Informant Grid

Student Loan Consolidation

2006-05-20T07:44:00.000-07:00

An opportunity currently exists to help lower your future loan payments and take advantage of current interest rates by consolidating your Federal Direct student loans. You can consolidate a single loan or multiple loans now, while you're still in school, and lock in a low interest rate. Recent changes in legislation will effectively eliminate in-school consolidation after June 30, 2006. The current in-school rate is 4.7%. This interest rate will rise to a fixed rate of 6.8% on July 1, 2006. You must apply before June 30 to lock in a fixed rate of 4.7%. For more information visit www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov or call 800-557-7392. Applying is quick, easy, free and can be done on-line. Whether you are still continuing in school or graduating this Spring, act now to take advantage of this great savings to consolidate your student loans.

Lost BIOS Setup Password

2006-05-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

So you tried to change some settings in the BIO, but it requests for a password. And you can't remember what it is, so now, you are without the password. So the question is, how you access the motherboard bio settings. The solution is very simple. You need to do "Resetting"/Clearing trick and the password will automatically reset.

On most motherboards, you take out a jumper, put it in one position, and then put it back in its original position.

Or you can try and take out the battery on the motherboard, leave it out for a couple minutes, and put it back it.

Outlook Express Can't Open Links

2006-05-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

I recently ran into a problem dealing with Outlook Express. Whenever I clicked a Web link, while reading a message in Outlook Express, an explorer window comes up with C:\Documents and Settings\User. Usually this kind of problem has to do with security settings, but my security settings were okay. I fixed my problem with one of the solutions below:

First, check the internet security zones, and make sure it's set to the lowest limits. You should also check security settings and put them up about midway. To do this, go to tools, options, security, change the internet zone to restricted zone. Do the followings:

Uncheck "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus."
Then navigate to the Read tab and confirm that "Read all messages in plain text," is unchecked.
It could also be because Outlook Express is not set as her default email client. In Tools, options, confirm that Outlook Express is set as the default.
Also, check to see what browser is set as the default. It could be that no browser (or an invalid program) is set as the default, in which case no browser could open.

If you have an aggressive popup blocker, hold down CTRL key when clicking the link. If not, try disabling the popup blocker and see if it works.

When some users click on a link, they get a blank page. To solve this, follow the directions below:

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type:
regsvr32 urlmon.dll
Click OK, and then click OK again when you receive the following message:
DllRegisterServer in urlmon.dll succeeded.

You may need to reregister some .dlls:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;823301

Start, run, then type repeat to run each of these:
regsvr32 urlmon.dll
regsvr32 mshtml.dll
regsvr32 shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 browseui.dll
regsvr32 msjava.dll

If the above don't fix it, try: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q177054

Transfer Video from Camcoder to Computer

2006-04-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

Transferring video from your camcorder to your computer is straight forward but sometimes they get complicated with the terms. Below is an example for anon Elura 100 camcoder.

"...Just connect your computer to your camcorder's IEEE 1394 DV terminal with a DV cable..."

You should definitely use FireWire (1394) to transfer the video to the PC. When you are using FireWire transfer, the computer copies the video byte-for-byte, so you never have to worry about lipsync problems or dropped frames. You will need: A FireWire cable with the right connectors for your Camcorder and PC A PC with a FireWire connection Windows Movie Maker Software Download it here You should download Windows Movie Maker from the link I gave you above. The website provides you with the download and how to use the software. Movie Maker will handle the capture, editing, and conversion. FireWire capture is really cool -- the PC will control your camcorder - it can rewind, FF, play and capture the video, by remote control, over the FireWire cable. By the way, FireWire brings video into your computer in DV format -- the file sizes are big. You'll need to compress them into another format, such as Windows Media. Highest quality Windows Media is about 2 Mbits/sec, but you can squeeze the video down to 100 kbit/sec (horrible quality) if you want. Try to avoid buying cables from places like Best Buy because they will over charge you. Go here to get decent price on cables. What if your computer doesn't have any Firewire device or 6pin hole waiting there? Where can you get that device? Well, if you have a computer, get the Controller PCI Card and if you have laptop get PCMCIA Card. Be careful because most Firewire cards come with a cable, so check before you buy a separate cable. If you don't want to open the pc to install a Firewire card (not difficult but intimidating to some people) you could go a different route with a box from ADS Technologies that connects to the camera and then to the pc via a USB cable. There are also free-standing DVD burners from companies like Sony where you hook up the camera and the DVD is burned with no computer required.

Razr Cell Phone Sales Temporarily Halted Due to Glitch

2006-03-13T05:25:00.000-08:00

The sales of the Razr, Motorola Inc.'s flagship cell phone has been halted by T-Mobile USA and Cingular Wireless. They will not sell the Razr cell phones until they fix a technical glitch that account for the phones to drop calls. The halting of the Razr cell phones will have no influence on Motorola's financial results and along with that, officials also stated the number of phones affected is only a small number.

"Motorola and its customers are addressing a quality issue affecting a very limited number of Razr handsets sold for GSM networks," said Motorola spokesman Alan Buddendeck.

Motorola spokesman did not reveal where the phones were sold but said the faulty Razr phones were sold to representatives between January 16 and February 28. The sales of the Razr phone will resume next week and until then the impaired phones have been isolated from the sales and market. An analyst believes Cingular and T-Mobile USA accumulate about ten to 15 percent sales from Razr phones and the halt of Razr phones could hurt their market shares.

How to Turn Off Microsoft's Automatic Entire Word Selection

2006-03-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

When you select or click and drag text inside of a bunch of Microsoft (Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, and Ect.) applications, the application will ignore your starting point and automatically select the whole word. There is a way to disable this and I found it after some hard work. It’s the most annoying "feature" that Microsoft implemented. Here are the directions with screen shot. Go to tools > options > click on the "edit" tab > uncheck "When selecting, automatically select entire word." If you are using Mac OS, go to Word menu and pick Preferences. In the Preferences dialog box, select Edit in the menu and check off box labeled "When selecting, automatically select entire word."

Get Loan with Poor Credit

2006-03-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

So you want to get $20,000 loan with poor credit, but you have a house and tried equity loan but your credit is low. You need to pay off all of my credit because you are sick of paying so much interest on the cards. Go back to college and get a student loan that could be a good idea, if you can't get an equity loan. Would you benefit from another degree? Student loan rates are great, used to be amazing. The other thing about being a student is that you can get a tax credit of up to $2000 per year. Still, I would think that if you met with several mortgage loan officers one of them could get you a loan. My advice, other than to please stop living above your means, is to call each of the credit card companies and try to make arrangements to pay the bill(s) off. Most will be willing to work with you because they want to get their money back. Explain that you are having cash flow problems and that you acknowledge and want to pay them back, but you would like them to work with you to set up a payback plan. This will stave off negative comments on your credit report. But act now, sometimes we put things off because we don't want to deal with it and want to wish it away. The sooner you take care of this, the better. Don't go the sub-prime way, or if you do, do it as a LAST resort. You will get in more trouble in the long run and if you put your house up for collateral, you may lose it. Never, ever put a roof that is over your head in jeopardy! You may also want to contact your local Consumer Credit Counseling Service, the original, not the pretenders that you see on TV. They will help you to get your financial house in order and will act as mediator for you and the credit card companies. They may be able to get them to suspend interest (meaning that they could get them to reduce your interest rate to 0%) while you pay your principal off. Good luck and let this be a valuable lesson to you!

Free 2gb iPod Nano w/ Citibank Equity Line of Credit or Home Equity Loan

2006-03-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Open a new Citibank equity line of credit or home equity loan by 4/28/06 and get a free two GB iPod Nano. Equity line of credit needs to be active for three years. No commitment actually to borrow money. No application fees or closing cost. iPod Nano ship after 90 days. If you already have an equity line of credit with another bank, you can get a second line of credit with Citibank. No need to cancel your first one while you have enough equity in your home. Link I read the fine print, and called. Here is the hook; you must keep the line of credit/home equity loan open 36 months. If you close it early, you pay all closing costs. These will vary by location (and HELOC amount) but the rough estimate for MA was $500. So, if you know that you will stay in your house for three years, and you want a free iPod. Definitely grab this. If you are uncertain, your $200 I-pod could cost you $500+ sometime in the next 36 months if you close the account your house. I have been meaning to put a HELOC in place as a nuclear-type emergency fund. But I am not certain that I will stay in this for three years (pretty likely), and would rather not pay $500 for an iPod nana. ING has HELOCs without fees. You May want to go with them instead. If anyone wants this deal, you can call 866-899-3342 and ask for Elena. She was pretty helpful to me, and they do earn loan commissions. Also, for those who have not figured it out. This is a loan or a line of credit, secured by a primary house or condo. If you do not own one of those, with a good bit of equity, you will not be eligible for this.

Tips to Help Build / Rebuild Good Credit

2006-03-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here are some pointers on how to help build or rebuild good. (Article’s credit goes to eddy1134). Most places, when checking your credit history, rely on the fico score (or some variation of that) to determine whether or not you're "credit worthy." The higher the fico score, the better. Here are some ways you can increase you fico score: 1. Pay your bills ON TIME! This applies to everything from credit card bills to phone / utility bills. Normally, paying a bill 1 to 25 days late won't negatively impact your credit, but any more than 25 days and you risk having that delinquency on your credit report for the next 7 years. Other than bankruptcies / defaulting on prior loans, delinquencies are the biggest fico score killers. Also, credit bureaus keep track of how many consecutive payments you make- the more, the better. One late payment and your streak are gone. 2. Keep your balances low in relation to your credit limits. In order to help this ratio, either decrease your balances (harder) or request (via phone / internet) credit line increases (easier). When lenders see that you have credit line out there that you're not using, they're more prone to consider you lower risk. Don’t think in terms of dollars, but more in terms of what % of your total credit line you're not using. You can also increase your credit line by opening new accounts, but your fico score will take a small dive (20 points or so) every time you open a new account. It will climb back up over the course of 6 months to a year, so opening accounts every now and then (i.e., at most once a year) is fine. 3. Don’t have a lot of active accounts (i.e., credit cards with balances). It’s better to have 1 credit card with $5000 in balances than 5 credit cards with $1000 each. If possible, consolidate all your credit card debts into as few cards as possible. This will help you remember to pay bills on time, too, as you'll have to sift through less mail and pay fewer bills. Saves postage, too! If you're trying to consolidate your credit card bills, find a solicitation out there that offers the lowest APR on balance transfers with minimal / no balance transfer fees. Pay close attention to the purchase APR because, with a lot of cards, the purchase APR can be different (sometimes much higher) than that of the balance transfer APR. If the purchase APR is higher than that of the balance transfer APR, it's okay to balance transfer as much of your balances as possible to the new card, but DON'T USE THAT CARD FOR PURCHASES! Use one of your other cards for any new purchases, and pay those balances off in full. Reason for this (not using the newer card for purchases if the purchase APR is higher) is because when you make payments, those payments are always allocated towards the lower APR balances first. So:

If you balance transfer $2000 at a 0.0 APR
You then purchase $2000 at a 19.99 purchase APR
You then make a payment of $2000.
Your remaining balance of $2000 will be at the 19.99 rate (because the $2000 payment was allocated towards the 0.00 rate balance first).
If your balance transfer rate is the same as your purchase rate (read the fine print!) then you're fine- just pay attention to when your promotional period expires, and look for new solicitations when it does.

