Free WAppz

2009-04-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

Bilindiği gibi dünya üzerinde ölmeyecek sektörlerden birisi pornografi sektörü. Efendim genç yaşlı herkes bu sektörle uzaktan yakından ilgilidir.

Yine bilindiği gibi cinsel aktiviteler bir çok teknoloji yoluyla ortak paydada birleşir. Teleseks, camseks gibi ürünler de dünden bugüne bir kronolojik sıra oluştururlar. Şimdi bir de 3G teknolojisi çıkınca başımıza tabii ki bu sektör de yeni atılımlar yapmak zorunda.

Video icat olduğunda insanlarımız pornografik filmlere tenezzül ettiler. Ondan önce telefon fantazileri zaten mevcuttu. Daha sonra internette sanal seks falan derken bir de cep telefonlarında soyunuk hatun duvar kâğıdı çıkmıştı. Bunların hepsi cinsel sektörün teknolojiyi aslında ne kadar yakından takip ettiğini göstermektedir.

daha sonra internet üzerinde en çok ziyaret edilen siteleri oluşturdular. Bedava Porno diye kasılıyordu her bir tarafı internetin. Ne arasak bir tane vardı bunlardan. Gelelim son teknolojiye.

Her ne kadar dünya üzerinde daha evvelden kullanılmaya başlansa da ülkemizde 3G ihaleleri yapıldı ve sınıf sınıf sahiplerini buldu. Cinsellik anlamına gelen seks de teknolojiyi yakından takip ettiğine göre bu durumda sektör bu teknolojiye de parmak atacaktır.

Benim merak ettiğim nokta ise sektör bu ürünü ne tarzda kullanacaktır. Tahminlerimi sıralamak istiyorum. Mesela genelevler bu teknoloji ile internette yapmadıkları reklamı ( Hiç gereksinimleri yok bu tür reklamlara çünkü kendi kendilerine zaten reklamlar. ) belki işçilerinin kısa bir tanıtımıyla yapabilirler. MSN üzerinden soyunan arkadaşlar da muhtemelen artık 3G üzerinden soyunmaya başlayacaklardır. Yani olay oldukça canlı ve kanlı oalcaktır.

İleri teknolojide ise GORA filminde gördüğümüz 3 boyutlu ışınlama teknolojisiyle kadınların striptiz yapması olsa da artık 3G teknolojisi sayesinde mevcut striptiz mekanlarına gidilerek 1 kişi içerde birkaç kişi dışarıda kadını izleyebileceklerdir. Önemli olan bu ürünün fiyatı. Eğer düşük bir ücretlendirmeye gidilirse eminim bu tür bir atılım gerçekleşecektir. Zaten buna teşvik eden kısım kullanıcı değil mi? Fotoğraf makinesiyle kadınların etek altı, video ile mahrem görüntüler kaydedilip ortalığa saçılmadı mı?

Bekliyorum merakla. Moleküler Transfer gerçekleştiğinde kadınları genelevlerden bekar evlerine ışınlamadan önce daha ne tür atılımlar göreceğiz…

Change Boot Screen (32-bit only for now)

2008-04-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

There is finally an easy way (easier than before) to change your Windows Vista boot screen and use any high resolution photo as your boot screen. Using a great tool written by Dan Smith it is now possible to automatically generate the replacement language MUI file that contains your boot image files. All you need is two photos at 800x600 and 1024x768 saved as 24-bit windows bitmaps. Then follow these steps:

Download Dan Smith's Vista Boot Logo Generator.
Install and then run from the link in the Start Menu.
Hit Browse for image and select both the 800x600 and 1024x768 resolution bitmap files for your boot screen.
Click on File and select Save Boot Screen File as and save your file.
Next, you will need to replace the winload.exe.mui file in c:\Windows\System32\en-us with the one you just created. Before you copy in your new file, make a backup of the original. You will need to take ownership of all files in en-us as well as give your account file permissions to replace the file as well in order to copy the new winload.exe.mui file in.
The last step is to enable the alternative boot screen setting as shown in this tweak.

The next time you reboot you should see your new boot screen. If you have problems with Windows not booting properly, boot up with the Windows Vista install CD and replace the winload.exe.mui file with your backup.

3D Cube Virtual Desktop

2008-04-23T03:41:00.000-07:00

Yod'm 3D is a virtual desktop manager that allows you to have 4 different desktops arranged on a 3D cube. Holding down CTRL+SHIFT and using the left or right arrow keys rotate the cube showing the virtual desktops. Alternatively, you can click and drag your mouse to switch desktops.
Video: TweakVista.com demo of Yod'm 3D *
* Because of the capture software I used, the video is very choppy. Normally, the cube spins very smoothly.
Download this free desktop manager from Chris' Soft.

Microsoft releases new Ultimate Extras

2008-04-23T03:39:00.000-07:00

Windows Ultimate users finally have some new Ultimate Extras to download. Released today was two new sound schemes and additional DreamScene content. Windows Ultimate users can download the new extras now by going to Windows Update in Control Panel.
New Sounds
Two new sound schemes have been released:
Ultimate Extras Glass – Similar to the default sound scheme but with a “glassy edge.”
Ultimate Extras Pearl – Cleaner, clearer and brighter than the glass scheme.

Windows Vista Review

2008-01-18T05:29:00.000-08:00

It's hard to put Windows Vista in perspective. On the one hand, the product has been in development for over five years, which means that Vista had one of the longest development cycles in the 20+ year history of Windows. (See my Road to Gold series for an exhaustive breakdown of that time period.)

Paradoxically, Windows Vista is both revolutionary and evolutionary. While it includes modern OS features, such as a new hardware-based graphical user interface (GUI), Vista will also feel like familiar territory, for the most part, to anyone that's already familiar with Windows XP. And Mac advocates can claim, truthfully, that many of Vista's best features appeared first on Mac OS X, sometimes years ago.

More problematic, over the past five years, many of Windows Vista's best features have been jettisoned, and it's unclear whether they'll ever appear in future Windows versions. Other features, like Internet Explorer (IE) 7, the Avalon and WinFX programming interfaces, the RSS platform, and more have been back-ported to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, watering down the uniqueness of the Vista platform.

Does any of this really matter to the typical PC user? Perhaps not. As someone who's been dissecting Windows Vista for several years now, the novelty has frankly worn off. So it would be a disservice for me to base my opinions of this system on my belief that it should have shipped two years ago. After all, to the average PC users out there in audience (i.e. most people), Windows Vista is something new. Under the hood, Vista is, in fact, quite different from its predecessors, despite the surface similarities. Indeed, it is to Microsoft's credit that hundreds of millions of Windows users will be able to upgrade or otherwise move to Windows Vista, install and run almost all of their existing applications, hook up and access almost all of their hardware peripherals, and access all of their critical data files and other documents, all without any understanding at all of the major changes that Microsoft has wrought. Microsoft once described Vista as the Windows platform for the next decade. I'm no longer sure this was hyperbole.

These are the things to keep in perspective when considering Windows Vista. It is a complex product, a big product. It's a major Windows update with lots of new functionality and oodles of new features. It's the first Windows version to provide developers with a major new programming model in a decade. It's got an unbelievably long list of extensibility points so that Microsoft and its partners can build off it for years to come. It is, as promised, the biggest new version of Windows since Windows 95. Chances are, if you're reading this site, you're going to upgrade to Vista sometime soon regardless of my opinion. As for the rest of the world, I suspect their next PC purchase will include Windows Vista as well. By this time next year, over 100 million people around the world will be using Windows Vista.

It's incredible, isn't it? The sheer size and scope of Windows Vista makes it difficult to review, to digest, and to understand. If you step back too far, it doesn't look very impressive at all: It's like XP with a spit-shine. But if you get too close, it's easy to get lost in the seemingly never-ending lists of new features. Yep, it's a major Windows version all right. And now it's complete. Let's dive in.

Reviewing Windows Vista
In this multi-part review of Windows Vista, I will attempt to provide you with the information you need to decide whether you want Windows Vista now, in the near future, or later. (Let's face facts: Not ever upgrading isn't really an option.) I'll explain the differences between the various product editions, discuss each of the major new features, and tell you which I think are valuable and which you can safely ignore. I'll discuss Vista's hardware and software compatibility prowess (or lack thereof) and explain why you may want to hold off on that x64 version you've been considering. And by the time I'm done--sometime in the days ahead, but well ahead of Vista's general availability--I hope I'll have communicated why this major new Windows version is so important and, ultimately, so desirable.

The review will be broken down into several parts, which I'll publish over time. This first part of the review is largely introductory material. In Part 2, I'll explain the different Vista product editions and provide you with the simple information you need to determine which version is for you. Part 3 covers the installation process, including interactive setup, upgrading from XP, and even corporate deployment. In Part 4, I'll highlight what I think of as the Vista experience, explaining what you get in the box, the overall look and feel of the new Vista UIs, and how its performance compares with that of previous Windows versions.

Part 5 of this review will focus on new Windows Vista features, including the advances Microsoft has made in digital media, networking and Internet, and security. In Part 6, I'll look at compatibility, both hardware and software, and on both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) systems. Part 7 will discuss the dark side of Vista, the inconsistent and undesirable features that will leave you shaking your head. And finally, I'll wrap it up in Part 8 with information about availability and pricing and my conclusions.

A quick look back over the past five years
In mid-2001, my son Mark was three and my daughter hadn't even been born yet. We lived in a different, smaller, home, and the tragedies of 9/11 were still ahead of us. Today, over five years later, much has changed. My son is now over 8 years old and his soon-to-be-five-year-old sister Kelly is like a bossy buddy he can't quite shake. We live in a different house, and though it's supposed to be a better neighborhood, I'm haunted daily by the never-ending sounds of lawn machines, leaf-blowers, or snow removal equipment, depending on the time of year. Put simply, a lot has changed.

In the wider technology world, by mid-2001, Microsoft was getting ready to ship Windows XP and Apple had recently shipped the first version of Mac OS X, a product that was so woefully inadequate that even it's most ardent supporters ruefully referred to it as a public beta. Every year, it seemed, the Linux desktop was poised to take off. That, still, has never happened.

Apple and its supporters will tell you that Apple spent the past five years churning out major new Mac OS X versions while Microsoft fumbled around trying to finish Windows Vista. This is completely untrue. Though I use and respect Mac OS X, virtually every version Apple has shipped since 2001 has been a minor update, akin to a Windows 98 SE or Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Meanwhile, Microsoft has pushed an amazing variety of Windows versions out the door since 2001. Some highlights include Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE), Windows XP MCE 2004, Windows XP MCE 2005, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition (TPC), Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. It has also shipped major updates to its digital media software, including three major updates to Windows Media Player, a major IE release--IE 7--major new client-based security applications and services, including Windows Defender and Windows Live OneCare. And this is just a partial list. The point here is simple: Microsoft hasn't sat still, contrary to the FUD you read online.

So why did Vista take so long? Microsoft will tell you that Vista has really only been in active development since mid-2004, when it "reset" the original Longhorn project and restarted development on the Windows Server 2003 code base. I'd argue that this is a convenient misstatement of the facts: Windows Vista is Longhorn and Longhorn is Windows Vista. In short, Microsoft did take five years to bring Longhorn--sorry, Windows Vista--to market.

As it turns out, the reason why is simple. Microsoft screwed up, plain and simple. Each version of Windows is based on the version that came before it and because Windows Vista was envisioned as a kitchen sink release that would include every major new feature imaginable, it eventually teetered and fell under the weight of the technology Microsoft was heaping upon it. That Vista is now based on the Windows Server 2003 code based and not that of Windows XP is meaningless. When the project started, back in 2001, it was based on Windows XP.

After the reset, Microsoft scaled back the Vista feature-set dramatically and ensured that features were added in a more logical fashion. The two year development time that Microsoft refers to in this case is the most recent two years, the period of time during which Vista got back on track. This is a period of time that Microsoft should be justifiably proud of. The previous three years? Trust me, we'd all like to forget that.

But the problem with the five year gestation isn't that OS X and Linux have caught up and in some ways surpassed Windows, which of course they have in some respects. The problem isn't even that Microsoft promised us the world and then failed to deliver. No, the problem is that there's another OS out there that runs just fine on over 400 million computers around the world. That system is stable, secure, and gets the job done. It's Windows Vista's biggest competitor. To be fair, it's Windows Vista's only competitor. Maybe you've heard of it: It's called Windows XP.

Good enough: The problem with Windows XP
Windows XP is still good enough for most people, and that's got to be a bit alarming to Microsoft at the dawn of the Windows Vista era. Three years ago, when you talked about features like instant desktop search, integrated RSS capabilities, safe Web browsing, and security, Windows Vista was an easy sell. Today, all of those features and more are available on Windows XP (and in other OSes), so the argument for Windows Vista is somewhat diminished.

Too, Windows XP is 100 percent compatible with all of the PC hardware and software out there. While there is little doubt that Windows Vista will improve over time--for example, Microsoft tells me that many hardware drivers will ship between Vista's November 2006 RTM and its January 2007 consumer launch--for the short term at least, it's a distant second to XP in those categories that matter most to many consumers. If you're a gamer, you want to purchase a new game title and not have to worry whether it will run more slowly on Windows Vista, or not at all. And while that honking new PC is really pretty, if the version of IE 7 included on Windows Vista doesn't work with your bank's private Web site, all you'll know is that Microsoft let you down.

The truth is, Windows XP's successes are a problem because Microsoft now has a user base that's gotten used to the company not shipping major OS upgrades that they can purchase and install. (Major Windows versions over the past 5 years, such as XP MCE, TPC, and XP Pro x64 have all typically only been sold with new PCs.) What's another year or two?

Microsoft's job, now, is to convince you that its previous Windows system, XP, is not good enough. I don't envy them that task. And I don't really have a stake in this argument either way. I'm sure Windows Vista will be a blockbuster release because of its many new features, cool new user interface, and enhanced security. And I'm sure that people who really care about computers will gravitate towards Vista like moths to a flame. It's hard to ignore something this good.

Opening My Vistas

2008-01-18T05:27:00.001-08:00

by Glenn Fleishman

I just bought a new laptop with Windows Vista pre-installed, and, hey, I kinda like it.

As I dodge flaming arrows from regular TidBITS readers, let me note that it's not my main computer nor intended to be; that I've been using the Mac platform since 1985; and that I currently own something like five working Macs. (Yes, we Mac owners know the difference: I have two other Macs of ancient vintage that haven't been powered on in years.)

I purchased a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop for two reasons. First, I'm a technology journalist, and Vista is destined to be the world's dominant platform within a year or two. I need to know how it works and how to use it. Second, I write quite a bit about Wi-Fi and wireless data. Invariably, new wireless cards come out with Windows drivers first; Mac drivers lag by weeks or years, and often lack full feature support.

My criteria for a Vista system were fairly elaborate. I wanted a dual-core Intel chip - the one I got is a "budget" Core Duo chip with half the Core Duo's Level 2 cache - and I thought it would be nice to have a good platform on which to perform side-by-side comparisons with similar Mac platforms. I needed an ExpressCard expansion slot because that's the format in which new Wi-Fi and cell data modems will be issued. By the same token, I ordered the Intel Draft N (802.11n) internal card that's just been released because it will be among the most heavily sold Wi-Fi adapters this year.

Finally, I wouldn't buy a PC that didn't have Vista pre-installed. From everything I've read, buying a machine with Windows XP today and upgrading tomorrow is a sucker's bet. Further, I needed at least the Vista Business flavor to get the networking options necessary for the kind of testing I would be performing.

I looked at all the major manufacturers, and Dell came closest to what I needed at a reasonable price. Despite quite a lot of well-publicized missteps in the last couple of years - Dell used to be ranked a not-too-distant No. 2 behind Apple for customer support, but has slipped quite a bit - the company seems in the middle of a turnaround that includes Michael Dell resuming leadership.

The Inspiron 6400 I settled on has a 15.4-inch screen, 2 GB of RAM, a 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, a dual-layer 8x DVD burner, a Draft N adapter, and a 1.6 GHz Pentium T2060 dual-core processor. It does not feature gigabit Ethernet. (A previous version of this article posted to the TidBITS Web site stated that the Inspiron 6400 had a Core 2 Duo processor rather than the "budget" Core Duo that it actually includes.)

Along with the computer, I purchased a two-year subscription to a full McAfee anti-everything package: anti-spyware, anti-virus, firewall, and anti-this-and-that. Pre-purchasing that package meant the software is installed and supported, and was cheaper, too. I also bought a three-year extended warranty that includes 24-hour-a-day phone support and next-day, on-site repair.

For all that, I paid $1,500 including sales tax. That's not a terrible price.

Dell made setup easy. Unpack the box. Plug in a power adapter. Press the power key. A simple one-sheet setup poster came with it, and I didn't need to refer to it. Initializing Vista involved answering just a few questions before it was up and running.

My early experience with Vista, after spending only a couple of hours getting it set up and running, wasn't awful. Sure, it asks me about granting approval for programs more often than I'd like. It's weird that I can't easily say, "Hey, I trust this action for this particular program," since I've been able to do that with Zone Alarm Pro under Windows XP for years.

The McAfee package, however, did lock up my computer. A minimized window needed user approval to proceed, and that locked the whole minimized windows task bar at the bottom of the screen. I had to use the old Control-Alt-Delete trick to display the Process Manager, and then I was able to bring the McAfee program to the front and move ahead. That happened just once.

Vista, as a whole, does conform to reports that at the surface it's Windows XP with fancier dressing. (Beneath the surface, there's a lot that's changed, but we will have to wait to see how it shakes out on the security and stability fronts.) There are some nice features, many of them familiar to me as a long-time Mac OS X user, but I don't find it offensive or confusing. The Aero interface, which offers translucency among other features, is attractive. Vista, so far, is just fine. (Wait until I start really using it, of course, to see how it holds up.)

Now, you will ask me, "Why, Glenn, oh why did you not simply buy a MacBook Pro? It has a full Intel Core 2 Duo - not the budget Core Duo you got - along with an ExpressCard slot, and it can run Windows."

My answer is that at the moment, you can only install Windows Vista under Boot Camp for a native boot - which would be needed to handle Windows drivers for the ExpressCard slot - with a bit of elbow grease. Boot Camp is still in beta; Apple doesn't support Vista with Boot Camp yet, either.

Also, a similarly equipped MacBook Pro from Apple is nearly $2,400 including sales tax. That's for a far superior 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo processor with gigabit Ethernet and Apple-supplied RAM, but that's the cheapest and slowest MacBook Pro offered and I could shave only a few dollars by supplying third-party RAM myself. Further, given Apple's product cycles, I expect that we'll see new versions of the MacBook Pro in the next two to four months.

The folks at Parallels told me at Macworld Expo that their Parallels Desktop virtualization software might be able to support Windows drivers working on devices inserted in the ExpressCard slot, just as they've improved USB support in their most recent release. However, that's speculative until it's available.

My insidious plan is to use the Dell laptop until the time comes that I can easily install and run Vista for all my needs using either Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop. The Dell should fetch a decent price when sold. And this is, of course, all a mental trick to justify buying a MacBook Pro in the future - but only when the time is right.

Stop Applications That Auto-start On Startup

2008-01-18T05:25:00.001-08:00

Stop Applications That Auto-start On Startup
There are 2 ways to stop applications that auto-start when you login to Windows Vista. You can either use the System Configuration Utility or the new Software Explorer in Windows Defender:

Method 1: System Configuration Utility
1. Click on the Start Button, enter msconfig and hit Enter.
2. Click on the Startup tab.
3. Uncheck items that you do want to auto-start and click OK.

Method 2: Windows Defender
1. Click on the Start Button, enter Windows Defender and hit Enter.
2. Click on the Tools from the top menu bar.
3. Click on Software Explorer and select Show for All Users.
4. Select an application to either Remove or Disable.

Enable ReadyBoost with a USB storage device.

2008-01-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

USB Storage & Windows Vista ReadyBoost
Windows Vista has a new performance feature called ReadyBoost. This feature enables the use of a USB storage device instead of the slow paging file on your hard disk when you're low on physical memory (RAM). The logic is simple - the USB storage device is faster than your hard disk drive.

In order for ReadyBoost to work in Windows Vista, your USB storage device must meet the following requirements:
- the device must have at least 64MB storage.
- the device must be USB 2.0 compliant.
- the device must have a minimum read speed of 3.5 MB/s.
- the device must have a minimum write speed of 2.5 MB/s.

Follow these steps to enable ReadyBoost:
1. Plug in USB storage device.
2. Go to Computer, right-click on the removable storage device and select Properties.
3. Click on the ReadyBoost tab.
4. Select Use This Device and set the amount of space to use for the system file.
5. Click OK.

Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD Player Wins Sound & Vision Editors' Choice Award

2008-01-17T05:15:00.001-08:00

Toshiba has maintained its position as a leader in delivering quality high definition products to the market," said Mike Mettler, Vice President and Editor-In-Chief of Sound & Vision. "The Toshiba HD-XA2 is a great example of a product that combines outstanding engineering and design to create an excellent value for the consumer."

The HD-XA2 was selected as one of the top products of 2007 from a large field of consumer electronics devices. The player was chosen because its "boot-up and disc-load times are vastly reduced, connections are more robust and its Silicon Optix video processor turns the HD-XA2 into one of the best upconverting DVD players we've seen," said Mettler.

"Toshiba is thrilled to receive an Editors' Choice Award from such a highly regarded publication in the industry as Sound & Vision," said Jodi Sally, Vice President of Marketing, Toshiba America Consumer Products Digital A/V Group. "Toshiba HD DVD players continue to be recognized as one of the best home theater products in the high-definition category from both A/V enthusiasts and everyday movie lovers alike. As Sound & Vision has noted, the HD-XA2's outstanding picture and audio capabilities and cutting edge interactive and Web-enabled networking features create the ultimate entertainment experience."

About Toshiba's HD DVD Players

All of Toshiba's HD DVD player models are backward compatible, allowing users to enjoy their libraries of current DVD and CD software while enhancing the look of regular DVDs by upconverting their output to near high definition picture quality. With the HD DVD format, select HD DVD players allow consumers to experience true high def 1080p for extraordinary resolution that matches the latest state of the art 1080p HDTVs. These same players display images at 24 frames per second, the same frame rate used by directors when using film to create motion pictures for a smoother, more film like, viewing experience. Thanks to the Ethernet port and memory built into every Toshiba HD DVD player, movie lovers also can enjoy the benefits of web-enabled network connectivity. Consumers can download the latest movie trailers as they become available, share favorite movie clips with friends, vote in online polls and enjoy the experience like never before.

For more information on HD DVD, please visit www.toshibahddvd.com.

About Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C.

Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. is owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, a world leader in high technology products with subsidiaries worldwide. Toshiba is a pioneer in HD DVD, DVD and DVD Recorder technology and a leading manufacturer of a full line of home entertainment products, including flat panel TV, combination products and portable devices. Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. is headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. For additional information, please visit www.tacp.toshiba.com.

About Sound & Vision

Established in 1958, Sound & Vision has led the category in the coverage of consumer electronics products for nearly 50 years. From early adopters to everyday shoppers, people come to Sound & Vision for the latest product reviews, recommendations and information on home theater, high-definition TV, digital surround sound, and more. Published ten times per year, the title has a rate base of 200,000.

