This afternoon, after having played the Ariel board game (5+) with my young daughter, my older daughter and my wife, we were in the mood to play a board game and decided to check on the app store. We found Scrabble featured on the app store and since I had always been a fan of scrabble decided to give it a try even though it was priced at $10 / £6.

I found the Scabble app on the iPad really awesome. Some of the nice features are:

Feels just like playing on the real board and some.

With multiplayer mode, we could use our iPhones as tile rays – needed a simple Bluetooth set up.

The board rotates automatically after it recognizes that the are two players.

The whole game looks polished with great user interface and music.

I and Nikki loved it!

Ever since I bought my iPad, I have not been using it much except for some casual browsing and my daily dose of morning tech rss feeds via.

The main issue is that since iOS4 is not available on iPad yet, I would have to close and switch between numerous apps to get to the social media outlets that I frequent such as Facebook, Twitter, Techcrunch etc.

But with the new app Fliboard, all my favourite feeds are in place in a slick magazine style format!!

If you are on the iPad, I would seriously suggest getting this free app!!

This morning, my Mcafee Secure badge on one of my sites stopped working. When I checked, the reason was cited as a vulnerability on the server in the form of an outdated OpenSSH. I called Godaddy and they said that since my server was on a non-managed plan (i.e I was not paying them $1200 per year), they woud not be able to update the OpenSSH or apply a patch to make sure the server would not be compromised. So, I decided to roll up my sleeves and do it myself. With a little research and 30 minutes of my time, I was able to update the OpenSSH version and saved $1200 in the process!

Disclaimer:

THIS HOWTO IS PROVIDED BY BONIGALA DOT COM “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL BONIGALA DOT COM. OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

STOP: This guide can be considered dangerous as if the directions are not followed exactly and all steps completed you may loose access to your server completely. Use this with caution!

This howto assumes the reader has a general knowledge of Linux and the command line interface for installing applications and has root access to the server. Readers with minimal knowledge of Linux or the processes of compiling and installing software should not attempt this without proper supervision from a system administrator or in a production environment.

1) Open Terminal in Mac OS X

2) Enter command# ssh username@domain.com (replace the username and domain with your own details)

3) If you see a message like: “Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?”, type “yes” and hit enter

4) Enter your system password

5) Enter command# su - (This will take you to the root)

6) Enter command# sshd -v (To see the current version of OpenSSH on your server). You may see a message like:

OpenSSH_4.5p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8b 04 May 2006

STOP: This guide can be considered dangerous as if the directions are not followed exactly and all steps completed you may loose access to your server completely. Use this with caution!

7) Enter command# wget ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/OpenSSH/portable/openssh-5.4p1.tar.gz (This will download the latest version of the OpenSSH files. You will have to change the version number if a more recent version has been released. Check on openbsd.com for the latest version number)

8 ) Enter command# tar -xvzf openssh-5.4p1.tar.gz (This will unarchive the file)

9) Enter command# chkconfig –level 1235 telnet on (You might get an error message like “error reading information on service telnet: No such file or directory”. You can ignore this and move on.)

10) Enter command# ./configure –prefix=/usr –sysconfdir=/etc/ssh –with-pam (The configure command bellow will enable the pluggable authentication module, PAM and set the configuration path for SSH.)

STOP: This guide can be considered dangerous as if the directions are not followed exactly and all steps completed you may loose access to your server completely. Use this with caution!

11) Enter command# ./configure
Enter command# make
Enter command# make install

12) Enter command# /etc/init.d/sshd restart (To restart openssh. You may see messages like this:)
Stopping sshd: [ OK ]
Starting sshd: [ OK ]

13) Enter command# su - (To back to root)

14) Enter command# sshd -v (To check version to see if upgrade is successful. You may see messages like this:)
sshd: illegal option — v
OpenSSH_5.4p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8b 04 May 2006

15) Enter command# chkconfig –level 1235 telnet off
You might get an error message like “error reading information on service telnet: No such file or directory”. You can ignore this and move on.

16) Reboot server

I had always been interested in photography and consider myself to be an enthusiast. After many years of point and shoot cameras, I got my first SLR in 2001 which was the Canon Rebel 2000.The camera came with the 28-80mm kit lens. This camera opened up the world of photography for me and got me hooked right from the start. A couple of years later I got a telephoto lens, the Canon 85-300mm lens and this led me to take my photos to a whole new level.

My first DSLR was the Canon EOS 400D which I bought from Jessops in 2005. It came with the 18-55mm kit lens. Going digital was awesome and it helped me improve my understanding of photography and my skills. We went on trips to Switzerland, Egypt and other places and I took hundreds of beautiful shots. Birthdays were great occasions for me to try out new techniques and principles.

The past couple of years, I had been so busy with launching several new online business ventures that photography took a back seat. There were months during which I hardly took my camera out. After I got my iPhone I just started using that even for important events. I could say I lost interest in photography.

