computer and communication

Top Dropper In April

2009-05-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Thank a lot pal,
i'll publish your link..

Tech-Blog	28
First Time	25
Singapore Draws	24
Grandmother's Patternbook	23
Wii Mommies	21
iWalk,U2?	21
Doing Business	21
Denford Magora's Zimbabwe Blog	20
Jill's Creative Cafe Page	20
Change Your Mindset	19

i hope this continously... thank once again pal

Tons of released drugs taint US water

2009-04-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.

Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.

Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them — as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.

As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The data don't show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking.

To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what's being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.

But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy about whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.

"It doesn't pass the straight-face test to say pharmaceutical manufacturers are not emitting any of the compounds they're creating," said Kyla Bennett, who spent 10 years as an EPA enforcement officer before becoming an ecologist and environmental attorney.

Pilot studies in the U.S. and abroad are now confirming those doubts.

Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans.

Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharma-tainted water.

Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don't absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging are thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs. Some scientists say they are increasingly concerned that the consumption of combinations of many drugs, even in small amounts, could harm humans over decades.

Utilities say the water is safe. Scientists, doctors and the EPA say there are no confirmed human risks associated with consuming minute concentrations of drugs. But those experts also agree that dangers cannot be ruled out, especially given the emerging research.

___

Two common industrial chemicals that are also pharmaceuticals — the antiseptics phenol and hydrogen peroxide — account for 92 percent of the 271 million pounds identified as coming from drugmakers and other manufacturers. Both can be toxic and both are considered to be ubiquitous in the environment.

However, the list of 22 includes other troubling releases of chemicals that can be used to make drugs and other products: 8 million pounds of the skin bleaching cream hydroquinone, 3 million pounds of nicotine compounds that can be used in quit-smoking patches, 10,000 pounds of the antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride. Others include treatments for head lice and worms.

Residues are often released into the environment when manufacturing equipment is cleaned.

A small fraction of pharmaceuticals also leach out of landfills where they are dumped. Pharmaceuticals released onto land include the chemo agent fluorouracil, the epilepsy medicine phenytoin and the sedative pentobarbital sodium. The overall amount may be considerable, given the volume of what has been buried — 572 million pounds of the 22 monitored drugs since 1988.

In one case, government data shows that in Columbus, Ohio, pharmaceutical maker Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc. discharged an estimated 2,285 pounds of lithium carbonate — which is considered slightly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and freshwater fish — to a local wastewater treatment plant between 1995 and 2006. Company spokeswoman Marybeth C. McGuire said the pharmaceutical plant, which uses lithium to make drugs for bipolar disorder, has violated no laws or regulations. McGuire said all the lithium discharged, an annual average of 190 pounds, was lost when residues stuck to mixing equipment were washed down the drain.

___

Pharmaceutical company officials point out that active ingredients represent profits, so there's a huge incentive not to let any escape. They also say extremely strict manufacturing regulations — albeit aimed at other chemicals — help prevent leakage, and that whatever traces may get away are handled by onsite wastewater treatment.

"Manufacturers have to be in compliance with all relevant environmental laws," said Alan Goldhammer, a scientist and vice president at the industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Goldhammer conceded some drug residues could be released in wastewater, but stressed "it would not cause any environmental issues because it was not a toxic substance at the level that it was being released at."

Several big drugmakers were asked this simple question: Have you tested wastewater from your plants to find out whether any active pharmaceuticals are escaping, and if so what have you found?

No drugmaker answered directly.

"Based on research that we have reviewed from the past 20 years, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities are not a significant source of pharmaceuticals that contribute to environmental risk," GlaxoSmithKline said in a statement.

AstraZeneca spokeswoman Kate Klemas said the company's manufacturing processes "are designed to avoid, or otherwise minimize the loss of product to the environment" and thus "ensure that any residual losses of pharmaceuticals to the environment that do occur are at levels that would be unlikely to pose a threat to human health or the environment."

One major manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., acknowledged that it tested some of its wastewater — but outside the United States.

The company's director of hazard communication and environmental toxicology, Frank Mastrocco, said Pfizer has sampled effluent from some of its foreign drug factories. Without disclosing details, he said the results left Pfizer "confident that the current controls and processes in place at these facilities are adequately protective of human health and the environment."

It's not just the industry that isn't testing.

FDA spokesman Christopher Kelly noted that his agency is not responsible for what comes out on the waste end of drug factories. At the EPA, acting assistant administrator for water Mike Shapiro — whose agency's Web site says pharmaceutical releases from manufacturing are "well defined and controlled" — did not mention factories as a source of pharmaceutical pollution when asked by the AP how drugs get into drinking water.

"Pharmaceuticals get into water in many ways," he said in a written statement. "It's commonly believed the majority come from human and animal excretion. A portion also comes from flushing unused drugs down the toilet or drain; a practice EPA generally discourages."

His position echoes that of a line of federal drug and water regulators as well as drugmakers, who concluded in the 1990s — before highly sensitive tests now used had been developed — that manufacturing is not a meaningful source of pharmaceuticals in the environment.

Pharmaceutical makers typically are excused from having to submit an environmental review for new products, and the FDA has never rejected a drug application based on potential environmental impact. Also at play are pressures not to delay potentially lifesaving drugs. What's more, because the EPA hasn't concluded at what level, if any, pharmaceuticals are bad for the environment or harmful to people, drugmakers almost never have to report the release of pharmaceuticals they produce.

"The government could get a national snapshot of the water if they chose to," said Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, "and it seems logical that we would want to find out what's coming out of these plants."

Ajit Ghorpade, an environmental engineer who worked for several major pharmaceutical companies before his current job helping run a wastewater treatment plant, said drugmakers have no impetus to take measurements that the government doesn't require.

"Obviously nobody wants to spend the time or their dime to prove this," he said. "It's like asking me why I don't drive a hybrid car? Why should I? It's not required."

___

After contacting the nation's leading drugmakers and filing public records requests, the AP found two federal agencies that have tested.

Both the EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey have studies under way comparing sewage at treatment plants that receive wastewater from drugmaking factories against sewage at treatment plants that do not.

Preliminary USGS results, slated for publication later this year, show that treated wastewater from sewage plants serving drug factories had significantly more medicine residues. Data from the EPA study show a disproportionate concentration in wastewater of an antibiotic that a major Michigan factory was producing at the time the samples were taken.

Meanwhile, other researchers recorded concentrations of codeine in the southern reaches of the Delaware River that were at least 10 times higher than the rest of the river.

The scientists from the Delaware River Basin Commission won't have to look far when they try to track down potential sources later this year. One mile from the sampling site, just off shore of Pennsville, N.J., there's a pipe that spits out treated wastewater from a municipal plant. The plant accepts sewage from a pharmaceutical factory owned by Siegfried Ltd. The factory makes codeine.

"We have implemented programs to not only reduce the volume of waste materials generated but to minimize the amount of pharmaceutical ingredients in the water," said Siegfried spokeswoman Rita van Eck.

Another codeine plant, run by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Noramco Inc., is about seven miles away. A Noramco spokesman acknowledged that the Wilmington, Del., factory had voluntarily tested its wastewater and found codeine in trace concentrations thousands of times greater than what was found in the Delaware River. "The amounts of codeine we measured in the wastewater, prior to releasing it to the City of Wilmington, are not considered to be hazardous to the environment," said a company spokesman.

In another instance, equipment-cleaning water sent down the drain of an Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. factory in Denver consistently contains traces of warfarin, a blood thinner, according to results obtained under a public records act request. Officials at the company and the Denver Metro Wastewater Reclamation District said they believe the concentrations are safe.

Warfarin, which also is a common rat poison and pesticide, is so effective at inhibiting growth of aquatic plants and animals it's actually deliberately introduced to clean plants and tiny aquatic animals from ballast water of ships.

"With regard to wastewater management we are subject to a variety of federal, state and local regulation and oversight," said Joel Green, Upsher-Smith's vice president and general counsel. "And we work hard to maintain systems to promote compliance."

Baylor University professor Bryan Brooks, who has published more than a dozen studies related to pharmaceuticals in the environment, said assurances that drugmakers run clean shops are not enough.

"I have no reason to believe them or not believe them," he said. "We don't have peer-reviewed studies to support or not support their claims."

taken from yahoo health

13 Twitter's Don't doing

2009-04-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

You want to keep your Twitter followers happy? Avoid these okay.

he number of new Twitter users has soared over the past few months, as the microblogging service has taken the media by storm. If you're one of those new users, you may be baffled by Twitter's peculiar culture, or nervous that you'll commit some kind of microblogging faux pas.

Don't worry, we're here to help. While there aren't specific rules for how to use Twitter, avoiding these 13 Don'ts will help you fit right in—and may even gain you some adoring new followers.

1. Don't live-tweet TV shows. @CorinneIOZO warns that lots of people use DVRs or watch shows on Hulu these days, so spoiling big moments ("OMG, the smoke monster was actually from outer space! No way!") is a major no-no. As an alternative, tweet an inside joke that the show's viewers will get, but that doesn't give away any important details.

2. Don't say anything that could get you fired or prevent you from getting a job. @JoelSD points out that if your tweets are public, they really are open to everyone, as has been demonstrated time and time again.

3. Don't be boring. A simple rule that @kmonson follows is "Never tweet about food or the weather." If your friends see one more "Good morning Twitterverse!" or "I had some awesome corn flakes for breakfast," you're getting un-followed.

4. Don't forget the Twitter lingo: RT is retweet, and @name is how you respond or give props to someone. Feel free to be generous with both your RTs and your @s.

5. Don't tweet more than ten times a day, or more than five times an hour, says @JasonCross00. It gets annoying and takes space and attention away from other Twitterers' links and observations. If you have that much to say, maybe it belongs on a blog.

6. Don't reply to every single tweet. As @seanludwig points out, it gets old fast.

7. Don't tweet drunk, cautions @whitneyarner. Just like in real life, your followers might get a kick out of your drunk tweets, but you'll probably regret them in the morning.

8. Don't tell us about something cool or life-changing without a link or picture (use a service like TwitPic for your photos, and a URL shortener like TinyURL or is.gd for your links).

9. Don't retweet something and leave off the original Twitter poster. Always give credit to those who wrote it first.

10. Don't ignore people who send you a direct message or a reply, says @LanceUlanoff. Part of the Twitter experience involves conversing with your followers when possible.

11. Don't #hashtag every topic. After a while, your topics will be ignored.

12. Don't whine about people not following you, pleads @SaschaSegan. If you're good at providing interesting stuff and you're patient, you'll get the followers you crave so badly.

13. Don't tweet your bathroom habits. Seriously. Just don't do it.

taken from pcmag.com

Intel Begins Applying 'Stars' Ratings to Microprocessors

2009-04-13T00:50:00.000-07:00

Will you choose a PC's processor like you choose a hotel? Intel has already bet that you will.

Years after microprocessor vendors launched "model numbers" to try and provide buyers with a simpler way of evaluating microprocessor performance, on April 1 Intel began placing point-of-sale placards and other promotional materials in stores displaying between one to five stars. The company has also jazzed up its chip logos, adding a bit of color to the almost-uniform Intel blue.

The problem is threefold: on one hand, it's almost impossible for even experienced enthusiasts to try and distinguish between two nearly identical processors, which now use a dizzying array of features to differentiate themselves: the number of cores, their clock speed, the amount of level-2 and level-3 cache, the speed of the interconnect, the memory interface and speed, as well as other features such as hyperthreading and "turbo boost". Differences can be ascertained by benchmarking both simulated and real-world applications, which sites like ExtremeTech run in spades.

At a retailer like Best Buy, however, such benchmarks are rarely, if ever, provided to the user; OEMs like Hewlett-Packard and Acer are more interested in presenting the advantages of their own hardware and software bundles.

The third issue: the number of processor options companies like Intel and its rival AMD offer; Intel offers a total of 30 desktop processors, and 57 notebook processors, not including the three Atom processors which can appear in either a "nettop" or netbook.

When asked, Intel spokesman Bill Calder agreed that "there were too many models; too many brands." Intel's desktop brands include the Pentium, Celeron, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Core i7, and Core i7 Extreme Edition. Most are centered around what Calder called a "hero" brand: the Core series. But, he added, it was too soon to say whether older brands, such as the Celeron, would be discarded.

"It's important for people to understand that we've got all these different brands, but we have a challenge when people come to retail," he said. "How do I distinguish between the Pentium and Celeron and Core and Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad?"

