it for the dummy

Some Valuable Knowledge About Making Software!

2009-12-07T02:39:00.001-08:00

Before you outsource software projects, you want to make sure you know exactly what you want the software to do, because you can spend a fortune on making changes. If you want reliable reviews of casinos, tips on strategy for winning at poker and advice on the best software to teach you to play poker and other money making games. So, even if you don’t have this XP freebie, as little as 45 bucks will now get you the very same software I use, which originally cost me $200 when I started making videos and DVDs. Having good budgeting software is one thing and making full use of it is another thing.

* desktop firewall to lock out hackers and other unauthorized intrusions and shield your PC from unauthorized communication both to and from your PC, making your PC virtually invisible to hackers and other intruders randomly scanning the Internet for vulnerable PCs.

* world-class anti-virus protection, including 24/7 scanning and certification that your incoming and outgoing e-mails attachments are virus-free — plus scanning of all removable media such as CDs, Zip disks, portable hard drives, and floppies.

* anti-spy ware that continuously monitors, detects, and eliminates all forms of spy ware, hacker tools, for more details visit to www.software-designers-pro.com and malaria from your PC including malicious spy ware tools, aware, browser hijackers, search hijackers, key loggers, ghost spammers, remote access tools (Rats), back doors, and many other illegal programs and applications that breach your privacy and security.

* patch management that will automatically find and fix security holes and other dangerous vulnerabilities in your computers.

Making yourself familiar with winning combinations and what are the best first draw cards will take you further than any software offered ever could. Marker Making Software – Automatic marker making solution for fast consumption calculations for costing purposes. The software allows you to exercise your creativity in making calendars based on your preference and imagination. Watching satellite TV on pc using software is fast making its way into America and many nations’ homes as the most popular way to watch TV.

If you get proficient with this free software you will have set for yourself a good foundation in legitimate game making. If the hard disk is not making any weird noise like scratching, for more details visit to www.pure-profit-software.com scraping or ticking (which means it is in good condition) data recovery can be done with the use of proper data recovery software, without the help of any technical personnel.

Read this list carefully, and while you do, think about what it would mean in added time and frustration for your life: Avoid giving out your Social Security number…Shred or destroy bank and/or credit card information…Shred or destroy any credit card or other direct mail offers…Create passwords containing numbers and letters…Avoid buying or making donations via the phone…Buy goods online only from a reputable Web site…Install a computer firewall at home… Read the privacy statements for all your accounts and your bank’s liability clauses…Check your credit report more frequently… Use only one credit card for purchases… Avoid shopping online… Update your computer virus protection daily… Install spy ware software on your computer to be sure that you’re not accidentally having your keystrokes recorded… Drop your mail in the blue post boxes, not in your mailbox… Don’t leave mail in your mailbox overnight or on weekends. Few prerequisites for the candy wrapper making business are enlisted below: • Computer with relevant graphic software • Colored printers and printer cartridges • Papers • Candy bars • Basic office stationery like glue, paper cutter, etc. The folks over at EDP want you to save yourself some time and you can keep your money in your pockets, Schedule Pro is an automated call center scheduling software program that’s excellence rate is demonstrated in the eighty percent drop in scheduling time that call center managers experience after making the switch to Schedule Pro.

Email Client - Mozilla Thunderbird

2009-12-06T06:02:00.001-08:00

Visit Their Website

This email client is the one i love most. It’s because of the fact that it’s free and it’s portable version.

Mozilla Thunderbird is a fully featured, secure and very functional email client and RSS feed reader. It lets you handle mail efficiently and with style, and Mozilla Thunderbird filters away junk mail too.
Pros

- Mozilla Thunderbird gets rid of junk mail precisely using Bayesian filtering and detects scams, too
- Views, tags, filters, search and virtual folders help you handle good mail in Mozilla Thunderbird
- Mozilla Thunderbird lets you reads RSS feeds like streams of email with filters, search and labeling

Cons
- Mozilla Thunderbird search and virtual folder populating don't use indexing for speed
- The Mozilla Thunderbird RSS feed reader could be integrated better and offer more power
- Mozilla Thunderbird does not exploit its own taggin fully (e.g. using automatic search folders)
Description
Mozilla Thunderbird manages multiple POP and IMAP email accounts and reads RSS feeds.
A junk mail filter using Bayesian statistics cans spam automatically in Mozilla Thunderbird.
Mail views, free-form message tags and flexible filters let you organize and prioritize good mail easily.
Searches can be saved to virtual folders that automatically aggregate relevant mail in Thunderbird.
Mozilla Thunderbird offers rich, but security and privacy conscious HTML formatting support.
Mail classified as junk can automatically be sanitized, Thunderbird detects common scam tactics.
S/MIME support lets you encrypt and sign mail in Mozilla Thunderbird (OpenPGP plug-in available).
You can run Mozilla Thunderbird from a removable medium such as USB stick.
Many extensions more allow Mozilla Thunderbird to expand its feature set or improve usability.
Mozilla Thunderbird supports Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS X 10.2-10.4 and Linux.
Guide Review - Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 - Free Email Program Mozilla Thunderbird offers a pretty and streamlined interface to a very powerful email package. Not only is Mozilla Thunderbird a secure email client, a sophisticated and very well integrated Bayesian spam filter knocks out most junk mail (after some training).
Combine these two aspects of Mozilla Thunderbird, and you get a sensible feature that automatically sanitizes (potentially dangerous) HTML code and turns off remote images for spam or anything else — worms, viruses — you classify as bad mail. Though not perfect, a scam sensor detects tactics commonly used to fool users.
Mozilla Thunderbird is just as good for good mail as it is against the bad. Flexible views, free-form tags and powerful filters, search and virtual folders (which also work fine with IMAP accounts and across email accounts) make it a snap to handle large amounts of mail. The integrated RSS feed reader extends these abilities to news.
Unfortunately, Mozilla Thunderbird does not use its classifier to sort good mail further. Its tags, as handy as they are, could be capitalized on further with automatic search folders, for example, or their application to contacts. Message templates could also be a bit more feature-rich (using variables or scripting, for example), but the basic functionality is there and useful.
The HTML support is near-perfect, of course, but Mozilla Thunderbird also deserves praise for its fine plain text editing. Should you ever require a feature not in the stock Mozilla Thunderbird distribution, an extension might well provide it.
Tags ":Email,Mozzila

