xenith says...

Kekuri

2008-07-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

www.flickr.com/kekuri

Slidoo

2008-07-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Flickr

2008-06-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Firefox 3 and 2 together running

2008-06-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

Running two versions of Firefox under Mac OS X couldn’t be simpler. The freeware application MultiFirefox takes all the guesswork out of the process by automatically detecting Firefox versions in your main Applications folder and presenting you with a list from which to choose the Firefox versions you’d like to launch. Complete with self-updating (thanks to the ubiquitous Sparkle framework), MultiFirefox is the easiest way to pull off this multi-browser stunt.

Now to Windows Users

Download Firefox 2 and Firefox 3, depending on what you already have installed.
Launch each installer and begin setting up Firefox, but make sure to choose Custom settings.

When asked for a place to install Firefox, change the path(s) to C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 3\ (or …\Mozilla Firefox 2), instead of just “Mozilla Firefox”. In doing so, you’ll place Firefox 2 at C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 2\, and Firefox 3 at C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 3\. Both versions of Firefox should now be in separate folders. (If you already have one version of Firefox installed at C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\, you may choose to leave that where it is and just install the other version in a separate folder, however you’ll have to make a note of which is where, and modify the following instructions accordingly.)

Create a new shortcut to Firefox 2.0 by right-mouse-button-dragging C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 2\firefox.exe to your Desktop (for now), and choosing “Create Shortcuts Here”. Name the shortcut “Firefox 2″. Repeat for Firefox 3, changing “2″ to “3″ where appropriate.

You’re almost there, but now we have to tell Firefox to keep the two instances separate. Open the Properties window for the Firefox 3 shortcut, and add “ -ProfileManager” (space key, minus sign, ProfileManager) to the end of the string of text in the Target field. Click OK, then run that same shortcut to bring up Firefox’s Profile Manager. Rename the existing “default” profile to “firefox3″, and also create a new “firefox2″ profile:

Once profiles are set, exit Firefox completely. With two profiles in place, each version of Firefox can have its own bookmarks, extensions, and other settings, without interfering with each other.

Open up the properties windows for both the Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 shortcuts you made. Remove the -ProfileManager addition from the Firefox 3 shortcut Target, replacing it with -no-remote -p firefox3 (space key, minus sign, no-remote, space key, minus sign, space key, firefox3). Add the same to the Firefox 2 shortcut, again changing the 3 to a 2. Firefox 3 gets the firefox3 profile, and Firefox 2 gets the firefox2 profile, seen below:

Click OK on both shortcuts to confirm the changes, and finally double-click each to run Firefox 2 and 3 at the same time!

Also, don’t miss LifeHacker’s Power User’s Guide to Firefox 3 for some excellent 3.0 tips and tricks, as well as ArsTechnica’s briefing of what’s to come in Firefox 3.1.

I hope Gina fixes BetterFlickr extension for Firefox 3, since its the only reason I have to go through running two instances of it. hehe

flickr.com/shoken

2008-06-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.

2008-06-07T00:34:00.000-07:00

A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.

-- from sharaff - (?)

Shot from Nikon D300. Aperture: f/3.2. ISO 400. Lens: Nikon 105mm f/2.8G IF ED AF-S VR Micro Nikkor.
To create a high key, used SB 600 from right side of the camera fired remotely, full power (Diffused using Gary Fong's LightSphere). In camera flash at -2 and Exposure Bias: 2/3 EV. The tone is from the camera mainly used the Monochrome Picture control and slight color balance adjustments from Adobe Photoshop.
Stumble It!

Contact List, After clean up

2008-04-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

-- from sharaff - (?)

Full Image.

Some Photography Videos which are of interest

2008-04-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Charlie Rose - HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON One of my favorite! This is a 58 minute video.

Steve Mccurry: Arts and Minds

Steve McCurry discusses 'The Tibetans'

FACE 2 FACE TRAILER project by JR AND MARCO (street art)

James Nachtway. Among my very favs.

Joel Meyerowitz working the street (40 years experience) a must watch!

Till I come back, worry not. Frame what you, doesnt matter what.

Ubuntu Linux on DV6780SE

2008-04-01T01:17:00.000-07:00

Review on notebookreview.com here.

Everything works out of the box but I am can't connect using WIFI. WEP is the problem it seems.
HDMI Works out of the box. But when running the xserver 2D NV driver does not work. If you have installed NVIDIA driver using the ENVY script, I'd recommend you to remove and have the driver which comes default with Ubuntu. You can enable it via the Restricted Drivers Manager, under System -> Administration menu.

Also the screen is cloned by default. Run nvidia-settings Use (ALT+F2) command and type that. No audio though. Tried it on Windows Vista and the same. (More tests?)

The nifty touchable sensors doesnt work by default. Fixing that, was not a problem as I am using Gnome. You can do that via gnome applet. System > Preferences then choose Keyboard simply assign the functions. The QuickPlay and DVD buttons are useless, I have assigned it to open Firefox and Terminal which I have to use often.

I am aware of the issue that laptop-mode is not enabled when switched from AC power to Battery Power. The below command should change, however it only lasts until the next reboot.

sudo laptop_mode start
To make the settings permanent:
run sudo gedit /etc/default/acpi-support
and look for ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE . I have it at the very end of the file.
Set it the variable to true and restart. Do a full restart in fact.
To see if it is working and check the acpi_support file and see these are available.
laptop-mode
laptop-mode-tools
laptop-detect mine showed up without a problem

Lightscribe. This is not available by default. Not bothered to get it working so far as I do not use it. Only burn some files which works much better than Windows right after install.

Internal Modem Driver has to be installed manually. I have not done that, I think it is Motorola. Not bothered again as I am using Ethernet which works.

NOTE: John, thanks for the mail about using WEP. I am going through it and will update the posts if I am successful. If not help me out ;-)

Getting Ready for Firefox 3

2008-03-23T02:52:00.000-07:00

With the release of Firefox 3 (beta), one of my favorite extension has become obsolete. BetterFlickr extension that is.

BetterFlickr extension is a set of greasemonkey scripts of Rich Text editing, (includes, making the selected texts bold, italic and link).

For the time being here are the the options via greasemonkey scripts. Though they are not packed as an .xpi it gives the functionality, meaning it makes flickr-ing much easier and fun.

Flickr All Sizes Menu

Flickr Buddy Icon Reply

Add Camera Images to Exif

More User Links

Flickr Rich Edit
(adds ability to make bold, italic and link feature)

Miracles do happen

2008-03-03T05:51:00.001-08:00

Forming the word "Allah" in Arabic. Not by a person by mere wind, I was told. It was near IGMH.