Over the last few months, Intel has been re-evaluating its brands and embarking on a fairly broad band simplification effort, he said. Both the revised logo and the "stars" classifications are "small but important elements" of that, Calder said. "And there will be more," he added.

The "stars" rating," Calder said, is an "easy, intuitive way" to see the processors in connection with one another, in a way that he said communicates "relative performance, not a price-performance type of thing," he said. They will be applied to both desktop and notebook product lines, but not the Atom, he said.

Five-star desktop processors include the Intel Core i7 and Core i7 Extreme; four-star processors include the Q9300+ and E8000 series. Three-star processors include the Q8000 series and E7000 series. Intel has drawn a more distinct line between the three- and two-star designations, placing the Pentium line in its own two-star category. At the bottom of the heap is the Celeron, a one-star chip.

(Some of the distinctions can appear arbitrary; the three-star Q8300 is a four-core, 2.5-GHz processor that uses a 1,333-MHz front-side bus with 4 Mbytes of cache; the four-star Q9300 is identical, but includes 6 Mbytes of cache.)

Calder emphasized that the star ratings were not based entirely on performance, but on features, such as the "turbo boost" capability that allows the Core i7 architecture to overclock a single core running one single-threaded application. They won't be directly affixed to a PC, but have been accompanying sales circulars since the first of the month. Additional point-of-sale training will be required, Calder said.

The revised logos remain largely unchanged from Intel's traditional "Intel Inside" logo, except with the Core brand prominently displayed, and color coding applied to help differentiate the brands. The logo also includes a "peeled-away" portion, revealing a die-like graphic. The orientation is now horizontal, although the logo will take up the same "footprint," or space.

The new logos are more colorful and ornamental, Calder said.

taken from pcmag.com

Beware Conficker Awakens, Mutates, Hustles

2009-04-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

Reports are all over that a new and interesting version of the Conficker worm is around, and that it is pushing rogue anti-malware to its users. Thus a purpose to the whole endeavor begins to emerge: Money. But the vendor analyses of this new variant are not yet in synch; they disagree on some points and are confused on others.

ESET calls this new variant Win32/Conficker.AQ; the names are really beginning to diverge among the vendors. The new variant is split into client and server components. The server, a Windows device driver, attempts to perform the infections of other systems through the MS08-067 vulnerability in Windows that made Conficker famous, but which had actually been removed from the previous variant. It also sets up an HTTP server on a random TCP port. Curiously, after May 3 the server part of the program will remove itself from the system as of the next reboot.

The client program is a newly-obfuscated version of the old, familiar Conficker program. ESET says the new version dumps the domain name distribution scheme; this seemed clever, but was too susceptible to organized resistance by the industry and authorities. The new version attempts only to communicate through the already established peer network. They also suspect that the Autoun propagation system has been removed from it too, but haven't completed analysis on that point.

ESET has a removal tool for this variant.

Symantec is reporting that the driver patches tcpip.sys in order to increase the number of concurrent connections on the system. They call this variant W32.Downadup.E. Symantec describes the DLL portion as the C variant and that the purpose of the infection is to install that C variant. This isn't exactly what ESET says. Symantec also doesn't say that the Autorun propagation has been removed and they still recommend in their technical description disabling Autorun, but the description of E variant doesn't mention Autorun anymore.

The Microsoft description has more details than most others:

* Before it spreads itself it appends a stream of randomly generated garbage to itself to confuse file identifiers, but this won't be too hard to defeat.

* It establishes the server by using SSDP to find an Internet gateway device and then issues a SOAP command to set up port forwarding to itself. This is UPnP, and router configuration program often do similar things.

Kaspersky's Threatpost then follows through on the business model of Conficker: pushing rogue anti-malware. They report that infected systems are getting popups with warnings that push a $49.95 scam product, SpywareProtect2009. Kaspersky has their own disinfection tool.

More on Conficker:

A New Old Worm Follows in Conficker's Footsteps

Where Are the Infected Conficker Systems?

Conficker Post-Mortem...It Is Dead, Isn't It?

Infected with Conficker? Here's What to Do

Conficker--a Bullet-Proof Botnet?

The 7 Most Important Things to Know About Conficker

Disable Write Access to USB Hard Disk and Flash Key Drives

2009-04-08T01:03:00.000-07:00

There is a registry hack that able to disable the USB drive access to USB mass storage device such as flash drive, USB key, thumb drive, pendrive and portable hard disk while keeping the USB hardware device such as webcam, mouse, keyboard, printer and scanner connected to USB ports working as usual. However, the hack disable the USB access to disk drive completely. User cannot copy data to the USB disk storage, nor able to read any files and documents from the USB drive.

For user who just want to disable write access to the external removable USB mass storage disk drive, there is another registry hack of WriteProtect in StorageDevicePolicies registry key that able to restrict Windows system from writing to the USB disk drive, and hence effectively user to copy any sensitive or private data from the PC to USB key stick. The trick works in a similar way to write-protect feature used in floppy disk and backup tape which make the disk read-only, only that in this case, it’s system wide implementation that block any writing and recording of data to USB mass storage device.

To disable writing access to USB drives and make all USB drives has only read-only access, follow these steps:

1. Run Registry Editor (regedit).
2. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
3. Create a New Key named as StorageDevicePolicies.
4. Highlight StorageDevicePolicies, and then create a New DWORD (32-bit) Value named as WriteProtect.
5. Double click on WriteProtect, and set its value data to 1.

Best Security Tools

2009-04-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

These eight free downloads and services will help you beat back the bad guys with antivirus and antispyware programs, personal firewalls, and even a program that can detect whether your Web site is under attack.

BEST BET
Avast Home Edition: The big names in security software charge you big bucks for big suites full of big, bloated software. It scans your system for malware and kills what it finds, and gives you seven different types of "shields" to keep you safe from harm, such as one for protecting you from dangers that might be lurking on Web sites (such as drive-by downloads), one for guarding against peer-to-peer attacks, another that stops instant messaging threats, and so on. And it does all that, amazingly enough, without taking up much RAM or system resources.

a-Squared HiJackFree: Spyware is notorious for evading even the most rigorous cleaners, which is why you need more than one antispyware utility on your PC. HiJackFree is a great download to use in concert with your main antispyware program for extra protection. Rather than offering a live shield, it checks your system for spyware and then eradicates it. For the geeky, it offers a lot more as well, such as tools for viewing what programs are using your TCP ports, and for examining programs that run on startup.

Attack Trace: Worried that the bad guys are targeting your Web site? This free service checks to see if your site is under attack.

Comodo EasyVPN Home: This download allows you to create secure peer-to-peer networks over the Internet for sharing information, chatting, and so on. Everything is encrypted, so no one else will be able to snoop on what you're doing.

EULAlyzer: Hidden in some end-user license agreements (EULAs) are indicators that the software may be spyware, or that it might invade your privacy in other ways. This downloadable analyzer examines EULAs and warns you about dangers.

Online Armor Personal Firewall: This is the best personal firewall you've never heard of. It provides solid protection, but unobtrusively. Lots of firewalls bug you constantly when you first install them, asking about any program that wants to access the Internet. This software starts out by allowing known safe applications to access the Web and bothers you only about the programs it's unsure about. It also has a clever "Safer mode" that will allow certain apps to run with stripped-down privileges.

SpywareBlaster: With this downloadable antispyware utility, you can make sure you don't get infected in the first place rather than scanning for and killing spyware after it hits your machine. It works differently from most competitors by restricting the actions that potentially dangerous Web sites can perform when you visit them. It also protects against dangerous ActiveX controls, and keeps tracking cookies off your PC.

SuperAntiSpyware: Here's an excellent antispyware tool thjavascript:void(0)
Publish Postat does a thorough job of scanning your system for dangers, and then whacks any it finds. This download scans not just your files and memory, but also your Registry. It doesn't offer real-time protection, though.

taken from pcmag.com

Digital Photography Review : Pentax K2000

2009-04-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

For those looking for an entry into digital SLR (D-SLR) photography, the $599.95 (direct) Pentax K2000 is a great choice at a great price. This 10.2-megapixel camera performs quite well in well-lit outdoor shots, where its captures are just as sharp as those produced by the 12.1MP Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 or the killer 12.3MP Nikon D90. The only area in which the Editors' Choice Canon EOS Rebel XSi outperforms the K2000 is shooting without a flash in low-light conditions. In these situations, the K2000's pictures tend to be grainy. This Pentax, though, has plenty of entry-level appeal thanks to its Help button, which acts as an onboard users' manual.

The K2000 is comfortable to hold and has a traditional SLR look-and-feel. Its 3.6-by-4.8-by-2.7-inch (HWD) body is available in either black or white (the latter is a camera-color rarity). With the included lens attached, the camera weighs 1.7 pounds. The controls are straightforward and are consolidated on the right-hand side of the camera. Most buttons are labeled with large, bold, uppercase text like MENU and INFO. Inside, the camera uses a CCD sensor and shoots through a 3X optical zoom wide-angle 18mm to 50mm lens (35mm equivalent: 27mm to 82.5mm) with corresponding f-stops at f/3.5 to f/5.6. When later analyzed through the Imatest (www.imatest.com) testing suite, the lens produced just a hair of pincushion distortion at its widest and telephoto position; no matter what the subject, though, my real-world photos never appeared warped.

Near the power switch on top of the camera is the K2000's Help button, which is labeled with a question mark. This feature is a real boon for those new to D-SLRs. Simply tap Help and then any other button or dial on the camera, and a short description of that function (and often a one-line tip) is displayed. For example, tap Help and then the ISO button, and the K2000's 2.7-inch LCD displays, "Access the ISO sensitivity settings and auto ISO range. Higher ISO settings allow faster shutter speeds but may add image noise." Once you've outgrown the button, you can reprogram it as a shortcut to one of four other functions: Custom Preview, Digital Preview, Digital Filter, or RAW image format.

The K2000 does not let you use its LCD as a viewfinder, as most entry-level D-SLRs do. The exclusion of this so-called "Live View" feature is not a huge ding, as you'll frame most of your shots through the viewfinder, but it's always a nice bonus. Live View is convenient for photographers more familiar with LCDs from compact point-and-shooters, but it also comes in handy when you aren't able to look through the viewfinder (as when you're holding the camera above your head).

In the lab I use Imatest to objectively rate the image quality of photos produced by point-and-shooters, D-SLRs, and even cell-phone cameras. In terms of sharpness, the K2000 performed quite well. At its sharpest f-stop, the K2000 averaged 1,776 lines per picture height throughout the image at ISO 100. This rivaled the 1,700 averaged by the Panasonic G1 and the 1,710 averaged by the Nikon D90 (at ISO 200; the D90 doesn't offer ISO 100). The Canon EOS Rebel XSi, though, shut them all down, averaging 2,013 lines.

The K2000 did a good job of retaining sharpness at higher ISO sensitivities. You're safe to expect a crisp picture from ISO 100 to 400: Sharpness at these ISOs averaged between 1,700 and 1,800 lines per picture height. We obtained similar results at ISO 800, but with higher noise levels. Sharpness dropped to the 1,500s at ISO 1600 (which is on a par with that of the Rebel XSi) and to the 1,200s at ISO 3200—but there was also a lot of noise. The K2000, though, smokes the Panasonic G1, which has about 32 percent more noise than the K2000 at ISO 1600 and almost double the noise at ISO 3200. The Rebel XSi shows the least noise overall: about 28 percent less than the K2000 at ISO 800 and about 15 percent less than the K2000 at ISO 1600. Since the Rebel XSi has less noise at those ISO sensitivities, it will produce less grainy shots when shooting in low light without a flash (which typically requires you to increase your ISO sensitivity).

Testing the camera outdoors in Manhattan, I found that the K2000's shots came out beautifully. Photos of my sister and her boyfriend near Grand Central Terminal all had vivid colors and looked sharp. When shooting skylines, however, I noticed that a few of the shots captured the sky as white instead of blue. This is a common issue; I solved it by flipping the white balance to the Outdoors setting.

The K2000 also worked well indoors. In order to capture the inside of Grand Central, I had to increase the ISO sensitivity to 800 and 1600. ISO 800 looked good and was just at the threshold of reasonable noise, but the lack of light made it difficult to get the fast shutter speeds needed for very sharp pictures. When I kicked up the ISO sensitivity to 1600, images were just a bit too noisy. According to Imatest, the K2000's noise levels at ISO 800 are roughly equivalent to the Canon Rebel XSi's noise levels at 1,600, so the Canon would probably have fared better in Grand Central.

