V-Techo

Useful Widgets,Add-Ons & Tools for Your Blog,Website

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:38:00 +0000

Adding Widgets, Add-Ons & tools to your blog is not just a lot of fun for your blog readers, but can also be very useful and help you to create a community for your blog or even a loyal reader base.

Here's a collection of best and most useful blog widgets or add-ons that can be easily integrated with any website/blog. All these below add-ons are 100% Free and they are very easy to install.

Outbrain Star Ratings Widget: Very eager to know what your readers think about your posts?
Here is a cool star rating widget by Outbrain. The insttallation is very simple,
just follow the step by step instructions on their site.

ShareThis or AddThis : Sharethis or Addthis social bookmarking buttons makes it easy for your visitors to share your content with others. It is a good way to increase your link popularity and publicity. Their nice css dropdown icons reduces the clutter on your pages and eliminates the need to add a different button for each social bookmarking service.

whos.amung.us : This is a real time visitor tracking widget and displays
the number of people currently on your site and what pages they are
reading. You don't need any sign-up's to grab this widget.

Web2PDF Online : With this widget installed, your visitors can easily download
your articles in PDF format with just a click. The downloaded PDF's are
free of any advertising and you can get full access to download stats,etc.

ZOHO Creator: With Zoho Creator, you can create professional online
contact forms/web forums in minutes. The good things about this is
there are no data limits and readers can also upload attachments while
submitting the form.

Google Talk Badge: Google Talk Badge will let your visitors to
chat with you.The badge will active whenever you sign in to
Googletalk. The nice thing is your visitors can chat with you even
if they don't have a google account.

Yahoo Media Player: With this very useful widget, you can easily add a simple media player to your blog which can auto detect mp3 links and create an embedded player. This tool is very useful for especially audio,music blogs.

Cbox: Cbox or Chatbox is a chat widget which can be easily embedded
in any web page. It is free and have many features including message
history, spam blocking,etc. It can be easily customizable to fit your
blog layout.

Google Translate: This widget lets your non-English speaking
visitors to quickly translate your webpage in their native
language with just a single click.

CheatSheet Collection : Cheat Sheet for web developers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Here is a collection of cheat-sheets which I use. Believe me they are very handy and can save a lot of time while development.

Mootools 1.2 cheat sheet

Django 1.0 cheat sheet

CSS Shorthand cheat sheet

XHTML Character entities

HTML XHTML Quick Ref

HTML XHTML Characters

Browser W3C DOM Compatibility Modes

Start Your Own Business for 250 dollars-Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Are you well-qualified but still without a job? Have you been laid off by your employer and are thinking of the way ahead? Do you want to start your own business with an idea that you have?How do you go about coping with various challenges associated with job layoffs and venturing to start on your own? Then why not start your own venture and put your long awaited dream into practice......Start Your Own Business

Today’s economy isn’t doing anyone any favors, and if you’re one of the unfortunate folks who have been laid off, you might be facing a long haul searching for another job. Is now the right time to put your long-lingering business idea into practice

Here are some tips to get you started with the minimum of budget (Assuming $250 as the budget) This is the I part of the series, watch out for more parts in the coming days.

1) Free Web Hosting (or even a Cheap Web Hosting):
When you start a new venture, one of the foremost need is a Domain.As we all know that you don't get a FREE Doman (you can get a free subdomains in the various free web hosts given below).So it will cost you around $10/year for a new domain name registration at GoDaddy
Then you can go in for any of the different available free web hosts out there in the market.Check out THIS to get a comparison of all the different offfers the different free web hosters provide.Do a thorough research of the different sites by searching and reading the user reviews.You need to have a good webhost able to withstand suddent high slurge of traffic if your site hits the Digg front page :)

2)Design your Site
If you have a knowledge of Website designing then you can cut costs, but if you have no previous experience of Web Design then you can get a Web Designer for a price.You can try many of the sites which provide good web designers or else try GetAFreeLancer.Here you will have the option to choose from a wide range of web coders and designers with varying prices.
Also, you may try LogoEase or LogoMaker to create free logos for your business or your site.Also there are many free banner designers on the web, just google for free banner makers and you will have a huge list of them.

3)Build an E-Commerce Site, Cheaply and Easily
If you plan to sell physical goods, you’ll need a service to handle e-commerce transactions, process credit cards, and provide security for both. Setting all of this up on your own server is an expensive, time-consuming task laden with security risks. It’s best to outsource the functions to a hosted service, which can be surprisingly affordable. Paypal allows you to sell stuff from your website and take the payment through their service. It has support for Indian bank accounts, so withdrawing money from it is quite easy. If you’re only selling digital goods, check out Oranjo as well. This free service lets you quicky set up a digital download system. It supports PayPal and Google Checkout.

4)Get an international Number
If you are planning to have your presence felt in other parts of the world, then it is recommended to have a local number in that country or some country near it.Skype lets you get a local number in twenty one countries. Callers in that country will call the local number, and you can answer the call with Skype on your computer.It costs $60 for one year for a single number. If you wish, you can also get the calls forwarded to your own cellphone, but that will cost more.

So, now you don't have to worry about starting your own business.This is the end of the part 1 of the series (the number of parts is not known even to me!! I just go on posting them)

Check out for more latest updates only at VishTecho

Youtube charging $0.99 for download?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:25:00 +0000

YouTube is the leader of online video, sharing original videos worldwide through a Web experience. Year 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google Inc.These days Google announced paid downloads of YouTube videos. So, YouTube’s partners can now offer their videos for paid downloads.But we'll let you know of a method to download youtube videos for free...

There are four types of licenses for pay to download YouTube videos: License 1,Personal, non-commercial use only; License 2, Creative Commons (Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works); License 3, Creative Commons (Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike); License 4, Creative Commons (Attribution).

More detail on license type definition, please refer to YouTube help center.

How to download these videos which has to pay for $0.99 or more?

Step 1. Login in and search the video you’d like to download.

Step 2. Below the video’s play bar in the lower left hand corner, you’ll see a "Download" button.Click the "Download" button to indicate that you’d like to download the video.

Attention: Till now only few of partner videos have “Download” button below their play bar. Such as household hacker on YouTube

Step 3. Pay this video through Google checkout.

Step 4. After payment, start to download mp4 files for YouTube.

How to free download YouTube videos?

Step 1:Go to the site KeepVid

Step 2:Enter the URL of the Youtube Video (NOTE:It can be any other video site like metacafe,dailymotion etc) and click DOWNLOAD

Step 3:BINGO!! You get two download links.One is a low quality .flv video and the other a high quality .mp4 video.What's more you can download this video using any download manager with full resume support as with other direct downloads!!!

Background Picture on USB Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:41:00 +0000

This guide tells you how to put a background wallpaper on your USB Pen Drive(you can even try this trick on your existing Hard Drive i.e C,D etc..)
All my friends love this, and they keep asking how i do it, so here it goes...

Copy this code to notepad,then save it as "desktop.ini"

[.ShellClassInfo]

IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll

IconIndex=127

ConfirmFileOp=0

[{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]

Attributes=1

IconArea_Image="your_picture.jpg"

IconArea_Text="0xFFFFFF"

VeBRA sources - don't delete the tag above, it's there for XXXXX purposes -

[ExtShellFolderViews]

{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}={BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}

{5984FFE0-28D4-11CF-AE66-08002B2E1262}={5984FFE0-28D4-11CF-AE66-08002B2E1262}

[{5984FFE0-28D4-11CF-AE66-08002B2E1262}]

PersistMoniker=Folder.htt

PersistMonikerPreview=%WebDir%\folder.bmp

1. Where "your_picture.jpg" is, delete that and replace with your picture name for example "superman.gif"

2. Put "desktop.ini and your chosen picture in ur USB Drive then Hidden it

3. Refresh and ENJOY with your new background.

4.u can also try on C,D,E F drives

Cange Windows Boot Screen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:11:00 +0000

Want to have a funky looking Boot screen for your Windows XP?
Want to amaze your friends with your very own picture instead of the boring old Windows XP?
Then look no further as we present before you this simple little hack to change the Boot Screen of your Windows XP.This is a very old trick, but hardly many know about this trick.