4. If you've done some bad credit things in the past, only time will heal you. So, focus more on rebuilding your credit rather than dwelling on how bad it is today. Delinquencies are delinquencies, but the longer ago a delinquency occurred, the less it will impact your fico score. Over time (seven years), these delinquencies will be removed from your credit report forever. 5. Don’t open credit card accounts you don't need. As mentioned before, each time you open an account, your fico score will temporarily suffer a small dip. If you open a bunch of accounts at the same time (for free t-shirts, gift certificates, or whatnot) your fico score will suffer even more. Only open accounts when you feel like the promotional rate will help you manage your bills better. 6. Never, ever use your credit card to make a cash advance. The cash advance APRs on credit cards are insanely high (and see the example from #3 which demonstrates that you'll always have that higher APR balance until you pay your balance off in full). In addition, cash advances are usually interpreted as high-risk activities, which (although it won't negatively impact your fico score) will make credit card companies less willing to extend you APR reductions and / or credit line increases. 7. Most importantly, don't spend money you don't have. No, you don't need that free-after-rebate device that will put you in debt as you wait for the rebate to come in through the mail. It seems so obvious, but it's totally like the "don't gamble what you can't afford to lose" advice. It’s the same concept- gambling, and spending money that you don't have are simply human nature. Try your best to pry yourself away from your tendencies. 8. Call up your credit card company and request for a lower rate (in addition to a credit line increase, from #2 above). Finance charges are a lot higher than you think they are, and they help prevent you from paying off your debts. Thus, the lower the APR, the lower the finance charges, and the faster you'll pay off your debt. Don’t use the lower APR as an excuse to hang on to the balance longer- you'll ultimately feel better with lower debt. 9. It's not necessary to revolve balances (i.e., not pay your bill in full and incur finance charges) in order to build credit. For some reason, lots of people are under the impression that you need to revolve balances in order to develop good credit. Nope, not true. It helps to *use* credit cards to build good credit, but paying off your balance in full helps build good credit. This is because possessing high levels of debt will negatively impact your fico score. 10. Sign up for internet access to your account- you'll be able to better track your payment due dates, and, in turn, make more payments on time. You’ll also save on postage (yes, I know, 34 cents isn't a lot, but it adds up over time). Plus, you'll never "lose a payment" in the mail. Questions

1) I have 5 different student loan payments (because i took out a loan for 5 different semesters). I pay one consolidated payment each month to citibank, but when I checked my credit score, it showed up as 5 seperate loans. Is this normal? Is it hurting my score? Should I call citibank and see if I can turn this into one loan?

The "consolidation effect" more applies to credit cards rather than student loans. Credit bureaus take a look at the number of active "trades," but student loans are classified a little differently. "Trades" are things like credit cards, retail cards (such as the "gap" card, "Macy's" card, etc.). If you have a lot of "trades" with balances that would negatively impact your fico score. However, multiple student loans should be fine. Reason for this, is that installment loans (such as student loans, car loans, mortgages) are seen as "investments," and thus are viewed more favorably than "revolving debt" such as credit card balances. It’s normal that you have 5 separate loans- credit bureaus need to track how long each loan has been around; since your loans stem from different semesters / timeframes, that's why they're listed separately.

2) How about accounts with a zero balance? I have two or 3 this way, never use them. What is the highest score you can get?

If you have credit cards with zero balances, these don't hurt your score at all. They actually help your score because those accounts decrease your "bureau utilization." This variable is calculated as follows: [total balance] / [total credit limits] So, the zero balance accounts contribute to the denominator of this calculation, thus lowering the metric. However, this doesn't mean that you should go out and open a bunch of accounts (see initial post's #5). The highest fico score you can get is 900. However, the highest score I’ve ever seen was in the 840s, which is extremely unusual. Average fico scores are somewhere around 660-670. generally speaking, if your fico score is: < 600, you are considered "sub-prime" between 600 and 700, you are considered "middle" over 700, you are considered "prime." I say "generally speaking" because banks often use slightly different versions of fico scores, so their ranges / classifications may vary a little.

Microsoft Announce 6 Core Versions of Windows Vista

2006-02-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has recently announced plans for its upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The operating system will be accessible in six different concepts. PC's hardware specification will not be used; instead all the six versions will centralize on how a user uses their computer. The current Window XP is compelled depending on the hardware specifications like advanced 64-bit. However, Window Vista operating system will carry no version which is specifically designed to run for 64-bit computing, Tablet PCs or advanced multimedia computer.

One of the Microsoft officials, Barry Goffe stated: "We're delivering the exact same number of offerings as in Windows XP, but the big difference is that each of those offerings are targeted differently with a different set of features," said Barry Goffe, director of Microsoft's Windows client product marketing.

Windows Visita will be disigned in 3 different ways for consumers, one marked for emerging markets and other two for businesses. In my opinion, those are too many versions since an average person who uses a computer can't tell you what their processor speed is, or if they're running home or pro Windows version. Computer users will have to make a tough choice when they buy the Windows Vista, or even download it.

How to Take a Screen Capture from a Movie

2006-02-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

Most video players allow you to take a screenshot of the current movie playing. Players like WinDVD and PowerDVD provide built-in screen capture functionality.

To make a copy of the active window, press ALT+PRINT SCREEN.
To copy the entire screen as it appears on your monitor, press PRINT SCREEN.

However, most DVD players will provide you with a black or green screen if you try to capture the screen. Look at the image below which shows the background movie playing in PowerDVD but has a black screen. It also shows the configuration menu so you can enable the screen capture function. PowerDVD is a great DVD Player with a built-in screen capture function. You can try a software called media player classic because it is very easy to capture a screenshot. Follow the simple steps below for it:

When you want to capture a move, simply pause it.
Click file on top left corner, and select "save image."
Choose a destination to save your file and hit save.

You can also choose any of the alternative below to capture screen. DVDGo Pro Any Screen Capture 5 Clicks Screen Capture ScreenPrint32

Phishing Scams Continue to Rise

2006-02-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

The Anti-Phishing Group has reported that the recent figures on the "phishing" scams have taken an upswing. In December, 2004, scam emails sent was 15,244 which are very low figures compared to 15,244 emails sent in December, 2005.

Sophos spokesperson Carole Theriault said: “The reason phishing emails are now so prevalent is due to their success rate – every day new users fall victim to these underhand and illegal tactics.”

A recent survey by Sophos shows 58 percent of the computer users get on average at least one scam email per day and 22 percent catch more than five scam emails in a day. Masking the address on a link, or redirecting a login to someplace else, is not something that the majority of Internet users are prepared to check for. Many now know to just delete these, but still wouldn't know how to figure out where they came from, and who they should be reported to. It is no use reporting scammers or putting them on your block list because they send you emails with unique email address that doesn't even exist. You can visit http://www.419eater.com/ to protect yourself and fight back future scams.

Sony PS3 Release may be Delayed

2006-02-24T13:04:00.000-08:00

The PlayStation 3 (PS3) gaming console by Sony Corp was announced that it might be delayed since the technologies used in the console might not be clear for authorization soon. Despite the push back, Sony stated that it hopes to release the PlayStation 3 (PS3) this year on spring. Sony PlayStation 3 will feature the DVD player, processors and graphics with advanced technology. The industry is looking forward to the supreme machine that has been the topic of many gamers lately.

"We're waiting for them until the last possible minute, but the launch could be pushed back if they're not decided soon," the spokeswoman said. If the PS3 is not ready in time, the company will choose the next best timing for the launch, she said.

PlayStation 3 (PS3) is expected to have input and output for the video and sound. Along with Blu-ray drive, those are some of the features awaiting authorization. Sony could possibly price the console at most 50,000 yen ($420) says Sakurai.

Motorola and Nokia Unveil VoIP Mobile Phones

2006-02-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

At the 3GSM World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, Motorola and Nokia revealed VoIP feature in mobile phones. Motorola and Nokia are the two largest handset manufacturers in the world. The phones will come with cheap Internet calling inside, also known as VoIP, and it will work anywhere outside.

Nokia’s Executive VP Kai Oistamo said: “Then you walk out of the door and the call is seamlessly handed off to the cellular network. There are no dropped calls – it’s like moving from one cell to another in cellular network today.”

To make cheap calls from the public hotspot, office, or from home, the new phones will connect to the Internet via WiFi. WiFi is being used over Bluetooth technology because it is a lot cheaper. The new hardware of Nokia 6136 and the Motorola A910 is a growing demand. Neither of the two phones requires you to change phone numbers.

Report: Amazon Planning Digital Music Service with 4 Companies

2006-02-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is in beforehand talks with four music companies for an attempt to establish its own digital music service. No information has been released by any of the four companies or Amazon. According to the report, the service will be initiated at the prelude of the summer. Amazon is believed to be in license talks with 4 different companies: Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group Corp. and the EMI Group Plc. Amazon will include special discounts for their customer who purchase portable music player from Amazon. Amazon will be competing with Apple Computer Inc.'s IPOD and iTunes music service; the fatest-selling music player on the market.

Save or Transfer Documents Files on iPod

2006-02-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

So you have a new 30 GB iPod photo and would like to store, save, or transfer word documents on it. However, it appears that you cannot simply drag and drop them onto the iPod. This is a minor problem that many users encounter. Follow these suggested steps. iPods show up as an external HD (like a pen drive) you should see it under my computer when it's plugged in. iTunes has to be closed for it to work. After all the iTunes services are closed, just open the iPod drive and do drag and drop. You may not have to force quit all the iTunes/iPod related services. Just pop open iTunes while the iPod is connected and tell iTunes to eject the iPod. I believe that give permission for the computer to use the iPod as a disk. At the very least, the display on the iPod changes out of the synchronization mode, so it might work. You can enable the iPod for disk use in iTunes Edit> Preferences> iPod Then go into my computer double click on the iPod drive and just drop stuff in. If you simply want store any kind of computer file onto your iPod, you must "enable disk use." You will find this option under the iPod's preferences within iTunes. iTunes Edit> Preferences> iPod. This will create a disk image on your desktop which will allow you to store, access, or remove files from the iPod's hard drive. If you want to be able to read your documents on Ipod: You can try PSP E-book. It is meant for PlayStation Portable really, but you can convert text files to picture files and view them like that. Another method to make it readable is you will need to copy all your text into Text Document. Right Click on desktop->new->Text document, then you drag and drop.

Skype Hype Conference Calls to be Intel Only

2006-02-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Chip maker, Intel Corp. and Skype have been working together to produce new features for Skype's internet telephony Software. The features being added only works with Intel's dual core processing solutions. Skype wants to create optimized video calling conference for Intel processors.

“Through our partnership with Intel we can ensure that Skype performs better than any other Internet calling application and drive widespread business and consumer adoption,” said Alistair Shrimpton, general manager of Skype UK, in a statement.

To promote higher adoption rate by the customers, the future negotiations between Intel and Skype is planned for optimal performance of Skype's internet telephony program.

Oprah Winfrey Signs XM Satellite Radio Deal

2006-02-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

A three-year contract was signed by the U.S talk show queen Oprah Winfrey with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. The radio company will provide her with a unique channel. The deal was tagged to be $55 million.

"It's a smart strategic move for XM because they need to answer the Howard Stern question," said Stanford Financial Group analyst Frederick Moran. "It's not a dirt cheap deal. But it does help XM attract a female audience."

Only one show per week will be hosted by Winfrey herself. The other days of the week will be hosted by regular guests from her show. After the news hit the market, there was a 9% increase in shares for XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

AOL and Yahoo to Charge Optional Email Fees

2006-02-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, representatives of Yahoo Inc. and American Online said they have planned to start charging an optional fee to route e-mail directly to a user's mailbox without first passing through junk mail filters. Both companies are two of the world's biggest e-mail account providers based in the United States. Both companies hope to designate the plan to fight the email scams and onset spam that currently torment the industry.

"We were hearing not only from members but also e-mail partners that they wanted a different way of delivering e-mail that would stand out in the inbox and would guarantee them delivery," said spokesman Nicholas Graham.

Basically the fee based email will be tagged so it will prevent the email from mistakenly being identified as a spam, being filtered out as spam or that recipient is legitimate. This plan will hugely target companies that maintain large amount of mailing list. The fee will be optional service to the users and it will range from 1/4 cent to 1 cent per message.

