTime is built in, Lion Server add-on
  • 3,000 new APIs
  • Lion will be available only in the App Store
  • 4GB download
  • Installs in-place
  • All your authorized Macs
  • $29.99 to upgrade
  • Available in July

iOS 5

  • Over 1,500 new APIs
  • 200 new user features
  • Notifications
    • Notification Center
    • accessed by swiping down from the top
    • Not persistent
    • an animation up top that swivels down when notification comes in
    • unobtrusive and goes away after a moment
    • on the lock screen as well
    • slide across any of them to go straight to the app
    • To clear a notification, just tap on the little X to the right and it disappears.
  • Newsstand
    • subscriptions are automatically downloaded and placed on the Newsstand
    • integrated with the home screen
    • New issues are now automatically downloaded in the background, available offline
  • Twitter
    • Single sign-on.
    • Jump into Settings, add in your details, and you’re configured for Twitter
    • Those credentials are then saved and can be (optionally) shared with any app that requests them
    • Integrated with many apps, including Camera and Photos. Just tap the action button, hit “Tweet” and it’s attached
    • send articles from Safari and locations from Maps
    • Contacts Integration
  • Safari
    • Safari Reader
      • A new button in the browser
      • All the distractions are gone, all the junk, just text in a single, scrolling story
      • e-mail the contents of the story too, not just the link
    • Reading List
      • a simple way to read it later
      • access those you’ve tagged for later on multiple devices
    • Tabbed browsing
    • Twitter integration
  • Reminders
    • store lists of things, assign a reminder to any dates, and you can even assign a location.
    • sync across devices, and with Cal
  • Camera updates
    • Camera button on the lock screen
    • If you have a passcode set, you can take a new photo without entering it.
    • volume up button to take pictures now
    • pinch-to-zoom right in the app
    • AE/AF lock
    • crop, rotate, reduce red-eye, one click enhance
  • Mail
    • Indentation control
    • Rich Text Formatting
    • Draggable addresses
    • Search entire message
    • Flag messages
    • S/MIME
    • a built-in dictionary that’s a service across the OS
      • tap “Define” in the popup, and you’re in a dictionary
    • New keyboard
      • grab it with your thumbs and go up and it splits
  • PC Free
    • setup and activate your device right on the device
    • software updates OTA
    • delta updates OTA
    • create & delete calendars right from iOS
    • improved photo editing
    • create and delete mailboxes from iOS
    • sync iTunes library over WiFi
  • Game Center
    • Achievement Points
    • Friend discovery
    • Friends of friends
    • Game discovery
    • Turn-based games
    • Game downloads
  • iMessage
    • New message service between iOS users
    • Delivery receipts
    • Read receipts
    • Typing indication
    • Pushed to all devices
    • 3G & Wi-Fi
  • New multi-tasking gestures
  • iOS 5 will be available this fall
  • iOS 5 will be available on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, iPod touch (3rd and 4th gen)

iCloud

  • iCloud stores your content, and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices
  • iCloud is integrated with your apps, so everything happens automatically
  • Contacts added in any device are pushed to the cloud and then sync’d down to all the other devices
  • Calendars works about the same, make any changes and they get pushed.
  • Share your calendars with other users
  • Mail account @me.com
  • New messages push to all your device
  • Inbox and folders kept up-to-date on all devices
  • No ads
  • Free
  • Automatic daily backups to iCloud over Wi-Fi
  • Purchased music, apps, & books
  • Camera roll (photos & videos)
  • Device settings
  • App data
  • Documents in the Cloud
    • Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.
    • Apps can store documents in iCloud
    • iCloud pushes documents to user’s devices automatically
    • Documents update on all devices when changed on any device
  • iCloud Storage APIs
    • Documents
    • Key-value data
    • All iOS devices
    • Macs & PCs too!
  • Photostream
    • in Photos as a separate album
    • iPhoto on Mac, Pictures folder on PC, Macs & PCs store all photos
    • Photostream on Apple  TV
    • store the last 1,000 photos
    • photos are kept for 30 days
    • Photos you take or import upload to iCloud
    • iCloud pushes photos to all your devices
    • Works over Wi-Fi
  • iTunes in the Cloud
    • look at your purchased songs and albums
    • download individual songs.
    • Anything I’ve bought I can now download to any of my devices at no additional charge.
    • no charge for multiple downloads to different devices.
    • Music purchased from iTunes
    • High quality – 256 kbps AAC
    • Up to 10 devices
    • Free
  • set up by default on new iOS 5 devices, and you’ll get 5GB of storage for mail, Documents & backup
    • photo stream doesn’t count
  • Available Today – iOS 4.3 beta

iTunes Match

  • Takes just minutes to scan and match your library (no upload)
  • Same benefits as music purchased from iTunes
  • Matched songs upgraded to 256 kbps AAC DRM-free
  • If any songs don’t match they’ll be uploaded for you.
  • $24.99 per year.

Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac (Beta) Available Now

 Technology, Windows Phone  No Responses »
Oct 262010
 

Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac (Beta) is now available for download. With the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac (Beta), you can sync music, photos, videos and podcasts from your existing iTunes and iPhoto libraries to your Windows Phone 7.

Download it here: Windows Phone 7 Connector (for Mac) – Beta

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