How To Change, Disable Opera Speed Dial

The question came up here whether it is possible to disable Opera’s built-in Speed Dial feature. Speed Dial displays a number of websites or Speed Dial extensions on the browser’s new tab page. Speed Dial was initially designed as the means to quickly access popular sites right away from the new tab page without having to enter the site’s name first or select the site from the bookmarks. Other browser vendors have started to integrate similar options into their browsers (the last to do are Mozilla with Firefox natively).

Speed Dial extensions are a relative new feature of Opera that allows users to install extensions to display dynamic contents on the browser’s new tab page.

Opera users who want to disable the new tab page, for instance to speed up the opening of new tabs in the browser or because they simply do not use the feature, can disable Speed Dial. The option to do so is however not listed in the options, but in Opera’s advanced configuration listing.

The easiest way to open the preference is to load opera:config#UserPrefs|SpeedDialState in the Opera address bar. This should put the focus on the Speed Dial State preference in opera:config.

To change Opera’s Speed Dial functionality or disable it, simply change the value of the parameter. Here are all values and their effect.

0 – This hides the Speed Dial on the new tab page. A Show Speed Dial link is displayed in the lower right corner of the screen. When you click on it, you see the standard Speed Dial tab page again.1 – The standard view mode.2 – Read only mode. This blocks all changes to the Speed Dial display, useful for Kiosk mode for instance.3 – A value of 3 disables Opera’s Speed Dial feature. A blank page is displayed instead.

If you want to disable Opera Speed Dial, change the parameter’s value to 3 and click on the Save button after scrolling down. The changes take effect immediately and without restart of the browser.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. How To Change The Speed Dial Size In Opera
Opera Speed Dial Improvements
Change Opera’s Speed Dial Thumbnails
Opera Speed Dial Extensions Overview
Speed Dial Firefox Extension About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday February 27, 2012 -
Tags:new tab page, opera-tips

You are here: Home » Browsing » How To Change, Disable Opera Speed Dial

Click on the following link(s) to read more about Browsing, Opera

View the original article here

Is Google Making Another Homepage Layout Change?

Google is running yet another design test on their homepage currently. With the frequency of layout changes increasing, it feels as if the search giant does not really know what they really want anymore. As of right now, at least two designs are life for all users. First the single button menu interface with a gray header area, and then the black bar.

Yesterday a third design was spotted that combines the black bar with the menu structure of the single menu bar.

The new bar displays Google’s most popular services directly again on the bar for quick access. The More link leads to additional services. Users of the gray bar design will notice that the black bar has been moved on top of the design. Everything else, with the exception of the Google logo menu has remained the same.

The Google Operating System blog has posted instructions on how to enable the new Google bar design.

Open google.com in your web browser of choice.In Google Chrome, press Ctrl-Shift-JIn Mozilla Firefox press Ctrl-Shift-KIn Internet Explorer press F12 and select consolePaste the following code into the form

document.cookie="PREF=ID=381502750b6e9119:U=aaee74aefea7315a:FF=0:LD=en:CR=2:TM=1328391998:LM=1328392000:S=yPtlCgLbEnezu5b4; path=/; domain=.google.com";window.location.reload();

Press enter and close the console again.Local users need to replace the domain in the information (google.com) with the country code domain, e.g. (google.de)

The page should refresh automatically, and you should see the new layout on the Google page. Please note that it will only be active for as long as the cookie remains on your system.

Users who want to return to the old Google homepage layout can repeat the steps, by loading the following code in the console.

document.cookie="PREF=; path=/; domain=.google.com";window.location.reload();

My personal opinion? Google should give users more choice when it comes to the services that are displayed on the homepage. I’m for instance not using Google News, so why should it be there that prominently on the page? Google furthermore needs to select a design and stick with it, instead of confusing users with different designs and layouts. Some users, depending on the browser they use to access Google, have reported that they are seeing different layouts on the same computer.

What’s your take on this, and what’s your favorite bar so far?

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter.

No related posts.

About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Sunday February 5, 2012 -
Tags:Google, google search

You are here: Home » Google » Is Google Making Another Homepage Layout Change?