Last week I decided to upgrade my ESO 400D and get the latest Canon 7D which is a sign that I am getting the passion back again. Actually I wanted to buy a HD camcorder and was looking around when I realized I should actually get a DSLR that could shoot movies in HD so that I can use it for both purposes with out lugging around too much equipment. The need for a HD camcorder was ignited by my next phase of entrepreneurial development – branding on YouTube. I feel it is time for me to start using video to document my interest in business and entrepreneurship.

The Canon 7D is a logical candidate for my requirements. I have always been a Canon user and after using the 400D I was sure I would be at home with the 7D. With the new 18.0 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors, I was sure it would suit my photographic needs and with the full HD video at 30p (29.97 fps), 24p (23.976 fps) and 25p with an array of manual controls, including manual exposure during movie shooting and ISO speed selection, it would be excellent for my video needs including videos for my YouTube channel and for commercial videos for my websites.

It is quite pricey but after having viewed the amazing videos that you can take with this camera I think the 7D is good value for money. I played around with it yesterday a little bit and am trying to get to know most of functions before my younger daughter’s birthday this Sunday where I will be shooting both photos and video.

I will write an in-depth review of the Canon 7D next month or so after I have had a chance to take some photos. Or perhaps I will just post a video review!

As mentioned in several of my previous posts, my HP Pavilion DV2000 died after over heating and the motherboard was burned. I was tempted to get a 15inch MacBook Pro immediately but after a little bit of research realized that perhaps it is better to wait till January or February of 2010 and I will tell you why.

I bought my iMac 24inch back in July 2009 and by September 2009 Apple had released a new version of the iMac with a 27inch screen and various significant improvements in terms of the chipset and speed etc. I was quite disappointed and realized that I should have researched before going for the iMac at that stage and read up on Apple product cycles and more. Had I waited a couple of months I would have got the latest iMac. The same goes for the MacBook Pro now. With various rumors going around about new chipsets and how Apple will move from NVIDIA graphics to ATI 45xx series GPUs along with the newest Intel Core i7 CPUs.

The last release of the MacBook Pro was June 08, 2009 which is 192 days. The average Apple MacBook Pro update cycle lasts around 200 days. Also Fudzilla claims that Intel is planning on launching three Arrandale-based processors on January 3rd, 2010. These Arrandale processors are based on the advanced Nehalem architecture first introduced into desktop Macs earlier this year, and should represent a significant performance improvement over the Core 2 Duo processors that are currently found in Apple’s MacBook Pros. Read the Apple MackBook Pro 17inch review over at Gadgetbase.com.

These are just rumors for now. So, if you really need a MacBook Pro at the moment, then go ahead and buy it. But if you can wait for a couple of months then it would probably be worth it. Also check out this video from Dave on Youtube (LACK78).

Ever since I bought my iPad, I have not been using it much except for some casual browsing and my daily dose of morning tech rss feeds via.

The main issue is that since iOS4 is not available on iPad yet, I would have to close and switch between numerous apps to get to the social media outlets that I frequent such as Facebook, Twitter, Techcrunch etc.

But with the new app Fliboard, all my favourite feeds are in place in a slick magazine style format!!

If you are on the iPad, I would seriously suggest getting this free app!!

For the past couple of weeks I see my iMac mouse depleting batteries very fast. This morning I changed fresh batteries and after a few hours of normal use the percentage is hown to 72%!

Is any body else having similar issues?

After my recent upgrade to Snow Leopard, I found that emptying the trash was taking a long time. This morning I had deleted an install bundle and wanted to empty the trash. It had 2500 items and took forever to empty the trash.

There is a temporary work around till Apple tackles this issue. The problem is that trash is removing the files securely. This seems to be the root of the cause. When I unchecked the “Empty Trash Securely” option in Finder preferences, the problem has disappeared.

Try at your own discretion.

Just completed writing a security logo company case study over at my logo design blog. I would love to post a daily logo design post, daily on this blog. But it is so difficult. I mean it is easy to post a daily logo post if I just insert the logo image and write nothing about it. But I think there is no point posting a logo image and explaining what the logo is about or who the client is etc.

But I find it quite difficult to write any thing meaningful about a logo case study. How much info should I divulge about my client? How much should I with hold? Should I talk about the motivation behind the design? Should I talk about messages?

Anyway, hopefully I will be able to post a daily logo at least on alternate days. Please share your thoughts if you are trying to do some thing similar.

After the most recent updates on my Windows Vista Business, I started noticing an issue with the way the mouse pointer aligns with elements on the screen. For example to close a window I would have to hover the mouse pointer in an area a little outside the “X” icon or to double click on an entry in a list, I would have hover the pointer on an entry on top of the one I actually wanted.

I searched for a solution for this and found several possible solutions online including updating the mouse drivers, reinstalling the wireless mouse and so on, but none of them really helped.

But one solution that actually worked was quite simple. I went into the mouse setting dialog box via the control panel and changed the mouse pointer scheme from Windows Aero to None. That worked like a charm.