Pipo's TechnoBlog

Leaked Video of Internet Explorer 9 Beta

2010-09-09T00:34:00.000+08:00

What can i say? Me like! Watch the video here

IE9 Beta Leaked Video

Yahoo Messenger 10.0.0.1264 Full Offline [Standalone] Installer

2010-04-07T09:18:00.002+08:00

UPDATE!!! I have clicked the button of my YM and it led me to an newer update of the YM 10!

Yahoo has released its latest update for the most popular instant messenger: Yahoo Messenger 10. The update contains bug fixes and several improvements. Usually you can install YM 10 via its online installer: which you can get here. But what if you wish to install on multiple computers and want to avoid long download-and-install process on each PC then you need to download the Stand-Alone installer instead which you can get here. Download once, save it on you flash drive or network drive and enjoy installing on several computers with less hassle. Enjoy!

Here's a link to the newest update:
Download Yahoo! Messenger 10.1264 Offline Installer

or download the older update here:
Download Yahoo! Messenger 10.1258 Offline Installer

Installing the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

2009-12-08T13:57:00.004+08:00

I just got a copy of the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta. I downloaded it for free from its website here. After going through all the registration stuff, I was provided the download link and after 43 minutes, I am ready to install. I was excited to try what this software has to offer so here I am taking you through my installation process. By the way, I am writing this blog using the Office Word 2010 Beta. LOL that's sweet.

Setting Up:

I uninstalled my MS Office 2007 first. I read that I can have the two office suites run parallel each other but I wish to avoid bumps during my installation so I removed the previous version.

I also have disabled my Antivirus App (MSE) because some say AVs usually interrupt the installation process.

Screenshots (click on the images to see full view):

And after that, i encountered a little bump on the road. Ouch!

So i uninstalled all Office 2007 related apps and restarted my installation. and... viola!

Now that the most painful job is done, I can't wait to put my hands on the nifty little monster. But activation must be done first. As instructed by Microsoft in their download page, Open Word and go to File->Help->on the right click Change Product Key

Below is the new Splash screen for all Office Apps. Its orange, animated and it shows the start up progress of the application. You can even minimize or close the splash screen and if you think the application has hanged, you can cancel the start up.

Notice that there is a very annoying red color on the title bar of the office app (in this shot it's Word). This means the copy installed is not yet registered and validated.

After you have successfully entered the product key and the configuration has been successful, you need to register your copy of Office 2010 Beta. Make sure you are connected to the internet.

Restart Office and that's it!

First Impressions:

Office 2010 is fast... very fast!!!. Startup happens in less than 5 seconds and the application responds very well. I believe this Office version is all worth it. But then this is Beta. We are bound to see better Office 2010 when it finally ships on June 2010!

Newbie's Guide to Photoshop Layers Part 1

2009-11-18T00:20:00.002+08:00

So you want to know how to work with Photoshop, eh? Layer is the life-blood of Photoshop. So how do we work with this “Layers” thing anyway? First you have to know what Layers are and what they do. So let’s get started.

Layers. Let’s equate layers to acetate – that clear stiff plastic thing people use to print text and use it for presenting their slides in a projector. Think of layers as acetates. Let us make a lame example. What if you wish to draw an apple showing different colors of ripeness. Since it is just one apple you have to retain its shape and size. So what do you do?

1. Get an acetate and draw your apple’s outline

2. You get another acetate, put it on top of your “outline” and put some green color to represent the unripe apple

3. Now, you get another acetate and put it on top of our “green” acetate and add shades of yellow and red to get your semi-ripe apple

4. Lastly you get your fourth acetate and put it on top of all the acetates and add the red to dark red color to represent a fully ripe apple.

5. But wait, you made a mistake in the “semi-ripe” acetate and forgot to complete color the entire apple. So what you do is to remove the “ripe” acetate on top of it and then correct the portion you forgot to add color to.

Now with that simple and lame example we had, you can expand your imagination with the apple and add for instance, worms. Simply get acetate, draw your worms on it and put it on top of all the other acetates. You want to show a semi-ripe apple with worms, then remove the “green” and “red” acetates and leave the rest. Now you have a wormy almost ripe apple. How flexible is that?

That is how it’s done with layers in Photoshop. Layers let you do things to your Photoshop project without compromising other layers in that project. If you wish to edit a photo and add a sun in it but you don’t want to tamper your original photo, then add a new layer on top of your photo and edit that by drawing your sun. You decide not to include the sun anymore, simply remove that layer and viola! Your photo is back to original. What if you want to add clouds for example? Then create a new layer and draw/paste/paint your clouds on that layer. If you want to have a cloudy-sunny picture and just bring back the layer that contains the sun.

Part 2 coming up...

Auto update Microsoft Security Essentials

2009-11-14T10:50:00.004+08:00

If you know Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) then this post will be helpful. I have found this post from the Windows Club Forum and I wish to share it to everyone.

For those who don't know what Microsoft Security Essentials is, it is a free anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spyware solution from Microsoft Corporation. You must run a genuine windows OS though to run this nifty software. I have been using it for quite some time now and all i can say is, it's good and my computer hasn't slowed down after I installed it. It's an install and forget kind of program. It is very effective in detecting malicious softwares. I am frequently transferring files from once PC to another through my USB and if the USB gets infected, MSE detects and automatically cleans it. So if you haven't tried it yet, go get your download from the MSE site. I recommend it.

MSE checks for new definitions three times a day. But if you are not sure if your definitions are updated you may opt to follow the steps below.

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. On the right panel click "Create Basic Task".

3. Enter a name for the Scheduled Task. I named mine "MSE AutoUpdate"
4. Click next then select "daily", click next and select "1 day" speficy what time the task shall run say 10:00 AM, click next and choose "start a program" then click next.
5. In Program/Script enter: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Essentials\MpCmdRun.exe" (you copy and paste this or if you have installed your MSE in another drive and folder other than the windows default you can click browse and: My Computer->[drive letter]->[installation folder]->Microsoft Security Essentials->MpCmdRun.exe)
6. Finally in "Add arguments" enter "-SignatureUpdate"(without the quotes)

That's it you have customized your PC to update its MSE definition everyday. If you wish to run the update more than once every day, then create another basic task but with a different time [in step 4]

Credits to hackerman1 of The Windows Club forum for this helpful tutorial.

Photoshop 100

2009-09-01T18:55:00.001+08:00

Today I would like talk about Photoshop and my experience with this proggy. I don't consider myself a pro but I have been "Photoshoping" for more than five years.

It has started with my curiosity with designing graphic arts, gradients (blame XP for that), buttons (I was drawn by the Mac OS X button interface), background, editing pictures, etc. I installed Photoshop in my PC and when I first run it, I was totally clueless on what to do with it! The interface is very overwhelming. In fact, I didn't bother using the "monster-of-a-program" for about a week! But then online tutorials were my lifesavers. Finally I got the hang of it and well from then on I was using Photoshop like a pro.

In my succeeding posts, I will be sharing to you some bits of information that may help beginners understand the complex world of Photoshop. Mind you, it is not a simple application. You need books to read, tutorials to follow and comprehend and an overwhelming interface to deal with. But everything starts at a certain level of difficulty. Indeed up to now I am still uncovering all the secrets Photoshop has to offer.

Once you get to know Photoshop and get the hang of it, you would definitely come to love it and start to discover on your own the "secrets" it is willing to dole out. And of course, you will get to know it like the back of your hand.

Oh and by the way, my tool is Photoshop CS3. So back on my "drawing board" so that I can soon post my own way of discussing Photoshop with you. Comments are welcome!