Click on the following link(s) to read more about Google

View the original article here

Web Hoster Dreamhost Hacked, Asks Users To Change Passwords

After a relatively quite holiday period attacks on popular services on the Internet seem to have picked up again. After the Zappos incident a few days ago, it is now the popular web hoster Dreamhost who noticed unauthorized activity within one of the company’s databases. Dreamhost is not going into further detail but mentions that they do not have evidence that customer login information or passwords have been dumped by the attackers.

The company nevertheless decided to reset all FTP and shell user access passwords for all Dreamhost users. This should not be confused with the account password used to log into the Dreamhost site itself though. Dreamhost customers who are using the same passwords for multiple services should change passwords on all of them to eliminate the possibility of unauthorized access to those accounts.

Dreamhost furthermore notes that users should also be changing email passwords of all Dreamhost managed email addresses as soon as possible.

We have been sending out update emails to every account owner we have, letting them know what happened, and how to proceed from here on out. As a precaution, we advise every user to change all email passwords as well. We are not forcing this change, however, so make sure you take care of that ASAP.

Shell and ftp passwords can be changed in the Manage Users interface which is accessible here. Dreamhost customers need to click on the edit button next to the ftp or shell user to change the log in password for that account.

A company representative noted that neither credit card data nor web panel logins were accessed by the attackers. If you read through all of the 270 or so comments on the Dreamhost blog, you will notice that many customers were quite infuriated about the level of information they received. Web panel access was not available at all times due to users trying to change their passwords, and rumors spread that Dreamhost was storing passwords in plain text (which was later refuted by a Dreamhost employee who stated that they were hashed).

Lets take a look at what Dreamhost customers need to do right now:

Log into the web panel and change FTP, SFTP, MYSQL, Email and other account passwords. Some passwords have been reset automatically by Dreamhost which means that they need to be changed anyway to regain access.Change passwords on other accounts if the same password was used for access.

Passwords with a reasonable length should be safe, but it is nevertheless better to make the changes to be certain that the attackers cannot use successfully decrypted passwords to gain account or service access. A password manager like KeePass can aid in the creation of secure passwords.

Are you a Dreamhost customer? If so, when did you receive notification about the security incident and what did you experience afterwards?

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Print Covers using Undercover XP
Adding LDAP entries from the command line
4Chan Thread Downloader
Microsoft Security Updates March 2010
Improve Firefox Private Browsing With Private Browsing Window Add-on About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Saturday January 21, 2012 -
Tags:dreamhost, Hacking

You are here: Home » Security » Web Hoster Dreamhost Hacked, Asks Users To Change Passwords

Click on the following link(s) to read more about Security

View the original article here

Winning one Au Competition could be the change you?EUR(TM)ve been looking for

Changing your luck could mean a big change in your life, and the best way to do that is by entering competitions that give you the chance to win prizes that will do exactly that. Attempting to win a competition as big as the lottery would mean that your chances are slim and the odds against you winning are so great that it is unlikely that you would win it within a single lifetime of playing ever week. Those are tough odds to try and beat by any standard, but if you can try to enter into cash prize competitions that go live on a regular basis there is a good chance you will win more money than you could have dreamed of. All it takes is a small bit of effort on your part to make sure you get enough entries to improve your chances.

Living Australia means that you have become a part of one of the biggest booming economies of the world. There are so many chances to improve your life over there and winning an Au competition 2012 may just be one of them. Over and above your normal day to day activities you can take the time to enter as many competitions as you can. The more entries you make, the better your chances are of winning. The best way to do that is by going to places that offer you as many opportunities that you can handle to enter. You have plenty chance to get the winnings you have always wanted and you may even end up in a position where you won't have to work ever again. Winning cash would most likely be the only way to do that, but other prizes could help you lift the burden of your normal life, leaving you free to apply your finances to other aspects of your life that would allow you to change it on a permanent basis. You could use the money settle debt and free up your finances to change the way you live on a long term basis. The prizes you win could prove useful in that you would not have to spend the money you have to buy them.