Important Notes:

HD DVD with high-definition content required for HD viewing. Upconversion of DVD content will result in near HD picture quality. Viewing high- definition content and upconverting DVD content may require an HDCP capable DVI or HDMI(TM) input on your display device. 1080p capable display required for viewing content in 1080p. Firmware update may be required for some interactive features depending on content, which may also require an always-on broadband internet connection. Some features may require additional bandwidth. To take advantage of web-enabled network content, installing the latest firmware (ver.2.4 for HD DVD player models HD-XA1, HD-A1, and HD-D1; ver.2.7 for HD-XA2, HD-A2, HD-A2W, HD-D2, HD-A2C, and HD-A20; and ver.1.3 for HD-A35, HD-A30, and HD-A3) is required. Web-enabled network features require an always on broadband connection along with specific movie titles that include this form of content. For 24p output, content that was created in 1080p/24 frames/sec is required. Viewing 24p output requires an HD display capable of accepting a 1080p/24Hz signal. MP3/WMA audio files not supported. HDMI audio output requires connection to a PCM capable device. Because HD DVD is a new format that makes use of new technologies, certain disc, digital connection and other compatibility and/or performance issues are possible. This may, in rare cases, include disc freezing while accessing certain disc features or functions, or certain parts of the disc not playing back or operating as fully intended. If you experience such issues, please refer to the FAQ sections of www.toshibahddvd.com or www.tacp.toshiba.com for information on possible work-around solutions or the availability of firmware updates that may resolve your problem, or contact Toshiba Customer Solutions. Some features subject to delayed availability. While every effort has been made at the time of publication to ensure the accuracy of the information provided herein, product specifications, configurations, system/component/options availability are all subject to change without notice.

HD DVD and DVD are trademarks of DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation.

HDMI, the HDMI Logo and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing, LLC.

SOURCE Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C.

Uninstall / Turn off unneeded features

2008-01-17T04:38:00.001-08:00

There are many new features in Windows Vista that are installed by default that you may not need. These extra and unneeded features can slow down your computer and take up more storage space. If you would like to uninstall, or turn off, these extra features, this tip is for you.

Windows Features can be uninstalled using the Windows Features utility. Follow these steps to uninstall applications such as the Windows Fax and Scan and many more:

Click on the Start Button and select Control Panel.
Under Programs click Uninstall a program .
On the side menu, click on Turn Windows features on or off .
Scroll through the list as shown below and remove the check from any feature you do not want installed.
Click OK when you are finished making your changes. The features will now be uninstalled.

Show super hidden files

2008-01-17T04:36:00.001-08:00

Even if you turn on show hidden files in Windows Explorer some files will remain hidden. These files are super hidden. Set the registry value below to 1.

	[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
		"SuperHidden" = 1

You will need to reboot after changing this setting for it to work.

Run as administrator start menu keyboard trick

2008-01-17T04:31:00.000-08:00

If you are like me and use the search box in the new Start Menu in Windows Vista as a run box, you can run any command you type in as an administrator by holding down CTRL + Shift and then pressing Enter.

Say you want to start command prompt as administrator:

Click start button
Key in cmd
Press and hold down CTRL and Shift and then hit Enter
Command prompt now be run as administrator

Mount a CD Image

2008-01-17T04:29:00.000-08:00

Mounting a CD image is a basic feature of almost every operating system package except for Microsoft Windows. Microsoft has never shipped this feature in any version of Windows including Windows Vista. Mounting a CD image is very useful when you have downloaded a .ISO cd image and you do not want to waste the time or the media to burn a copy. Since Windows Vista does not have this functionality built-in, you will need to download a utility. One popular utility that will mount CD images is called elby CloneDrive. Best of all, CloneDrive is free and easy to use. Follow these steps to mount CD images in Windows Vista with CloneDrive:

Visit http://www.elby.ch/fun/software/index.html and download a free copy of CloneDrive.
Install CloneDrive just like any other application.
After it is installed you will see a new virtual drive appear in your Computer drive list.
Right Click on the CloneDrive and select Virtual CloneDrive and then Mount.
Navigate to the .ISO file you want to mount and hit Open.
Your CD image is now mounted. Enjoy!

How to: Dual boot XP and Vista

2008-01-17T04:26:00.000-08:00

Application compatibility remains one of the most annoying issues for Windows Vista users. The ability to upgrade the software to a new Vista compatible version is not always an option. The company that developed the application may no longer be around or the cost to upgrade is too high. In my case, I have a lot of classic PC games that will not run at all under Windows Vista no matter how I configure the compatibility options. In order to play my old games I need to install Windows XP. However, I am not exactly ready to give up all of the advances in Windows Vista just so that I can play my old games once in a while. The answer is to dual boot Windows Vista and XP.

Dual booting Windows XP and Vista on the same computer will allow you to select from a boot menu what operating sytem you want to run. This menu is shown right after you power on your computer. Setting up both Windows XP and Vista on one computer can be a little ticky depending what operating system you have installed first. The next two sections will help you configure both versions on your computer, depending on what OS you have installed first:

Windows XP is installed

If you want to dual boot XP and Vista and XP is already installed on your computer you will not have to do much work to dual boot vista. Just boot to your Windows Vista install DVD, select a custom install and install Vista on a separate partition or physical drive than where XP is installed. This will leave your XP install intact and automatically install a boot menu with both XP and Vista listed.

Windows Vista is installed

If you were like me and compley reformatted your hard drive and wiped out XP when you installed Vista, your setup is going to be a little more complicated. Follow these steps:

Boot up your computer with a Windows XP install CD and install Windows XP to a different partition or physical drive than where Vista is installed. When the setup is finished, your computer will automatically boot into Windows XP. Don’t worry, Windows Vista is still on your computer if you correctly installed XP to a different partition or physical drive.
When you installed XP, the Vista Boot Manager was replaced by the Windows XP boot components. The Vista Boot Manager needs to be fixed by using the Windows Vista install DVD. Boot your computer to the Windows Vista install DVD , click Next on the regional settings screen and then click on Repair your computer in the lower left of the window. Select your Windows Vista install and then run the Startup Repair. This will fix the Windows Boot Manager and Vista will once again startup automatically.
Now we need to add an entry to the Windows Boot Manger for Windows XP. This is done through Windows Vista. When you are back in Vista, open an administrative level command prompt window and run these commands:

bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d "Windows XP"
bcdedit /set {ntldr} device boot
bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast
Reboot your computer and test out the new boot menu.

Dual boot has now been configured on your computer. You will be able to enjoy the enhancements of Windows Vista without giving up the ability to run older applications that require Windows XP.

Extend Activation period past 180 days

2008-01-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of news about a new technique to extend the activation period of Windows Vista past 180 days. It all started when Brian Livingston posted a story on his site, WindowsSecrets.com, about a registry key that can be modified to allow the slmgr -rearm command to be run more than three times. This allows you to use Windows Vista without having to activate it for longer than 180 days.

Activation has always been more of burden for licensed Windows users than an effective deterrent for piracy. There are already many cracks for Windows Vista that bypass activation completely. The end result is a bad experience for those that legally buy the product.

For me, this is an issue that I am always fighting with. I am constantly building, installing and re-configuring my two computers with multiple vista virtual machines. I don't want to deal with the burden of having to activate my legal copies of Windows Vista every time since none of my workstations seem to last for more than a few months before I reinstall. If I actually activated my Vista Ultimate licenses every time I reinstall I would already have to use the slow phone based system where you have to type in that super long code. Sorry Microsoft, that is a horrible experience that I'm trying to avoid.

Using Brian's registry key and the old 180 day trick, it is possible to setup Task Scheduler to automate these changes to extend the period before you need to activate beyond 180 days. Follow these steps to automate the registry change and activation reset using Task Scheduler:

Click on the Start Button, type in Task Manager and hit Enter.
When Task Scheduler loads, right click on Task Scheduler Library and select Create Task.
Enter in a name for the new task such as "Activation Period Reset". Also, make sure that the user this account is run under is part of the Administrators group and the Run with highest privileges box is checked.
Click on the Triggers tab and hit the New button.
On the New Trigger tab, select Daily and Recur every 29 days (since activation is required 30 days after a reset) and hit OK.
Click on the Actions tab and hit New.
Enter in slmgr.vbs in the program/script box.
Enter in -rearm in the arguments box and hit OK.
Hit OK to save the settings for the new task you created.
Now you are ready for the second registry key change that will allow you to run the slmgr.vbs -rearm command more than three times. To do this, right click on the Task Scheduler Library folder again and select Create Task.
Enter in a name for the new task such as "Slmgr Reset ". Also, make sure that the user this account is run under is part of the Administrators group and the Run with highest privileges box is checked.
Click on the Triggers tab and hit the New button.
On the New Trigger tab, select Daily and Recur every 179 days (since slmgr needs to be reset after 180 days) and hit OK.
Click on the Actions tab and hit New.
Download and save this registry file to your computer.
Enter in regedit in the program/script box.
Enter in /s "full path to reg file" in the arguments box and hit OK.
Hit OK to save the settings for the new task you created.

Your computer is now configured to automatically reset the activation period every 29 days and reset your ability to reset the activation period every 179 days.

Check Windows Vista Activation Status

2008-01-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

Are you a user of Windows Vista Enterprise or Business edition and would like to know the status of activation of a specific computer? Want to make sure that the computer connected properly to the Key Management Server (KMS) or used your Multiple Activation Key (MAK) properly? Or are you a home user and just want to make sure your computer is fully activated?

Included in Windows Vista is very useful utility that will help you check the status of activation of your computer:

Click on the Start Button and key in CMD and hit Enter to start up Command Prompt.
At the prompt, type in "slmgr.vbs -dli"
After a few seconds you will be presented with a pop-up message with your activation status.

Change Windows Vista Product Key after install

2008-01-17T04:21:00.000-08:00

Do you need to change your product key so that you can activate Windows Vista properly? You can use a great command line tool that will help you do this very easily. Just follow these steps:

Click on the Start Button and key in command prompt so that it shows up on your start menu search list. Right click on the Command Prompt shortcut and select Run As Administrator.
At the administrator command prompt, type in "slmgr.vbs -ipk "
To activate windows after changing the key, run "slmgr.vbs -ato"

Facebook Asked to Remove “Scrabulous”

2008-01-17T00:02:00.001-08:00

LONDON (Reuters) - The makers of word game Scrabble have asked Facebook to remove its popular online version "Scrabulous," which they say infringes their copyright.

The U.S. and Canada rights to Scrabble are owned by Hasbro Inc, the world's second-largest toy and game company, while the biggest, Mattel Inc , has the rest of the world.

"Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous application," said a Mattel spokeswoman in Britain.

"Mattel values its intellectual property and actively protects its brands and trademarks.

"As Mattel owns the rights to the Scrabble trademark outside the United States and Canada, we are currently reviewing our position regarding other countries."

A UK spokesman for Facebook was not immediately available for comment.

Facebook has recently overtaken similar sites including MySpace and Bebo to become Britain's most popular social networking site.

A decentralized Twitter?

2008-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Andrew Baron is a smart guy, and he's not a techy, so when he explains technical issues he does it in a way non-technical people can understand.

Dembot: "If you hosted your own Twitter, just like you host your own website, you could put your twitter anywhere."

Twitter is doing us a service, with its lack of stability, in illustrating the dangers of centralized systems. We do need to figure out how to build a Twitter-like system with all the advantages of centralization and none of the disadvantages.

And like Andrew, intuitively, it seems to me we could do it with RSS. Of course RSS is not very nice to edit by hand, so a little bit of software would be needed to handle the editing. We would also need a place to store our RSS (easy and cheap), and a discovery mechanism, but none of this is impossible or even very hard, considering that Twitter already exists. If it didn't, discovery would be a mess. Because it does, discovery would just be inconvenient, and would require foresight -- the kind of foresight that tells you to keep a bunch of bottled water in the garage so you won't die when there's a big earthquake. You do have bottled water in the garage? " border="0" height="11" width="11">

The problem is, of course, when Twitter goes down, it's too late to use Twitter to bootstrap the decentralized Twitter-like system. Heh. Just like after the earthquake it's too late to go to Safeway and buy a crate of Aquafina.

Larry Dignan: "Twitter is a classic case of a neat little tool that wasn't built to scale but now has to because it has become a big deal."

Blogger Bullying Draws a Website Warning

2008-01-16T23:58:00.000-08:00

Has Nick Denton gone too far? The new-media minimogul is notorious for poking New York media types in the eye (including Condé Nast Portfolio, Portfolio.com, and this writer).

But now he is accused of ambushing a publisher's daughter by using her Facebook entry in an unflattering and unwarranted item on his media-industry blogsite, Gawker.

In the process, he has violated Facebook's terms of use, Portfolio.com has learned, and the social network's honchos are not amused.

In a Gawker entry yesterday, Denton posted screenshots from the Facebook page of American Law Media founder Steven Brill's daughter, along with a selection of her status updates and other content from her profile. Denton added unflattering comments about the 25-year-old Brill's weight.

Facebook has opened an investigation into Denton's "repurposing" of Brill's Facebook profile and will be sending the blog boss a warning letter today threatening to deactivate his own Facebook account if he violates the company's policies again.

Facebook's Terms of Use make it clear that, "Except for your own User Content, you may not upload or republish Site Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the information in any other database or compilation, and any other use of the Site Content is strictly prohibited."

Gawker has gotten noticeably more combative lately, as readership has flagged and staffers have fled.

What did Emily Brill do to deserve having her Facebook information trotted out on Gawker? Nothing, other than be born to a well-known, wealthy man. She herself is not a public figure, nor is there any discernible news value in posting her Facebook profile information.

UPDATE: Denton did not respond to several instant-message requests for comment on the matter.

Milli yazılıma veda mı?

2008-01-16T23:50:00.001-08:00

Milli yazılıma veda mı?

F-16'lar için bugün karar günü. Ya milli yazılıma devam ya da ABD yazılımına dönüş.Yeni 30 adet F-16'ya milli yazılım yerine, hazır cihazın takılması tartışılıyor. Erdoğan'la Büyükanıt'ın kararları sonucu belirleyecek.

Üç kurumlu toplantı
Genelkurmay, Hava Kuvvetleri ve Savunma Sanayii Müsteşarlığı arasında bugün planlanan toplantı, F-16'ların kaderini çizecek: ABD'den alım anlaşması yapılan 30 F-16'ya takılacak elektronik harp cihazı tartışılacak.

Savunma sanayii ilgilileri ikiye bölünmüş durumda. ITT marka ALQ-211V serisi cihazlar, Türkiye'de imal edilen ALQ-178V serisinden daha yeni bir sistem. Diğer yandan hem sistem gereksinimlerini yerine getirme zorunluluğu yerli, yabancı herkes için var, hem de hazır cihaz henüz ABD Hava Kuvvetleri uçaklarına takılı değil.

İki ihtimal var
İki ihtimal: F-16'lara, milli yazılıma sahip cihazlardan mı, yoksa ABD'nin önerdiği, milli yazılım yüklenmesine uygun olmayan ITT marka mı alalım? İkinci şık, 20 yıllık önemli savunma sanayii adımından dönüş mü demek?

Dört kişilik kurul
Karar Savunma Sanayii İcra Kurulu'na sunulacak. Son söz dört kişilik kurulun: Başbakan Erdoğan, Genelkurmay Başkanı Büyükanıt, Milli Savunma Bakanı Gönül, Savunma Müsteşarı Bayar.

Yabancı yazılımı isteyenler
Milli yazılıma, yani Türkiye'nin savunma önceliklerine uygun elektronik tedbirlere açık olmayan bu sistemin bir an önce alınmasından yana olanlar iki görüşü dile getiriyor: 1- Daha önce Türkiye'de üretilen sistemlerde gecikme oldu. Bu nedenle 'uçaklar soba borusu gibi uçuyor' lafları çıktı. Hazır alırsak ABD teslimatı geciktirmeyeceği sözünü veriyor, 2- Hava Kuvvetleri uçakları 2010-11 yıllarında TUSAŞ'ta güncellemeye (modernizasyon) alınacak. Bir noktada hava savunma sisteminde uçak açığı ortaya çıkacak. 30 uçak o nedenle öncelikli. Elektronik aksamda gecikme riskini almayalım.

Milli yazılım isteyenler
Buna karşın milli yazılıma sahip sistemlerin Türkiye'de üretimini savunanlar şu görüşü dile getiriyor: "Daha önceki gecikme 2001 ekonomik krizinde ihalenin sonuçlanması için gerekli kararın gecikmesinden kaynaklandı. Şimdi üretim ASELSAN dolayısıyla devlet kontolünde. Üretim ve teslimatın zamanında yapılacağı konusunda yazılı garantiler verilmiş durumda. Ayrıca, örneğin Boeing'in AWACS teslimatında da gecikme var, ama o konuşulmuyor. Hem TSK yönetimi, hem de hükümet nezdinde de yerli savunma sanayiinin geliştirilmesi iradesi varken 20 yıllık emek boşa gitmemeli."

Milli yazılımda durum ne?
Hatırlatmak gerekirse, 'milli yazılımın' anlamı ve öyküsü şöyle: ABD'nin Lockheed şirketi tarafından tasarlanan, dünyanın en etkili savaş uçaklarından sayılan F-16'ların Türkiye'de TUSAŞ tarafından lisans altında imali merhum Turgut Özal zamanında gündeme geldiğinde, uçakların elektronik harp sistemleri tartışmaya açılmıştı. F-16'nın havadayken gizli haberleşmesinden silah sistemlerine, dost uçağı düşmandan ayırmasından düşman haberleşmesini köreltmeye dek pek çok işlevini yerine getiren elektronik harp aygıtı NATO yazılımına sahipti. Bu durum, örneğin Ege uçuşlarında Türk uçaklarının Yunanistan uçaklarını fark edememesi anlamına geliyordu.

AYRICALIK TANINDI
Bu sorunu aşmak için uzun müzakerelerden sonra, ABD'nin bir tek İsrail'e tanımış olduğu ayrıcalık Türkiye'ye de tanınmış, elektronik harp cihazı ütermek amacıyla Ankara yakınlarında MİKES şirketi kurulmuştu. 2001 krizi sonrası çoğunluk hisseleri devlet tarafından satın alınan (yüzde 72 Askeri Elektronik Sanayii-ASELSAN, yüzde 3 SSM) MİKES'in ürettiği ALQ 178V serisi Türk jetlerinde, en son Irak operasyonunda da görüldüğü gibi, kış ve gece koşullarında da başarıyla kullanılıyor.

HEPSİ YERLİ YAZILIM
TUSAŞ şu ana dek Türk Hava Kuvvetleri için C ve D modellerinden ve blok 30, 40 ve 50 serilerinden 240 adet F-16 üretti. Bunlardan son 80'i dışında hepsinde Türk yazılımı cihazlar takılı. Son 80 uçak içinde üretim sürüyor, montajın 2009'da tamamlanması öngörülüyor.

Beden Öğretmeni Bay Woodcock (2007) Mr. Woodcock

2008-01-16T23:43:00.000-08:00

Çoğumuz için beden eğitimi dersi ile ilgili iyi ya da kötü anılar vardır. Fiziksel kapasite ile alakalı bu ders bazılarımız için hoş olmayan anıları çağrıştırır. Hele hele sizden bir komando ya da biyonik adam yaratma derdinde bir öğretmen söz konusuysa, sizin de böyle mükemmeliyetçi bir eğitmen tarafından bedensel aşağılanmaya maruz kalabilecek bir görünümünüz varsa, yaşamınızın ilerleyen yıllarında bu dersi hatırlamak dahi istemezsiniz.

Beden Öğretmeni Bay Woodcock, bu tür durumlara katlanmak zorunda kalan öğrencilerin hislerine tercüman oluyor bir anlamda. Okul hayatı boyunca bedensel zafiyeti nedeniyle beden eğitimi öğretmeni tarafından sürekli aşağılanmış bir adamın kendisini geliştirmesine tanık oluyoruz. İlerleyen yıllarda yaşadığı bu travmatik olayları geride bırakıp “geçmişimizden nasıl kurtuluruz” konulu bir kişisel kitabı yazabilecek kadar kendini geliştiriyor.

Ardından büyüdüğü kasabaya dönüp annesinin pek sevgili beden eğitimi öğretmeni ile evliliğin kıyısına geldiğini öğrenince olanlar oluyor. Bu enteresan baba adayıyla rekabete giriyor ve onun gerçek yüzünü göstererek annesiyle evlenmesini engellemek için elinden geleni yapıyor. Yaptığı bu mücadele sırasında yaşananları komik olmaya çalışarak anlatmaya çalışıyor film, ama bunu pek beceremiyor.

Böyle bir konu nereye gider? Elbette akla gelen şu. Sadist hocamız aslında ne yaptıysa çocukların iyiliği için yapmıştır. Bu uğurda kendisi kötü adam rolüne soyunmaktan çekinmemiştir. Oldukça sıradan, düz ve tahmin edilebilir bir akış değil mi? Aslında film bu kolay yolu deniyor bir bakıma ama onu bile izleyene tam olarak hissettirmeden aktarıyor.

Seyirciye sunduğu en kolay çözümün aktarılışında bile zaaflar var. Elbette bu türden bir filmden, aslında içeriği çok müsait olsa bile, bir takım psikolojik alt-metin çözümlemeleri ve göndermeler beklemek fazlaca iyimser bir beklenti olur. Öte yandan bu kadar sert ve körü körüne gaddar bir adamın da bu hale gelmesinde, geçmişten gelen kötü bir tecrübe veya travma olduğunu düşünmemek de elde değil. Ama gelin görün ki bu anlamda da altı doldurulmuş bir durum yok.

Beden öğretmeninin gaddar kişiliği, ne çocukları yaşamın acımasız sertliğine hazırlayan bir maske-kişiliğin yansıması, ne de çocukluktan gelen bir travmanın yarattığı dramatik bir arıza… Sebepsizce sert bir öğretmen; karikatürize edilmiş, üstünkörü bir kişileştirmeyle yaratılmış karton bir karakter… Soyadının anlamın da erkeklik organına gönderme yapan cinsel bir argo kelime olması, karakterimizin mimarlarının ne derece ince(!) düşündüğünün bir ispatı…

Kitaplarında geçmişe sünger çekmenin yollarını anlatan genç yazarımızın, geçmişinden gelen bir kabusla tekrar yüzleşmek zorunda kalması da bir yere kadar ilginçliğini koruyabiliyor. Geçmişi unutmanın deyim yerindeyse “kitabını yazan” adamımız birden bire yan çiziyor ve tam aksine davranarak geçmişiyle sonuna kadar yüzleşmeye başlıyor. Öğretmeni ve müstakbel üvey babasıyla anlamsız bir rekabetin içine giriyor. Film öyle bir noktaya geliyor ki, davranışlarının nedeni konusunda hiçbir rasyonel kanıt, ipucu ya da veri olmayan öğretmenimizin sadist uygulamaları birden bire aslında bir iyilik haline getiriliyor. Ama hikaye bizi bu aşamaya hiç de hazırlayarak getirmiyor.

Beden Öğretmeni Bay Woodcock, hikayesinin elverdiği psikolojik bağlantıları ve göndermeleri kullanma şansını kendi kendine ortadan kaldıran, bu nedenle kalitesine en azından “eh işte” diyebileceğimiz bir film olma özelliğini hepten kaybetmiş, eğlenceli olmaktan uzak bir film. İlgi çekici oyuncu kadrosu ise sadece enkazı kaldırmaya yetebiliyor.