Where does Spyware/Malware come from?

2009-12-01T05:37:00.003-08:00

This varies from the non-confidential to the extremely-personal. The malware may simply steal a listing of your MP3s or recent website visits. Malware may also harvest your email address book. At its very worst, malware will steal your banking PIN, your eBay login, and your Paypal information (aka "keystroke logging" identity theft). Yes, spyware/malware is a very serious Internet problem that threatens everyone's personal privacy, and network administrators everywhere are deeply concerned.

Where does Spyware/Malware come from?

2009-12-01T05:37:00.001-08:00

Spyware/malware programs are authored by clever programmers, and then delivered to your computer through covert Internet installs. Usually, malware will piggyback on innocent-looking web page components and otherwise-benign software such as game demos, MP3 players, search toolbars, software, free subscriptions, and other things you download from the web. Subscribing to online services is especially bad for getting malware. In particular, whenever you sign up for a so-called "free" service or install new software, you must accept an "end user license agreement" (EULA). The fine print of the EULA will often include the phrase "the vendor is allowed to install third-party software on your computer". Since most users don't bother to read this EULA fine print, they naively click "accept", and install malware out of sheer ignorance.

What does Spyware/Malware specifically do to my computer?

2009-12-01T05:36:00.003-08:00

Malware will perform a variety of nasty activities, ranging from simple email advertising all the way to complex identity-theft and password-stealing. New nasty functions are created every week by malware programmers, but the most common malware functions are:
Malware steals your personal information and address book (identity theft and keystroke-logging).
Malware floods your browser with pop-up advertising.
Malware spams your inbox with advertising email.
Malware slows down your connection.
Malware hijacks your browser and redirects you to an advertising or a phishing-con web page.
Malware uses your computer as a secret server to broadcast pornography files.
Malware slows down or crashes your computer.

Spyware = 'Malware'

2009-12-01T05:36:00.001-08:00

Most people historically call these rogue programs "spyware". That name comes from the 1990's where nasty little programs secretly observed and logged your web surfing habits. The spyware problem, however, has now grown into dozens of other malicious formats, including sneakware, adware, keyloggers, browser hijackers, porn servers, trojans and worms

Because the spyware problem has mutated so much, we now describe spyware as part of a much larger category of rogue software called "malware" (malicious software programs). .

At its most basic definition, malware is when insidious little software programs covertly install themselves on your computer, and then perform secret operations without your permission. Once in place, malware programs may do hundreds of nasty things to your computer. Malware will log your keystrokes, steal your passwords, observe your browsing choices, spawn pop-up windows, send you targeted email, redirect your web browser to phishing pages, report your personal information to distant servers, and serve up pornography. This malware will operate invisibly, often without displaying itself in your Task Manager. To top it off, malware usually refuses to be uninstalled through your control panel, and requires special tools to delete them from your drive. Yes, this is a direct cousin to viruses, but with a broader portfolio of wicked intentions.

What is “Spyware”?

2009-12-01T05:35:00.001-08:00

Forget viruses, spam and hacker attacks..."spyware" is now the single
largest problem facing internet users today. These nasty little rogue
programs have become so widespread and so infectious, their volume far
outstrips spam and regular viruses. The spyware problem has grown to
such an immense breadth and depth, we cannot even agree on what to call
it.

What Exactly Does Spyware Do

2009-12-01T05:34:00.001-08:00

Spyware, also known as "malware", can do many nasty things to your computer. Depending on which exact spyware infects your machine, you can expect any of the following things to happen:

malware will log your keystrokes
steal your passwords
observe your browsing choices
spawn pop-up windows
send you targeted email
redirect your web browser to phishing pages
report your personal information to distant servers
serve up pornography.

Disposable Email Address Services

2009-12-01T05:27:00.001-08:00

If you give web sites and new contacts a disposable email address instead of your real one, you can selectively disable a disposable address as soon as you get spam through it, but continue using all other aliases.

All disposable email address services provide this basic functionality, but some have other neat features that make life with email less spam and more fun.

1. ZoEmail - Disposable Email Address Service
ZoEmail restores email as it must have been before spam. Easily accessible via the web and POP, ZoEmail lacks IMAP access, however, and could offer more online storage. The spam-free existence of ZoEmail also comes at the price of a bit of management.

2. Emailias - Disposable Email Address Service
Create disposable email addresses for use on the Web with Emailias, a flexible and feature-packed disposable email address service, and reduce the amount of spam you get.

3. Spamex - Disposable Email Address Service
Spamex provides a solid, useful, and almost feature-complete disposable email address service.

4. Spamgourmet - Disposable Email Address Service
Before you choke on all that spam, try the feature-rich and flexible disposable email addresses from Spamgourmet for protection.

