5.11 Tactical series

We all rely on police, firefighters, and of course on military for our safety. But what about their own safety? Because when you are dealing with some emergency then it is essential to be extremely accurate and fast. And for that gear worn by the security personal plays an important role. This is exactly where 5.11 tactical excels.
5.11 Tactical Series creates superior products that enhance the safety, accuracy, speed and performance of law enforcement, military and firefighting professionals. The series includes 5.11 Tactical Pants, footwear, knives and almost all other safety items necessary for making our safety keepers safe. Tacticalpantsusa have since long set standards for the industry by designing products that exceed the needs of the customers with functional innovation while delivering exceptional value.
In case you are wondering about "5.11 " then its a rock climbing difficulty level as listed in the Yosemite Decimal System. With skill levels ranging from 5.0 (easy) to 5.10 (difficult), 5.11 is even more grueling. 5.11 is officially defined as, “After thorough inspection, you conclude this move is obviously impossible; however, occasionally someone actually accomplishes it.” Thats exactly what 5.11 tactical series does.

Secure your PC [part 1] : ESET Smart Security

I do not think that it is really necessary explain the necessity of using a good security solution for your PC. With so many security solutions available making the choice of good one is the real problem that needs to be addressed. I will - in this and next few articles- try to cover the leading security solutions and the services provided by each.

1. ESET Smart Security :

ESET Smart Security is designed to be a complete solution in the field of computer protection against infiltrations and attacks . It is a total security solution for a PC equipped with firewall and other modules. Provides optimal protection when used at default settings and is not too taxing on the system.If all components are used simultaneously, the effectiveness of the whole program is multiplied.

• key features of "ESET Smart Security :

1. integrated firewall and antispam module
2. improved graphical user interface
3. operating modes for common and advanced users.Common mode has all settings at default while advanced user mode allows you to configure things your way.
4. improved and automatised cleaning
5. true incremental updates
   

ESET Smart Security provides:

• Protection:

ThreatSense technology combines multiple layers of detection protecting you from Internet threats before it is too late. The included antispam and personal firewall features provide you with a total security solution.

• Precise Detection:
  

ESET accurately identifies known and unknown threats.

• Lightweight Design:

ESET Smart Security requires less memory and CPU power and does not slow down the system while it is running in the background.

• Scanning Speeds:
  

ESET Smart Security is a highly efficient program ensuring fast file scanning and product updates, while running quietly in the background.

ESET Smart Security is a product designed to provide comprehensive protection against a variety of threats. It features the following:

• NOD32 Antivirus + Antispyware

This component is in fact an improved version of the award-winning scanning engine of NOD32 Antivirus v2.7.

• Anti-malware engine
  

comprehensive protection against adware, rootkits, spyware, Trojan horses, viruses, worms and other types of malicious software

• A personal firewall with port stealthing and advanced filtering features

• An antispam filter with Bayesian filtering, whitelisting and blacklisting.

You can download the trial version or buy the commercial version here.

Mortgage and more

They say the credibility of the information is only as good as its source and i have found an example that does justice to this saying. Danny Thornton has 7 (yup SEVEN) years of experience in mortgage industry and is an active blogger since Feb 2008. His Mortgage and More Blog provides readers with real information about mortgage industry and to do justice to the "more" in his blog's title he also posts pictures like one shown above(I know that's lovely).

Firefox For Mobile

Mozilla has released Alpha version of their new mobile browser and it has been codenamed Fennec. This release will initially be available only to the users of Nokia N810 and N800 Internet tablet.Fennec has a new user interface that adds touch screen support and other features that are appropriate for mobile phones and other handheld devices. As this release is currently available only for two models most of us will have to wait until it is actually made available for out mobile phones. But Mozilla provides another way of experimenting (or feeling) with Fennec for,

• windows
• linux
• Mac OS X

Just choose the correct operating system and proceed with installation. For Fennec alpha walkthrough check out this demo video.

Fennec Alpha Walkthrough from Madhava Enros on Vimeo.
Fennec comes with an Awesome Bar just like Firefox 3 that combines history, bookmarks, and search. For navigation Fennec supports a full screen mode.

According to Mozilla the Fennec offers,

1. Easy navigation to Web content:

• Bookmarks, including tags
• Smart URL bar ("awesome bar")
• Tabbed browsing with thumbnail images
• Integrated Web search - built into the URL bar
• Easy access to multiple search engines

2. Web content:

• Maximize content by auto-hiding controls and URL bar
• Zoom in and out

3. Security:

• Instant Web site ID
  
• Password manager
• Popup blocker
• Clear private data

4. Devices services integration:

• Click on a phone number to initiate a call
• JavaScript API to get device location
• Popup blocker
• Clear private data

Also:

• Searchable download manager
• Preferences pane

I can only hope that Fennec looks just as great with my mobile coz it has got a screen way smaller than a Nokia N810.

Free Games And Softwares

While i was surfing blogosphere i found a blog thats all about "Free games and Softwares".
The blogger has put a lot of effort into the reviews and has also provided the game snapshots alongwith requirements. If you visit this blog you will find reviews about games ranging from
pacman,crossword to arkight. The blogger also talks about other blogs where one can get useful information about things like travelling, shopping, making money online , paid bloggging etc. So hop over to http://fullcrazy.blogspot.com/ and dont forget to leave him a thanks. Enjoy!

October Sky

Nearly Five years after the project was cleared by Indian Gov. CHANDRAYAAN-1 is scheduled for launch on October 22. If the "October Sky" remains clear then the spacecraft will begin its Eight day long journey towards moon traveling nearly 3,86,000 kilometers to settle in its final orbit.

Chardrayaan-1 is the first Indian Mission to the Moon devoted to high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface features in visible, near infrared, X-ray and low energy gamma ray regions. This will be accomplished using several payloads already selected for the mission. In addition a total of about 10 kg payload weight and 10 W power are earmarked for proposals, which are now solicited. The mission is proposed to be a lunar polar orbiter at an altitude of about 100 km and is planned to be launched by 2007-2008 using indigenous spacecraft and launch vehicle of ISRO. The mission is expected to have an operational life of about 2 years.

Spacecraft for lunar mission is :

• Cuboid in shape of approximately 1.50 m side.
• Weighing 1304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit.
• Accommodates eleven science payloads. Out of these Six will be Indian instruments.
• Read more here.

SecureZIP Express software give-away and contest

PKWARE, the inventor of the .zip standard, is giving away a non-commercial use license of SecureZIP Express and the opportunity to win great prizes in the new “Decrypt and Drive” contest!
With SecureZIP Express you can compress/decompress and encrypt files that you store or send. Compressing files is a great way to save storage space, especially on thumb drives and CD’s, and we all have files we should be securing! The software also includes a digital certificate so you can exchange files securely with others without using passwords. Only the person the file was encrypted for can open it when you use a digital certificate. The software is fully licensed for non-commercial use and has no toolbars or spyware! For years, PKWARE has given free .zip software away and wants as many users as possible to receive the benefits of SecureZIP.
PKWARE is giving away great prizes including a Honda scooter, bicycles, Wii games, gas cards, and more! Visit www.DecryptandDrive.com to play the game daily and/or download the free software. You need to have SecureZIP, and the digital certificate it installs, on the computer you play the game from. You can also get SecureZIP Express at www.securezip.com

Good luck! Hope you win something cool

person-to-person outsourcing and India

Outsourcing of services by medium- and large-sized companies from US and Europe to low-wage countries like India, Russia, (also known as “offshoring”) has been going on for few years now. This trend is clearly helping the low wage countries to meet the demands of increasing population. The "aging" of developed countries has resulted in a lucrative market for "young" developing countries like India and China. With a large number of skilled workers available for relatively low wages the companies in US and Europe can drastically cut down their production costs. Indian companies like Infosys and Wipro are one of the leading outsourcing companies.
A new trend called person-to-person offshoring is rapidly catching up with these industry based outsourcing techniques. Person-to-Person Offshoring (PPO) consists of those services that can be offshored by entrepreneurs who are trying to bootstrap their new organization as efficiently as possible. With technology advances and the growth of the Internet, small offices, home businesses and even everyday individuals can utilize PPO services.