These instructions assume that you have a place to download the boot screen from the net.

If you would like to download a boot screen, visit http://www.themexp.org

1.Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

(most likely C:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe - the boot screen)

2. Download the .zip to your computer

3. Extract ntoskrnl.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)

4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or into true DOS (from a boot disk)

5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (which should have been backed up) with the extracted exe

6.Reboot your computer as you normally would

Most Expensive Mobile Phones

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:31:00 +0000

What is the costliest mobile phone you have ever seen? Is it the iPhone craze on the Net or the brand new Nokia N97 in your friend's hands? What you see now will not just amaze you but will take your breath away the moment you check their prices.Don't believe me? Then just come on in and watch the dazzling collection of the Costliest, most Expensive Mobile Phones in the world.

Until recently, the vast majority of mobile phones had been priced between £100 and £300, with only Vertu, a division of Nokia, manufacturing uber-premium phones. With prices starting at around £4,000 Vertu phones are only for the filthy rich, and the super famous.

However, Vertu’s monopoly of the luxury phone market is coming to an end with the launch of several new luxury mobile makers, including Gresso, Mobiado and GoldVish. Other mobile phone manufacturers are also partnering with luxury brands to produce a range of premium mobile phones, such as LG and Prada, D&G and Motorola, and now Tag Heuer and Modelabs. Finally, there are the ridiculous, super-expensive one-offs, made purely for headline grabbing, such as Goldvish’s “Le million”, worth a cool $1,000,000, see below for details!

1. Goldvish “Le million” = $1,000,000 (£540,540)

A PR stunt it may be, and they surely can’t be expecting to sell any, but the Goldvish “Le million” is officially the most expensive mobile phone in the world, according the Guiness Books of Records. There’s even been talk of a $1.3million phone, but this has fewer diamonds than the Goldvish so I can’t see where the extra expense comes from! The “Le million” is a one off, featuring a blinding 120 carats worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds, according to designer Emmanuel Gueit. If $1 million is out of your price range. the Geneva-based Goldvish also offer several other diamond-encrusted 18k gold models in your choice of rose, yellow, or white, starting at a much more reasonable $25,600 (£13,837).

Source

2. Vertu Signature Cobra = $310,000 (£167,567)

Vertu is now taking orders for the Signature Cobra, designed by French jeweler Boucheron, but you had better be quick as only 8 are being made! The Cobra will feature one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies. Vertu will also be offering a “cheaper” version, ruby free, at $115,000 (£62,162).

Source

3. Sony Ericsson Black Diamond = $300,000 (£162,162)

Apparently the Black Diamond will be available in 2007, not from Sony Ericsson but by a company called VIPN. Initially only 5 unique numered pieces will be available for the unbelievable price of, wait for it… $300,000.

With regards to the specifications, don’t expect anything remarkable for your money. It will have Quad-band with Wi-Fi, an Intel 400Mhz processor running windows mobile 5, and a touch sensitive 2″ screen. It will also include internal memory of 128mb and will come with a 2Gb SD card for external storage, plus a respectable 4 Megapixel camera.

The designer Jaren Goh has used some pretty impressive materials for the build, featuring titane with polycarbonate, mirror-finish cladding and diamonds.

Source

4. Vertu Diamond = $88,000 (£47,567)

The Diamond is Vertu’s premium range of high-end mobile phones. As the name suggests the handsets in the Diamond range are diamond-encrusted handsets made from platinum. Only 200 of the handsets are being produced, the most expensive believed to be worth an estimated £50,000.

5. Motorola V220 Special Edition = £28,000 ($51,800)

Austrian designer Peter Aloisson, has taken a standard Motorola, studded it with 1,200 diamonds and added a keyboard inlaid with 18 carat gold. The outcome is a £28,000 handset, suitable only for footballers and film stars!

Source

6. Gold Edition Nokia 8800 Phone = $2,700 (£1,459)

If you have $2,700 to spare, you can now buy the Nokia 8800 in 24K gold. However, be warned, if you think you’ll be getting a better phone for your extra cash, you wont! The features found on the Gold Edition are the standard 8800 features, which are pretty basic. It includes a 0.5 Mega pixel SVGA camera, 64 MB of internal memory, 64 voice polyphonic rigntones, FM Radio, Mp3 Player, video recording and 180 mins talktime. However, the Gold Edition does includes a special edition box and charging dock!

Source

7. Mobiado Professional EM (wood) = $1,900 (£1,027)

The Mobiado Professional EM, is a wood-clad upgrade of their earlier Nokia-based phone that includes a 1.3 megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, Bluetooth, and according to Mobiado it’s the first production phone with Titanium buttons. Only 200 are being made and each one has its limited number engraved on the back. At $1,900 however, you’re still paying an awfully high premium for a fairly basic phone encased in wood!

Source

8. Bang & Olufsen (Samsung) Serene = $1,250 (£675)

Bang & Olufsen hooked up with Samsung to design the sleek but unconventional Serene. Its not a bad looking phone and it even has a built-in motor to assist you in opening and closing the phone. It’s not very practical however, requiring a special screwdriver to access the battery and the SIM card, and its circular keypad will take some getting used to. Also, for some strange reason they have positioned the camera lens on the side of the device, which will make it difficult to align snapshots via the viewfinder on the display.

Source

9. Lamborghini 8800 Sirocco from Nokia = $To be announced

The Lamborghini Nokia 8800 Sirocco is another special edition, like the previously launch Aston Martin branded Sirocco. It will ultimately be a standard 8800 Sirocco but with the addition of the famous Lamborghini logo engraved on the font and the back, plus ball bearings from the auto company to in the slider phone mechanism. The Lamborghini phone will be a limited edition with only 500 being made. It will also feature Lamborghini graphics as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, and even has a short documentary video about the Lamborghini.

Source

10. Gresso Luxury Phone = £expensive

The Russia based Gresso, is a new entry into the luxury phone market. Their aptly name “Gresso Luxury Phone” is made of gold and African Blackwood. Apparently they will be releasing a collection of five models called the Black Aura collection, and the designer is a “well known” Italian designer. Currently there are two versions of the African Blackwood phone, one with pink gold highlights named the Gresso Blackwood Gold Edition, and one made entirely of African Blackwood. In addition to the two African Blackwood phones Gresso also make a phone made entirely of pink gold named the Gresso Gold phone. Initially, the phones will be on sale only in Russia.

Source

Remove Virus from Your Computer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:18:00 +0000

Got a virus on your system that doesn't show any sign of leaving? Well viruses are made not to leave the system.They just keep on bothering you and might even steal your private information.So what to do if your system has been attacked by a virus?
This guide tells you some simple yet essential steps to make your PC virus free

1. Disable system restore, most viruses go into system restore and to get them out it has to be disabled.
Windows XP:

Steps to turn off System Restore
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the System Restore tab.
3. Click to select the Turn off System Restore check box. Or, click to select the Turn off System Restore on all drives check box.
4. Click OK.
5. When you receive the following message, click Yes to confirm that you want to turn off System Restore:
You have chosen to turn off System Restore. If you continue, all existing restore points will be deleted, and you will not be able to track or undo changes to your computer.

Steps to turn on System Restore
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the System Restore tab.
3. Click to clear the Turn off System Restore check box. Or, click the Turn off System Restore on all drives check box.
4. Click OK.

Windows Vista:
1) Type system into the start menu search box, and pick the 4th item down, just labeled "System". (You could also right-click the computer icon and choose properties)
2)Now click the System protection link
3)Once you uncheck the drive, click the "Turn System Restore Off" button
4)To enable repeat the steps and then check the drive box that you had unchecked before.