The K2000 may be an entry-level D-SLR, but for the most part it doesn't compromise on speed. I was able to turn it on and pull off a shot in a blazing-fast average of 0.58 second. Using Shooting-Digital.com's shutter lag test with pre-focus enabled, the K2000 averaged a practically unnoticeable 0.1 second of shutter lag. Without pre-focus, the K2000D hit closer to 0.2 second—still extremely fast. The K2000 can snap off 3.5 frames per second in continuous shooting, but that can slow down under stress: The camera averaged 0.43 second between shots when I was manually snapping as fast as I could, but after a few seconds it intermittently slowed to a full second.

Pentax bundles the K2000 with a large flash, the AF200FG, which attaches to the camera's topside hot-shoe accessory port. Sold separately, the flash runs $149.95 (direct), but doesn't add much to the K2000 bundle. Although it's stronger than the pop-up flash that's built into the camera, it doesn't swivel like the more expensive AF540FGZ ($335.95 direct). Swiveling allows you to pull off a flash technique called "bounce flash," to create more evenly lit photos without blown-out spots on faces or red eyes.

Similar to the higher-end Olympus E-30 the K2000 has onboard effects Pentax calls filters, which include Retro, Color Extract, Soft Focus, and a few others. Some effects can be applied only after the photo is shot; others can be applied before and after. For the most part, the end results are pretty terrific. My favorite of the bunch is Illustration, which lets you convert pictures into its versions of pastel and watercolor paintings. (Check out the slideshow for some sample shots.)

The Pentax K2000 is a solid choice if you're looking for basics like speed and sharp images in good light, and its Help button can be a valuable guide for those new to D-SLR photography. For a little more money, the $800 (list) Canon EOS Rebel XSi offers less noise at higher ISOs—helping it produce better shots in more situations—and extras like Live View. But this Pentax is still a quality product at a "recession special" price.
taken from pcmag.com

Nokia E71 review

2009-04-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

hei i think u better buy this stuff than blackberry.. this review i take from pcmag.com
read this

Call it the Lingonberry. Nokia's new E71 is one of the most beautiful, luxurious-feeling phones I've ever used, and it's a direct attack on RIM's upcoming BlackBerry Bold 9000. This excellent handset is sure to take European executive suites by storm, but for it to triumph here in the U.S., Nokia needs to Americanize its software a bit more

Slim but solid at 4.49 by 2.24 by 0.4 inches and 4.4 ounces, the E71 features a grooved stainless-steel back and small, domed white keys. You'll need precise fingers to enjoy this keypad, but it's as sharp as a handmade Italian suit. Overall, this is one seriously elegant-looking device.

There are plenty of action and command buttons, including volume and quick-access controls that take you to the home screen, calendar, contacts list, and e-mail program. The number keys are overlaid on the QWERTY keyboard, which is small but has very good tactile response. Nokia did make one irksome misstep here: Rather than being below the rest of the number keys, as it is on every other phone keypad, the "0" is next to the "9." This will likely cause some misdialing while you become accustomed to the layout.

The 2.36-inch 320-by-240-pixel display isn't huge, but it's bright enough for everyday work and can be easily read in sunlight.

The E71, a quad-band EDGE, dual-band HSDPA device, will come in two versions. The U.S. handset will work on AT&T's high-speed network here and on slower EDGE networks abroad. The European version, meanwhile, will work on high-speed networks in Europe, but on AT&T and T-Mobile's EDGE networks here. T-Mobile users should buy the European version, if they can; for them, the U.S. version will work only on EDGE, and with the European version they'll have access to high-speed networks at least when they're in Europe. The phone also supports Wi-Fi; I connected it to WPA2-secured networks without a problem.

The E71 excels as a voice phone: Reception is solid, and the earpiece sounds just plain beautiful. The speakerphone's speaker is in the top of the phone pointing upward, which is a little odd, and it could be a bit louder. Transmissions through the microphone and speakerphone mic sounded a bit hollow, with some background noise getting through. The handset supports wired and Bluetooth headsets and has Nokia's usual mediocre voice dialing, which mostly-sorta-works. I got 4 hours 43 minutes of 3G talk time out of the huge 1,500-mAh battery, which is a decent result for a 3G phone.

Running the Symbian Series 60 Version 3 Feature Pack 1 OS, the E71 is the fastest, smoothest Symbian device I've ever used, likely because of its beefy 381-MHz ARM11 processor. There's about 115MB of free space to install programs and save data, or you can tuck a microSD card into a slot in the side. Our 8GB SanDisk card worked well. To connect the phone to a PC, you can use a microSD cable or a surprisingly speedy Bluetooth 2.0+EDR connection.

There's a lot going on with this high-end PDA phone, and that's not even counting the thousands of third-party Symbian programs out there. Google Maps, Gmail, Go, and Yahoo! all run on Symbian, for instance. You get support for text and picture messaging out of the box. For instant messaging, you can download the free Gizmo application, which integrates AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! IM. In testing, it worked fine. The e-mail program works automatically with POP3/IMAP accounts, and syncs e-mail, contacts, and calendars over the air with Exchange 2003 SP2 or newer servers. The IMAP client is smooth, although it doesn't feature push e-mail, as BlackBerry does. The E71 has a strange way of handling HTML e-mail. Messages are delivered in plain text, with an HTML version attached, which you can open in the Web browser.

About the browser: Nokia's WebKit based app (which uses the same core as Apple's Safari) is even better at formatting pages than the iPhone's, because it incorporates Flash. The implementation isn't perfect, but it's certainly better than no Flash at all. It worked fine with the simple games at Orisinal.com, but CNET TV's Flash videos crashed the browser.

Ultimately, though, I prefer the mobile Safari browser because the iPhone's screen features more pixels. The E71's features the same resolution (320 by 240 pixels) as most Windows Mobile devices and the BlackBerry Curve The iPhone's 320-by-480 display offers double the real estate.

Exceptionally good at viewing and editing documents, the E71 comes with QuickOffice 4.1, which opens and edits even complex Microsoft Office 2003 documents easily. To get support for Office 2007, though, you'll need to spring for a $70 upgrade to QuickOffice 5.0. The included Adobe Reader LE is the best mobile PDF viewer available. In fact, the phone's office apps do better at displaying complex documents than Microsoft's own Windows Mobile apps.

The music and video players aren't particularly noteworthy, but the E71 has intriguing podcast and FM radio clients. Both the podcast and FM radio programs have built-in connections to online podcast and radio station directories, unlike some other clients, which force you to dig up and type in URLs or frequency numbers. The handset supports Bluetooth stereo and features a 2.5mm headphone jack, so you'll need an adapter to use standard music headphones. You get support for AAC, MP3, and WMA audio files, and you can sync with either Nokia's own PC Suite software or Windows Media Player. Video support consists of MP4 and 3GP files at up to 320-by-240-pixel resolution.

Simulated outdoor and daylight shots from the 3.2-megapixel camera were red enough to worry me, and bright areas were blown out. In low light pictures looked noisy, and in very low light they were blurry. I'm hoping Nokia improves the camera before launch. The video mode, though, takes sharp 320-by-240 videos at 15 frames per second. And a built-in sharing client lets you quickly post your pictures to Flickr or Nokia's own Ovi service, right from the camera menu, which is a nice addition. There are plenty of other innovative features here, too, such as wireless keyboard and printing drivers, two different notepad programs, and a text-to-speech program that reads your messages out to you.

The E71 syncs with PCs (but not Macs) using Nokia's PC Suite software, letting you link up your contacts, calendars, and tasks with Outlook, Lotus Notes, or the built-in Windows programs. It also lets you use the E71 as a modem for your PC.

In Europe, Nokia's E-series devices are considered business-friendly when paired with solutions from Visto, Seven, or Nokia's own Intellisync unit. But since most U.S. businesses prefer Microsoft's or RIM's back-end solutions, E-series devices have more of a counterculture appeal with those who like Nokia's energetic embracing of open-source principles and community development efforts.

Nokia's one-size-fits-the-globe approach makes the E71 feel a little awkward at times. The phone is stuffed with icons for programs that simply don't work in the U.S., including push-to-talk, Internet telephony, video calling, a music store, and an app for Intranet access. Also, my E71 wasn't tuned for AT&T's network, so I got slow 3G speeds, but Nokia claims that this should be remedied with the final firmware.

The integrated GPS also felt a little unpolished. The E71 runs Nokia Maps 2.0, which has an impressive feature set. The maps are gorgeous, including outlines of individual buildings on city streets. The system provides driving and walking directions to thousands of points of interest, including restaurants, banks, and forms of transportation. But the GPS took a long time to lock onto my location. For the first half-hour, the system thought I was in Sweden, and I couldn't get it to recognize a New York City address I searched for. What's more, directions aren't free. For walking directions, you pay $7.79 per month or $39.01 a year. For driving directions (which adds voice prompts), it'll cost you $14.03/month or $109.25/year. Live traffic data is available only in Europe.

It's difficult to compare the E71 directly with the yet-to-be-released BlackBerry Bold, but this phone is far sleeker than its existing rivals, the BlackBerry Curve and Motorola Q9h and at around $500, it'll be around half the price of the Nokia E90 Communicator. The E71 is speedier and simpler to use than the Q9h, though the Q9h has a better keyboard. The Curve is less expensive, and is easier for e-mail, so it's a more mainstream choice here in the U.S, but, with its excellent looks, copious features, and maverick appeal, the E71 could easily become a viable competitor.

The Nokia E71 will go on sale later this summer direct from NokiaUSA.com for approximately $500.

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 (T-Mobile)

2009-04-05T19:58:00.001-07:00

After its last release, the buggy BlackBerry Storm 9530, RIM's got its groove back. The new BlackBerry Curve 8900 juices up the already-excellent Curve form factor with a sharper screen, faster processor, and better camera, letting it jump through new multimedia hoops while still helping you get your work done. If you need to stay connected, this Curve is the simplest and most stylish way to do it on T-Mobile.

The Curve 8900 looks like a cross between the BlackBerry Curve 8320 and the BlackBerry Bold 9000. Like the Bold, it's mostly black and has an insanely high-res screen: 360 by 480 pixels on a 2.4-inch panel, which basically makes the pixels invisible. The screen is even higher-res than the iPhone's 320-by-480 touch screen. Since the iPhone's screen is much larger, though, it can fit more information than the 8900. Like the original Curve, the 8900 features a full QWERTY keyboard of slightly separated keys that are a breeze to use. The handset features Mute and Lock buttons on its top, Voice Dialing, Camera, and Volume controls on the side, and its 3.2-megapixel camera on the back.

Despite its just-average signal strength, the 8900 is an excellent voice phone, with calls sounding especially loud and clear on T-Mobile's 2G EDGE network You can even fiddle with the bass and treble controls to find the most appealing sound. Call delivery sounds terrific on the other end; in my test calls, no background noise made it through—even on the speakerphone. The phone paired with two different Bluetooth headsets without a hitch (the mono Motorola H15 and the stereo Altec Lansing Backbeat); it also works with wired headsets. Voice dialing works well. The 8900 clocked almost 9 hours of talk time—not the best we've seen on T-Mobile, but still quite good. Ringtones are loud enough, but the vibrating alert is a bit too subtle.

A major benefit: The phone works with T-Mobile's $10-per-month unlimited Wi-Fi calling plan, which lets you make calls from any Wi-Fi network you can connect to. The 8900 connected easily to wireless networks via Linksys and Apple routers. Calls were smooth, and the phone switched back and forth between the Wi-Fi and EDGE networks without a hitch.

Like most BlackBerrys, the 8900 excels at messaging. It uses BlackBerry e-mail, which can support eight accounts of almost any variety and display them with attachments, formatting, and graphics intact. You can view photos, videos and, Microsoft Office attachments with its built-in viewers. You also get clients for AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Microsoft Live Messenger, and Yahoo. The 8900 delivers e-mail, text, and picture messages all into one inbox. I was also able to quickly load and use Twibble, a third-party Twitter client. Several other third-party BlackBerry apps I tried also worked fine.

The beefy 512-MHz processor lets the phone multitask comfortably and perform some heavy lifting in the audio and video departments. The music player handles MP3, AAC, and WMA files, and the phone comes with an app to sync your playlists with iTunes (non-DRM files only). Music sounded great on both wired and Bluetooth headphones. MPEG-4 video files look gorgeous in 480-by-360-pixel, 30-frame-per-second quality, but Roxio Media Manager, which comes with the BlackBerry, is slow and crashes occasionally. I had an easier time reformatting videos with a free program called Avidemux, and there are other free options available on the Web.

