ChatDD Blog

Apple on Wednesday released iOS 4.3, the latest update of its mobile operating system, two days sooner than expected.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs summarized the new features during the company’s iPad 2 launch event in San Francisco, Calif., last week.

The software powers Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices, which number over 160 million worldwide at the moment. It’s available through Apple’s Software Update control panel.

Apple has also made its iOS 4.3 SDK and Xcode 4, a new version of its integrated development environment (IDE), available to iOS developers. In addition, the company has updated its HTML5 ad creation tool, iAd Producer, to version 1.1.

iOS 4.3 promises faster Web browsing, thanks to an update to Apple’s Nitro JavaScript engine in the mobile version of Safari. Apple claims that the enhancement doubles mobile Safari’s JavaScript performance.

The iOS update also delivers a new feature called iTunes Home Sharing, which allows users to stream iTunes content — music or video — on an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad over a local WiFi network.

Apple is also enhancing wireless content streaming from Apple TV devices through a previously introduced feature called AirPlay. iOS 4.3 allows streaming from third-party apps and Web sites through Apple TV, along with videos in the Photos app and previews in iTunes. In addition, AirPlay allows video captured on iOS devices to be streamed back to Apple TV via the Photos app.

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated feature in iOS 4.3 is the Personal Hotspot, which allows computer users to connect to an iPhone 4 over WiFi and then to use the phone’s cellular data network to reach the Internet. iOS 4.3 brings hotspot support to AT&T GSM iPhones; it was already enabled on Verizon CDMA iPhones.

iOS 4.3 add support for one new mobile app — Photo Booth, a mobile version of the Mac OS X picture taking app — and one updated app — a version of the company’s FaceTime video conferencing app that has been reworked for the iPad 2.

German Mac enthusiast site Macerkopf.de on Tuesday said it has received reports of an iOS 5 event in April when Apple will announce changes to its MobileMe service.

Apple has not announced any such event, but is widely believed to be working to make MobileMe a more appealing cloud-based service, possibly by allowing customers to stream their iTunes content to any of their Apple devices through Apple’s data centers.

Many smokers hold a common misconception that their bodies will never recover from the damage done to them by smoking. This misconception is often used as an excuse to continue smoking.
If you use this excuse to justify your smoking habit, it may be time to quit (or search hard for another excuse). In fact, you can reverse much of the damage done to your body by smoking, and enjoy the benefits of a much healthier body almost as soon as you quit smoking.
Within 60 minutes of taking your last puff, your blood pressure and pulse decrease, while the circulation and internal temperature in your hands and feet increase. Smoking constricts blood vessels and raises your heart rate. When the chemicals from cigarettes are flushed from the body, circulation returns to normal.
In just a few hours, carbon monoxide (like exhaust from your car’s tailpipe) levels in your blood return to normal. Cigarette smoke contains CO, which binds with hemoglobin, the protein that helps transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. The carbon monoxide, combined with hemoglobin reduces the amount of oxygen reaching the cells of your body. Thus, as CO is eliminated, more oxygen is available for the normal functioning of your body.
Twenty four hours after your last puff, the risk of heart attack is already reduced. Forty eight hours after you quit smoking, your nerve endings will change. The stimulation given by nicotine is radically reduced. You’ll begin to recover normal sensation. Simultaneously, your sense of smell and taste begin returning to normal. Food will taste more alive and you’ll be able to smell more acutely.
After about 14 days, nicotine cravings will diminish to near zero, only returning (if at all) randomly over the next few months. Meanwhile, your circulatory system is recovering. Your ability to exercise more intensely and without shortness of breath is recovering. In only a few weeks or months, you’ll be able to exercise normally again.
During the next few months, your “smoker’s hack” and congestion decrease. Your energy level increases while fatigue drops. Your body’s systems are rebuilding and returning to near pre-smoking levels.
As you maintain your smoke free life, your risk of stroke drops quickly. As a smoker, your risk of stroke is twice that of a non-smoker. Only a year after you quit, it’s half what it was. Happily, within five to fifteen years, your risk is back on par with someone who has never inhaled a cigarette.
During the same time period, your risk of lung or larynx cancer, as well as bladder, pancreas and others, approach those of someone who never smoked. Heavy smoking causes approximately 87% of lung cancer cases. Quitting smoking removes you from that group within a few years.
Your health is NOT permanently, irretrievably scarred by smoking. Your body has near miraculous ability to rebuild and regenerate, given time and your commitment to a smoke-free life. The alternative is a greatly increased risk of heart disease, stroke, a dozen different cancers, COPD and other serious medical problems. Make the commitment now and reclaim your healthy body!