2.Backup only important stuff, if you start backing up everything infected files may transfer. However, this might not be needed unless you got really important stuff.
Quote:
If the virus infected your entire OS and you cant boot into Windows by normal mode or Safemode use Hirens Boot Disk 9.5. It comes with small version of Windows 98 that runs from RAM it can be used to back up important files.

3. You should get Hirens Bootdisk 9.5, scan with the 2 antivirus programs and antispyware programs before Windows starts!! Use this disk to test other hardware problems such as test bad RAM, bad hard drives, ect
Code:

Download Hirens bootcd 9.4 + keyboard patch
http://rapidshare.com/files/149030802/hbcCW.rar

4.If you can start Windows and can get to desktop install and run this freeware , SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad Aware 2008, McAfee Stinger, Spyware Terminator, and Malwarebytes Antispyware. Also some good other freeware programs you should get; CCleaner, Glary Utilities and Advance WindowsCare Personal. Run one program at a time, or if your computer is fast run two at same time.
Code:

All freeware spyware removers plus CCleaner, Glary Utilities, Advance WindowsCare Personal only 67MB's
http://rapidshare.com/files/147818372/origfreeware.rar

5.Start Windows in safemode and install Hijackthis save the log and then go to

http://hijackthis.de/

That site will tell you what to delete using Hijackthis. When your going to delete something that gets picked up as nasty or virus. Make sure you go into google and look up that .exe files, it could be graphics driver or printer driver. Hijackthis picks up my Lexmark driver as a possible bad file but its not. So be sure you know what your deleting cuz Hijackthis deletes them and it wont bring them back if you make errors. If your unsure about your log save it and go to Help section and post it.

6. Get the latest Geek Squad CD; run all of its antivirus programs. It should remove something. BTW you should disconnect from the internet before using this CD and it will be flagged by some antiviruses cuz it trys to phone home.

Download links
part 1, you have to extract it out of this rar, and put it next to the other rars
http://rapidshare.com/files/168352823/blablaCW.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/149262301/esdvfCW.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/149275048/esdvfCW.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/149283245/esdvfCW.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/149286717/esdvfCW.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/149290463/esdvfCW.part6.rar

7. Once you think you have cleaned your PC, restart normally if things seem fine then check your computer using this free online virus scanners!! Run one by one till you know your clean. If one of them comes with virus result, write down its directory and name of it. Then post question in the Comments of this post.We at VishTecho will try to find a solution for your problem.Or download the antivirus that detects it and uninstall your current one and use the one that picks up the virus.

FOR FULL COMPUTER SCAN:

Trend Micro Online Scanner
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Panda Security Online Scanner
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/

Kaspersky Online Scanner
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

McAFee Online Scanner
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp

BitDefender Online Scanner
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

Windows Live OneCare Scanner and Spyware remover
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

F-Secure Scanner and Spyware remover
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml

ESET Online Scanner
http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

EWIDO Online Scanner
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/

FOR SINGLE FILE SCAN:

www.virustotal.com

http://virusscan.jotti.org/

http://www.viruschief.com/

8. Last step is to Install CCleaner and use it to delete temporary files.
Its very good program, i use it to remove around 1 GB every week. Imagine if you never run it? You probably can gain more space!!!
Another thing you could do is create a shadow copy of your hard drive in case anything ever goes bad you can just reformat hard drive and install this shadow copy. Use Hirens BootDisk it has Acronis True Image for backing up your whole PC.
I suggest you give Kaspersky or McAfee antivirus a try. They are the best To remove your current antivirus and try other ones use Your Uninstaller 2008. I recommend you always use LEGAL antiviruses so you can update their definitions everyday.

If you cant afford an antivirus get a free one! This are free antiviruses (you can only use one at a time)

Free AntiViruses

Avast Home Edition
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

AVG Free
http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

Avira Antivirus Free edition
http://www.download.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html?part=dl-10322935&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=10867326

ClamWin
http://www.clamwin.com/content/view/18/46/

Bitdefender 10 Free edition
http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Downloads/browseEvaluationVersion/1/42/

PC Tools Free Antivirus
http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/

ThreatFire free edition
http://www.threatfire.com/download/

If you have any problems, please post it in the Comments.We will try to find a solution for your problem as fast as we can.

Dry a CellPhone Fallen in Water

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:04:00 +0000

If you’ve dropped your cell phone in water, or just gotten it wet, then you’ll want to make sure you follow a series of steps to ensure it will continue to operate.Here are the steps to be followed immediately:

Remove the phone from the water source

If you are able to quickly remove the phone from the water, then you’re likely to be able to restore it. Most phones have a tight, sealed outside layer that will help keep out water for a short period of time. The key is avoiding contact between the water and the phones electronic components while they are powered by the cell phones battery.

Begin to dry the phone and remove accessories

You should quickly work to get rid of the excess water by draining the phone and then using a towel to clean off external moisture. Resist the temptation to use a hair dryer on the internal components, as this may cause damage to the circuitry, even at a low temperature. Instead, you need to use a suction source such as a vacuum, but be careful to keep it out of direct contact, otherwise static electricity might come into play. Once you have removed the water that you can directly, you should use a dessicate to absorb water on the phone.

Allow the Phone to Dry and Test It

After you have following the aforementioned steps, allow the phone to dry naturally dry. After 24 hours you should test its operation. If it’s still not working, you should visit your cellular carrier store to see if they can help replace or restore the phone.

Source:TechFaq

Windows Maintainence Security

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:50:00 +0000

After your PC has been under maintained for so long, it tends to get laggy, choppy, slow download speeds, and much more. In this guide, I will be covering some great ways in which you can use to maintain your PC to it's utmost condition.

Common Windows Fixes

Windows is not like an old television - by this I mean that giving it a good smack won't get it running again. If anything, it will damage the computer even more. In this part of my guide, I will be adding some useful tips on how to fix your computer from simple and common problems.

It's not coming on

This is what I'd like to call a "Dumb F**k" problem. Simply, plug the damn thing into the outlet or turn the switch on the top/back of your computer. If none of that works, your PSU is f**ked. Go buy a new one ^_^

The Internet Isn't Working

Restart your router, make sure everything is connected via Ethernet cables, and restart your PC. If none of that works, try bitching to your ISP or maybe even paying the bill ;)

(some program) Has Preformed An Illegal Action, It Will Need To Close

Simply click "Ok" or "Yes" when the exit program box pops up, It's nothing to worry about. If you continue to recieve this in the future, write down the "Details" of the offending program and ask a professional.

(BSOD) Blue Screen of Death

Nobody likes this little bastard, and I don't think anyone will. If you get one of these, a simply restart will solve the problem. But if it persists, write down what it says and consult a PC Techie.

"I cant get rid of this virus!!1!1!one one HALP!"

Did you try running your scans in safe mode? That usually does the trick ;). If not, run Hijackthis, and give us a log, we'll see what we can do for you ;).

I can't close this program! It froze!

The 10 letter guide to Windows, CTRL+ALT+DEL. Press those 3 keys at the same time, find the offending application, highlight it, and press end task. If the problem persists, try re-installing it. If CTRL+DEL won't fix anything, press CTRL+ESC and it will open your start menu in where you can restart your computer.

My computer says I need to install updates! How?

Check out Windows Update, it will show a list of Microsoft-made updates for your operating system as long as it is supported. Sadly, for Windows 98 users, support for that OS was dropped not too long ago.

Hard Drive Not Found

O shi-. It's times like this that you had wished you made that emergency boot disk. This is why you should always have one at bay, ready to go into action. Things like this can happen unexpectedly at any moment. If that doesn't do the job, you may need to restart your bios or replace your computer's internal battery.

Can't Detect Mouse/Keyboard

This usually happens when your using a USB mouse or keyboard. To fix this, simply plug in a regular PS/2 keyboard, and enable usb devices in the computers bios.

By the way, always check for new drivers for your hardware!

