xenith says...

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 o...

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 ".)

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.

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

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

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 ...

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...

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...

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 s...

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...

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 sec...

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'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 se...