NEW DELHI: AB de Villiers and captain Graeme Smith guided South Africa to an easy seven-wicket victory over the West Indies in a World Cup Group B match here at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Thursday.

Chasing a modest total of 223, South Africa lost two early wickets for only 20 runs. Kemar Roach got Hashim Amla caught behind for 14 and Sulieman Benn dismissed Jaquis Kallis for four.

However, opener Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers rescued the Proteas, making together 119 runs for the third wicket partnership.

Smith’s patient innings ended when Kieron Pollard bowled him for 45, made from 78 balls.

De Villiers was joined by Jean-Paul Duminy and both cruised South Africa to a comfortable win with 44 balls remaining but not before de Villiers completed his tenth ODI hundred from 97 balls.

He remained unbeaten on 107 while Duminy was 42 not out..

Earlier, leg-spinner Imran Tahir snared four wickets on debut as South Africa bundled out the West Indies for 222 off 47.3 overs despite a fine 73 by Darren Bravo.

Tahir (4-41) was well supported by off-spinner Johan Botha who opened the attack and gave the Proteas key breakthroughs in the spin-dominated day-night clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

The duo justified the decision of captain Graeme Smith to field three specialist spinners on a ground which is hosting its first international in a year after being banned for a dangerous playing surface.

Darren Bravo led the West Indies charge with his 82-ball knock while his older half-brother Dwayne chipped in with a 37-ball 40 with three sixes and a four after the Caribbean side were put in to bat.

Bravo also shared 111 runs for the second wicket with opener Devon Smith after the early dismissal of Chris Gayle.

Botha, sharing the new ball with fast bowler Dale Steyn, struck off the third ball of the innings to remove Gayle who tried to play on the leg-side but edged it to first slip where Jacques Kallis took a low catch.

Botha (2-48) struck again in the 24th over, just when Bravo and Smith were threatening to put up a huge partnership.

Bravo tried to flick the bowler but missed the shot and was rightly adjudged leg before wicket. He hit eight fours and a six.

Tahir, 31, picked up his first wicket in one-day internationals in his third over when he caught Smith (36) off his own bowling and celebrated it by kissing the South African badge on his shirt.

The Pakistan-born bowler picked up another wicket in his next over when he had the veteran Ramnaresh Sarwan (two) trapped lbw.

Sarwan asked for a review of the decision but replays showed the ball would have hit the top of the middle stump.

Tahir was unlucky not to collect a third wicket just three balls later, grassing a return catch off Dwayne Bravo despite a spirited attempt.

He was not to be denied for long though, removing Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Devon Thomas with his guile and precision before Steyn (3-24) sent back Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy and Sulieman Benn in a quick three-wicket burst.

We have seen cell phones being produced as evidences in very crucial historical cases, this time, it’s the Blackberry phones possessed by assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Recently, 2 Blackberry phones, belonging to Benazir Bhutto were handed over to the joint investigation team conducting an inquiry into her murder on Thursday, reported Express Tribune.

Today, the newspaper broke another news which claims that data from the blackberry has been retrieved by the investigation team which reveals that Benazir Bhutto was promised Prime Minister’s slot from highest authorities in both Pakistan and the United States that.

Paper claims that close to 60 e-mails, dozens of text messages and close to four hundred contact numbers have been retrieved from both the BlackBerry phones.

Express Tribune has produced few emails of Benazir Bhutto as following:

“Respected Prime Minister (Benazir Bhutto), the United States confirmed that a crucial message had been sent to intelligence agencies of Pakistan, specifically not to interfere in party affairs and stay away from the electoral process. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and director-general Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) have done a secret deal for your (Benazir Bhutto) premiership.