PPO includes

1. online tutoring
2. website development
3. graphic design
   
4. database, software(games or APIs) development
5. writing and translation services
6. accounting and tax preparation services
7. architectural, home and landscape design services
8. marketing and sales support services
9. creating drafts of legal documents
   

Different models are used for PPO.

• The “individual” client signs a contract directly with a vendor in a low-wage country, whose employees (e.g., tutors, admin) work on a full-time or a part-time basis, or as sub- contractors.The payments are usually made through credit card.

1. Indian companies like Satellier,BluentCAD, ASE Designsoft, Exceed International and DimensionICAD ,Xpitax, SurePrep, CCH, IFR, Datamatics, OPI and kpoexperts.com are rapidly making a name for themselves in this category.
   

• The vendors providing PPO services enroll in an online marketplace by paying a monthly subscription fee plus a fixed percentage of the revenue if they win the project through this marketplace.

1. Available marketplaces:

• Guru.com: Guru.com, a Pennsylvania-based company, seems to be the largest marketplace with more than 700,000 registered vendors and freelance professionals. Indians contribute a large chunk of this number.
• Elance.com: Elance.com, a California-based marketplace, is known for its outsourcing
  solutions supporting medium to large enterprises with around 125,000 registered vendors.
• GetAFreelancer.com
• RentACoder.com: The vendoes registered here accept only coding related projects.

The traditional jobs available in India are not sufficiently enough to keep rate of unemployment under control. The population is constantly increasing with a large part of it formed by youngsters with higher skills sometimes well beyond the job requirements. PPO is really helpful for these people as they can work on their own terms and that too from the comfort of their homes.From economical point of view the money these individuals get through this -the "relatively low" term notwithstanding - is really good considering Indian cost of living.The growth of PPO will help to reduce the heavy numbers choosing the traditional sectors of engineering and medical which will again help in reducing the sky high prices of enrolling in these sectors.

To SOURAV and his Knight Riders

They say when the going gets tough the tough gets going, and Sourav Ganguly has once again proved that he was and still is THE best. With KKR already out of the race for semifinal spot and people(read media and "fans") asking all the stupid questions (i think we sort of like it when Dada proves us wrong) today's match was always going to be played for pride.



Had it not been for Ganguly's presence in the middle i wouldn't have given KKR the slightest chance of winning after they managed a fine mess of 106/6 in fifteen overs with seventy needed of next five. But i knew that the Bengal tiger was playing a waiting game ready to pounce at the right moment.One could easily see the determination in his eyes but he was running out of partners at the other end. Umar Gul provided him the necessary support by hitting two consecutive sixes at the end of sixteenth over. In a space of 5 balls the duo put on a staggering 28 runs to change the whole course of match.After that it was everything Dada.By not taking a run off the last ball of nineteenth over Ganguly took it upon himself to score fifteen runs off last over. And the Prince of Kolkata did it in a style that suits him more than anybody else. Two mighty hits and the game was over with three balls still remaining.
It felt really great to see the proud(and handsome) man smiling and shaking hands all the way to dugout. I hope the so called fans who deserted their team and their very own Dada after a few failures, have learned their lesson for one last time and they wont repeat such a mistake again.

Improving your pagerank and site visibility

As we all know Google accounts for 68% of all searches every year. So you dont really need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that to be successful online you need blessings of mother google.Here i have listed few important tips for a wannabe webmaster.

1. Link building is important:

WHY? read this.
Google considers a link to a particular site from another site as a vote given in favor of that site. So you should try to build more and more links pointing towards your site.One way is to be friendly with other bloggers and ask them for link exchange while other is by writing good content that others may find useful.

2. Link credibility:

As votes from superdelegates are considered more important same is valid for links. A link from pagerank 5 site carries more weight than 10 from some good-for-nothing sites.
Google also considers link relevance. In simple words it means that if you write about computers and get a link from a site thats all about cooking then it will count for almost nothing.

3. External links to internal pages:

Dont concentrate only on your homepage.Try to get as many links pointing to individual articles as possible.For this post exchange program for Smorty is really good.

4. Dont be a copy-paster:

Though there are millions of sites out there and hardly few subjects are left untouched (like Paris Hilton's day to day life) it is not advisable to just copy-paste the content from some other site. Google maintains a copy of each and every indexed page in its cache to provide faster searching.This also means that google is capable of detecting duplicate content.

5. Optimize your web page:

You should try to provide your visitors as much interactive interface as possible. This is the only key along with good content to built visitor loyalty. You can use google's website optimizer
for this.

6. Manage your Keywords :

It's important to choose the right keywords for search engine optimization. Use keyword tracking tools to find high ranking keywords and try to use those without crossing a certain limit. You should use keyword density checker tools to find if you are using your keywords in right proportions.

A random tip:
Use google webmaster tools to improve your site's performance. These tools are free and extremely easy to use. Keep in mind that SEO is a process which takes long time to show results.

Tips for Office 2007

Microsoft Office Word:

• Change the Microsoft Office Word Smart Quote Auto-correct Setting->

By default, Word replaces straight quotes with smart quotes. To change this setting:
1. Click the Office button.
2. Click Word Options.
3. Click Proofing, and then click AutoCorrect Options.
4. Click the AutoFormat tab.
5. Clear the Straight quotes with smart quotes check box.
6. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
7. Clear the Straight quotes with smart quotes check box.
8. Click OK twice.

• Editing in Print Preview

After you have worked on a document in Microsoft Office Word, click the Office button, point to Print, and then click Print Preview.
You can still edit in print preview mode:
Disable the magnifier by clearing the Magnifier check box on the Preview tab, and edit the document as you want.

• Line Breaks Without Bullets

When you're creating a bulleted or numbered list in Microsoft Office Word or Microsoft Office PowerPoint, you might want an item to appear in the list without a bullet or without incrementing the number. You can start a new line without a bullet by pressing SHIFT+ENTER. The next time you press the ENTER key, the new line will continue the bulleted or numbered list.

EXCEL:

• Copy Data from a Table in a Web Page to Excel->

If you see a data table on a Web page and you want to import it into Microsoft Office Excel:
1. Copy the URL (address) of the page.
2. In Excel, on the Data tab, in the Get External Data section, click From Web.
3. In the New Web Query dialog box, paste the URL into the Address box.
4. Select the table that contains the data that you want to work with, and then click Import.
5. In the Import Data dialog box, indicate where you want the data to appear, and then click OK.

• Move the Cursor in Any Direction During Data Entry->

By default, the cell pointer in Microsoft Office Excel moves down when you press ENTER after entering data in a cell. You can, however, change the direction in which the cell pointer moves.
1. Click the Office button, click Excel Options, and then click Advanced.
2. Select the After pressing Enter, move selection check box if it isn't already selected, and then on the Direction menu, click the direction in which you want the pointer to move.

Also, when working in a document, you can make the pointer move in the opposite direction from the one you've chosen by holding down the SHIFT key while you press ENTER.

• Showing Formulas in Microsoft Office Excel Instead of Their Results->

Sometimes you want to display formulas in an Excel worksheet instead of their results. Here’s how:
1. Click the Office button, and then click Excel Options at the bottom of the menu.
2. Click Advanced, click Display options for this worksheet, click Show formulas in cells instead of their calculated results, and then click OK.

For more tips and tricks read this article.

PSLV-C9 blasts off from Sriharikota

Setting a world record, India's Polar rocket on Monday successfully placed ten satellites, including the country's remote sensing satellite, into orbit in a single mission.
India's PSLV-C9 blasted off into space, carrying ten satellites including the country's latest remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre here on Monday.
Scientists cheered as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirteenth flight, soared into the clear sky in a perfect lift off at 9.23 am from the second launch pad.

PSLV-C9 is carrying:

• India’s latest Remote Sensing satellite, CARTOSAT-2A

CARTOSAT-2A weighing about 690 kg carries a state-of-the-art Panchromatic camera (PAN) that is capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1)
  
• Eight nanosatellites built by universities and research institutions in Canada and Germany are also being launched under a commercial agreement with Antrix Corporation. The weight of these Nanosatellites vary from 3 to 16 kg with a total weight of about 50 kg.
  

No vulnerabilities are being exploited : Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. late Friday denied that vulnerabilities in its Web and SQL Server software had been exploited to hack hundreds of thousands of Internet pages.