5. E4ward.com - Disposable Email Address Service
E4ward.com is a down-to-earth and very useful disposable email service that makes it easy to prevent spam to your real email address with easily erasable aliases. You can use your own domain with E4ward.com, but address masking in your replies is a bit cumbersome and auto-expiring aliases are not offered.

6. GishPuppy - Disposable Email Address Service
GishPuppy is a disposable email address service that shines with simplicity and functionality. Unfortunately, GishPuppy's functionality does not encompass replacing your real email address with the appropriate alias in replies.
7. Mailinator - Disposable Email Address Service
Mailinator lets you use any email address @mailinator.com and pick up the mail at their site. Since there's no connection to your real address, you sure won't get spam from using Mailinator addresses. Keep in mind that all mail sent to Mailinator is made public.

8. Yahoo! Mail Classic - Disposable Email Address Service
Yahoo! Mail Classic is a comfortable, reliable and secure email service with unlimited storage. A pretty good spam filter (including disposable email addresses) keeps the junk out.
Note that disposable addresses are deleted when you cancel your Yahoo! Mail Plus account.
Source: About.com

How to Make Your PC as Fast as the Day you Bought It

2009-11-20T03:38:00.000-08:00

One of the most frustrating things in life is a slow computer.

Every few years, we buy an expensive new PC and love how fast it starts up, runs programs, and loads web sites. Inevitably, though it starts to slow down, until eventually we are pulling our hair out waiting for it to do routine tasks.

Why is this? It turns out the answer is actually quite simple and you don't even need to be "technical" to understand the causes and solutions.

The good news, it's not the computer hardware that's the problem. In most cases the hardware you have is perfectly capable of being restored to its original glory and kept in fast running condition with minimal effort.

Rather, the problem lies with changes that occur to the PC's software. The 2 most common causes of slowdown (along with easy solutions) are:

Registry errors - the most common problem

Every time you (or your kids) load a program, game or file, your PC's software registery is updated with new instructions needed to operate that item. However, when the item is removed, these instructions usually remain on your PC. Every time you run your computer it tries to execute these instructions but, because the related program can't be found, it causes a registry error. Your PC is doing a lot more work than it should be and the result is a significantly slower computer.

One of the best ways to manage this is with a neat little tool from a Seattle based company called the Advanced Registry Optimizer (ARO5 for short).   This program scans, identifies and fixes registry errors - resulting in a computer that's a lot more like it was when you first bought it. On top of the amazing results it offers, it's so easy to install and use that it was recently given a coveted 4-star award by CNET's editorial staff.

You can now get a free working version of the software which will quickly scan your entire PC and identify all of the registry errors that may be bogging it down. The free version eliminates the first 20 errors and if you have more errors that you want to clean-up or want to set the program to run on a regular basis (recommended) you can easily upgrade to the full version for just $29.95. After that registry errors will no longer be a problem.

To get the free version simply click here.

Spyware and viruses

Spyware and viruses are software programs that are loaded on your computer without your knowledge or permission. They have various purposes, including:

Changing the default search engine in your browser

Tracking your web surfing habits and showing you targeted advertising

Using your email program to send out spam to other email addresses

Stealing your personal information

Most spyware and viruses get onto our computers through files that we download from the internet or as attachments to emails. They tend to take up a lot of computing power and as a result will significantly slow down the computer.

The simple rule of thumb to follow is to never download any free software programs from companies you do not know and trust, especially screensavers, emoticons and the like. In addition, you should never open any attachment to an email unless you are 100% certain you know and trust the sender. In addition, make sure you have a good anti-virus / spyware removal software running at all times.

Follow the above advice and your PC should stay fast and safe.

What is the Best Broadband Option: Cable, DSL or Satellite

2009-10-08T04:43:00.000-07:00

When it comes to high-speed broadband Internet connections, your options today are better than ever. The three most popular options are cable, satellite and DSL.

To get connected using cable the your home or business needs to have an underground cable connection (but you do not need to have cable TV) . A DSL connection is done over telephone lines, and a satellite connection uses a small dish on the roof to receive and transmit the Internet connection to a satellite.

Unlike dial-up, all three options allow you to use your phone while getting connected to the Internet. Some rural areas still don't have access to DSL and cable, so in these areas, satellite service is the only option other than using dial-up at a very slow rate of speed.

DSL, Cable, and Satellite are all much faster than a dial-up connection, and the exact speed depends on which plan and company you sign up with. On average, it's about 40 times faster than a dial-up is.

There are pros and cons to using each option.

With DSL, your speed is always steady, even if you have 2 or 200 people using the service. With cable, the speed of the service can be effected by how many others in your neighborhood are logged on at the same time.

Satellite is generally the best option for people in rural areas that do not have good cable or DSL options. The signal has much farther to travel, so there is often a delay. Plus, it's more difficult (and therefore expensive) to install than DSL or cable options.

Although it's performance is affected by the number of other users in the area, cable providers generally charge more for cable connections than DSL charges. However, DSL prices often go up at the end of the one-year sign-on special. In addition, if you do have cable TV, you may be able to get a better price.

If you're using DSL or cable to connect to the Internet, you'll need a broadband modem. With satellite, you'll need a dish installed. Regardless of which option you choose, you'll come out ahead if you leave dial-up behind and switch to one of the faster Internet connection opportunities, such as DSL, cable, or satellite service.