Flickr Explore/interestingness

2008-02-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Not often I write or post anything here about this, other than what interests me about Ubuntu Linux but I had to, this time around.
The Flickr Explore - Interestingness Algorithm
Which I call ego boosters. Apparently, for some its the ultimate reward.
Interestingness isn't just about Explore. Flickr uses interestingness to fill their explore page each day, but the function is used extensively throughout Flickr as well. Each search result can be ordered by interestingness, and each Flickr photostream can be viewed in interestingness order. Sets can be ordered that way, as well.

But what's interesting, isn't necessarily what's good, or of any particular quality. If people are interested in cats licking themselves, then that's what's going to be at the top of the list. If it's Christmas time, then drunk people with santa hats tend to be more interesting. So it's a constantly changing, living thing, and attempts to take a snapshot of what people are interested in from one moment to the next, and apply them to the Flickr library.

Its certainly not my ultimate reward nor I look forward my click to be on the front page of Flickr, of course if it gets there its a good thing. Gets exposed more. There are more good photos out there, with more favs comments, and yet they never made to frontpage or explore.

Whatever!

Links for the above snaps.

1. Mama,I did not mean to make you cry.,	2. Perceive by physical sensation,
3. i smile, i do it anyway...	4. Asi es que te quiero yo,
5. Things must be as they may,	6. In The Moment Of Peace,
7. smile, always	8. dinner is ready
9. breathe a soul out of the ordinary,	10. Keys to Imagination,
11. da capo!,	12. our (men) clumsy vanity? or their (women) subtle instinct?
13. believe what you see	14. my convergent thoughts
15. expressed emotion,	16. Kiki poses,
17. "nothing is certain, everything is imagined",	18. ...falling,,
19. D300's Custom Color Mode,	20. Nikkor 105mm and Active D-lighting On,
21. Nikkor 105mm and Active D-lighting Off,	22. captivating,
23. haaaaaaaaah!,	24. in abstract-ness...

25. ready for...,	26. Stacked Focus - My try,
27. come, smile...,	28. Deceptive! so very.,
29. antique before me,	30. obsessive focus,
31. i walk alone...,	32. We are choosing hope over fear.,
33. admiring ancient art,	34. Put your lights on...,
35. O' Divine You..,	36. one more, please,,
37. New year bliss,	38. bringing a smile on your face,
39. deceive, inveigle, obfuscate,	40. Refuge from Futility,
41. Refuge from Futility,	42. saddest lines?,
43. Fly with me...,	44. Hello my Flickr friends,
45. inspiration...,	46. on the horizon
47. passing beauty

Ubuntu Brainstorm.

2008-02-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Just got this mail, I must say its promising. Showing possibility of excellence.

Ubuntu Brainstorm Launched!

Thu, 2008-02-28 12:34 — MartinAlbisetti

Today a new feedback site is launched at brainstorm.ubuntu.com that will make it easier for users of Ubuntu to suggests ideas for improvements. Voting makes it clear which ideas have the most support in the user community and should be given priority. We have of course been inspired by the IdeaStorm site from our good friends at Dell but modified the concept to fit our needs.

The development team can now take the pulse on the most pressing user issues and propose the ideas as topics at the Ubuntu Development Summits and ultimately as specifications. Ubuntu development is in turn driven by detailed specifications written up in the wiki and tracked as blueprints in Launchpad.

An idea on brainstorm can easily be linked to a Launchpad blueprint as well as to a bug or a forum discussion thread. In this way we expect to bridge the locations where ideas are often submitted now, as forum posts or bug reports, with the blueprint format they should be expressed in to be implemented.

The site has been designed and coded by the Ubuntu QA community as part of a more general feedback website (qa.ubuntu.com) designed initially to collect test reports from ISO testing. A huge thanks to stgraber, nand and thorwil!

Have an idea for improving Ubuntu? Post it at Ubuntu Brainstorm!

Spider

2008-02-22T21:43:00.002-08:00

-- from sharaff - (?)

Photoshop Tutorial

2008-01-11T03:04:00.001-08:00

Photoshop Tutorial.

-- from Soffia GisladÃ³ttir - (?)

deceive, inveigle, obfuscate

2007-12-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

deceive, inveigle, obfuscate

-- from s.h.a.r.a.f. - (?)

silhouette

2007-12-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

Ibu's silhouette
Have a great holiday ibu

-- from Sharaff - (?)

Green Bokeh

2007-12-15T23:17:00.000-08:00

Love the Bokeh

-- from Sharaff - (?)

HDR - Male'

2007-12-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

Trying out, HDR

-- from Sharaff - (?)

Firefox, some fixes...

2007-12-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

After a while, I dug-in to the mighty Firefox's about:config. Now Here are some tips to make life easier.

I use Backspace a lot! But seems, in Ubuntu, when I press Backspace what it does is go to the page's top! Hmmm.

Open Firefox and type about:config search for browser.backspace.action. Double click it and change the value to 0. Refresh and its done.

Session restore

Typed a long webmail and Firefox crashed? Worry not. There is a way to get that session back! Yippeee.

Look for browser.startup.page key to 3 to restore your browsing session, with form entries intact!
Note: By default, Firefox 2 automatically restores your session if your browser crashes - but this does it every time you restart your browser normally

Tab close buttons

Now I hate it when I do not see the Tab Close button! hmm. Normally it is visibile only on the active tab. Lets fix it.
Look for and change browser.tabs.closeButtons value to 3

Fetch only what you click

This is handy! and a bandwidth saver!
Firefox has this nasty feature that downloads pages from links it thinks you may click on pages you view, like the top result on a page of Google results. To stop that madness, set the network.prefetch-next key to false. (This you can do by double clicking the key)

How I hacked my iphone (firmware 1.1.2)

2007-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Dang! iPhone is a beauty!
Upgraded from the old firmware to the latest, 1.1.2 and heck, it did not work. haha. err.

I managed to jailbreak it and unlock it successfully. Here is how I did it.

You will need these

iPhone firmware 1.1.1

iPhone firmware 1.1.2

anySIM1.2.1u

Get these from their respective links I'd suggest.
A detailed howto is here

This step is necessary is done, already if you have upgraded it to firmware 1.1.2!

Phase 1 :: Upgrade 1.1.1 to 1.1.2

Restore the iPhone to 1.1.2 firmware by putting the iPhone into DFU mode. Do this by pressing and holding the Home button, and the Sleep/Wake button.
As soon as the screen goes black, let go of the Sleep/Wake button. Continue holding the home button. Connect the iPhone to iTunes and you will get this pop up. The iPhone will display this graphic.
Click the SHIFT + Restore button or on a Mac (your keyboard key) and point it towards the 1.1.2 firmware you downloaded.
Various messages will appear while the process continues.
The iPhone will restart, and iTunes will display this image.
The iPhone will display the new multi-lingual emergency slider and connect to iTunes graphic. You are now on 1.1.2 firmware with the new 04.02.13_G modem firmware.

