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  • How do I get the WVGA Android browser to stop scaling my images?

    - by Dan Fabulich
    I'm designing an HTML page for display in Android browsers. Consider this simple example page: <html> <head><title>Simple!</title> </head> <body> <p><img src="http://sstatic.net/so/img/logo.png"></p> </body> </html> It looks just fine on the standard HVGA phones (320x480), but on HDPI WVGA sizes (480x800 or 480x854) the built-in browser automatically scales the image up; it looks ugly. I've read that I should be able to use this tag to force the browser to stop scaling my page: <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; minimum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;" /> ... but all that does is disable user scaling (the zoom buttons disappear); it doesn't actually prevent the browser from scaling my image. Adjusting the scale factors (setting them all to 2.0 or 0.5) has no effect at all. How can I force the WVGA browser to stop scaling my images?

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  • Why do I get an error while trying to set the content of a tabspec in android?

    - by rushinge
    I have an android activity in which I'm using tabs. public class UnitActivity extends TabActivity { @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.unit_view); TabHost tabHost = getTabHost(); TabSpec spec; spec = tabHost.newTabSpec("controls"); spec.setIndicator("Control"); spec.setContent(R.layout.unit_control); tabHost.addTab(spec); spec = tabHost.newTabSpec("data"); spec.setIndicator("Data"); spec.setContent(R.layout.unit_data); tabHost.addTab(spec); } } However when I run the program it crashes with the error: "Could not create tab content because could not find view with id 2130903042". I don't understand what the problem is because R.layout.unit_data refers to a layout file in my resource directory (res/layout/unit_data.xml) as far as I can tell unit_data.xml is well formed and I've even referenced it successfully in another activity class UnitData extends Activity { @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.unit_data); Toast.makeText(this, "Hi from UnitData.onCreate", 5); } } which does not give an error and renders the layout just fine. What's going on? Why can't I reference this layout when creating a tab?

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  • Why does my Android App crash when loading image from gallery the 2nd time?

    - by Sebastian
    Hi folks, I've written an app, thats loading images either using the android gallery app or by taking a photo using the cam. When I now load an image using the gallery, everything is fine. When the code is being executed a second time (for loading another image), the application crashes. try { Uri data = intent.getData(); ContentResolver cr = this.getContentResolver(); Bitmap mBitmap = null; mBitmap = Media.getBitmap(cr, data); imageView.setImageBitmap(mBitmap); } catch(Exception e){ showToast(this, "Failed loading image from gallery"); return; } The code crashes at the line mBimap = Media.getBitmap(cr, data);. Everything is initialized, there are no null values etc. The strange thing is: no exception is thrown, I don't get into the catch block to determine whats going wrong. Does anyone have an idea about this? Am I not allowed to "re-use" the content resolver? Do I have to free it after the first usage or something like this?

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  • Is it possible to pull a webpage or content from the web into a widget on the android home screen

    - by cdg
    Hi there. I have a php web page that will randomize an image that is 158x154. I was able to get the android application to work, but would also like to get it to work as a widget. How the heck can I get a widget to pull information from the net? I got the widget to work and layout correctly with a black sample image. I have tried to look at the wiki sample, but it is a bit too complicated for my little brain to grasp. The data that gets pulled looks something like: <html><body bgcolor="#000000">center> <a href="http://www.website.com" target="_blank"> <img border="0" src="http://www.webiste.com//0.gif"></a> <img src="http://www.webiste.com" style="border:none;" /> </center></body></html> Help please. I am pulling my hair out trying to figure this out.

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  • How to easily Generate Synth Chords Sounds in Android?