Paris'te 2 Gün (2007) 2 Days in Paris

2008-01-16T23:42:00.000-08:00

Yılın son eleştiri yazısının bir romantik komedi, üstelik beyazperdenin dalgın güzellerinden Julie Delpy'nin yönetmenliğini üstlendiği bir film olacağını söyleselerdi herhalde inanmazdım. Şimdi size bu filmin düşündüğünüzden çok daha iyi bir film olduğunu söylesem, belki de siz bana inanmayacaksınız. Madem yılın son yazısı; biraz kritik kurallarının dışına çıkalım ve yeni yılda bu filmi neden izlemeniz gerektiğini madde madde yazalım!

Paris'te 2 Gün'ü izlemelisiniz, çünkü...

1. Paris'te geçiyor. Üstelik şehrin gerçek meydanlarında, pazarlarında, dar basamaklı eski evlerinin toz kokan dar odalarında...

2. Marion (Julie Delpy) filmin başlarında Annie Hall'un Alvy Singer'ı gibi yeşil bir asker ceketi ve kemik çerçeve gözlükle karşımıza çıkıyor. Annie Hall benzerlikleri bununla da sınırlı kalmıyor. Delpy bir ilişkiyi kültürel çatışmaların her yönünü ortaya koyan diyaloglarla anlatma fikrini çok sevmiş. Hatta bu filmi özetlemek için, Woody Allen bir zamanlar Zor Baba'yı aynen böyle çekerdi diyebiliriz.

3. Marion'un anne ve babasını, Delpy'nin gerçek hayattaki ailesi canlandırıyor.

4. Jack (Adam Goldberg) bir Amerikalı olmasına rağmen Paris'e kod kırmaya gelen vatandaşlarını Bush'a oy vermekle suçlayıp bütün film sürecek ızdıraplı bir yolculuğa göndererek cezalandırıyor.

5. Özgürlükçü Fransız aileyle; rahat ama paranoyak, özgür ama kuralcı Amerikalı arasındaki çatışmalar görmeye değer. Marion'un babası kaldırıma çıkan arabaları çizerek cezalandırırken, Amerikalı suçluluk duygusuyla yerin dibine geçiyor!

6. Yemek masasındaki kültür testi bölümleri harika. Jack Kerouac'tan Jim Morrison'a karşı kültür kahramanlarının farklı kuşaklar için ne anlam ifade ettiği çok güzel yansıtılmış. Üstelik bu filmi izleyince Morrison'ın neden sonsuza kadar "yatmak" için Paris'i seçtiğini daha iyi anlayacaksınız.

7. Daniel Brühl anarşist bir peri; Alejandro Jodorowsky'nin Santa Sangre'de oynayan oğlu Adan Jodorowsky ise sanat ve kadın sevici rolüyle bir görünüp kayboluyorlar.

8. Geceleri uyumayı beceremeyen Jack bir gece bilgisayarında Fritz Lang imzalı ünlü Alman filmi M'i izliyor. Avrupayı gezen kafası karışık bir mimar için iyi bir seçim!

9. Paris, Seni Seviyorum filminin başarılı kısa filmlere rağmen ünlü şehri fazla romantize ettiğini düşünüyorsanız; filmde Jack'in "Burası Paris değil. Cehennem!" diye bağırdığını hatırlatalım. Delpy iyi ve serinkanlı bir diyalog yazarı!

10. Müzik filmde önemli bir yer tutmasa da, özellikle de Jack'in aldatıldığını hissettiği anlardaki gerilimine eşlik ettiği sahnelerde çok başarılı. Müziklere de Delphy imza atmış.

11. Bir ilişkiyi kalıcı kılmak için her zaman öpücük beklemeyip arada bir tükürükle de idare etmek lazım diyor Delpy. Ateşli Fransız öpücüğü ile anlamsız saldırganlıklara neden olan kıskançlığın arasını bulmak gerekir diyor yani.

12. Yeni yıla bir aşk filmiyle başlamak fena bir fikir olmasa gerek.

13. Bu filmin uğursuz sayıya düşen olumsuz yönü ise iki kişi arasındaki aşkın çok fazla diyaloglara ve eylemlere indirgenmiş olması. Bu anlamda fazla teknik ve gürültülü olduğunu itiraf etmek gerek. Bakışlar ve sessizlikler eksik. Belki de sorunlar o kutsal sessizliği unutmaktan kaynaklanıyor...

Çılgın Dersane Kampta (2007)

2008-01-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

Bu filmle ilgili yazmaya başlamadan önce, serinin ilk filmi için kaleme aldığım kritiğe göz attım. Söyleyebileceğim çoğu şeyin aynı olmasından biraz endişe ettim doğrusu. Bu, birileri için olumlu bir değerlendirme olur mu bilemem ama Çılgın Dersane Kampta’nın ilk filmden pek bir farkı yok.

Berksan adlı pop müzik şarkıcısının kendi ismiyle, kendi benzeri (sadece daha popüler) bir pop yıldızını canlandırdığı film, onun konser görüntüleriyle açılıyor. Daha jenerik bile başlamadan bize birkaç dakika şarkılı danslı bir klip sunan film de durduğu yeri belli ediyor. Bu bir film değil. Bir tür eğlence programı.

Üniversite sınavlarına girmek isteyen genç şarkıcı Berksan’ın dershaneye katılımıyla, bu kez kamp ortamındaki kadromuzla buluşuyoruz. Ondan sonrası yine aynı: bikinili kızlar, geyik muhabbetiyle geçen dersler, cinsellik muhabbetleri ve dershaneyi sabote etmeye çalışan aynı kötü adam. Evet, yeni bir entrika kurmaya bile gerek görülmemiş. Bu filmde Tuba Ünsal oynamıyor ama ilk filmde onu elde etmeye çalışan Berke Hücran hala dershaneyi batırmaya çalışıyor.

Ciddi ciddi eleştirmeye çalışmak gerçekten manasız böyle bir filmi. Doğrudur, ipe sapa gelir bir öyküsü, dramatik bir yapısı veya karakterleri yok bu filmin. Sadece sabun köpüğü bir eğlencelik olma iddiasında. Ama gerçekten güncel bir mizah anlayışı da yok filmde. Herhangi bir dönemde tuttuysa bile köhneyeli en az on beş, yirmi yıl olmuş bir komedi tarzı bu filmin barındırdığı… Güldürmüyor, eğlendirmiyor. Ve ilk filmde düşülen başka bir hataya da yeniden düşülüyor: Böyle bir film en fazla doksan dakika olur. Fakat Çılgın Dersane serisinin ikinci filminin süresi de ilki gibi iki saati buluyor. Varın siz düşünün işkenceyi…

Bence her şeyi özetleyen bir detay var filmde. Herkesin gözüne çarpmayacak bir detay aslında bu. Benim yakalamamın sebebi de söz konusu oyuncuyu dolaylı yollardan tanıyor olmam. Filmde ufak bir rol oynayan, dansçı kökenli Ahmet Erim, basın bültenine bakılırsa Timur adlı bir karakteri canlandırıyor. Fakat bir sahnede kendisine diğer oyuncular tarafından Ahmet diye hitap edildiğine şahit oluyoruz. Detay gibi gözükebilir ama bu küçük örnek sette kimsenin senaryoymuş, karaktermiş, devamlılıkmış umursamadığını belli ediyor. İşin ne kadar umursamazca, ciddiyetsizce yürütüldüğü anlaşılıyor.

Ben ne dersem diyeyim, bu filmin kaçınılmaz olarak seyircisi var. Zaten Çılgın Dersane Karda adlı üçüncü film de yapım hazırlığındaymış. Sinemamıza hiçbir faydası olmayan, sadece yapımcılarının cebini dolduran bir başka seri olarak karşımıza çıkmaya devam edecek yani bu ekip. Ben almayayım, alana da mani olmayayım…

İşte PARDUS 2007.3 Lynx Lynx !

2008-01-16T05:25:00.000-08:00

Pardus 2007 işletim sisteminin güncellenmiş ara sürümü Pardus 2007.3 Lynx lynx yayınlandı. İndirmek için tıklayın...

Pardus, kullanıcılarına en güncel uygulamaları ve en son güvenlik yamalarını da internet üzerinden GNU GPL Genel Kamu lisansı ile özgürce sağlıyor. Bu güncellemelerin boyu zamanla oldukça yüksek değerlere ulaşıyor ve kurulum ardından tüm güncellemelerin çekilmesi hem kurulum zamanını, hem de internet kullanımını artırıcı etki yapıyor. Bu sakıncayı ortadan kaldırmak için Pardus ekibi, ortalama üç aylık periyotlarla güncellenmiş ara sürümler yayınlıyor. Pardus teknolojilerinde yapılan son değişiklikler de bu ara sürümlerle kullanıcılara ulaştırılabiliyor.

Güncellenmiş ara sürümler, Türkiye'ye özgü ya da soyu tehlikede hayvanların Latince isimlerini sürüm adı olarak taşıyorlar. Pardus 2007.3 ismini tüm dünyada rastlanan en bilinen Vaşak ailesinin Anadolu'ya özgü bir alt türü olan Lynx lynx 'den alıyor...

Yeni özellikleriyle otomatik olarak bulunduğunuz yeri tanıyan Ağ yöneticisi, daha hızlı bir PiSi, başlatılabilir disk seçimi yapabildiğiniz yeni YALI ve birçok güncel özgür uygulamaya ulaşmak için Pardus'larınızı güncelleyebilir ya da yeni sürümü indirebilirsiniz.

Vista'nın içinde Pardus kurmak.(Resimli)

2008-01-16T05:14:00.001-08:00

Öncelikle Vista'nın içinde Pardus kurmak yüksek RAM ve alan ister. Ben öncelikle size nasıl yapılır anlatıyim. Benim bilgisayarım HP Pavilion dv6000 yani 2.0 GHZ işlemcisi ve 2 GB ram'i var. Bilgisayarımıza önce http://www.virtualbox.org dan indirdiğimiz programı yüklüyoruz. Bu program sayesinde Vista olan bilgisayarınızı hiç silmeden Pardus yükleyebileceksiniz. Öncelikle Pardus'u kendi pardus.org.tr sitesinden indirin ve .iso dosyasını emin olabilecek bir yere kopyalayın.

Kademeleri izlediğiniz takdirde rahatlıkla kurabilirsiniz.

Büyük Hazine: Sırlar Kitabı (2007)

2008-01-16T05:10:00.001-08:00

Büyük Hazine: Sırlar Kitabı (2007)
Natıonal Treasure: The Book Of Secrets

2004 yılının olay yaratan filmi "Büyük Hazine"nin ("National Treasure") devam filmi olan "Büyük Hazine: Sırlar Kitabı"nda, artık dünyanın en ünlü ve zengin hazine avcısı (onu tercih ettiği sıfatla "hazine koruyucusu") olan Ben Gates’, Abraham Lincoln'ün suikastçi John Wilkes Booth’un günlüğünden kaybolan ve yıllardır bulunamayan sayfaları ele geçirir. Bu sayfalarda, Başkan Lincoln'e düzenlenen komploya büyükbabası Thomas Gates'in de bir şekilde suç ortaklığı yaptığı iddia edilmektedir. Ben, bu olayın ardındaki gizemi çözmek için Amerikan tarihi arşivcisi olan eski kız arkadaşı Abigail Chase ve teknoloji dahisi ortağı Riley Poole ile birlikte kolları sıvar. Çıkacakları bu macera, onları Washington kentinin tehlikelerle dolu gizli dehlizlerinden alıp zigzaglar çizdirerek Paris, Londra ve Kuzey Amerika'nın derin bölgelerine kadar götürecektir.

Kabadayı zor da olsa liderliğini devam ettiriyor.

2008-01-16T05:06:00.000-08:00

Ali Birant 9 Ocak 2008, Çarşamba 10:26

Bu hafta ilk sıra için geçen hafta tahmin ettiğim çekişme yaşandı ve “Kabadayı” ilk sıradaki yerini korumayı başardı. “Büyük Hazine: Sırlar Kitabı” oldukça başarılı bir sonuç almasına rağmen “Kabadayı”yı ilk sıradaki yerinden indiremedi. Bunun dışında ilk on içinde önemli değişiklikler meydana gelirken geçen haftayı 4. sırada kapatan “Altın Pusula”ın ilk on dışında kalarak 14. sıraya gerilemesi haftanın en büyük sürpriziydi.

badayı” geçen haftaya göre %41 hasılat kaybına uğramasına rağmen ilk sıradaki yerini korumayı başardı. Cuma ve Cumartesi günleri “Büyük Hazine:Sırlar Kitabı”nın altında bir seyirciye ulaşan yapım pazar günü büyük bir sıçrama yaparak ilk sıradaki yerini korudu. Toplamda 1.6 milyon seyirciye ulaşmayı başaran yapımın gelecek haftayla birlikte büyük bir seyirci ve hasılat kaybına uğrayacağı ancak geçen haftaki tahminim olan 1.8 milyon kişiyi geçebileceği gözüküyor.adan sonra yabancı bir film yer almayı başardı. Nicolas Cage’in başrolünde yer aldığı “Büyük Hazine:Sırlar Kitabı” ilk haftasonunda 100 bin kişiye ulaşarak iyi bir başlangıç yaptı. Amerika’da 3. haftasında ilk sıradaki yerini korumayı başardı. İlk haftasonu 44 milyon dolar hasılat elde eden yapım şu anda 170 milyon dolar hasılata ulaştı. Kadrosunda Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Diane Kruger, Ed Harris,Harvey Keitel gibi ünlüleri barındıran film bu başlangıcı ile ülkemizde 400 bin rakamını aşabilir.

Bu hafta 3. sırada geçen haftaki yerini koruyan “Kutsal Damacana” yer alıyor. Ilımlı bir düşüş yaşayan film toplamda 460 bin kişiye ulaşarak büyük bir başarıya ulaştı. Film bu başarısıyla daha önceki tahminlerimin çok üstünde bir başarıya ulaşacak gözüküyor. Sanırım 600 bin rakamını zorlayacaktır.

Sezonun şu ana kadar en çok izlenen filmi olan “Beyaz Melek” başarılı serüvenine devam ederek toplamda 1 milyon 750 bin kişiye ulaşıyor. Film bu başarısının yanında “Kabadayı” ile de kıyasıya bir mücadele içinde bulunuyor. Tahminimce “Kabadayı” filminden daha çok kişiye ulaşacak ve toplam seyircide geçilmeyecektir.

“Arı Filmi” önemli bir hasılat kaybıyla birlikte toplamda 373 bin kişiye ulaştı. Toplam seyirci sayısı 400 bin kişiyi aşacaktır, ancak 450 bine ulaşması çok zor. Başarılı animasyon filminin dünya çapında ulaştığı hasılat 257 milyon dolara ulaştı. Bu hasılatıyla 2007 yılının en çok hasılat rakamları içinde 15. sırada bulunmakta.

Bu hafta 6. sırada ilk haftasında olan “Yargısız İnfaz” yer almakta. Genel olarak olumlu eleştiriler alan politik gerilim türündeki filmde Oscarlı ünlü oyuncular Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep ile son dönemde yıldızı parlayan Jake Gyllenhaal yer alıyor. Önemli konusuna ve büyük oyuncularına rağmen film Amerika’da gişede başarılı olamadı ve 4 hafta sonunda gösterimden kaldırıldı. Filmin dünya çapında elde ettiği hasılat şu ana kadar 17 milyon dolar. Ülkemizde 40 bin civarı izleyiciye ulaşacaktır.

Bu haftanın diğer bir filmi beni şaşırtan bir başarıyla 7. sıradan listeye giren “Ölüm Bekçisi” oluyor. Henüz diğer ülkelerde gösterime girmeyen film ülkemizde oldukça iyi bir şekilde 8 bin kişiye ulaşıyor. Bu da klasik olacak ama her türlü korku filminin ülkemizde oldukça iyi bir izleyici sayısına ulaştığını gösteriyor.

Vizyondaki iddialı filmlerden “Manhattan’da Sihir” 3. haftasında 2 basamak gerileyerek 77 bin kişiye ulaşıyor. Amerika’da çok başarılı olan film ülkemizde beklenen hasılata ulaşamadı. Daha önce belirttiğim gibi 100 bin kişiye ulaşması zor. Film dünya çapında 230 milyon dolar hasılatı ile 2007 yılının en başarılı 19. filmi oldu.

“Beden Öğretmeni Bay Woodcock” 2. haftasında ilk on içinde kalmayı başarıyor ve 29 bin kişiye ulaşıyor. Film 40 bin kişiyi aşacak gözükmekte.

Bu haftanın en önemli sürprizlerinden birine “Beowulf” imza atıyor ve 10. sıradaki yerini koruyor. Toplamda 293 bin kişiye ulaşan ve 300 bini aşacak gözüken yapım dünya çapında 191 milyon dolar hasılat elde etti.

Bu hafta “Altın Pusula”, “O Kadın” ve “Paris’te İki Gün” ilk on dışında kalırken gösterime yeni giren diğer filmlerden “Hayatta İki Kez” 2 bin izleyici ile 15. sırada yer aldı. Yurt dışı bir çok festivalden ödül alan duyarlı ve gerçekçi ilgiyi kesinlikle hak eden “Rıza” adlı yerli yapım ise maalesef 5 salonda 378 kişi 24. sırada yer alabildi.

Gelecek Hafta Ne Olur?

Gelecek hafta “Kabadayı”nın gövde gösterisi sona erer. Vizyona girecek iddialı yerli filmlerden “Maskeli Beşler: Kıbrıs”ın ilk sırada “Çılgın Dersane Kampta” nın ise 2. sırada yer alacağını düşünüyorum.

Kaynak: Haftalık Antrakt Sinema Gazetesi

Paris'te 2 Gün (2007)

2008-01-16T05:02:00.001-08:00

Julie Delpy'nin yönetmenlik, senaryo ve müziklerini yapmanın yanı sıra rol de aldığı filmi Paris'te 2 Gün Adam Goldberg, Danil Brühl ile Marie Pillet ten oluşan kadrosuyla da dikkat çekiyor.� Paris'te 2 Gün severek izleyeceğinizi düşündüğümüz bir romantik komedi...

New York’ta yaşayan Jack ve Marion tatillerini Marion’un ailesinin yaşadığı Paris’te geçirmeye karar verir. Aşıklar şehri Paris fikri Jack’ı başta heyecanlandırsa da işler hiç de beklendiği gibi gitmez. Marion’un zamanında şehrin yarısı ile çıkmış olduğunu şaşkınlıkla öğrenen Jack, Fransızların seks konusundaki rahatlığı karşısında da şaşkına döner.

The Bucket List (2007)

2008-01-16T04:42:00.000-08:00

For Geezers Gone Wild, Too Little, Too Late
“The Bucket List” operates on the hope that two beloved stars rubbing their signature screen personas together can spark warm, fuzzy box office magic. I wouldn’t count on it. Stars or no, it is an open question whether audiences will flock to a preposterous, putatively heartwarming buddy comedy about two men diagnosed with terminal cancer living it up in their final months. The geezers chafing at death’s doorstep are Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman), cancer patients who meet cute in the room they share in a hospital owned by Edward. A greedy billionaire health care mogul, Edward is a victim of his own ruthless cost-cutting program that decrees two to a room in his cramped establishment.
Obviously, no billionaire in his right mind would endure such humiliation in an institution he is knowingly bleeding to death; he would have his own deluxe private suite somewhere else. Edward, however, does have gourmet food supplied by his obedient assistant Thomas (Sean Hayes), which he lustily consumes until chemotherapy takes away his appetite along with his hair.
Slipping into their stock screen personas of rampaging fool (Mr. Nicholson) and pious wise man (Mr. Freeman), neither actor adds a note that we haven’t seen before. Given less than a year to live, Edward and Carter flee the hospital to board Edward’s private jet for a final blowout underwritten by Edward.

Along the way they become best pals who help each other learn the usual lessons about living life to the fullest. The movie strenuously denies medical reality. As they undertake their journey, both men, in temporary remission, appear as robust as the rejuvenated seniors in “Cocoon.”
Their initial adventures, like sky diving and race car driving, are high-adrenaline stunts embraced with macho zeal; they even visit a tattoo parlor. As they follow an itinerary that takes them to the south of France, the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Himalayas and Hong Kong, these stopovers, obviously filmed on a soundstage, have all the reality of snapshots photographed in front of travel posters.
On the sexual front, the happily married Carter demurs when opportunity presents itself. But nothing has ever prevented Edward, who has been married and divorced four times, from pursuing continuous novelty. The movie mercifully spares us the spectacle of Mr. Nicholson, whalelike at 70, in full rutting mode.
Directed by Rob Reiner from a sketchy screenplay by Justin Zackham, “The Bucket List” fails its stars in fundamental ways. Mr. Nicholson has played wealthy rogues before (most recently in “Something’s Gotta Give”), but this particular bon vivant is unsalvageably repellent. The actor’s frantic mugging, guffawing and eyebrow twitching only underscore the character’s pompous self-satisfaction. By the time the movie allows Edward a token gesture of humanity (his guilt-stricken attempt to reunite with an estranged daughter he cruelly betrayed), it is too little too late.
Carter is the one who initially brings up the notion of “the bucket list,” a roster of must-have experiences to be pursued before “kicking the bucket.” We are asked to accept that this dignified sage has been happily toiling as an auto mechanic for 46 years after forgoing his higher education to support a family. Anyone this articulate and composed would have risen far above day-laborer status.
Largely self-taught, Carter keeps himself in mental shape by watching “Jeopardy!” and competing out loud with the contestants. During their travels he is a font of geographic and historical trivia.
For all the kindly gravity he puts into the role, Mr. Freeman cannot begin to make you believe that a quiet family man like Carter would abandon his loyal wife (Beverly Todd) during his final months of life to go on a spree with a rascally egomaniac. I don’t imagine Mr. Freeman believes it either.
Saddest of all, the professed spiritual goals on the pair’s checklist of things to do — “laugh till you cry,” “witness something majestic” — are the kind of pallid bromides found in the pages of a quickie self-help book: “I’m Not O.K., and Neither Are You.”

Craftier Trojan Invades 10,000 Web Sites, Stumps Security Pros

2008-01-16T03:43:00.000-08:00

The "random js toolkit" is a Javascript code that is created dynamically and provides a random filename that can only be accessed once. As a consequence, it changes every time it is accessed. The dynamic embedding, known as "code obfuscation," is done in such a selective manner that once a user has received a page with the embedded malicious code, it will not be referenced again during future visits.

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A little more than two weeks into 2008, cyber-criminals are up to their same old tricks -- stealing users' private data -- but they have concocted a far more advanced and sophisticated method. They are now embedding their malicious code into legitimate Web sites using Web-hosting servers, according to a report released Monday by Finjan Software, a provider of secure web gateway products.

More than 10,000 Web sites in the U.S. alone were infected by the latest type of malware attack during the month of December. The attack, dubbed "random js toolkit," is an extremely elusive Trojan that infects a computer user's machine, sending personal data over the Internet to the criminal mastermind. Stolen data can include documents, passwords, surfing habits and any other sensitive information that may be of interest to criminals, Finjan said.