Since the 8900 doesn't hit T-Mobile's 3G network, you can't really stream video successfully without Wi-Fi coverage. But within Wi-Fi range, streaming worked well: SlingPlayer ran especially smoothly while playing video in full-screen mode; FlyCast streaming music played without interruption. The phone also incorporates GPS, which works with the built-in BlackBerry Maps and Google Maps. The GPS doesn't appear to be enhanced with cell-tower triangulation—at least in BlackBerry Maps—so it works best in open areas.

The 3.2-megapixel camera takes admirably sharp photos, even in low light. But you'll need to be patient: I experienced delays of up to 2 seconds while the camera focused, and I couldn't find any way to disable autofocus. The video recorder takes smooth but slightly over-sharp-looking videos at 240 by 180 pixels and 15 frames per second. The phone has only about 120MB of available onboard memory for pictures, music, and data, but you can store your data on a microSD card, which slips into a slot under the back cover (the phone ships with a 256MB card). Fortunately, you don't have to turn the phone off or remove the battery to swap out cards.

There's only one big problem here: the Web browser.

RIM really needs to work out its Web-browsing issues. The basic principle of the 8900's browser is fine: It serves up desktop-style pages at various levels of zoom, with JavaScript but without Flash. As long as JavaScript is enabled, though, the browser is prone to stalling on scripts. This isn't just a problem with EDGE's relatively poky Internet speeds; even over Wi-Fi, pages would stall for several seconds at a time as the browser choked on a JavaScript. If you turn off JavaScript, you risk large blank chunks of pages. Opera Mini loads pages more quickly than the 8900's default browser, but, in our tests, its menus stuttered a bit. Both browsers are usable; they're just not nearly as good as the WebKit-based ones on Apple or Nokia handsets, or on HTC's G1 Android phone.

But don't let our quibble with the Web browser deter you from picking up this excellent smartphone. For a little bit more money than the Sidekick LX or the T-Mobile G1, you get a much smoother experience. The G1 has a better Web browser, but it's a clunkier piece of hardware, and the 8900 is far superior in terms of media and messaging.

With the addition of the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 to its lineup, T-Mobile now has a messaging phone for every age group: The Sidekick is the youngster; the Android-powered T-Mobile G1 is a bit of an ungainly adolescent; and the 8900 is all grown up. I'll bet it's the kind of BlackBerry President Obama wouldn't mind having. And with a recommendation like that, it's only fitting that the 8900 earn our Editors' Choice as the best smartphone in T-Mobile's lineup, ousting the aging Curve 8320. T-Mobile subscribers may also want to check out the unlocked Nokia E71, our Editors' Choice for unlocked smartphone. While the E71 is slimmer, with a better browser and more robust direct Microsoft Exchange support, the 8900 has a better camera and better media players, and can make calls over Wi-Fi.

by pcmag.com

The Top Smartphones by OS

2009-04-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

There are the smartphone enthusiasts, and then there are the true fans. While members of the former group surely have a preference, in most cases they'd be open to switching camps if a cooler phone came along on another operating system. (Millions of folks jumped on the iPhone bandwagon without so much as a glance back.) True fans, however, stick with their OSs through thick and thin, either for practical reasons—like a large investment in third-party apps—or simply for the bragging rights.

Whether or not you subscribe to any particular allegiance, it's important to know your options. After all, there could be a much better device you've never even considered. To help you out, we've rounded up the highest-rated phones in each OS category.

Note: There are no Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets listed here, since these devices won't hit stores until this summer at the earliest. And right now, Apple and Android fans both have only one hardware choice—the Apple iPhone 3G (AT&T) and the T-Mobile G1, respectively.

For the rest, however, these smartphones are your best bets:

BlackBerry OS

Winner:
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 (T-Mobile) : FrontBlackBerry Curve 8900 (T-Mobile)
Editors' Choice Logo
With its BlackBerry Bold, RIM showed us the way forward, while the touch-screen Storm changed the BlackBerry game entirely. But T-Mobile's BlackBerry Curve 8900 is the best of both worlds. The 8900 packs a higher-resolution screen, an updated user interface, a faster processor, and integrated document editing. It also features the svelte form factor that's a dead ringer for the small, sleek, and wildly popular Curve 8300 series. Our only complaint: No 3G radio. But free calls over Wi-Fi help soften the blow.

Honorable Mention:
BlackBerry Bold (AT&T)

Symbian Series 60

Winner:
Nokia E71Nokia E71 (Unlocked)
Editors' Choice Logo
Lack of subsidized stateside carrier support has caused Symbian fans in the U.S. to lose out. But at least Nokia offers plenty of sleek, capable unlocked handsets to choose from. The Nokia E71 is the best of the lot—by far. It looks and feels expensive, has a very comfortable QWERTY keyboard, and offers comprehensive enterprise e-mail and document editing. Oh, and did I mention that it's drop-dead gorgeous?

Honorable Mention:
Nokia N95 8GB (Unlocked)

Windows Mobile

Winners:
HTC Touch Pro HTC Touch Pro (Sprint)

Palm Treo Pro (Unlocked)
You get two top choices here: Windows Mobile runs on so many handsets that it wouldn't be fair or accurate to pick just one. Palm Treo ProFirst up is the HTC Touch Pro, a powerful, high-end slider with a five-row keyboard, full VGA (640-by-480-pixel) resolution, a touch screen, and a full complement of radios—though all these features are offset by an unintuitive interface. Palm scores big with its unlocked Treo Pro, a shrewdly specified enterprise Windows Mobile-based smartphone, even if the lack of a subsidized, carrier-backed version keeps mainstream users away.

Honorable Mention:
Samsung Omnia SCH-i910 (Verizon Wireless)

Palm OS

No Winner:
Alas, the Palm OS has been relegated to the history books. Consequently, there's no reason to buy a Palm OS–powered handset today unless you're looking for a real deal, in which case the entry-level Centro is a solid option. Fortunately, there's plenty to look forward to on the Palm front: The forthcoming Palm Pre (Sprint), the company's WebKit-browser–based handset, features a vertical sliding keyboard and an entirely new way to synchronize your contacts. From what we've seen so far, we think the Pre will be a master multitasker.

Honorable Mention:
Palm Centro (multiple carriers)

by pcmag.com

Why Google Should Buy Twitter

2009-04-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Say good-bye to the Fail Whale. If Google buys Twitter, that blue scourge of our tweeting lives will surely disappear for good after Google applies the power of its massive server farm to the popular micro-blogging communication service. Other than that, don't expect Twitter to change much, at least in the near future.

Hang on a sec, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Google has not bought Twitter. In fact, it's not even clear that Twitter is for sale—though it probably is. Founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams have a history of building and selling properties. They sold Blogger to—yup—Google a few years back. So it's likely that Twitter is for sale, and I think Google is an obvious suitor.

The funny thing is that a mere 12 hours ago, there were reports that Rupert Murdoch was going to buy Twitter. That fizzled quickly, and perhaps people are happy it did. Everyone seems to think that Google's approach to its acquisitions is somewhat different from Murdoch's. I'm not so sure. Murdoch bought The Wall Street Journal back in 2007, and I have yet to see any major changes. He bought MySpace before that, and aside from some interface changes and an integrated music service, MySpace is still the same rather cluttered, messy, urgent (in a very teen way) service (and one that's rapidly losing mindshare).

Certainly, in the short term, a purchase of Twitter by Google is a good thing. Beyond the demise of the Fail Whale, it's unlikely anyone will notice a difference at Twoogle or Gwitter. (Neither one of those really work, do they?) When Google bought YouTube, it took months for even the smallest changes to show up. Ad integration was the most obvious. More recently, I've noticed integrated or single sign-on for YouTube and Google's services.

When I visited Google and YouTube last month, there was, obviously, no mention of acquiring Twitter, though we did talk about the service, as I was tweeting much of my day at Google . In fact, I found a few Googlers were actually following me via Twitter. What I learned at Google is that everything is connected. So, if this deal does indeed happen, don't expect big changes at Twitter initially. Rest assured, it will fit into the big Google picture. Again, I see this as a good thing.

Here are just a few of the core benefits (for Tweeters, Twitter itself, and anyone using one of Google's myriad services) of a Google acquisition of Twitter, as I see them:

API expansion. Twitter has a wonderfully easy-to-use API that has driven the development of countless third-party apps, but it's also a bit of a mess. It helps my favorite Twitter interface, TweetDeck, to run, but it's also responsible for TweetDeck choking up a few times a day as it runs out of API calls. Google could throw some development resources at it and clean up that API in no time. Soon after, we'll see the API plugging Twitter into virtually every Google app and service. Think ubiquity and you get the idea.

No need for a business plan. Twitter would no longer be on its own and have to come up with a way to make money. It would be nice if Twitter did, but once Google owns Twitter, the cash burn won't seem so intense. Twitter can continue to grow while Google looks for a painless way to introduce AdSense to the service.

Live tweets with YouTube video. Video consumption could become a communal experience. You get a tweet that I'm watching the latest dancing-man video , follow the link, and then we can live tweet together about just how stupid the video really is.

There is a downside to Google's owning Twitter, and it's actually related to one of the upsides. Google's need to put AdSense in every one of its properties means that Twitter will follow suit. But since so many people tweet outside the Twitter homepage, or standard interface, Google will add the code to the Twitter API. Now TweetDeck, Twhirl, and other third-party apps will have to have some sort of ad integration if they want to keep using the API.

I know some people think that the prospect of Google buying Twitter would be a disaster for Microsoft. Is it yet another missed opportunity? Yes. Would this be a disaster? No. I don't think Microsoft cares or worries very much about Twitter. Microsoft doesn't even own its own Twitter handle. The company is more interested in the richer environment found at Facebook (where it's already invested a chunk of money). What's more, Microsoft has too much invested in its Windows Live environment to waste resources on someone else's community code. I think Microsoft is willing, for better or worse, to let Google have Twitter.

I'm almost willing to bet on Google buying Twitter (and I'm not really a betting man). It's no longer 2002, or even 2006, where cool albeit unprofitable Web businesses could run indefinitely. We live on the razor's edge, and virtually all of us can slip off at any time, or die trying to stay on. Biz Stone and Evan Williams know they've built something beautiful, and they don't want it to fall or die a painful death. They'll sell—if not to Google, then to someone, soon.

Turn off video acceleration in WMP 10

2009-04-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

I'll give you tips and trick for turn off video acceleration in windows media player 10. i hope it's use for u

While you playing video files with WMP10, your machine may not be able to display thee video using the all possible video acceleration techniques. Turning off video acceleration may allow your machint to display video correctly. To do this, go through the following steps.

Press “CTRL+1″ to switch to full mode if
you are in the skin mode.
Press “CTRL+M” to turn on the menu bar.
Click on “Tools” and then “Options”.
When the “Options” multi-tabbed dialog box will open, select “Performance”.
Underneath “Video acceleration”, move the slider from “Full” to “None”.
Click on “OK” to close the dialog box.

taken from iamashish.com

Conficker D-Day Arrives; Worm Phones Home

2009-04-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

The Conficker worm today has begun to phone home for instructions but has done little else. Conficker was programmed to today begin actively visiting 500 out of 50,000 randomly generated web addresses to receive new instructions on how to behave. Conficker has begun to do this, according to security company F-Secure, but so far no doomsday scenarios have emerged.

Among security experts, the consensus seems to be that very little will happen today. This may be in part because of the high amount of publicity Conficker has received, but then again April 1 is not the first time Conficker has been programmed to change the way it operates. Similar trigger dates have already passed with little change, including January 1, according to according to Phil Porras, a program director with SRI International. Security experts at Symantec, the maker of Norton Antivirus, also believe the threat is overblown and says Conficker today will "start taking more steps to protect itself" and "use a communications system that is more difficult for security researchers to interrupt."

Technology companies and experts across the globe have been working together to halt the spread of Conficker, disrupt its communications and uncover who created the worm. Microsoft has even issued a $250,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Conficker's authors. Despite the security sector's best efforts, very little is known about the origins of Conficker or its purpose. Nevertheless, some breakthroughs have been achieved. On March 30, Security experts with the Honeynet Project discovered a flaw in Conficker that makes it much easier to detect infection. IBM researcher Mark Yayson also believes he has discovered a way to "detect and interrupt the program's activities," according to The New York Times.

