Top executives of Apple’s retail team visited Moscow (Russia) last month to finalize a decision on leasing space inside the trade gallery of the historic and reconstructed Hotel Moskva, just steps away from Red Square, the Kremlin and other historic sites frequented by locals and tourists. The hotel and retail facilities are currently in the final stages of construction, and could open by late 2011 or early 2012. It would be Apple’s first store in Russia, and indicates a significant commitment to expand the company’s chain into Eastern Europe. According to sources, Sr. V-P Retail Ron Johnson and V-P Real Estate Bob Bridger visited Moscow at the end of March and toured the three-level retail space in the future Four Seasons Hotel. The two were seen examining a 16,000 square-foot, two-level space as a possible Apple store. At the time, no lease had been signed, but a decision could be made soon, sources say. Right now, the eastern-most Apple store in Europe is the just-opened Altmarkt-Galerie in Dresden (Germany). It’s the only store within a former Communist state, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). There are no Apple stores in any of the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union (USSR), which dissolved in 1991.

The original Stalin-era Hotel Moskva opened in 1935 as part of a rebuilding plan for Moscow. It anchors the northern end of Red Square, is 300 feet from the “zero kilometer” marker for all Russian roads and within steps of several main subway stations. The original architecture featured an imposing stone façade for passersby, and a window view of Communist military parades for hotel room guests. Over 75 years, it has hosted hundreds of world figures and celebrities, and even more high-level Russian dignitaries and politicians.

In 2002, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov promoted plans to demolish old buildings within the city and build new ones. The plans included demolishing the interior of the Hotel Moskva, but retaining the façade for a new, upgraded five-star hotel. The demolition was opposed by architectural conservation groups, who said that many historical details would not be preserved, but Luzhkov’s proposal prevailed.

Since then, construction work has been slowed by politics, funding issues and the economic downturn. The Canada-based Four Seasons hotel chain agreed to operate the 185 rooms, 44 residences, 82 apartments, office space and conference rooms. It’s the first Four Seasons hotel in Russia. Real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield are handling leasing for the 226,000 square-feet of retail space on the ground, first and second floors of the hotel.

Moscow is home to 11.5 million residents which had a growing middle-class—and potential Apple products buyers—before the 2008 global economic downturn. The city hosts millions of tourists each year, almost all visiting Red Square and the surrounding area where the Hotel Moskva is located. But tourist visits are down by 10 percent from pre-2008 levels, and only slowly increasing recently. Moscow and other Russia cities are optimistic that the upcoming Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup soccer matches will bring more tourists and improve the country’s economy.

Trivia: The façade of the Hotel Moskva is featured on the label of Stolichnaya vodka, since Stolichnaya is the adjective for “capital city.” In 2005 construction workers on the hotel project found crates containing 2,000 pounds of explosives in the underground levels of the building. The charges were apparently set in 1942 to destroy the building if German forces took Moscow, which they never did.

The hotel is across the street from a three-level, underground shopping complex, Okhotny Ryad, marked with large glass dome skylights, much like the Carousel du Louvre (Paris) shopping mall where Apple has a retail store.

Read more about the old hotel’s history and the future trade gallery. Check some additional history at the hotel’s former Web site, and a collection of photos from the old hotel’s demolition.

Source: http://www.ifoapplestore.com/db/2011/04/06/apple-pushing-eastward-has-plans-for-moscow-store/

The future Apple retail store outside London that’s a hop-skip-and-jump from the 2012 Olympic Games site will open this September, when the huge Westfield Stratford City mall itself holds its grand opening. The £2 billion mall complex will include 300 shops, a cinema, restaurants and other attractions, along with a “lifestyle street” arranged into districts. The mall is about five miles east of city center London, and adjacent to the major venues for the Games, including the stadium, aquatic center, Olympic Village and press center. Job listings were posted last week for the future store, corresponding to the planned opening of the mall. It’s not known where in the multi-level mall the Apple store will be located.

You probably ever wondered which application or system process is using a file. The annoying message usually pops up when you are trying to delete a file or folder within Finder. This little tip, using a Terminal command called ‘lsof’, will allow you to find which application is using a file, it is very useful if you don’t know what application is using the file.

To use this command open up Terminal found in Applications > Utilites and type lsof followed by a space. Lsof is designed to list open files, exactly what we need. The next step is to drag the file we are interested onto the finder window. This will set the file path automatically into Terminal, and saves us having to type a long string, as well as this it also makes sure that it is correct, especially if the path contains spaces.

When you hit enter, the command will take a couple of moments to do its thing as it works out what is happening. When it is done you will have an output similar to the following:

COMMAND PID  USER   FD   TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF    NODE NAME
Finder  118 James   11r   REG   14,2       36 1209045 /Users/James/Mac Tricks And Tips is Awesome.txt

This tells us that Finder is currently using the file. In this case Quicklook was open. As a result if you were trying to delete the file you can now go and investigate what is happening and see if there is Quicklook window open, or a Get Info pane in use. If there is an app open, with its name in the place of Finder, you can go an close that app.