Phase 3 :: Downgrade back to 1.1.1

Downgrade to 1.1.1 firmware. You need to put the iPhone into DFU mode again. The restore should, go through and errors at the end with error 1015. However you will notice that the iphone is in DFU mode with the connect to itunes screen from 1.1.1.
Download a working copy of iPhuc and issue the following commands:
cmd setenv auto-boot true
cmd saveenv
cmd fsboot

Jailbreak by following the below method:

On the Activation Screen, slide the Emergency Screen.
Type *#307# and hit Call, the phone will start ringing and display 1 Calling.
Delete all the numbers from the top right of the screen and Call the number 0.
Press Answer, Hold and then Decline.
Go to Contacts and create a contact. In the Url field type prefs://1f and save it. Then add another URL and type jailbreakme.com and save it.
Click on the prefs://1f and you can select your WiFi network. Exit by pressing home and then Dial and Call the number 0 from the emergency screen.
Select the second URL called jailbreakme.com of the contact you created and and follow the Install AppSnapp. Wait for it to finish and reboot the phone when its done.

Unlock using anySIM1.2.1u

Run Installer and install BSD Subsystem & OpenSSH
Extract the anySIM.app folder from anySIM1.2.1u.zip onto a folder.
Download WinSCP
Check the IP issued by your WiFi for your phone, it should something like 192.168.xx.xx
Run WinSCP and enter the IP as asked above, and put the username: root & password: alpine
Wait for 30-35 secs and you will be asked to add a host key (big dialog box) say Yes
After login into your phone, goto root -> Applications and copy the anySIM.app folder there and chmod all the files inside the anySIM.app folder to 0755 (by selecting all files and click on Properties)
PowerOff your phone and put the original AT&T SIM
PowerOn & now you will find the anySIM icon on your SpringBoard. Goto Settings > General > Auto-lock change it to Never.
Run anySIM
After it shows the "Successfully unlocked message".
Prepare your 1.1.1 device for the Update

(I). Launch Installer.app
(II). Scroll down to Tweaks (1.1.1)
(III). Select OktoPrep
(IV). Click Install

Phase 4 :: Upgrade to 1.1.2 - Thanks callx
What you'll need:
iTunes 7.5
Java Runtime Environment (JRE) v1.6 (update 3)
WinSCP
1.1.2 Jailbreak

Extra tools for the optional steps:
Putty (SSH client)
UltraEdit Text Editor (HEX editor)
Tools (contains BASH, ls, AppSupport, sample carrier.plist)
Connect your phone to iTunes.
Do either Download & Install or press SHIFT + Update button and point it to the v1.1.2 firmware you downloaded manually.
Jailbreak 1.1.2
- So, right now you should have a nice 1.1.2 activate screen talking in tongues. As a rule of thumb, just open iTunes and let it detect the iPhone then close it.
- Now run windows.bat from the 1.1.2 jailbreak and check option Install ssh, change password if needed and click Jailbreak
- Might take like 5-10 mins, more coffee maybe?
Mine took longer because the machine I am using is having a USB 1.0. Dangit.

Gmail New Short Cut

2007-11-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

Gmail's Best New Keyboard Shortcut

We already mentioned that the recent Gmail revamp includes new keyboard shortcuts, but this one deserves an individual shout: when you're viewing a Gmail message, you can archive it AND move to the next or previous message in one keystroke. Use the square brackets:

to archive and go to the previous message
to archive and go to the next message

Alternately, you can press y, then o to archive a message and go to the next one. You must have the keyboard shortcuts enabled in your account (visit Settings to do so) for this to work.
more »
From Lifehacker.com

Yanni-Wake

2007-11-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

I am fan of his music. Soothing! Easy to listen. Lifting you. Telling you a thousand stories. The adrenaline....that is powerful music and that is Yanni's

Very much happy to hear he is back in the studio!
Here is the update

Anticipating! Thank you.

Prism is here!

2007-10-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

Prism

By: LabRats

On: October 25th, 2007 Posted In: Mozilla Labs

Personal computing is currently in a state of transition. While traditionally users have interacted mostly with desktop applications, more and more of them are using web applications. But the latter often fit awkwardly into the document-centric interface of web browsers. And they are surrounded with controls–like back and forward buttons and a location bar–that have nothing to do with interacting with the application itself.

Mozilla Labs is launching a series of experiments to bridge the divide in the user experience between web applications and desktop apps and to explore new usability models as the line between traditional desktop and new web applications continues to blur.

Unlike Adobe AIR and Microsoft Silverlight, we’re not building a proprietary platform to replace the web. We think the web is a powerful and open platform for this sort of innovation, so our goal is to identify and facilitate the development of enhancements that bring the advantages of desktop apps to the web platform.
The first of these experiments is based on Webrunner, which we’ve moved into the Mozilla Labs code repository and renamed to Prism.

Prism

Prism is an application that lets users split web applications out of their browser and run them directly on their desktop.

Prism lets users add their favorite web apps to their desktop environment:

When invoked, these applications run in their own window:

They are accessible with Control-Tab, Command-Tab, and Exposé, just like desktop apps. And users can still access these same applications from any web browser when they are away from their own computers.

The Best of Both Worlds

Prism isn’t a new platform, it’s simply the web platform integrated into the desktop experience. Web developers don’t have to target it separately, because any application that can run in a modern standards-compliant web browser can run in Prism. Prism is built on Firefox, so it supports rich internet technologies like HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and

And while Prism focuses on how web apps can integrate into the desktop experience, we’re also working to increase the capabilities of those apps by adding functionality to the Web itself, such as providing support for offline data storage and access to 3D graphics hardware.

The User Experience

We’re also thinking about how to better integrate Prism with Firefox, enabling one-click “make this a desktop app” functionality that preserves a user’s preferences, saved passwords, cookies, add-ons, and customizations. Ideally you shouldn’t even have to download Prism, it should just be built into your browser.

We’re working on an extension for Firefox that provides some of this functionality. For more information about the user experience we hope to achieve in Prism, see Alex Faaborg’s blog post. For some of the technical details and new features found in Prism, see Mark Finkle’s blog post.

Getting Started with Prism

We have an early prototype for this working today on Windows, with work continuing on Mac and Linux (for which we should have builds available soon).

To try out the prototype, download and install it: Download Prism for Windows.

Then start Prism. It will display an Install Web Application dialog.

Enter the URL of the application you want to use in Prism (e.g. mail.google.com), a name for the application (e.g. Gmail), and pick where you’d like to create shortcuts to the application.

Then press the OK button. Prism will create shortcuts to the application in the locations you specified and then start the application.

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon makes its way into desktops, our hearts

2007-10-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

This is what I have been waiting for, like the other Ubuntu lovers! Way to go!

Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Don't you just love the name?!