AT&T Slashes DSL Price to $12.99/month

2006-02-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Starting on Friday, 2/3/06, AT&T (formerly known as SBC) is slashing the price of their DSL service to $12.99 per month for a full year! This is for new customers signing up through the web only and it's the lowest price for DSL offered by a major DSL provider. Here are the details: AT&T Inc. is cutting its introductory price for broadband Internet over phone lines, sliding in below price leader Verizon Communications Inc. with a $12.99 monthly deal. The maximum download speed for the $12.99 deal is 1.5 megabits per second. The offer, which begins Friday for Web orders, is for a yearlong contract. When the contract runs out, the price jumps to $29.99. AT&T also cut its introductory prices on faster lines. A line of up to 3 megabits per second will cost $17.99 per month for a year, down from $21.99 per month for six months. The regular price is $34.99 per month. http://www.thenewatt.com The online offer is available in the company's traditional 13-state service area, where high speed Internet service is available. States include: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Nevada and Connecticut.

Microsoft release BETA of Internet Explorer 7

2006-02-01T16:49:00.000-08:00

Internet Explorer 7, a BETA version of long-awaited browser was released by Microsoft. The new browsers, boasting updates such as RSS feeds, tabbed browser ability, and a minimalist toolbar. Mozilla's Firefox browser, which is the Internet Explorer's largest rival, has many of its features being introduced in Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer was loosing many of its users to Mozilla in the past years. MSDN subscription is not required to download the BETA release. I would advice you to avoid the BETA version because it's filled with bugs. Reviews noted that the features in Internet Explorer BETA are old and just an easy attempt to catch-up to the tools of other browsers like Firefox.

Google Denies Napster Report

2006-02-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

In the New York Post, Internet giant Google has denied a report that stated the company had entered collaborations talks with digital music service Napster. Napster's stock skyrocketed 50% after the report, and today it fell down again. Google also disclosed in the statement that it is going to continue with its plan of delivering music-related information through its search engine and also offering links to digital music stores through Google AdWords. Financial analyst, Near Sterans, revealed in a research report that Google is creating an online music store to contend Apple Computer's iTunes.

Google Developing an Operating System?

2006-01-31T17:40:00.001-08:00

There have been internet rumors circulating since Monday of Google releasing an operating system based upon Linux. On January 20, the talk began when Financial Times reported that Google was switching their computers over to Linux based system. Companies use Linux system on their servers because it proves to be more stable and it is a very common practice for companies to switch over. A suite developed by Mark Shuttleworth known as Ubuntu is being worked on by Google, the story stated.

"It's possible Google plans to distribute it to the general public, as a free alternative to Windows," wrote Register writer Ben King.

Ben King, Register writer, states that Google might distribute their software for free as an alternative to the widely used Windows operating system. Google officials were unavailable for comment but they have denied such rumors in past.

Countdown to Windows Virus

2006-01-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

There is a warning out that PC users should scan their computers to avoid a dangerous computer virus established to be in effect on this February 3rd. The virus comes in email with message that promises users to free adult material. This way, many users have been infected by it. On February 3rd, the Nyxem Virus is programmed to delete Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Acrobat files and other file types on the infected computers.

"It shows a certain intelligence in its design but what's the motive?" he asked, "Pure vandalism does not ring true these days."

Anti-Virus companies have claimed that they have stopped a large quantity of e-mails containing the virus; this means that a large amount of computers are infected with the virus. The virus emerged on January 16th and since then more than 300,000 machines are known to have fallen victim to Nyxem-E. Furthermore, the virus looks for address book on the computer and sends email to everyone on the list. This virus is very advanced and it will spread through many techniques and I recommend you get fully prepared if you or your business is loaded with important documents. In this complete corrupt world, do you think by any chance that the anti virus companies make the virus's themselves? It takes advance skills to develop a virus like this one, and kids are not involved in this. And why would any grown up person do this; he doesn't profit anything from it. Just something to think about.

Report: Google in Talks with Napster

2006-01-31T12:40:00.000-08:00

Shares in Napster soar by more than 30 per cent following a report that Internet giant Google Inc. has entered talks with Napster, looking to create an “extensive alliance”. Napster said that the company was not up for sale with a spokesperson stating:

"The company is not looking to be sold; the management is not looking to step out. It's simply not true."

According to the report by the NY Post, Google wants to launch a digital music service with Napster, rather than starting its own. According to a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, some 355 online music sellers exist globally, with a shakeout in the industry largely expected, digital music industry executives have said. Napster is a different and illegal way to share and download MP3 files. The songs are not stored on a central computer, but instead they are stored on a personal computer of a user. When you download a song off Napster, you are downloading it of another Napster user that could be living next to you, or halfway around the world. From Napster, anyone can download songs for free from any person that is using Napster and has the song available on his computer.

ZoneAlarm Firewall Spying

2006-01-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

It's kind of sad to see now days just about every single software has a phone home system built in. It has been said that the "bug" is being detected in the retail version of Zone Alarm, so there's no telling what the free version of ZoneAlarm gets up to. Zone Alarm 6.0 was sneakily sending off data to four different servers was revealed Mr. Cringely's colleague who is at InfoWorld. For a couple of months, Zone Labs denied the activity, but later revealed the software had a "bug" and made a statement, "the instructions to contact the servers were set out in the program’s XML code." The "bug" will be fixed soon by the company says Zone Labs. Temporary you can block ZoneAlarm from sending information by adding the follow to your Windows host files. # Block access to Zone Labs Server 127.0.0.1 zonelabs.com to your Windows host file. Where do I find "Windows host file" so I can block this? Windows host file is located in a dictionary:

Windows XP = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Windows 2K = C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Win 98/ME = C:\WINDOWS

If one is going to be modifying the HOSTS file, consider using a customized HOSTS file for added security, such as this one from mvps.org (copy and paste the text to the hosts file). Add the entry: # Block access to ZoneLabs Server 127.0.0.1 zonelabs.com Also take a look at the list here: http://www.geocities.com/yosponge/blockips.txt And save the changes. If ZoneAlarm doesn't get it fixed in a week or two, then I'll be concerned. Privacy on the net is an illusion. There are no guarantees that ANY software or transaction is 100% secure.

Ipod Plays Songs Backwards

2006-01-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

If you have an iPod, you might come across where the songs stick at the beginning and seem to be skipping. So you might skip ahead to like 2 minutes in, and it starts skipping backwards, till it gets back to 0:00 and it keeps skipping on that spot. The solution is just restoring the iPod to factory settings using the tools that came on the CD with your iPod. Then, re-install the latest firmware and try to recreate the problem. Remember to transfer your music to your computer first before you start wiping.

Google Agrees to Buy Radio Ad Company

2006-01-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

Google agreed to buy a company in hope to expand its advertising beyond online world. The company, dMarc Broadcasting Inc., automatically connects advertisers with radio stations. DMarc created a platform that allows for easy access to radio stations, as well as ad tracking.

The VP of advertising sales at Google, Tim Armstrong, said: "Google is committed to exploring new ways to extend targeted, measurable advertising to other forms of media."

The deal was revealed yesterday and it is believed it could top US$1.2 billion. Initially, Google stated it will pay dMarc US$102 million in cash. Google plans to add dMarc's technology to its own Google AdWords service.

HelpFireFox.com Crashes under Traffic

2006-01-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Swedusg businessman, Sam Nurmi, opened a charity web site lastweek to help the success of Internet browser Firefox. It was temporarily closed yesterday due excessive traffic on the site.

"The first 24 hours of this site has been a true success, with more than 13 800 pixels being sold. We have to take down the site for now but we hope to be back as soon as possible."

HelpFireFox hopes to raise US$1 million this year in an effort to make FireFox truly competitive against Microsoft's IE.

Nurmi said: "... for Firefox to be able to surpass Internet Explorer with its unlimited budget, external funding is necessary."

The original idea was developed by British student Alex Tew, which the HelpFireFox is based on. Last year, Tew launched his site called The Million Dollar Homepage in attempt to raise money for his unversity education by selling pixels to advertise.

Apple Under Fire for iTunes Spying Concerns

2006-01-16T06:39:00.000-08:00

An added feature that recommends tracks to the user that are similar to the songs currently being played in the programme has the new version of Apple's iTunes programme in hot water. On the 10th of January, Apple updated the iTunes programme and that marked the beginning of the controversy. Apple recently stated that the company does not keep any of the stored data after the recommendations have been made.

"iTunes sends data about the song selected in your library to the iTunes Music Store to provide relevant recommendations," says the entry on its support website.

Artists and song titles; along with unique computer identifiers and the iTunes account is the data being gathered. When MiniStore is turned off, no data is passed to Apple according to few digital experts. On its support website, the company has posted and updated information about how to turn the MiniStore feature off.

H&R Block's "DeductionPro" Software - FREE Download

2006-01-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Free download of DeductionPro at H&R Block's website here: Download Link "With your recent purchase of MS Money, we're pleased to provide you H&R Block's DeductionPro." No purchase or registration is required to download, though. Link allows you to choose 2004 or 2005 version (but why would you want 2004?). This same software is currently selling for $20: Circuit City link or BestBuy Note: If you've got TaxCut Deluxe or higher, this software should have been included with that purchase. Software description: "DeductionPro helps you identify and maximize your deductions. It makes it easy to track both your cash and non-cash contributions during the year, so you get the most from your deductions. New features help you easily find the true fair-market values for more of the non-cash items you donate. Charitable deductions can include both cash and non-cash items, out-of-pocket expenses and even mileage." This software is useful only if you itemize your deductions. You can use it to track all donations, but I think the real usefulness is in assigning fair-market values for non-cash donated items. You could use it for your 2005 donations (if you have records of what you donated), or use it to track and establish values as you donate stuff in 2006, print summary reports, and enter them on next year's taxes.

Nikon will Discontinue Most of its Film Cameras

2006-01-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

On Thrusday, Nikkon, the Japanese camera and precision equipment maker said it will shift its focus from producing film cameras to digital photography. They will discontinue all but a few professional photographer products.

"Nikon will discontinue production of all lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses. This also applies to most of our film camera bodies, interchangeable manual focus lenses and related accessories," it said on its British Web site.

Quarterly operating profit at Nikon, the world's second-largest maker of digital single lens reflex cameras after Canon. Nikon expects existing stock of analog products to be gone by the summer of 2006.

Microsoft Unveils Search Ad Plans

2006-01-15T19:19:00.000-08:00

In another effort to go head to head with Internet giants Google and Yahoo! Microsoft announced today that it will be launching a search ad system by June in the United States. The company will sell ad space next to search results. The service will be sold through the company's new platform, adCenter, which was launched in the spring of last year. Currently, advertising using sponsored links is run for Microsoft by Yahoo's Overture Services, but the contract runs out in June.

"The thing about search is that it's all about performance, not about the brand name," Li said. "As long as it performs, people are going to buy it."

The service says they aim to give advertisers a better sense of the age, gender and other traits of people who are viewing certain information online.

Edit PDF Documents

2006-01-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

Can you even modify existing PDF document?

The ultimate answer is use PDFCreator. It works great and you should have no problem with it!
The full version of Adobe Acrobat (or clones like NitroPDF) will allow you to edit PDF documents unless they have been locked to prevent editing.
You can always copy and paste it into Microsoft Word, then edit it, and convert it back to a PDF, but you would need Adobe Acrobat for that, reader can't do that. Adobe does offer services of making a PDF file if you submit it to them, but I have never tried that.'
I got IMSI's "PDF to Word" Free After Rebate this summer. I use it to extract PDF content which I then modify it in Word. I convert it back to .pdf with CutePDF. I can get the new document to appear pretty similar if not identical to the original, although sometimes embedded images are a hassle I think the IMSI program goes for around $40 normally. It's OK, there may be better .pdf extraction tools.