New IE8 still the slowest browser

2009-03-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's final code comes in dead last in JavaScript benchmark tests
By Gregg Keizermay be talking up the performance boost it gave to its just-launched Internet Explorer 8, but the new browser remains the slowest of the top five on the market, benchmark tests show.
According to JavaScript rendering tests run by Computerworld, the final version of IE8 is only slightly faster than the browser's Release Candidate 1, which Microsoft delivered in January.

Computerworld ran the SunSpider benchmark tests in Windows XP three times for each browser, then averaged the scores.

Google Inc.'s Chrome led all browsers in the SunSpider tests, making it more than four times faster than IE8. Coming in second was Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox 3.0.7, followed by Apple Inc.'s Safari 3.2.2 for Windows and Opera Software's Opera 9.63.

Firefox proved to be 59% faster than IE8, while Safari was 47% faster. Opera, the slowest non-Microsoft production browser, was still 38% faster than IE8.

Microsoft, however, has continued to downplay benchmarks such as SunSpider, and instead has promoted page-load time trials that pit browsers against each other in rendering the Web's top 25 destinations. Last week, Microsoft claimed that IE8 loaded more sites faster than either Chrome or Firefox.

At the time, Microsoft's James Pratt, a senior program manager for IE, conceded that the differences were slight. But in an interview yesterday, Pratt called IE8 "highly competitive" with other browsers, and dubbed it "the fastest version of IE that we have ever released."

But he also acknowledged that speed is important to users. "We know that speed is critical to people who are using browsers today," Pratt said, "and we recognize that users have a choice when it comes to browser."

EMS SQL Manager 2007

2008-12-18T03:31:00.001-08:00

What I like from EMS SQL Manager 2007 is it has freeware version. This version is powerful enough for administering you’re mySql database. Of Course if need more power you ought to buy the full version. You can find it here.

EMS SQL Manager 2007 for MySQL is a powerful tool for MySQL® database server administration and development. SQL Manager 2007 for MySQL works with any MySQL versions from 3.23 to 6.x.x and supports all of the latest MySQL features including views, stored procedures and functions, InnoDB foreign keys, events and so on. It offers plenty of powerful tools for experienced users to satisfy all their needs. SQL Manager for MySQL has a new state-of-the-art graphical user interface with well-described wizard system, so clear in use that even a newbie will not be confused with it.

Key features:

o Full support of MySQL up to 6.x.x

o Support of Unicode data

o Rapid database management and navigation

o ·Easy management of all MySQL objects

o Advanced data manipulation tools

o Effective security management

o Excellent visual and text tools for query building

o Impressive data export and import capabilities

o Visual Database Designer to handle database structure in a few clicks

o ·Easy-to-use wizards performing MySQL services

o ·Powerful tools to make your work with MySQL as easy as it can be

o Report designer with clear in use report construction wizard

o New state-of-the-art graphical user interface

Spybot - Search and Destroy 1.6.1.38 Beta

2008-12-16T03:06:00.001-08:00

Download

Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer. Spybot also can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your system, which is especially useful if you share your computer with other users. Modules chosen for removal can be sent directly to the included file shredder, ensuring complete elimination from your system.

For advanced users, it allows you to fix registry inconsistencies related to adware and to malicious program installations. The handy online-update feature ensures that Spybot always has the most current and complete listings of adware, dialers, and other uninvited system residents.

Features:

    * Removal of keyloggers
    * User-extendable database
    * Save removal of threats by shredding them
    * Backups of every removed problem
    * Exclude option to ignore specific problems s
    * Permanent blocking of known tracking cookies for IE
    * Permanent blocking of threating downloads in IE
    * Command line parameters to automate tasks
    * Number of targets > 600 > 600
    * Number of detection files and entries > 10000 > 10000
    * Detailed information about problems found Yes Yes
    * Strict criteria to define targets Yes Yes
    * Integrated update function
    * Weekly updates
    * Free email & forum support Yes Yes
    * Settings to automate scan, removal and update
    * System reports to locate even unknown threats
    * Skins to adjust interface to the users liking

What's New in version 1.6.1.38 Beta:

    * Temp cleaning has moved, registry hive loading has been improved to be no longer blocking
    * Opera plugin immunization fixed
    * Chrome support added
    * Vista installation improved regarding elevation
    * A few more small fixes

AVG AntiVirus Free 8.0.176a1400

2008-12-15T03:42:00.001-08:00

Free Download
With this free distribution version of the popular AVG Anti-Virus system, you will get a reliable tool for your computer protection against computer viruses.

Features:

    * Automatic update functionality
    * The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run
    * The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail
    * The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows the user to perform scheduled and manual tests
    * Free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product
    * AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files
    * Great customer satisfaction!

Please note that any previous version of AVG Free will be un-installed automatically during the installation of the new AVG Free.

What's New in version 8.0:

    * 8.0 now incorporates protection against spyware through a new combined anti-virus and anti-spyware engine.

AVG AntiVirus Free 8.0.176a1400

2008-12-13T15:22:00.001-08:00

Free Download
With this free distribution version of the popular AVG Anti-Virus system, you will get a reliable tool for your computer protection against computer viruses.

Features:

    * Automatic update functionality
    * The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run
    * The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail
    * The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows the user to perform scheduled and manual tests
    * Free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product
    * AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files
    * Great customer satisfaction!

Please note that any previous version of AVG Free will be un-installed automatically during the installation of the new AVG Free.

What's New in version 8.0:

    * 8.0 now incorporates protection against spyware through a new combined anti-virus and anti-spyware engine.