    - by barata7
    How to easily Generate Synth Chords Sounds in Android? I wanna be able to generate dynamically an in game Music using 8bit. Tried with AudioTrack, but did not get good results of nice sounds yet. Any examples out there? I have tried the following code without success: public class BitLoose { private final int duration = 1; // seconds private final int sampleRate = 4200; private final int numSamples = duration * sampleRate; private final double sample[] = new double[numSamples]; final AudioTrack audioTrack; public BitLoose() { audioTrack = new AudioTrack(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC, sampleRate, AudioFormat.CHANNEL_CONFIGURATION_MONO, AudioFormat.ENCODING_PCM_8BIT, numSamples, AudioTrack.MODE_STREAM); audioTrack.play(); } public void addTone(final int freqOfTone) { // fill out the array for (int i = 0; i < numSamples; ++i) { sample[i] = Math.sin(2 * Math.PI * i / (sampleRate / freqOfTone)); } // convert to 16 bit pcm sound array // assumes the sample buffer is normalised. final byte generatedSnd[] = new byte[numSamples]; int idx = 0; for (final double dVal : sample) { // scale to maximum amplitude final short val = (short) ((((dVal * 255))) % 255); // in 16 bit wav PCM, first byte is the low order byte generatedSnd[idx++] = (byte) (val); } audioTrack.write(generatedSnd, 0, sampleRate); } public void stop() { audioTrack.stop(); }

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  • iPhone or Android apps that use SMS based authentication?

    - by JSW
    What are some iPhone or Android applications that use SMS as their primary means of user authentication? I'm interested to see such apps in action. SMS-auth seems like a natural approach that is well-situated to mobile contexts. The basic workflow is: to sign up, a user provides a phone number; the app calls a backend webservice which generates a signed URL and sends it to the phone number via an SMS gateway; the user receives the SMS, clicks the link, and is thus verified and logged in. This results in a very strong user identity that is difficult to spoof yet fairly easy. It can be paired with a username or additional account attributes as needed for the product requirements. Despite the advantages, this does not seem to be in much use - hence my question. My initial assumption is that this is because products and users are wary of asking for / providing phone numbers, which users consider sensitive information. That said, I hope this becomes an increasingly more commonplace approach.

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  • How to find a particular string in a paragraph in android?

    - by user1448108
    In my project the data is stored in html format along with image tag. For example the following data is stored in html format and it contains 2 to 3 images. Mother Teresa as she is commonly known, was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Although born on the 26 August 1910, she considered 27 August, the day she was baptized, to be her "true birthday". “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus." img ----- src="image1.png" ---- Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012 consisted of over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries.img ----- src="image2.png" ----. She was the recipient of numerous honours including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates, and asked that the $192,000 funds be given to the poor in India. img ----- src="image3.png" ---- Now from the above data I need to find how many images the paragraph has and need to get all the image names along with the extensions and should display them in android. Tried with splitting but did not work. Please help me regarding this. Thanks in advance

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  • Why does my SQL database not work in Android?

    - by user1426967
    In my app a click on an image button brings you to the gallery. After clicking on an image I want to call onActivityResult to store the image path. But it does not work. In my LogCat it always tells me that it crashes when it tries to save the image path. Can you find the problem? My onActivityResult method: mImageRowId = savedInstanceState != null ? savedInstanceState.getLong(ImageAdapter.KEY_ROWID) : null; @Override protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) { if(requestCode == PICK_FROM_FILE && data != null && data.getData() != null) { Uri uri = data.getData(); if(uri != null) { Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, new String[] { android.provider.MediaStore.Images.ImageColumns.DATA}, null, null, null); cursor.moveToFirst(); String image = cursor.getString(0); cursor.close(); if(image != null) { // HERE IS WHERE I WANT TO SAVE THE IMAGE. HERE MUST BE THE ERROR! if (mImageRowId == null) { long id = mImageHelper.createImage(image); if (id > 0) { mImageRowId = id; } } // Set the image and display it in the edit activity Bitmap bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeFile(image); mImageButton.setImageBitmap(bitmap); } } } } This is my onSaveInstanceState method: private static final Long DEF_ROW_ID = 0L; @Override protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) { outState.putLong(ImageAdapter.KEY_ROWID, mImageRowId != null ? mImageRowId : DEF_ROW_ID); super.onSaveInstanceState(outState); } This is a part from my DbAdapter: public long createImage(String image) { ContentValues cv = new ContentValues(); cv.put(KEY_IMAGE, image); return mImageDb.insert(DATABASE_TABLE, null, cv); }