"In mid-year 2007, studies show there were nearly 30,000 new infected Web pages being created every day. About 80 percent of those pages hosting malicious software or containing drive-by downloads with damaging content were located on hacked legitimate sites. Today the situation is much worse," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at Finj

Clever Criminals

Finjan Software researchers uncovered the cyber-criminals' latest scheme while diagnosing users' Web traffic in December. The "random js toolkit" is a Javascript code that is created dynamically and provides a random filename that can only be accessed once. As a consequence, it changes every time it is accessed.

The dynamic embedding, known as "code obfuscation," is done in such a selective manner that once a user has received a page with the embedded malicious code, it will not be referenced again during future visits or further requests from the same IP (Internet protocol) address. Cyber-criminals store the visiting computer's IP address, so that the JavaScript is no longer referenced in the source HTML (hypertext markup language) of the site. That makes it "almost impossible" for traditional signature-based anti-malware products to detect the malware, Finjan said.

This so-called evasive effect reduces the visibility of the malicious code in order to curtail the chances of detection, while increasing opportunities for infection. A single attack serves over 13 different exploits in an effort to infect a user's computer with malicious Trojans.

"Signaturing a dynamic script is not effective. Signaturing the exploiting code itself is also not effective, since these exploits are changing continually to stay ahead of current zero-day threats and available patches," Ben-Itzhak explained. "Keeping an up-to-date list of 'highly trusted doubtful' domains serves only as a limited defense against this attack vector."

It's limited because hackers have devised several ways to avoid detection using URL (universal resource locator)-filtering or reputation services products, the security firm said.

Cyber-criminals can beat the system by maintaining a list of the IP addresses of Web crawlers -- the main feed for updating URL-filtering and reputation services databases -- in their attack data, which enables them to serve legitimate content to the Web crawlers while providing malicious content to every other visitor to the site.

Using random Web page names is another method that prevents filters and reputation services from blacklisting malicious pages. Every visit made to an infected site generates a unique URL that is created and served dynamically. One such infected site that Finjan identified is Berkeley University's "highly trusted" domain.

The random js exploits, part of growing trend from cyber-criminals injecting hidden Iframes/scripts into the pages of legitimate sites, are being sent to a huge audience using Web-hosting servers as their attack vector. Cyber-criminals hijack and take complete control of Web-hosting servers so that each of the hosted domains on the compromised server will deliver the Trojan to unsuspecting end users. Each request made to a hijacked server will result in an additional request for the malicious code, according to Finjan.

Securing the Web

Web threats continue to be the preferred vector for malware as cyber-criminals attempt to attack unsuspecting Web surfers, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos .

"It is increasingly common for hackers to plant malicious scripts on high-traffic Web sites," he told TechNewsWorld. "Sophos currently sees approximately 6,000 new infected Web pages each day. Only about one in five of these sites are hacker sites, sites which are malicious in intent."

Some 80 percent are hacked sites, or legitimate Web sites that have been compromised by an unauthorized third party. "A particularly successful way to spread a Web infection is to poison advertisements displayed on a wide range of Web sites," Cluley continued.

Banner ads are so effective in transmitting malware that by 2009, advertising networks will be responsible for up to 30 percent of malware on users' desktops, said Avivah Litan, a Gartner (NYSE: IT) analyst.

"It's one of those hidden threats people don't know about -- and there's not an easy solution to it, because what happens is these crooks register as advertisers, and it is almost impossible to screen every advertiser properly," she told TechNewsWorld.

This allows the bad guys to put ads up on the Internet through Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and other advertising engines that will screen the ad when it is initially uploaded -- but after that the malware can be inserted in the ad at any time.

"The ad engines are not cleansing the ads each time they're served. Technically, it is a difficult problem for the ad engines. One, there is not immediately a financial incentive to fix. It hurts the consumer and will not hurt the ad network until people start losing faith in the ad network. But, as the revelations about all the malware in advertising comes out, it is potentially very destructive to the adware model," Litan explained.

"It's the biggest e-commerce security issue in 2008," she concluded.

Many malicious Web pages contain "obfuscated JavaScript" to avoid detection and make analysis harder. The obfuscated scripts typically launch browser exploits that download additional malware components to the system. Detecting and blocking these sites is difficult, because their content varies dramatically," Cluley explained.

Simply preventing access to gambling or pornography Web sites is not sufficient to protect users against these threats. A security solution to protect innocent computer users can help block Web access to these and other Web threats if it examines visited Web pages "on-the-fly," regardless of whether they are considered in a dangerous category or not, to determine if there is any malware hosted on them," he added.

Intel predicts the personal net

2008-01-15T23:19:00.000-08:00

Intel are parading a range of mobile devices at CES

Devices showcased

Mobile devices will deliver a more personal internet within five years, using chips with the power of today's desktop PCs, Intel's head has said.

Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show, Paul Otellini predicted mobile devices could soon "augment reality" by pulling data from the net in real time.

He said the industry was on the verge of creating a "new level of capability and usefulness to the internet".

"It's an internet that is proactive, predictive and context-aware."

Explaining that devices would be location-aware, and would access the internet over Wimax wireless connections, he said: "Instead of going to the internet, the internet comes to us.

"We need a ubiquitous, wireless broadband infrastructure. Eventually we will blanket the globe in wireless broadband connectivity."

Intel is backing Wimax, one of a number of competing next-generation wireless technologies, such as Long Term Evolution and HSDPA.

Mr Otellini said for this vision of the future to be fulfilled it would "require exponentially more powerful processors, using less and less power".

Chip development

He said that breakthroughs in chip development were needed to solve the problem of faster chips requiring more power and becoming less efficient.

The Intel chief executive said the firm had a roadmap for five more generations of chips, over the next 10 years.

"I have no doubt we will make all the breakthroughs necessary to make the five generations happen."

He told BBC News: "Intel, as a leader, has to advance the silicon technology every generation.

"Our business model is one of very high risk: We dig a very big hole in the ground, spend three billion dollars to build a factory in it, which takes three years, to produce technology we haven't invented yet, to run products we haven't designed yet, for markets which don't exist.

"We do that two or three times a year."

He added: "Everything we do has an inherent belief in technology."

'No compromises'

At the show Intel unveiled a range of new processors, including chips designed for so-called "mobile internet devices".

The first machines to use the new chips, which are 25% smaller than previous generations, are expected to hit the market later this year.

"A mobile internet device is something that you carry around in your pocket, and can deliver the full internet, with no compromises," he said.

The first devices will be larger than a typical mobile phone but are expected to shrink in size by a factor of four within two years.

One of the first devices to use the new Menlo chips is a Toshiba ultra mobile portable computer, which is capable of running Microsoft's processor-hungry Vista operating system.

Mr Otellini said the obstacles were not just processing power, but also increased wireless access, an internet which can understand context and simpler computer interfaces, such as gesturing and visualisation.

Apple announces ultra-thin laptop

2008-01-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

Apple announces ultra-thin laptop

The laptop weighs 1.3 kilograms and costs £1,200

Laptop on view

Apple boss Steve Jobs has unveiled the world's thinnest laptop, called the MacBook Air.

The computer, which is 0.76 inches (1.93cm) at its thickest point, was unveiled at an event in San Francisco.

The Apple head also launched online film rentals for iTunes users in the US from almost every major film studio, including Disney and Fox.

"We're dying to get this international as well," said Mr Jobs, saying it would roll-out worldwide later in the year.

Of the laptop, Mr Jobs said: "It's an amazing feat of engineering."

It does not have a CD or DVD drive in order to save space. "It was built to be a wireless machine," he added.

The laptop will compete with a range of portable devices, from companies such as Sony, Dell and Asus, which are already building so-called sub-notebooks, designed to be lighter and more mobile.

The machine goes on sale in two weeks and costs from $1,799 in the US (£1,199 in the UK) and comes with either an 80 Gigabyte hard disc drive as standard or 64 Gigabyte solid state drive for an added $999.

Apple worked with chip maker Intel to produce a smaller version of its Core2Duo processor for the laptop.

Movie rentals from the key Hollywood movie studios will be available in the US immediately. Until now customers have had to buy movies outright but now they rent them for up to 30 days, or for 24 hours once viewing has started.

Movie lovers will be able to download films to their computers, and transfer them to the latest iPods and iPhone, in standard and high-definition, for between $3 and $5.

The company also announced it was revamping the Apple TV device so that it can now download content independently of a computer and display it on a widescreen TV.

Mr Jobs admitted that Apple's first attempt to put online video in the living room had failed.

"[Apple TV] was designed to be an accessory for iTunes and your computer.

"It is not what people wanted. What people really wanted was movies, movies, movies."

He added: "We weren't delivering that. We're back: With Apple TV Take Two."

He announced the firm had sold 125 million TV shows and seven million movies via iTunes.

"It's more than everyone else put together, but it didn't meet our expectations," said Mr Jobs. "I think we've got it right this time."

Mr Jobs also announced a wireless back-up system called Time Capsule, offering a combined wi-fi router and hard drive.

New software for the iPhone was unveiled, including an update to Maps, which can plot the phone owner's spot on a map without using GPS.

Apple announced it had sold four million iPhones in the first 200 days on sale, putting it on target to sell 10 million by the end of 2008.

Microsoft confirms Vista OEM hack

2008-01-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

In response to widespread chatter on blogs and forums, Microsoft has acknowledged the presence of hacks that may allow pirates to bypass the product activation security feature in its Windows Vista operating system.

According to a post by Microsoft Senior Product Manager Alex Kochis on the Windows Genuine Advantage developers' blog, Microsoft has identified two ways in which hackers have broken the product activation security feature on original equipment manufacturer PCs that come bundled with Vista. But the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant does not yet have plans to snuff out this threat.

"We focus on hacks that pose threats to our customers, partners and products," Kochis wrote. "Our goal isn't to stop every 'mad scientist' that's on a mission to hack Windows. Our first goal is to disrupt the business model of organized counterfeiters and protect users from becoming unknowing victims."

Microsoft first introduced product activation as a security feature with its Windows XP operating system, which launched in 2001.

Reports of a vulnerability in Vista's product activation began to surface last month with word of a crack called "Vista Loader 2.0," an enhanced version of the "Vista Loader 1.0" that was devised by Chinese hackers, according to a March 10 post on the My Digital Life blog. Vista Loader, the post explained, simulates an OEM motherboard's basic input-output system, software that is responsible for communication between the machine's hardware and the operating system. Consequently, with a BIOS simulator, the registration process that would normally lock out an unauthorized copy of Windows Vista could be bypassed.

While Microsoft is not immediately taking action, Kochis did acknowledge on the Windows Genuine Advantage blog that this could be a problem. "Because Windows Vista can't be pirated as easily as Windows XP, it's possible that the increased pressure will result in more interest in efforts to attack the OEM Activation 2.0 implementation," Kochis wrote.

Last month, it was believed that hackers had found a loophole in Vista's product registration, but Microsoft refuted the claim shortly afterward. Another alleged hack, this one involving a random product key generator, was also debunked in March.

DynEd Eğitim Sistemi Neleri kapsamaktadır?

2008-01-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

DynEd Eğitim Sistemi, Yetişkinler ve Çocuklar için ayrı ayrı eğitim programları (modüller) içermektedir.

Yetişkinler için olan DynEd serisi şu modülleri kapsamaktadır:

NEW DYNAMIC ENGLISH : Temel dil kavramlarını dinleme ve konuşma becerileri ile pekiştirerek veren, kullanıcıyı başlangıç seviyesinden alarak, fikir yürütme, özetleme ve tartışma seviyesinde bir dilbilgisi ve kelime bilgisi edindiren ana programdır. Başlangıçta dinleme ve konuşma becerileri vurgulanırken, daha ileri düzeylerde okuma ve yazma becerileri de geliştirilmektedir.

THE LOST SECRET: BBC tarafından hazırlanmış olan bu modül, New Dynamic English modülünde öğrenilen kavramların farklı bir içerikle pekiştirilmesi ve kelime haznesinin geliştirilmesini sağlamaktadır. Ayrıca dilin, günlük yaşamda kullanımına ilişkin becerileri geliştirmektedir.

ADVANCED LISTENING: İleri İngilizce düzeyindeki herkesi tatmin edebilecek değişik akademik konulardan oluşturulmuş bu modül, Stanford Üniversitesi'nin profesörleriyle canlı olarak ders sırasında kaydedilmiş, izleyiciyi ortama katan, birebir ilişki kuran, soru cevaplardan oluşan içeriğiyle dikkati sürekli uyaran bir programdır.

DYNAMIC BUSINESS ENGLISH: Tanışma, tanıştırma, sözlü anlatım ve konuşma becerilerini iş dünyasında kullanma temeline oturtulmuş bir modüldür.

FUNCTIONING IN BUSINESS: Dynamic Business English'in devamı niteliğindedir. Üst düzey iş İngilizcesi, toplantı teknikleri, telefon konuşmaları ve iş görüşmeleri üzerine yoğunlaşmış bir destek programdır. Dinleme, konuşma ve sunum teknikleri ile iş dünyasında kullanılan üst düzey kavramları öğretmektedir.
ENGLISH BY THE NUMBERS: Tüm sayısal kavramları en basitinden en karmaşığına (toplama çıkarmadan en karmaşık grafiklere) kadar öğreten modüldür.

CLEAR SPEECH WORKS: Kullanıcının telaffuz ve aksanını en doğru vurgulamalarla anlaşılabilir kılmaya ve iletişim aksaklıklarını gidermeye yönelik bir modüldür..

TEST MOUNTAIN: İleri düzey İngilizce bilenleri TOEFL ve TOEIC Proficiency sınavlarına hazırlayan sınav modülüdür.

Programın New Dynamic English, The Lost Secret, Advanced Listening, English by the Numbers, Clear Speech Works ve Test Mountain modüllerinden hem çocuklar hem yetişkinler faydalanabilmektedir.

Program içerisinde sadece çocuklara özel olan modüller ise şunlardır:

LET'S GO: Oxford University Press tarafından yayınlanan dünyanın en başaralı İngilizce Eğitim kitapları serisi, eğlenceli ve etkili tarzdaki anlatımıyla, sağlam bir İngilizce alt yapısı oluşturyor. Uzman eğitmenler tarafından hazırlanmış bu program, kelime haznesi ve dilbilgisinin yanı sıra doğru telaffuz becerilerini geliştiriyor.

ENGLISH FOR SUCCESS: English for Success, özellikle 11-16 yaş arası gençler için tasarlanmıştır. Öğrencileri, dersler özellikle, matemetik, fen ve tarih alanları üzerinde yoğunlaşarak İngilizce öğretmeyi hedefliyor. Bu modül daha çok, kelime haznesi, dil bilgisi, dinleme ve konuşma becerileri üzerine yoğunlaşıyor.

FIRSTHAND ACCESS: Ünlü Longman ders kitaplarından uyarlanmış bu program, başlangıç seviyesindeki gençleri interaktif bir yöntemle İngilizce iletişim kurmaya hazırlamak için geliştirilmiştir.

DYNAMIC CLASSICS: Bu destek programı, klasik edebiyatın seçkin hikayelerini kullanarak, kelime haznesinin ve temel dil bilgisinin yanı sıra okuma ve dinleme becerilerinin gelişmesine yöneliktir.

DynEd İngilizce Eğitim Sistemi

2008-01-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

Yapı Kredi, çalışanları, emeklileri ve ailelerinin İngilizce öğrenimi desteklemek amacıyla Dünya’daki- yetişkinlere ve çocuklara yönelik- ilk ve en etkin dil eğitim programı olan DynEd’in lisans kullanım hakkını 3 yıllığına satın aldı.

Amerika menşeili DynEd International Inc. firmasının desteği, Oxford University Press, Longman, Prentice Hall, BBC ve Stanford University gibi eğitim kurumları ile Apple, IBM, SONY, and NEC gibi teknoloji firmalarının katkısı ile alanında uzman eğitimciler, bilgisayar programcıları ve sanatçılardan oluşan yaklaşık 50 kişilik bir takım tarafından tasarlanan DynEd İngilizce Eğitim Sistemi’nden tüm Yapı Kredi çalışanları, emeklileri ve aileleri ayda sadece 25 USD kullanım ve danışmanlık ücreti ödeyerek yararlanacaklar.

Sınıf eğitimi yerine, kişisel çalışma süresini esnek tutarak, öğrenmenin etkin bir şekilde gerçekleşmesini sağlayan DynEd’i Yapı Kredi’ye kazandırdıkları için mutlu olduğunu söyleyen Yapı Kredi İnsan Kaynaklarından Sorumlu Genel Müdür Yardımcısı Ülkü Feyyaz Taktak, “Ürün sahibi FuturePrints ve danışmanlık hizmeti alacağımız Üniversiteler ile yaptığımız ve yapacağımız anlaşmalarla Yapı Kredi’nin eğitime destek verme ve iç paydaşlarına katkı sağlama misyonunu devam ettirdiğimize inanıyorum” dedi.

Bilimsel içerik, eğiticilik, etkin kullanılabilirlik, teknik özellikler ve konuların işleniş yöntemi konularında pek çok ülkede birçok uluslararası ödüller kazandığını belirten FuturePrints Genel Müdürü Mehmet Bayraktaroğlu ise, sistemin kullanımı hakkında şu bilgileri verdi:
“DynEd, yetişkinler ve çocuklar için farklı modüllerden oluşmaktadır. Programa başlanmadan önce, programa katılan kullanıcılar için bilgisayar üzerinden seviye tespiti yapılmakta ve her kullanıcının hangi programdan başlaması gerektiği belirlenmektedir. Eğitim piyasasında kullanılan tüm bilgisayar programlarından farklı olarak, sunduğu 'Records Manager' (İzleme ve Danışmanlık) sistemi;
- Programa katılacak olan herkesin adım adım izlenmesini,
- Program hızının, kişinin çalıştığı konudaki becerisine göre ayarlanmasını,
- Kişilerin kendi çalışmalarını denetleyebilmesini,
- Öğrencilerin yaptığı tüm çalışmalarının danışman tarafından istenildiği anda görülebilmesini ve öğrencilerin daha başarılı olabilmeleri için yönlendirilebilmesini,
- Danışmanın kullanıcılarla yapacağı toplu çalışmaların, uzaktan kontrolle desteklenmesini sağlamaktadır.
Danışmanlık, iki haftada bir 15 dakikalık telefon görüşmesi ile alınabileceği gibi iki haftada bir 15 kişilik sınıflarda 2 saatlik sınıf içi eğitimlerle de alınabilecektir. “

Howto: Ultimate Ubuntu eye-candy with Xgl and Compiz

2008-01-15T13:14:00.000-08:00

Important note:This article was published quite some time ago, and the constant march of technology means that quite a bit has changed since then - including the release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake). While we’ll keep this article up for historical reasons, please follow our updated guide for Compiz and Xgl on Dapper Drake by Jason Smith, or the guide on Ubuntu’s help site.

Compiz. Maybe you’ve heard the buzz, the pictures and videos, and spent the past few weeks in absolute agony over the coolness of it all. Okay, maybe you haven’t - but I have. I could rant on and on about why this is the absolute coolest thing ever. An OpenGL powered desktop, Composite, OSX-rivalling effects, and works on ATI cards? At first I thought it to be too good to be true. Yet, there are the screenshots, the forum posts, and everywhere people seem to be talking about it. So why not give it a shot?

Pro’s and con’s

Pros:

No compiling, all packages downloaded from Ubuntu repositories.

Userspace compiz startup configuration.

Works with both fglrx/ATI and Nvidia cards.

Cooler X functionality, more responsive GUI.

Impress your friends.

You know you’ve been aching to try it.

Cons:

Recommended dist-upgrade to Dapper.

Requires proprietary 3d acceleration drivers, reasonable card.

Beta and somewhat buggy software.

Video playback issues (mostly on ATI cards).

Getting your feet wet.

The problem is, I’m lazy. I don’t want to dirty up /opt/, don’t want to cvs X.org, don’t want to hack anything I’ll have to remove later. So when the first round of make-filled instructions came out, I waited. If you’re a little less excited than I am, perhaps you’re thinking of waiting a while until it’s working in Dapper. Here’s the thing: thanks to a few brave souls, it already is. What?! you say? Okay, it’s quite beta, but that’s part of the fun, right? And you won’t have to compile anything, so it’s like beta without the beta. In just 3 steps, we can do it.

That’s not so bad, is it?

One last thing before we start playing: please do not hold me responsible for any possible side effects you experience from using this tutorial. Remember, more can be learned from what breaks in the beginning than what works the first time.

The Real Stuff

Note: I will not cover installing proprietary 3d acceleration drivers within the scope of this tutorial, and assume you have them installed already. If you do not have acceleration set up before following this Howto, your Xgl performance will probably be too slow to be usable. However, installing these drivers is quite easy, only requiring a few extra packages and possibly a configuration change. Consult the Ubuntu website and wiki for information on installing nvidia-glx for Nvidia cards or fglrx for ATI cards.

Step one

Let’s add dapper sources to apt. If you are one of the lucky ones already running it, skip to the next step. Otherwise, just throw this line in /etc/apt/sources.list/:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main universe restricted multiverse

apt-get update, apt-get dist-upgrade, and you’re good to go. As has been mentioned in some feedback, this can take a long time, especially for those without very fast connections. However, I would recommend it for this tutorial. My main man Exdaix reports that trying to pull down the Compiz package on Breezy ended up pulling down a lot of Dapper packages anyway… so be cool like him, and dist-upgrade.

Step two

Let’s pull down some new stuff. Since around 15 February, everything you need should be in two packages. Ubuntu has now split the Compiz window manager components into separate packages. Depending on your desktop environment, add compiz-gnome or compiz-kde to this list. Open a terminal, and:

apt-get install xserver-xgl compiz (compiz-gnome or compiz-kde here)

Okay! Compiz and everything we need is installed.

Step three

Now, everything we need is ready. We just have to invoke it. My technique of preference is to stick everything in userspace scripts, rather than create symlinks or modify gdm.conf-custom. I do this because (like before) I’m lazy, and would rather not make system-wide changes if I don’t have to. So, open your favourite text editor. Throw this little passage in ~/.Xsession (and create if necessary):

(Credit for the original version of this script goes to http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Installxgl.)

Note: I have an ATI card. If you are using Nvidia, try replacing Xgl :1 -fullscreen -ac -accel xv -accel glx:pbuffer & with Xgl :1 -fullscreen -ac -accel xv:fdo -accel glx:pbuffer &.

If you want to run KDE, try replacing gnome-window-decorator with kde-window-decorator, and exec gnome-session with exec startkde.

#!/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

Now make sure it’s +x’d/executable with chmod +x ~/.Xsession.

We have now set up your user X session to start the Xgl acceleration on top of regular X, initialize Compiz, and then start Gnome in the new GL-groovified layer. Do note that since Gnome is running on top of our Xgl layer, Gnome and your desktop applications will be running on the Xgl display :1 instead of the usual :0.

Try ‘Er Out!

Let’s see if what we did worked. Now cross your fingers, clamp your eyes shut, and reverently whisper “gui acceleration.” Yes, you’ll have to close this Howto. Try to hold back the tears, however hard that may be. Here’s what we’ll do. In just a moment, log out of Gnome. Then open that menu at the bottom left and change the session: make sure you’ve selected the default session setting, so that our .Xsession file is run.