Little Fighter 2

2008-12-13T15:16:00.001-08:00

Free Download

Little Fighter II is a fighting game which features adolescents fighting on the street. Fight with your hands and feet, weapons, and use your special abilities and techniques. Up to 8 fighters can rumble on the screen at one time, with up to 4 human players per computer. Choose from over 10 characters each with a number of special techniques.

The game features nice graphics and sound effects, joystick support, and online support for multiplayer games.
The developer often adds new characters and techniques so be sure to check their website often.

System Requirements:

    * CPU: Celeron 300 / K6-2 300 or above (recommended)
    * Memory: >32 MB Ram (recommended)
    * Display Card: Supports DirectX acceleration (recommended)
    * Platform: Win 95 or 98, with DirectX 6.0 or above
    * Resolution: 800 x 600 or above, (MUST be) 16 bit colors

UnderCoverXP 1.20

2008-12-13T14:53:00.001-08:00

Free Download

UndercoverXP is a small program to easily print CD and DVD covers. It supports JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP formats and can automatically scale front covers, back covers, front + inside, inlays, DVD Boxes, Digital Pictures and CD/DVD labels to the correct sizes. Other formats can be easily added via a graphical format editor.

UnderCoverXP is written in C++ using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and doesn't need a .NET framework or any other external libraries. And best of all... it's free!

UnderCoverXP is available in 25 languages: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, Portugese, Polish, Macedonian, Russian, Greek, Turkish, Romanian, Hungarian, Brazilian, Chzech, Latvian, Chinese, Japanese, Catalan and Arabic translations are included in the setup.

What's New in version 1.20:

    * Portability: Added a portable version to the Software section.
    * Translations: Updated the Russian translation.
    * Portability: Some (unneccessary) empty registry entries were still created.
    * Printing: Fixed a problem when "print on a single page" was checked but no second image was selected.
    * Skins: Added grayscale option for skins.
    * Skins: Added a "clean" skin, a Media skin and a Santa skin.
    * Skins: Added options to configure text, background and combobox colors for skins.
    * Online Help: Added (initial) Online Help.
    * User Interface: Added context menu to left and right preview windows for Load, Print, Rotate and New.
    * User Interface: Cosmetic changes for several dialogs.

RivaTuner 2.21

2008-12-13T05:22:00.001-08:00

RivaTuner is a powerful tweaking utility for NVIDIA based cards. All series of Detonator drivers have a lot of undocumented registry entries. Some of them don´t affect anything, but some are very useful. In general they cannot give you big performance boots but they can improve image quality and solve some compatibility problems. This utility will help you to change all undocumented registry entries.

What's New in version 2.21:

Minor bugfixes:

    * FOURCC INTZ and RAWZ formats are no longer forcibly disabled on GeForce 6 and newer display adapters when closing the 'Textures' tab in Direct3D tweaks dialog. Please take a note that these formats are required for proper GTA IV functionality, so if you experience problems with missing textures in this game on NVIDIA GeForce 6 and newer display adapters then please try to open the 'Textures' tab and press the 'Defaults' button.
    * Fixed 'Restore after suspended mode' option in low-level fan control tab, corrupted in the previous release due to multi-GPU related core changes.

What's new:

    * Updated databases for Detonator and ForceWare drivers. Added databases for ForceWare 180.60, 180.70 and 180.84.
    * Added Catalyst 8.12 driver family detection.
    * Added 'Enable FOURCC INTZ surfaces' and 'Enable FOURCC RAWZ surfaces' options to the 'Textures' tab of the Direct3D tweaks dialog.
    * 'Restore after suspended mode' option in low-level fan control tab is multi-GPU oriented now. Now the option affects all display adapters in the system instead of currently selected display adapter only.
    * 'Allow separate 2D/3D clock frequency adjustment' option is no longer provided when enabling driver-level hardware overclocking. The option is now hidden to reduce the amount of false bugreports posted by the beginners trying to disable 2D/3D clock frequncy then claiming that the hardware stays at extremely low boot clocks. Power users can still control this option via AllowMaxPerf registry entry.
    * Extended list of detectable supported FOURCC formats in 'IDirect3D9 HAL adapter formats' diagnostic report category.

Download

Media Commander 1.7.4.3

2008-12-13T04:49:00.001-08:00

This tool is useful for anyone who has large media library in his PC. Media Commander is a special media - files manager, that has some great ability due to its lists concept. Media Commander is a tool designed to help you to find and organize music, pictures, video or any other files, to play and show many type of files.

Created especially for huge mp3/wav collection, this program can be very useful to find and remove unnecessary duplicate files, to index CD/DVD/HDD, to create MP3 playlist file (even without having the physical disks in drive), to search for files/folders on any drive, even in ZIP, RAR, ACE and other archives type, and, in conjunction with your mp3/wav player ( recommended Winamp or other player who use M3U playlist ), to offer a comfortable media experience.
Download

Better Blog Branding: What’s In a Name?

2008-11-26T02:00:00.001-08:00

Here are a series article i get from chrisg.com. Why i post it here ? Because it's i like to know.

One critical consideration when launching a blog is what you are going to call it. Why did I choose to use my old chrisg.com domain rather than create a new one?

Branding was part of the reason. OK, now I said the ‘B’ word some people will have clenched. Please relax. It is a much talked about, much derided and even more misunderstood topic. My personal take on branding is that it is what people think about you, your product or service. It’s about giving the right impression. I don’t know about you but I think a good impression is worth working on. With a domain of course there is more to it than just branding so let’s talk about those issues first.

What other considerations are there?