Once you have them, you can spend the money you have on more important things that you might need. The best thing you can do is to get started with the sites that offer you the chance to win as many times as you like. Once you have access to all these competitions you can get started on changing your luck for good.

View the original article here

Zappos Hacked, Security Email Asks Users To Change Passwords

Zappos yesterday notified all of their employees and customers that a company server has been compromised. The email, accessible online only for visitors from the US, indicates that the attackers may have gotten hold of part or all of the customer account database of Zappos.com. Information that may have been retrieved by the attacker include customer names, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers, the last four digits of the credit card number and encrypted passwords.

Tony Hsie, Zappos’ CEO, notes that the credit card and payment database has not been affected or accessed by the attacker.

While not in immediate danger, customers are asked to change their account passwords at the next possible moment to protect their accounts from unauthorized access. If the attackers managed to dump the account username and password, they have likely started to decrypt the passwords with the help of dictionary lists and brute forcing. The attackers cannot use the information directly on the Zappos site though, as passwords have been reset by the company. Customers are asked to create a new password by “clicking on the “Create a New Password” link in the upper right corner of the web site and follow the steps from there”. It is alternatively possible to open the Password Change page right away on the website which leads to the create a new password page.

Zappos notes that users should change passwords on other websites if they have used the same password for accounts on those sites. If the attackers manage to decrypt the passwords, they could try to log into email accounts or other popular web services.

We also recommend that you change your password on any other web site where you use the same or a similar password. As always, please remember that Zappos.com will never ask you for personal or account information in an e-mail. Please exercise caution if you receive any emails or phone calls that ask for personal information or direct you to a web site where you are asked to provide personal information.

Resetting more than 24 million customer passwords must have not been an easy decision for the company CEO. Other hacked companies have reacted differently in the past, for instance by only emailing their customers about the breach and asking them in the email to change their account passwords. The better safe than sorry approach seems to be better suited for these kind of situations. What’s your take on the news, and do you think that Zappos made the right move?

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. RockYou Hacked. Some 30 million passwords in the wild [Security]
Recover Or Change Thunderbird Passwords
Hotmail Blocks Common Passwords, Adds My Friend’s Been Hacked Reporting
Hotmail Phishing Attack: Time To Change Passwords
Audit Windows Passwords With Password Security Scanner About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday January 16, 2012 -
Tags:Hacking

You are here: Home » Security » Zappos Hacked, Security Email Asks Users To Change Passwords

Click on the following link(s) to read more about Security

View the original article here

Keyndicate Tells You When Key States Change

Before Ghacks I was working in the support department of one of Germany’s largest financial companies. I regularly received support requests from customers and employees, and many of the most common requests were login related. Users and employees trying to access a service could not do so because their login credentials were not accepted. Two of the core reasons for those login related issues where key state changes on the system that the users did not notice. The first was the numlock key state, which turns on or off the numpad on the system.

Users trying to enter digits via the numpad could not do so if it had been deactivated before. The second was the caps lock key which turned lower case letters into upper case, and numbers on the keyboard to special characters.

Experienced users often do not have problems spotting those key state changes right away, for instance by looking at the leds of the keyboard, or by typing the login name or password into a text document or the browser’s web address form.

Keyndicate introduces an automated solution. It basically acts as a notifier whenever one of the following key states change on the PC system: CapsLock, NumLock, ScrollLock. Notifications need to be enabled in the settings of the program before they are displayed whenever they change on the system.

The program displays the key states in the system tray icon as well. A horizontal bar means that the state is set to on, and a smaller bar that it is off. The only other option available is to configure the program to start with the operating system.

Users who are interested in the program may also be interested in alternatives that we have reviewed in the past. This includes Keyboard Indicator which displays each state in its own icon in the system tray and Keyboard Leds.

Keyndicate can be downloaded from the developer website. The program is fully portable and compatible with all Windows operating systems from Windows XP on.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter.

No related posts.

About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Wednesday January 11, 2012 -
Tags:capslock, portable software, windows software

You are here: Home » Software » Keyndicate Tells You When Key States Change

View the original article here