But wait, where’s my fallback plan? What if things go wrong? If anything breaks or starts acting scary, just close down, reboot, or somehow intervene. If you wish to undo, simply go back to GDM and change the session to “Failsafe Gnome.” The .Xsession file responsible for initializing the Xgl layer should not run, and you can delete it in the comfort of your gui environment. In the worst case, you can log into single user mode from grub and delete the file there. I include this because I know it’s no fun to be left with a non-functioning X configuration without knowing how to undo it - only because I’ve been there so many times. This is not rocket science, but it *should not* torch your system. However, know that there are lots of options.

If things work, you’ll see a checkerboard pattern come up on login, followed by a blue background. The Gnome splash screen will then fade and wobble in with the most rockin’ graphics you’ve ever seen. Come right back here and I’ll show you what you can do with your new bling machine. Now, go do it! May the geforce be with you, and all that.

KDE 4 preview on Ubuntu

2008-01-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

If you’re eagerly awaiting the release of KDE 4.0 on January 11 and you’re running Ubuntu then get a taste of the next big thing by installing KDE 4.0 release candidate 2 in three easy steps.

1 - Add the KDE 4 repository to your /etc/apt/sources.list file

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list Add deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu gutsy main to the bottom of that file. Save

2 - Update your repository list

sudo apt-get update

3 - Install the KDE RC2 files

sudo apt-get install kdebase-bin kdebase-workspace kdebase-kde4 kdebase-runtime

Now all you need to do is log out and choose the KDE4 session next time you log in. Enjoy.

Kickstart your IT business in 2008

2008-01-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

p>Part of the deal is that companies selected to join the programme get a whole host of business support including premises in CITI’s business accelerator at the Bandwidth Barn in Cape Town’s CBD. The Bandwidth Barn is already home to a fine selection of IT companies so you’ll be in good company.

Selected companies will also have access to a professional mentoring service, financial and business support as well as all the networking opportunities that go along with being a CITI member.

We have found that companies operating in the Bandwidth Barn are much more networked,” says. In a country where only 1.3% of our adult population are involved in entrepreneurial activities, working in isolation can be the fastest route to failure. Working in an environment surrounded by IT companies facing the same challenges allows companies to engage with their peers and, often together, come up with solutions to their business conundrums.

Viola Manuel, executive director for the Cape IT Initiative

If you want to kickstart your 2008 then contact Chantal on 021 409 7000 or admin@citi.org.za before 18 January 2008. Visit the Citi website for more details.

Five Compiz features to boost Linux productivity

2008-01-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

The Ubuntu desktop may look a little brown and boring to first-time Linux users but beneath that conservative skin lurks a powerhouse of desktop features just waiting to come out, if you are using Compiz Fusion. Here we look at five of the better Compiz features that actually make us more productive as well as looking good.

When you have multiple windows open on your desktop, all piled on top of one another, it’s hard to find what you want. With Scale you simply hit a key … and all the open windows are scaled down and tiled across the screen. Clicking on one of them brings it to the front. It’s a real time saver.

Most Linux distributions today include Compiz by default (in their distro-specific repositories or third party repositories). Compiz is a compositing window manager for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics to add special effects to the desktop. (See Wikipedia for in-depth details).

In Ubuntu Gutsy the Compiz core is installed by default. To see that in action use the System->Preferences->Appearance menu option and look at the Visual Effects tab. In base mode Compiz provides a few simple features such as fading windows, shadows around windows and the, infamous, wobbly windows. All good fun in themselves but they don’t really make us any more productive.

What you need to do to get the full power of Compiz is to install the compizconfig-settings-manager.

To do this in Ubuntu Gutsy:

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

That’s it.

(HowToForge has instructions on installing Compiz on Fedora.)

Once installed, open System->Preferences->Advanced Desktop Effects Settings and behold the many useful (and some not so useful) options.

Scale

Scale is perhaps my favourite, and most useful, of the Compiz effects. When you have multiple windows open on your desktop, all piled on top of one another, it’s hard to find what you want. With Scale you simply hit a key (or in my case mouse-over the top right hand corner of the screen) and all the open windows are scaled down and tiled across the screen. Clicking on one of them brings it to the front (in real size). It is a real time saver.

Desktop Wall

The Cube effect that people most often associate with Compiz is pretty impressive and always wows newbies. But perhaps a more useful, even if a little less flashy, alternative is Desktop Wall. Hitting the Meta(Windows)-E key combination scales all your desktops down and pans them across in a single row. Again, clicking on one desktop makes it the primary one. One of the features that makes this particularly useful is that windows can be dragged from one desktop to another.

Shift Switcher

If you’re looking for a slightly cooler way to move through your open windows then take a look at the Shift-Switcher add-on. When enabled you can tile all open windows on the screen in a 3D-like display not unlike a Rolodex card list. Use the Meta(windows)-tab key combination to cycle through the windows. In the settings manager you can also choose whether to include windows from all desktops or just your current one. The former is particularly useful although the transition switching between desktops is not perfect, but does work.

Window Previews

Sometimes you need a little more information than just a title to remember what each window on your desktop is being used for. This is where Window Previews comes in handy. When enabled, thumbnails of each open window is displayed as you hover over the panel at the bottom of your screen. Making the previews just big enough to read makes it easy to get a quick overview of your current work.

Cube

The cube is perhaps the most hyped feature of the 3D desktop. And, surprisingly, I found that once you actually start using it Cube is actually quite useful, and not just flashy. When cube is enabled you can use the Ctrl-Alt key combination together with mouse to rotate the cube and display all the desktops you have active. It is remarkably easy to use and actually makes it easier to switch through desktops rapidly.

If you’re going to use the cube then at least pimp it out to the max. Make sure you enable transparency as well as the cube gears (shows working gears inside the cube as it rotates) and then top it off with cube caps which can have a customised image on the top and bottom panel of the cube.

Got a favourite Compiz feature? tell us about it in the comments.

Neden OOXML'e karşıyız?

2008-01-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

Uzun zamandır Özgürlükİçin'de haberlerine yer verdiğimiz, farklı platformlarda kampanyalarını yürüttüğümüz, her yerde, her fırsatta avazımız çıkana kadar bağırdığımız ve sonuna kadar "KARŞIYIZ!!!" dediğimiz OOXML standartı ile ilgli hazırladığımız manifestomuz Özgürlükİçin'deki yerini aldı.

OOXML'e neden karşı olduğumuzu ve olmamız gerektiğini tüm detaylarıyla anlatan manifestomuz akıllarda kalan tüm soruların yanıtı olma niteliği taşıyor.

OOXML'e karşıyız! manifestomuza buradan ulaşabilir, banner ve düğmelerimizi sitenizde ya da blogunuzda yayınlayarak kampanyamıza katkıda bulunabilirsiniz.

Compiz Fusion Kurulumu

2008-01-15T12:28:00.000-08:00

Compiz Fusion Kurulumu

Compiz Fusion Nedir?

Pencere yöneticisi, adından da anlaşılacağı gibi masaüstünün ve pencerelerin davranışını belirleyen programdır. Pardus ile birlikte gelen KDE pencere yöneticisinin adı KWin'dir. Compiz Fusion, AIGLX (kısaltma "Accelerated Indirect GLX") kullanan bir pencere yöneticisi olduğu için göze hoş görünen pek çok efekti sistemi yormadan gerçekleştirebilmektedir. Compiz Fusion kurulduktan sonra, istendiğinde KWin'in görevini üstlenerek çalışır, istediğiniz anda KWin'e geri dönebilirsiniz.

Önhazırlık

Katkı (Contrib) Deposu'nun eklenmesi

Compiz Fusion için Katkı (Contrib) Deposuna ihtiyacımız var.

sudo pisi ar contrib-2007 http://paketler.pardus.org.tr/contrib-2007/pisi-index.xml.bz2

Eğer zaten ekliyse, güncelleyin;

sudo pisi ur

Not: Katkı (Contrib) depo ekleme ile ilgili bu kaynağa da bakılabilir.

Ekran Kartı Sürücülerinin Kurulumu ve Xorg.conf Yapılandırması

Bunun için /etc/X11/xorg.conf dosyasını düzenlemeniz gerekmektedir. (Bu dizine girdikten sonra ilk önce herhangi bir aksilik durumunda eski ayarlarınızı tekrar kullanabilmek için xorg.conf dosyasının yedeğini almalısınız. Bunun için cp xorg.conf xorg-old.conf komutunu girmelisiniz.)

ALT+F2 tuşlarına aynı anda basın ve çıkan pencereye

kdesu kwrite /etc/X11/xorg.conf

yazıp çalıştır 'a basın. Yönetici (root) şifrenizi girin. Bundan sonraki işlemler ekran kartınızın markasına göre değişiklik göstermektedir.

Nvidia

Önce sürücü seçimi sayfasındaki üç seçenekten (nvidia-kernel-new, nvidia-kernel, nvidia-kernel-old) kartınıza uygun olanını seçiyoruz.

Paket Yöneticisi'ni açtıktan sonra bir önceki adımda seçtiğimiz sürücü paketini ve arkadaşlarını (nvidia-tools, nvidia-glx) bulup kuruyoruz. Örneğin ekran kartımıza uygun olan paket nvidia-kernel-new ise nvidia-tools-new ve nvidia-glx-new paketlerini de kuruyoruz.

Kurulum tamamlandıktan sonra Paket Yöneticisi'ni kapatın ve konsolu açın (Pardus > Programlar > Sistem > Terminal Programı (Konsole)).

sudo nvidia-xconfig --composite --allow-glx-with-composite --add-argb-glx-visuals

komutunu verin ve kullanıcı parolanızı girin.

Bilgisayarınızı yeniden başlatın, eğer kullanıcı girişi ekranından önce NVidia logosu görürseniz kurulum başarıyla tamamlanmış demektir.

Ati

xorg-video Paketiyle Gelen Ati Sürücüsü

Kurulumdan sonra Pardus Ati ekran kartınıza otomatik olarak 3-B desteği vermiş ise, xorg-video paketi ile gelen Ati sürücüsü ile Compiz Fusion kullanabilirsiniz. Bunu kontrol etmek için normal kullanıcı olarak vereceğiniz

glxinfo | grep -i "direct rendering"

komutunun çıktısı

direct rendering: Yes

ise ayarlara geçebilirsiniz.

Bunun için xorg.conf dosyasında aşağıdaki değişiklikleri yapın:

Section "Extensions" bölümünde #Option "Composite" "enable" yazan yerdeki # karakterini silin. Aşağıdaki gibi olmalı:

Section "Extensions"
   Option "Composite" "enable"
EndSection

Sonra ise xorg.conf dosyasında Section "Device" başlığı altına:

Option      "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"

satırını aşağıdaki gibi girmelisiniz:

Section "Device"
  Screen 0
  Identifier "VideoCard0"
  Driver     "ati"
  VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
  BoardName  "RV370 [Radeon X300SE]"
  # BusID    "PCI:01:00:1"
  # Option   "RenderAccel" "true"
  # Option   "AccelMethod" "exa"
  Option      "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen" bölümünde ise DefaultDepth 24 ve Depth 24 olmalı:

Section "Screen"
  Identifier "Screen0"
  Device     "VideoCard0"
  Monitor    "Monitor0"
  DefaultDepth 24
  Subsection "Display"
      Depth    24
      Modes    "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
  EndSubsection
EndSection

Section ServerLayout bölümünede Option "AIGLX" "true" satırını ekleyin:

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier  "Simple Layout"
  Screen      "Screen0"
  InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
  InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
  # Multihead stuff
  # Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
  # Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
  Option      "Xinerama" "off"
  Option      "Clone" "off"
  Option      "AIGLX" "true"
EndSection

Resmi Ati Sürücüsü

Ati resmi sürücüsü AIGLX desteğini 8.42.3 sürümü ile duyurdu. Resmi sürücü ile Compiz Fusion kullanmak için öncelikle güncel bir ati-drivers pisi paketine ihtiyacınız var. Eğer ati-drivers kullanıyorsanız sisteminizi güncelleyin. İlk defa kuracaksanız aşağıdaki komutları verin:

sudo pisi up -y

Güncelleme bittikten sonra,

sudo pisi it ati-drivers

Kurulum bittikten sonra ise,

sudo aticonfig --initial

komutunu verin. Daha sonra /etc/X11/xorg.conf dosyasında aşağıdaki değişiklikleri yapın:

Section "Extensions" bölümünde #Option "Composite" "enable" yazan yerdeki # karakterini silin. Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true" satırını yazın. Bu bölüm ekli değil ise aynı şekilde ekleyin. Aşağıdaki gibi olmalı:

Section "Extensions"
   Option "Composite" "enable"
   Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
EndSection

Section ServerLayout bölümünede Option "AIGLX" "true" satırını ekleyin:

Section "ServerLayout"
  # Multihead stuff
  # Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
  # Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
      Identifier     "Simple Layout"
      Screen      0  "aticonfig-Screen[0]" 0 0
      InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
      InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
      Option      "Xinerama" "off"
      Option      "Clone" "off"
      Option      "AIGLX" "true"
EndSection

xorg.conf dosyasını kayıt edip sisteminizi yeniden başlatmalısınız. Pardus yeniden başladıktan sonra konsolda vereceğiniz

 glxinfo | grep -i "direct rendering"

komutunun cevabı

direct rendering: Yes

ise Compiz Fusion Pisi Paketlerinin Kurulumu bölümüne geçebilirsiniz.

Intel

xorg.conf dosyasında aşağıdaki değişiklikleri yapın: Extensions bölümünde #Option "Composite" "enable" yazan yerdeki # karakterini silin. Aşağıdaki gibi olmalı:

Section "Extensions"
  Option "Composite" "enable"
EndSection

Device bölümüne Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true" satırını ekleyin:

Section "Device"
  Screen 0
  Identifier "VideoCard0"
  Driver     "i810"
  VendorName "Intel Corporation"
  BoardName  "Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller"
  Option     "RenderAccel" "true"
  Option     "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
EndSection

ServerLayout bölümüne Option "AIGLX" "true" satırını ekleyin:

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier  "Simple Layout"
  Screen      "Screen0"
  InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
  InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
  Option      "Xinerama" "off"
  Option      "Clone" "off"
  Option      "AIGLX" "true"
EndSection

dosyada başka bir değişiklik yapmanız gerekmiyor. Kaydedip kapatabilirsiniz.

Şimdi opengl desteğini açmak için konsolda şu komutu verin:

update-opengl xorg-x11

Bu komuttan sonra CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE tuşlarına aynı anda basarak grafik ekranın tekrar açılmasını sağlayın.

Eğer aşağıdaki komutun çıktısı direct rendering: Yes ise sorunumuz yok demektir. Compiz Fusion kurmaya geçebilirsiniz.

glxinfo | grep -i "direct rendering"

Compiz Fusion Pisi Paketlerinin Kurulumu

Son olarak tüm paketleri kuralım.

sudo pisi install -c desktop.opencompositing.compiz

ilk çalıştırma

Programlar > Sistem > Compiz Fusion Pencere Yöneticisi > Compiz Fusion Icon (Compiz Fusion'u Yönet) tıklamanız yeterli.

Öntanımlı Kısayollar

Compiz Fusion ilk kurulduğu anda kısayol tuşları şu şekildedir:

CTRL + ALT + fare tıklaması: Masaüstü küpünü fareyle serbest çevirir.
CTRL + ALT + YÖN TUŞLARI: Masaüstü küpünü çevirir.
CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + SAĞ veya SOL yön tuşu: Etkin pencereyi yandaki masaüstüne taşır.
ALT + Pencerenin yerhangi bir yerine tıklama: Pencereyi tutup sürükler.
ALT + Fare tekerleği: Pencerenin saydamlığını arttırır veya azaltır.
Fareyi sağ üst köşeye götürme: Aktif masaüstündeki pencereleri yatay sıralı olarak ekranda gösterir. (Aynı hareketi tekrarlamak aktif pencereye dönmenizi sağlar.)
CTRL + ALT + D: Bütün pencereleri küçültür, masaüstünü gösterir veya tersini yapar.
ALT + TAB: Pencereler arasında geçiş yapar.
F9: Sadece o anki masaüstünde bulunan pencereler döşenir.
F8: Tüm masaüstlerindeki tüm pencereler önünüze serilir.
Pencere TUŞU + TAB: Alt+tab benzeri pencereler arasında geçiş yapmayı sağlar.
ALT + Fare tekerleği tıklamak: Pencereyi yeniden boyutlandırır.
Pencere TUŞU + fare tekerleği: Görüntüyü büyütür/küçültür.
SHIFT + F10: Efektlerin yavaş hareket etmesini sağlar (tekrar basmak eski hâline getirir).
CTRL + ALT + Aşağı Ok Sonra Ctrl + Alt'a basılı tutun ve masa üstlerini değiştirmek için sol/sağ yön tuşlarına basın. Ayrıca sol fare düğmesine basılı tutarak "filmi" hareket ettirebilirsiniz.

OLPC XO Review and Teardown

2008-01-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

A new initiative called One Laptop Per Child has the goal of getting a low-cost, entry-level notebook into the hands of children in developing countries. This notebook is the OLPC-XO which is an extremely basic version of what we might consider a portable computer, but comes in a durable, affordable, and easy-to-use package. In this review I will cover both the internal hardware aspect of this notebook, along with a comparison of it against more common consumer notebooks.

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Specs

Processor: 433MHz AMD Geode
Display: 7.5" LCD 1200x900 (black and white)/800x600 (color)
RAM: 256MB DDR333
HD/Storage: 1GB Flash w/ SD Expansion slot
Wireless: 802.11b/g and 802.11s Mesh
Ports: 3 USB, Headphone, Microphone
Battery: 3.1Ah 6.5v
AC Adapter: 12v @1.42A, 100-240v switching
Dimensions: 9.52 x 8.97 x 1.26"
Weight: 3lbs 2.2oz
Price $400 with the "Give One, Get One" program ($200 per laptop)

Build and Design

The OLPC is targeted towards children and built for areas with less than perfect operating conditions. It is ruggedized and very sturdy even when compared to a high-end business notebook like a ThinkPad. Almost every inch of this notebook is designed to hold up against being dropped, thrown around, or carried by itself without any case.

The design of the OLPC is very simple, yet incredibly well thought out. The notebook is shaped like a thin lunchbox, with a carrying handle on top. All edges are rounded off, and the flat surfaces of the notebook are textured for easy gripping. Screen latches are nothing like what you would find on a standard notebook, with the WiFi antennas themselves acting as the latch mechanisms.

OLPC engineers even went one step further, making the notebook very easy to repair almost anywhere. With a single small Phillips screwdriver you can tear the entire thing apart to bare components in probably five minutes. The first time I cracked my OLPC open I had it apart in about 10 minutes including the time to take pictures for each step of the process. Another interesting design feature was the inclusion of spare parts. Housed inside the handle section are a number of spare screws for the entire notebook.

Screen

The screen on the OLPC is unique in that it works in both bright and dark environments. You can view the screen in black and white in bright sunlight, and then switch back into color by turning the backlight back on. Another interesting trait of this screen is the resolution changes between modes. In sunlight mode (black and white) it has a resolution of 1200x900, and in color has 800x600.

The reason for the change in resolution is rather technical, so if you want to know more about the screen resolution I'll direct you to the display section of the OLPC Wiki article.

Compared to even the most basic budget notebook, the OLPC's screen really falls short in terms of color, viewing angles, and brightness. Just moving a hair off of a direct viewing angle, the screen looks black and white. Colors when in optimal viewing range still don't compare to any standard notebook, with a very grainy and washed out feel.

Straight view: color. (view large image)

Horizontal view: color ... but looks black and white. (view large image)

Performance

In the speed sector the OLPC really falls flat on its face. Boot time from a fully powered-off state is 1 minute and 35 seconds. Simple tasks like viewing a basic webpage can also bring the OLPC to its knees. One example would be loading the NotebookReview.com homepage, and scrolling up and down the page. The OLPC has pretty bad lag doing that, and will have mini lockups on long distance scrolls. Following a YouTube link, if you click to play the flash movie the OLPC will become slow and unresponsive, and never actually start to play the video.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the OLPC is not unlike the flexible keyboard we reviewed a while back. Typing passwords or even a website address can be a pain, and it usually requires a few backspaces to correct errors. While it is undoubtedly a very durable keyboard for harsh conditions, I would take the keyboard on my Motorola Q over it.

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The touchpad has a soft matte texture and is fairly responsive. You notice some lag when moving the cursor around, but that could be blamed on system performance, not the touchpad. The touchpad surface is quite large, measuring almost 6" x 2", but only the center section (~2x2") is useable. The touchpad buttons are on the small side, providing shallow feedback.

External Connections

Left side: AC Power, one USB, headphone and microphone jacks. (view large image)

Right side: Two USB ports. (view large image)

Battery Life

With backlight on and the OLPC sitting idle and WiFi enabled it barely reaches 4 hours of battery life. Here is a link to a page on the OLPC's Wiki with more detailed battery life stats.

Software

Included software is very sparse, but with only 1GB total storage space for operating system and programs, you don't have much room to work with. While it does have some software you don't find on standard notebooks (acoustic tape measure, pippy for editing code), the software many people look for is missing or very basic. The word processor resembles wordpad, the chat software has no support for common protocols (AIM, MSN, Yahoo!), and the internet browser is very clunky to use.

"Browse" web browser (view large image)	"Write" word processor (view large image)
"Accoustic Tape Measure" (view large image)	"Naim" chat application (view large image)

Advanced users who have access to the internet can pull in updates and additional software through the console, making the notebook somewhat easy to maintain. One of the first programs I installed was Naim, which gave me very basic AIM instant messaging capabilities. While it doesn't look or feel anything like what people are used to, at least it worked.

Comparison To Other Notebooks

The Asus Eee PC is a good comparison for this notebook, as they are both in the same size and price range (the 2G Surf). While they are designed for different markets, the Eee PC is the only other recent product on the market that could be considered a competitor in most markets.

Asus Eee PC (left), Lenovo T60 (middle) and OLPC XO. (view large image)

Size and weight wise the Eee PC is smaller, and weighs almost 50% less. System speed is also almost no comparison, as the Eee PC has twice the speed, and has double the RAM. Just turning the systems on you notice the huge different between each notebook, with the OLPC starting up in 1m 35s, and the Eee PC starting in 12-20s. System storage space is also double on the Eee PC 2G Surf, with 2GB of space compared to the OLPC's 1GB.

For average use, the Eee PC is also much easier on the eyes and hands. The screen is much brighter, has vivid color, and the viewing angles are incredible in comparison to the narrow window on the OLPC. The OLPC keyboard is also a pain to use, as the OLPC uses a flexible membrane style keyboard, and the Eee PC uses a compact "standard" keyboard. With the OLPC you need to aim perfectly for keys, and give a solid press for proper recognition. The Eee PC has better tolerance, and as long as you have adjusted to the smaller layout it is much easier and faster to type on. Even the touchpads vary greatly between both machines, with the OLPC having a great deal of lag, and the Eee PC being snappy.

For your average consumer, the OLPC is not really the best notebook to consider for purchase. You can get much better performance and capability from the Asus Eee PC in almost every situation. The key difference though is the Eee PC is not anywhere near as durable, and probably wouldn't survive in the harsh conditions found in a developing nation.

Conclusion

As a cheap notebook for children to use who have no other prior computer experience this notebook is designed and built very well. It is extremely rugged, offers a simple repair solution, and has incredibly simple to use software. For power users this notebook should not be considered. It runs about as fast as a 4-5 year old notebook, can't properly render most webpages, and lacks software that many advanced users would need.