Introduction

The Ubuntu team is excited to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software that the open source and free software communities have to offer. This is Ubuntu 7.10, which brings a host of excellent new features. You may also like to view the Ubuntu desktop screenshot tour.

Upgrading from Ubuntu 7.04

If you are upgrading from Ubuntu 7.04, we have special easy to follow upgrade instructions.

New features since Ubuntu 7.04

GNOME 2.20

The Gutsy Gibbon release candidate brings you the latest and greatest GNOME 2.20 with lots of new features and improvements.

Desktop 3D effects

Compiz Fusion is enabled by default and will bring 3D desktop visual effects that improve the usability and visual appeal of the system. Ubuntu 7.10 automatically detects whether the hardware is capable of running compiz; if not, it falls back to normal desktop. Additional effects can be enabled in "System/Preferences/Appearance" under the "Visual Effects" tab. There you can also disable the effects entirely.

Desktop search

The deskbar applet is now included in the default configuration. It allows quick access to your common actions, including opening web bookmarks and searches, sending messages to your contacts, and more.

The Tracker indexer has been added to the desktop, making it easier and faster to search for your documents, photos, music, videos, chat logs, and all other files. You can use Tracker in the search dialog, the file selector, nautilus, or the deskbar applet.

Fast user switching

It is now possible to easily switch between user sessions without the inconvenience of entering your username or password numerous times, a time-saver on computers shared by multiple users.

Firefox plugins in Ubuntu

Firefox now comes with an improved plugin finder wizard that allows users to search and install packaged plugins easily, bringing users a richer web-browsing experience with the integrated security support of the rest of the Ubuntu system:

In addition, users can now open the Ubuntu application installer with a list of packaged Firefox extensions available by clicking on a link in the Firefox Addons dialog:

Dynamic screen configuration

Several drivers, including ones for ATI, nVidia, and Intel graphics chips now support the X Resize and Rotate Extension (xrandr). This enables dynamic monitor detection, and resizing and rotating of video output, for no-fuss support for projectors and external monitors.

If you have this hardware and used MergedFB / Xinerama previously, you may need to update your X configuration to use this new feature.

Graphical configuration tool for X

You can now configure what driver you want to use for your graphic card, change the default resolution for all users or change your monitor's refresh rate without having to turn to the terminal. A new GUI has been added making it easy to adjust your video and monitor settings. This tool can also set up dual screen capabilities for cards that use the Xinerama mode.

Fully automatic printer installation

Printers are now automatically configured by merely plugging them in and turning them on. Printer setup cannot get any easier!

Handling of non-free device drivers

Restricted-manager can now handle drivers which are free in themselves, but which require non-free firmware or other packages to operate. Only three clicks are needed to fetch and install firmware for wireless cards with Broadcom chipsets, and for a number of Winmodems commonly found in laptops, provided that you have an alternative Internet connection.

When restricted-manager detects hardware for which a restricted driver is available, a notification window pops up:

NTFS writing

While previous Ubuntu releases only supported read access to Windows (NTFS) partitions, Gutsy Gibbon now fully supports reading and writing to them, by integrating the NTFS-3g project. This significantly eases file and document sharing with Windows.

Power consumption

Ubuntu includes the latest Linux kernel, featuring dynticks. It allows the processor to use less power and produce less heat. For laptops this means more battery life and burn-free laps and for desktops and media center PCs, a quieter, cooler environment.

Encrypted hard disks

The alternate installer now given you the option to encrypt the entire hard disk (or individual parts if you partition manually). This provides robust data protection for laptops and other mobile devices which may be lost or stolen. Please keep in mind that this only protects the data when the machine is powered off.

AppArmor security framework

This easy-to-deploy kernel technology limits the resources an application is allowed to access and can be used to provide an added layer of protection against undiscovered security vulnerabilities in applications. Head to the AppArmor user guide to learn about this new security feature.

Additional installation profiles for Ubuntu Server

New pre-configured installation options have been added to the Ubuntu Server CD. Mail Server, File Server, Print Server, and Database Server options join existing LAMP and DNS options for pre-configured installations, easing the deployment of common server configurations.

Profile-based Authentication Configuration

Deploying authentication configuration has become a lot easier with the addition of auth-client-config. Files may be added to the profiles database, allowing for an administrator to set up a single profile for site-wide network authentication roll-outs. Find out more about AuthClientConfig.

Improved thin-client support

The speed of LTSP thin clients has been greatly improved through the use of compressed images, and LDM, the thin-client login manager included in Edubuntu, also now has support for autologin, multiple servers, and unencrypted graphics transport as an additional speed boost.

Ready to download?

Get it while it's hot! Visit the download page to get Ubuntu 7.10 now, or see a list of other ways to get Ubuntu.

Brutality at its merciless point.

2007-08-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

Dangit.
This is, in our place, it must not happen and should not happen. When these happens, don't just stand there and talk about our image. These are brutal, these are merciless people. Give them the punishment they deserve. Or else another one among us is a victim.

I weep for my country, for what has it become.

THIS IS VERY GRAPHIC! DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU HAVE A WEAK HEART

Change is coming!

2007-08-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Even if you vote for "riyaaasee" or "barulamaanee" and if either one wins, changes are expected.

6 Great Free Alternatives to Quicken & MS Money

2007-05-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Taken from Zen Habits.

Every Wednesday is Financial Tips Day at Zen Habits.

Recently I got some amazing responses from all of you in Ask the Readers: What are your financial tools? and I wanted to share some of the best tools I’ve found from that thread. And the thing I like most about them: unlike Quicken and Microsoft Money, they’re free!

Excel or Google Spreadsheets. Perhaps the simplest tool of all. Create your own (I did) or find an excellent one already created: Pear Budget, Of Zen and Computing’s simple spreadsheet, Get Rich Slowly’s spreadsheet. The appeal of this is that it’s extremely flexible, it’s simple, it’s fast and easy, it’s free and, if you keep it really simple, you can put it online with Google Spreadsheets.
Gnu Cash. Now available for Windows for the first time, Gnu Cash was designed for Linux and is available for OSX and other operating systems. It’s totally free (under the GNU GPL), easy to use, even if it isn’t as pretty as more expensive software. Very popular among the Linux crowd. Beloved for its double-entry accounting system. This open-source software can import data from Money and Quicken, and can export to numerous data formats.
Wesabe. Web 2.0’s answer to money software, Wesabe takes the traditional approach and turns it on its head with a social aspect. It can import all of your financial institution data (banks, credit cards, etc.), and allows you to tag each entry, so you can see how you’re spending your money. Even more interesting is the social part: based on your tags, you can see how others spend on similar tags, and see their best tips for that type of tag. An interesting approach, but I’m not sold yet on this concept.
Money Trackin. A very easy-to-use site, this is perfect if you want your money software to be online and accessible from anywhere, including your mobile device. Just spent $30 at a restaurant? Enter that from the restaurant itself. This online software allows you to enter all your transactions, tag them, view reports, and see your financial situation at a glance. And it doesn’t require you to enter your personal info to set up an account.
AceMoney. The lite version of AceMoney is freeware — and has the same features as the paid version, except you can’t manage multiple accounts. So this would be great for someone who just has one main account to track. Track your spending, set up a budget, track investments, look at graphs, import data from your bank, be reminded to pay your bill, plan to pay off your debts, and more. Not the prettiest software, but hey, it’s free! And it works.
Yodlee. This is a slick solution. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m severely tempted (I just haven’t had time to give it a spin). A totally online solution, you can track spending, monitor your budget, look at portfolio charts, track your net worth, and more. Pretty nice.