   Time to live - I had the domain, I wasn’t using it and I could have it working very quickly

SEO benefits - It is a 9-year-old domain, that has some benefits where trust from search engines is concerned. Plus there are still some inbound links that still work, despite many many years of neglect, server moves, breaking site changes, and other dumb-ass moves on my part. There are no keywords in my domain, I think the SEO benefit of keywords is small, I would much rather have a memorable name than a keyword-laden one.

   Its “Me” - chrisg has been my shorthand identity for quite a while. Obviously the vast majority of the time I used my full name but chrisg as a short form has worked pretty well.

Which brings me to branding …

Brand Implications of Blog Names

When choosing a domain name there are some factors to consider:

    * How original and unique is it?
    * How descriptive is it?
    * What image does it convey?
    * Would you remember it after seeing it once?
    * Could you spell it after hearing it once?

Choosing a name for your blog is like choosing a name for a child, you have to choose carefully because it could stick around for a long time. How do you go about selecting the perfect name?

Names are tricky, along with choosing your niche a name can be one of the harder initial decisions. When you do find a name that you like then you have to go back to the drawing board because the ideal domain is taken. You can only do this properly after settling on a niche for your blog, each niche will have different expectations and requirements. For example “Flickr” wouldn’t play well to a straight-laced-grammar-nazi audience, the missing ‘e’ would just annoy, but the Web2.0 audience embraced it.

First a word to the cynics amongst you. Yes I know that a great deal of your brand will come gradually from what is written, and how. A good name though really can help.

First have a think about what sort of blog you are writing. Take a look around at what sort of blogs are in your subscription list, here are some examples.

    * Gillianic Tendencies
    * Gapingvoid
    * Woot
    * PVRBlog
    * ProBlogger

What do they say to you? Would you say they are memorable?

A good name is

   1. Readable
   2. Pronounceable
   3. Spellable
   4. Memorable
   5. Concise
   6. Unique

So have a think about what your blog is going to be and think about what type of name you need to choose. Descriptive, evocative, direct or metaphor?

I chose to use chrisg.com and for the blog to be titled with my name because this blog is about the stuff in my head. Narcissistic? Possibly, but this blog will succeed or fail by my efforts and using my own name shows I stand by what I say. I’m hoping “being me” makes this blog a little more approachable to encourage people to post comments knowing they are dealing with an actual person.

An identity doesn’t require your own name of course. ProBlogger and CopyBlogger are good examples. A Rowse by any other name … ok, bad joke. In both cases Darren and Brian are closely identified with the blogs but other bloggers can post without breaking the format. This is also what has allowed Aaron to put his blog up for sale, Technosailor can transfer to another owner where chrisg.com could not unless the owner was also called Chris G____.

Completely made-up names, the Xerox type names, are a lot harder to sell. It takes far more effort. On the other hand they are definitely unique and sometimes memorable. I try to stick to at least variations on familiar words though.

When looking at evocative or metaphorical names it is sometimes useful to think about the benefit that your blog will provide, or the problem you are solving? I’m thinking Shoemoney is good here, as are SEOBook and Tropical SEO (with a bit of imagination). Standing out is important you need to consider what your competitions names are like. If they are all descriptive a more creative name might give you that bit of difference. Your name is very important in positioning. It wouldn’t work so well launching a new blog to compete with Darren and calling it BlogPro, ProBlogr, BloggingProf, etc. There is only one ProBlogger.

Expansion vs Focus

Will your blog always have focus or will you want to extend out? A more generic name might be necessary if you will want to have multiple blogs off the same root name. DSLRBlog is fixed forever as a blog about a particular type of camera. Nothing I can do about that. But it does mean my audience is very targeted. Focus is good. It’s the old idea of specialist versus generalist; in most cases people prefer the specialist.

Brainstorm

Try to create a long list of options. Play with ideas. Combining words and creating new words, checking a thesaurus, getting the help of friends and family can all help. Switch off your internal critic while you create. Jot down every name no matter how daft, at this point you are aiming for quantity, not quality!

Sometimes it is good to see the names in a list, there are some names that sound great but look bad (”powergenitalia.com” anybody?) and vice versa.

Once you have a big long list go through and ditch the worst offenders then copy the remaining list and either choose or get friends to each score a top three. Those you take to the computer and check for domain name availability.

Finally

Nobody can tell you the right name for your blog, the name you choose has to be up to you as you have to live with it. While I have suggested you take others opinions into account, you go with what you believe is right.

How can software be free?

2008-11-24T16:28:00.001-08:00

Free software falls into two categories; promotional freebies, and software developed to help people fight back against the power of the big software providers.

Free software as a commercial giveaway

Many commercial publishers offer free versions of their software, hoping it'll become the industry standard in its category. After all, having a product sitting on millions of PCs is a fantastic marketing tool. Then they try to persuade you to upgrade to 'advanced' or 'corporate' versions.

Open source software, Freeware, and Shareware

The other side of free software comes from the thousands of developers, both amateur and professional, who contribute to developing free applications so as not to be tied to big software houses, especially Microsoft.

This software falls into two categories:

Open source software

As well as being free, here the code used to write the program (effectively the program itself) is available too, so anybody that wants to can work on improving it. This has pros and cons. The bonus is it's constantly being honed and updated, and the problem's that support is often limited as there are no big bucks backing it up. The open source model has come a long way since it began, and the growing popularity of Linux-based operating systems and programs like Mozilla Firefox suggests it'll only continue to grow.