Since the Conficker worm was discovered in October 2008, the malware has only received programming updates from its author and worked to infect other computers. Conficker is believed to have infected 10 million computers worldwide mostly in Asia, Europe and South America. According to IBM, only 6 percent of North American computers have been infected.

While today may be a non-event, Conficker could be used to create harm in the future. Possiblities include a massive botnet, which would give Conficker's authors control over millions of computers worldwide. The botnet could then be used to attack corporate or government networks, commit identity theft, or deliver massive amounts of spam. Security experts warn that all Windows users must make sure their operating system and antivirus programs are up to date with the latest patches and virus protections. So far, Windows is the only operating system known to be vulnerable to Conficker.

taken from pcworld.com

HP TouchSmart IQ800

2009-04-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

Boring with your old desktop? change it now to inspire you more in doing your work posting on your blogs and doing your usual online stuffs. Here is one I suggest to you. maybe it is a little bit expensive but i thing it's worth it.

HP TouchSmart IQ800 series was introduced in September 2008. Currently, it has two model: IQ816 and IQ804.

Both models are bundled with 25.5 ” high definition and wall-mountable touch screen display with 1920 x 1200 screen resolutions. It has Tv tuners with remote control and extras such as Bluetooth, 5 in 1 memory card reader, Integrated VGA webcam with built-in microphone, a media card reader, High Performance 2.0 speakers, High Definition Audio 5.1 (via digital output), Wireless keyboard with hide-away bay and numeric keypad, Wireless optical mouse, ambient light to illuminate the wireless keyboard the desktop or set the mood. And both of the models support Wi-Fi over 802.11n.

IQ804 has the following specs:

* 2.16GHz T5850 Core 2 Duo on a 667MHz bus with 2MB of cache
* 4GB DDR2-SDRAM
* 500GB of Hard Disk
* DVD burner
* GeForce 9300M GC Video Card.

IQ816 has a higher specification:

* 2.10GHz T8100 Core 2 Duo on a 800MHz bus with a 3MB cache
* 4GB DDR2-SDRAM
* 750 GB of Hard Disk
* GeForce 9600M GS Video Card
* Blu-ray Combo Drive
* Pocket Media

remove W32.Downadup and W32.Downadup.B with tool from Symantec

2009-03-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

If you are on a network or have a full-time connection to the Internet, such as a DSL or cable modem, disconnect the computer from the network and Internet. Disable or password-protect file sharing, or set the shared files to Read Only, before reconnecting the computers to the network or to the Internet. Because this worm spreads by using shared folders on networked computers, to ensure that the worm does not reinfect the computer after it has been removed, Symantec suggests sharing with Read Only access or by using password protection.

For instructions on how to do this, refer to your Windows documentation, or the document: How to configure shared Windows folders for maximum network protection.

For further information on the vulnerability and patches to resolve it please refer to the following document:
Microsoft Windows Server Service RPC Handling Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

If you are removing an infection from a network, first make sure that all the shares are disabled or set to Read Only.

This tool is not designed to run on Novell NetWare servers. To remove this threat from a NetWare server, first make sure that you have the current virus definitions, and then run a full system scan with the Symantec antivirus product.

How to download and run the tool

Important: You must have administrative rights to run this tool on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.

Note for network administrators: If you are running MS Exchange 2000 Server, we recommend that you exclude the M drive from the scan by running the tool from a command line, with the Exclude switch. For more information, read the Microsoft knowledge base article: XADM: Do Not Back Up or Scan Exchange 2000 Drive M (Article 298924).

Follow these steps to download and run the tool:

Download the FixDownadup.exe from here.

Save the file to a convenient location, such as your Windows desktop.

Close all the running programs.

If you are on a network or if you have a full-time connection to the Internet, disconnect the computer from the network and the Internet.

If you are running Windows Me or XP, turn off System Restore. For instructions on how to turn off System Restore, read your Windows documentation, or read from here

Locate the file that you just downloaded.

Double-click the FixDownadup.exe file to start the removal tool.

Click Start to begin the process, and then allow the tool to run.
NOTE: If you have any problems when you run the tool, or it does nor appear to remove the threat, restart the computer in Safe mode and run the tool again.

Restart the computer.

Run the removal tool again to ensure that the system is clean.

If you are running Windows Me/XP, then reenable System Restore.

If you are on a network or if you have a full-time connection to the Internet, reconnect the computer to the network or to the Internet connection.

Run LiveUpdate to make sure that you are using the most current virus definitions.

When the tool has finished running, you will see a message indicating whether the threat has infected the computer. The tool displays results similar to the following:

Total number of the scanned files

Number of deleted files

Number of repaired files

Number of terminated viral processes

Number of fixed registry entries

Ads blocking in Opera

2009-03-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

How to Blocking advertisement in Opera Web browser

Opera has built in popup blocker and an adblocking feature as well.Using
the adblocking feature is as simple as downloading a text file and putting
in the right folder.Opera's ad blocking works by referring to a file called
url-filter.ini.There are many users who keep regularly maintained list of
ad hosts and domains.

There is two way or method to block ads in Opera Browser.

First method for Blocking ad in Opera Web Browser..
- we use Add on Fanboy's Adblock list(www.fanboy.co.nz/adblock/) Click on the install now link or visit www.fanboy.co.nz/adblock/opera/urlfilter.ini.
- Save the file as it is to a folder
- move it to C:\document and settings\Your_User_ID\Application Data\Opera_folder\profile.
Linux users must copy to the opera folder.
- resart the browser and ad blocking will be enabled.
- To Update it.. oftenly visit the site

Second method for Blocking ad in Opera Web Browser.

1. Locate your Opera CSS directory; Go to Opera menu, Help, About.
IE: User CSS directory, /home/orakk/.opera/styles/user/

2. Close Opera. In the css directory create a blank file called "adblock.css" or anything else you'd like to name it .

3. Now go to Ad Blocking FiltersetP at userstyles.org, click the button "Show Code" and copy everything into "adblock.css" Save and close the file.

4. Open Opera and then select "View-->Styles-->adblock.css"

ESET Smart Security 4.0

2009-03-30T00:27:00.000-07:00

ESET may not be a household word in the U.S. the way it is in Europe, but its presence is increasing. The company's growth is burgeoning, with 70 million users hitting its update servers every day. Its latest security suite, ESET Smart Security 4.0 ($89.99 direct for three licenses), aims to be speedy and light on system resources. To that end it omits many of the extras, such as the antiphishing, parental control, and privacy components common to most suites. Instead it focuses on essential elements: antivirus, antispyware, personal firewall, and spam filter. As a result, it's easy on system resources. Unfortunately, it doesn't fare as well on basics. Its firewall is merely adequate, and it's not the best at spyware protection and cleanup.

The previous edition, ESET Smart Security 3.0, introduced a simplified user interface that hides all of the program's complexity while keeping the more advanced features available if needed. The suite's appearance hasn't changed much in version 4.0. The main window shows overall protection status and lets you scan the system, launch a manual update, or make very simple configuration changes, like temporarily turning off the firewall. As with most modern suites, if ESET isn't configured properly for maximum protection, the protection status icon turns red and the program offers a link to correct the configuration problem.

Switching the user interface to advanced mode reveals an additional menu of tools and adds choices to the existing simple protection categories. Protection status gains three new sub-items that graph file/network activity, list active network connections, and display protection statistics. Advanced mode offers more configuration choices as well. Among other changes, instead of just being able to turn off the firewall temporarily, you can change its filtering mode.

Even advanced mode is simple compared with the full, advanced setup dialog. This dialog's tree-structured feature list lets you tweak just about every detail of the program's operation. Expert users will revel in the power, while novice users will find they can do just about anything they need to without digging this deep

What is DropBox?

2009-03-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

Dropbox is the simplest, most elegant file-synchronization tool I've ever used. Dropbox Basic provides 2GB of storage free, and Dropbox Pro gives you 50GB for $9.95 per month or $99.95 per year. The service stores files with strong encryption on multiple servers in Amazon's S3 service and works equally smoothly on Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs. If you prefer to synchronize folders you already have on your system, or if you want to keep several folders fully synchronized between multiple machines, Dropbox may not be for you. It synchronizes only files stored in a single dedicated folder. But its smooth and hassle-free operation make it our Editors' Choice.

You start by signing up on Dropbox's Web site, then downloading and installing the client program. This creates a new folder called "My Dropbox" in your Documents folder (you can move it later) and a system tray icon that lets you open it with just a double click. From this same icon, you can also reach other preference settings, such as the folder's location and throttles on upload and download speeds. Another nice option on the pop-up menu is the "Forums" item, which opens a browser window on Dropbox's user support forum; you'll find the dialogue between users and developers livelier than on most competing services' sites.

Like its rival services, Dropbox stores synchronized files in the cloud so they're available at any machine on which you've installed Dropbox. You can also reach your files through a Web interface from any Internet-connected system. Dropbox's storage preserves copies of earlier versions of the files in My Dropbox, so you always have the most current copy on your computers. I liked that you can still access older versions (or files you deleted or moved) with just an Internet connection. One attractive feature (also available in SugarSync) is Dropbox's bandwidth-saving ability to upload and download only the parts of files that change during revisions. This isn't always possible, but I've made frequent changes in a 125MB file I synchronize and sometimes found that Dropbox needed to transfer only 2 to 3MB of data to update the file. That's a decent bandwidth savings.

When the installer creates the My Dropbox folder, it also creates a subfolder called Public. Files placed there aren't immediately visible to anyone, but by right-clicking on one and choosing the Copy Public Link, you create a Web address of a permanent, public link to the file that you can publish on the Web or send to friends or colleagues—even if they don't use Dropbox. (You should use this feature only for files you don't need to restrict to specific users, because there's no password protection.) I even built a small Web site in my Public folder by filling it with an HTML file and images and sending the link to friends so they could open it in their browsers. A similar feature with another subfolder called Photos lets you send a link to a Public Gallery that anyone can use to view any photos you've copied into it.

A slightly different feature uses invitation-only shared access to folders you create anywhere in My Dropbox. Right-click the icon of the folder you want to share, then choose an option to share the folder. The Dropbox Web interface opens, and you can send invitations to friends and colleagues that let them add, edit, or delete the files in the folder. They'll need a free Dropbox account, but they won't need to install the client if they're satisfied with accessing the folder over the Web. If they do install the Dropbox client, the shared folder will automatically download to their My Dropbox folder.

One major plus for Dropbox is its clean, intelligent design. When you right-click on a file in My Dropbox, you can choose the "Revisions…" option to start the Web interface and see a list of changes for that file. This is far more convenient than anything offered by SugarSync or Syncplicity, which force you to hunt down files you want in either a Web interface or a separate program and then choose to see revisions made to them.

The Web interface is clean and efficient—it looks a bit like Facebook without the clutter. At the top is a collapsible list of Recent Events listing files you've recently edited, added, or removed from Dropbox. You can even create an RSS feed of these recent changes, so you can be alerted to changes friends or colleagues make to shared files. Beneath the Recent Events is a list of your files, complete with icons for downloading earlier revisions of current files or deleted files, or removing files entirely.

I said earlier that Dropbox can sync only files in its Dropbox folder, but expert users can overcome that limitation fairly easily. On Vista (but not XP), Mac, or Linux, you can create a symbolic link inside My Dropbox to any file or folder anywhere on the system, and those files or folders will be synchronized as if they're actually in My Dropbox. Dropbox promises to add a "Watch Any Folder" feature in the future that will make it work in the same way its rival products do.

Dropbox is an example of software that gets virtually everything right—including automatic updating of itself when a new version appears. When the "Watch Any Folder" feature arrives, Dropbox will be all the more useful. Even without that ability, however, I was impressed enough to buy a year's subscription after testing it for this review. Dropbox is our Editors' Choice for file-synchronization services.

review HP LP2275w

2009-03-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Deep, rich color reproduction, a flexible stand with pivot capabilities, and excellent viewing angles are all good reasons to consider the HP LP2275w ($349 direct) for your next business display, but there's more. This versatile 22-inch LCD delivers very good grayscale and small-text performance and has a built-in USB hub. It offers some nice business features as well. Its relatively slow pixel response will likely disappoint the gaming crowd, though.