Congratulations Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and warm regards,” read an e-mail sent by a leading PPP leader on October 23, 2007, to Benazir Bhutto calling her “Respected Prime Minister”.

An email was sent by Benazir to Ron Suskind, an American journalist, some days prior to her assassination. The former prime minister, while referring to the then president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf said that he wrote to his friend that he (Musharraf) gave her an alarming message:

“You (Benazir) should understand that your security is based on the state of relations between you and me (Benazir and Musharraf).”

In another e-mail, dated October 26, 2007, the slain PPP leader wrote a letter to her advisor in Washington DC, Mark Siegel, in which she expressed dissatisfaction over her security.

She wrote:

“Nothing will happen, just wanted you to know. If it does, in addition to the names in my letter to President Musharraf, I would hold Musharraf responsible.

I have been made to feel insecure by his minions and there is no way what is happening in terms of stopping me from taking private security or using tinted windows of four police mobiles to cover all sides could happen without him (Musharraf).”

Bhutto also sent an SMS message to Daphne Barak, a famous interviewer who often writes for Mail Online. In reply to an SMS message, Barak wrote:

“Bibi, you are going to Pakistan. It’s a trap for you now. But you are insisting to go back.”

CAIRO: Crowds gathered in central Cairo on Tuesday for a protest they hoped would swell to a million people demanding an end to the 30-year-rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak’s newly appointed vice-president, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, began talks with opposition figures on Monday and promised reforms. The army also promised to hold its fire and declared the protesters demands legitimate.

But protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, who kept vigil through the night in defiance of a curfew, vowed to continue their campaign until the 82-year-old Mubarak quit.

“The only thing we will accept from him is that he gets on a plane and leaves,” said 45-year-old lawyer Ahmed Helmi.

By about 0600 GMT, three hours before the lifting of the curfew, their numbers had swelled to about 3,000 and more people were converging on the square, witnesses said.

Already political analysts were talking not about whether Mubarak would step down, but when and how.

“The succession is already underway,” said Steven Cook at the Council on Foreign Relations on the CFR website.

“The important thing now is to manage Mubarak’s exit, which must be as graceful as possible at this point. For honour’s sake, the brass won’t have it any other way.”

The military, which has run Egypt since it toppled the monarchy in 1952, will be the key player in deciding who replaces him and some expect it to retain significant power while introducing enough reforms to defuse the protests.

“At this point Suleiman represents the army, not Mubarak,” said Fawaz Gerges at the London School of Economics.

“Mubarak has become a liability for the institution of the army,” said. “And so it is becoming more difficult by the day for Mubarak to remain in office.”

The United States and other Western powers have demanded Mubarak hold free elections. Even if he holds out against calls for his resignation, it seems unlikely he could win a vote.

Washington also said Mubarak must revoke the emergency law under which he has ruled since 1981. It has sent a special envoy, former ambassador to Cairo Frank Wisner, to meet Egyptian leaders. “The way Egypt looks and operates must change,” said Robert Gibbs, spokesman for President Barack Obama.

Protesters, inspired in part by a revolt in Tunisia which toppled its president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on Jan. 14, have demanded an end to political oppression.

But years of repression have left few obvious civilian leaders able to fill any gap left by Mubarak.

Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has offered to act as a transitional leader to prepare Egypt for democratic elections. Many Egyptians, however, have said they had reservations about a man who has spent much of his recent career outside the country.

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

Among the more organised in the opposition is the hitherto banned Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood, which says it supports a pluralist democracy, began with a cautious approach to joining the protests led by the young and urban professional classes. The group has borne the brunt of Mubarak’s repressive rule.

But it is now raising its profile, seeking to tie up with ElBaradei. It said on Monday it was calling for protests until the whole establishment departed — “including the president, his party, his ministers and his parliament”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, used to calm on his southern border since a 1979 peace treaty with Cairo, said Egypt could turn into the kind of militant theocracy installed in Iran that same year.