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  • Add Social Elements to Your Gmail Contacts with Rapportive

    - by Matthew Guay
    Would you like to discover more about your contacts?  Xobni is a great tool for this in Outlook, and thanks to a small plugin for Gmail, you can get similar functionality right from your favorite webmail app. Setup Rapportive on Your Gmail Browse to the Rapportive site (link below), and click install to add it to your browser.  Rapportive currently only supports Firefox and Google Chrome.  In this test, we installed it on Google Chrome.  Notice that Chrome warns Rapportive may access your private data from Gmail, though Rapportive says that they only use this data securely on your computer or their servers. Next time you log into Gmail, open a message to see the new Rapportive sidebar.  Click Log in to get started. Choose if you want to let Rapportive to access your data. Finally, choose whether to stay logged into Rapportive or to log out when you log out of Gmail.   Using Rapportive Now, when you open an email, you should see more information about your contact on the right side of the message where you usually see Google AdSense ads. You may see an avatar, short bio, and links to their social networks.  You can add notes about a contact also, which lets you use Rapportive as a CRM. You may see more information on some contacts.  Here we see a contact that shows recent Tweets and links to several social networks. Take Rapportive Further You can add more features to Rapportive with Raplets, which are small extensions that add more information or CRM functionality.  To add these, click the Rapportive button on the top of Gmail, and select Add Raplets to Rapportive. Find a Raplet you want, and click Add This. A popup will open to give you more information about the Raplet; click the Add button at the bottom if you still want it. And, if you’re wish to close Rapportive without logging out of Gmail, click the Rapportive link in Gmail and select Log out. Conclusion Whether you want to find out more about your contacts or keep track of notes about them, Rapportive is a great way to do this from Gmail.  With tools like this, Gmail gets a bit more powerful and feels more like a desktop application. If you would like this type of functionality in Outlook, check out our article on how to power up Outlook’s search and contacts with Xobni. Add Rapportive to Gmail Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips How to Import Gmail Contacts Into Outlook 2007Enhance Your Gmail Account in ChromeFigure out which Online accounts are selling your email to spammersAdd Social Bookmarking (Digg This!) Links to your Wordpress BlogFix for New Contact Group Button Not Displaying in Vista TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Acronis Online Backup DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows Easily Search Food Recipes With Recipe Chimp Tech Fanboys Field Guide Check these Awesome Chrome Add-ons iFixit Offers Gadget Repair Manuals Online Vista style sidebar for Windows 7 Create Nice Charts With These Web Based Tools

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  • Microsoft Remote Desktop Services - Android

    - by Matt Rogers
    We have recently started testing Remote Desktop Services. We have deployed the environment using the latest server, Windows Server 2012 R2. We have deployed the Web Access Roles, RD Gateway, Connection Broker Virtualization Host and Session Host. We are running both, Virtual machine-based and Session-based deployments. All of these are working as expected internally and externally when using a Windows workstation as the RDS client, however, the Android client is unable to launch applications. Once you install the app from Google Play you are given a screen to add Remote Resources. After entering the appropriate URL, username and password we see the applications that have been published. Unfortunately, when we attempt to launch an app we get the following error: Connection Error Host not found. Please provide the fully-qualified name or the IP address of the host. We have already entered this information otherwise I don't believe we would be able to see the published applications. I think the error is related to the certificate and how it is being used to connect to the applications. Since this is in our lab environment we have not configured a valid external certificate on the servers and the trusted certificate that is installed on the android tablet points to our internal server / domain name. What I would like to know: Has anyone configured RDS Web Access on Server 2012 R2 and attempted to externally connect an Android or iOS device using the Microsoft supported Remote Desktop client. Are others experiencing the same problem we are? Were you able to resolve the issue? Was it related to the external cert / host name?