"Our investigation has shown that there are no new or unknown vulnerabilities being exploited. This wave is not a result of a vulnerability in Internet Information Services or Microsoft SQL Server," said Bill Sisk, a communications manager at Microsoft's Security Response Center, in a note posted to the group's blog.

Sisk said the post was in response to reports that over half a million pages, including some belonging to the United Nations, have been compromised by SQL injection attacks. Once hacked, those sites were modified to download malware to visitors' PCs.

Early on Friday, Panda Security said it had notified Microsoft of what it called a "security issue" in the company's Web server, Internet Information Services (IIS). However, Panda stopped short of dubbing the problem a "vulnerability."

Sisk said that the site hacks were essentially run-of-the-mill SQL injection attacks. "[They] are not issues related to IIS 6.0, ASP, ASP.Net or Microsoft SQL technologies," he claimed.

Microsoft's IIS team also chimed in to deny that the attacks were exploiting any bugs, known or not, in its software. "For end users, the investigation also shows no indication of an unpatched vulnerability in IIS, SQL Server, Internet Explorer or any other Microsoft client software, so we recommend customers apply the latest updates to be protected from these attacks," said Bill Staples, an IIS product manager, in an update posted to the software's support forum on Friday night.

And although there has been speculation that the attacks were related to a vulnerability mentioned in an April 17 advisory, Sisk said that wasn't true either. "We have also determined that these attacks are in no way related to Microsoft Security Advisory 951306," he said.

Sisk and Staples urged Web site developers to follow Microsoft's guidelines to protect their domains from SQL injection attacks.

Source: computerworld

Recycled plastic material

Long ago(in 1862 to be precise) first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes.But even Parkes wouldn't have imagined the different ways in which plastic has become a part of day to day life. Everything that was big and bulky was replaced by light and richly colored plastic.Being a cheap,throwaway substance plastic found many applications like bags,water bottles, cups etc.But this wide range of applications has alongwith it ,brought its own set of problems. The Plastic bottles take 700 years before they even begin to decompose in a landfill.Currently there are hundreds of billions of bottles in the landfill with more billions adding up every year.This posses a serious threat to the environment and this problem can only be solved by using recyclable plastic materials like HDPE( High Density Poly Ethylene).Due to this recyclable materials plastic can be used over and over.
HDPE has characteristics like stiffness, strength, toughness, resistance to moisture, permeability to gas. It is used for many packaging applications because it provides excellent moisture barrier properties and chemical resistance.In HDPE Film form it is used for snack food packaging and cereal box liners.General uses of HDPE include bread trays, films for grocery sacks, HDPE Milk Bottles and household chemicals and injection-molded beverage cases.
Because of its chemical resistance HDPE has many applications in industrial sector as well.

Suspicious Orkut albums will be opened to police

Google is to give Brazilian police access to 3,261 private photo albums on social networking website Orkut, which may contain child pornography.

The move is part of a strategy announced by the head of the company in Brazil, Alexandre Hohagen, to a Senate Committee set up to investigate cases of paedophilia in the country.

During a hearing this week, Alexandre Hohagen and Felix Ximenes, director of communication for Google Brazil, claimed they are currently implementing more effective image filters that will detect and prevent the uploading of child pornography.

Ximenes told The Register the new filter is 60 per cent more efficient than the current technology. "But I can't tell how you it works, or we would just be telling how to fool it and throwing away months of development."

Orkut has more than 60 million users, most of them in Brazil. According to Sergio Suiama, the federal prosecutor for Sao Paulo, in the last two years nearly 90 per cent of the 56,000 complaints in Brazil about net-based paedophilia were linked to the website.

Ximenes said that until September 2007, all requests for information about users suspected of crimes such as racism or paedophilia were sent to Google US to be examined.

"But since then we have been dealing directly with that, providing the police with user IPs and navigation logs whenever it is requested. It's happened in more than 1,000 cases so far."

He said giving investigators personal information about suspects and access to their private albums "is not an issue", but conceded that Google has not yet received any official communication, so he can't say when this information is to be handed out.

Ximenes and Hohagen told the Senate panel that Orkut will keep users' navigation logs for six months, instead of the current 30 days.

However, he explained there was a legislative grey zone regarding child pornography in Brazil.

Every time abuse is reported within Orkut, the administrators must immediately delete the images, destroying the proofs.

"There is no Brazilian legislation ruling these situations, and according to US law, if we keep these images or forward them to anyone else we are committing a crime," says Ximenes. "We are only allowed to forward them to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, in the United States, before deleting them from our database."

He says the company is working on a collaboration between Brazilian authorities and the US organisation.

The private photo albums, considered by some as a safe haven for criminals, were introduced in November 2007, and allow users to block access to the pictures by anyone outside their direct network.

"We created this to protect the privacy of those who didn't want personal pictures to be seen by anyone," says Ximenes. "And it is being well used by the majority of the users."

Google apparently has no plans to disable this option. "Every technology can be used for good or evil. What we are doing is trying to stop and prevent bad ways of using this technology," says Ximenes. ®

Source: The Register

Video of Vista running 100 apps simultaneously

"I'm runnin a stock Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 with 4GB of RAM. I counted 108 apps total and gave up bored after I had running anything from Photoshop, Visual studio 2008, Office professional 2007, Safari, and Media Center all the way down to that rescource hog, Minesweeper"

read more | digg story

Office 2007 tips and tricks

• Copying a Worksheet:

Here’s how to copy a worksheet to another place in your Excel workbook:
1. Click the tab of the worksheet that you want to copy.
2. Leave your mouse pointer on the tab.
3. Press and hold down the CTRL key.
4. Press and hold down your left mouse button and drag the worksheet that you want to copy to the left or right. Watch for the little black arrowhead that follows your mouse pointer as you drag left or right.
5. When you release the mouse button, Microsoft Office Excel inserts a copy of the worksheet where the arrowhead is pointing.

• Customize Your Quick Access Toolbar

In each 2007 Microsoft Office system program where you see the Ribbon (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and parts of Outlook), you also see a Quick Access Toolbar, which appears by default above the Ribbon, beside the Office button. To add the commands you use most to the Quick Access Toolbar in each program, right-click a command on the Ribbon, and then click Add to Quick Access Toolbar. You can also click the arrow that appears at the right edge of the Quick Access Toolbar, and then click More Commands to open the Customize tab of the Options dialog box for the program you are using. In this box you can add commands that don’t appear on the Ribbon, or create a custom Quick Access Toolbar for an individual document or template.

• For Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

Use Search to Find E-Mail Messages
In Microsoft Office Outlook, e-mail search helps you locate messages by keyword or phrase. You can also use search folders to find mail by type of message.

To locate specific keywords or phrases within e-mail messages:
Type a word or phrase in the Search box at the top of your Outlook Inbox. The search starts automatically as soon as you stop typing. Search results will appear in the main window of your Inbox. To return to your normal Inbox, click Clear Search (the green ×) to the right of the Search box.

You can enable search folders from the mail pane on the left of your Inbox. To expand the folders tree, click Search Folders. Outlook comes with three default search folders: For Follow Up, Large Mail, and Unread Mail.

To add new search folders, click File, point to New, and then click Search Folder.

• To build a custom search folder:

1. Click Search Folder, and then either click a predefined folder name, or scroll down and click Create a custom Search Folder.
2. Click Choose, give the new folder a name, and then click Criteria to fill in the search terms.

• 2003 to 2007 Document Information Panel

With the Document Information Panel in Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and Office Professional Plus 2007, you can edit document properties directly in the program.

1. Click the Office button, and then click Prepare.
2. Click Properties. The Document Information Panel appears below the Ribbon.
3. Enter the appropriate information and save the document.

Keep in mind, search engines like the ones included in Windows Vista and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 use document properties to deliver search results that are more relevant. So if you want to make something easier to find, make sure your document properties are up to date.

• For Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

Choose a Signature for Different Recipients in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
If you want to use a different e-mail signature for different recipients (a different one for coworkers than for customers, for example), you can change your signature with two mouse clicks. Right-click your signature, and then click the other signature that you want to use.

