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Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s Back!

5 May 2012 10:40 PM

Britain’s Got Talent revealed that Ryan O’Shaughnessy is returning on Britain’s Got Talent. As you’ll recall, singer Ryan moved the audience to tears when he performed a self-penned romantic balled titled No Name about a mystery girl.

We spoke with the lovely lad just moments ago and this is what he had to say: “I’m over the moon to be through to the Semi-Finals. I was contracted to do another show, but I’ve since been released from my contract.”

Ryan went on and said “I want to thank the Judges for giving me a second chance. The reveal was such an emotional ordeal for me. I was fraught with nerves. I felt as though I’d let Simon down. Simon’s somebody you want to please, so it felt awful to disappoint him.”

then followed with “I’m looking forward to the Live Shows. I’ve been working on new material and focusing on the music. My mystery girl and I have decided to just stay friends, but it’d be nice to meet someone after BGT. Being selected for the Semi-Finals is like a dream come true!”

Source: ITV Talent

Pirate Bay Blocked? Try 4 Free* VPN Services

4 May 2012 7:50 AM

As you may be aware more than four million subscribers were cut off from www.thepiratebay.se/.org on Wednesday evening. The Pirate Bay has been blocked for Virgin Media after they cut Pirate Bay access for millions of users, (and soon many other Internet service providers such as Sky, O2, Everything Everywhere and TalkTalk) Virgin Media has taken the step of being the first ISP ordered by the High Court to enact the block order placed upon it and the four other big UK providers. Despite this however, the news and publicity generated by the story has caused the torrent linking website to have its biggest ever surge in UK traffic.

The block of TPB looks likely to make little impact in the overall scheme. There are many sites running proxies that allow a simple bypass and anyone serious about accessing it can simply take out a very affordable VPN service, or begin using Tor software. We’ve listed the top 10 free VPN services.

More news on The Pirate Bay being blocked by VirginMedia and shortly by Sky, O2, Virgin Media, TalkTalk and other Internet service providers can be found by clicking here.

“The Pirate Bay’s founders said that users can set up anonymous connections using a virtual provate network (VPN). Alternatively, they can use a closed private network of computers, known as a darknet, or change their DNS settings with OpenDNS.” – Read more on The Pirate Bay’s blog [Proxy Link]

2. OpenDNS – Free VPN
OpenDNS.com – OpenDNS is probably the best and easiest option, by changing your DNS settings follow How do I use OpenDNS and Manage Internal Resources and Virtual Private Networks? for more details.

2. OpenVPN – Free VPN
OpenVPN.net is a SSL/TLS based VPN, it provides high security and privacy. The biggest difference between PPTP VPN and OpenVPN is you need install OpenVPN client software to use OpenVPN service, and OpenVPN DO NOT work on mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, Windows Mobile and Android. But OpenVPN works on Windows and Mac.
5. CyberGhost – Free VPN service

3. CyberGhost – Free VPN
CyberGhost – is a free VPN service from Germany which helps you route you through a German IP. The free service is limited to 1GB traffic every month, which is more than enough for surfing on websites, chatting and email. The paid service is also affordable.

4. ProXPN – Free VPN
ProXPN – A free VPN service designed for use with Windows and Mac computers. ProXPN works by downloading a small free application from which to connect. The service is also compatible with the iPhone and other mobile phones that support VPN. Interestingly you can use the iPhone setup instructions to make a connection from your PC, useful if you’re a Linux user.

5. It’s Hidden – Free VPN
Its Hidden – Originally established as a safeguard for filesharers, Its Hidden offers a competitive free service as well as paid solutions offering better contention (less users per server), professional support and dedicated IP addresses. Registration is required, and once you’ve signed up you can connect to the service directly through your operating system by following the set-up guide, with no additional software required. The service is compatible with any operating system you happen to be using that supports VPN.

Free things are great, but they’re also subject to a lot of use by the community. If you’re encountering problems with any of the above then you’re just better off moving on and trying another.
If you’re really serious about security (and accessing your home PCs from anywhere) then you’ll probably want to invest in a paid VPN service.

Do you use VPN? Had any luck with free services, or have you gone paid? Let us know in the comments below!.

Mozilla retains Google as default search engine in Firefox

20 December 2011 8:02 PM

Summary: Mozilla and Google have renewed their friendship with a new search deal for Firefox.

Mozilla and Google are renewing their partnership with a new agreement regarding the default search engine in Firefox.

That would be Google, obviously, and it will stay that way for at least the next three years, according to the new deal.

Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs explained in a prepared statement, “Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world.”

Other search engines that sit below Google within the Firefox browser are Yahoo, Bing, Amazon.com, eBay and Wikipedia.

Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed except that it will provide “a significant and mutually beneficial revenue” stream for both parties.

To put the value of this relationship into at least one perspective, Mozilla relied heavily (perhaps too heavily) on Google search revenue in 2010. The Firefox search box has generated anywhere from 85 percent to 90 percent of Mozilla revenue in recent years.

AllThingsD reports that Google contributed approximately 84 percent of Mozilla’s $123 million in revenue last year.

Mozilla Posted the following:

We’re pleased to announce that we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google. This new agreement extends our long term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years.

“Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla.

“Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come,” said Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Search, Google.

The specific terms of this commercial agreement are subject to traditional confidentiality requirements, and we’re not at liberty to disclose them.

GTA V: Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer promise makes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 a lot less exciting

25 October 2011 3:39 PM

Grand Theft Auto left fans of the video game franchise salivating today as it promised a trailer of the new version of the joyriding favourite.

The homepage of makers Rockstar Games featured simply the game logo Grand Theft Auto V with the promise: “TRAILER 11.02.11”. The title bar of the page simply had the hashtag #GTAV.

It was GTA V which became a top trend on Twitter as fans shared their excitement at the promise of a new game.

With that one simple splash page, next month’s hugely anticipated no-holds-barred deathmatch between shooters Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 has been downgraded to the status of a minor playground squabble.

The brevity of this morning’s website announcement was only matched by it’s sheer out-of-the-blue unexpectedness: not only does the much-rumoured Grand Theft Auto V exist, but there will be a trailer released on November 2.

No other information was forthcoming, but that in itself was enough to set the internet ablaze with excitement and speculation.

Which fictional city will it be set in? Will it make use of LA Noire’s much heralded facial animation technology? And why does the ‘V’ in the logo look like a dollar bill?

For the uninitiated, Grand Theft Auto V is very big news indeed. To date, the series has sold copies by the truckload (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas remains one of the PlayStation 2’s most successful titles with some 17.5million units shifted on that platform alone), while the breathtaking GTA IV was heralded as one of the first truly next gen games.

The series has not been without controversy, though. The overtly violent gameplay possible within its vast open worlds – users are able to steal cars, indulge in random and graphic acts of physical violence and even interact with prostitutes – has seen GTA become the whipping boy of choice for moral campaigners concerned about the affect of video games on the young.

Not that its legion of fans care one jot. If anything, they’ll be hoping for even more of the same next time round. And in the absence of concrete details ahead of next week’s big reveal, experts and fans alike are already drawing up wish-lists for what GTA V will contain.

[source]