Spyware and Adware

Spyware is becoming a rising threat in todays society. This type of software gathers your personal information, gives it to advertisers, spam marketing, ect ect so some laughing bastard on the other side of the Ethernet cable is getting paid for it. It can also control what you do on your computer, and can sometimes be a bitch to remove. But then again, adware is no friend of yours either. Adware is exactly what it's called, it's a type of ware that displays ads wherever you are. I've had it before, and it's not pretty(By this, I mean that unstoppable popup's keep coming and coming). Both of these types of software totally suck ass through a straw and you don't want to encounter them, trust me. This part of the tutorial is vital so that your PC doesn't become a mess like this.

AdAware

This little dandy is a favorite of mine for one reason - it does what it was made to do. Defiantly not the most powerful thing out there, but defiantly not the worst. Not only does this small package pack a punch against Spyware, it also deals a fair shot towards Adware, Trojans, Virus's, Tracking Cookies (Even though they're not really a bad thing, they can still be a nuisance some times), Exploits, and much more. I'd recommend this one to pretty much everyone who owns a PC.
Download Link - Ad-Aware 2007 (Free)

Spyware Blaster

It doesn't seem like much, but it does an excellent job of protecting you from having malicious software installed unnoticed. This one tool adds an ass load of malicious sites to your "Restricted Website List" In both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox (Sorry Opera users :(). I have nothing else to say about this one except for that when you download and install it, make it your first task to press the update button ;).
Download Link - Spyware Blaster (Free)

Windows Defender

Windows Defender, by (God forgive me for saying it) Microsoft, is actually a half decent computer utility. Seriously. It works in real time, protects against intrusions, popups, unwanted sluggish performance, adware, and spyware. It also provides tips as to how to handle the situation (Lol give m$ moneyz?) and I'd defiantly recommend it.
Download Link - Windows Defender (Free)

Virus Removal/Protection
Computer virus's have been around since, well, since computers have been around, and their type of usage has not changed at all. I'll list a few handy-dandy programs now in a minute, but first, I'd like to share with you a few tips as to keep yourself safe.

Only download from sites you trust
Always scan a file before running/extracting
Use a firewall

Be sure to follow those to make sure that you keep yourself [s]STD[/s] virus free. Now, it's time for you to get yourself some virus protection.

AVG AntiVirus

Is there really that much to be said? AVG is an excellent program, it's better then pretty much most of the competition, including the ones that cost money, and it's 100% free! This anti-virus is a freaking' tank when it comes to virus removal. It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. (I said there wasen't much to be said ;))
Download Link - AVG Anti-Virus (Free)

avast! Home Edition

It'd be nice to notice how I italicized "most" in my AVG paragraph. Well, this one is like AVG, on roids. I personally named it the "Clusterf**ker" as that is exactly what it does to threats it finds. It wipes them the f**k off the hard drive, and thats why I like about this one. It'll keep you safe and secure from many, many different threats ;)
Download Link - avast! Home Edition (free)

Defragmentation
Defragmentation, also known as defragging, is a process in which the files of the computer are physically rearranged in order to decrease the fragmentation of the hard drive. Another process which defragmentation uses to tweak your computer is the compaction process which files are compressed in order to create free space and in return, slow the process of fragmentation.

Auslogics Disk Defrag

This program is pretty much "the shit" to have when it comes to defragging your hard drive. It does an excellent job of defragging and is a million times better then the "Disk Defragger" which came with your copy of whatever version of windows you run on. This program works great with Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, and Vista and is bound to give your PC that little cleanup it's been waiting for.
Download Link - Auslogics Disk Defrag (free)

Various Cleanups
This part of the guide is dedicated to various cleanups which will help improve Window's performance.

CCleaner

CCleaner, or Crap Cleaner, whatever you want to call it, does a great job at cleaning up your temp files. The first time I ran it, it deleted 6gb's of temp crap on my HD which had no use but to take up space. I recommend this program to anyone as it is very helpful in tweaking your PC's performance as well as opening up some extra space on your HD.
Download Link - CCleaner (free)

Rootkit Unhooker

Rootkit Unhooker specializes in removing rootkits which have been hooked with virus's, spyware, and other bad shit. Sometimes, they hook themselves to rootkits and Rootkit Unhooker is your last resort to getting rid of them. I really recommend this one as it helps you keep your computer crap-free. Be careful what your doing though, sometimes you can crash your computer if you unhook the wrong things ;).
Download Link - Rootkit Unhooker (free)

Other Helpful Utilities

Speedfan

Speedfan is a helpful utility which monitors your PC temps using sensors on the motherboard, and gives you the ability to change the speed of your fans if they're connected properly. My average temperatures are 38 under load and 28 while idling. So, if your PC temp suddenly goes up in the 50+'s, I suggest giving your PC a quick dust down, inside and out :P.
Download Link - Speedfan (free)

CPU-Z

CPU-Z is a handy little tool which will be able to tell you every little bit about your PC, right down to the speed of your RAM, your socket type, what version of USB drivers you use, and gets even more indepth from there. It's a must have
Download Link - CPU-Z (free)

Firefox

Firefox is a top notch web browser which incorporates high speeds with grand protection. This beast is well tamed to treat you well during your journey into the internet. I've been using it for years and it's has since served me greatly. There are alot of awesome ad-ons for it to enhance your web browsing experience even more! Enjoy!
Download Link - Firefox 2 (free)

Opera

Opera is an excellent browser. It ranks with Firefox and is definatly a browser of choice. It has a "Speed Dial" script which allows you fast access to any of your sites, .torrent support when your downloading, rich text editing, and much more. It's one of my recommendations.
Download Link - Opera (free)

notepad2

Notepad2 is an enhanced version of Microsoft's "Notepad". It comes with syntax highlighting, line numbering, and lots of great tools for programming. It's defiantly a programming tool of choice for those who are into that sort of thing.
Download Link - Notepad2 (free)

Convert Gmail Messages into Documents

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Did you know that you can actually save your Gmail messages as documents.This is possible because of the new Google Labs feature presented in every user's Gmail account.To convert all you have to do is

1)Log into your Gmail account.

2)Select the "Settings" option from the top.

3)Then select the "Labs" tab.

4)Then scroll down a little where you will find the title "Create a document"

5)Click on the radio button next to "Enable"

6)Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Save Changes".

7)Now go to your Inbox and click on the message which you want to convert to a document.

8)To the right you will find the option "Create a document".Click on it.

9)Google will then convert the message into a word document and this will then be saved in your Google Docs account.

This is a basic use of this option.We have to wait and see what new improvements we can see further.

Serious Flaw Detected In IE

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed.

The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.

Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it.
Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world's computer users.

"Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer," said the firm in a security advisory alert about the flaw.
Microsoft says it has detected attacks against IE 7.0 but said the "underlying vulnerability" was present in all versions of the browser.
Other browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, are not vulnerable to the flaw Microsoft has identified.
Browser bait
"In this case, hackers found the hole before Microsoft did," said Rick Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro. "This is never a good thing."
As many as 10,000 websites have been compromised since the vulnerability was discovered, he said.
"What we've seen from the exploit so far is it stealing game passwords, but it's inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals," he said. "It's just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs."

"I cannot recommend people switch due to this one flaw," said John Curran, head of Microsoft UK's Windows group.
He added: "We're trying to get this resolved as soon as possible.
"At present, this exploit only seems to affect 0.02% of internet sites," said Mr Curran. "In terms of vulnerability, it only seems to be affecting IE7 users at the moment, but could well encompass other versions in time."
Richard Cox, chief information officer of anti-spam body The Spamhaus Project and an expert on privacy and cyber security, echoed Trend Micro's warning.
"It won't be long before someone reverse engineers this exploit for more fraudulent purposes. Trend Mico's advice [of switching to an alternative web browser] is very sensible," he said.