If you’re willing to pay for your money software, there are a number of great paid alternatives, including but not limited to: You Need a Budget, Mvelopes, and myspendingplan.com.

Anyone given these a spin? Tell us what you think of these alternatives, especially if you’ve tried more than one and can compare them.

See also:

Firefox Extension Roundup

2007-05-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

I find this dude so uncool...

2007-05-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.police.gov.mv/downloads/recruitement.jpg

Posing for a lie? He thinks he is smart, cool.
Imagine my utter lack of shock! Why? because I am so used to hearing, seeing these type of BS everyday from them. To protect and serve they say! (duh)
What about this one?

Shamelessly, it says "this is his server room" Then what is this here? They are a webhosting company called 1&1 InternetInc. More photos: here

Below is the original photo and you can be successfull. Follow my step by step guide...

install photoshop. (weapon of mass deception?)
download the bellow photo. click here

http://press.1and1.com/uploads/press/images/Server_room_2.jpg

3. download guy with black-suit.
4. modify his face with yours.
5. cut it out real nicely.
6. do a little photoshopping...

see the successfull you...

err well i included the two hot babes, one is lana (kristy), so that i'll feel more successfull inside the server room (i won't feel alone). You can get the girls pix from below...

check out these two...

Some Exposure

Sepia

YOU WANT TO BE IN MY SERVER ROOM OR THEIRZ?

Run Vista Legally without activation. For a year

2007-03-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.

This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely, on its Technet site.

The following describes the Registry key that's involved.

Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.

Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL

Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.

Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an administrator password.

Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:

slmgr -rearm or rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows

Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.

Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)

Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary

From windowssecrets.com

Disable THAT UAP in Vista

2007-03-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

One of the annoying things about Windows Vista, is that it prompts you to "Permit" virtually every program to run!

It doesn't ask you to login - its just a simple dialog box which virtually asks "Do you want to run [app]? Yes or No?". This "feature" - which does have some advantages is called User Account Protection - or UAP.

To turn off UAP

Open an elevated Command Prompt
type "secpol" (Vista version of gpedit.msc)
Browse under "Local Settings -> Security Settings" and scroll down to the "User Account Protection" options and change "Run all users, including Administrators, as standard users." to Disabled. (Or leave this enabled, but just change the "Behavior of the elevation prompt for Administrators" to "No Prompt".)

Restoring Vista functionality once in reduced functionality mode

2007-03-18T02:03:00.000-07:00

It happened! My WindBlows Vista got locked. Asking me to register, no other option.

There is a way to get around this, simply using Internet Explorer.

type C: into the address bar and hit enter and give this permission in any security prompts.

Or else browse to C:\Windows\System32\ - now right click cmd.exe and run it as administrator.
type slmgr.vbs -rearm

Now you'll see Windows Activation window. Click Ask Me Later.

White Sands Resort and Spa on Microsoft Windows Vista

2007-03-15T23:35:00.000-07:00

If you are using Windows Vista, you probably have seen it, used it as your wallpaper (like myself). ;-) A photo taken by Angelo Cavalli which indeed is a shot of White Sands Resort and Spa, Maldives, a gem "collected" by Naiade Resort (Mauritius)

"A dock at sunset on White Sands Island in the Maldives"
White Sands Resort and Spa - Maldives

Find Hardware Specs

2007-02-26T04:23:00.000-08:00

Very nice tool to check your hardware details...

sudo lshw

..and with the -C flag, more details.

sudo lshw -C disk

This shows all of your hard disks.

To get all of them to an html page, try this

sudo lshw -html > your-file-name.html

updated compiz and xgl

2006-07-29T04:45:00.000-07:00

Yes. It is updated and this time better smoothness and performance.

Before it loads gnome-window-decorator, now its cgwd. custom-generic-window-decorator

Basically if you have compiz and xgl working, you dont need to do much. (Atleast for me) Just change the startup script.
If you dont have cgw, you may try the cvs.

cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@metascape.afraid.org:/cvsroot co cgwd

This is how my script looks like. Whats in bold are the changes you have to make cgwd to load at start-up.

#!/bin/sh
# Start up Xgl, compiz, and GNOME

# Run Xgl server on :1, on top of normal X
Xgl :1 -fullscreen -ac -accel xv -accel glx:pbuffer &

# Tell subsequent X programs to access the Xgl server at :1
DISPLAY=:1

# Start Compiz window manager
cgwd &
cgwd & compiz --replace gconf decoration wobbly fade minimize cube rotate zoom scale move resize place switcher &

# Start GNOME
exec gnome-session

To get the themes install gcompizthemer and its theme presets.

Use synaptic package manager and look for gcompizthemer and gcompizthemer-themes.

Nicely done, quinn!!
For more info,
http://www.compiz.net/viewtopic.php?id=1895&p=3

Compiz and XGL (ATI X600)

2006-07-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hmm,
Its been a while I have been trying Linux namely Ubuntu Dapper. Impressive. Easy and ofcourse EyeCandy.

Lemme try to make this short and sweet, ;-)

My Notebook pc config:
HP ZD8000
2.8Ghz
1GB RAM
ATI X600 128MB Graphic card

I have gone through nearly all the threads of ubuntuforum and it is very thourough. However enabling Compiz and XGL on a ZD8000 with ATI x600 is rather limited.

Here is how I brought those effects and hope it may help someone.

Install ati32bit driver for linux
To get compiz working I have downloaded ATI driver for Linux. It can be found here:

Download ATI Driver here: http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-8.26.18-x86.run

After downloading the driver, you need the following packages. If you dont have internet connection, keep your Ubuntu (dapper) dvd ready. Also if its a slow connection like mine, this will save a lot of time.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install module-assistant build-essential
sudo apt-get install fakeroot dh-make debconf libstdc++5 gcc-3.3-base

Lets build the package!!
chmod +x ati-driver-installer-8.26.18-x86.run
./ati-driver-installer-8.26.18-x86.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/dapper

I have kept the downloaded driver file in Desktop. If you have it some place else, do change to that directory and run the commands.