Don't get me wrong, it is fine for a child, but don't expect to take this notebook as a replacement for your work machine on vacation anytime soon.

Pros

Very durable
Sunlight readable display
Has spare parts inside!

Cons

Very slow
Heavy in comparison to other similar sized notebooks

Additional Teardown Photos

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News Bits: New Intel Mobile Processors, X61 with Penryn, and Vista SP1 RC Refresh

2008-01-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

Intel to launch low-cost mobile PC platform

Intel will launch its "Diamondville" processor to computer manufacturers in Q3 which will be used with the "Shelton" low-cost mobile PC platform. The new platform should make for a rush of low-cost Eee PC competitors . Diamondville is a single-core processor and is designed to work with a fanless cooling system. It will have a 1.6GHz clockspeed and a 533MHz front side bus. Power consumption of the CPU itself is 3.5W while power consumption of the entire platform should be 8W.

Apple MacBook Air Announced at MacWorld '08

2008-01-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

As the rumors suggested, Apple today announced the ultraportable MacBook Air notebook. The MacBook Air is being dubbed the "world's thinnest notebook", and at 0.16" to 0.76" they aren't kidding!

Image courtesy of Gizmodo (view large image)

The Apple MacBook Air has the following specs:

13.3" Widescreen LED Backlit (1280 x 800)
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz and 1.5GHz (4MB L2 cache, 800MHz frontside bus)
1.8" 80GB HD (same type in iPod) or 64GB SSD option
Multi-touch trackpad
2GB RAM (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
Intel X3100 graphics
Magnetic latch
1 USB 2.0 port, Micro-DVI, Audio out (analog)
802.11n wireless
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
iSight camera built-in
37 watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
No optical drive built-in, but SuperDrive accessory available for $99
Dimensions: 12.8" wide, 8.94" deep, and 0.16" to 0.76" thin
Weight: 3.0 lbs (1.36 kg)
$1,799 price point

Apple MacBook Air image courtesy of MacRumors (view large image)

With only one USB port you're limited on what you can attach, but Apple obviously was space challenged with the notebook being so thin. At least you can use BlueTooth for wireless devices since that is built-in. The claimed battery life is 5 hours, no indication under what usage you get that though. The availability will be within the next couple of weeks, you can pre-order from Apple for $1,799 starting price.

More information can be found on the MacBook Air product page at Apple.com.

Additional Photos

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Official Announcement of Merge

2008-01-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

Official Announcement of Merge
There has been a post on the official Compiz Forums announcing that a merge has been agreed upon by the leaders of the two communities: I see this as a great step forward for the composited Linux desktop, and thank and congratulations all those who have been involved in the discussions to make this happen!From this post
After several weeks of discussion the leaders of Compiz and Beryl have agreed that the two communities shall reunite. This decision is supported by both David and Quinn and represents the majority decision of the administrators and developers in each community. At this early stage not a lot has been decided, but these are the main points of the agreement...I'll summarise:
Compiz will be run in two separate divisions: the Core and the Extra packages will be run separately
Compiz-Core will be as described here, and will be called 'Compiz'
The Compiz-Extra division (which currently includes plug-ins that are often any or all of more 'interesting', newer, less stable, less tested or just less supported by the Compiz-Core people) and this will temporarily be called 'Composite Community'
The new 'Composite Community' package will consist of the best code from the existing Beryl and Compiz plugins that is not in Compiz-Core.
There will be a 'Code Review Panel' made up of coders from both teams, in charge of ensuring the code released by the 'Composite Community' "meets the highest standards and is suitable for distribution in an officially supported package"
Support for existing packages/projects will continue at least until a release of the new composite project
The separate forums and websites will remain until a combined portal/system is up and running. After a new forum is created additional details can be confirmed, a name chosen and release goals clarified.Summaries are all well and good, but I know a lot of thought and care will have gone into the official words written by imnotpc on the Compiz forums. please read them to get a fuller idea of the what's happening.

Compiz and Fedora

2008-01-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

There was a big discussion about enabling compiz by default in Fedora on fedora-devel list a couple of days ago. Reading through the thread I realized that we never really communicated our plans here very well. I sent out the writeup below to explain a bit where we're going with Fedora and what the road blocks are, but I figured it wouldn't harm to also blog it.

We are working towards being able to enable a compositor by default.
Redirected direct rendering, Xv, Java problems, these are problems in the drivers and X server and affects all compositors. To get this done, we need to land a big chunk of code in the kernel (the DRM memory manager), we need to update the X server, the 2D drivers and the 3D drivers to take advantage of the new memory manager. We need to fix Xv. Hopefully the OpenGL support will broaden to support more chipsets (nouveau, avivo). Getting all this to a shippable state may take years, and in the mean time, the composited desktop, whether it's compiz, kwin4 or something else will only be an opt-in tech demo.

Once we get there, the default compositor will be compiz.
Some people can't get over on the wobbly windows and spinning cube, and claim it's over the top or apparently get nauseous. At the core, compiz is just a very efficient OpenGL redraw loop with a flexible plugin architecture. Compiz allows burning windows and spinning cubes, but we ship it in a very toned down default configuration that looks a lot like good old metacity. Consider xeyes; like wobbly windows, it's a neat tech demo and shows off the flexibility of X, but just because nobody runs xeyes for more that 2 minutes at a time that doesn't mean that X (or shaped windows) isn't useful.

A valid point about compiz is that it is not yet a great window manager. Metacity has a few years of head start there, but that doesn't mean that we can't fix compiz or that it'll be duplicated effort. For now, our (Red Hat) efforts have gone towards fixing the big underlying shortcomings in the X and OpenGL stack, which has left compiz in Fedora with a set of minor (but certainly annoying) windows manager bugs. Other spins (Fedora KDE or Fedora XFCE) can set up different default compositing managers, and they will of course benefit from the infrastructure work mentioned above.

We're not working on making metacity a compositing manager.
We tried it and decided that the metacity code base was not a welcoming place for a compositor. When we put down the work in metacity, the conclusion was to leave this very stable and well tested code base alone instead of injecting an OpenGL based compositor. The flip side of this decision is that we can now do a clean break in compiz and assume throughout the code that we're an OpenGL based combined compositing and window manager.

Compiz fusion and configuration tools.
desktop-effects is close to what we want to ship by default, perhaps we want to fold it into the new gnome-appearance-properties capplet as a new tab. The default compiz configuration and the set of options we expose outside gconf-editor is intended to be very conservative. At the same time, we want to allow installation of other compiz configuration managers and the compiz fusion plugins for people who like the tweak-ui kind-of tools.

Power consumption and other hand-wavey fud arguments.
Clearly running a 3D screen saver at the full frame rate is going to burn more battery than the blank screen saver, but that's not really relevant here. When idling, compiz and metacity use exactly the same amount of power. There are no code paths anywhere in the stack that "turn on 3d powerplanes". My bet is that it's more power consuming to wake up all applications to redraw their exposed areas under the window you're dragging than it is for compiz to just recomposite that out of textures already in video memory.

Resize Partitions with Vista Disk Management

2008-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

In Windows Vista it is now possible to resize partitions without any data loss in the new Disk Management console.

Resizing Partitions with Windows Vista:

Click on the Start Button and right click on Computer and select Manage.
Expand the Storage section and select Disk Management.
Then just right click on any partition and select either Expand or Shrink to change the size of the partition.
This will allow you to safely resize your partitions without any data loss.

Enable Vista Glass on Intel GMA 950 Graphics Cards

2008-01-15T10:51:00.001-08:00

Currently Windows Vista does not have WDDM support for the Intel GMA950 integrated graphics card. Even though this card is integrated, it supports all of the requirements for Vista Glass. It is just a matter of getting a driver that is compatible with it and vista.

After doing a ton of research, I found that there is another driver that you can actually use for now. There are some problems with it, such if you have a laptop, the external monitor port does not always work but other than that it works great for me on my Lenovo X60.

This is how I got Vista Glass to run on a GMA950:

First, I had to open up device manager. Click on the start menu and type in devmgmt.msc and Enter to load it up.
Once there, expand the Display Adapters section and right click on each device and select Uninstall.
Reboot the computer.
When it restarts, it should install a generic video driver so your screen will still work.
Go back into Device Manager, expand the Display Adapters section again and then right click on the device and select Update Driver.
This time select Browse My Computer for Driver and then Let me pick it from a list.
Go the the Intel section and select the Intel(R) Lakeport Graphics Controller.
Hit OK and install the new driver. Restart your computer.
Once you have rebooted, right click on your desktop and select Personalize again.
Click on Windows Colors and Appearance.
Click on Open classic appearance properties for more color options.
In the Color Scheme box, select Windows Vista Aero.
Hit OK and glass will now load.
If glass does not work for you, go back to Device Manager and ensure the new display driver is working. You may have to update your system BIOS version. I had to update the BIOS version on the X60 in order for the new driver to work.

Teen pregnancy affected dinosaurs, too

2008-01-15T08:23:00.001-08:00

Teen pregnancy affected dinosaurs, too
Sexual maturity reached earlier than previously thought

WASHINGTON - Adolescent pregnancy isn't a modern invention, it occurred in dinosaurs millions of years ago.
Medullary bone, a type of tissue present in modern birds when they are developing eggs, has been found in three dinosaur fossils, researchers report in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The dinosaurs were aged 8, 10 and 18, indicating they reached sexual maturity earlier than previously thought.
In modern birds, medullary tissue lines bones for only a few weeks when they are producing eggs and is then reabsorbed. Finding it in dinosaurs, which are believed to be the ancestors of birds, sheds light on their reproduction also.
Most dinosaurs lived to only about age 30, though some reached 60, the researchers said.
The study was done by Sarah Werning, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, and Andrew Lee, also a graduate student at Berkeley when the work was done. Lee is now a postdoctoral student at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
"This is an exciting finding, because age at sexual maturity is related to so many things,'' the students' adviser, said Kevin Padian, a professor of integrative biology and a curator in UCBerkeley's Museum of Paleontology.
Werner said in a statement that pinpointing the age of reproductive maturity "opens up so many complementary avenues of dinosaur research. You can talk about dinosaur physiology, lifespan, reproductive strategies. And you could use this technique to look at all kinds of extinct animals.''

source:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22653332/

33 Million Pixel LCD TV Planned 2015

2008-01-15T08:20:00.001-08:00

According to Yahoo.com: Americans are still stumbling today to upgrade their ailing televisions to HD standards. Many do not realize that their friendly broadcast over the waves is about to change. As America pushes the Hi-Def deadline back, the Japanese are pushing forward with plans to drop their “Hi-Vision” standard pioneered by NHK, who is a Japanese broadcaster . The Hi-Vision technology was also used on the JAXA moon mission. The communications ministry is pouring 300 million yen into the NHK project to develop and launch a higher quality 33.2 million pixel broadcast standard by 2015. Due to the ailing USD, that is 2.735 million dollars.

The broadcast standard will be able to travel along 260 kilometers of fiber optic cable and carry 16 different wavelength signals. The total bandwidth they have achieved in tests is 24 gigabit. Back in 2003 and 2005 NHK demonstrated the “Super-Hi-Vision ” technology. Back then, there were 16 HDTV recorders hacked together recording 18 minutes of footage. They took the resultant 3840 × 2048 image and “upscaled” it through pixel shifting to 7680 × 4320 pixels or 4000 scan lines. Three years later, the project is still advancing and has overcome many of the hurdles they once had.

NHK has also developed a codec to compress the 24Gbps video signal down to 180-600Mbps. The audio is dropped from 28 Mbps to 7-28Mbps. Go ahead and read that again, video data rate of 24Gbps and a 24 channel audio data rate of 28Mbps 18 minutes of video will take up about 3.5 TB of data in a raw format. The image would be more palpable and vibrant than anything we can imagine.

Crysis

2008-01-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

21. yy. dünya oyun tarihinin kral tahtına oturacak bir veliaht doğmak üzere. Crysis Kasım ayı içerisinde piyasaya sürülecek ve oyun harika ötesi. Tamam, buraya kadar her şey güzel ve anlaşılır. Peki bunun dışında bizi ilgilendiren neler var. Bu oyuna neden bu kadar önem veriyoruz? Nice krallar gördük fakat hiçbiri bizi bu kadar heyecanlandırmamıştı. Sadece büyüleyici özelliklere sahip kusursuz oyunlardırlar. Fakat bu oyun farklı! Bizi ilgilendiren tarafları CryTek çalışanlarından Crysis topluluk görevlisi ve aynı zamanda bölüm testçisi Turgut Özbayram'a sorduk.

Büyütmek için tıklayın...

THGTR: Merhaba Turgut senle en son İstanbul'da ilki gerçekleştirilen Intel Game X fuarında tanışmıştık. Fuarın üstünden baya zaman geçti. Senin iyi olduğundan eminim fakat Crysis'in nasıl olduğundan emin değilim. Şu an hangi oynanabilirlik seviyesinde ve Alpha'dan bu yana eklenen yeni özellikler var mı? Genel olarak CrySis'in son hali hakkında bilgi verebilir misin?

Turgut Özbayram: Merhaba THGTR, öncelikle bu röportajı yaptığınız için çok teşekkür ederiz. Evet, en son İstanbul'da görüşmüştük ve orda sizlere Crysis´in Pre-Alpha'sını sunmuştuk. Geçen haftalarda Crysis'in piyasaya çıkma tarihi tüm dünyaya sunuldu ve tabii ki bu Türkiye için de geçerli. "16 Kasım 2007"den sonra Crysis tüm dünyada ve Türkiye'nin her yerinde oynanabilecek. Crysis şu an Beta aşamasında ve çok yakında Crysis MP Beta Testimizi başlatacağız.

Cyrsis Tamamen Türkçe olacak

2008-01-15T08:08:00.001-08:00

Bugün, FarCry’ın üç Türk’ün imzasını taşıyan ödüllü geliştiricisi Crytek’in yeni bilimkurgu, birinci şahıs aksiyon oyunu Crysis’in tamamen Türkçeye çevrileceği duyuruldu.

Oyun endüstrisi tarafından heyecanla beklenen oyununun bu yılsonunda tamamlanıp hayranlarıyla buluşması bekleniyor. Türkiye’de de Aral tarafından dağıtılacak olan Crysis, büyük başarı için gün sayıyor.

Crytek ortaklarından Avni Yerli şunları söylüyor: ‘Crysis’in Türkçe versiyonunu duyurmaktan gerçekten büyük gurur duyuyoruz. Bu oyunun Türkiye’deki başarısı ve oradaki oyun sektörünün gelişmesi bizim için en büyük önceliklerden biri. Türk oyuncuların da bu jesti takdir edeceklerinden ve bizi tüm kalpleriyle destekleyeceklerinden eminiz.’

Temel Özellikler

• Oyuncuyu uzaylı istilasını durdurmak ve insanoğlunu kurtarmak için başrole yerleştiren etkileyici hikâye.
• Oyuncunun sürekli değişen dinamik dünyaya uyum sağlamak için gerçek zamanlı zırh ve silah değişimleri kullanmasını gerektiren, üç bölümlü benzersiz yapı.
• Duyularını zeki biçimde kullanan ve birbirileriyle koordinasyon halinde hareket eden zorlu ve korkutucu uzaylılar, oyunculara bir FPS oyununda gördükleri en dişli rakipleri sunacak.
• Düşman ve müttefik yapay zekâları gerçek dünya askeri taktiklerini kullanacaklar.
• Kamyonlar, tanklar, botlar ve helikopterler gibi birçok kara, deniz ve hava aracının kontrol edebileceksiniz.
• Depremlerin, kopan buz parçalarının, toprak kaymalarının ve hortumların sürekli olarak gerçek bir tehlike yarattığı canlı ve dinamik bir dünyayı keşfedeceksiniz.
• 32-oyunculu çokluoyuncu modunda gerçek zamanlı zırh ve silah değişimlerinin yanı sıra oyuncu modifikasyonu ile taktik amaçların birleştiği yepyeni bir mod da sizi bekliyor olacak.
• Sürekli gelişen oyun; oyunda yaptığınız eylemler oyundaki geleceği etkileyerek her oyuncunun kendine has bir deneyim yaşamasını sağlayacak.
• Çok sağlam ve kullanımı kolay mod aracı ile oyuncular hem çokluoyuncu, hem de tek kişilik oyun modları için kendi bölümlerini rahatça yaratabilecekler.
• CryENGINE™ 2 sayesinde son derece gerçekçi ortamlar, göz alıcı özel efektler, fizik motoru ve düşman yapay zekâsı.

Vestel'den gövde gösterisi

2008-01-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

Oyun dünyasında yılın en çok beklenen oyunlarından biri olan Crysis, CeBIT'te Vestel standındaydı.
Vestel'in, piyasada bulunan en gelişmiş ve pahalı parçaları bir araya toplayarak kurduğu Vestel Kronos bilgisayarlar, CeBIT'te büyük ilgi gördü. Vestel standını bu kadar eğlenceli kılan bir diğer neden ise, duyurulduğundan beri herkesin heyecanla beklediği, DirectX 10'un nimetlerini fazlasıyla sergilemesi beklenen Crysis'in tanıtımıydı. Merakla beklenen oyun henüz piyasaya sunulmaya tam hazır olmadığı için bazı optimizasyon sorunlarıyla karşımıza çıktı.

Genel olarak bakıldığında Vestel Kronos bilgisayarlar fuarın gerek performans, gerek özellik ve gerekse de fiyatlarıyla dikkat çeken ürünlerinden biriydi. 7200 dolarlık bir etikete sahip olan Cronos'u çoğu oyunseverin masasında görmek isteyeceğinden hiç şüphe yok.

Vestel Cronos teknik özellikler
İşlemci : Intel QX6850 1333 FSB, 8M Cache Core 2 Extreme
Ekran kartı : 2x768 MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 ULTRA SLI
Anakart : NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
Bellek : 8 GB DDRII 800 Mhz
Harddisk : 2x750GB 7200 RPM 16M Cache SATA
Optik Okuyucu: Blue-Ray Optik okuyucu
Güç kaynağı : 1200Watt
İşletim sistemi: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate

Yaratıcılığını gösteren Vestel'lere sahip oldu

2008-01-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

Trend Show'daki turnuvalarda Vestel'in yeni oyun bilgisayarı Vestel Kronos'la yarışıp başarılı olanlar, son model masaüstü ve dizüstü bilgisayarlar kazandı.

Teknolojinin Türkçesi Vestel, gençlik festivali Trend Show'da son teknolojik ürünlerle gençleri buluşturdu, dizüstü ve masaüstü bilgisayar hediyeli oyun turnuvalarıyla katılımcıları coşturdu. Trend Show'da Vestel standını ziyaret eden gençler arasında düzenlenen turnuvada, büyük ödül olarak son model Vestel dizüstü ve masaüstü bilgisayarlar hediye edildi. Olağanüstü hızıyla öne çıkan yeni oyun bilgisayarı Vestel Kronos'la gençler Crysis, Need for Speed Pro Street ve FİFA 2008 turnuvalarında yarıştı.

GENÇLER HAKLI VESTEL FARKLI
Vestel Ürün Pazarlama Genel Müdür Yardımcısı Buket Besen Kafalı, Trend Show sponsorlarından Vestel'in 'Gençler haklı, Vestel farklı' iddiasını bir kez daha ortaya koyduğunu belirtti.

Crysis, Vestel Kronos'ta!

2008-01-15T07:33:00.001-08:00

Crytek firmasının en yeni oyunu Crysis, daha çıkmadan her yeri salladı. Oyunu daha yakından görmek istiyorsanız CeBIT'te Vestel'in standına uğramanızı öneririz.

Vestel'in bilgisayar üretimi konusundaki ilerlemesi sadece dizüstü bilgisayarlar tarafında sürmüyor. Biliyorsunuz, Vestel Avrupa'daki ilk ve tek dizüstü bilgisayar üretim fabrikasını açmıştı. Her ne kadar masaüstü bilgisayar üretimi tam olarak üretim değil de bir birleştirme işi olsa da markaların bu işe üst seviye ürünlerle girmesi genellikle tüketici açısından faydalı oluyor.

Kronos ve Crysis

Crysis oynayan masum vatandaş.

Her ne kadar Vestel'in Kronos'a atfettiği "en hızlı oyun bilgisayarı" sıfatını işin çekirdeğinden gelen kişiler olarak fazla iddialı da bulsak, Crysis oyununu takılmadan çalıştırabilmesi sebebiyle içi boş bir ifade olarak da görmüyoruz. Çünkü Crysis'in ortalama bir makinede birkaç kare/saniyeden daha akıcı bir görüntü vermediği bilinen bir gerçek.

Henüz piyasaya sürülmemiş olan Crysis'i görmek ve oynamak istiyorsanız CeBIT Bilişim Eurasia'daki Vestel standına uğramanız yeterli. Umarız siz gittiğinizde etrafında uzun bir kuyruk yoktur da bu deneyimi doyasıya yaşayabilirsiniz. Fazla kapılmayın, kuyrukta olay çıkmasın. :)

Vestel Kronos

2008-01-15T07:28:00.000-08:00

Vestel Kronos size ilk başta bir anlam ifade etmeyebilir ama bundan sonra Vestel Kronos dendiğinde akla çok şey geleceğinden eminim. Şimdi inceleyelim şu Vestel Kronos nedir?

Kronos kelime anlamı olarak Yunan Mitolojisinde zamanın kişiselleştirilmiş halidir. Beko bir dünya markası iken Vestel nedir bilmiyorum ama Kronos tam bir oyun canavarı. Şöyle diyelim; Ekran Kartlarını test etmek için kullanılan Quick 3 oyunundan 12 tane oynayabilir. Alim Allah bi işlemciyi yakarsanız da 2 bilgisayar parasını çöpe atabilirsiniz.

Genel özellikler olarak Blue-Ray teknolojisi kullanan Vestel Kronos 8Gb DDR2 800 Mhz bellek, 2 x 750 Gb sabit disk, 4 çekirdek Intel Core 2 Extreme işlemci, 2 x 758 Mb GeForce 8800 Ultra SLI Ekran Kart, 1200W Power Supply, sulu soğutma sistemi…

Cyrisis’i hiç takılmadan çalıştıran Vestel Kronos ısındığında hortumu belediye musluğuna takarak soğutma işlemine başlayabilirsiniz. Soğuk bir memlekette yaşamakta olanlar suya antifriz katabilirler.

Şuanda bir çoğumuz bilgisayar kullanmakta ve bundan şikayet etmektedirler ama 7000$ + KDV ödeyerek Vestel Kronos alan kişiler ne diyecekler? Bu fiyat sadece Kasa için. Nasa’dan alıntı bir teknoloji olduğuna eminim ben bu canavarın. Disk Birleştirme saatler sürmeyecektir. 1.5 TB hafızaya yüklü miktarda veri depolamak ise cabası. Bu makinayı zorlayacak bir oyun, program yok. Şuanda ev kullanıcıları için bildiğim en iyi makine Vestel Kronos.

Howto install Compiz and Xgl on Fedora Core 5

2008-01-15T05:10:00.001-08:00

Introduction:
Xgl is an Xserver that uses OpenGL for its drawing operations. Together with compiz, an opengl compositing and window manager, it allows for some cool desktop effects. Xgl relies on an extension to mesa, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, that is present only in CVS mesa.