Great Tutorial Website

2006-01-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this great website that works kind of like a tutorial search engine. They have about 50+ application tutorial categories for anything from Word and Excel to Dreamweaver and Coldfusion to Soundforge and Fruity Loops. You choose an application, and then it'll give you a breakdown of different categories of tutorials ("templates," "getting started," "web integration," etc.) Once you pick a category, it'll produce "hits" on different websites that have a tutorial on that category. These are user rated and also rated on difficulty, and can be sorted as such. Some will you to a forum sticky, some to a personal website. Oh yeah, and the whole thing can be searched google-style. Within 10 minutes of poking around, I was able to download a 24 minute video tutorial on getting started with dreamweaver. Seems like a pretty cool site. Hopefully others will find it useful as well. Great Tutorial Website

Free Subscription to PC World Magazine

2006-01-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

Receive a 12-month subscription to PC World when you sign up for Lenovo PC Express – a monthly email featuring the latest products and offers from Lenovo. Link For those of you who do not know, Lenovo is an heir to IBM's desktop and laptop business.

Hacker Publishes Two New WMF Bugs

2006-01-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

Microsoft recently patched a critical flaw in the way Windows renders certain types of graphic files. To no avail, as just days later a hacker has published two new WMF bugs that exploit the same part of the Windows OS.

One security analyst said: "New malformed images that simply crash things aren't really that important unless they can be shown to cause code to execute. This is only getting any attention because its WMF and Microsoft just released a WMF patch."

However, the new exploitations are far less dangerous than last week's incident, according to computer security analysts. The new bugs could cause the WMF-viewing software to crash, rather than taking control of the PC.

Levi Strauss Announces the iPod Jeans

2006-01-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

Clothes giant Levi Strauss announced yesterday that it will be releasing the Levi's RedWire DLX Jeans in both gender categories that are iPod compatible. The jeans feature an iPod joystick to operate the music player on the watch pocket. Also, the jeans will be fitted with retractable headphones and an iPod docking station. The RedWire's will be released in the second half of this year, though no price was confirmed with the announcement. iPod-friendly clothing has been sprouting up everywhere since Apple launched the gadget in 2001; Burton Snowboards sold a compatible snowboarding jacket three years ago, and Kenpo released men's jacket fitted with iPod controls. iPod is the No. 1 digital music player. Apple Computer Inc. company on Tuesday attributed a 63 percent jump in holiday quarter sales in part to the iPod's popularity.

Toshiba Announces HD DVD Player US Release

2006-01-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Japanese electric company Toshiba Corp, announced today that it will be releasing its High Definition DVD player in the United States in March this year. It will be the first commercial launch of a HD DVD player in the world. Sony has also announced that it will be releasing its HD DVD player in the United States in the summer. Toshiba's launch date was set to coincide with the release of HD DVDs by Hollywood studios, according to the company. Using Blu-ray Disc technology, Sony is planning the PlayStation 3 game. It has already started selling video recorders.

"Blu-ray Disc technology is the final piece needed to complete our vision of the high-definition world," Hideki Komiyama, president and chief operating officer for Sony Electronics Inc., said in a statement.

The cheapest Toshiba model, the HD-A1, will start at US$499.

Sony BMG Offers CD Spyware Settlement

2005-12-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

Sony BMG has offered a settlement in various class-action lawsuits that evolved following the discovery of spyware hidden on some of the company's copy-protected CDs. The technology, known as XCP, violated consumers rights by modifying a computer. This allows the company to track listening habits and leaving the computer vulnerable to hackers. 52 popular artists including Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong and Celine Dion were featured by MediaMax antipiracy software and CDs with XCP. The settlement offered free music downloads, replacement discs, and coupons. The settlement was filed at District Court in Manhattan, civil claims had been also filed.

NSA Spying Controversy Deepens over Web Cookie Revelation

2005-12-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

The National Security Agency (NSA), already in the middle of a spying storm, has been inserting cookies onto the computers of people who visit the agency's Web site. The practice violates federal rules in place to protect privacy. Following complaints from one privacy activist, and calls from the Associated Press, the cookies vanished and the NSA admitted to using them, claiming the agency had made a mistake. The cookies would not have expired until 2035.

"It seems that they had no idea of how to use cookies and that's a little scary for what it indicates about their sophisticated understanding of their own Web site," Purcell said. "It seems very low. If this is as good as they are in Web surveillance, then their other surveillance can't be very good. And, it's against the rules."

The NSA used persistent cookies, which are saved on the computer's hard drive to track online behaviour. Some analysts believe the cookie use by the NSA was a genuine mistake, blown out of proportion because of the recent wiretapping scandal.

Free Microsoft E-Learning Online Courses Visual Studio & SQL Server 2005

2005-12-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has online e-learning courses for SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 available for free. They also have "Upgrading from Visual Basic 6.0" or ASP.NET classes (different classes from the above link) free with access code 6077-VSMSDN-0061.

Galileo Satellite Launch Good to Go

2005-12-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

The launch of the first Galileo demonstrator spacecraft has been given the go ahead by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Giove-A is the first step to a European global satellite navigation system and it will test key components in the network.

"Three years ago I did a sketch of what I thought we could do. To go from that sketch to what we have now is amazing," recalled John Paffett, projects director with SSTL.

The Galileo project has been estimated to cost some €3.4 billion, and is jointly funded by the private and public sectors. Currently, Europe relies on the American Global Positioning System and Giove is the first satellite Europe has set in orbit.

"With the use of three signals, we will have access to centimetre accuracies, and with these you will see many more services than you have today; and European industry is working to develop those applications."

Some 30 satellites will make up the full Galileo network.

Sounds in AIM

2005-12-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

You might use AIM for its 'Get File' function, and always stay signed on so that you can access shared files anytime. I bet you have tried everything that you have found in order to turn off the sounds. Settings will say "Do not play sounds", but you will still get the sound of door open and door slam when friends sign in and out. After you choose the setting "Do not play sounds" you will no longer get the message alert sounds, but the sign in/out will play. It will also not work if you move the folder 'program files->AIM->sounds' to a different location in hopes that AIM wouldn't find the path to find the sound. The solution is simple; you probably missed something in the settings. Double check that to make sure they are turned off by going to, My aim > edit options > edit preferences > buddy list > sounds > do not play any sounds. You might have turned off the sounds from the IM/chat/mobile section and not both areas.

PSP Dead Pixel Fixer

2005-12-26T06:32:00.000-08:00

When playing this video file on my PSP it fixed 4 of the 5 dead pixels on my screen. Many of the first PSPs shipped with bad or “stuck” pixels. This video is based off a DVD that runs on LCD TVs to fix stuck pixels. This MP4 video flashes red, green, and blue frames rapidly and stimulates dead pixels in to working again. Reports of success have been mixed. Remember to click the triangle button on your PSP when running the video and enter into full screen mode because default is a smaller screen. Please make sure you let it run the full 20 minute length with screen brightness on max. For those who do not know how to send video files to your PSP memory card: Create directory: Drive Letter:\MP_ROOT\100MNV01 and place MP4 file in dictionary. PSP Dead Pixel Fixer Download

New Year Delayed by a Second

2005-12-25T15:51:00.000-08:00

The scientists are delaying the beginning of 2006 by the first "leap second." Changes in the Earth's rotation will be fixed by the time tweak. International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service are responsible for implanting "leap second." At the stroke of midnight, Coordinated Universal Time, an extra second will be added into atomic clocks worldwide. In London, UTC coincides with winter time. On the U.S. East Coast, the extra second occurs just before 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve.

"Enjoy New Year's Eve a second longer," the institute said in an explanatory notice. "You can toot your horn an extra second this year."

To keep uniform timekeeping within 0.9 seconds of the Earth's rotational time, a leap second is added. Many factors determine the change including ocean tides. According to NIST, the first leap was added on June 30, 1942.

Locking Powerpoint Presentations From Editing

2005-12-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

You might have to distribute copies of your Powerpoint presentations to others. It is important that you lock or protect the PowerPoint file so others can view it, but not make changes to it. There are many types of software that will add password protection to your file but you will have to pay money for that. Here are some free ways you can do it.

Go to Tools
Options
Security
Enter a "Password to modify."

You might also have a different password to allow viewing if you want to restrict that, too. That's how it works in PowerPoint 2003, and I assume it's similar in some other versions.

Another method is saving and distributing it as a Powerpoint Show (.PPS) instead of PowerPoint Presentation (.PPT). The file cannot be edited anymore when in (.PPS).

Have you considered converting the PPT to an Acrobat PDF? But you'd be better off just password protecting the file, that way they could still watch the slide show. But if you want to do it PDF, carry on. Granted, not everyone has the full version of Adobe Acrobat Pro (which costs well $). But there are freeware tools, such as Pdf995. It can convert various files to PDF. PDFs are much harder to modify than a Microsoft-password-protected PPT file. Another method for converting to PDF would be use Open Office (not necessarily to design everything, but to save it), It saves files in (.PDF).

Evolution is Breakthrough of the Year

2005-12-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Evolution in action was marked by Science magazine as the breakthrough of the year. Recording compelling examples of speciation (development of a new species) and mapping of the chimpanzee genome were some of the key discoveries. Maybe the most important evolutionary breakthrough is the sequencing of the 1918 flu virus, which started as a bird virus. This discovery may help the scientists that are studying the current bird flu rapidly spreading the world.

The breakthroughs included "information that could help us lead healthier lives in the future."

Nearly 150 years have passed since Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species." Today scientists sometimes take for granted that evolution is the foundation of biology and helped lead to the discovery of new medicines.

Mariah Carey Equals Elvis on Singles Chart

2005-12-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

Singer Mariah Carey's new single "Don't Foreget About Us" has topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, meaning she joins Elvis Presley in the number 2 spot of the artists with the most number one singles in their career. With 20 number on hits, Beatles top the charts. Carey also has become the only artist in 2005 to have two number one singles on Billboard's Hot 100. Some argue that Elvis had 18 number ones, because Billboard counts Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog -- a double-sided single at its release -- as one single, while other charts count it as two.

Transfer Firefox Settings

2005-12-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

You might need your old firefox settings to stay on new computer you just installed. There are many ways that you can transfer (bookmarks, passwords, ect) to your computer. Follow the directions below to do it successfully. Copy and Paste the following folder on your new computer: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla There should be a hidden directory somewhere on your old disk. C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla. This dictionary will have your old Firefox settings. Save the folder by burning, emailing, uploading, or saving it on USB drive. Then on your new computer, go to C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla and overwrite the folder. You should be good to go.

Itunes Organizes by ALBUM not ARTIST

2005-12-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

Does your Itunes organizes all your music by ARTIST not album, so as an example, if you have a mixtape with like thirty different artists on there, there will be thirty different folders for that one album. How do I get Itunes to organize by ALBUM not ARTIST?

Right click the song
Click get info
In the info tab, check "part of a compilation"

Teen Arrested for Homicide After Blog Confession

2005-12-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

A Florida teen is facing manslaughter charges this week, following him confessing to causing an accident while drunk, in which his best friend was killed. The accident occurred in October last year and Blake Ranking claims to have no memory of it. Ranking wrote in his blog (blurty.com) that

"It was me who caused it. I turned the wheel. I turned the wheel that sent us off the road, into the concrete drain ..."

He was a passenger in the front of the car when the accident occurred. Ranking, who is 18, faces five years in prison, a lifetime ban on driving and 10 years probation. The father of the boy who died, Ken Coker, said that he didn't want Ranking imprisoned, but that he thought Ranking should undergo therapy.

As Techdirt notes, many bloggers sometimes believe they are writing something that nobody else will bother to read.

Never think your blog is not being read.

Santa Claus is Online and High Tech

2005-12-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

A Sioux City-based Web site is helping old St. Nick reach more kids than ever before. SantaSpeaking.com features an online form where anyone can request personalized letters and phone calls from jolly old Santa Claus himself.

"We can use this technology to our advantage and provide a much more believable experience for our kids," said Anne Gaskell, co-owner. "When you go to the mall, Santa's not able to know all of those details." "Parents are just overjoyed with the reaction their kids are getting — that Santa knows they've been stealing cookies from the cookie jar or fighting with their brother or sister. It just blows them away," she said.

Technical Summary of All Current AMD Processors

2005-12-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

I was browsing AMD's Web site to find out some details on various AMD 64 processors. I found this page. It shows the Processor Type, Model, Clock Frequency, Package, Profile, Voltage, and Wattage. If you click on the "View Details" of any processor, you can see some more info.