• Zooming to Fit a Selection

1. Select the range of cells that you want to focus on.
2. Click the View tab, and then click Zoom to Selection.

• Fine-Tuning Objects in Presentations

When working with text in Microsoft Office PowerPoint, you can use the F2 key to switch between selecting text in a placeholder and selecting the placeholder itself. So the next time you've edited some text and want to reposition it on the slide, instead of clicking the tiny edges of the box, just press F2. The entire text box will instantly be selected for you, ready for alignment.

Expand your social network with 3gb.biz

Missing your old friends? Sick of all those boring social networking sites?
3gb.biz community is a relatively new social networking site where you can connect with your old friends and upload your photos ,mp3s , blog about things you like.You will be able to chat with your friends and hear your favorite music tracks. The community provides excellent privacy features which are hard to find anywhere else. As a user you can keep your profile private so that only users permitted by you will have access to.A blocked user list is also provided so that you can block someone from contacting you.You can blog about anything from rocket science to your personal life,the good blogs get listed on the homepage which is really cool. So join the community and start inviting your friends.

ASUS G35: World's First Platform with onboard DirectX10 support

Looks like Vista is finally getting the manufacturer support it needs.With this announcement Asus unveiled new motherboards, which are the world's first to provide an Intel platform with an onboard integrated VGA solution that features built-in support for Windows Vista DirectX 10.
"The ASUS´ Intel G35 chipset motherboards allow users to enjoy enhanced Microsoft Vista DirectX 10 graphics on a motherboard solution “right out of the box”. This series of motherboards are the world´s first to provide an Intel platform with an onboard integrated VGA solution that features built-in support for Windows Vista DirectX 10."

The Asus motherboards with IGPs supporting DirectX 10 include the ASUS P5E-V HDMI, P5E-VM HDMI and the P5E-VM SE motherboards.

The Asus P5E-V HDMI features the Intel G35/ICH9R chipset, 1333/1066/800 MHz FSB, Dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533 MHz, 12xUSB 2.0, HDMI and Intel GMA X3500 Graphics chipset with Quad VGA output support.

The Asus P5E-VM HDMI is similar to the P5E-V, but only has dual display support.

The P5E-VM SE has fewer features than the above two and only supports one display and has no HDMI.

All of the above motherboards support Intel's latest 45nm processors.

Microsoft, HCL launch world's cheapest laptop

Microsoft Corporation and HCL Infosystems on Friday announced a series of joint initiatives, including launch of world's cheapest ultra portable laptop and setting up of centre of excellence, which will employ over 500 professionals.

Priced at Rs 16,990, MiLeap brand of HCL laptops with Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system is the lowest priced among the MS operating system powered laptops, the company officials said.
Source:The Economic Times

SONY ERICSSON W810i : Review

SONY ERICSSON W810i:
Size:
Dimensions: 100 x 46 x 19.5 mm
Weight: 99 g

Display Type: TFT, 256K colors
Display Size: 176 x 220 pixels, 28 x 35 mm
Wallpapers, screensavers available.

Ringtones
Type: Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3
Composer, downloadable available.

Memory
Phonebook: 1000 x 24 fields, Photo call
Call records: 30 received, dialed and missed calls

Card Slot : Memory Stick Duo Pro (up to 2GB), 512 MB card included and 20 MB shared memory

GPRS :Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

HSCSD :No

EDGE :Class 10, 236.8 kbps

3G :No

WLAN :No

Bluetooth :Yes, v2.0

Infrared Port :Yes

USB :Yes, v2.0

Features

• Messaging

• SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Browser : WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (NetFront)

Games : Yes + downloadable

Colors :Satin Black, Fusion White

Camera :2 MP, 1632x1224 pixels, autofocus, video, flash


- MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player
- Video player
- Java
- T9
- FM radio with RDS
- Image viewer
- Picture editor
- Organiser
- Voice memo
- SyncML
- Built-in handsfree

Battery :Standard battery, Li-Ion

Stand-by :Up to 350 h

Talk time :Up to 8 h

Overall verdict:
Bluetooth is solid for transferring files and working with Bluetooth headsets. A 512MB Memory Stick Duo card is bundled with the phone and has the capability to upgrade to 2GB storage for photos and music.This really cool gadget with xenon flash and price less than 10000 is a must buy.

Gmail and yahoo! mail : new dens of a spammer

Since the day i got my first mail ID, i have been getting spam mails. And it wasn't before long that these mails used to carry obscure(read crap) addresses as sender with no reply possible.But the scenario has changed dramatically with spammers realizing the worth of having a reliable looking address. Just before few months there was a story about some hack used to compromise CAPTCHA* (you might have seen this in action many times).This hack allowed users(read spammers) to bypass the word verification which traditionally is used to tell humans and software robots apart.

There are different antispam measures taken like blacklisting any suspicious IP so that it will no longer be useful.But most of the times these IPs belonged to someone who had no idea of the abuse.But services like Gmail and Yahoo! are highly popular,free and highly unlikely to be blacklisted a spammer gains a lot by using these.

Anti-spam filtering services such as MessageLabs have responded by throttling or slowing down the connection. "We're seeing more spam coming from Gmail and Yahoo!. Where a service is widely abused its reputation goes down and it's held back in the queue. This happens automatically," explained MessageLabs security analyst Paul Wood.

The approach, one stage in a multi-stage scanning and filtering process, is designed to make life difficult for spammers using botnets(a software robot that runs automatically) to send spam through compromised webmail accounts.

"These traffic management controls are not designed to block messages, they are intended only to slow down their transit. For messages that are subsequently blocked there should be a reason given in the non-delivery report," Wood told El Reg.

An analysis of spam trends in February 2008 (the last available monthly figures) by MessageLabs revealed that 4.6 per cent of all spam originates from web mail-based services.

The proportion of spam from Gmail increased two-fold from 1.3 per cent in January to 2.6 per cent in February, most of which spamvertised skin-flick websites. Yahoo! Mail was the most abused web mail service, responsible for sending 88.7 per cent of all web mail-based spam.

It was first thought that automated tools were used by spammers to defeat security checks and establish webmail accounts that might later be abused to send junk. More organisations are coming around to the theory, first floated by Brad Taylor, a Google software engineer, that bots are signing-up for accounts before sending the puzzles to real people.

Source: The Register

With mighty GOOGLE having registered this little problem atleast Gmail users can rest assured that it wont be long before their mailbox becomes spam free again.


*CAPTCHAs typically help ensure that online accounts can't be created until a user correctly identifies letters depicted in an image. The tactic is designed to frustrate the use of automated sign-up tools by spammers and other miscreants

The Zen of Blogging-an ebook every blogger should read

Why do bloggers blog?
Thats the million dollar question.For most it is about sharing their ideas,thoughts or just ranting about things they like.For rest it is about making money and to be honest i belong to this group.But this is not as simple as it seems to be.There are just so many factors to consider like choosing the niche ,writing style etc.A new blogger like me looks up to people like Darren or Steve and try to figure out right methods for optimizing blog,increasing visitors.But every one of these established bloggers have their own style and unique way when it comes to this.So till now i was just too confused to get up and running with my blog as i had become unsure even about my niche.There were just too many questions to find answers for.Fortunately i subscribed to problogger last month and i got a real treat in my mailbox today.The article spoke about an ebook from Hunter Nuttall. When i opened it (its free you see) i was pleasantly shocked to see that this ebook wasn't that conventional "make money from blogging" ebook at all. The book answers almost all the important questions a blogger may or may not face in most funny manner i have ever read in this category.
I am quite sure that should he take to full time writing Hunter will be a serious competition to JKR. He has explained most important things like choosing niche,platform,domain names in simplest possible language that one can read this book as bedtime story.
Download the ebook from here

PS:
On sixth page he says his "vista with IE7" didn't crash even after opening many pages in tabs at a time. This just proves that he was actually dreaming about all this.

Accepting Payments Online: An ECommerce Web Site Overview

There are a seemingly infinite number of choices and configurations to accepting payments online. Choices range from almost total "do it yourself" programming to turnkey packages.

You can accept online payments from an ECommerce Web site in two general ways:

1)Through your own online merchant account and/or
2)Through a third party online payment processor.