A superthin (0.5-inch) bezel surrounds the wide-gamut S-PVA (Super Patterned Vertical Alignment) panel, which has a resolution of 1,680 by 1,050 pixels and features an anti-reflective matte coating that reduces glare. The stand consists of a rectangular base with a small tray that can be used to store your keyboard, and a telescoping arm that provides tilt, swivel, and height adjustability. It also supports pivoting, which lets you rotate the panel 90 degrees (clockwise) for viewing images in portrait mode. The pivot feature is particularly useful for working with large documents, and it allows you to view Web pages with minimal scrolling. Unlike the Lenovo ThinkVision L220x, which features an auto-rotation sensor, the LP2275w requires that you manually change image orientation when switching between portrait and landscape modes. However, it does come with Portrait Displays' Pivot Pro software, a one-click utility for rotating the image without having to access your graphics card's control panel.

At the rear of the display are DVI, VGA, and DisplayPort inputs, as well as three USB connectors (one upstream and two downstream). Two additional downstream USB ports are conveniently mounted on the left-hand side of the monitor, making it easy to plug in peripherals such as keyboards, mice, and USB drives. A power switch located on the screen's lower bezel sits alongside four clearly marked function buttons that allow users to tweak image settings using the on-screen display (OSD) system. Color temperature, brightness, clock and phase, and contrast levels are easily adjusted via the intuitive menu structure. There's also a sleep timer; this puts the monitor into standby mode, where it draws just 3 watts of power, as opposed to 52W while in full operating mode, as measured by my Kill A Watt meter from P3 International. The LP2275w is Energy Star qualified, has earned an EPEAT Silver ranking, and is covered under HP's aggressive Hardware Recycling program (www.hp.com/recycle), which provides recycling services to businesses for a nominal fee (approximately $6 per monitor). Thanks to these credentials, it earns our GreenTech Approved seal.

The LP2275w comes with HP's Display Assistant software, which gives users the ability to change image settings with their keyboard and mouse instead of having to use the function buttons. The software includes handy business features such as an Asset Management tool that allows IT personnel to collect information about the monitor (serial number, network domain, host PC name) and control specific functions (power up/down, sleep mode) from a remote location. There's also a theft-deterrent feature that requires users to enter a PIN code to activate the monitor if it has been disconnected from its host PC without prior authorization. IT administrators will also appreciate the LP2275w's three-year parts-and-labor warranty that includes on-site service and 24-hour telephone support.

I was impressed with nearly every aspect of the LP2275w's image performance. Primary and secondary colors were bold and well defined without appearing oversaturated, while swatches from the DisplayMate (www.displaymate.com) Color Scales test scaled evenly from dark to light. The panel had no trouble reproducing the darkest shades of gray on the 64-Step Grayscale test, and it did a very good job with light grays as well, although there was a tiny bit of fading at the very high end of the scale. Such impressive grayscale performance is rare for a monitor in this price range, but not unprecedented—the Dell SP2208WFP and Lenovo ThinkVision L220x also handled grays with aplomb.

Any business monitor worth its salt should be able to display extremely small text clearly, and the LP2275w did not disappoint. I had no trouble reading Arial fonts set to 5.3 points, the smallest setting available on the DisplayMate tests. I was also impressed with the panel's viewing angle performance, which lived up to HP's claim of 178 degrees (horizontal and vertical).

Not surprisingly, the LP2275w struggled while displaying fast moving images. Moderate smearing (motion blur) was evident during a round of F.E.A.R., and again when I watched the DeNiro/Pacino thriller Righteous Kill on DVD. The panel's 16-millisecond (black-to-white) pixel response rate is the culprit here, but since this monitor is designed for business users motion performance should not be much of an issue. Gamers and video enthusiasts may want to consider a faster TN+ panel such as the ASUS LS221H, which does a much better job with fast action sequences.

Despite its less-than-stellar motion performance, the HP LP2275w is an excellent choice for image editors, photographers, and anyone who requires accurate grayscale and color reproduction. Its ability to display very small text will appeal to users who spend a lot of time viewing large documents and spreadsheets, while IT administrators will appreciate its asset tracking and remote management features. All this earns it our Editors' Choice for 22-inch business displays.

taken from www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343785,00.asp

Facebook (Spring 2009)

2009-03-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of chatter in the tech press about Facebook's recent interface update, the backlash to it, and the partial retreat on some of the changes to the popular social-networking site. Among other complaints was the accusation that Facebook was trying to emulate Twitter. In fact, in some ways the new Facebook is less like Twitter. It displays some content non-chronologically, include comments, filtering, and multimedia. Tech news articles report that 1.7 million users have joined the group "Petition against the new Facebook" but fail to mention that that group was started in July 2008. The site actually polled its users, and Christopher Cox, the site's Director of Product, indicated on the site's official blog that the company would roll back some of the changes. Are the changes all wonderful? Hardly. But many bring much-needed improvements.

Here's what the post on Facebook's official blog says regarding three areas of particular urgency in re-redesigning Facebook.

* Live updating: One of the most common requests is the ability to see your stream update automatically. We will be adding the ability to turn on auto updating in the near future so you no longer need to refresh the page.
* Photo tags: In order to surface more photos you might like to see, we'll be adding photos tagged of your friends to the stream. This will happen in the coming weeks.
* More choices for applications: We've heard feedback that there is a lot of application content appearing in the stream. We will be giving you tools to control and reduce application content that your friends share into your stream.

The company has also promised to address (or already addressed) several other complaints. Those include making the right-column Highlights update more frequently, moving friend requests to the top of the same column (already done), and making Friend-list creation easier. The first doesn't make much sense to me, since the central panel is for the latest updates, while the side highlights are more for events, very popular videos, and the like that have a longer timeframe. The new left column already has an easier way to create friend lists, and it's more than welcome (though it oddly alphabetizes by first name).

I think a lot of the backlash grew from misunderstandings. Since long before this redesign, Facebook has employed an algorithm that decides what to show in the newsfeed. Even an Ars Technica reviewer mistakenly claims that before this latest redesign, users saw everything friends shared, which just isn't true. In fact, the latest redesign brings all friend activity into the feed: Before, my home page was about two pages deep. Now it's seven. Previously, users complained about the weeding out of content. Now, that there's no algorithm, I'd like to see some weeding out, and, clearly, others share my wish. Do I really need six separate consecutive entries from one person containing photo upload sets?

One misconception involves the news feed. A user I talked with complained that it's no longer chronological, which clearly isn't the case—each entry in the feed includes a relative time indication, such as "13 minutes ago" or "2 hours ago." Most likely, the upset user was thinking of the new Highlights column, which isn't in chronological order. I actually like this change, though, because it brings up more content that users previously wouldn't have seen in their main feed—for example, photos or videos that a lot of Friends have commented on, invitations, and other less-immediate content. One problem with this new space, though, is there's no way to delete an item you don't care about.

I'm also dubious about the allegation that Facebook is trying to emulate the much-hyped Twitter, which claims a paltry 7 million users compared with Facebook's 175 million. Personally, I welcome Facebook's filtering capability (not to be confused with the deceased feed-weed algorithm) that lets you reduce the high noise-to-signal ratio of Twitter. In any case, the two services fulfill different purposes: Twitter is meant to be one person publishing to the world, and Facebook exists to keep a mutually agreed-upon group of friends apprised of each others' doings.

That said, I can see how users would look at the prominence now given to the update box on the home page as an emulation of Twitter. Facebook also got rid of the "User name is" before the entry box, making the service look more like Twitter. But previously, users were often puzzled about the need to speak of themselves in the third person. I also like how the icons for adding Links, Photos, Videos, Music, and apps slide open only after you click in the update box, for a less cluttered look. And since most people go to their home page more often than their own profile page, it makes sense having the updater on the home page.

Sending Fax using computer

2009-03-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

step 1
Open your fax software (Microsoft Fax, Microsoft Exchange or other faxing software that you may be using).
Step2
Locate an icon or menu command that allows you to receive faxes (Receive, Incoming, etc.).
Step3
Click on the icon or menu command that sets your computer to receive.
Step4
Avoid lifting the telephone receiver when you hear the incoming ring.
Step5
Click on Answer Now. The fax will begin downloading.
Step6
When the incoming fax is received, go to the Inbox to open, read or print your fax.

Receive a Fax Automatically

Step1
Open your fax software (Microsoft Fax, Microsoft Exchange or other faxing software that you may be using).
Step2
Locate an icon or menu command that allows you to receive faxes. Look for an option that allows you to receive faxes automatically. Set that option.
Step3
When there is an incoming fax, the phone will ring. If the receiver is not lifted, the fax will download onto your computer. You will not have to click Answer.
Step4
Retrieve received faxes from your software's Inbox

10 Ways to Boost Immune Health, Stop cold, flu & depression in their tracks - before you get sick

2009-03-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

What if, this winter, you discovered a simple way to boost your immune
system so you won't get sick? What if there were ten?

The weather changes in autumn, cold temperatures set in, and runny noses
and sniffles start to seem like an epidemic. Around Hallowe'en, the first
snowfall combines with the sugar rush of October 31 to set most of us up
for a spate of colds and flu that come and go through the winter. What if,
this winter, you discovered a simple way to boost your immune system so
you won't get sick? What if there were ten?

People who pick three or more of the suggestions from this list - and
stick to them - will substantially improve their immune strength, increase
their ability to stay sane and healthy through dreaded cold and flu
season, and keep their health and happiness up through the darkest months
of the year!

1. Drink your lemons. Lemon is the ideal food for restoring acid-alkali
balance. Drinking freshly squeezed lemon juice in water, or adding it to
tea, salad dressings (in place of vinegar), baking or cooking, helps
maintain the body's internal "climate" at a pH which supports healthy
bacteria instead of the viruses and harmful bacteria which thrive in more
acidic environments. Apple cider vinegar is another great way to improve
your body's alkalinity, but the taste of lemons is much more pleasant!

2. Give your body an herbal boost. Hundreds of herbal supplements and
tinctures exist to give the immune system additional support during the
winter. I recommend essential oils (especially my favourite winter blend,
Thieves) as an excellent source of immune-stimulating compounds, and the
rawest and most natural form of any medicinal plant, but there are other
supplements which can be effective. Fresh herbs and whole food remedies
are always preferable over packaged herbs or supplements, since they have
a much higher potency and frequency and your body absorbs more of their
value. See also Essential Oils Fight Cold and Flu.

3. Get a full night's sleep. Everybody's different: your body may need
anywhere from 6 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Whatever your personal
sleep requirement is, get it! Sleep has been linked to balanced hormone
levels (including human growth hormone and the stress hormone, cortisol),
keeping weight down, clear thinking and reasoning, improved mood, and
vibrant, healthy skin.

4. Eat plenty of protein. Protein is a building block for a healthy body,
mind, and immune system. Diets low in protein tend to be high in carbs
which convert readily to glucose, spiking blood sugar and stressing the
pancreas and the immune system.

5. Drink plenty of water. This is almost, but not quite, a given; most
headaches occur because despite the number of reminders, people still
aren't getting enough water! Headaches and thirst are both signs of
dehydration. You should be drinking, in daily ounces, half your body
weight in pounds. (i.e. Body weight in pounds, divided by 2 = number of
ounces of water per day.) Click here for detailed guidelines - how much
water do you need daily?

6. Stop drinking coffee. Contrary to recent marketing as a source of
antioxidants, chocolate and coffee are two of the worst things you can do
for your immune system and your health. Caffeine robs your body of
minerals and vitamins, and it dehydrates you. If you drink coffee, make
sure you add an additional two glasses to your water intake per cup of
coffee. A mineral supplement helps to offset caffeine's damage, too.

7. Worse yet is the impact of refined white sugar. If you do only one
thing to boost your immune system, eliminating sugar will do the trick.
You will see noticeable results in your energy levels, weight
distribution, immunity and your ability to think clearly when you break
the cravings and stop eating refined sugar. Many holistic nutritionists
consider sugar a drug for its impact on the human body; I have known
practitioners to prioritize eliminating sugar from the diet over
recommending that people quitting smoking. Healthier sugars such as agave
and stevia do exist, but I avoid artificial sweeteners; they are more
toxic than cane sugar.

8. Stock up on raw fruits and vegetables for their antioxidants, vitamins,
minerals, fibre and enzymes. The nutritional content that you receive from
raw fruits and veggies is unparalleled. Many vitamins, including C, are
antioxidants and will protect cells - including those of your immune
system - from damage by toxins in the environment. Dark-coloured produce
(berries, kale, broccoli) tends to be higher in flavonoids, polyphenols
and other antioxidants. The perfect source of minerals is seaweed, which
is sold dried, but can often be found raw (dried at low temperatures to
maintain most of the enzymes and nutrients) in health food stores.