Run these commands:
sudo dpkg -i xorg-driver-fglrx_8.26.18-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i fglrx-kernel-source_8.26.18-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i fglrx-control_8.26.18-1_i386.deb

And these commands too:
sudo module-assistant prepare
sudo module-assistant update
sudo module-assistant build fglrx
sudo module-assistant install fglrx
sudo depmod -a

sudo aticonfig --initial
sudo aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv
REBOOT

Do reboot, to make the driver work, restarting gdm didnt help me.

Now afte the reboot, run this command to check if it worked:
fglrxinfo
When you execute that command and if it worked for you the out come should be like this:
display: :0.0 screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: MOBILITY RADEON X600 Generic
OpenGL version string: 2.0.5879 (8.26.18)

Halfway through!
Here is how I enabled COMPIZ.

add these to apt resources
(sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list)
deb http://www.beerorkid.com/compiz/ dapper main
deb http://xgl.compiz.info/ dapper main
deb-src http://xgl.compiz.info/ dapper main

Install xgl and compiz
Run this command
apt-get install xserver-xgl compiz-gnome
(its different for KDE, mine is gnome)

create ~/.Xsession
sudo gedit ~/.Xsession

and add this:

#!/bin/sh
# Start up Xgl, compiz, and GNOME

# Run Xgl server on :1, on top of normal X
Xgl :1 -fullscreen -ac -accel xv -accel glx:pbuffer &

# Tell subsequent X programs to access the Xgl server at :1
DISPLAY=:1

# Start Compiz window manager
gnome-window-decorator &
compiz gconf decoration wobbly fade minimize cube rotate zoom scale move resize place menu switcher &

# Start GNOME
exec gnome-session

Save and exit gedit.

Make the script executable:
chmod +x ~/.Xsession
Restart your session and should work.

Mine worked perfectly. If try to install compiz and xorg I get all the kind of errors and slow downs mentioned in the forum!

Compiz Info:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/Compiz

Ubuntu Love (accidental short cuts?)

2006-07-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Create a shortcut of a webpage or a link in a website on the Gnome desktop

Click on the web link in the web browser and drag it on to the desktop. Gnome will automatically create the shortcut (link) to the remote location pointed to by the link you just dragged.

Note: It also works if you select the link in the Firefox address bar and drag it to the desktop.

Save a block of text from a webpage to a file

Select the text in the webpage and drag it on to the desktop. Gnome will auto-magically create a text file and save the selected text into it. You will also be prompted to rename the file to a name of your choice.

Copy an image from a remote location.

While the image is displayed in the web browser, just click on the image and drag it to the desktop. Gnome will copy the image from the remote location. Take care to drag the image rather than the link pointed to by the image.

Note: These tips are also possible from any application. Not necessarily from the web browser. In fact, I was able to copy a block of text to another file from Gedit. I was able to do this even from evince - the PDF viewer.

These features only prove that Gnome has a very advanced drag and drop functionality built in it.

Why Are Jews So Powerful?

2006-07-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas, five million in Asia, two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims. Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together. Ever wondered why?

Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish. Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and TIME magazine's 'Person of the Century', was a Jew. Sigmund Freud -- id, ego, superego -- the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew. So were Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman.

Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output has enriched the whole humanity: Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine. Alert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine. Gertrude Elion gave us a leukaemia fighting drug. Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B. Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease). Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases.

Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission. Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology (disorders of the endocrine system; diabetes, hyperthyroidism). Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy (psychotherapy to treat mental disorders, depression and phobias). Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill. George Wald won a Nobel for furthering our understanding of the human eye. Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology (study of embryos and their development). Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine.

Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 15-dozen Nobel Prizes while only three Nobel Prizes have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes).

Why are Jews so powerful? Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip. Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor. Peter Schultz, optical fibre cable; Charles Adler, traffic lights; Benno Strauss, Stainless steel; Isador Kisee, sound movies; Emile Berliner, telephone microphone and Charles Ginsburg, videotape recorder.

Famous financiers in the business world who belong to Jewish faith include Ralph Lauren (Polo), Levis Strauss (Levi's Jeans), Howard Schultz
(Starbuck's), Sergey Brin (Google), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Donna Karan (DKNY), Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts).

Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew. So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state), Alan Greenspan (fed chairman under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush), Joseph Lieberman, Madeleine Albright (American secretary of state), Casper Weinberger (American secretary of defence), Maxim Litvinov (USSR foreign Minister), David Marshal (Singapore's first chief minister), Issac Isaacs (governor-general of Australia), Benjamin Disraeli (British statesman and author), Yevgeny Primakov (Russian PM), Barry Goldwater, Jorge Sampaio (president of Portugal), John Deutsch (CIA director), Herb Gray (Canadian deputy PM), Pierre Mendes (French PM), Michael Howard (British home secretary), Bruno Kreisky (chancellor of Austria) and Robert Rubin (American secretary of treasury).

In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer (Washington Post), Henry Grunwald (editor-in-chief Time), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post), Joseph Lelyyeld (Executive editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times).

Can you name the most beneficent philanthropist in the history of the world? The name is George Soros, a Jew, who has so far donated a colossal $4 billion most of which has gone as aid to scientists and universities around the world. Second to George Soros is Walter Annenberg, another Jew, who has built a hundred libraries by donating an estimated $2 billion.

At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by wining seven gold medals. Lenny Krayzelburg is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Spitz, Krayzelburg and Boris Becker are all Jewish.

Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Cary Grant, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish? As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina (Rambo 1/2/3), Michael Man (Starsky and Hutch), Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest), Douglas Fairbanks (The thief of Baghdad) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish.

To be certain, Washington is the capital that matters and in Washington the lobby that matters is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Washington knows that if PM Ehud Olmert were to discover that the earth is flat, AIPAC will make the 109th Congress pass a resolution congratulating Olmert on his discovery.

William James Sidis, with an IQ of 250-300, is the brightest human who ever existed. Guess what faith did he belong to?

So, why are Jews so powerful? Answer: Education.
By Dr Farrukh Saleem, Jang (Pakistan) 20/6/06
Jun 22, 2006

MY NOTEBOOK PC (ZD8000)

2006-06-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

I purchased a notebook!! HP ZD8000 replacing my PC. Yes thats correct. Replaced my PC for a notebook!! Well its the same power, same specs as my pc. 2.8Ghz with 1GB RAM.

The ZD8000 seemed to be a good candidate as it came with an ATI Mobility Radeon X600 graphics card and other options that provided for a great desktop replacement style notebook.