"The message needs to get out that this malicious code can be planted on any web site, so simple careful browsing isn't enough."
"It's a shame Microsoft have not been able to fix this more quickly, but letting people know about this flaw was the right thing to do. If you keep flaws like this quiet, people are put at risk without knowing it."
"Every browser is susceptible to vulnerabilities from time to time. It's fine to say 'don't use Internet Explorer' for now, but other browsers may well find themselves in a similar situation,"

Source:BBC NEWS

IBM mainframe Contest for students in Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:38:00 +0000

IBM is promoting a contest for students of mainframes in Brazil. Basically they have to sign up and perform certain tasks, some simple other complex that can take from weeks to months. The prizes ranging from T-shirts, PSPs and laptops to even working at IBM!

Registration begins for students on August 27 and ends on 05 September 2008, or until all vacancies are filled. The competition, with access to the mainframe,will happen from September 08 until November 28, 2008. It is a good opportunity for students and teachers to know more than the mainframe environment as well as compete for prizes.

More Info: http://www.ibm.com/br/systems/z/concursomainframe/

FaceBook - The Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:06:00 +0000

Is Aaron Sorkin getting his geek on?

The famous technophobe and Hollywood scribe is trading the "West Wing" and "Studio 60" corridors for the graffiti-scrawled, software-developer-mobbed corridors of social networking upstart Facebook Inc.

The Palo Alto company says it has not signed on to a Sorkin film about its inception, but Sorkin has started a Facebook group (well, he says, his assistant did that) to gather color for a Facebook film he is writing for Sony and producer Scott Rudin.

A Sony Pictures spokesman confirmed the project but wouldn't discuss details. Through a publicist, Sorkin declined to comment.

Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker said: "We are routinely approached by writers and filmmakers interested in telling the Facebook story or the stories of the more than 100 million people who use Facebook to share and make the world more open and connected. At this point, we have not agreed to cooperate with any film project, but we are flattered by the interest."

The Facebook group (where Sorkin groupies have already congregated to write on Sorkin's wall) was first unearthed by the Defamer blog.

Sorkin's Facebook group page reads:

"Welcome. I'm Aaron Sorkin. I understand there are a few other people using Facebook pages under my name -- which I find more flattering than creepy -- but this is me. I don't know how I can prove that but feel free to test me.

"I've just agreed to write a movie for Sony and producer Scott Rudin about how Facebook was invented. I figured a good first step in my preparation would be finding out what Facebook is, so I've started this page. (Actually it was started by my researcher, Ian Reichbach, because my grandmother has more Internet savvy than I do and she's been dead for 33 years.)"

So what will a movie about the messy beginnings of Facebook be called? "A Few Good Founders"? Or "Face Off," complete with tense courtroom scenes from the legal battle over the company's creation?

(Note to Sorkin: Aaron Greenspan -- who attended Harvard with the founders, claims he came up with the idea for Facebook and recently penned a book on the subject -- would like to share his two cents).

And just who will they find to play Mark Zuckerberg, the official Facebook founder and chief executive?

Source: LA Times

Make Partitions in Vista WITHOUT Disk Management

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:42:00 +0000

Windows Vista’s Disk Management tool can be quite deceiving. It allows you to work with partitions at ease in a presentable GUI format - but with problems. There have been a lot of complaints and confusion as to why Windows Vista grays out the extend volume and shrink volume properties. In response to this, I have found an alternative way to work with partitions, allowing you to easily resize, delete, and create partitions.
Diskpart.exe does a very good job at working with partitions. Unlike Disk Management, Diskpart actually works!

Before continuing, make sure that you:

Backed up all important files

Do not run diskpart.exe with Dynamic Disks

So here it goes....

1) First, you’ll want to pull out your Start Menu and type diskpart.exe
This will open a command-prompt like window. At this window, type list disk. This will list all your available hard disks.

2) Proceed by typing select disk < disk number > to select the disk you want to work with.

Creating a Partition or Volume:

At this point in time, you can create a partition. Type create and a set of new options will be presented to you. To proceed, just type create < new option>. (e.g. create volume)

What kind of partition should I create?
Primary: Primary partitions are limited to four per hard disk. If you are planning to install an operating system into a partition, you’ll want to choose primary since it is the only one that can be made bootable.

Extended: If you are planning to have more than four partitions, you’ll want to work with extended. An extended partition counts towards the limit of four, but you are then allowed to create logical volumes within these extended partitions. You’ll want to use extended partitions for backup or storage purposes only since they are not bootable.

3) Now we want to see which number is associated with the volume we want to work with. To obtain this list, type list volume

4) Select the desired volume by typing: select volume < number> or select partition < number>

You then have a list of options to choose from. Below is a list of commands you can type in depending on what you want to do with your selected volume. If you don’t input a number for size, the program will automatically use all the space available for your operation. For the purpose of this tutorial, I have decided to work with 10GB. (1000MB = 1GB)

Shrink desired=10000 minimum=2000 (Shrinks the volume by 10GB. If that’s not possible, this command makes sure that you at least shrink the volume by 2GB.)
Extend size=10000
Delete Partition
Format

Disk Management can be quite a nuisance since it decides to gray out certain properties on any given day. Please spread the word about diskpart.exe if you know someone who has had trouble working with partitions; as I am sure there are lots who are having similar problems.

Free Virtual Desktops from Microsoft

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:17:00 +0000

The SysInternals department of Microsoft have today launched a new program "DESKTOPS" which help a user using many applications simultaneously.Desktops allows you to organize your applications on up to four virtual desktops.

Multitasking re-defined

Read email on one, browse the web on the second, and do work in your productivity software on the third, without the clutter of the windows you’re not using. After you configure hotkeys for switching desktops, you can create and switch desktops either by clicking on the tray icon to open a desktop preview and switching window, or by using the hotkeys.

The program is just 62kb in size and can be downloaded (or run as you wish) for free from the Microsoft website HERE.(It runs on even Vista!)

CANON 50D SPECIFICATIONS [LEAKED]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:06:00 +0000

Canon’s China website has published specifications for the 50D in its public webspace. Although the info is not on the front page of the site yet, it is accessible to anyone. Here is the link.
I’ve set forth the relevant translated specs and info below. Please note that the original specs listed here listed in-body IS as a feature. The translation was wrong and the feature has been removed from the spec list below. The specs referenced the advantages and compatibility with lens-based IS instead.

Here are the prominent features;

15.1 megapixel CMOS sensor
DIGIC 4
1.6x crop
Dust Reduction
Auto Brightness Processing
95% viewfinder .97 magnification
9 point af (All Cross Type)
35 meter area equipped with high-precision sensors
AF Fine Tuning
ISO 100-12800
6.3 fps (high speed) 3fps (low speed)
Buffer: 16 RAW - 60 JPG - 10 RAW+JPG
920,000 points VGA 3.0-inch LCD monitor
100,000 cycle shutter
Rugged magnesium alloy bodyFull Specifications

Canon 50D Full Specifications

General

Camera Type: Has a built-in flash AF / automatic exposure single-lens reflex digital cameras
Media Type: I or Type II CF card, UDMA compatible
Image Sensor Size: 22.3×14.9 mm
Compatible Lenses: Canon EF-series (including EF-S series lenses) (35 mm converted the focal length of the lens focal length is about 1.6 times)
Lens mount: Canon EF mount
Image Sensor

Type: CMOS Image Sensor
Effective Pixels: Approx.15.1 million pixels
Aspect ratio: 3:2
Dust removal function: Auto, Manual, add the dust data
Recording System

Recording format: Camera File System Design Rule 2.0
（Design rule for Camera File System 2.0） (Design rule for Camera File System 2.0)
Image types: JPEG, RAW (14 place Canon original); RAW + JPEG
Records of pixels: (4752 x 3168） Large: about 15.1 million pixels (4752 x 3168)
Medium: about 8 million pixels (3456 x 2304)
Small: about 3.7 million pixels (2352 x 1568)
RAW: about 15.1 million pixels (4752 x 3168)
sRAW1: about 7.1 million pixels (3267 x 2178)
sRAW2: about 3.8 million pixels (2376 x 1584)
Create / select: Folder Yes
Image Processing