Suleiman appeared on state television on Monday to say Mubarak had asked him to begin talks with all political forces on reforms. Some saw his appearance — rather than that of the president — as a sign Mubarak was already on his way out.

A presidential election due in September might give Mubarak the opportunity simply to say he will not run again. But such a tactic may underestimate the desire on the street to see him go.

“This all aims to gain time, calm the mood on the street, drive the protesters away and diminish the revolution … The president must end his rule and leave, there is no alternative,” Cairo University politics professor Hassan Nafaa said.

At least 140 people have died since demonstrations began last Tuesday.

In Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, thousands of people gathered near the main railway station, many with food and blankets, saying they would join Tuesday’s “march of a million”.

Officials said rail services would be disrupted on Tuesday by curfew orders, which may keep some people away from protests.

With internet access cut off, Google Inc said it was launching a special service to allow people to send Twitter messages by dialing a phone number and leaving a voicemail.

Foreign governments, meanwhile, scrambled to ensure the safety of their nationals trapped by the unrest in Egypt.

Companies also pulled out staff as confrontation brought economic life to a halt.

The unrest has spooked markets on fears it could spread across the Middle East, including to oil producing states like Saudi Arabia. Europe’s benchmark Brent crude oil rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2008 on Monday.

ISLAMABAD: The United States on Saturday called for the immediate release of a US citizen Raymond Davis, allegedly involved in killing of two local citizens in Lahore, it said was unlawfully detained by authorities, US embassy in Islamabad said.

“When detained, the US diplomat identified himself to police as a diplomat and repeatedly requested immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” it said in a statement.

It added, “Local police and senior authorities failed to observe their legal obligation to verify his status with either the US consulate general in Lahore or the US embassy in Islamabad”.

Twitter has been resetting passwords for accounts that started distributing links promoting fake antivirus software in an attack that used Google’s Web address shortening service to conceal the links’ destination.

The links, masked by Google “goo.gl” URL shortener, bounce through a series of redirect URLs before landing on a Ukrainian top-level domain that then redirects to an IP address associated with other fake antivirus software scams, wrote Nicolas Brulez of Kaspersky Lab on a company blog.

Victims landing on the fake antivirus software page are prompted to scan their computer. If they approve the scan, the page asks if they want to remove threats from their computer: doing so starts the download of a bogus security program called “Security Shield.”

Fake antivirus programs remain a pervasive problem on the Internet, with hundreds of variations. The applications target Windows users, and the programs are often installed by exploiting vulnerabilities in a computer’s software. Once installed, the applications badger users to pay for a full version of the program. Many of the programs are totally ineffective at actually removing malware from a computer.

Del Harvey, head of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Team, wrote on her Twitter account that “we’re working to remove the malware links and reset passwords on compromised accounts.”

“Did you follow a goo.gl link that led to a page telling you to install ‘Security Shield’ Rogue AV?” she wrote. “That’s malware. Don’t install.”

Although Brulez classifed the attack as a worm, implying it spreads from account to account, Harvey said the issue was not related to a worm.

If the problem isn’t spreading between Twitter users, that raises the question of how the attack began.

One possibility is that it is related to an attack on Gawker Media in December. In that incident, the e-mail addresses and passwords for registered users of the media company’s Web sites were pilfered by a group called Gnosis. Twitter saw a raft of spam after the Gawker hack, as it is believed that many users used the same password for the Web sites, which made their Twitter accounts vulnerable.

Sunbelt Software, a security vendor now owned by GFI Software, provides detailed instructions of how to remove the Security Shield fake antivirus program in one of its forums.

Now reach your favorite Voice Portal application in less than 5 seconds.

To facilitate our customers in the best possible manner and to offer a much better user experience on the Mobilink Voice Portal (555) we have restructured the main menu of the service.

All Voice Portal services are now clubbed in five broad categories replacing the earlier linear structure such that you can find services much faster according to your taste and mood.

Moreover to access the categories/ application from the main menu, along with voice recognition a DTMF option has also been added so that you can easily say the “category name” as soon as you enter the portal or press the relevant key. You can always go back to the main menu from any place in the menu by pressing 0.