Now here are the Specs

* Mobile Pentium 4 520 2.8GHz, with Hyper-Threading
* 1GB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz(512x1) from Micron
* Toshiba 80GB hard drive 5400 RPM
* LG GWA-4080N DVD+/-RW Drive - CD-ROM (40x); CD-R (40x write); CD-RW (24x write); DVD-ROM (16x); DVD-R (8x write); DVD-RW (4x write); DVD+R (16x write); DVD+RW (4x write); DVD+R Dual Layer (2.4x write)
* ATI Mobility Radeon X600 with 256MB dedicated RAM
* 17.0" WXGA TFT LCD ViewBright display 1440 x 900 resolution
* Integrated V.92/56K modem
* Realtek RTL8193 10/100 Ethernet LAN
* Broadcom 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
* Built-in Altec Lancing stereo speakers
* Intel ICH6 AC97 Sound Card
* 5-in-1 Media Reader (Secure Digital, Memory Stick/Pro, MMC, xD Picture Card)

Design

The ZD8000 has a slightly modified look from its previous generation model, the ZD7000. Most notable is the cooling system. It is totally redesigned. Is it better now? Unfortunately that's a negative. There is an extra fan now, probably for making sure the machine can keep cool with the new ATI Mobility X600 graphics card. The entire rear of the notebook is dedicated to having vents for cooling, thereby sacrificing the parallel port from the previous generation. Even with a number of vents, the computer still gets very hot and the fans spin up all the time and they are loud. The keyboard area and wrist rest below the keyboard still gets very hot to the touch, though not as bad as the ZD7000 I used to own did. The touchpad area is thankfully improved and more usable now than before. I wish they had focused more on improving the cooling and reducing heat build-up around the keyboard rather than improving the touchpad though. The heat around the keyboard can make it uncomfortable to type after 10 minutes of typing on this laptop. The cooling system simply needs a lot more reworking, my use of the Toshiba Satellite P35 proved that a large desktop replacement notebook with a Pentium 4 processor doesn't have necessarily have to be a giant heat synch. Toshiba somehow managed to get rid of heat from the P35 system and typing was comfortable.

Size and Weight

This laptop is one of the biggest out there. Weighing in at a hefty 9.5 pounds, it is probably in the top 5% of the weight bracket for notebooks. The dimensions measure 16.5" L x 11.5" W x 1.57/1.85" H. The AC adapter adds another pound and 3 ounces to overall weight. That means that you'll be carrying well over 10 pounds of computer related stuff, so this titan is not for the faint of heart!

Screen

Laptop LCDs and LCDs in general have come a long way. Gone are the days of ghosting and inaccurate colors if you buy a decent brand LCD, and most modern laptops seem to have displays of very good quality. The screen on my ZD8000 features BrightView which helps improve clarity, color saturation and contrast. It's quite a bit better than the older ZD7000 without Brightview. I notice no ghosting of any type in my first person shooter (FPS) games and there were no dead pixels. The blacks are deep and incredible, putting my professional Sony Trinitron CRT to shame. The white is a little on the warm yellowish side, I prefer cool, bluer whites. The viewing angle is simply amazing. This is truly a desktop replacement system as it will be hard to go back to your desktops display after seeing this one!

Speakers

The speakers are Altec Lancing brand and relative to the size of the laptop are tiny. The speakers on this laptop face outward which is nice if you would like to play something with the lid closed. The performance of the speakers isn't so good though. You begin to hear sound distortion at about 80% max volume. Bass is virtually nonexistent with this set of speakers. For games the speakers seemed to perform decently.

Performance

My ZD8000 came with a second generation Prescott D0 stepping processor. I was hopping for the third generation Prescott which features much better thermal design, half the power usage and 20% lower temperatures at idle. Nevertheless, after a clean install of WindowsXP SP2, the system was nice, snappy, and full of pep. The motherboard is a Grantsdale i915 chipset from Quanta. The included 1GB of DDR2 RAM is very nice if you like to run lots and lots of programs like me. There really is no benefit with DDR2 until we see it scale higher clock speeds, it actually has slower timings than DDR1. I tried to use the application SpeedswitchXP (download: http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/) on this laptop, but it does not seem to be supported and Windows does not allow you to check on actual clock speeds. This is disappointing as I am very used to controlling processor speeds on laptops. The price you pay for being cutting edge...

Gaming

HP decided to ditch nVidia and went to ATi for the graphics system in this generation of the ZD line. At the time of its design, this was probably a good choice as ATI was whipping nVidia around in the laptop department for a long while. Everything changed when nVidia released the mobile 6800Go though. The ATI X600 graphics card is basically equivalent in performance to a Mobility 9700 running on 16X PCI. Does the PCI standard make it faster than the equivalent AGP processor? No. Does the name of the card make it sound faster? It sure does! But don't let names fool you.

The X600 graphics processor core is clocked at 400MHz and the 256MB of ram is clocked at 250MHz (500MHz effective). The difference between 64MB and 256MB makes a huge difference in current games. With 256MB you can run Half Life 2 at full detail and 4xFSAA whereas 64MB you were limited to minimum quality. Games like LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth and FlatOut, which would not even run with 64MB, is very playable now.

I/O

The ZD8000 is an I/O mecha. It features 2 PCMCIA ports. I don't know what you would use 1 of them for, let alone 2. Just about everything you need is already built in. No need for searching for the USB port, as there is one on every side. There are 5 USB ports total, one which is featured as a "HP USB Digital Drive" which is just a gimmicky SD card reader. I guess its for those who do not figure out that pretty much all HPs come with a 6in1 card reader standard nowadays. Compact flash support is however missing. The largest surviving flash memory seems to be a dying breed, mostly reserved for those with high end digital cameras.

Input

The keyboard is a very standard layout with built in numpad, which is certainly a nice addition. If anything will drive you to this laptop, the numpad is it. Touchpad is a big improvement from the ZD7000. It no longer gets dreadfully hot and is sunken in. This helps alleviate the problem of it being accidentally tripped when typing. But due to its large size it still does not totally prevent this problem, even with small hands.

Wireless and Connectivity (NO BLUETOOTH) DANG!!

The ZD8000 comes with the Broadcom chipset which when paired with Broadcom routers offers incredible performance. Broadcom seems to be the choice now in wireless chipsets. Performance is very stable and range seems to just keep improving after every revision. It offers more consistency and range than even the venerable Orinoco Gold PCMCIA card I have. The wireless switch is at the top right edge on the side of the laptop accompanied by an orange LED. I would have liked an LED on top for quicker identification as to whether WiFi was on or not.

I was very disappointed to see that I don't have bluetooth! Bluetooth is one of the connections I use frequently to send/recieve music files/Photos/whatever to my phone. SonyEricsson W810. I have to sacrifice one USB port for an external USB now.

Conclusion

Overall the ZD8000 is a decent improvement over the ZD7000. Performance is great thanks to finally having a full 800MHz FSB. The X600 graphics card is no slouch either, playing Half Life 2 is brilliant on this laptop. The Pentium 4 excels in heavy FPU data like Photoshop, video editing, and encoding. Overall a decent laptop replacement.