Accepting Payments Online through your own Internet Merchant Account

Accepting payments online via a merchant account puts you in control and limits your reliability on outside payment acceptance services. This approach can also seem like a jigsaw puzzle. Besides an Internet merchant account, you will need shopping cart software, a store or site host, a processor, and a secure payment gateway.

You may fit these pieces together in several different ways. On one end of the spectrum, you can choose the provider for each piece individually. On the other end, you may choose a turnkey solution, where a single provider has completed the puzzle for you.

There is no single best solution. Your choice will depend on your particular needs and experience. Among other considerations, you should factor in your own comfort with the technologies, customer convenience, providers' service levels, available technical support, reliability, costs, and time commitment involved.

Fees

There are a myriad of potential costs and fees involved in accepting payments online, making it difficult to compare different options.

Potentially, you could be charged fees by each provider involved in helping you accept payments online - application fees, set-up fees, yearly memberships, monthly statement charges, monthly minimums, gateway access fees, statement fees, fixed transaction fees, variable transaction discount rates (processing fee for each transaction), and cancellation penalties are all common.

Often, it is easy to misinterpret the fees you will owe. Rarely are all costs revealed in one place. If you are reading about a merchant account, for example, the quoted costs may not include gateway access, hosting, and/or shopping cart. Because you may be comparing "apples to oranges", options that at first appear low-cost can - upon implementation - turn out to be pricey. Similarly, expensive-sounding solutions may actually be reasonably priced.

Accepting Payments Online through a Third Party Online Payment Processor

If you are not ready to set up your own online merchant account and/or you want to offer additional online payment options, you can turn to a variety of third party online payment processors.

Third party online payment processors provide a way to accept payments online without the extra cost and obligation of a merchant account. To compensate, transaction fees and/or discount rates are significantly higher than for merchant accounts.

Each program is a little different and no single third party payment processor is right for all situations. Clickbank, for example, helps you sell digital products online. At last check, CCNow processes payment for tangible items only.

Deciding What's Best for You

Whether you accept payments online through an Internet merchant account, through a third party payment processor, or both, read all agreements carefully before committing. Do not hesitate to ask the providers questions if information is unclear or incomplete.

There is more information about accepting payments online - including explanations of merchant account fees, finding the right ecommerce providers, and third party payment processor overview - on the ecommerce information site Take-Payments- Online.com, here.

Put together the "puzzle pieces" for accepting payments online and your ecommerce Web sales will flourish!
About the Author

Bobette Kyle is publisher of the ecommerce information site http://www.Take-Payments-Online.com . She is also proprietor of The WebSiteMarketingPlan.com Network, subject-specific Web sites designed to help you find the right information for writing and implementing your marketing plan.

Earn money from home

Want to earn real money online?
Yes?
Then finally you are at the right place.Just spare a few minutes and go on reading.

Since 1998, SFI has been leading the Internet income revolution with its cutting edge affiliate program that empowers even average people to earn $20, $50, even $100 per hour working from their home computer.

SFI has shown millions of men and women from over 200 countries worldwide how to cash in on the Internet. In fact, our system is so successful that OVER 8000 people join SFI every week!

SFI is totally FREE for affiliates to join. And there's absolutely NO OBLIGATION. SFI provides you with FREE Websites, a FREE course that teaches you everything you need to know to make money online ($295 value), and hundreds of exciting products to stock your online store shelves with.

Plus, SFI takes care of all orders, product shipments, and customer service for you. You just have to cash the commission checks!

Want to know more. Here is "open sesame" of your fortune.

Blogs, Podcasting and RSS | eCommerce Impact

Blogs, Podcasting, and RSS Overview You probably have heard all these terms an awful lot lately. You wonder about what these technologies do? What value to they provide? If you aren't up to speed on these new applications and how they are impacting online interactions then read this brief further. Will these technologies impact you? To be honest, it's too early to tell - but awareness will drive innovation and maybe your team will develop an idea/application that utilizes these technologies to enhance a portion of your eCommerce business.

Here's the rundown: Blogs What they are: Probably the most well known of the three, blogs allow everyday people to quickly develop a website presence and distribute any type of content that they desire. Look at the metrics relating to blog penetration.

* 7% of the 120 million U.S. adults who use the internet say they have created a blog or web-based diary. That represents more than 8 million people.

* 27% of internet users say they read blogs.

* Only 38% of all internet users know what a blog is. The rest are not sure what the term "blog" means. What a "blog" actually means is weblog. In basic terminology, it's the ability for someone to update web content directly though the Internet, using a web browser as the publishing mechanism. This makes the creation of content easy and many people are using blogs to establish authority sites within unique business and hobby/interest niches. Where blogs impact online retail most is within these targeted online communities. Certain blog authors develop a large base of specific visitors, hence the site becomes a potential target market for viral marketing efforts. Many web entrepreneurs us this functionality to develop affiliate hubs within niche markets, and use search popularity to beat out larger retailers within corresponding natural search results.

By integrating your brand image within the site experience at that SPECIFIC blog, you as an online marketer are able to segment your marketing PRIOR to converting someone as a customer. It is a place to communicate with current and potential customers about current offerings/promos while boosting the credibility of the brand. Should you care: If you have a very unique value proposition, or sell to a very specific or high-value customer segment, blogs can be a great way to increase overall brand awareness. You can better connect with your customers and provide detail into the current happening within the business (ex. Current sales on XBOX 360). Potentially, one person within your organization should own the monitoring of blogs within


your vertical and look to post new content to meet the needs within the unique blog community.

Podcasting What it is: Pocasting should be just called mobile video broadcasting. However, Apple's marketing/development team did a great job with branding their device to a type of emerging media - hence the term podcasting! Similar to traditional radio and television, mobile video broadcasting delivers branded content in either a paid/free environment, on someone's mobile media player (Apple only does video currently, but that will change shortly). Retailers can potentially use this communication channel to deliver targeted content to their customer base, while integrating advertising within the video content.

Should you care: Not really. Until video podcasting penetration increases, it's still a limited channel for advertising. The best application available right now would be an online audio content segment that is digitally delivered to an opt-in list. As technology advances, you can potentially do this from your current opt-in page on your website and not from Apple's iTunes platform.

RSS RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and is a method for electronic content distribution. RSS is transmitted via the internet, but what makes it unique is that no downloading efforts are needed by the end receiver of the content. The content streams instateneously within a webpage.

Advanced consumers have RSS news readers on their computers, either integrated into an email client, or utilize an aggregated web application such as News Gator. This essentially saves them time in aggregating all new and updated content that meets their interests. Already gaining steam in the travel industry and within comparison shopping engines, RSS seems to be a valuable way to push news and time sensitive offers to customers. Travel companies are able to provide a streaming supply of last minute airfare offers to their customer segments, without that customer having to open an email or visit a webpage.



Should you care: It completely depends on the nature of your business. Do you consistently offer new prices? Do you obtain new products to your assortment consistently? Do you have a customer base that is extremely loyal that you want to reach out to with messaging? If so, RSS may another channel to help build your brand. Call us today to learn more about these technologies and the potential impact they can have in reaching your customers with targeted messaging and fresh content.

About the author:

http://www.trinityinsight.com

Ecommerce Solutions Compared

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of businesses and organizations eager to assist and sell product online.

Basically, they fall into four categories:

• credit card transactions,
  
• digital cash transactions,
  
• electronic fund transfers and telephone billing systems

The right choice for you depends upon your specific business requirements.

1. Merchant Internet Accounts.
Pros: Consumers are familiar with credit cards with credit card transactions, consumers dont have to download and install special plug-in. Credit card sales lends itself to impulse buying.

Cons: Consumers still have concerns regarding providing financial information online. This method does not lend itself well to the purchase of down loadable soft goods, such as software, art, graphics, etc

2. Electronic Cash Transactions.
Electronic money is an arrangement whereby the customer pays for the merchandise using, well, electronic money. Examples of this are the well known DigiCash, Cyberbucks, CyberCash, etc.
Pros: No credit card transactions are required. No concerns re charge backs. Lends itself well to micro payments.

Cons: Many people are unfamiliar with the concept and shy away from unknown entities. Eliminates the possibility of impulse buying, unless both customer and merchant are already in same scheme. May not be available globally.