Freeware and Shareware

As the name suggests, freeware costs nothing, though some developers request a donation if you like it. The difference is that here you can't access the source code, so development is centralized in one location. Shareware is similar, except here the software's only free for a limited period, after which you have to either pay to register it, or lose some of the functionality (or have an annoying reminder message pop up every time you use it).

Generally there's less shareware and freeware available as more software goes open source, which is a good thing for people that are easily irritated by 'nag screens' (ie. Just about everyone I've ever met).

Where to Find Free Software

2008-11-24T16:23:00.001-08:00

This list is just the tip of the iceberg; there are plenty of sites out there with vast databases of free programs. Yet always be careful what you add to your computer, and regularly check the Add/Remove Programs section of Control Panel for things you've downloaded yet never use. Get rid of those you have no need for to keep your PC in shape.

If you're looking for free anti-virus software, read the full article on How To Protect Your PC For Free. Also if you're a newbie and have questions visit this site's Techie Board, where regulars are keen to help (though remember there are no guarantees they're right).

As for browsing free software sites, there are a few big ones, which have programs on virtually anything under the sun. Be careful to check the veracity of other download sites before using them; after all, it's through downloading that the most vicious malware will get onto your machine.

Osalt.

Osalt is a software database with a difference, as it only lists open source equivalents to commercial programs. You just tell it which commercial program you want, and it'll list the free programs that are most similar to it.

Sourceforge.

Sourceforge is another open source software database, this time in regular search-to-find style.

FileHippo.

A user friendly and well organised site, FileHippo catalogues browsers, firewalls, audio tools and DVD tools. It also promises no pop-ups when you visit the site.

Snapfiles.

More slick than FileHippo SnapFiles has the added bonus of user reviews and feedback, though it can be hard to find what you're looking for.

Download.

One of the biggest databases, Download.com includes everything from digital photo tools to developer tools. Also has a Mac section.

Tucows.

Like Snapfiles, Tucows includes its own and users' ratings and also has sections for Linux and Mac users.

For Mac users.

As well as some of the sites above, it's worth stopping by Sof tpedia's Mac arm, VersionTracker for OSX, and Apple's own software repository.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Unleashed

2008-11-24T04:44:00.001-08:00

Sams Publishing 2008, 1244 pages

Microsoft® Visual Studio 2008 Unleashed is an end-to-end, deep dive into the Visual Studio development environment. It’s meant to provide you guidance on how you can squeeze the ultimate productivity out of the many features built into the .NET development tools. Understanding how to use your tools will make you a better developer. This book was written with that premise as its focus.

The authors have folded in real-world development experience alongside detailed information about the IDE. The result is practical, easy-to-employ information that will make you a more productive and complete developer. This book also helps to ease your transition from other development environments and former versions of Visual Studio.

Finally, this book provides an entire section dedicated to Visual Studio Team System. It will help you understand how the Team Architect, Team Developer, Team Database Developer, and Team Tester work with the Team Foundation Server to increase team collaboration, visibility, and productivity.

Microsoft® Visual Studio 2008 Unleashed provides straight, to-the-point answers to common developer questions about the IDE.

The Moment of Silence

2008-11-24T04:36:00.001-08:00

The Moment of Silence is a classic point-and-click 3rd person adventure game set in New York City in 2044. Players step into the role of Peter Wright, an advertising executive currently heading up the Government's 'Freedom of Speech' campaign. When a heavily armed SWAT team storms his neighbor's apartment, Peter must uncover the truth behind his mysterious disappearance as he becomes drawn into the deceptive worlds of corruption and power.
The Moment of Silence marries fully-rendered, animated backdrops with a traditional and intuitive adventure interface, resulting in one of the best-looking examples of adventure gaming in today's market. The game mixes real-world locations with fictitious environments to create immersive and incredibly varied worlds.
The Moment of Silence offers more than eight hours of professional voice talent for heart-pounding drama that sounds as good as it looks.
Traditional adventure puzzles are fused with dialogue choices and moments of high drama, putting the game on par with some of cinema's greatest thrillers, where action sequences are integrated to create a constantly challenging adventure.

Microsoft Virtual PC

2008-11-24T01:33:00.001-08:00

Microsoft Virtual PC is a virtualization suite for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and an emulation suite for Mac OS X on PowerPC-based systems. The software was originally written by Connectix, and was subsequently acquired by Microsoft. In July 2006 Microsoft released the Windows-hosted version as a free product. In August 2006 Microsoft announced the Macintosh-hosted version would not be ported to Intel-based Macintoshes, effectively discontinuing the product as PowerPC-based Macintoshes are no longer manufactured.

Virtual PC virtualizes/emulates a standard PC and its associated hardware. All Windows operating systems released to date (May, 2008) run on Virtual PC. Other OSes like Linux may run, but are not officialy supported.

Virtual PC emulates the following.
32-bit Intel Pentium II processor (but virtualizes the host processor on Windows versions) with an Intel 440BX chipset
standard SVGA VESA graphics card (S3 Trio 64 PCI with 4 MB Video RAM, adjustable in later versions up to 16 MB)
system BIOS from American Megatrends (AMI) Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 ISA PnP (native Vista audio when Vista acts as host and guest)[clarify] DEC 21041 (DEC 21140 in newer versions) Ethernet network card.

Not all programs are guaranteed to work because they can use undocumented features of hardware, exotic timings, or unsupported opcodes, although overall compatibility can be considered satisfactory.
The Macintosh version of Virtual PC uses dynamic recompilation to translate the x86 code used by a standard PC into equivalent PowerPC code used by a Mac. The Windows version of Virtual PC also uses dynamic recompilation, but only to translate kernel mode and real mode x86 code into x86 user mode code, while original user mode and virtual 8086 mode code run natively.