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  • How to automatically resize an EditText widget (with some attributes) in a TableLayout

    - by steff
    Hi everyone, I have a layout issue. What I do is this: create TableLayout in xml with zero children: <TableLayout android:id="@+id/t_layout_contents" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_below="@id/l_layout_tags" android:stretchColumns="1" android:paddingLeft="5dip" android:paddingRight="5dip" /> Insert first row programmatically in onCreate(): tLayoutContents = (TableLayout)findViewById(R.id.t_layout_contents); NoteElement nr_1 = new NoteElement(this); tLayoutContents.addView(nr_1); Class "NoteElement" extends TableRow. The 1st row just consists of a blank ImageView as a placeholder and an EditText to enter text. NoteElement's constructor looks like this: public NoteElement(Context c) { super(c); this.context = c; defaultText = c.getResources().getString(R.string.create_note_help_text); imageView = new ImageView(context); imageView.setImageResource(android.R.color.transparent); LayoutParams params = new LayoutParams(0); imageView.setLayoutParams(params); addView(imageView); addView(addTextField()); } Method addTextField() specifies the attributes for the EditText widget: private EditText addTextField() { editText = new EditText(context); editText.setImeOptions(EditorInfo.IME_ACTION_DONE); editText.setMinLines(4); editText.setRawInputType(InputType.TYPE_TEXT_FLAG_MULTI_LINE); editText.setHint(R.string.create_note_et_blank_text); editText.setAutoLinkMask(Linkify.ALL); editText.setPadding(5, 0, 0, 0); editText.setGravity(Gravity.TOP); editText.setVerticalScrollBarEnabled(true); LayoutParams params = new LayoutParams(1); editText.setLayoutParams(params); return editText; } So far, so good. But my problem occurs as soon as the available space for the chars is depleted. The EditText does not resize itself but switches to a single line EditText. I am desperatly looking for a way in which the EditText resizes itself in its height dynamically, being dependant on the inserted text length. Does anyone have a hint on this? Thanks & regards, steff

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  • Accessing Facebook Likes and Interests with the old rest api

    - by Pierre Olivier Martel
    In their recent changes, Facebook now links your likes and interests with community and fan pages. How can I retrieve this information using the old rest API and Facebooker. I tried things like this to get the music preferences : facebook_session.user.music but I get a blank string instead of the relevant connections. Is it mandatory to use the new Graph API in order to make this work?

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  • Android OpenGL ES 2 framebuffer not working properly

    - by user16547
    I'm trying to understand how framebuffers work. In order to achieve that, I want to draw a very basic triangle to a framebuffer texture and then draw the resulting texture to a quad on the default framebuffer. However, I only get a fraction of the triangle like below. LE: The triangle's coordinates should be (1) -0.5f, -0.5f, 0 (2) 0.5f, -0.5f, 0 (3) 0, 0.5f, 0 Here's the code to render: @Override public void onDrawFrame(GL10 gl) { renderNormalStuff(); renderFramebufferTexture(); } protected void renderNormalStuff() { GLES20.glViewport(0, 0, texWidth, texHeight); GLUtils.updateProjectionMatrix(mProjectionMatrix, texWidth, texHeight); GLES20.glBindFramebuffer(GLES20.GL_FRAMEBUFFER, fbo[0]); GLES20.glUseProgram(mProgram); GLES20.glClearColor(.5f, .5f, .5f, 1); GLES20.glClear(GLES20.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GLES20.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT); Matrix.setIdentityM(mModelMatrix, 0); Matrix.multiplyMM(mMVPMatrix, 0, mViewMatrix, 0, mModelMatrix, 0); Matrix.multiplyMM(mMVPMatrix, 0, mProjectionMatrix, 0, mMVPMatrix, 0); GLES20.glUniformMatrix4fv(u_MVPMatrix, 1, false, mMVPMatrix, 0); GLES20.glBindBuffer(GLES20.GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vbo[0]); GLES20.glVertexAttribPointer(a_Position, 3, GLES20.GL_FLOAT, false, 12, 0); GLES20.glBindBuffer(GLES20.GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vbo[1]); GLES20.glVertexAttribPointer(a_Color, 4, GLES20.GL_FLOAT, false, 16, 0); GLES20.glBindBuffer(GLES20.GL_ELEMENT_ARRAY_BUFFER, ibo[0]); GLES20.glDrawElements(GLES20.GL_TRIANGLES, indexBuffer.capacity(), GLES20.GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, 0); GLES20.glBindBuffer(GLES20.GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, 0); GLES20.glBindBuffer(GLES20.GL_ELEMENT_ARRAY_BUFFER, 0); GLES20.glUseProgram(0); } private void renderFramebufferTexture() { GLES20.glBindFramebuffer(GLES20.GL_FRAMEBUFFER, 0); GLES20.glUseProgram(fboProgram); GLES20.glClearColor(.0f, .5f, .25f, 1); GLES20.glClear(GLES20.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GLES20.GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT); GLES20.glViewport(0, 0, width, height); GLUtils.updateProjectionMatrix(mProjectionMatrix, width, height); Matrix.setIdentityM(mModelMatrix, 0); Matrix.multiplyMM(mMVPMatrix, 0, mViewMatrix, 0, mModelMatrix, 0); Matrix.multiplyMM(mMVPMatrix, 0, mProjectionMatrix, 0, mMVPMatrix, 0); GLES20.glUniformMatrix4fv(fbo_u_MVPMatrix, 1, false, mMVPMatrix, 0); //draw the texture GLES20.glActiveTexture(GLES20.GL_TEXTURE0); GLES20.glBindTexture(GLES20.GL_TEXTURE_2D, texture[0]); GLES20.glUniform1i(fbo_u_Texture, 0); GLUtils.sendBufferData(fbo_a_Position, 3, quadPositionBuffer); GLUtils.sendBufferData(fbo_a_TexCoordinate, 2, quadTexCoordinate); GLES20.glDrawElements(GLES20.GL_TRIANGLES, quadIndexBuffer.capacity(), GLES20.GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, quadIndexBuffer); GLES20.glUseProgram(0); }