3. Electronic Fund Transfers.
Funds are transferred electronically from the customer's bank account to yours. The best known method is the issuing of electronic checks.
Pros: No credit card worries. Available to persons who dont have credit cards

Cons :A very new technology that some perceive as being less secure than other forms of ecommerce. Many customers arent set up to issue electronic cheques; time required to make the arrangements eliminates impulse buying. May not be available to international consumers.

4. Telephone Billing Systems A very new approach, telephone transactions allow the customer to purchase an item or service, and the amount is billed to his or her telephone bill.
Pros: Eliminates worries about credit cards (for both consumer and merchant) Safeguards soft merchandise no possibility of theft or pirating.
Cons: Customer is required to download and install a plug-in. currently only available for soft merchandise but can do some limited transactions for hard goods. Currently available for sales using telephone modems and will not work for transactions over cable modems and ISDN lines.

For more information on credit card processing,please visit http://www.paynetsystems.com

Ecommerce Hosting Considerations

Website hosting can be a complex undertaking. Determining how much space you need, how much transfer, finding a reliable host, and getting everything online is no simple task. Add ecommerce to the mix and things become even more complex. This article will deal with some of those additional complications to finding a host for an online store. All of the same considerations to finding general hosting can be applied to ecommerce hosting, there are simply a few additional ones that need some attention.

Basics- Disk Space and Transfer

The core states of any kind of hosting, ecommerce or not, remain space and transfer, or traffic. Generally measured in monthly increments, your space and transfer will place a crucial role in determining just what size plan you need. Ecommerce sites will, generally speaking, require more space and transfer than an equivilant sized site without ecommerce. This is due to the presence of the shopping cart upon which the online storefront is based. Shopping cart programs are installed to the account on which they operate, requiring space, and their scripts for running the store will require additional transfer to handle customers as they browse, add items to their cart, and check out. Will there be a tremendous amount of extra transfer required by the cart? That depends on how many use the cart and on the cart itself. This is why its best to start small and having a clear upgrade path to handle future popularity.

Prospective online merchants will generally have a good idea how many products they'll be selling initially. This will vary wildly from merchant to merchant, and many merchants don't put their entire stocks online. It is wise to start with a considered selection of products first, especially if you wish to initially keep your hosting plan small and upgrade as the store prospers. Those with a great deal of products need to be aware they will probably be facing a bigger monthly fee for a larger hosting plan. Once the decision is made regarding the products, attention can be turned to finding a suitable shopping cart program to contain them.

Shopping Cart

The choice of shopping cart can be a personal one. Those entirely new to ecommerce will probably not have any experience with any kind of shopping cart software. There are a number of popular choices, and most hosting companies will provide one, if not a variety, from which you can choose. It is important to find a shopping cart that suits the individual user, as attempting to change your shopping down the road can be a long process that will, most likely, bring your store down during a transitional period. Don't immediately jump at the first cart a host offers. Ask if they have demos and try them out. Be sure it's a program you can learn and use, as it is the primary way you'll be doing your online business. Even if you have a large business and have a design firm setting up the cart, a rudimentary knowledge of the cart's processes is highly recommended.

Learn as much about your prospective shopping cart software as possible. Make
sure it supports SSL, a common site security protocol that will help keep your customer's credit card numbers safe when ordering online. It will need to support your merchant account and payment gateway. In many cases a host might bundle these services, so compatibility isn't an issue. If you secured your merchant services separately from hosting, be sure they are compatible. Find out if the cart has a recommended maximum product limit and, of course, try not to exceed it. The store may slow down and perform poorly if there are too many products in it.

Finally, make sure it will do everything you want it to do. Some merchants sell services and downloadable items that don't conform exactly to the order-product-ship-product flow. If your cart doesn't support these features by default, there may be 3rd party add-ons that will provide this functionality. Miva Merchant is one such shopping cart with a very active 3rd party developer community providing a wide range of add-ons, or "modules" to extend the feature set of the original program. The merchant will have to buy these add-ons and have them installed on their own initiative, though, and the hosting company will not be able to support them.

Reliability and Support

Perhaps of greatest importance is reliability in your chosen host. Think in terms of a "brick and mortar" storefront. If someone locks the front door during business hours, then no customers can come in and nothing is sold. Similarly, if an online store is down at any hour, no customers can come in and nothing is sold. You want the most reliable hosting for such a mission-critical site. Never just take the word of a hosting company's site in regards to their uptime. Do research and look for customer reviews of your prospective host. Online merchants should always be willing to pay more for a reliable hosting company with good uptime and support. A good rule of thumb is to stay away from free or "bargain basement" hosts, since support and uptime are usually the first things to suffer with this kind of hosting.

Conclusions

Finding the right ecommerce hosting company requires a few additional considerations. Decide on your products, your shopping cart, and then shop for your hosting company. You will need more space and transfer than an equivalent site, but start small with your product selection and you can still save money on your hosting. Find a shopping cart that's easy for you to use and understand, as switching at a later date can result in downtime and a lot of work transferring your products. Finally, make sure your host has solid uptime, as an online store that's down isn't generating any sales.

About the Author

Mr. Lester has served for 4 years as the webmaster for http://www.apollohosting.com and previously worked in the IT industry an additional 5 years, acquiring knowledge of hosting, design, and search engine optimization. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers.

Must have apps for FIREFOX

The best but relatively unused firefox extensions:

• Fast video download:

For me this is best of the lot. As youtube does not provide any option for downloading videos the only way was to use sites like Keepvid. Fast video download solves this problem and provides an option to download youtube videos at the right corner of browser.

• PicLens :
  

PicLens instantly transforms your browser into a full-screen 3D experience for viewing images across the web. Makes browsing through pictures a wonderful experience. The interactive 3D Wall and built-in search function, lets you effortlessly drag, click, zoom, and zip your way around a wall of pictures for an amazing viewing experience.

• Snap Links
  

This is another great tool that saves a good deal of time by allowing selection and opening of multiple links at once.Especially useful while searching for something.

• Tab Scope:

With Tab Scope you can hover over a tab to get an instant preview of the web page. The cool thing is you have real time navigation, zoom, and you can even click on links without having to switch tabs.

• Reminder Fox:

This is for people like me who can never stop surfing unless made to.This cool app. allows to set reminders.

• Download Statusbar:

You can view and manage downloads in a small status bar in the corner of the screen, without having that download window get in your way.

• HyperWords:
  

This one makes a newbies job really simple.Suppose you are browsing a fairly advanced site that deals with operating system concepts then you may encounter many new terms and get stuck, with this add-on enabled just hover over the particular term and find its exact meaning

• Tab Effect

It adds a nice effect to Firefox by simulating a 3D cube being turned when switching through tabs.Hot!!!!!

• Cooliris Previews
  

Cooliris Preview allows you to surf through the web faster by giving you a small preview of the website, without you even having to click on it. Just imagine, surfing without wasting time by clicking on links and coming to realize that it wasn't even close to what you were looking for. All you have to do is just mouse over any link, and the Cooliris preview window immediately appears in order to show you the content.

Windows registry: A user's guide

You might have heard about windows registry.Many of us use registry without even knowing exactly how it works.In this article i will explain windows registry with the discussion being limited only to windows XP ,as i dont care about vista(i switched back you see) and 98 is dead.

• What is registry?

It is a directory which stores different settings and options.All the contents are arranged in hierarchal manner. It provides information and settings for all the hardware, operating system and currently installed programs alongwith the changes made to default system configurations.

• Structure of Windows registry:

As i said the registry is arranged in hierarchal manner.It has five main branches and each can expanded into sub-branches called "Keys".Each key can contain one or more "Values".The value can be of different types such as string (_SZ), binary(_BINARY), Double word(_DWORD) or even no type(_NONE).

• Where is it stored?

In windows XP it is stored in two directories depending upon corresponding "Hives". Each of these hives need support files containing its data. "%SystemRoot%\System32\Config" and "%SystemRoot%\Profiles\Username" are the directories that contain these files.

• Branches:

The windows XP registry is divided into five main branches(Hives).These branches are named starting with "HKEY" and these names are then abbreviated to four letters starting with "HK".
I have listed all branches in accordance with the order they appear in XP registry.

1. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT:(HKCR)
   

This key contains all the file extension associations and COM class registration information such as ProgIDs, CLSIDs, and IIDs.
Actually this information is a compilation of registration and file extension information stored under both the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER keys. The HKCR key provides a view of the registry that merges the information from these two sources.

2.HKEY_CURRENT_USER:(HKCU)

As the name suggests this hive stores all the data related to the currently logged-in user. You can find this as "NTUSER.DAT" in "%SystemRoot%\Profiles\Username"
The information stored under this hive includes control panel settings, system events etc.

3.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)

This branch contains information about all of the hardware and software installed on your computer.
A list of all active hives can be found at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\hivelist

4.HKEY_USERS:(HKU)

This key contains the information related to all the users currently registered with the system.

5.HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG:(HKCC)

This branch points to the part of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE appropriate for the current hardware configuration. It contains information about the hardware profile that is used by the local computer at system startup.

• Moving through the registry:

The Registry Editor (regedit.exe) is included with Windows enables manual editing as well as viewing of the contents of the Registry. To use this just type "regedit" at RUN and hit "Enter".
After this you'll see a window divided into two panes. The left side shows a tree with folders (see image for reference), and the right side shows the contents (values) of the currently selected folder (key).
To expand any branch, click on the little plus sign [+] to the left of any folder, or just double-click on the folder. To display the contents of a key (folder), just click the desired key, and look at the values listed on the right side

• Editing the registry:

This can also be called as "importing into" the registry.

1. Manual editing:

A new key or value can be added by selecting New from the Edit menu. You can rename any value and almost any key with the same method used to rename files; right-click on an object and click rename, or click on it twice (slowly), or just press F2 on the keyboard. Lastly, you can delete a key or value by clicking on it, and pressing Delete on the keyboard, or by right-clicking on it, and choosing Delete.Few registry edits will need you to restart system to take effect.

2.Using Registration entries:(.reg files)

The registry can be edited by simply merging ".Reg" file in it. Again it can be done manually by double clicking or by using logon/logoff scripts. The examples for these can be found here and here.

• Exporting:

Can also be referred as "backing up" of the registry.
Just ope the Registry Editor, select a branch, and choose "Export" from the File menu. Then, specify a filename, and press OK. The file will be saved as ".Reg" file.By opening it in Notepad (right-click on it and select Edit) its contents can be viewed.To apply it to the registry just open it by double clicking.


PS:
If you like this article and are interested in learning .reg scripts then leave a comment i'll be happy to explain in next article.

I signed up for PPP!

Or is it the other way round?
When a blogger decides to moneytize his/her blog then most common and trusted way is to write sponsored reviews. Now as we all know PPP is most trusted among advertisers whenever it comes to blog reviews and most favored among the bloggers.For past one month i had been trying frantically to get my blog approved by them. I did all i can from changing my blog's layout to spamming their help boxes telling them about how good my blog is but PPP kept rejecting me without a second thought as i had more ads than posts.At last i gave up and you can imagine how happy(shocked?) i was when i saw "your blog has been approved" mail in my inbox.
Without losing a single moment i logged into my PPP account and Viola! there was an opportunity waiting for me.As if to enable me to write what i felt (and to get paid for that) it was about PPP itself. I am being paid $20 for this post and if i can get two such opportunities every week my gaming rig wont be sitting idle at the shop.

Before you apply(and start dreaming about your $s) you should consider following things:

• PPP is as big as blog reviews can get and will remain so for coming years.
  
• The blogs are approved only when they satisfy strict norms that are in place to benefit both bloggers and advertisers.
• The blogs primarily maintained for making money(i.e those containing excessive advertising) wont probably get approved.
• PPP needs you to disclose to your readers about a particular post/opinion being a paid one.
• As to the benefits, they are practically unlimited. Just for example "a page rank 6" blogger can get as high as $135 for a single post. Lowest is $10.
• You(blogger) can even decide your own price and use PPP tools to get advertisers independently.

I wont write too much but i can safely tell you that if you want to moneytize your blog then sponsored reviews is the best option and for that you don't need to look beyond PPP.

MAC has fallen again

yeah it has happened again.If last year it took few hours for Dino Dai Zovi to get control of MAC this year Charlie Miller did it in just two minutes.Some improvement, huh?

Charlie Miller has broken into a "MacBook Air"(yup the same one "thinnest" and all that...) at the CanSecWest security conference's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest.The security researcher had to work under strict conditions with one of them being "He/she could only take advantage of software that was pre-installed on the Mac" which means the flaw must be of OS itself.He used a flaw in "Safari" by directing the contest organizers to a malicious wab page that contained a script written by him.
Last year's winner Dino Dai Zovi exploited a vulnerability in QuickTime to take control of the machine.
At the same time the researchers were not able to hack into Vista computers(Ok leave it for some kid...) under strict conditions for third party applications.
So in short it means that Out of the box(no third party apps.) Vista is more secure than Mac.
The rules were to be eased on Friday so the exact standings of both the operating systems will be out today as with third party apps. machine will have more bugs that can be exploited.

PS:
Mighty Apple engineers are working to release the patch.

Excellent freeware utilities for windows XP/Vista

While i was surfing today i found an interesting site with equally interesting tools for windows users.

• Restart 1.56

Description

Restart is a system utility for advanced users with more than one operating system installed on their machine. The program installs an icon in the notification area, and with a single click the computer will shutdown and restart with the selected operating system. The program also includes commands to shutdown the computer in different ways (including stand-by and hibernate), a schedule function, and advanced settings for uncommon configurations.
Few weeks back i wrote an article about customizing boot.ini for dual boot you can go through it if you want to know exactly how booting takes place.

Download this excellent utility from here.

• Send To Toys 2.5

If you are a windows user then you have surely seen "send to" menu whenever you right click on anything. This freeware utility lets you customize the send to menu so that you can get all your preferred options.True, you can do all this manually within minutes but whats the point of using "windows" then?
So instead of sweating(?) yourself just download this utility and you are done.

14 ways to speed up XP/vista

Most(almost all) of these tweaks are applicable for Vista as well just with a little bit of change.
e.g vista uses "computer" instead of "my computer" in xp

1.) Defragment your HDD regurlarly. You can use windows in built defragging tool or use a dedicated software like diskeeper.

2.)You should upgrade your RAM.These days you can easily get a 1gb chip(DDR2) for 850 INR.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system.
If you are using FAT then convert it to NTFS .

• click Start,

• click Run,

• type CMD,

• click OK.

At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. NTFS offers greater security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. Though this service speeds up searching it really is taxing on the system so outweighs its benefits. TO disable just follow these simple steps:

• First, double-click the My Computer icon.
  
• right-click on the C: Drive,
• then select Properties.
• Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching."
  
• Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK.
  
• If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
• Now wait for some time this takes time to complete.
  

5.) Use tune-up.

6.) To speed up boot read this article.

7.) Run a disk cleanup frequently(wont be necessary if you use tune up).

• Double-click the My Computer icon.
  
• right-click on the C: drive and select Properties.
• Click the Disk Cleanup button
  
• delete all temporary files.

8.) Use proper cabling nd upgrade your hardware drivers.You will find the options in device manager. Just enter "dvmgr.msc" at RUN and choose the hardware (like monitor) and double click on it to open properties box. Under drivers tab you will find an option to upgrade your drivers.

9.) Use a good antivirus program.I recommend "kaspersky" the ultimate security solution that blocks everything from pop-ups to viruses.

10.) Use "msconfig" to remove an program that are loading your system start-up and are good for nothing.
Just type "msconfig" at run and uncheck unwanted programs from "start-up" restart your system and you will see boot time reduced.

11.) If you are not a looks freak then just turn off all the not so cool animations and there by save your precious resources.

• right click on "my computer"
• select "properties"
• "advanced"
• "performance" click on settings
• In "visual effects" tab select adjust for best performance.You should keep " use drop shadows under desktop icons" and "show common tasks for folders" checked so that you wont feel too alien.
  

12.) Update windows regularly.

13.) Make habit of cleaning computer case and fans. If you are not sure about opening cabinet then you can take it to any computer shop.

14.)This is most important if you want your system to run smooth.Keep visiting this blog to get more tips and tweaks.