Photo style: Standard, portrait, landscape, neutral, reliable setup, monochrome, User-defined 1-3
White Balance: Auto, the default (Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten Lamp, White fluorescent light, flash), user-defined, Color temperature settings (2500-10000 K)
Noise Reduction: Can be applied to long time exposure and high ISO sensitivity shooting
Automatic image brightness correction: Automatic brightness optimization
High-priority tone: Yes
The amount of light surrounding the lens correction: Yes
Viewfinder

Type: Eye-level pentaprism
Rate outlook: Vertical / horizontal direction about 95 percent
Magnification: About 0.95 times (-1 m-1, using 50 mm lens on the infinite distance AF)
Focus: About 22 mm (eyepiece lens from the central -1 m-1)
Built-in diopter adjustment: -3.0 - +1.0 M-1 (dpt)
Focusing Screen: Ef-A equipped with the standard screen, and can replace the screen (2 sold separately)
Mirrors: Express back -
Depth of Field Preview: Yes
AF

Type: TTL auxiliary video coincidence, the phase detection
Automatic focus points: 9 (all cross-)
Metering range: EV -0.5 - 18 (23 ° C/73 ° F, ISO 100)
Focus modes: Single AF, AI Servo AF, Artificial Intelligence AF, manual focus (MF)
AF-assist light: By the built-in flash for a short flash
AF fine-tuning: AF can be fine-tuning
Exposure Control

Metering Mode: 35 Zone TTL full-aperture metering
Evaluation meter (with the focus of any automatic linkage)
Partial metering (the viewfinder about 9 percent of the area)
Spot (viewfinder central area of about 3.8%)
Central focus of the average metering
Metering range: EV 1-20 (23 ° C/73 ° F, the use of EF50mm f/1.4 USM lens, ISO 100)
Exposure Control: Programmed auto exposure (automatic, portrait, landscape, Macro, Sports, Night Portrait, Flash off, creativity automatic, procedures), shutter priority automatic exposure, aperture priority auto exposure, depth of field priority auto exposure, manual exposure
ISO Sensitivity: (Recommended exposure index)
Basic shooting zone mode: automatically set between ISO 100-1600
District creative shooting modes: ISO 100 - 3200 (in 1 / 3 increments), Auto, ISO sensitivity can be extended up to ISO 6400 or ISO 12800
Exposure compensation: Manual and automatic exposure bracketing (with manual exposure compensation can be used in combination) - Can be set numerical: ± 2 Stage 1 / 3 or 1 / 2 units to adjust
Auto exposure lock Auto: evaluation of the use of metering single AF mode - Manual: auto exposure lock button
Shutter

Type: Electronically controlled focal plane shutter
Shutter speed: 1 / 8000 second to 1 / 60 seconds (automatic mode), flash synchronization speed of 1 / 250 second 1 / 8000 to 30 seconds, B Mun (the shutter speed range. With the availability of various shooting modes. )
Flash

Built-in flash: Recoverable, auto-flash
Flash: 13/43 (ISO 100, to m / ft unit) flash coverage: 17 mm camera angle. Recycle time of about three seconds
External flash: X series of flash (camera can set up some flash function)
Flash Metering: E-TTL II automatic flash
Flash Exposure Compensation: ± 2 Stage 1 / 3 or 1 / 2 units to adjust
Flash Exposure lock: Yes
PC terminal: Yes
Driving System

Types: Single-shoot, high-speed shot, low shot funny (10 seconds or two seconds delay)
Continuous speed High-speed: Approx. 6.3 / sec. max
Low: the most about 3 / sec.
Continuous maximum number of (High-Speed Continuous):
JPEG large / distinctions: about 60 (90)
RAW: about 16 (16)
RAW + JPEG large / distinctions: about 10 (10)
* Based on these values to use 2 GB of memory cards, Canon testing standards (ISO 100 photos and standard style).
*Value in brackets apply to the testing standards based on Canon’s Ultra DMA (UDMA) 2GB memory card.
Live View Shooting

Focus: Fast mode (testing phase)
Real-time mode, real-time facial priority mode (contrast detection)
Manual focus (can be enlarged five times / 10 times)
Metering Mode: The use of image sensors to evaluate Spot
Metering range: EV 0 - 20 (23 ° C/73 ° F, the use of EF50mm f/1.4 USM lens, ISO 100)
Mute shooting: Yes
LCD Monitor

Type: TFT color liquid crystal display (there are seven brightness adjustment)
Monitor size and resolution: 3 inches, about 920,000 points (VGA)
Coverage: About 100%
Language: Interface 25 (with English)
Image playback

Image display format: Leaflets, pamphlets + information (image quality records, the shooting information, the histogram), four images index, nine image index, rotating images
Zoom: About 1.5 times - 10 times
View images method: Leaflets images, 10 or 100 images, screen, the date, Folder as a unit Jump
High-warning: Excessive exposure of the regional high-flicker
Direct Print

Compatible printer: PictBridge-compatible printers
Print Image: JPEG and RAW image
Print command: DPOF1.1 compatible version
Custom

25 Custom Functions
Camera user settings In the mode dial position of the C1 and C2 registered
Registration menu: Yes
Interface

Digital Video: For computer communications and direct printing (Hi-Speed USB)
Video output terminal: 3.5 mm mini-jack (optional NTSC / PAL)
HDMI mini OUT: terminal C -
Remote Terminal: And N3-compatible line of the shutter
Docking Systems terminal: WFT-E3 Used to connect wireless file transfer for WFT-E3
Power

Battery: Battery BP-511A (1)
* AC adapter can be packaged using the AC ACK-E2
* Installation of the battery box and handle BG-E2N or BG-E2, you can use on the 5th (AA/LR6) battery
Battery capacity shooting (Based on CIPA testing standards): 50 percent of the normal use of flash photography: 23 ° C/73 ° F at about 640. 0 ° C/32 ° F at about 540. 50% of the use of flash photography of real-time display: 23 ° C/73 ° F at about 170. 0 ° C/32 ° F at about 130.
Size and weight

Size (Width x x high-thick): 145.5×107.8×73.5 mm / 5.7 x4.2×2.9 inches
Weight: About 730 grams / 25.7 ounces (body only)
Operating Environment

Temperature range: 0 ° C-40 ° C/32 ° F-104 ° F
Working humidity range: 85 percent or less
Battery BP-511A

Type: Rechargeable lithium batteries
Rated voltage: 7.4 V DC
Battery capacity: 1390 mA
Size (Width x x high-thick): 38×21x55 mm / 1.5 x0.8×2.2 inches
Weight: About 82 grams / 2.9 ounces
Battery Charger: CB-5L
With battery BP-511A, BP-514, BP-511 or BP-512
The length of the power cord: About 1.8 m / 5.9 ft.
Charging time: About 100 minutes
Input Voltage: 100-240 V AC
Output voltage: 8.4 V DC
Temperature range: 0 ° C-40 ° C/32 ° F-104 ° F
Working humidity range: 85 percent or less
Size (Width x x high-thick): 91×67x32.3 mm / 3.6 x2.6×1.3 inches
Weight About 105 grams / 3.7 ounces (not including the power cord)

This information was translated from Chinese.So inadverent errors might have crept in.Sorry for the errors, if any.

SOURCE: PHOTOGRAPHYBAY

Mac Bundle Box - Special Offer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:14:00 +0000

Apple Mac users have been frequently offered applications at special price.Here too you have a chance to buy Mac Bundle Box comprising 15 applications at ~~$346.69~~ $49.95 only.
The available applications are;

1)Headline - a reader of feeds with minimal extreme aspect.

2)Mac Pilot 3 - system optimizer

3)iConquer - a strategy game.

4)Mahjong Forests - a Chinese traditional game.

5)Shoebox Express - an organiser of photograph according to subjects.

6)Caboodle - Lean, clean, snippet machine to store information on your Mac

7)Narrator - reader of text in multiple voices.

8)WriteRoom - a text publisher that promises concentration only in the text.

9)Scribbles - a simple tool of drawing.