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  • Python Naming Conventions for Dictionaries/Maps/Hashes

    - by pokstad
    While other questions have tackled the broader category of sequences and modules, I ask this very specific question: "What naming convention do you use for dictionaries and why?" Some naming convention samples I have been considering: # 'value' is the data type stored in the map, while 'key' is the type of key value_for_key={key1:value1, key2,value2} value_key={key1:value1, key2,value2} v_value_k_key={key1:value1, key2,value2} Don't bother answering the 'why' with "because my work tells me to", not very helpful. The reason driving the choice is more important. Are there any other good considerations for a dictionary naming convention aside from readability?

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  • Ask the Readers: Which Web Browser Do You Use?

    - by Mysticgeek
    Yesterday we looked at the Browser Ballot Screen, which offers 12 different browsers as alternatives to IE for European Windows users. This got us thinking about this weeks question. What browser do you use for your daily web navigation?   Yesterday we showed you the Browser Ballot Screen which was introduced in March to Windows users in Europe. While it offers the choice of the most well known browsers on the market, there are some obscure choices as well. This got us thinking about what web browser(s) you use at home, in the office, or even on your mobile devices. Some people might have a favorite browser they use at home but are required to use IE at work due to proprietary applications the company uses. Also, if you use an operating system other than Windows, you might favor Safari, Firefox, Konqueror..etc. What web browser do you use? Leave a comment and join in the discussion! Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Mysticgeek Blog: A Look at Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 on Windows XPSet the Default Browser on Ubuntu From the Command LineAnnouncing the How-To Geek ForumsHow-To Geek Bounty: $103.24(Paid!) for Active Desktop for VistaA Few Things I’ve Learned from Writing at How-To Geek TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Explore Google Public Data Visually The Ultimate Excel Cheatsheet Convert the Quick Launch Bar into a Super Application Launcher Automate Tasks in Linux with Crontab Discover New Bundled Feeds in Google Reader Play Music in Chrome by Simply Dragging a File

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  • Objective-C wrapper API design methodology