Pros

* Gorgeous Screen
* NumPad included on keyboard
* 5 USB Ports
* 2 PCMCIA ports
* Good graphics card and gaming performance

Cons

* Loud Fans
* Keyboard area of laptop gets really hot
* Horrible Battery Life
* No serial or parallel ports
* Proprietary AC connector
* Only 100MB Fast Ethernet

China to set up its own 'splinternet'?

2006-03-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

China has announced it is creating a new set of domain names based on Chinese characters.

China has created three of its own top-level domains that will use the domain names dot-cn, dot-com and dot-net, in Chinese. The domain names were launched on Wednesday by the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry.

The creation of Chinese character domain names has led to speculation that China could break away from Icann completely, and undermine the global unity of the DNS, the network of servers that resolves domain name requests.

The People's Daily Online, a Chinese government approved publication, reported: "It means internet users don't have to surf the web via the servers under the management of Icann, of the US."

Icann, though, declined to comment on China's plans as scant details have been made available by the Ministry.

According to Icann: "We are intending to clarify the situation today. There's confusion about whether China is creating top-level or second-level domains, because of an ambiguous report. The situation is unclear at the moment."

Experts are concerned that this move will see China administrating its top-level domains with its own separate root servers, which could cause a split in the internet.

Geir Rasmussen, chief executive of Global Name Registry, a domain name registration organisation which oversees the dot-name domain, said: "Fragmentation is a concern both to Icann and us because of end-user confusion."

Rasmussen added: "Users might lose trust in the system if there are multiple versions of the same domains. If someone launched a dot-name in a different root, you as an end user could not be sure which root you were using. It would be like having a phone number that points to two different people."

Last year, several countries objected to Icann's power over the internet, because it is ultimately under the control of the US government.

The European Union and other nations demanded the US share responsibility for the DNS, including decisions over adding and deleting new top-level domains, with the United Nations. The Bush administration resisted them.

Rasmussen said: "There has been conflict with Icann about who should govern the internet. We wouldn't be surprised if the internet became fragmented, because some areas of the world really don't feel included."

He added: "The internet up to now has been mostly westernised, and some countries may feel disenfranchised, as they can't access the internet in their local language. I think this is about accessibility. Think if all westerners had to enter characters in Chinese script."

Little Things Matters Most

2006-02-24T07:02:00.001-08:00

Little things which MS Windows does! Just the GUI missing.
Lets see, I got this .iso file which I need to burn and I don't have NERO or any image burning stuff with me at the moment. My PC is formatted and nothing is reachable for an immediate use! PITY!
But hey, XP creates MP3 files with ease as an audio CD. Why cannot it create an iso or burn an iso to a cd? Rather than creating a data disc? Now there got to be some way around...
So I did some googling and found this -->ISO Recorder For XP.

What does it do?
ISO Recorder is a tool (power toy) for Windows XP, 2003 and now Windows Vista, that allows (depending on the Windows version) to burn CD and DVD images, copy disks, make images of the existing data CDs and DVDs and create ISO images from a content of a disk folder.

It seems ISO Recorder has been conceived during Windows XP beta program, when Microsoft for the first time started distributing new OS builds as ISO images. Even though the new OS had CD-burning support (by Roxio), it did not have an ability to record an image. ISO Recorder has filled this need and has been one of the poular Windows downloads ever since.

With an advent of Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2003 the version 2 of ISO Recorder has been released, which intorduced some new new features including ISO creation and support for non-admin user.

Finally, in Windows Vista it became possible to address another long-standing request and provide DVD burning capability.

Download ISO Recorder For XP

After you install ISO Recorder, no program group is created and there is no application to run. ISO Recorder is a Shell extension, which means it provides additional options in a file right-click menu. To create a CD with ISO Recorder right-click on a file with .iso extension and select "Copy Image to CD"

Every move you make ... they'll be watching you

2006-02-15T04:16:00.000-08:00

It's getting harder to cover your tracks as even the most everyday activities -- from running a Google search to using the E-Z Pass lane -- leave a lengthy digital trail.

Ever get the feeling that someone's eyeballing you? You're probably right.

These days, between the news that the National Security Agency has been eavesdropping without warrants and that the Justice Department wants to know what searches have been conducted on Google and elsewhere, it's no wonder you feel under watch.

The real surprise, though, may be how so much of what you do on an everyday basis already gets screened, monitored, tracked, scanned and observed - often without your ever knowing it.

From spyware on your computer to police cameras on your street to GPS devices on your cell phone, how much of your private life is really private any more?

"It's all part of the general evaporation of privacy," said Peter Wayner, a Baltimore-based computer programmer who has written several books about online protocol and safety.

The Justice Department has obtained records of millions of anonymous, random searches made on Microsoft, Yahoo and America Online as it attempts to revive a child pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. But Google, the world's most popular search engine, refused to comply, and the Justice Department has gone to court to force the company to turn over the data.

"I think the Justice Department isn't looking for personal information. They seem to want to do some research," Wayner said. "But the future may be different."

The issue has sparked privacy debates around the country - and opened the eyes of those who didn't know such records were being kept in the first place. In fact, most people leave a digital trail of personal information behind as they go about their daily life, using an ATM or a grocery savings club card or logging on to their e-mail accounts.

While most of this personal information cannot be released without a subpoena, you might be surprised at how easy it is to track where you've been and what you've done on a typical day. Consider this scenario:

Wake up, shower and dress, then before you go to work, log onto the Internet to check e-mails or a Web site.

No matter how you log onto the Web, all of your Internet activity can be traced because of your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, a random number that enables computers on a network to communicate.

"The IP address is like the phone number of a computer," said Wayner. "The companies usually keep the user's physical address bound to each IP address."

IP address information travels along the network of your Internet Service Provider (ISP), which acts as a conduit between your computer and the Web. Information stored by ISPs can be kept indefinitely.

"If you use a search engine for information about a bomb, your local computer has a record [of your search]," said Tim Finin, a computer science professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. "Your ISP knows you're the guy who is at the address of that computer," he added, "and that you accessed the file."

Head for work, taking Interstate 95 and going through an E-Z Pass toll lane.

E-Z Pass knows you were there: Its transactions are like credit card purchases. The transponder that was placed on your windshield is read by a sensor as you pass through. Then the sensor calls up your account then verifies that it's in good standing.

"If for some reason it's not read correctly," said Teri Moss, spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority, "or if you go through an E-Z Pass lane [without a pass], a video image is taken of your license plate."

E-Z Pass would then contact the MTA, which would send you a letter requesting payment.

Just prior to approaching your office, your cell phone rings.

Some cell phones have Global Positioning System chips, enabling you to be tracked if, for example, you call 911 during an emergency.