9. Spend some time out in the cold. Snowball fight, anyone? Exercise can
make a noticeable difference to your health and happiness by releasing
endorphins. Most of us spend 90% of our lives indoors, inhaling dubiously
filtered air and other people's germs, so I take any opportunity I can to
get outside. Time spent outdoors in the cold also stimulates the thyroid
gland.

Finally...

10. Nurture yourself. Make sure you take time to yourself, spend some time
with friends, and indulge yourself in a massage, a hot bath, or an energy
work session when you want one. Our bodies respond to our emotions - if
you're feeling harassed and anxious, it can manifest in a sore throat or a
cold. Create a space within yourself and your living environment for
harmony, self-love and joy (giving thanks, prayer and blessing the
abundance in your life and of the world around you helps). Pay attention
to warning signs of sore throat or exhaustion so you can keep them from
getting worse. I advise taking a "mental health day" every few months to
make sure your emotional needs are met. When you're happy, you're far less
likely to get sick.

The copyright of the article 10 Ways to Boost Immune Health in Natural
Medicine is owned by Victoria Anisman-Reiner. Permission to republish 10
Ways to Boost Immune Health in print or online must be granted by the
author in writing.

Read more: "10 Ways to Boost Immune Health: Stop cold, flu & depression in
their tracks - before you get sick" -
naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/10_ways_to_boost_immune_health#ixzz0AHF2roJG

13 Reasons to Drink Coffee

2009-03-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

1. Coffee may reduce the memory losses associated with age in women. (Karen Ritchie, French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, Montpelier, France 2007 American Academy of Neurology)
2. Coffee may reduce the risk of stroke in men who smoke by as much as 23%. (Stroke, June 2008)
3. Coffee seems to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. (2004, Harvard/Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Annals of Internal Medicine)
4. People who drink 2 cups of coffee or more per day have less risk of developing high blood pressure.
5. Men who drink four or more cups of coffee per day reduce their chance of developing gout by 59%. (Hyon K. Choi, Harvard, Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, University of British Columbia in Canada)
6. Coffee may help fight cancer. Chemical analysis shows that freshly brewed coffee contains the same amount of antioxidants as three oranges.
7. Coffee seems to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer (January 2008).
8. Women who drink 2-3 cups of coffee per day are 25% less likely to die of heart disease than women who don’t drink coffee. (Garcia-Lopez, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, 2008 , Annals of Internal Medicine)
9. Women who drink 2-3 cups of coffee per day are 18% less likely to die of any cause during middle age. Yes, the study headline read “Coffee Reduces Risk of Death”. (Garcia-Lopez, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, 2008, Annals of Internal Medicine)
10. Men who drink at least 2 cups of coffee a day reduce their risk of developing gallstones by 40%.
11. Athletes who drink coffee two hours before an event improved their cycling and marathon trial times significantly.
12. Athletes who drink coffee also recover glycogen faster after vigorous exercise. (Pederson et al., American Physiological Society, Journal of Applied Physiology)
13. The best reason of all to drink coffee - the taste!

http://coffeebreak.today.com/

Microsoft's IE8 Catches Most 'Social Malware'

2009-03-21T21:37:00.001-07:00

A study by NSS Labs of 6 major web browsers shows a large difference in their ability to block "socially engineered malware."

NSS Labs is an independent entity with business in many areas unrelated to this, but it's important to note that the study was funded by Microsoft.

That said, and even though the study shows IE8 and it's new SmartScreen filter head and shoulders above all other browsers, the funding does not make the study illegitimate. "Socially engineered malware," as they put it, is arguably the most important form of malware these days. We've reported on it many times in the last year, with recent examples here , here and here . The basic idea is that the user is enticed into visiting a web site and downloading malware believing it to be something else.

The recent generation of web browsers has approached this problem with reputation services, just as they have with phishing. Just as phishing sites are often initially blocked by browsers ("...this is a reported phishing web site") based partly on blacklists of domains and IP addresses, so are malware sites being blocked.

NSS Labs' tests came up with these results overall:
Browser Malware Catch Rate

IE8 (RC1)	69%
Firefox 3.07	30%
Safari v3	24%
Chrome 1.0.154	16%
Opera 9.84	5%
IE7	4%

You don't have to think ill of NSS Labs to realize that it's hard to take the results completely seriously until they are confirmed by a source not funded by Microsoft. They didn't publish the exact sample URLs so an exact replica can't be performed, and in any event such sites are highly transient. But replicating the basic idea of the test is an excellent idea for anyone with access to enough malware and a decent lab.

The other important take-away from this is that even the best numbers from IE8 are low. Protection such as this is a good defense-in-depth measure, but it's no substitute for a good anti-malware program and other protections, such as least-privileged access.

Can You Safely Revert to the 'Old' Facebook?

2009-03-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Do you hate the new Facebook?

You're not alone, but is there a safe way to roll back the latest update and use the old Facebook? And on a site with more than 175 million users, do protests from less than a million of those users really warrant any action?

Facebook started rolling out revamped homepages earlier this month. Homepage tabs were cut in favor of combined status updates and news feed activities, while "highlights" from friends' profiles were put in a separate section on the right-hand side.

Some said the changes made Facebook look more like Twitter, a notion that Facebook denied.

But is there a way back to the promise land of "old" Facebook? Amidst the grumpy status updates from angry Facebook users, blogs reports surfaced this week that with a few clicks of your mouse, new Facebook would be gone forever.

An allfacebook.com post, for example, pointed to a Facebook group called "I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO GET THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK!" The group provided a detailed work-around that would allegedly restore the old Facebook template.

Some of the comments, however, were from 2008, suggesting that the group was actually created for the last Facebook revamp in summer 2008. Other more recent posts said they were too lazy to go through all the steps, while others wondered if the solution was simply malicious software.

Though it was available earlier this morning, it appears that that group has since been deleted. Most of the other "Give us back old Facebook"-type groups only contain petitions or requests for boycotts rather than technological solutions.

Facebook did not respond to questions about whether there was a safe way to restore the old profiles, or whether users were any more outraged over this revamp than the last.

Reports surfaced yesterday that 94 percent of Facebook users were unhappy with the change. The data stemmed from a poll app created by a Facebook user that asked users to rate the changes via thumbs up or thumbs down. As of 4 P.M. Eastern time, the thumbs-down corner had 981,142 votes, while the thumbs up category had 60,363 votes.

That may be 94 percent of users who voted, but among the 175 million total Facebook users, are these people activists for the Internet age or just whiny users who can't handle change?

And what are people so worked up about? The most cited problem appears to be the revamped news feed, which users say is too confusing and omits valuable gossip.

"I miss being able to get more than status updates on the news feed," Lisa wrote.

"I liked the old home page layout. It was easier to tell the difference between types of posts. Everything was listed by time and easy to tell the difference between types (in case I wanted to skim over status updates and just read wall posts, notes, and videos)," wrote an anonymous user.

"Mixed reaction here, I like how it is easy to post web pages and easier to control some of your friends content," Mike wrote. "The bad is the stupid applications take up too much of the newsfeed."

Dissention in the ranks is nothing new when it comes to Facebook overhauls. The social networking site revamped the site last summer, introducing tabbed profiles, streamlining what people saw on the newsfeed, and integrating Wall posts, status updates, and any other activity into a single stream on peoples' pages.

For that update, Facebook did a phased transition- allowing users to retain their old profiles until September. But people were just as annoyed with the changes then as they are now, suggesting that regardless of what Facebook does, there will also be those who hate it and feel the need to join a group and vocalize their anger.

Last time, however, users did not have the option of putting up the changes to a vote. Last month, Facebook introduced its new "democratic" process, which lets users vote on Facebook changes that have a lot of feedback from users.

If a particular topic garners more than 7,000 user comments, users will be given the opportunity to vote on the issue. A vote will be binding if more than 30 percent of all active registered users vote.

No word on whether the redesign will go up for a vote. The issue could likely gather at least 7,000 user comments, but can it get 30 percent--or 52.5 million--of its users to vote on it? Stay tuned.

No Office 14 until 2010, 'Netbook' Server Planned

2009-03-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

Microsoft will not release its next-generation Office 14 suite in 2009, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer confirmed during a Tuesday "strategy update" Webcast. A "netbook"-like version of Windows Server is also planned.

Ballmer offered a midquarter update to Wall Street analysts, focusing primarily on the impact of the economy on the company's business. Microsoft is using RCA as a model, Ballmer said; RCA continued to invest during the Depression, then went on to dominate the television industry.

"And that's kind of the mindset that we have relative to the economic situation," Ballmer said. "You don't beat it, you manage in this environment; you don't think about it as a short term, you think of it as a reset that may take several years."

Ballmer said that he was still interested in talking to Yahoo about some sort of a search partnership, and with the company's new chief executive, Carol Bartz. Ballmer expressed a desire to not end up like the company's former chief executive, Jerry Yang, apparently implying he was ineffective.

Ballmer offered little explanation or context for the Office 14 delay, although he did say that the free OpenOffice suite had caused the company to lower the worldwide price of the suite. Both Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows are heavily pirated; in fact, Ballmer named both pirated versions as key competitors.

Ballmer's disclosure of the delay was actually made in passing.

"From a strategy perspective, the next big innovation milestone is Office 14, our next Office release, which will not be this year, there's a version of Sharepoint, there's a version of Exchange, there's a new version of Office Live," Ballmer said.

A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the delay, but declined to offer further details. "We can confirm, as Steve Ballmer shared this morning during his meeting with financial analysts, that the next version of Office will be available next year," she wrote in an email. "We have nothing additional to share at this point."

Office 14 is the successor to Windows Office 12, also known as Microsoft Office 2007. The market originally expected Office 14 in the first half 2009. However, Microsoft also released the two versions of Windows Vista and Office 12 within a few weeks of one another, a strategy that some have speculated Microsoft hopes to repeat.

Ballmer also confirmed that Microsoft will make available a low-cost version of Windows Server, to take advantage of OEMs that want to design cheap or "netbook"-like hardware. That software will apparently be the Windows Server Foundation Edition.

"From a revenue perspective, we are introducing a new low-cost, low-price, low-functionality Windows Server SKU," Ballmer added. "If you take a look at it, as server prices, hardware prices have come down, we don't have exactly a netbook phenomenon but if somebody can buy a $500 server they're a little low to spend $500 for the server operating system that comes with it. So we have something akin to a netbook at the server level and we will be introducing our Foundation Edition over the next month or two."

Ballmer also reiterated that Microsoft did not have plans to make its own phones. "Windows and Windows Mobile will become closer," he said, although there still will be a distinction between Windows and phones.

But as some have speculated, Ballmer said that Microsoft expects Google to be a direct competitor. "I assume we're going to see Android-based, Linux-based laptops in addition to phones," Ballmer said. "We'll see Google more of a competitor in the operating system more than we have ever seen before."

Microsoft has also lost market share in the browser space, something that the company hopes to fix with the release of Internet Explorer 8, Ballmer said.

Facebook Began to Democratize Its Terms of Service

2009-03-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

Facebook is doing something unheard of, announcing at a press conference on Thursday that it is giving its users the right to weigh in on changes to its policies and Terms of Service (ToS), in effect creating what some have called a virtual "Bill of Rights."

You probably remember the massive explosion that happened when Facebook modified its Terms of Service (ToS) such that it implied Facebook owned all your content, forever. They eventually backed down, reverting to the prior ToS, but the damage was done.

Out of that fiasco has come a new initiative, though, one never before seen. In their press release, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook said:

"As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship is created between Internet companies and the people they serve. The past week reminded us that users feel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information they share.

"Companies like ours need to develop new models of governance. Rather than simply reissue a new Terms of Use, the changes we’re announcing today are designed to open up Facebook so that users can participate meaningfully in our policies and our future."

Nicely, Facebook even had a privacy advocate chime in on their press release. In fact, no less than Simon Davies, Director of Privacy International.

"This is an unprecedented action. No other company has made such a bold move towards transparency and democratization. The devil will be in the detail but, overall, we applaud these positive steps and think they foreshadow the future of web 2.0. We hope Facebook will realize these extraordinary commitments through concrete action and we challenge the rest of the industry to exceed them."

Here is the list of the Proposed Facebook Principles:

1. Freedom to Share and Connect

People should have the freedom to share whatever information they want, in any medium and any format, and have the right to connect online with anyone – any person, organization or service – as long as they both consent to the connection.