It also uses some guest calls traps (especially when using the guest extensions) to accelerate emulation or offer additional features, such as integration with the host environment.

Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) is the file format used by Virtual PC and Virtual Server, for which Microsoft has made available all documentation under the Open Specification Promise.

Supported Host and Guest Operating Systems

Host Operating Systems

Virtual PC 2007 supports the following as a host operating system (although some, such as Vista Home Premium, will display a warning and work regardless):

Windows Vista ( 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Ultimate, Enterprise, Business editions and European Business N only, not Vista Starter, Vista Home Basic or Vista Home Premium or European Vista Home N editions)
Windows XP ( XP Pro 32 bit and XP x64 64 bit only, not Home or Media Center editions )
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2008

Virtual PC 2004 was the last version to support Windows 2000 as the host OS.

Guest Operating Systems

Virtual PC 2007 can use the following as a guest operating system:
Windows Vista (All 32-bit editions)
Windows XP
Windows Server 2008 (Virtual PC 2007 SP1 onwards)
Windows 2000 Professional and Server
Windows 98 Second Edition
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
Windows NT 4.0 Server
Certain editions of IBM OS/2

Support for Windows 95, the Windows 98 original release, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and MS-DOS 6.22 as guest operating systems has been discontinued in VirtualPC 2007. [1]

Guest operating systems which are officially unsupported may be installable, however, they may or may not work properly and Virtual Machine Additions are not available.

Linux guests are officially unsupported in Virtual PC 2004 and 2007 although Virtual Machine Additions support for Linux was available in Connectix's version of Virtual PC before being acquired by Microsoft. Microsoft supports VM Additions for Linux only in their Virtual Server product. Both the OS/2 and Linux VM additions were developed by German company innotek GmbH for Connectix/Microsoft

EssentialPIM - free personal information manager

2008-11-24T01:16:00.001-08:00

www.essentialpim.com
EssentialPIM Free is an absolutely free personal information manager that can store, manage and encrypt data: day/week/month/year schedules, to do lists for keeping all your tasks up-to-date, notes (pictures, tables, any formatted text) and contacts. Offers Rijndael 128-bit encryption, MS Outlook import/export, Windows Address Book import/export, search capabilities, versatile print features and adjustable contacts storage with unlimited number of fields.

Features

EssentialPIM Free is a full-featured personal information manager, which offers:

Excellent usability. Shortcuts that are fun to use and boost your productivity. Easy, intuitive tools arranged right where you need them

Security. All data can be password-protected and the database file is encrypted with the advanced industry standard AES (Rijndael), 128-bit key

Versatile import and export capabilities. You can import and export HTML, RTF, CSV, TXT and TreePad. You can perform import/export with Microsoft® Outlook; and you can import from Outlook Express

Available in many languages: Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Czech, English, French, German, Hellenic, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, etc.

System tray icon with a hotkey for starting and configuring the software

Open-source Firebird database. Advanced users and system administrators get great flexibility in managing databases

What is Google Adsense?

2008-11-24T01:10:00.001-08:00

Google AdSense is a fast and absolutely ridiculously easy way for people with websites of all types and sizes to put up and display relevant Google ads on the content pages of their site and earn money.

Because the Google AdSense ads relate to what your visitors came to your site to read about, or because the ads match up to the interests and characteristics of the kind of people your content attracts, you now have a way to improve your content pages AND make some serious bucks off of them.

Google AdSense is also a way for site owners to provide Google search capability to visitors and to earn even more money by putting Google ads on the search results pages. Google AdSense gives you the ability to earn advertising revenue from every single page on your website—with a minimal investment of your time

So what kind of ads do you have to put up? That’s the good part—you don’t have to decide. Google does it for you. AdSense always delivers relevant ads that are precisely targeted—on a page-by-page basis—to the content that people find on your site. For example, if you have a page that tells the story of your pet fish, Google will send you ads for that site that are for pet stores, fish food, fish bowls, aquariums…you get the picture.

If you decide you want to add a Google search box to your site, then AdSense will deliver relevant ads targeted to the Google search results pages that your visitors’ search request generated.

If you’re into upgrades, Google is now offering “AdSense Premium”, which is CPC based and, for the time being, offers less flexibility in terms of ad sizes -- only banners and skyscrapers are currently available. You can apply using existing AdWords accounts, or you can request a new account. Applicants are usually notified within a day as to whether they’ve been accepted for the program.

Here’s the thing you need to know: Google has no strict criteria for acceptance into the AdSense program, and Ad Sense doesn’t hit you with a minimum traffic requirement. The only criteria they’re really sticky about is the standard “acceptable content” requirements, and that’s pretty standard almost anywhere.

Google AdSense says they’re serious about attracting quality content sites, and because of that they only allow AdSense members to serve one ad per page. This means you can’t use AdSense for both banners and skyscrapers.(Note: banners are those horizontal ads that run up top and down bottom. Skyscrapers are the tall ads that run vertically, on the left and right of your page text.)

Once you’ve been accepted into Google AdSense, you’ll be able to get the AdSense advertisements on any site you own using the same ad code, provided you obey the Google guidelines. (And that’s very, very important—more on that later.)Your reporting doesn’t occur in real time, but is updated regularly throughout the day. Right now, you can’t view reports based on a domain or site basis if you run the AdSense on more than one site. Before you sign up, you really ought to read the lengthy and detailed FAQ on the AdSense site.

Pertama

2008-11-22T02:06:00.000-08:00
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