    - by Wade Williams
    I know there's no one answer to this question, but I'd like to get people's thoughts on how they would approach the situation. I'm writing an Objective-C wrapper to a C library. My goals are: 1) The wrapper use Objective-C objects. For example, if the C API defines a parameter such as char *name, the Objective-C API should use name:(NSString *). 2) The client using the Objective-C wrapper should not have to have knowledge of the inner-workings of the C library. Speed is not really any issue. That's all easy with simple parameters. It's certainly no problem to take in an NSString and convert it to a C string to pass it to the C library. My indecision comes in when complex structures are involved. Let's say you have: struct flow { long direction; long speed; long disruption; long start; long stop; } flow_t; And then your C API call is: void setFlows(flow_t inFlows[4]); So, some of the choices are: 1) expose the flow_t structure to the client and have the Objective-C API take an array of those structures 2) build an NSArray of four NSDictionaries containing the properties and pass that as a parameter 3) create an NSArray of four "Flow" objects containing the structure's properties and pass that as a parameter My analysis of the approaches: Approach 1: Easiest. However, it doesn't meet the design goals Approach 2: For some reason, this seems to me to be the most "Objective-C" way of doing it. However, each element of the NSDictionary would have to be wrapped in an NSNumber. Now it seems like we're doing an awful lot just to pass the equivalent of a struct. Approach 3: Seems the cleanest to me from an object-oriented standpoint and the extra encapsulation could come in handy later. However, like #2, it now seems like we're doing an awful lot (creating an array, creating and initializing objects) just to pass a struct. So, the question is, how would you approach this situation? Are there other choices I'm not considering? Are there additional advantages or disadvantages to the approaches I've presented that I'm not considering?

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  • Jenkins—get "Build Time Trend" values using "Remote Access API"

    - by Chathura Kulasinghe
    Is there a way that we can get all Jenkins-"Build Time Trend" information ( Build number + Status[success/failed etc] + Duration ) for an application; using the Jenkins remote access API? Or else I would appreciate if you could post a link of any documentation on how to get information from Jenkins using the Remote Access API. Most of the sources consist of the way of running jobs, but I couldn't find any, which shows how to fetch information from jenkins. Thanks!

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  • HTG Explains: Do Non-Windows Platforms Like Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux Get Viruses?