Demonstration Videos:
A torrent with a collection of videos is available from: http://bdiddy.rty.ca/xgl-vids.torrent (164.8 MiB)
Here a nice video recorded by David Reveman (included in the above torrent): http://www.freedesktop.org/~davidr/xgl-demo1.xvid.avi

Hardware Prerequisites
See HARDWARE Video Card Support Under XGL on the gentoo documentation wiki.

Sofware Prerequisites

Installed 3D driver:
Follow the intructions provided in the Fedora FAQ.
Below links are for FC5.

How do I enable 3D support for my ATI Radeon card in Fedora Core 5? (Updated 2 May 2006)
How do I enable 3D support for my nVidia graphics card in Fedora Core 5? (Updated 2 May 2006)

Package list to install:

compiz OR compiz-quinn
xorg-x11-server-Xgl
fedora-xgl-settings
gset-compiz
xgl-hardware-list
glitz
libsvg-cairo
libsvg

Import RPMS GPG key:

rpm --import http://users.telenet.be/quenta/RPM-GPG-KEY-AL-CAPCOM

Install the xgl repository:

rpm -ivh http://users.telenet.be/quenta/xgl-repository-1.0-1.noarch.rpm

Install the packages:

yum install compiz xorg-x11-server-Xgl

Configure the system:

Check your system capability:

gnome-xgl-info

This command must return, it's like that:

G nVidia Corporation
1 kmod-nvidia is not installed for the kernel release 1.2111_FC5
1 -accel glx:pbuffer -accel xv

Explanation the return of gnome-xgl-info:

First line is:
CardStatus [CardName]
where CardStatus is: G(ood), B(ad), S(low), or U(nknown)

Second line is:
3DStatus [Missing or installed Packages]
where 3DStatus is 0 or 1

Third line is:
XglStatus [RecommendedOptions]
where XglStatus is 0 or 1 and RecommendedOptions is set if the hardware is detected as compatible.

Enable Xgl:

gnome-xgl-switch --enable-xgl --auto

When the script ask you for applying the modifications, say (y)es.

If xgl doesn't start, see troubleshooting links below:
On the opensuse website: http://en.opensuse.org/Xgl_Troubleshooting
On the gentoo wiki: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_XGL/Troubleshooting

Configure Compiz:

gset-compiz

gset-compiz is a very good tool to configure compiz, it was wrot by gerd kohlberger.
This software can also manage the configuration of the Quinn Storm compiz version.

What is Compiz Fusion ?

2008-01-15T05:03:00.000-08:00

Compiz Fusion is the result of a merge between the well-known Beryl composite window manager and Compiz Extras, a community set of improvements to the Compiz composite window manager. Compiz Fusion aims to provide an easy and fun-to-use windowed environment, allowing use of the graphics hardware to render each individual window and the entire screen, to provide some impressive effects, speed and usefulness. The first Compiz Fusion developer release was Compiz Fusion 0.5.2 on August 13th 2007, shortly after Compiz 0.5.2 was released. First stable release of Compiz Fusion is 0.6.0 released on October 20 2007.

Compiz Fusion is an open-source software project, meaning anyone can use it freely and contribute.

It is important to note that Compiz and Compiz Fusion are not the same thing (see: Compiz Fusion Vs Compiz). There is close co-operation between the developers of Compiz and the developers of Compiz Fusion, though ; in fact, many Compiz Fusion developers are also Compiz developers.

Why Intel 915 graphics don’t have a WDDM driver for Vista”

2008-01-15T04:26:00.000-08:00

Click To Play

Download the file directly. Originally posted at the Intel Software Network blog.

I get this question a LOT: “Why hasn’t Intel released WDDM drivers for the 915 integrated graphics chipset? I can’t run the fancy visual effects in Windows Vista, like Aero Glass, without one!”

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People hardest hit by this issue include virtually all Tablet PC and UMPC users, along with lots and lots of people using laptops with that particular Intel integrated graphics chipset. I personally have two systems, a Lenovo X41 Tablet PC and an Asus R2H UMPC, that are affected. The Intel Software Network forum is full of complaints, rants, and even veiled threats on the topic - implying that we, Intel, are sitting on the driver, or not releasing it for some unknown reason (most speculate that it’s because we want to force people to upgrade to a newer, more powerful graphics solution).

In this video, I sat down with Intel’s Chuck DeSylva, right after he gave a presentation at GDC 2007 on the topic of optimizing your games to take advantage of the Intel G965 graphics chip. I asked him the million dollar question: Why are there no WDDM drivers for Intel 915 graphics?

Watch the video for the answer. It’s about 3.5 minutes long, and weighs in at 22MB if you want to download it directly.

The short version (if you’re impatient): The WDDM Vista driver spec came out long after the 915 design was complete and in production, and even though it has advanced features like Pixel Shader 2.0, there is a missing hardware feature, called the Hardware Scheduler, that 915 lacks, and without that, it doesn’t meet the WDDM spec from Microsoft, and we (Intel) can’t release a WDDM driver for it.

There. It’s done. I hope that answers your questions. Please link your friends and associates to this video/post for the “definitive” answer.

As always, we’re open to your feedback, so please feel free to post a comment, respond in the ISN forums, or contact me directly if you have any more questions or issues.

Linux Kernel v2.6.23.14 - Final - January 14, 2008

2008-01-15T04:24:00.001-08:00

Image

New stable release of Linux Kernel - v2.6 Branch.

Homepage and more info here:
Code:
http://www.kernel.org/

Download Source Code from here:
Code:
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.23.14.tar.bz2

Download Patch Code from here:
Code:
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/patch-2.6.23.14.bz2

Changelog here:
Code:
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.23.14

Cheers. Smile

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Discussion & How To Burn

2008-01-15T04:19:00.000-08:00

1. Open the Leopard installation DVD using Disk Utility.
2. Using the Disk Utility, create a new dual layer (8.5GB) sparse image called leopard (actual filename will be leopard.sparseimage) and mount it.
3. Restore the Leopard installation DVD to the mounted leopard.sparseimage (not the image file.)
4. Open the mounted leopard.sparseimage with Finder, and delete the XCodeTools directory.
5. Unmount the mounted leopard.sparseimage.
6. Using the Disk Utility, create a new single layer (4.4GB) spare image called boot (actual filename will be boot.sparseimage) and mount it.
7. Restore the leopard.sparseimage image file to the mounted boot.sparseimage (not the image file.)
8. Unmount the mounted boot.sparseimage.
9. Burn the boot.sparseimage to your single layer DVD media.
Booting from this DVD works, but takes a long time.
Heres the way that works for me:

Quote:

1. Download the dmg (I'm going to call it leopard.dmg)
2. Plug in your external harddrive (I'm going to call it newdrive)
3. Open up Disk Utility
4. Click on newdrive
5. You'll see "First Aid, Erase, Partition, RAID, Restore
6. Click on restore
7. You'll see two fields Source: and Destination:
8. For Source: select leopard.dmg from wherever it is on your harddrive
9. For Destination: drag newdrive from the Disk Utility drive list
10. Click on restore (It might take a while if you're using USB... maybe a few hours, just let it go)
11. Leave this new harddrive with leopard attached to your computer
12. Open System Preferences
13. Click on Startup Disk
14. Select newdrive with the Leopard Install
15. Restart the computer
16. Leopard install begins
17. Install it where ever you want.

I'll give you a walkthrough....

Since my iPod is next to me and my External HDD is being borrowed, we will refer to the iPod as the External HD. The leopard DMG on my desktop is a test, of course it is not 10MB

Quote:

3. Open up Disk Utility
4. Click on newdrive(iPod)

Quote:

5. You'll see "First Aid, Erase, Partition, RAID, Restore
6. Click on restore

Quote:

8. For Source: select leopard.dmg from wherever it is on your harddrive
9. For Destination: drag newdrive from the Disk Utility drive list

Warning: the destination disk has to be formatted MAC and it WILL WIPE ALL THE INFO

Quote:

12. Open System Preferences
13. Click on Startup Disk
14. Select newdrive with the Leopard Install
15. Restart the computer
16. Leopard install begins
17. Install it where ever you want.

Thats should be self-explanatory.

Another way:

Quote:

1. boot up your original mac os x dvd1
2. go to disk utilities
3. format (erase) your bootcamp partition
4. reboot
5. restore the dmg to the bootcamp partition
5. reboot
6. hold down option key
7. choose the bootcamp partition
8. install
9. enjoy (even though its buggy and most apps do not work properly)

Mac OS X 10.5 Retail DVD

Code:

http://www.mediafire.com/?6mtlmunmyry
http://www.mediafire.com/?4emmk0dg1ex
http://www.mediafire.com/?0mgyiyjfazb
http://www.mediafire.com/?30xzz1knn9w
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http://www.mediafire.com/?b93jgjzdoan
http://www.mediafire.com/?54ndczvmtgt
http://www.mediafire.com/?c9zkxjdmznt
http://www.mediafire.com/?budkvjj9qfl
http://www.mediafire.com/?adl93dx5jlq
http://www.mediafire.com/?6ot12my5ymm
http://www.mediafire.com/?09fqftg9waz
http://www.mediafire.com/?dtjb2zhtxtg
http://www.mediafire.com/?asbmwdqqzzt
http://www.mediafire.com/?1jlmgb1wyjx
http://www.mediafire.com/?adla3mnlb10
http://www.mediafire.com/?4toxmzhjig9
http://www.mediafire.com/?5qydba20zmx
http://www.mediafire.com/?9d2rn222udz
http://www.mediafire.com/?4grs9atm1ta
http://www.mediafire.com/?8xwfg9n2tww
http://www.mediafire.com/?axtvmo9inty
http://www.mediafire.com/?14d2w2dht99
http://www.mediafire.com/?0ma9gbxmzoo
http://www.mediafire.com/?12yifnbm9zm

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/67085173/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part01.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67085636/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part02.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67086148/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part03.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67086580/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part04.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67087049/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part05.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67087495/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part06.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67087786/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part07.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67088071/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part08.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67088418/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part09.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67088786/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part10.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67089202/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part11.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67089585/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part12.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67089951/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part13.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67090258/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part14.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67090542/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part15.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67090870/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part16.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67091201/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part17.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67091500/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part18.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67091837/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part19.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67092243/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part20.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67092547/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part21.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67092871/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part22.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67093323/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part23.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67093614/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part24.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67093981/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part25.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67094398/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part26.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67094764/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part27.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67095161/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part28.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67095643/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part29.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67096178/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part30.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67096564/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part31.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67097010/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part32.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/67097524/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part33.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67097949/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part34.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67098354/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part35.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67098844/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part36.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67099336/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part37.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67099749/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part38.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67100220/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part39.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67100633/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part40.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67101155/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part41.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67101537/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part42.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67102085/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part43.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67102830/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part44.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67168871/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part45.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67169696/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part46.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67170606/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part47.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67171738/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part48.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67172724/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part49.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67175274/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part50.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67176297/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part51.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67177897/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part52.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67179112/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part53.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67180193/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part54.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67181663/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part55.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67184184/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part56.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67185152/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part57.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67186316/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part58.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67187416/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part59.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67188546/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part60.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67189703/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part61.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67190773/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part62.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67192161/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part63.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/67192980/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part64.rar

Code:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BSZE7GU4
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VALXHLQX
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FDIVQID5
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NGLXA7B4
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5KV5PRQE
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VK6JTBSU
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LG6P8UG1
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AMVP42Y5
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R1LE1D76
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PYAMIKI0
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1YG1KV29
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N7RFTIBC
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EZE48DO0

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/67085173/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67085636/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67086148/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67086580/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67087049/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67087495/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67087786/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67088071/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67088418/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67088786/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67089202/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67089585/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67089951/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67090258/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67090542/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67090870/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part16.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67091201/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part17.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67091500/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part18.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67091837/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part19.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67092243/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part20.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67092547/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part21.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67092871/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part22.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67093323/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part23.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67093614/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part24.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67093981/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part25.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67094398/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part26.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67094764/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part27.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67095161/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part28.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67095643/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part29.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67096178/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part30.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67096564/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part31.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67097010/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part32.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67097524/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part33.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67097949/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part34.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67098354/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part35.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67098844/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part36.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67099336/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part37.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67099749/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part38.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67100220/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part39.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67100633/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part40.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67101155/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part41.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67101537/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part42.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67102085/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part43.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67102830/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part44.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67168871/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part45.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67169696/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part46.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67170606/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part47.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67171738/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part48.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67172724/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part49.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67175274/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part50.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67176297/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part51.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67177897/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part52.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67179112/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part53.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67180193/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part54.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67181663/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part55.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67184184/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part56.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67185152/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part57.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67186316/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part58.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67187416/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part59.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67188546/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part60.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67189703/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part61.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67190773/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part62.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67192161/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part63.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/67192980/OS_X_10_5_UBERAMD.part64.rar

Update - 12/8

APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX

Code:

http://d01.megashares.com/?d01=8caa850

Code:

http://netload.in/dateic259eb280890c85953d264b81e7b75d4/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part17.rar.htm
http://netload.in/dateidcd30678ace67ab2ddbf2e08911b911c/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part16.rar.htm
http://netload.in/dateiaaef34249171c9c2b69eb7b0a48fce9a/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part15.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei4a5cf18d885cb2713e9e13f62f5dc9c1/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part14.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei3863f22b61da2671fabb8aa824988839/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part13.rar.htm
http://netload.in/dateic2ce1731c40ba5d93d4bb9d0dba9ec0e/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part12.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei2c06006a1e9fe3382e08db59ab491fd5/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part11.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei16dae5cd0c355e2114039682003f5608/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part10.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei09638ca08a3162bff27df9d10f0588ee/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part09.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei5a926741ffe8659422d024c91c7bc151/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part08.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei105c6a286f8ef4789b4d47c0dff574a0/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part07.rar.htm
http://netload.in/dateib627b716adfe41fd92e161bc71adb81c/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part06.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei23036ef378751884468842712ce48102/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part05.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei6869c8c67da42502230bb7e997b69830/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part04.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei97a88196bfffdc99b98cafe022bf4653/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part03.rar.htm
http://netload.in/datei9cb2c613a20c5cb258fe8a6636f27c25/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part02.rar.htm
http://netload.in/dateid7844135fa0b5c807e17fd9278124999/APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.SERVER.V10.5.PROPER.ISO-OSX.part01.rar.htm

Quote:

pass:areg

Code:

mac.os.x.server.install.disc.dmg
http://d01.megashares.com/?d01=3267e7b

APPLE.MAC.OSX.LEOPARD.V10.5.ISO-OSX

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/66053471/bigcat.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053587/bigcat.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053298/bigcat.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053482/bigcat.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053546/bigcat.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053295/bigcat.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053680/bigcat.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053547/bigcat.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053643/bigcat.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053513/bigcat.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053390/bigcat.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053552/bigcat.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053766/bigcat.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053574/bigcat.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053619/bigcat.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053510/bigcat.part16.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053591/bigcat.part17.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053524/bigcat.part18.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053878/bigcat.part19.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053911/bigcat.part20.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053844/bigcat.part21.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053868/bigcat.part22.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053828/bigcat.part23.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66054150/bigcat.part24.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66054045/bigcat.part25.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053829/bigcat.part26.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053928/bigcat.part27.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053871/bigcat.part28.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053850/bigcat.part29.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053917/bigcat.part30.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053811/bigcat.part31.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053900/bigcat.part32.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053904/bigcat.part33.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053948/bigcat.part34.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66053857/bigcat.part35.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055710/bigcat.part36.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055686/bigcat.part37.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055819/bigcat.part38.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055850/bigcat.part39.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055874/bigcat.part40.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055763/bigcat.part41.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055924/bigcat.part42.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055756/bigcat.part43.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055736/bigcat.part44.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055764/bigcat.part45.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055753/bigcat.part46.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055776/bigcat.part47.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055831/bigcat.part48.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055811/bigcat.part49.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055716/bigcat.part50.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055727/bigcat.part51.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055796/bigcat.part52.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055760/bigcat.part53.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056194/bigcat.part54.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056361/bigcat.part55.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056294/bigcat.part56.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056150/bigcat.part57.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056124/bigcat.part58.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056297/bigcat.part59.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056078/bigcat.part60.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056415/bigcat.part61.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056004/bigcat.part62.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056348/bigcat.part63.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056128/bigcat.part64.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056049/bigcat.part65.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056040/bigcat.part66.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056103/bigcat.part67.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66056221/bigcat.part68.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/66055371/bigcat.part69.rar

Password: bigcat

Mac OS X Leopard Gold Master (GM Build 9A581 - Confirmed by Zenova)

Code:

http://d01.megashares.com/?d01=6abba92

Mac OS X Leopard Gold Master (GM Build 9A581, Not confirmed yet)

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/64656425/osx-leopard105.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64655529/osx-leopard105.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64659664/osx-leopard105.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64660330/osx-leopard105.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64660561/osx-leopard105.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64656836/osx-leopard105.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64655450/osx-leopard105.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64660503/osx-leopard105.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64656351/osx-leopard105.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64656371/osx-leopard105.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64660384/osx-leopard105.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64656873/osx-leopard105.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64655580/osx-leopard105.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64658328/osx-leopard105.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64655370/osx-leopard105.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64655717/osx-leopard105.part16.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64659975/osx-leopard105.part17.rar
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Password: www.webpunkt.ru

Code:

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Pass: www.divxturka.net

Code:

http://www.warez-bb.org/viewtopic.php?p=4878910#4878910

Quick aero speed tip

2008-01-15T01:12:00.003-08:00

The transparent glass in Windows Vista computer can look very nice. However, on some computers that have underpowered video adapters will see a performance hit when running the transparent glass effect. One way to speed up Windows Vista and still get the benefits of aero, such as flip 3D and taskbar thumbnails, is to disable glass transparency.

Click on the desktop and select Personalize.
Select Windows Color and Appearance.
Uncheck Enable Transparency.

Increase max IE7 downloads

2008-01-15T01:12:00.001-08:00

Internet Explorer 7 only allows you to download two files from the same server at a time. This is not a software limit but rather a limit imposed based on the web standard. Since this is simply a software setting, it can be modified and you can increase the limit to something much high such as 10. Follow the steps below to increase your max downloads from the same server:

Click on the Start Button and type in Regedit.
When Registry Editor loads navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion and Internet Settings.
Right click on MaxConnectionsPerServer and select Modify. Set the decimal value to something greater than 2.
Right click on MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server and select Modify. Set the decimal value to something greater than 2.
Reboot.

Enhance SATA disk performance

2008-01-15T01:11:00.001-08:00

Do you have a SATA disk drive in your computer? If so, you can squeeze a little more performance out of your hard disk. This speeds up the performance of your hard disk by enhancing write caching. However, if your computer is not connected to a battery backup and you loose power you have a increased risk for data loss or corruption. If you have a laptop your chances are data loss or corruption are dramatically less since your laptop battery will kick on if your power source is lost. Let's get started:

Click on the Start Button and key in Device Manager and hit Enter.
Expand Disk Drives.
Right click on your hard drive and select Properties.
On the Policies tab, check Enable advanced performance.
Hit OK and close Device Manager.

Disable Welcome Center

2008-01-15T01:10:00.001-08:00

As soon as you install Windows Vista you are bombarded by the Welcome Center that is designed to help beginner Windows users easily configure their new computer. This new welcome screen is a nice feature the first time you start using Windows vista but quickly becomes annoying.

Disabling the Welcome Center is very easy to do and can speed up your boot as well.

1. Start Regedit.

2. Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Run.

3. Right click on the WindowsWelcomeCenter key and select Delete.

The next time you restart the Welcome Center will be gone.

Disable Network Printer Search

2008-01-15T01:06:00.000-08:00

When browsing through shared folders and network computers Explorer can slow down when it is searching the local network for printers. This sounds like a great feature and may be useful for some but I would rather disable it to get maximum performance when browsing through folders.

1. Hit Alt to bring up the menubar if it is not already on the screen.

2. Click on Tools and select Folder Options.

3. On the View Tab, uncheck Automatically search for network printers.

ReadyBoost Q&A

2008-01-15T01:05:00.001-08:00

Back in April, I posted a blog entry on the ReadyBoost feature - the Windows Vista feature that allows you to use a USB key as virtual memory in order to enhance performance. While I originally intended the post to be an overview of ReadyBoost, it proved quite popular and garnered quite a few questions seeking more detail. I apologize that it's taken this long, but I've finally tracked down "the man" who could provide the answers - Matt Ayers, who is the Program Manager in the Microsoft Windows Client Performance group and basically owns the ReadyBoost feature.
Instead of updating the original post, I created this new post entry that will be the home of the Q&A I receive. That way, people won't have to wade through opinions and comments and can come to this post to see only Q&A.

Note: Matt will be speaking at Tech*Ed where he will present a session on on Vista Perf Improvements (ReadyBoost, ReadyDrive and SuperFetch – CLI312)
From Matt Ayers:

"I'm the Program Manager in the Microsoft Windows Client Performance group and own the ReadyBoost feature. I wanted to give some offical answers based on the excellent questions and discussions that I've seen in this blog, to date. Also, I'll be using this as a starting point for the official ReadyBoost FAQ.

Overall, as many posters have pointed out, the feature is designed to improve small random I/O for people who lack the expansion slots, money, and or technical expertise to add additional RAM. As y’all know, adding RAM is still the best way to relieve memory pressure.

Thanks, again, for your interest, questions and ideas."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: What perf do you need on your device?
A: 2.5MB/sec throughput for 4K random reads and 1.75MB/sec throughput for 512K random writes

Q: My device says 12MB/sec (or 133x or something else) on the package but windows says that it isn't fast enough to use as a ReadyBoost device... why?
A: Two possible reasons:
The numbers measure sequential performance and we measure random. We've seen devices that have great sequential perf, but horrible random
The performance isn't consistantly fast across the entire device. Some devices have 128M of lightning fast flash and the rest of the device is really slow. This is fine for some applications but not ReadyBoost.

Q: What's the largest amount of flash that I can use for ReadyBoost?
A: You can use up to 4GB of flash for ReadyBoost (which turns out to be 8GB of cache w/ the compression)

Q: Why can't I use more than 4GB of flash?
A: The FAT32 filesystem limits our ReadyBoost.sfcache file to 4GB

Q: What's the smallest ReadyBoost cache that I can use
A: The smallest cache is 256MB (well, 250 after formatting). Post beta2, we may drop it another 10 MB or so.

Q: Ok... 256M-4GB is a pretty big range... any recommendations?
A: Yes. We recommend a 1:1 ratio of flash to system memory at the low end and as high as 2.5:1 flash to system memory. Higher than that and you won't see much benefit.

Q: Isn't this just putting the paging file onto a flash disk?
A: Not really - the file is still backed on disk. This is a cache - if the data is not found in the ReadyBoost cache, we fall back to the HDD.

Q: Aren't Hard Disks faster than flash? My HDD has 80MB/sec throughput.
A: Hard drives are great for large sequential I/O. For those situations, ReadyBoost gets out of the way. We concentrate on improving the performance of small, random I/Os, like paging to and from disk.

Q: What happens when you remove the drive?
A: When a surprise remove event occurs and we can't find the drive, we fall back to disk. Again, all pages on the device are backed by a page on disk. No exceptions. This isn't a separate page file store, but rather a cache to speed up access to frequently used data.

Q: Isn't user data on a removable device a security risk?
A: This was one of our first concerns and to mitigate this risk, we use AES-128 to encrypt everything that we write to the device.