What Power Supply (PSU) should you get?

2005-12-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

Questions about power supplies following increasing power requirements for most new builds, new PCIe power connectors, etc. Few things that are generally considered correct (there may always be exceptions) in the hardcore power supply community.

A power supply that claims to provide 600W of power and costs $50 is likely not a good choice.
A power supply that claims to provide you with 30A on 12V rail, and costs $30 is no better choice.
A power supply that weighs less than 4-5 pounds and claims to be good is likely not a good choice either.
A quality 300W power supply is generally better than garbage 500W power supply.
If you spend $1000 to get top of the line CPU, RAM, and video card, why spend $30 on something that will provide them with poor power?
Many OEMs (Dell, HP, Gateway, eMachines) use specially modified power supplies on certain lines of their PCs. So replacing one may cause irreparable damage to other components, since they may not be electrically compatible with ATX standards, even though physically connectors look and feel the same, and even seemingly properly plug into the motherboards.
Dell's PSUs are greately underrated (rated extremely conservatively). To give you an example - I have a Dell 8250 Desktop, which has 2.53GHz CPU, 512 RDRAM, 2 hard drives and 2 optical drives, a GeForce 6800 non-GT non-Ultra running on a "measeley" Dell 250W power supply with no issues.

When in doubt check: PSU Wattage calculator Recommended PSU list PSU Efficiency explained

S939 systems are the new ATXv2.01 spec, which recommend dual 12v rails and a 24-pin native connector for PCI-E. The only rail that you really need to be concerned with is the 12v rail. The problem is when PC's were first made and used, the MB's and vid cards got most of their power from the 3.3v and 5v rails, 12v was mostly used for fans and HD's. So as CPU and GPU power demand increased, the AUX connector on SA MB's (4-pin), CPU's started to get powered by the 12v rail. This also happened in the video card market with the molex connector. However, PSU's haven't caught up, probably due to higher cost of upgrading the 12v rail. Splitting the 12v rail into two or more was a decision made to make the PSU less dangerous and also provide more stable power for the different devices that need it, IE: CPU(s) and GPU(s). www.hardforum.com has some great guides along with electrical theory to explain how at higher temperatures the available amperage decreases at a inverse proportion. They also recommend 26A for S939 systems, probably for people who have high end video cards and relatively demanding video cards, as most people with S939 systems use them for gaming. I really like enermax due to online reviews and features that they offer, like high efficiency, nice molex connectors and fan speed controller, among others.. You should consider efficiency if you want to spend the extra money as they have ~80-85% now I believe. Friends who have owned them and remarked how quiet and stable their rail voltages are when measured with a multimeter. FSP Group 450w $50 - Fortron Source is a reputable company with great PSU's.

Resource provided by SD forums.

American Online in Ohio Court Over Chat Room

2005-12-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

George Gillespie says he was humiliated in a chat room by two other people and is suing AOL for not doing anything about it. Gillespie claims the other two men made it so bad for him that they caused emotional distress. Jan. 10 in Medina County Common Pleas Court is place set for hearing on some of the issues. The Lawsuit was filed in September and Gillespie states that one of the persons named in the lawsuit came from Alabama to file a change of address form so he wouldn't get any mail. A second person named in the lawsuit claims that Gillespie caused his own problems. Nicholas Graham, spokesman for AOL, has no comment on the case but said AOL has some strict rules for its members to follow.

Audiovox XM Plug-and-Play Satellite Receiver & Car Kit Free after $50 Rebate

2005-12-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

CircuitCity has the Audiovox XM Plug-and-Play Satellite Receiver and Car Kit Package for $50 - $50 Mail in rebate (no activation required) = Free with free shipping. Activation is free using code XMFREEWEB. Rebate ONE Rebate TWO

Google will Open Research Facility in Pennsylvania

2005-12-19T12:08:00.000-08:00

Andrew Moore, a Carnegie Mellon professor of computer science and robotics will head a new research and engineering facility for Google Inc. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The facility will create software search tools for Google.

"Andrew Moore has built his career on the twin challenges of developing techniques to extract patterns from large data sets and applying these machine learning methods to real-life problems," said the dean of Carnegie Mellon's computer science school

Around 100 new high-tech jobs will be generated over the next few years in the Pittsburg area. This is just one of several offices Google has opened near universities. So far Google has overseas offices in Japan, Switzerland and India. At the University of California, Berkeley, recently Google joined Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. to work together on a $7.5 million internet research laboratory.

Japanese Collaboration to Launch Search Engine

2005-12-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

A collaboration between the Japanese government, high-tech companies and universities have announced that it plans to develop and launch its own Internet search engine, having been inspired by the success of Google.

A source close to the development said: "Information searches have become a source of wealth. We want to consider what Japanese companies can do in the current situation where overseas forces are dominant."

Companies meeting this month with some universities include NEC, Fujitsue, Hitachi and Matsushita Electric Industrial, as well as telecommunication firms and one local, public broadcaster. Development will begin in April, 2007. Starting in April 2007, the project will last over few years with a total budget of tens of millions of dollars (several billion yen).

Dell Recalling Thousands of Laptop Batteries

2005-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Dell has announced that it will be recalling some 35,000 laptop batteries as they could "overheat and potentially cause a short-circuit". The notebooks include Latitudes, Inspiron and Precisions made between October 2004 and October 2005.

A Dell spokesman, Tom Kehoe, said: "Working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, we have issued a voluntary recall for the defective notebook batteries." The batteries in question could pose a fire risk.

Each battery has an identification number on a white sticker. Consumers are being asked to have this number at the ready when they contact Dell about the recall. 22,000 recalled batteries were sold in the US, with the remaining 13,000 sold overseas. A consumer advisory has been issued by Dell, which lists hotline numbers for affected notebook owners to call. The firm can be reached at 866-342-0011, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission can be contacted at 800-638-2772.

AMD Slams Intel with Court Ruling Victory

2005-12-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

On Friday the Tokyo court district ruled that information collected by the FTC Japan must be disclosed so that it may be used in the lawsuit. Intel downplayed the victory by saying AMD had mischaracterized and exaggerated the impact of the court's ruling. Intel also said it did not fight the ruling so that it could maintain a presence in the Japanese market.

Once again AMD has mischaracterized and exaggerated the impact of a procedural ruling which does not in any way address the merits of AMD's claim," says Chuck Molloy, a corporate spokesman for legal affairs at Intel. "Our only interest in respect to the documents is to ensure that Intel and our customers' confidential information and trade secrets are protected … AMD's claims of [Intel] hiding materials are absurd.

Intel must now take steps to make sure that the anticompetitive practices never happen again to include training the staff in Japan on new procedures. AMD plans to use the information collected in other similar ongoing lawsuits against Intel.

ESA: Plasma Engine Tests Successful

2005-12-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that their initial testing of new plasma engines for spacecraft has been a success. The drive works by speeding up charged particles between layers of argon plasma. The agency will now be going ahead with simulations and are contemplating the possibility of bigger prototypes. The plasma engine is far less powerful than the current chemical engine, but can operate for much longer.

Dr Roger Walker from the ESA said: "Essentially the concept exploits a natural phenomenon we see taking place in space," and then compared the process to what happens when a solar wind hits the Earth's magnetic field.

First Female Inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame

2005-12-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

U.S. Olympic coach and four-time world champion Tricia Saunders goes into the record books as the first female wrestler to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. She will be inducted during the honors weekend June 2-3, 2006. Saunders never lost to an American during her wrestling career and became the first woman to hold a world title. She helped coach the first U.S. women’s wrestling team at the 2004 Athens Games and brought home a silver medal and a bronze.

System Clock Showing Wrong Time

2005-12-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

Is your System clock showing wrong time? This problem occurs among many users where their clock can't stay on-time. Replace the battery. There will be a code number on the existing battery, just get one with the same code. It would be rare to have a battery fail within a year, but it's not impossible. When CMOS batteries fail, the clock can go slow, fast, or just erratic, so don't expect a failing battery to always result in a slow clock. If you are using XP, make sure the internet time feature is working. Make sure you have set: "Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server." You may want to change the time server. You shouldn't need to install Atomic.exe if you're using XP. I'd also do a thorough virus/malware scan to make sure there's no nasty bug messing with your system. Norton AV2002 can cause problems with the system clock. A firewall may be blocking access to an internet time server. An old and dysfunctional clock synch program may be running in the background. Is the system going into Standby mode at all? Sometimes that can mess up the clock. You can manually reset the XP internet time feature by Start / Run / "COMMAND," and then typing:

net stop w32time (press enter)
w32tm /unregister (press enter)
w32tm /register (press enter)
net start w32time (press enter)

Post Office Offers Stamps with Customer's Picture on Them

2005-12-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday April 27th people can now get their own stamps over the Internet with their own picture on them. The United States Postal Service is working with www.Stamps.com to make this possible. People can now customize their very own stamps when they go send some mail. The service was down for 7 months due to some people printing up stamps with notorious adults like the Unabomber. The company says it has certain guidelines to follow to prevent pictures like Ted Kaczynski's from being on a stamp. For more information on how you can print you own stamp go to www.Stamps.com.

MP3 Players Top US Chirstmas Wish Lists

2005-12-17T17:55:00.000-08:00

A survey conducted by Ipsos Insight has found that iPods and other MP3 players are topping the Christmas wish lists, with 22 per cent of those who participated in the survey saying they would buy a portable MP3 player or iPod in the next 3 months.

The leader of Ipsos Insights Technology and Communications practice, Todd Board, said: "The portable music device category exploded this year, with interest in MP3 players up nine percent over last year's survey."

He continued to say that "This big leap reflects the 'sweet spot' appeal of these portable devices, which balance compactness, simplicity, capacity and features while managing to maintain affordable price-points."

Convert FAT32 to NTFS: XP

2005-12-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

If you currently have FAT32 on your one partioned harddrive but want to convert the whole drive to NTSF, follow the suggestions here. When you convert, your data will be safe but it is "best practice" that you backup your harddrive.

The safest way is to use convert command. Start | All Programs | Accessories | Command Prompt

From a command Prompt enter the following:
convert c: /fs:ntfs
Watch as the computer reboots and goes to work.
It is highly recommended to DEFRAG that drive 1st.

Symantec's Norton PartitionMagic™ 8.0 also converts your drive for you. It is not free! There are other programs out there. Search for it.
I'm pretty sure the Ultimate Boot CD has a utility that will convert FAT32 to NTFS.
You can follow Microsft Help's direction, long and confusing. Read the first suggestion for shorter version of this.

Standoffs are Metal or Plastic Separators

2005-12-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

The location of the nine screw holes (and hence the standoffs) for your mobo are in the manual on page 13 or so. Arrows show location of standoffs for a different mobo/case setup:

The ASUS manual says to install the nine screws and does not mention the standoffs. IMHO, the manual should have said, "Make sure standoffs are installed in the case first," instead of assuming that the case instructions would have been followed.

How to Have a Better Experience Building a System

2005-12-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

Standoffs Install standoffs between the motherboard and the case, if required. Standoffs are metal or plastic separators which keep motherboard circuits from shorting out if they touch the metal case. Standoffs are usually included with the case. Failure to use standoffs can lead to complete failure of the motherboard or other components such as the power supply unit or video card.

And another one:

Build a practice system first For a first build, consider assembling an inexpensive system. Save the money you had planned on spending on a power system for the next build. One can use a spare system as backup, as a file server or test machine, just for websurfing, or give it to a family member/friend. Spending <$200 on a "practice system" (including XP home) can save money that would be wasted on learning curve errors encountered when using more expensive components. To minimize the cost of the practice system, watch the sales, go with a CPU/mobo combination that is 1 or 2 generations back, use onboard video and sound, 40-80GB IDE HD, etc.. (Xnarg SD)

List your suggestions, advice, and things not to do to avoid problems! Also remember, whatever you post must be understandable for a first-timers!