10)Money - Form to organise the domestic finances.

11)Operation - Publisher of projects.

12)Dawn - a alarm-clock that itself co-ordinates with iTunes.

13)Composer - an image publisher.

14)Sofa Control - to control many applications through apple remote.

Yes-its an iPhone with a Telescope

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:31:00 +0000

So, we have been tracking the iPhone features for quite some time now.We also reported how Mr.Steve Jobs acknowledged the apps crash on the iPhone.Let's now focus our attention to some extra gadgets which can be used on the iPhone.

Have your ever wondered if you could use your multi-utility iPhone even as a telescope?If not, then we'll tell you - "YOU CAN".

One of the most critical feature of the iPhone is its 2 mega pixel camera.You might have wished that Apple could have done a lot better in the camera.But wait, did you know that you can.This add-on telescope for the Apple iPhone won’t make your mobile phone look very good, but it will give you 6x zoom capabilities.

Usage

Change the cellphone back shell first enclosed with the telescope.
Adjust the clear foucs with the naked eye.
It can take a picture while fixing the telescope on back shell. (If the screen of your cellphone is analyzed degree enough, you can adjust the focus with the screen of the cellphone).

The Apple iPhone Mobile Phone Telescope ($19) is available from Brando.

Microsoft Photosynth - A 3D Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:58:00 +0000

First there was the snapshot, and then came video. Now there is Photosynth,
On Wednesday night, Photosynth, a technology demo from Microsoft Live Labs, is graduating from its "ooh, that's pretty" status to being a viable Web service for consumers.

The technology, which takes a grouping of photographs and stitches them into a faux 3D environment, can now be implemented with photos you've taken on your digital camera or mobile phone, and converted right on your computer. Previously, the process of stitching these photos together took weeks of processing on specially configured server arrays. With its latest version, Microsoft has managed to shrink that into around the time it takes to upload your photos.

Microsoft is giving users 20GB of online storage for their Photosynth collections. Photosynth product manager Joshua Edwards tells me this can easily fit 60 or more "synths" made up of around 150 to 200 photographs apiece--the higher end of what's recommended for what Edwards calls an optimum or "synthy" experience. Users who are making really neat collections will be granted additional space.

One of the most impressive parts of Photosynth is how damn fast it is. Over a decent broadband connection you'll immediately see large thumbnails that quickly begin to sharpen as data fills in the missing pixels. You can continue to zoom into these areas and they'll sharpen up even more on some of the super high-resolution shots.

The streaming and rendering technology behind Photosynth is Seadragon, another project from the Microsoft Live Labs universe. Users have always had to download a special Seadragon-based plug-in to view other people's synths. The new twist with the latest plug-in now comes with a desktop uploader that can be used to add your own collection to the Photosynth universe. This runs with complete autonomy from your browser, so you don't have to worry about it stopping if you close out your browser. It also works in both IE 7 and Firefox 3, making it cross-platform--at least for Microsoft. If you're a Mac user looking to get your hands on some Photosynth action you'll have to keep waiting. The focus on Photosynth will remain on the PC for the time being.

So,this could be "Sweet" or "Sour" depending on the Operating System you use, because this works only on WINDOWS!

Intel's new Dual-core Atom chip

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:44:00 +0000

Intel at its Developer Forum is quietly providing new details of its widely reported dual-core Atom processor. Although not providing all formal details itself, the company is expected to launch an Atom 330 with twin cores at 1.6GHz and will be built on a 45 nanometer process that reduces the amount of power use despite the additional core. The chip should remain on the same 533MHz system bus.

Other details of the processor itself are still unknown, though past leaks have pointed to a continued use of Hyperthreading that would let each core handle as many as two code threads at one time and create up to four effective cores with optimized apps. A doubled Level 2 cache of 1MB should also help improve performance.

The semiconductor firm has already confirmed that its initial implementation will include at least a desktop version for nettops and other very low-power, budget systems. A new mainboard, the D945GCLF2, will fit into any mini-ITX case and will include both GMA 950 integrated graphics as well as support for up to 2GB of memory in a single slot, gigabit Ethernet, as well as equal pairs of Parallel and Serial ATA connections for storage.

A launchpad for the new mainboard is sheduled for September.

SOURCE: Electronista

Steve Jobs acknowledges iPhone app crash

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:43:00 +0000

iPhone owners suddenly locked out of their third-party apps by a crash bug on startup will have a solution only in September, Apple chief Steve Jobs has revealed.

Steve job has published a characteristically brief and rare personal responses, assuring the iPhone users that his company is aware of the problem and has a solution.

"This is a known iPhone bug that is being fixed in the next software update in September," reads the one-line message from the Apple co-founder.

Many report the iPhone 2.0 firmware suddenly failing to load non-default apps regardless of their nature, briefly loading them before abruptly jumping back to the home screen.

The bug occurs both with freshly downloaded software and with updates, but is reported as never having a definite fix; although some report successfully deleting and re-downloading apps to regain access, others find the solution either having no effect or gradually decaying over time to where the apps again fail to run. Restoring the iPhone also seldom works.

Even if the root cause has been identified, however, the weeks-long wait has been cold comfort for those affected by the crashes, many of whom had updated their original iPhones just to add support for third-party programs.

So, lets just wait and watch the iPhone.I do think that its following the same path as that of Vista (great hype before launch and no need to explain thereafter!)

Vista and Mac Leopard-Dual Boot

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:20:00 +0000

OK.So you do admit that Vista is not what you need with all the negative comments and the security issues around it and within inside you feel that you want a MAC.But you have just spent a couple of grand on your new (or a year or so old) PC.So, what are you going to do now? Well, in this tutorial I show you how to DUAL BOOT Mac OS Leopard on your Vista installed Intel (and also AMD) computer.Follow the instructions very carefully and feel free to post any doubts or suggestions you need.

DISCLAIMER:This Guide is for educational purposes only and it is highly recommended you buy yourself an original Mac. Also please do not post links to the Torrents as they will be removed.

Well before we proceed with the guide, here is the stuff that you will need for a successful dual boot setup.

Vista Already installed on your Primary Hard Disk.

iATKOS v1.0 DVD. (Do not ask me where you can download this)

Windows Vista Boot DVD (Just incase something goes wrong)

Well now that you have everything ready, lets get started then. Please note this is going to take sometime so I suggest you have some Music playing near by and grab yourself a cup of coffee while you do this. Sit tight, here we go……….

Install Vista on the First Partition of your Hard Disk. I am not going to elaborate into How to install Windows, I hope everyone knows it. If you already have it installed then read on..

Right click on My Computer and Click on Manage. Select Disk Management. Now Create a new Volume for OSX by shrinking an existing volume. You need atleast 5GB of space and the new volume should show up as Unallocated.

Make sure that the partition shows up as Unallocated, else repeat the previous step.

Now restart the machine and boot into the Leopard DVD that you burned using the iATKOS v1.0 DVD Image.

Press F8 as the countdown begins and type -v at the prompt and hit enter.

You should see scrolling text on the screen now. If it stops anywhere then drop a comment and I’ll try to help you out.

After a while you should be looking at the Leopard Installer. Follow the instructions on Screen.

Once the Loading Bar vanishes Select Utilities -> Disk Utility .

Select the Volume you created previously and format it as MAC OSX Journaled Extended. Once the formatting is done the volume is ready for installation.

Now Close Disk Utility and Select Utilities -> Darwin Boot. Type Y at the prompt.

At the prompt when it asks for the Disk Number enter 0. For the Partition Number if your Leopard Partition is 2nd on the disk, then enter 2 and so on.

Accept the following prompts and you should see a success prompt saying that so many block of data were written successfully.

Now get back to the Leopard Install Screen. Choose the partition that you made in the beginning and follow the instructions on screen.
Please don’t select any patches etc during the installation, this is normally the reason for most failed installations. Just the plain install would do.
Once the Install is done, reboot with the DVD in the drive. Press F8 at Darwin Boot Loader and type -s and press enter.