Q: Won't this wear out the drive?
A: Nope. We're aware of the lifecycle issues with flash drives and are smart about how and when we do our writes to the device. Our research shows that we will get at least 10+ years out of flash devices that we support.

Q: Can use use multiple devices for EMDs?
A: Nope. We've limited Vista to one ReadyBoost per machine

Q: Why just one device?
A: Time and quality. Since this is the first revision of the feature, we decided to focus on making the single device exceptional, without the difficulties of managing multiple caches. We like the idea, though, and it's under consideration for future versions.

Q: Do you support SD/CF/memory stick/MMC/etc.?
A: Mostly. In beta2, we added support for a small number of SD/CF cards on internal USB2 & PCIe busses. RC1 has a much broader support range.

Q: Why don't you support SD on my USB2.0 external card reader?
A: We unfortunately don't support external card readers - there were some technical hurdles that we didn't have time to address. In general, if a card reader shows a drive without media in it (like a floppy drive or CD ROM does), we can't use it for ReadyBoost.

Q: Will it support all USB drives, regardless of how they are ID'd to the OS ("hard disk drive" or "Device with Removable Storage")?
A: We have no way to tell what is on the other end of a USB cable so we do some basic size checks (since no one has a 200GB flash device ;-) ) and then perform our speed tests. HDD will not, however, pass our speed tests, and there is no benefit to using a USB HDD for ReadyBoost.

Q: Can you use an mp3 player to speed up your system?
A: Not currently. MP3 players use the 'plays for sure' interfaces to expose themselves to Windows. We require that the device appear as a disk volume. These aren't currently compatible.

Q: How much of a speed increase are we talking about?
A: Well, that depends. On average, a RANDOM 4K read from flash is about 10x faster than from HDD. Now, how does that translate to end-user perf? Under memory pressure and heavy disk activity, the system is much more responsive; on a 4GB machine with few applications running, the ReadyBoost effect is much less noticable.

Q: I can't get my device to work with ReadyBoost... can I lower the perf requirements?
A: Unfortunately, no. We've set the perf requirements to the lowest possible throughput that still makes your system faster. If we lowered the perf requirements, then there wouldn't be a noticeable benefit to using ReadyBoost. Remember, we're not adding memory, we're improving disk access.

Q: Which manufacturers support ReadyBoost?
A: Well, I hope that all of them do, eventually. Right now, we're working with manufacturers to create a program that will allow them to identify ReadyBoost capable devices on their packaging.

Boost your performance with ReadyBoost

2008-01-15T01:03:00.003-08:00

Windows Vista has many new features that are designed to help older computers run Windows Vista better. One of those features and the topic of this tweak is called ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost helps your computer by giving it more high-speed memory. If your computer is running low on RAM then it has to kick a lot of applications out of high-speed physical memory to the paging file on your hard drive. This usually results in a big hit in performance and increased activity on your hard drive. ReadyBoost helps this situation by giving Windows an alternative to having to stick data into the slow paging file on your hard drive. Instead, ReadyBoost uses a USB storage device that is faster than a hard disk. This results in a performance boost because Windows will have a high speed alternative than using the slow paging file on your hard drive.

In order for ReadyBoost to work, it requires a USB storage device that meets minimum performance and space requirements:

The device must be at least 64 MB
The device must be USB 2.0
It has to be able to read at 3.5 MB/s
It has to be able to write at 2.5 MB/s
If you are unsure if your USB storage device meets these requirements, just give it a try anyways. To get started using ReadyBoost, follow these steps:

Plug in USB storage device.
Go to Computer and right click on the removable storage device and select Properties.
If your device is compatible, you will see a ReadyBoost tab. Click on that.
Select Use this device and select the amount of space on it you want to dedicate for the ReadyBoost system file.
Click OK and you are finished.

Boost your performance with ReadyBoost

2008-01-15T01:03:00.001-08:00

TweakVista 1.01 Released!

2008-01-15T00:59:00.001-08:00

TweakVista 1.01 is completed and is available for download. There are many bug fixes and enhancements in various tabs. Check out the new version today!

Enable detailed logon, logoff and shutdown status messages

2008-01-15T00:55:00.000-08:00

Instead of showing the default logon, logoff and shutdown status messages you can enable detailed messages that will tell you exactly what is going on. Wondering what is taking your logon so long? With detailed messages turned on you will see messages like Processing group policy and other specific tasks Windows Vista is executing.

To enable detailed status messages on your computer, follow these steps:

Click on the start button and key in gpedit.msc and hit Enter.
When the Local Group Policy Editor has loaded, navigate through Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates and select System.

Locate the Verbose vs normal status messages policy, right click and select Properties.
Select Enabled and hit OK.
Enjoy your detailed status messages!

Updated Vista RC1 build - Public Release!

2008-01-15T00:54:00.000-08:00

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC Refresh is available to Beta testers through Windows Update. Experience the WU installation path for Windows Vista SP1 by following these simple steps and give us your feedback to improve our quality.

Download Link

Before You Install

You must uninstall any previous versions of Windows Vista SP1 before installing Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh
To uninstall previous version of Windows Vista SP1
Open the Programs and Features control panel and select View installed updates. In the Microsoft Windows section, right-click Service Pack for Windows (936330) and select Uninstall.
Your system will now uninstall the previous version of Windows Vista SP1 Beta and may reboot multiple times.
Please wait one hour after uninstalling a previous version of Windows Vista SP1 before installing Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh. The installer service needs to clean up and complete the uninstall prior to installing the RC. Failing to do this can result in installation errors when installing the RC version.
Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh is pre-release software and will change before the final release. Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh is for individuals, organizations, and technical enthusiasts who are comfortable evaluating pre-release software and is provided for testing purposes only. Microsoft does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission critical systems. Microsoft recommends that you have a backup of your data prior to installing any pre-release software.
Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh is time-limited software.
Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh will no longer operate after June 30, 2008 and should be uninstalled prior to that date. After installation your desktop will show the text “Evaluation Copy”. This does not mean that your system is no longer genuine but that you have installed a test version of software which is time-limited. The “Evaluation Copy” text will appear on your desktop after the second reboot after installing the service pack. Likewise, the “Evaluation Copy” text will remain on your desktop during the first reboot after uninstall the service pack, but will disappear after the next reboot.
If you install Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh it is strongly recommended that you install the final version of Windows Vista SP1 when it is released. To do this, you will be required to uninstall this RC version of Windows Vista SP1.
Assisted support (phone, email and online chat) is not available from Microsoft Help and Support for this RC release of Windows Vista SP1. Self-help and peer support is available through the Windows Vista SP1 forum.
You must have a genuine copy of Windows Vista installed prior to installing Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh.

The Windows Update Experience

Systems running on Windows Vista RTM typically require two or three updates before SP1 can be installed. These updates are permanent on your Windows Vista systems. Windows Update will detect your system configuration and offer the prerequisite packages that are applicable to your system. Based on the state of your system, Windows Update will offer you all the applicable prerequisite packages and SP1 in a sequential order. For details, please see the instructions below.

The prerequisite updates consist of two updates which service specific Windows components prior to the installation of the service pack and a third update which services the installation software built into Windows Vista. The following are the prerequisite updates.

KB935509 This updates is only required on Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate editions (which have Bitlocker capabilities). This update is required prior to installing KB938371, the second prerequisite update and is required to prevent potential loss of data on Bitlocker encrypted systems during updating.
KB938371 This update consists of fixes for several components (including the TrustedInstaller), increases the success rate for installing the service pack and enables the service pack to be uninstalled successfully.
KB937287 This is an update to the “Servicing Stack” or the Windows Vista component installer technologies built into Windows Vista. This update enables the built-in installer to properly and successfully install the service pack.

Installing the Service Pack
There are two ways to install the service pack, first, as a pop-up notification that the service pack is ready to be installed (this is the method in which most users will install the service pack) and using multiple manual installations from Windows Update. The first method is the simplest, but may take up to four days for the Windows Update Automatic Update feature to deliver each of the 3 prerequisites and the service pack. Windows Vista SP1 distributed through Windows Update will be applicable to Windows Vista machines that are running on any of the 36 languages supported by Windows Vista RTM.

Method 1: Automatic Update
You can install Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh using the Automatic Update process by following these steps.

Save the included RCRefreshSP1betaprogramsRK.cmd script to your machine.
Right-click on the script and select Run as administrator. The script will set a registry key on your machine that allows Windows Update to offer Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh to your machine.
From the Windows Update control panel, select Change settings.
Verify that Install updates automatically (recommended) is selected. This enables the Automatic Update feature to download and install the prerequisite updates and service pack automatically.
Windows Update Automatic Update will automatically update your machine over the next several days with the prerequisites updates. When the service pack has downloaded a pop-up notification will inform you that updates are ready to be installed. You must click on this notification and choose to install the service pack at this point. The service pack will not silently or automatically install itself.

Method 2: Manual Installation using Windows Update
To intall Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh as quickly as possible, follow the steps below.

Save the included RCRefreshSP1betaprogramsRK.cmd script to your machine.
Right-click on the script and select Run as administrator. The script will set a registry key on your machine that allows Windows Update to offer Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh to your machine.
Windows Update Automatic Update will automatically update your machine over the next several days with the prerequisites updates provided you have the Windows Update Automatic Update feature enabled. When the service pack has downloaded a pop-up notification will inform you that updates are ready to be installed. You must click on this notification and choose to install the service pack at this point. The service pack will not silently or automatically install itself.
To manually install the service pack, start by installing all Important updates applicable to your system and the prerequisite updates. You may have to repeat this several times to fully update your system by opening the Windows Update control panel and selecting Check for updates. Note: If your system is managed by a administrator and has a Windows Server Updates Services (WSUS) server for updates, you need to use the Check online for updates option of the Windows Update control panel. If this option is not available, your administrator may have disabled this functionality.
If you have Windows Vista Ultimate or Windows Vista Enterprise, Update for Windows Vista (KB935509) should be in this list. If you have any other version, Update for Windows Vista (KB938371) should be in this list. Install these updates and reboot your machine when prompted.
If you do not have Windows Vista Ultimate or Windows Vista Enterprise Update for Windows Vista (KB938371) should be in the list first and Update for Windows Vista (KB935509) is not required. Note: If you reboot and immediately check for updates you may not see all updates. This may be caused by the installer service completing the installation of the prior update. Please wait 5-10 minutes and check for updates again.
Install Update for Windows Vista (KB937287). Update for Windows Vista (KB937287) does not require a reboot.
Wait for 10-15 minutes before checking for updates again to enable the installer to complete its installation.
Check for updates again and install Service Pack for Windows (KB936330).

No hope for Aero on i915GM…

2008-01-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

It's Microsoft's fault, says Intel. i915 chipset was created before the final specifications for Windows Vista Aero Glass UI were done. The graphical part of the chipset lacks so called 'hardware scheduler' and thus there isn't and won't be WDDM driver for i915.

I tried to cheat it by modifying i945 drivers (editing the hardware ID's), but that is not enough. After reboot the driver loads but reports error:

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

By the way… I have seen how Aero works on Dell D420 notebooks with Core Duo 1.6GHz CPU, i945 chipset and 1GB RAM - yes, it looks really good, the fade and animation and blur and whatever effects are cool, but the overall performance is a joke - using 50% of system resources just for the OS ?!

I have found quite a lot of sites trying to 'hack' Vista and force Aero, but neither of these worked for me. Here is a simple copy/paste from the text document, you can try it yourself.

Option 1:

If your graphic card doesn't support Windows Aero Glass, here a trick that you can try to force Windows Vista to enable Windows Aero Glass on Non-WDDM Compatible or Not Aero Supported graphics accelerator card or processor, by disabling the check Windows Vista made to determines if your system hardware fulfills minimum requirements for Aero Glass window frame transparency.

Note: This method may or may not works with current RTM release of Windows Vista (user feedback welcome), and may cause a blue screen loop or constant flicker, so use with care and proper backup is a must.

Click on Start button, then select Run.
Type "regedit" (without the quotes). (If you do not turn of UAC, you have to run as administrator: Right click on Command Prompt accessible from All Programs -> Accessories, then select "Run as Administrator", click on "Allow" from the Windows Security dialog, then run "regedit".)
Browse or navigate to the following registry branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft

Create a new registry branch called DWM. (If DWM doesn't work, try to create and use WDM registry branch instead.)
Inside the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\DWM\ registry branch, create a new DWORD subkey called EnableMachineCheck.
Right click on EnableMachineCheck (or double click on it) to set the value to 0.
Repeat above two steps to create another DWORD called Blur, and set the value to 0.
Repeat again the steps to create another DWORD called Animations and set that to 0.
Last two steps is to disable the blurring and animations effects to lessen the load burden on your graphics card so that the system will be responsive.

You can also disable slow animation effect, which slowly minimize or slowly close the window(s) when the "Shift" Key is held when you minimize or close a window with "AnimationsShiftKey", disable use of Elongated Buttons with "UseAlternateButtons", or disable Aero Glass Copy and Paste with "Glass". To enable any of them, simply modify the value to 1.

Option 2:

Ensure that two registry values are set:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\Composition set to 1 (32-bit DWORD)
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CompositionPolicy set to 2 (32-bit DWORD)

Note: You may need to create the DWM key and the two values if they do not exist.

Restart the Desktop Windows Manager Session Manager service:
net stop uxsms
net start uxsms

Option 3:

Get and Enable Windows Vista Aero Glass Transparency Effect and Desktop Windows Manager (DWM)
Windows Aero is hardware-based premium visual experience or graphical user interface that implemented in Windows Vista installed in Vista Premium Ready PC, which includes effects such as transparent glass design, subtle window animations, animated cursors, new window color and eye candy. Aero is actually acronym (or backronym) for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and Open. Windows Aero requires high system specifications in order to work, with the minimum requirements of at least 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1 GB (gigabyte) of system memory and a DirectX 9 compatible graphics accelerator processor card with a minimum of 128 MB of Video RAM, installed with Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver. But Aero can work on slightly less powerful system. If your Windows Vista Aero user interface (UI) doesn't work or disable, here are few suggestions and troubleshooting steps that you can check to enable Aero in Windows Vista.

If you have fulfill the requirements, but the Aero user interface still doesn't work, unable to run or still disable, try the following troubleshooting guide. As mentioned, Windows Aero interface or Desktop Window Manager windowing system that enables the Windows Aero user interface in Vista can run and work on system with slightly lower specification, such as on 64MB WDDM compatible graphics card for LCD flat panel up to 17-inch or larger, depending on resolution, and on system with less RAM memory i.e. 512 MB.

Step 1

Windows Aero is only available on Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Home Premium, and Windows Vista Ultimate. To find out which edition of Windows Vista you have on your computer, open Welcome Center by clicking the Start button, click on Control Panel, then open System and Maintenance, and then click on Welcome Center. The edition of Windows Vista you're running is displayed with your computer details near the top of the window.

Step 2

Sometimes Windows Vista may wrongly detect that the graphics adapters are not sufficiently powerful for Vista to automatically enable Aero. In this case, user can manually enable Aero.

Click on the Start button and then click on "Control Panel".
Click on "Appearance and Personalization".
Click on "Personalization".
Click "Window Color and Appearance".
Click on "Open classic appearance properties for more color options".
Select the Windows Aero color scheme.

Step 3

Vista Aero may need 32-bit colors to work. Open Display Settings by clicking on the Start button, then open Control Panel and then click on Appearance and Personalization. Next, click on Personalization and then click on Display Settings. Under Colors, select Highest (32 bit), and then click OK (If you can't select 32 bit, check that your resolution is as high as possible).

Step 4

Windows Aero needs monitor refresh rate that higher than 10 Hz. Open Display Settings by clicking on the Start button, then open Control Panel and then click on Appearance and Personalization. Next, click on Personalization and then click on Display Settings. After that, click on Advanced Settings. Click the Monitor tab, and then click a refresh rate that's higher than 10 hertz. (The monitor will take a moment to adjust, click Apply to keep the changes, click Apply. If you don't apply the changes within fifteen seconds, the refresh rate will revert back to your original setting. Beside, the refresh rate affect all users who log on to the computer.)

Step 5

Windows Aero may also need Windows Vista desktop theme to run properly. Open Theme Settings by clicking the Start button, then click on Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization, and go into Personalization, and then click on Theme button. In the Theme list, select Windows Vista, and then click OK.

Step 6 - Enable Aero Glass Transparency Effect or Windows Frame Transparency

To turn on window frame transparency or Aero Glass feature, the color scheme must first be set to Windows Aero (step 2). Then click the Start button, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Personalization, click Personalization, (or you can right-Click on a blank area of desktop, and then select Personalize from the right click context menu), and then click Window Color and Appearance. Select and check the "Enable transparency" option.

Step 7

If your system only have memory of 512 MB RAM or less, Vista will not automatically enable Aero on such system. And you won't be able to enable Aero via any of the above steps too, as users will only able to see "Windows Vista Basic" schemes and options in Appearance Settings for such system.

However, Aero can still be enable with the following workaround trick, as long as it has Aero supported graphic cards, if it's still not available after the above 6 steps.

Go to Start button, then click on Run.
Run "regedit".
Browse and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\ registry branch.
On the following registry subkeys, edit and change the default value:
Composition to 1
CompositionPolicy to 2

Exit registry editor.
Go to Start and click on Run again.
Execute and run the following commands one by one:
net stop uxsms
net start uxsms

Step 8

If you still cannot get Aero, or the Aero Glass transparency on WDM is not working yet. Try to use the following registry hack.

Go to Start button, then click on Run.
Run "regedit".
Browse and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\ registry branch.
On the following registry subkeys, edit and change the default value:
ColorizationOpaqueBlend to 1
CompositionPolicy" to 2

Exit registry editor.
Go to Start and click on Run again.
Execute and run the following commands one by one:
net stop uxsms
net start uxsms

Alternatively, copy and paste the following text into a text editor, save it as a file with .reg extension. Then double click on the registry registration file just saved, and insert or merge the new registry value in to the registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
"ColorizationOpaqueBlend"=dword:00000001
"CompositionPolicy"=dword:00000002

Restart Desktop Window Manager Session Manager in Services Manager or simply run "net stop uxsms" and then follow by "net start uxsms" in Command Prompt.

You can try to enable and get Windows Aero Glass interface for non-support or non-WDDM compatible graphic card too.

Hidden Vista tricks that can make you more productive

2008-01-14T02:51:00.000-08:00

Takeaway: There are literally hundreds of new features and hidden tricks in Vista. Here are a few that will be helpful to you as you begin to get accustomed to using the new Windows Vista operating system.

If you've installed the new Vista OS, chances are good that you're
looking in every nook and cranny for all of the hidden tricks to using its new
features. Of course, there are literally hundreds of new features and hidden tricks
in Vista. It would be impossible to uncover or reveal,
all of these hidden tricks in one article. But I’ve chosen a few that I think
will be helpful to you as you begin to get accustomed to using the new Windows
Vista operating system. Let’s take a look.

Launching your favorite applications with the [Windows] key

In the article, Customizing
Vista's Taskbar and Start Menu, I showed you how to put the main area of
the Start Menu to much better use by configuring it as a launching area for all
the programs you use most often. However, Windows Vista provides you with an
even better way to quickly access your favorite applications--you can assign
them to special [Windows] key combinations.

To take advantage of this hidden trick, all you have to do
is add the shortcuts to your favorite applications to the Quick Launch toolbar,
which you can do with a simple drag and drop operation. You can have up to 10
shortcuts on the Quick Launch toolbar to use with the [Windows] key. By
default, the Show Desktop and the Switch Between
Windows/Flip 3D shortcuts are already on the Quick Launch toolbar, so with the idea
that you’d leave them there, you can add up to 8 additional shortcuts.

Moving left to right, the first shortcut on the Quick Launch
toolbar is automatically assigned to [Windows]+1, the
second shortcut to [Windows]+2 and so on. The tenth shortcut on the Quick
Launch toolbar is automatically assigned to [Windows]+0.
By unlocking the Taskbar (via a simple right-click on the Taskbar and clicking
Lock the Taskbar) and expanding the Quick Launch toolbar, as shown in Figure A,
you can use drag and drop to arrange the shortcuts in any order that you want.

Figure A

In this Quick Launch toolbar arrangement, [Windows]+6
launches Notepad while [Windows]+0 launches the new Windows Vista Snipping Tool.

Once you memorize which numeric [Windows] keys are assigned
to which application shortcuts; you can resize the Quick Launch toolbar to its
default size and relock the Taskbar, as shown in Figure B. This lets you use
the all the space on the Taskbar as you normally would and still be able to
launch any of your applications with a simple [Windows] keystroke.

Figure B

You can resize the Quick Launch toolbar so that it doesn’t take space away
from the Taskbar, yet still access the shortcuts via the [Windows] key
combinations.

Other Win Key combinations

Here are a couple of other handy [Windows] key shortcuts:

[Windows]+T:
Cycles through programs using the Live Taskbar feature.

[Windows]+[Spacebar]: Brings the Windows Sidebar to the
foreground.

Using the mouse wheel to change the icon views

If you’re using Windows Explorer to work with your files and
folders, you’ve probably already discovered the new Views menu. You just click
the arrow next to the Views icon on the toolbar to bring up the Views menu, as
shown in Figure C, and then drag the slider up or down to change the size and
appearance of the file and folder icons.

Figure C

The slider on the Views menu has seven settings that range from Extra Large
Icons to Tiles.

While clicking the icon and dragging the slider is simple
enough there is an easier way. Simply hold down the [Ctrl] key and scroll your
mouse wheel up and down to resize the icons from Tiles to Extra Large Icons.

Using the [Ctrl] key and the mouse wheel combination also
works on the Desktop. While the Desktop is selected, just hold down the [Ctrl]
key and scroll your mouse wheel up and down to resize the icons from a microscopic
16 x 16 all the way up to huge 256 x 256 renditions.

Reveal the Menu Bar in Windows Explorer

As you can see in Figure D, the Menu Bar in Windows Explorer
is no longer visible. However, it's still there, as shown in Figure E. Just
press [Alt] key to toggle the Menu Bar on and off.

Figure D

The Menu Bar no longer appears in Windows Explorer default layout configuration.

Figure E

Pressing the [Alt] key temporarily brings the Menu Bar back into the
layout.

If you’d rather have the Menu Bar visible all of the time,
just click the arrow next to the Organize icon on the toolbar, open the Layout
submenu and select Menu Bar, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

You can make the Menu Bar visible all of the time from the Layout menu.

The Menu Bar is no longer visible in Internet Explorer 7
either; however, you can use the same trick--just press the [Alt] key to toggle
the Menu Bar on and off. If you want the Menu Bar visible all of the time, pull
down the View menu, open the Toolbars submenu, and select Menu Bar.

Instantly copy a path to the Clipboard

Have you ever wanted to obtain a copy of the path of a file
nested deep down in your hard drive’s organization structure? If so, you know
the drill, launch Windows Explorer, traverse the directory to the file, select
the contents of the address bar, copy the path, paste it in Notepad, and then
type the filename itself.

Fortunately, with Windows Vista, you no longer have to
perform such acrobatics just to get the path to a file. All you have to do is
hold down the [Shift] key, right-click on the file or folder, and select the
new command titled Copy as Path, as shown in Figure G. When you do, the path to
the file or folder is copied to the Clipboard and you can simply paste it
anywhere you want.

Figure G

The Copy as Path command saves a lot of time and effort when it comes to
getting path listings.