Britney Spears Yahoo's Most Searched Item for 2005

2005-12-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

Pop singer Britney Spears has topped Yahoo's annual Buzz chart as the most searched for item this year, despite the fact that she did not release any new material. It is the 4th time in 5 years that Spears has topped the search chart.

The list of overall top searches, all of which were entertainment related, "shows us that people are fixated on the activities of pop culture icons," Yahoo "Buzz Index guru" Erik Gunther said in a statement.

Last year, "American Idol" topped the chart. This year, Rapper 50 Cent was in second place, with the Cartoon Network, Mariah Carey, Green Day, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Eminem, Ciara and Lindsay Lohan making rounding out the top 10.

Amazon Customer Service Phone Number

2005-12-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

It is hard to find Amazon customer service phone number. It is not always listed on their site or in email. That is why I posted the Amazon customer service phone number here. Call the numbers below for help. 1-800-201-7575 or 1-206-266-2992

Samsung C207 Cell Phone $30

2005-12-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

Cingular Prepaid has a Samsung C207 for $30 with no rebates or contracts. Enter your zip code to get started. Use IE not Firefox. Firefox users have been getting a $70 price while IE users have been getting a $30 price. Tech Specs Picture View Cingular User Tutorials Checking Your Order Status HOW TO UNLOCK-- 1. Use a serial cable for samsung phones (usually $10 from eBay) 2. Simply plug the cable into your computer's (USB or serial port) and plug it into the phone. 3. Download the Samsung GSM Repair Tools v1.2 Software from unlockeasy.com (Use google to translate that page for you as it's in Spanish) 4. Simply run the software, select "c200" as a phone, click read info, then click UNLOCK.

Inspiron 6000D PM-1.8GHz Laptop $699 or 2GHZ, X300, WSXGA + more $799

2005-12-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

Dell Home has the Inspiron 6000D Pentium M 1.8GHz 15.4" WXGA Laptop for $749 - $50 off $999 or $50 off $400 Dell Game coupon (or buy 1 off ebay) = $699 w/ free shipping. Select free 1.8GHz upgrade. Thanks onsalenow. Specs Intel Pentium M Processor 750 (1.86GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB) Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 15.4 inch WXGA LCD Panel 512MB Shared DDR2 SDRAM 2 Dimms Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 40GB Hard Drive Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem FREE! 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps) 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (53 WHr) 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support Another option is the Inspiron M 2GHz 15.4" WSXGA Laptop for $1499 - auto $100 off - $500 off $799 - $100 off $1499 = $799. 1. Click here 2. Select the following options:

Pentium® M Processor 760 (2GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
15.4 inch UltraSharp WSXGA+ LCD Panel
ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X300 64MB HyperMemory™
100GB 5400rpmHard Drive
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability

3. Apply $500 off $1499 coupon 5KTG5F4TX8339P 4. Apply a $100 off $1499 Dell Game couponor buy 1 off ebay.

New Gmail Features

2005-12-15T13:55:00.000-08:00

Gmail's latest new features include...

Vacation auto-responder Set an auto-response so that if you’re lying on a beach or taking a train across Siberia, your friends will know you won’t be checking your email. Learn more Contact groups One of our most-requested features is finally here! Now you can send messages to a group instead of having to pick out the individual addresses every time. Learn more

Google Announces New Music Feature

2005-12-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

Google Inc. has announced yesterday that it will be launching a music search feature on its search engine, detailing a featured artist. The results will come up above the normal search results, in Google's "one box" area.

"In analyzing our traffic, we found that a huge number of users conduct music-related searches," Google said in a statement.

Google said in a statement announcing the new feature that "In analyzing our traffic, we found that a huge number of users conduct music-related searches." When such a search is conducted, the artist will be featured in the "one box" area. Included in the new details will be links where the user can purchase the music. Google does not plan to charge for the service. The placement in search results is determined by a combination of the retailer's general Google search rank and other relevance factors, and an element of "randomness" to ensure "fairness," said SearchEngineWatch.com.

Guide to Website Develpotment PHP/HTML

2005-12-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is a guide to website develpotment PHP/HTML. This guide was written on SD. I keep this updated here. So check back on the Guide to Website Develpotment PHP/HTML. The things that are not linked are books.

PHP
Perl
C Style Languages (C, C++, and C#)
Java c CSS
Javascript and DHTML
XML, XHTML, HTML, ASP, and SQL
VB: Visual Basic
Free Stock Photography
Flash c Photoshop
Fireworks c Illustrator
3D Studio Max
Drawing/Sketching

PHP http://www.php.net/manual/en/ http://www.phpbuilder.com/ http://www.zend.com/ http://www.zend.com/zend/tut/class-intro.php (Classes) http://www.zend.com/zend/tut/session.php (Sessions) http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/PHP/ PHP Essentials Professional PHP Programming PHP: Fast and Easy Web Development Beginning PHP4 Programming PHP Developer's Cookbook Core PHP Programming PHP and MySQL Web Development PHP Developer's Cookbook PHP Black Book PHP Functions Reference Perl http://www.serghei.net/docs/program...rl5interactive/ Learn just about anything in Perl Learning Perl C Style Languages (C, C++, and C#) http://www.cprogramming.com/ http://www.codeproject.com/ http://www.cplusplus.com/ The C++ Standard Library : A Tutorial and Reference Essential C++ C++: The Complete Reference Programming C# C# and the .NET Platform Java http://www.bruceeckel.com/ http://www.wdvl.com/Authoring/Java/ Thinking in Java - Bruce Eckel Beginning JAVA2 - Ivor Horton (Wrox) Just Java2 - Peter Van Der Linden CSS http://www.w3schools.com 3 Column, table-less, liquid CSS layouts CSS Pointers Index CSS Level Two Specification Glish BlueRobotWebWare - House of Styles NYPL Style Guide AlistApart EchoEcho - CSS Web Developer's CSS Builder.com - CSS Reference Table WebReview - Master Compatibility Chart Web Design Group - Reference Links Mulder's Stylesheets Tutorial http://cssvault.com/ http://www.csszengarden.com/ Essential CSS and DHTML for Web Professionals DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide Javascript and DHTML http://www.webreference.com http://www.w3schools.com http://www.hotscripts.com Rich In Style 24Fun.com Bratta - DHTML Central DHTML Shock Dynamic Drive Kurt's DHTML OpenCube W3School.com - DHTML Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference Essential CSS and DHTML for Web Professionals DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide The Javascript Bible XML, XHTML, HTML, ASP, and SQL http://www.w3schools.com/ http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ http://www.htmlhelp.com/ http://www.aspzone.com http://www.ASPToday.com http://www.ASP101.com http://www.Aspin.com http://www.4GuysFromRolla.com DB Forums WDVL: Article: Database Normalization Beginning SQL (Wrox) Database Design for Mere Mortals Beginning SQL Server 2000 Programming MySQL VB: Visual Basic http://www.andreavb.f2s.com/ http://www.planetsourcecode.com/vb/ http://www.freevbcode.com/default.asp http://www.developerfusion.com/ http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/ http://www.vbcode.com/default.htm http://www.vbip.com/default.asp Free Stock Photography http://www.dubtastic.com/resources.html http://www.steeldolphin.com/ http://www.carbonfour.com/downloads/ http://www.stridingstudio.com/resources/ http://www.istockphoto.com http://www.freefoto.com http://www.pictor.com http://www.imagebank.com http://www.ditto.com http://www.twistedlens.com http://www.bciusa.com http://www.visipix.com http://www.photo.net http://www.webshots.com http://www.gograph.com http://www.freestockphotos.com http://www.photonica.com http://www.freeimages.co.uk http://www.archivephotos.com http://www.pro-visions.com http://www.snap-shot.com http://www.freemediaarchive.com http://www.zing.com http://www.free-image.net/ http://morguefile.com Flash http://www.flashkit.com www.kirupa.com www.kirupaforum.com http://www.3dcafe.com/asp/tutflash.asp Photoshop http://www.computerarts.co.uk/ http://www.screamdesign.com/ http://www.designsbymark.com/ http://www.planetphotoshop.com/ http://www.thinkdan.com http://www.steeldolphin.com http://robouk.gdesign.nl http://ww.neofrog.com http://www.spoono.com http://www.pixeljunction.com http://www.eyewire.com/tips/photoshop/ http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/ http://www.spyroteknik.com http://www.carbonfour.com http://www.dubtastic.com http://www.digitexturia.com http://jereme.gfxsites.net/ http://www.wastedyouth.org http://www.stridingstudio.com http://www.phong.com http://www.digitalwebgold.com/resources/tutorials.htm http://www.thinkdan.com http://www.steeldolphin.com http://robouk.gdesign.nl http://ww.neofrog.com http://www.spoono.com http://www.pixeljunction.com http://www.eyewire.com/tips/photoshop/ http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/ http://www.spyroteknik.com http://www.carbonfour.com http://www.dubtastic.com http://www.digitexturia.com http://jereme.gfxsites.net/ http://www.wastedyouth.org http://www.stridingstudio.com http://www.phong.com http://www.digitalwebgold.com/resources/tutorials.htm Photoshop In A Nutshell by Donnie O'Quinn Fireworks www.GuiStuff.com www.Ultraweaver.com www.SolarDreamStudios.com Illustrator http://www.sketchpad.net/illustrator.htm http://www.steeldolphin.com/tutorials.php http://www.tutorialfind.com/tutorial....asp?ct=9&ob=3 The Illustrator Bible 3D Studio Max 3Ds Max 4 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide 3D Max 4 Workshop Drawing/Sketching Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Drawing the Human Head Dynamic Anatomy Drawing Dynamic Hands

MTV & Microsoft to Develop Digital Music Service

2005-12-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

MTV Networks and the Microsoft Corporation announced yesterday that they would be teaming up to create a new digital music service called Urge. Urge will be launched officially next year and be integrated into Microsoft's Media Player. The service will offer tracks from both independent and mainstream record labels, as well as original content shown on MTV's regularly scheduled television programming. Plans show that some 2 million tracks will be available on Urge.

Newest Skyscraper in Kuwait to be Tallest

2005-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

UK architects have drawn blueprints for a kilometre-tall skyscraper. The architects hope to see the record-breaking structure commissioned in Kuwait.

"As a building gets taller you need more lifts, but that can consume more of the core of the building," Zikri told New Scientist. The solution, he says, could be to use double-decker, or even triple-decker lifts instead of conventional ones.

The 1001 metres tower would be almost twice the height of the world's tallest building today, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which stands at 509 metres. The new building would also dwarf the Burj Dubai, a building under construction in Dubai that is expected to stand 700-800 metres tall once completed in 2008. There are a lot of issues that Zikri points out, that would need to be addressed. Movement caused by wind at the top of the building needs to be controlled and prevent wind whirling around the building.

Arizona Town Goes Fully Wireless

2005-12-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

Tempe, Arizona, will become the first U.S. city of its size to offer Wi-Fi service to all of its 160,000 citizens by February of next year. They hope that this will bring more biotec and technology companies and their young tech-savvy employees. NeoReach Wireless, a subsidiary of Bethesda, Md.-based MobilePro Corp., is installing the service, which will be available in homes, parks, cafes and offices. There are around 400 antenna boxes mounted on poles throughout the city in a 'mesh' setup. The network is not strong enough to be picked up by more than one wall, so those who want the service indoor service where it is hard to catch signal will require to setup a box that serves as a signal booster and router. But 14 other states have passed laws limiting municipal internet serivice. Some other states are expected to apply same concept. Though network speed will be limited, New Orleans is building a free system. Source:TBO news

SMS will self-destruct in 40 seconds

2005-12-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

If you have ever sent a text message and wanted to know for certain that only the recipient would see it and no “paper trial” would be left, StealthText service may be for you. Designed for sensitive business information and celebrity love affairs StealthText is about to offer a service that automatically deletes received text messages after about 40 seconds. All the messages will be logged on a private server that only the sender has access to. To reply the recipient must also have a StealthText Account as well.