If you can’t be bothered to go hunting to see which application is open, or you have tried to close an application and it refuses to. You can always close it directly from Terminal. If you notice in the second column there is something called a PID. This is the unique number that only refers to one application. To close the application type the following into Terminal.

kill pid XXX

Where XXX is the PID. You should notice the application closes. If you are trying to delete or move a file or folder it should be accomplished.

This is a useful little command and is one I use frequently when things are not going my way.

Early adopters of Apple’s new 2010 MacBook Air are reporting a variety of issues, including faulty logic boards, display issues and kernel panics, after just two weeks of usage.

Several discussion threads on the Apple Support website detail user trouble with both the 11-inch and 13-inch late 2010 MacBook Air models. In one thread, users report flickering and freezing issues, as well as vertical lines and odd colors. Another thread details trouble with the ultra-thin MacBook’s new Instant-On feature.

Apple released a MacBook Air software update on the day of its release. The update resolved an issue where the system becomes unresponsive while playing a movie trailer in iMovie, as well as a problem where the system becomes unresponsive after waking from sleep when an external display is connected. However, several of the users reporting display issues on the Apple Support forums are still having trouble after installing the update.

One user posted a video to YouTube depicting the flickering screen issue.

Editors at Cult of Mac report having experienced both the video problem and a more serious kernel panic. According to the report, an 11-inch and a 13-inch MacBook Air model have both displayed a kernel panic when attempting to wake from sleep.

Serenity Caldwell of Macworld has also reported issues with the MacBook Air display, noting that the Air’s display has turned a variety of colors: gray, tan, gray-black, and blue. Caldwell consulted an Apple Genius, who suspected “the Air’s logic board might possibly be at fault.”

Apple unveiled the latest MacBook Air models at its “Back to the Mac” event on Oct. 20. Sporting solid state flash storage and instant-on capabilities, the MacBook Air is “the future of the notebook,” according to Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs.

Well, I just want to tell you a positive experience we’ve had when we renovated our office here at PC Doctor.

After receiving three quotes to renovate our old and worn down office, including the bathroom and kitchen we decided to go with Preisler Construction Ltd. We were informed by the owner, Martin Preisler, that the renovation would take six weeks only. We were a bit surprised as the other builders had informed us that the works would take between eight and ten weeks to complete.  However, since Preisler Construction Ltd. came highly recommended we decided to appoint them, and two weeks later four builders and Martin came to our place and began the demolition works. We are now six weeks down the line and yes, the renovation is complete.  I am afraid I don’t have the exact dates for everything, but it went something like this.

Preisler Construction Ltd.: Schedule of Works:
Week 1: Demolition, first fix electrics and plumbing for the bathroom and kitchen.
Week 2-3: Finishing off first fix plumbing, repairs to walls and ceiling and woodwork.
Week 4: Decoration of all walls, tiling to bathroom and kitchen floor.
Week 5: Second fix plumbing and electrics and kitchen installation.
Week 6: Laying down timber floor and last coat of paint to the office floor in the hallway and office space.

The general attention to detail was amazing and the tiling to the bathroom and kitchen was perfect.  Finally, The builders on site were polite and made sure the site was clean at all times.  We couldn’t be happier, and hope that this endorsement will serve Preisler Construction Ltd. well. If you plan to carry out a renovation in London and you are looking for a London builder, (they are not the cheapest around, but they are very good), you can find their contact details on their website.

Is there a step in your frequently used application that you use over and over again? Create a custom keyboard command so you can speed up you work…

If you are a mac user- this little tutorial will help you to speed up your daily applications in terms of workflow.Unfortunately, software makers can’t shortcut everything, but nevertheless there is a way you can add your own, and in Snow Leopard the process has become much more organised and much easier. It means that you can create specific keyboard shortcuts for any task that you repeat so you can save yourself some valuable time. So, let’s start:

1: Open it up

Open System Preferences either from your Dock, Apple menu or Applications folder, and then click on the Keyboard option in the Hardware section.

2: Quick click

Click on the Keyboard shortcuts tab at the top of the newly loaded Keyboard Preference pane. This takes you to the screen with all the time-saving power.

3: Double check, edit, add new

You can now see all of the shortcuts by application. Click on Application shortcuts and then use the plus button at the bottom of the window to add a new shortcut.

4: Drop down, type in

Use the drop-down menu to select the application you wish to make the shortcut for and then type the command you wish to shorten. Enter the shortcut you’d like to use and click Add.

What’s so important about Internet Privacy?

Every time you open a browser to view a web page, order something online, or read your email in a web based viewer that information is stored on your computer for later use. Whether you are viewing the weather online, reading sports, catching up on the latest world news or viewing something a little more private, all that information is stored in your computer. Windows operating systems store all this material in what are called Temporary Internet Files or cache. Web pages may store bits of information about who you are when you visit web sites in files called cookies on your computer. Your web browser will store a list of web sites you’ve visited and places you’ve gone in a history file in your computer. Even if you are not online, programs will store histories of the files you’ve opened, played, or viewed.