Vista SP1 is available for download

Vista service pack 1 is finally available for the general public. The SP1 has been released for x86 as well as x64 architectures . The x86 is update is about 435 mb and x64 is 763mb. According to microsoft this update irons out issues like compatibility, performance and also supports few emerging standards.I'll use sp1 today and hopefully update this post tomorrow.
Download sp1 for x86 here
Download sp1 for x64 here

Beryl cube on XP

If you are smitten by the looks of vista then you should check out these videos:

1. WINDOWS VISTA AERO VS LINUX UBUNTU BERYL
2. 3D Desktop! TouchScreen and XGL on Linux!

You wont really need to think which one is HOT ! Beryl easily beats Vista in looks and it will seem hotter when i tell you that Beryl works on linux thats not a resource hog like dear old Vista. Beryl doesnt need all those graphics cards and 2gigs of RAM to get it crawling,it RUNs great even with 512 mbs of RAM. But not everyone one of us will be ready to switch from vista/xp to linux just for Beryl instead you will immediately search if Beryl is available for vista/xp. This is where i step in, well not in the big way but i will save your 5 minutes by giving link to a good software that imitates Beryl on xp.
You can download trial version from
http://www.otakusoftware.com/deskspace/index.html

Though its not as good as real Beryl its enough to give some hint about what you will see with linux in coming years.

Tilana Reserve: a complete data protection solution

Well, first of all let me make it clear that this article is not for terrorists,because Tilana Reverse is a data protection software that makes it impossible for you to get rid of your data.OK! kiddin!
All of us know how important it is to keep our data safe.The importance of some dedicated data management platform can not be underestimated in business as well as home environments. Most businesses employ data management professionals whose work solely consists of securely backing up and storing of data. This results in greater expense and lesser reliability.
"Tilana Reverse" is a perfection solution for such small to medium business and home environments.I have also provided a snapshot of the tool.

Features:

• Truly Continuous Data Protection(CDP):

With this enabled each and every file edited/changed by you is backed up automatically in REAL time not at fixed intervals like any other backup utility.

• Off-site file storage:

Your deleted files are permanently stored at a secure remote storage space from which those can easily be retrieved whenever needed.

• Tilana Reverse is not only fully compatible with windows XP and vista but also with windows mobile.
• Multi-computer synchronization on one balanced, quickly deployed, versatile, and extensible online CDP data protection and synchronization platform.
• Technical support is available whenever needed.
• Provides all the necessary links right into your browser as a toolbar making it much more easier to work with.
• Most importantly unlike any other back up utility Tilana does not load system or eat up bandwidth it works silently in the background so that you will notice it only when you restore some important project document from your Off-site storage.
  

Nano does a Nokia

The ultimate perfections have always proved to be otherwise no matter how marginally. Same has happened with an ipod in Japan.In January an ipod (model number MA099J/A) from a series "nano" that has long been discontinued in japan emitted sparks while charging and happens to contain the same type of batteries(lithium ion) that were replaced by Nokia in INDIA last year when few handsets started getting extremely hot while charging.
Though the ipod in question was fairly old Apple japan is investigating into the matter, as there are about 425,000 ipods sold with same model number.With no injuries being reported it is clear that the incident was a minor one.Japan's trade ministry has launched a safety investigation and results will be out in few days.

customize VISTA interface

This is another article in my vista series.Here i 'll talk about few extremely cool vista customizations.

• windows dreamscene:

This coolest feature of vista lets you set a video clip or full size movie as your desktop background.
How to use(for default scene):

1. right click on desktop
   
2. select personalize
   
3. desktop background
4. from location drop-down menu choose "windows dreamscene content". You are done.
   

Any other file (.mpg or wmv) can be used just by right clicking on it and then selecting "set as desktop background".

• windows photo gallery:

Gone are the days of passive "picture and fax viewer" of XP. Coz vista's photo gallery not only lets you view the photo but also provides options for adding tags and controlling colors.
Just click on "fix" and you will be able to adjust color,exposure or even fix the red eye effect.

• Navigation pane:

Vista doesnt show familiar "my documents" folder if you open "computer"
Instead at the left hand side of explorer window you will see list of commonly visited locations like documents, picures etc. It also shows a location called "recently changed" which lists the documents that recently edited.
At the bottom of this pane is a option called "Folders". If you click on this it will expand into good old explorer of XP.
In the same navigation pane there is a location named "Searches". Many times you search for something ,find it,use it and again forget its location so that you have to search again next time.No more. In vista it provides an option of saving your search results so that they can be accessed any time and much more easily. Whenever you perform any search just click "file(or ALT+ F) and choose "save search" you are done.


Keep visiting.

Vista security(read ps)

Is vista really secure? Well thats the million dollar question.Though its for the first time after NT microsoft has designed something keeping security at center, the worldwide acceptance of windows is quite appealing for the attackers to work their brains out.As due to the "Law of Conservation of Bugs(see note)" it is entirely impossible to make any software completely secure because it is these bugs that are exploited to take control of victim machine.But the important point is finally world's greatest software company has taken security seriously and so we can except next windows (probably Windows 7 ) versions to be more and more secure.


Now lets get back to Vista.

• Many times while using XP sp2 we have seen security center in action. Its primary function in XP was to report about current status of firewalls , antivirus and all that. This passive security center is made active in Vista.

The first three functions are just like XP.
The notable addition is windows defender and its really cool because MS continuously updates the spyware definitions which are instantly made available through updates .
Security center also ensures that all internet settings are at recommend level.

• Now another important feature is UAC(User Account Control)

Though this gives more trouble, its importance can not be denied.Whenever you try to do anything that threatens security(e.g changing screen resolution) UAC asks for your permission.
Personally i think MS should have excluded day to day tasks from UAC. As most of us have heard the story of "The shepherd who cried wolf" after some time we just start allowing anything UAC asks our permission for(I have disabled UAC).

Next articles will dug deep into defender and discuss its strengths and weaknesses.

Note:
Law of conversion of Bugs: The law states that bugs can neither be created nor be destroyed they can only be converted from one form to another.
Number of bugs is directly proportional to the number of line in a program.

PS there was a mistake in title earlier that has been corrected.

have some fun with windows

here is a trick worthy of trying on your friend's PC and it can be really funny.

Open command prompt.

Goto start > run > cmd

now type

debug name.txt hit enter
ignore "file not found"

type rcx hit enter

now here comes the important part. First decide the filesize you want to create. Dont go for too large 1000000000 bytes is more than sufficient to scare anyone. Now using windows calculator or by hand(better) convert this number into hex.It comes out to be 3B9ACA00 now split this number in two parts like 3B9A and CA00.

Now enter CA00 in command window and hit enter.

type rbx hit enter
again enter 3B9A and hit enter

type w to write the file. Hit enter. This will take time depending upon filesize so wait till the dash appears again.

now type q to exit debug and type exit to close command prompt.

Now you will see a 1gb text file which is too big for notepad to open.

VISTA User interface

Just look at this.This Flip-3D really justifies all the efforts MS took while designing vista and the trouble we had while installing it.
The AERO interface looks just amazing when you get to see the contents of underlying window through the edges of upper windows.
Though customizing the display is bit complicated vista provides more options than XP.

If you right click on your desktop and chose "personalize" then you will be presented with a completely different window with following options like "colour and appearance , desktop background, sounds etc." Using each of these you can have the look and feel of your choice which was not that much possible in XP.

live taskbar thumbnails make it real easy to examine contents of a folder without maximizing it (.025 seconds saved) and it looks really hot.(see im on about looks only coz thats what i have found till now)

Now lets take a look at the start menu. This is again completely different from XP (I can here you saying "This is VISTA dude not XP" yeah i know but XP...) and good thing is it can be customized to make it look like XP. You will atleast need good old RUN box back.

The "All programs" tab also works differently.Unlike in XP here it opens right above the tab.
The games are also better than XP. Chess is fabulous and i have been beaten twice this morning(in case you are wondering i was playing at expert level.)

The integrated search functionality is where vista really scores above XP . The search box located at the left bottom corner of start menu makes it easier to search for documents and application alike.You can perform search on your own PC or search the internet with provided options.

This much is sufficient for today. Now that fun is over next articles will deal with tweaks to use vista efficiently.