Carole Barnum, chief exec and co-founder of Staellium UK comments, "The ability to send a self-destruct message has massive benefits for people from all walks of life, from everyday mobile users, through to celebrities and business people, but this is just the start. In spring 2006 we will be launching new services such as self-destruct email, voice and picture messages, so ultimately no one will ever have to worry about their messages or pictures ending up in the wrong hands ever again." Source:Theregister

CircuitCity teaming up with SpicyGear.com?

2005-12-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

A user posted this on one of the forum. Recently I came across a somewhat-slickdeal regarding SpicyGear.com and its 25% off sale. There was something vaguely familiar about picture of the couple on SpicyGear's front page, though.. something *too* familiar. I wasn't sure at first but I then just discovered why they look so familiar. While it lasts, go to circuitcity.com, click on the "Weekly Ad" link near the top, and punch in your zip code. If you're like me, you'll see something like this (link might be dependent on cookies): http://weeklyad.circuitcity.com/circ...toreid=2397403 Or click on the below screenshot..

You will see: Girl with short blond hair, guy in need of haircut, tree made of white fuzz with red ornaments, and a couch that looks like it was ripped straight out of a Target commercial. Then go to SpicyGear.com You should be seeing this...

Gives a whole new meaning.. "Just what I needed" to "Explore Yourself"

Microsoft Student 2006 Free or -$20 after $60 Rebate

2005-12-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

OfficeDepot has Microsoft Student 2006 for $70 - $10 off $50 coupon 20889569 - $60Mail In Rebate = Free. Remember to add paper clips to meet the coupon minimum. For some zip codes, when add to cart and sign in, the price drops to $50 which makes it -$20 after rebate. Product Link: http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level Rebate Form: http://forms.young-america.com/29586_OD7102009.pdf

Microsoft® Student 2006 includes a complete set of tools to help students get their homework done more efficiently. Student 2006 provides learning essentials for Microsoft Office plus Encarta Premium 2006. A Web companion applet provides relevant encyclopedia content based on web searches – letting students know whether a piece of data was from a credible, reliable source. A graphing calculator feature helps students solves algebra, statistics and graphing equations. Additional features include project starters, world atlas, thesaurus, chart maker and dictionary. Perfect for middle- and high-school students.

Intel Criticizes '$100 Laptop' Program

2005-12-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

Intel Corp. Chairman Craig Barrett has blasted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) media lab's plans to provide cheap $100 laptop computers for developing countries. The 'textbook' type computers will be delivered next year.

"Mr. Negroponte has called it a $100 laptop — I think a more realistic title should be 'the $100 gadget'," Barrett, chairman of the world's largest chip maker, was quoted as saying. "The problem is that gadgets have not been successful."

Nicholas Negroponte is in charge of the MIT media lab. He said that the new small, hand-cranked lime-green devices would be sold to governments for school kids at $100 each but that they will cost the general public $200. Barrett says it won't work.

"We work in the area of low-cost, affordable PCs, but full-function PCs," Barrett said. "Not handheld devices and not gadgets."Source:Msnbc,shortnews

Publish Song Lyrics on Web, Go Directly to Jail

2005-12-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

2006 will be the year that the Music Industry continue their legal assault on the public; their new target will be web sites that post lyrics, guitar tabs or song scores.

The MPA would target "very big sites that people would think are legitimate and very, very popular", Mr Keiser said. "The Xerox machine was the big usurper of our potential income," he said. "But now the internet is taking more of a bite out of sheet music and printed music sales so we're taking a more proactive stance."

But Music Publishers Association president Lauren Keiser was recently quoted as saying that simply fining or closing these sites was not enough, he wanted to see people thrown in jail. Critics of the move claim that there are no legitimate alternatives for budding musicians who want to learn to play their favorite songs.

"Unauthorised use of lyrics and tablature deprives the songwriter of the ability to make a living, and is no different than stealing," he said. Source: BBC, Shortnews

Microsoft Word

2005-12-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

When you open a new document in Microsoft Word, you might already see writing on the page instead of a completely blank document which you are suppose to see. The solution to the problem usually is Normal.dot is messed up. Normal.dot Template—Explained

There are two basic types of files used in Word. One is a .doc, which stands for Document. The other is a .dot, which stands for Document Template or just Template. The Normal.dot template is like that carved potato stamp or bug mold—it contains the basic layout and helps shape any documents created from this template. All documents are based on a template in Word! Whether it's from the normal.dot (master template) or some customized template you've created and specifically select when you click File/New, they're all created from a template. But what you finally do with that layout can vary.

You need to fix Normal.dot (the standard template that opens with any document). To do this, find it, rename it to Normail2.dot, and restart Word. This should fix your problem. To locate Normal.dot, Select Start | Find | Files or folders, and search for Normal.dot. In Windows XP, the folder that contains Normal.dot is a "hidden" folder. To make it visible, go to Tools | Folder Options, select the View tab, and check the button for "Show hidden files and folders."

World's Longest Photo.

2005-12-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

One my friend emailed me this picture and said it was the longest photo in the World. I never seen a picture this long so check it out. Click to enlarge it!

New Gmail Features

2005-12-09T05:39:00.000-08:00

Feed me View your favorite RSS feeds right in Gmail as “Clips” along the top of your Gmail screen. Display clips from blogs, news sites and other online sources. Pick from the latest headlines, random popular feeds, or add any RSS/Atom feed you want. Learn more See it now Don’t want to wait for an attachment to download? Now when you get Microsoft Office, OpenOffice or .pdf attachments, you can view them as a web page in HTML by clicking the "View as HTML" link right next to it. For when you're on a mobile device or you don't want to install some new software just to view a document. Or if you just want to see it faster. Learn more Shortcuts on the right Now Gmail automatically detects addresses and tracking numbers, and displays useful information for them alongside your messages. With a single click, you can get directions to that address your friend sent you, or find out when the new book you ordered will arrive. Pretty handy! Learn more

Infected spoolsv.exe

2005-12-09T05:18:00.000-08:00

Upon checking out the processes, you might realize that the Microsoft Printer Spooler Service, also known as spoolsv.exe is running your processor into the ground. Your laptop or computer might have started slowing down due to the process named spoolsv.exe. Usually the problem is spyware. Check out the links below to solve the problem.

Google yields: http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/spoolsv/ http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/spoolsv.exe.html Microsoft.com yields: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822834

Firefox Guide

2005-12-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

The original author, appleyum, has given me full permission over the guide. ;) Table of Content 1. Beginner Introduction 2. Advance Tricks and Tweak 3. Extension 4. Theme 5. Problem Beginner Where you can get Firefox http://www.getfirefox.com http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Direct link to Firefox release Direct Installer Link Direct Zip Link Reasons WHY you should switch to Firefox http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/why/ Other Guide: http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/best_of/firefox.htm http://windowssecrets.com/041202/#top1 Plugins: http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/windows.html http://mycroft.mozdev.org/ (searches plugin) Macromedia Flash Player 7.0 http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer Macromedia Shockwave Player http://sdc.shockwave.com/shockwave/d...d/download.cgi Quicktime 6.5 Online Installer: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ Offline Installer: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalone/ Java 1.5.0 xpi installation: http://java.com/en/download/windows_xpi.jsp online installer: http://java.sun.com/webapps/download...?BundleId=9724 offline installer: http://java.sun.com/webapps/download...?BundleId=9723 Adobe Reader 7.0 http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html Plugin Info: To find out what plugins you have installed about:plugins at the URL bar Cache Info: View your cache about:cache Import/Export Bookmark Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks File -> Import File -> Export Options: Everything begins with Tools -> Options General section You can set your startup page You can set your language of preference. Webpage with multiple language will check your preference before displaying You can set your default browser to Firefox Privacy section History memorize the website you visited. This includes history sidebar, pull down URL, and back and forward history. So if you press clear it will clear everything including your back and forward history. Save Form Information and Save Password speak for themself Cookie - Check for originating web site only and accept for current session only. Gives you more cookie privacy. Cache you can set your HD cache size and clean it out Use Clear All when cops are knocking on your door or if you don't want your family member find out what you have been up to. Web Features This is where you config ad, image, popup, and javascript block. Downloads Change whether you want to default to save to desktop, certain folder or ask you everytime where you want to save. You can also setup up how to auto handle files with certain extensions Advanced You can disable resize image to fit browser. This is also the place you setup how you want tab browsing behave. Open new window in new tab. Quick Keys: http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/keyboard.html Ctrl+T Opens New Tab Ctrl+N Opens New Windows Ctrl+B Show/Hide bookmark sidebar Ctrl+H History sidebar Ctrl+J Download Manager Ctrl+U Page Source Ctrl+I Page Info. Useful to find those media files and find out other misc information Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Page Down Next Tab Ctrl+Shift+Tab or Ctrl+Page Up Previous Tab Ctrl+K Jump to your search bar Ctrl+L or F6 Jump to location bar Ctrl+F5 or Ctrl+Shift+R Reload the webpage F5 or Ctrl+R Refresh F11 Full screen Ctrl+[1..9] Select tab 1 through 9 Ctrl+Left Click or Middle Click Open link in new tab Middle Click on tab Close tab Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4 Close tab Shift+scroll middle mouse down Back Shift+croll middle mouse up Forward Ctrl-Enter At the URL bar you type google and ctrl-enter and it will automatically fill it as http://www.google.com Shift-Enter At the URL bar you type ptlnikhil.blogspot.com and shift-enter and it will automatically fill it as http://ptlnikhil.blogspot.com/ Alt-Enter After you type the URL at the URL bar and press Alt-Enter it will open in new tab of current URL. Neat things you can do with firefox Multiple Home Page You can have multiple start page open when you start firefox Tools->Options->General->Homepage->Use Bookmark OR |<-u-r-l> (Take out "-") Open Multiple Bookmark Right click your bookmark folder and right click open in tabs and wala you have all of them open Bookmark Keyword Right click bookmark and create keyword and now when ever you type the keyword in Navigation URL bar it will jump to that bookmark. This allows you to overwrite search google. Create RSS Feed Live Bookmark http://www.mozilla.org/products/fire...bookmarks.html Automatically Click on orange wave icon and surscribe Manually Bookmarks->Mange Booksmarks->File->New Live Bookmarks Point it to the RSS feed. Copy Image to Clipboard Right click on an image and select Copy Image will store the image in clipboard Advance Optimized Firefox Build M1 M1 builds are generally optimized builds that also contain code optimized for the MMX instruction set. M1 builds are targeted for the following processors:

AMD Athlon
AMD K6-2
Intel Pentium 2
Intel Pentium Pro
Intel Pentium

http://www.moox.ws/files/mozilla/fir...RELEASE_M1.exe M2 M2 builds are highly optimized builds that also contain code optimized for the SSE instruction set. Given the nature M2 builds, they are designed only for the following processors that support SSE:

AMD Athlon XP
AMD Athlon MP
AMD Sempron (2200+ - 2800+)
AMD Duron (1.0GHz - 1.8GHz)
Intel Pentium 3
Intel Celeron (533MHz - 1.4GHz)

http://www.moox.ws/files/mozilla/fir...RELEASE_M2.exe M3 M3 builds are highly optimized builds that also contain code optimized for the SSE2 instruction set. Given the nature of M3 builds, they are designed only for the following processors:

AMD Opteron
AMD Athlon FX
AMD Athlon 64
AMD Sempron (3100+)
Intel Xeon
Intel Pentium M
Intel Pentium 4
Intel Celeron D
Intel Celeron (1.7GHz - 2.8GHz)

http://www.moox.ws/files/mozilla/fir...RELEASE_M3.exe Add additional search engine http://www.mozilla.org/products/fire...entral-engines Advance config your Firefox For more advance user about:config gives you more option to play with. For those who likes to speed tweak http://www.mozilla.org/support/firef...#oth_rendering Enable piping as well http://www.tweakfactor.com/articles/...oxtweak/4.html For those who say the browser is using too much memory. http://www.mozilla.org/support/firef...s#oth_memcache Limit your memory cache usage. http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/tips#lay_blink Disable blinking text Extension Get Extensions: http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/ http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/ http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/ How to get your old extension to work with new firefox 1) Download the extension file 2) Rename the file extension from xpi to zip. 3) Open the zip file 4) Open install.rdf 5) Change Maxversion to 1.0 (or higher) 6) Rename zip back to xpi 7) Drag xpi to your firefox. Extension: Googlebar http://googlebar.mozdev.org/ Google Pagerank http://www.tapouillo.com/firefox_extension/ Adblock Additional spam block power http://adblock.mozdev.org/ Direct xpi Link adblock import list NukeAnything Neat extension that allows you to right click on any frame in a website and kill that frame temporarily (returns to normal with refresh). Nice to have on sites that have annoying flash ads, but you don't want to kill the adserver -The Raddish http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/#nukeanything http://ted.mielczarek.org/code/mozilla/ Direct xpi Link Single Window Traps links that would normally open in a new window http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=50 Session Saver Remembers loaded tabs and their history items when Firefox is manually closed, then restores the tabs and history items when next started http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/?extension=ss Compact Menu http://cdn.mozdev.org/compact/ Download Manager Gives you additional feature over Download Manager http://dmextension.mozdev.org/ Download Sort Sort Download base on file extension http://downloadstatusbar.mozdev.org/downsort/ Backup Bookmark Bookmark is your life http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/ OpenBook You get to see bookmark tree in add bookmark http://www.chuonthis.com/extensions/openbook.php Sort Bookmark http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=51 Flat Bookmark Editing Makes it easier to edit multiple bookmark http://bluweb.com/us/chouser/proj/mozhack/ TabScroller Useful if you have a lot of tabs. You can scroll through your tab with right click and scroll wheel. http://www.krickelkrackel.de/tabscro...abscroller.htm Dictionary Search neat little tool that lets you right click on any word and look it up with your dictionary site of choice. -The Raddish http://dictionarysearch.mozdev.org/ ReloadEvery youremail/E-mail/Ebay people might like this one. Reload the page every few sec/mins http://reloadevery.mozdev.org/ User Agent Switcher Spoof as other type browser. Useful if you run to site that only gives IE better viewing or only allows IE to view even though it would work in other browser. http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=59 Duplicate Tab and Clone Window For those who use IE and must have clone window with history http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/?extension=cw http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=28 IE View For Microsoft code only website http://ieview.mozdev.org/ DeskCut Ability to create webpage shortcut on Desktop http://deskcut.mozdev.org/index.html AutoForm The form data will be saved into the preferences to its context, which is calculated on the base URI, the form name and and a hash value over all form elements. So every page should have it's unique key where the values are stored. http://autoform.mozdev.org/ Magpie Useful for those who view image site that require incremental image file name. It allows you to use shortcut key to browse images http://www.bengoodger.com/software/tabloader/ All in One Gesture This one is for Opera user who like to use mouse gesture to navigate http://perso.wanadoo.fr/marc.boullet...nsions-en.html X Quickly clear privacy sensitive data, specifically: history, form info, saved passwords, download history, cookies, and the cache http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/x Problems Problem: Your firefox froze and when you rerun it and it ask you to create new profile. Do not create one. Just go to task manger and force kill firefox.exe If you accidentally create a new profile and want to get your old profile back, here is how. 1. Close Firefox completely (select File > Exit from the main menu of Firefox). 2. Select Start > Run... from the Windows Start menu. 3. Enter firefox.exe -profilemanager and press OK 4. Pick your original profile. 5. Make sure it is the correct one then repeat step 1-3 delete the 'new' profile that you don't want, BE VERY SURE it's the RIGHT ONE Detail Firefox profile Info Here If you run into firefox problem and can't be fix with uninstall/reinstall. It's probably cause by corrupt profile. Here is what you do to fresh install Firefox Before you do anything turn on show hidden files and folders or else you won't be able to see anything 0. Explorer -> Folder Options -> View -> Hiden files and folders -> Show hidden files and folders Profile Location For WinNT/2k/XP: :\documents and settings\\Application Data\\ For Win9X: :\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\\

Backup you profile, most likely just bookmark. Copy bookmark to another directory and then copy it back after fresh install.
Delete your profile
Reinstall Firefox

This will solve 99.9% of your problem. Extension Run your firefox in Safe Mode. If you don't have Safe Mode shortcut just add -safe-mode flag at the end, firefox.exe -safe-mode When started in Safe Mode all extensions are disabled and the Default theme is used. Disable the Extension/Theme that is causing trouble and then start normally. Finding help: http://kb.mozillazine.org/ http://forums.mozillazine.org/index.php http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/ Flash: Flash Uninstaller http://download.macromedia.com/pub/f...ash_player.exe Java: Java Runtime Environment 5.0 (1.5.0) fixes many problems users are having with Java. Updating to it is highly recommended. Select "Windows Offline Installation, Multi-language" on the download page.

Use GMail as Storage

2005-12-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

Take advantage of the 2 and a half gigs worth of space by using these programs! Gmail File Space Extension (gspace):

This extension allows you to use your Gmail Space (2 GB) for file storage. It acts as a remote machine. You can transfer files between your hard drive and gmail. This is similar to "Gmail Drive" on windows platform. Your gmail account looks like a FTP host and you can upload and download your files. After you install, you get an option called "GSpace" in your "tools" menu clicking on which opens the window for transfer of folders/files.

Website Download GMail Drive GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google Gmail account, allowing you to use Gmail as a storage medium.

GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google Gmail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your Gmail account directly from inside Windows Explorer. GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.

Website Download

Wikipedia Tightens Submission Rules

2005-12-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia has announced that it will be tightening up its submission rules following a complaint in a newspaper editorial by journalist John Seigenthaler. Seigenthaler was implicated in the Kennedy assassinations in a Wikipedia article.

"What we're hopeful to see is that by slowing that down to 1,500 a day from several thousand, the people who are monitoring this will have more ability to improve the quality," Wales said Monday. "In many cases the types of things we see going on are impulse vandalism."

John Seigenthaler used to work for Robert Kennedy. Users will be required to register with the Web site if they want to submit an article. However, a user will not have to be registered if they wish to edit an already-existing article.

Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales said: "What we're hopeful to see is that by slowing that down to 1,500 a day from several thousand, the people who are monitoring this will have more ability to improve the quality." Yahoo, shortnews

Pixel Ads Portal for Bands and Music Webpages Opened

2005-12-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

A German student opened a new portal website for music-related homepages based on pixel-ads. He sells 10,000 spaces for $10USD each to owners of band sites and fan sites. He also sells it to website of record labels, record shops, concerts, venues or festivals. On www.tenthousandbands.com Lars Fischer gives sense to this kind of sites, to the viewers and the buyers. It's a nice place for discovering and promoting music sites. And all ads can be filtered by genre i.e. Rock, Pop, Urban, Jazz or Electro. This homepage inspired by the milliondollarhomepage and all ads will be online at least for the next three years and will be accessible to everyone. The first buyers will get an additional bonus. Details can be found on the website's news section. From my experience, things are to be taken advantage of only one time.

Different Internet Connection To Read Newsgroups on Outlook Express

2005-12-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

If you want to have Outlook Express retrieve messages via your wireless connection rather than your lan connection, follow this steps. There are few paths but here is the simple one I know of. You should go a simpler route, by creating your own static route. This way you can force your newsgroups connection to go through a certain path, rather than picking a default one based on an automatic gateway metric. Example: Let's imagine, that your newsgroups server IP address is 10.1.1.1, and you have 2 adapters: Wired with IP 192.168.0.10 (255.255.255.0 subnet, 192.168.0.1 gateway, Automatic Metric). Wireless with 192.168.1.50 address, 255.255.255.0 subnet, 192.168.1.1 gateway, automatic metric). You must be using Windows and not Mac this time, drop into command line (cmd) and type: "route print" - you will see a set of addresses with various routes - it describes which interfaces and which gateways the traffic goes for various connections. So, in this case, You would need to type in the following command: "route add 10.1.1.1 mask 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.1" This will effectively force all the traffic to 10.1.1.1 to go through your wireless gateway (in this case 192.168.1.1).

"Windows - No Disk" Message

2005-12-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

Many users get a similar error like "Windows - No Disk" on start up and other times. When you click cancel it will go away but it will soon reappear when you restart or do other activity. Follow the suggestions listed here for a solution.

Identify the latest software you installed or uninstalled. If you uninstalled something, make sure it is completely removed.
Did you run your spyware/adware scans? Use the latest version of Ad-Aware Personal.
It might be one of the startup programs looking for a disc, use Startup Control Panel to check.
Download Hijackthis, scan your computer. Post the Hijjackthis log into one of the online automated log analyzers such as Help2Go Detective and Log Auto Analyzer. Follow the advice from the analyzer and disable extraneous software. Definitely disable Microsoft Office OSA.EXE, it's a real resource hog and is not needed.
Again, make sure scan your computer with latest version of Adaware & Spybot! It’s crucial that it is the latest version.

Cool Christmas Light Display - Part 2!

2005-12-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

If you remember, I posted a post on a house which was decorated with lights. And the lights played with music. Well, If you liked it, here is the second part of it. I still think this movie is heavly edited to make it look real, but I don't know for sure. Christmas lights set to music, very cool! X-mas Lights part 1 Cool Christmas Light Display - Part 2! X-mas Lights part 2

Packers vs Bears!!

2005-12-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

The Packer/Bear game is on in half hour! I'm excited because this is the best game to watch, in other words longest rivalry in the NFL! This is the 170th game where Packers and Bears played each other. I have my finger crossed! Go!! Pack Go!!!!!! ( But I think...I already know the score results) We will see what happens later today!

Is Your Brain Male or Female?

2005-12-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

The Guardian has two tests which allow you to measure the empathising quotient and systemizing quotient of your brain. This is based on Simon Baron-Cohen's empathising-systemising (E-S) theory. Baron-Cohen, the Director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, states that women's brains are wired more for empathy and men's brains are wired more for trying to find rules to explain why people act the way they do. You need the Macromedia Flash Player (version 5) in order to take the two interactive tests on the bottom of the page. People who score high for empathising and systemising are said to have "balanced" brains. Take the interactive empathy quotient test. Take the interactive systemising quotient test. Mine test results were: EQ=37 SQ=48 Maybe I now qualify for disability!

Poker World Champion Moves to USA

2005-12-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

Australian 2005 World Series of Poker Champion Joe Hachem says he will move his family from Oz to Beverly Hills after his record breaking $7.5m win.

"It was nice to know that the other win was not a fluke," Mr Hachem said. "It's given me another boost of confidence."

Hachem said that while he loves Oz he realizes that right now the US is center of the poker world and so wants to live here so he can enter more tournaments. He has applied for a visa on the grounds of ‘extraordinary ability’ and earning potential. If granted a visa he will probably live in America 6 months of the year and the rest in Australia. Recently Hachem placed 5th in another Vegas tournament earning an another $80,000. US calls as poker king cashes in

Free 411 Information Numbers

2005-12-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

Just dial "(800) free - 411" (800 373 3411) for free 411 information lookup. Whats the catch? You have to listen to a short 10 second advertisement from a competitor before you get the digits. But hey, you gotta give a little to get a little. This is pretty hot considering the fees cell phone users pay for 411 service. The databases of the cell phone companies use is the same this 800 service utilizes. At first, I thought this might be spam or scam but the service actually is very good.

Self Fixing Computers

2005-12-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

Your computer might not have the ability to self fix but IBM is working on software that can search for problems, find them and fix them without any user help at all. They claim that “self-healing” is the next big thing to hit the computer market and it will be out in about 5 years. Self healing is cutting edge and not even released for use, but there is already competition. HP, CA, BMC Software, and Symantec are all trying to get products to market as well. IBM , CA, and BMC have the advantage because they already provide client and server side software.

“There will probably be some job loss, but I think it will be less than what people think,” said Mr. Elliot. “There is always a need for more talent and human intervention even when tasks are automated.”

This software can cause some people to loose job in the future, Mr. Elliot pointed out. IBM’s Self-Healing Software