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Viruses and other types of malware seem largely confined to Windows in the real world. Even on a Windows 8 PC, you can still get infected with malware. But how vulnerable are other operating systems to malware? When we say “viruses,” we’re actually talking about malware in general. There’s more to malware than just viruses, although the word virus is often used to talk about malware in general. Why Are All the Viruses For Windows? Not all of the malware out there is for Windows, but most of it is. We’ve tried to cover why Windows has the most viruses in the past. Windows’ popularity is definitely a big factor, but there are other reasons, too. Historically, Windows was never designed for security in the way that UNIX-like platforms were — and every popular operating system that’s not Windows is based on UNIX. Windows also has a culture of installing software by searching the web and downloading it from websites, whereas other platforms have app stores and Linux has centralized software installation from a secure source in the form of its package managers. Do Macs Get Viruses? The vast majority of malware is designed for Windows systems and Macs don’t get Windows malware. While Mac malware is much more rare, Macs are definitely not immune to malware. They can be infected by malware written specifically for Macs, and such malware does exist. At one point, over 650,000 Macs were infected with the Flashback Trojan. [Source] It infected Macs through the Java browser plugin, which is a security nightmare on every platform. Macs no longer include Java by default. Apple also has locked down Macs in other ways. Three things in particular help: Mac App Store: Rather than getting desktop programs from the web and possibly downloading malware, as inexperienced users might on Windows, they can get their applications from a secure place. It’s similar to a smartphone app store or even a Linux package manager. Gatekeeper: Current releases of Mac OS X use Gatekeeper, which only allows programs to run if they’re signed by an approved developer or if they’re from the Mac App Store. This can be disabled by geeks who need to run unsigned software, but it acts as additional protection for typical users. XProtect: Macs also have a built-in technology known as XProtect, or File Quarantine. This feature acts as a blacklist, preventing known-malicious programs from running. It functions similarly to Windows antivirus programs, but works in the background and checks applications you download. Mac malware isn’t coming out nearly as quick as Windows malware, so it’s easier for Apple to keep up. Macs are certainly not immune to all malware, and someone going out of their way to download pirated applications and disable security features may find themselves infected. But Macs are much less at risk of malware in the real world. Android is Vulnerable to Malware, Right? Android malware does exist and companies that produce Android security software would love to sell you their Android antivirus apps. But that isn’t the full picture. By default, Android devices are configured to only install apps from Google Play. They also benefit from antimalware scanning — Google Play itself scans apps for malware. You could disable this protection and go outside Google Play, getting apps from elsewhere (“sideloading”). Google will still help you if you do this, asking if you want to scan your sideloaded apps for malware when you try to install them. In China, where many, many Android devices are in use, there is no Google Play Store. Chinese Android users don’t benefit from Google’s antimalware scanning and have to get their apps from third-party app stores, which may contain infected copies of apps. The majority of Android malware comes from outside Google Play. The scary malware statistics you see primarily include users who get apps from outside Google Play, whether it’s pirating infected apps or acquiring them from untrustworthy app stores. As long as you get your apps from Google Play — or even another secure source, like the Amazon App Store — your Android phone or tablet should be secure. What About iPads and iPhones? Apple’s iOS operating system, used on its iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches, is more locked down than even Macs and Android devices. iPad and iPhone users are forced to get their apps from Apple’s App Store. Apple is more demanding of developers than Google is — while anyone can upload an app to Google Play and have it available instantly while Google does some automated scanning, getting an app onto Apple’s App Store involves a manual review of that app by an Apple employee. The locked-down environment makes it much more difficult for malware to exist. Even if a malicious application could be installed, it wouldn’t be able to monitor what you typed into your browser and capture your online-banking information without exploiting a deeper system vulnerability. Of course, iOS devices aren’t perfect either. Researchers have proven it’s possible to create malicious apps and sneak them past the app store review process. [Source] However, if a malicious app was discovered, Apple could pull it from the store and immediately uninstall it from all devices. Google and Microsoft have this same ability with Android’s Google Play and Windows Store for new Windows 8-style apps. Does Linux Get Viruses? Malware authors don’t tend to target Linux desktops, as so few average users use them. Linux desktop users are more likely to be geeks that won’t fall for obvious tricks. As with Macs, Linux users get most of their programs from a single place — the package manager — rather than downloading them from websites. Linux also can’t run Windows software natively, so Windows viruses just can’t run. Linux desktop malware is extremely rare, but it does exist. The recent “Hand of Thief” Trojan supports a variety of Linux distributions and desktop environments, running in the background and stealing online banking information. It doesn’t have a good way if infecting Linux systems, though — you’d have to download it from a website or receive it as an email attachment and run the Trojan. [Source] This just confirms how important it is to only run trusted software on any platform, even supposedly secure ones. What About Chromebooks? Chromebooks are locked down laptops that only run the Chrome web browser and some bits around it. We’re not really aware of any form of Chrome OS malware. A Chromebook’s sandbox helps protect it against malware, but it also helps that Chromebooks aren’t very common yet. It would still be possible to infect a Chromebook, if only by tricking a user into installing a malicious browser extension from outside the Chrome web store. The malicious browser extension could run in the background, steal your passwords and online banking credentials, and send it over the web. Such malware could even run on Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of Chrome, but it would appear in the Extensions list, would require the appropriate permissions, and you’d have to agree to install it manually. And Windows RT? Microsoft’s Windows RT only runs desktop programs written by Microsoft. Users can only install “Windows 8-style apps” from the Windows Store. This means that Windows RT devices are as locked down as an iPad — an attacker would have to get a malicious app into the store and trick users into installing it or possibly find a security vulnerability that allowed them to bypass the protection. Malware is definitely at its worst on Windows. This would probably be true even if Windows had a shining security record and a history of being as secure as other operating systems, but you can definitely avoid a lot of malware just by not using Windows. Of course, no platform is a perfect malware-free environment. You should exercise some basic precautions everywhere. Even if malware was eliminated, we’d have to deal with social-engineering attacks like phishing emails asking for credit card numbers. Image Credit: stuartpilbrow on Flickr, Kansir on Flickr     

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