Execute the following commands :
fdisk -e /dev/rdisk0

flag 1

quit

reboot
Now before the PC restarts remove the DVD. At this point you should be able to boot into Vista normally.
Note: If you are unable to log into windows, because there is an error which says “winload.exe” correupted.! Relax. Just insert the Windows VISTA boot DVD into the drive and restart. Click on “Repair computer” once you are inside the DVD and it will automatically detect if a problem exists and suggest “Repair and Restart”. Press the same, and remove the DVD once the PC is about to restart. You should now be able to log in to vista without any problem.
Now that we have almost everything running fine, lets proceed with the dual boot setup.

Boot into Vista. Copy the chain0 file from the Leopard DVD to C:

Open the “Command prompt” with “Elevated Admin” privileges from the Start Menu.

Type the following into the prompt
bcdedit /copy {current} /d “Mac OS X”

bcdedit /enum active

bcdedit /set {GUID} PATH \chain0

In the first command type {current} as it is, literally..nothing else..just {current} with the brackets. In the 3rd command however, replace the {GUID} with the alphanumeric GUID you see in the enumerated list under MAC OS X. You can see this list on your terminal as soon as you type the 2nd command above.
Close the Command Prompt and Restart Vista.

You Should now be looking at a screen with two options to boot into Mac OSX or Vista.

Select Mac OSX to see if you can boot into it. You should see the familiar Darwin boot Loading screen with the timer going down. If you dont do anything, then it counts to zero and again shows the menu screen with Vista and MAC OSX options. Dont panic!
Again select MAC OS X, and now as the timer counts down, Press F8. You would see a list of partitions on your disk with their names. Select the partition with MAC OSX installed by using up/down arrows and press ENTER.
Voila!! your Mac should be booting up as you read this..

See it was that simple. No more HFS+ and Blinking Cursor errors. Just follow this guide step by step and you should be able to dual boot Windows Vista and Leopard in no time. If you have any questions just drop in a comment, I’ll reply at the earliest.

For Drivers and Patches I suggest you look at the InsanelyMac Forums. This guide would have been nearly impossible without :

Uphuck Forums

InsanelyMac Forums

OSX86 Wiki.

If you are looking to Install Leopard on an AMD based machine follow the instructions here to patch your iATKOS v1.0 Image. Special Thanks to I Am Nihilist

Dell releases 19 hours Laptop

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:55:00 +0000

Recently, Dell launched a new laptop, the Dell Latitude E6400 which has a whopping battery capacity of 19 hours. This Latitude laptop is equipped with two batteries which along with the latest technology and software provides 19 hours of battery life

The company's Latitude E6400 runs for as much as 10 hours on a single nine-cell battery, and an additional battery that snaps on to the bottom of the laptop adds as much as nine hours of battery life, Dell officials said at a press event in San Francisco. That gives users close to a full day of laptop use without carrying an AC adapter to recharge the batteries.

The Latitude E6400 comes with a 14.1-inch screen and runs an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It can have as much as 8G bytes of RAM and 250G bytes of storage. The system comes preloaded with Windows Vista, with an option to downgrade to Windows XP. It is priced starting at US$1,139. The Latitude E6500, a similar laptop with a larger screen, was also announced, starting at $1,169. Both systems are available immediately.

Windows apps on Linux the CrossOver way

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:34:00 +0000

Who says you have to give up your must-have Windows applications when you migrate to Linux? If you can't leave some crucial Windows program behind, you can run it using CodeWeavers' latest version of CrossOver Linux.

Though today there are many great Linux end-user applications, some people still have "must-have" Windows applications -- Quicken instead of GnuCash, for instance, or Photoshop instead of the GIMP. That's where CrossOver Linux 7 comes in.

With this new version, you can run more Windows programs on Linux than ever. Such popular Windows programs as Microsoft Office -- from 97 to 2007 -- Internet Explorer 6, and Quicken run almost as well on Linux as they do on Windows. Other programs, like Adobe Photoshop CS3, run decently albeit not perfectly on Linux with CrossOver.

CrossOver is based on the open source project Wine, an implementation of the Windows API on top of the Unix/Linux operating system family. Wine is a very mature project, which, after 15 years of development, has reached the 1.0 mark.

You don't need CrossOver Linux to run Windows applications on Linux. Wine alone is enough. Wine, however, requires more technical expertise to use properly. What CrossOver gives you is an automated Windows application installation and technical support. For most users, who just want to run their Windows programs and not bother with the nuts and bolts of Wine, CrossOver Linux, which retails for $40, is worth the money. CodeWeavers also offers CrossOver Mac, which brings the same functionality to Intel-powered Macs.

To see how well this Wine 1.0-powered edition of CrossOver Linux works I tested it on two systems. The first was my main openSUSE 11 desktop, a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion A6040N Desktop PC powered by a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 dual-core processor with 2GB of 533MHz RAM and a 320GB SATA (Serial ATA) hard drive running at 7200 RPM. It's a good 2007-era PC.

I also put CrossOver 7 through its paces on an older Gateway 503GR running Ubuntu 8.04. It comes with a 3GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 2GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon 250 graphics card, and a 300GB SATA drive. Both systems had more than enough raw horsepower power to run Linux, CrossOver Linux, and multiple Windows and Linux applications simultaneously.

CrossOver requires very little from a system. CodeWeavers claims that any 32-bit system that runs at 200MHz can run CrossOver. The program will run on 64-bit systems, but only if they have the 32-bit compatibility library installed. CrossOver also requires that your Linux includes Glibc 2.3.x or greater and X11R6 3.3 or greater. XFree86 4 with XRender and FreeType support is recommended. The bottom line is any modern Linux can run CrossOver.

The program can be installed in several different ways. The sure-fire way of installing it on any Linux is to use its shell script. Once you have it installed, CrossOver presents you with a GUI that works equally well with both KDE and GNOME. Here, you choose which Windows applications you want to install from a supplied list of supported applications.

Installing Windows applications is a snap. It's a pick and clip operation. You can also install non-supported applications. Some, such as my favorite HTML editor, NoteTab, even though not technically supported, will run, albeit with some problems.

You should also keep in mind that, while CodeWeavers is trying to support the most popular Windows applications on Linux, it doesn't support every program. Check the company's compatibility pages to see if anyone has tried to run your particular favorite program with CrossOver and how well it has gone for them.

Once in place, the supported Windows applications ran without a hitch. I spent most of my time working on Word 2003 documents, Excel 2003 spreadsheets, IE 6, and fairly complicated Quicken 2006 financial statements. The programs ran well. As a matter of fact they ran better on Linux than they did on Vista. Quicken, in particular, took better to CrossOver than it did to Vista. With a little research I found out that this was not just me. Vista is known to have trouble with several versions of Quicken.

Some Windows software runs better on Linux than it does on the latest version of Windows -- who knew?

CrossOver isn't perfect of course. While I was able to run Photoshop CS3, I sometimes had trouble rendering the CS3 interface. A screen refresh usually took care of the problem, but some users will doubtlessly find that annoying.

I would also sometimes need to force a screen refresh when one Windows application's window covered up another. When I'd reveal the "lower" application, the part of it that had been covered by the other Windows application wouldn't render properly. After doing anything with the new foreground application, such as running a command, the foreground program's screen reappeared as it should.

CodeWeavers also offers CrossOver Linux Professional, which costs $70, can be used for multiple users, and comes with CrossOver Games. This addition includes advanced support for DirectX, Microsoft's graphics application programming interfaces for games. With this, many Windows games will run well on Linux. I can personally attest that zapping your enemies and other baddies in World of Warcraft and Guild Wars is just as much fun on Linux as it on Windows. CrossOver Games is also available separately for $40.

Not sure if CrossOver is right for you? You can download a free 30-day trial version of CrossOver Linux and a seven-day trial edition of CrossOver Games. You should find that more than enough time to see if these programs deliver the Windows goods for you.

SOURCE: Linux