Generally there might not be any reason to worry about all these files in your computer, but what if you sell your computer and all that information is left for someone else to see. Maybe friends and relatives visit and use your computer and you dont want everyone to know what files you are running on your computer. Then you are going to want to know how to delete these files.

Even if you are not worried about privacy on your computer, you may be surprised to realize how much hard drive space all this information takes up. If you are running out of drive space, you may want to delete these files.

How can I delete these files?

For Internet Explorer 5 and above, you can follow these directions to clear out temporary files and delete cookies.

1) Open Internet Explorer and click on Tools
2) Click on Internet Options
3) On the General Tab, in the middle of the screen, click on Delete Files
4) You may also want to check the box “Delete all offline content”
5) Click on OK and wait for the hourglass icon to stop after it deletes the temporary internet files
6) You can now click on Delete Cookies and click OK to delete cookies that websites have placed on your hard drive.

To clear the Internet History in IE:

1) Open Internet Explorer and click on Tools
2) Click on Internet Options
3) On the General Tab, in the middle of the screen, click on Clear History
4) Click OK

To clean up other temporary files on your computer in Windows 98 or higher:

1) Click Start, Programs (or All Programs), Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup
2) Choose the correct drive usually C:\
3) Check the boxes in the list and delete the files

Repairing pc and laptops in London, data recovery central london.

Windows 7 is a predecessor of Windows Vista, but more practical and shiny. There are pretty much the same security features on both OSs, so in Windows 7 you can find some features that were first introduced in Windows Vista. In Windows 7 the administrator account is switched off by default and it’s no where to be seen in general settings on control panel.  Today we will show you how to activate the account easily.

Let me point you first, actually there are 2 ways in order to activate the account:

1) Command Prompt
2) Local Security Policy

1. The easiest method. Use Command Prompt

First you need to run Command Prompt as an administrator. You can do that by right clicking on the command prompt in the program list and choose “Run as administrator“.

Then in command promt you only need to enter the simple command below to activate it:

net user administrator /active:yes

You can also specify your password for this particular account by using the following command

Net user administrator password

just replace “password” with your own password. The account will be seen immediately after you logoff your Windows 7. Now in  order to deactivate it, you can use the command below

net user administrator /active:no

This will effectively turn off the administrator account.

2. More complicated way, but still not to bad. Change Local Security Policy

Another method of activating the administrator account in Windows 7 is by using Local Security Policy. Go to search and type secpol.msc in the search bar and press enter. After the Local Security Policy pops up, navigate to Local Policies-> Security Options where you can see an entry that reads Accounts: Administrator account. Double click the entry to enable it. Easy? Certainly, yes! Good luck!

Nowadays, laptop computers are an amazing way for modern people to manage their work flow, but it’s also crucial to  protect the data on those computers.  People need to be aware with their laptops, macbooks to avoid any data loss and other problems that could affect the integrity of their data. If problems do occur, it’s also important they know that data recovery is always a step to go.”

What you need to know to protect against laptop data disasters, PC/MAC doctor London offer you several tips:

• Laptops are not as robust as many like to think . When your computers, laptops/macbooks, moved or transported, it’s absolutely crucial  to prevent unnecessary shock or impact. Keep your computer in a dry, cool and and dust-free environment.
• Use a protected, well padded laptopbags– Using just a briefcase or back-pack  may not protect your gadgets during transportation. Make sure your laptop has plenty of built-in sturdy padding.
• Backup your data regularly – Creating regular backups is one of the most effective ways to protect you from losing any data. Back up data at least once a month on a CD, DVD, USB flash drives or other external hard drive. Keep as a rule to always verify that the correct data is backed up.
• Don’t forget to virus scan your laptops/PCs/MACs and update it regularly – Computer viruses are one of the worst issues and they can bring  headaches. Nice anti-virus software tests your computers for viruses, malware and eliminates the infecting invader. Also beware of spyware software, a very common problem today.  There are several programmes available on the internet that can assist with the removal of most spyware programmes, for example AVG Antivirus. Avoid Norton Antivirus.
• Be aware of any unusual noises inside your machine – If you hear a strange clicking noise or grinding sound, turn off your computer immediately and call a PC MAC Doctor London. Because any further operation may damage your hard drive completely, so it won’t be possible to repair it.
• Do not use files recovery software if you suspect an electrical or mechanical failure – Using file recovery software on a faulty hard drive may destroy what was otherwise recoverable data or worsen the physical failure.
• Keep an eye on your battery-level– If you are going to be using the laptop for long hours, be sure to try and find an electrical outlet to plug into. Some laptops will shut down quickly when a specific low battery level is reached and important documents may be lost.
• If you do experience a data loss, PC MAC Doctor London can help – Even the best maintenance programme cannot always prevent system crashes or data loss. PC MAC Doctor London offers a wide services of data recovery solutions in London .