2. Ownership and Control of Information

People should own their information. They should have the freedom to share it with anyone they want and take it with them anywhere they want, including removing it from the Facebook Service. People should have the freedom to decide with whom they will share their information, and to set privacy controls to protect those choices. Those controls, however, are not capable of limiting how those who have received information may use it, particularly outside the Facebook Service.

3. Free Flow of Information

People should have the freedom to access all of the information made available to them by others. People should also have practical tools that make it easy, quick, and efficient to share and access this information.

4. Fundamental Equality

Every Person – whether individual, advertiser, developer, organization, or other entity – should have representation and access to distribution and information within the Facebook Service, regardless of the Person’s primary activity. There should be a single set of principles, rights, and responsibilities that should apply to all People using the Facebook Service.

5. Social Value

People should have the freedom to build trust and reputation through their identity and connections, and should not have their presence on the Facebook Service removed for reasons other than those described in Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

6. Open Platforms and Standards

People should have programmatic interfaces for sharing and accessing the information available to them. The specifications for these interfaces should be published and made available and accessible to everyone.

7. Fundamental Service

People should be able to use Facebook for free to establish a presence, connect with others, and share information with them. Every Person should be able to use the Facebook Service regardless of his or her level of participation or contribution.

8. Common Welfare

The rights and responsibilities of Facebook and the People that use it should be described in a Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which should not be inconsistent with these Principles.

9. Transparent Process

Facebook should publicly make available information about its purpose, plans, policies, and operations. Facebook should have a town hall process of notice and comment and a system of voting to encourage input and discourse on amendments to these Principles or to the Rights and Responsibilities.

10. One World

The Facebook Service should transcend geographic and national boundaries and be available to everyone in the world.

Facebook is planning virtual town halls to discuss their new policies. They are also going to create a user council to address matters in the future. At the same time, there's also a group where you can comment. It's called Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.

Finally, voting on the The Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (formerly their ToS) will only be available for users who were active by Feb. 25th, 2009. Likely they will use the same formula going forward; you will have to be active prior to the posting of an initiative to vote. At least 30% of eligible users must participate for the vote to be valid.

Facebook has summarized the feedback received at the group so far here:

"Forever" won’t work: Facebook’s use of our content has to have clear limits.

* If I do not wish any of my content to be used for commercial purposes, or submitted to 3rd parties, I should be able to select this in my Privacy settings. Also, I should always be informed what 3rd parties my content is sent to.

* Facebook’s use of my content should be subject to an easy-to-understand license, like Creative Commons, which lets me maintain ownership and control.

* If I post or upload any piece of content to Facebook, their license to use that content should expire the moment I delete it. If I close my account, all of my content should be deleted off of Facebook’s network.

Opt-in only: Facebook can't just change the terms whenever they want.

* If Facebook updates its Terms of Use, it should be done in a way that’s open, obvious and highly visible to everyone. Post it at the top of the site and/or send an e-mail... updating a blog on an obscure part of the website doesn't work.

* Users should be notified of changes to the ToU ahead of time, so they can decide whether they want to continue to use Facebook or to close their account.

* If Facebook really wants to test user response to any new policy changes, they should submit them to a vote before implementation.

Write it in English: No legalese (or Latin!) please.

* Facebook’s previous Terms of Service included highly technical legal language and even Latin. This needs to be changed. I’m not sure what "forum non conveniens" means and I shouldn’t have to.

That last complaint though is fairly typical. Everyone uses legalese. If Facebook truly follows through on this, it will be a new day in the ToS world.

Facebook halts rogue app, MySpace plugs hole

2009-03-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the weekend, social networks Facebook and MySpace were dealing with several new security issues on Friday that could expose personal information and communications from friends.

This screenshot shows the notification that popped up with the latest rogue Facebook application.

(Credit: Trend Micro)

Facebook said it had removed a new rogue application that was spamming users and exposing their information. Before it was halted, the application sent messages claiming that a friend had reported the recipient for violating Facebook's terms of service and offered a link to click to find out more information.

Users who clicked on the link were providing the app access to their profile and personal information as well as unknowingly forwarding the message on to everyone in their Facebook contact list, according to Graham Cluley's blog for Sophos.

"Our team disabled this application for violating the Facebook Developer Terms of Service," Facebook spokesman Simon Axten said in an e-mail. "Some additional versions of it have sprung up, and we've disabled these as well. We're actively monitoring the site for others and are working to block the application completely."

Cluley said Facebook should do more to prevent such rogue applications from spreading in the first place than just shutting them down on an isolated basis.

"One of the problems is that Facebook allows anybody to write an application, and third-party applications are not vetted before they are made available to the public. So, even as Facebook stamps out one malignant application, it can pop up in another place like a poisoned mushroom with a different name," Cluley wrote.

"It sounds like this could be a new favoured trick being used by spammers and identity thieves to build up their databases of intended targets," he wrote. "My advice to Facebook users is to think very carefully before adding any new applications."

The problem prompted a Facebook user to create a Facebook group for victims of the scam, noted Trend Micro in its anti-malware blog.

The rogue app surfaced less than a week after the spread of a similar app dubbed "Error Check System" that falsely warned users that their friends were having problems viewing their profiles.

"Surely these two events in just a single week mean that it's about time that Facebook reviews its application hosting policy," the Trend Micro blog said.

What that quote suggests is akin to saying, 'there have been two robberies, we need to implement martial law in the city,'" said Facebook spokesman Axten. He noted that there are more than 660,000 developers and the "vast majority" of Facebook applications are not "nefarious."

The company makes it easy to be a Facebook developer--asking only for a valid e-mail address to get an application key--to foster innovation, and has a dedicated Developer Operations team that investigates applications that show "anomalous activity," Axten said.

"In this case, we responded quickly to user reports and disabled the application before too many people were affected," he said.

Meanwhile, over at MySpace, a spokeswoman said the company fixed a vulnerability on Friday that enabled strangers to view MySpace users' private comments. As with the other privacy holes that have been reported on, someone would have to know the exact URL and insert the correct user ID to exploit the weakness.

OpenOffice.org: 7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do

2009-03-19T05:16:00.001-07:00

OpenOffice.org 3.0 costs absolutely nothing but comes closer than anything else to letting you delete your copy of Microsoft Office (which probably cost you a lot). Even though OpenOffice.org—which is, yes, an application suite, not just a Web site—can't do everything Office can, it can do a lot, and it has some of its own tricks that even Office can't manage. Here are a few that may not be obvious, as well as a few ways to make OpenOffice.org less annoying out of the box.

1. Edit two or more parts of a document at the same time.
Microsoft Word has a nifty split-window feature that lets you divide the current window into two panes, so you can edit page 5 of your document in the top pane and page 505 in the bottom. To switch from one pane to the other, you don't have to waste time scrolling back and forth—you simply click in the other pane. OpenOffice.org doesn't let you split a window into two panes, but it offers an even better feature. Click the Window menu, then New Window, to open a new window that displays the same document you're working on. You can open as many windows as you want, each at a different place in your document; any change you make in one window immediately appears in all others. You can reduce screen clutter by turning off toolbars in one or more windows (use View | Toolbars), and you can tile or cascade the windows by right-clicking on the OpenOffice.org button on the Windows taskbar.

2. Use OpenOffice.org to open legacy documents.
Years ago, older versions of Microsoft Office could open documents created by almost any of the myriad word processors and spreadsheet programs that were widely used before Microsoft monopolized the market. Recent versions of Office can't open many of those older formats—including old Microsoft Word versions such as Word 6.0. By contrast, OpenOffice.org continues to open Word documents dating back to Version 6.0. OpenOffice.org also opens WordPerfect documents, including files created in WordPerfect for the Macintosh 3.5 Enhanced, which not even WordPerfect for Windows tries to open.

By the way, there's something confusing about OpenOffice.org's claims. The product purports to support at least one format that never existed: The list of supported file types in its File | Open dialog includes "Microsoft WinWord 5.0," even though there never was such a version. Word for Windows skipped from 2.0 to 6.0 in its version numbers.

3. Play a vintage Space Invaders game.
Remember the days of software "Easter Eggs"? They were not-very-secret keystrokes or mouse clicks that brought up silly graphics in some programs and games in others. Even Microsoft Excel used to have a secret game built in before Redmond lost its sense of humor. OpenOffice.org's Calc spreadsheet program still includes a 1990s-era shoot-'em-up Space Invaders game. Open the Calc app, and in any cell enter:

=GAME("StarWars")

Make sure to copy the capitalization shown here. Calc will open a StarWars game in which you shoot down a fleet of evil alien ships. The explanatory text is in German (the original version of OpenOffice.org was written in Germany), but you don't need to know even English to play the game. Calc has a slightly Teutonic attitude toward fun-and-games, however: After you quit the game, you'll need to shut down Calc and start it up again before you can play a second time.

4. Turn off the blinking light bulb.
By default, a light-bulb icon appears in a tiny window whenever OpenOffice.org does anything that isn't exactly what you typed—for example, when it replaces two hyphens with a dash. It doesn't exactly blink, but after the third or fourth time it opens, you may think of it as "that blinking light bulb" (you might use a word other than "blinking"). To turn it off permanently, go to Tools | Options, and then, in the left-hand pane, expand the menu tree by clicking the plus sign next to OpenOffice.org. In the General dialog, remove the check mark next to Help Agent.

5. Save files in Office formats by default.
By default OpenOffice.org saves files in its own format, which most Microsoft Office users can't open. You can save individual files in Office format by using OpenOffice.org's File | Save as… menu and selecting a Word format from the Save as Type dropdown. But you can tell OpenOffice to save in Office formats by default by choosing Tools | Options, then find the Load/Save category, and the General subcategory. In the Document Type dropdown, choose Text Document, and in the Always Save As dropdown, choose Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP. Then, in the Document Type dropdown, choose Spreadsheet, and in the Always Save As dropdown, choose Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP. These choices will create files that can be read by any modern word processor or spreadsheet.

6. Automate actions easily.
Many advanced Microsoft Office users take advantage of macros that run automatically when you open, print, or close a file, but Office's interface doesn't provide built-in clues for creating an AutoClose macro that will run whenever you close a document. OpenOffice.org goes Office one better by providing a menu-driven interface that lists all the actions that can automatically trigger macros—and these include a wider range of actions than the ones that can be automated easily in Office. For example, you can create a macro that is triggered every time the number of pages in a document increases and that inserts a header with a page number if the number goes above, say, two. Other actions that can automatically trigger macros include saving a document under a different name and running a mail merge. To use this feature, record the macros you want to use, then go to Tools | Customize | Events and assign your chosen macro to specific events.

7. Fix those single quotes.
By default, OpenOffice.org Writer creates good-looking, curly "typographic" double-quotation marks as you type, but when you type a single quotation mark (or an apostrophe) it uses a vertical line, as if you were still using your grandfather's manual typewriter. Fix this by going to Tools | AutoCorrect…, then go to the Custom Quotes tab and, under Single Quotes, add a check mark next to Replace.

backup Gmail mail messages using Thunderbird

2009-03-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

Step1
Login to Gmail and inside it click on settings in the top right corner.
Step2
Click on the Forwarding and Pop link\tab.
Step3
Click on Enable Pop for all mail.
Step4
Click on step number 2 of that window and click on Keep Gmail's copy in the inbox from the drop down menu.

Step5
Click the "Save Chages" button.
(Great you just told Gmail it is allowed to send your emails to another mail client!) Don't worry your mail is still protected by your account password and username.
Step6
Download Thunderbird at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Step7
Double click on Thunderbird Setup X.XX (Where X is the version number)
Step8
The first screen is the welcome screen of Thunderbird setup, click Next.
Step9
Read the agreement on the next screen, click I accept and then click Next.
Step10
Click next again.
Step11
Click Finish (leave the "Launch Mozilla Thunderbird now" checked)
Step12
If you have Microsoft Outlook on your computer, you will have an option to import those settings, choose yes if you would like to and then click next.
Step13
Just choose next and ok for the rest of these screens. I recommend not changing your current default RSS and mail settings when prompted, unless you plan to use Thunderbird for your regular mail and rss reader.
Step14
Once inside the Thunderbird mail window go to Tools > Account Settings.
Step15
From the left side click the button that says Add Account.
Step16
Click Email Account and click next.
Step17
Fill in your name and your full Gmail address and then click Next.
Step18
Choose POP and type in pop.gmail.com for your incoming server. If you like you can fill out the outgoing server, but it is not necessary for using this as a Gmail backup.
Step19
Click Next.
Step20
Type your full Gmail email address as your incoming and outgoing email address, and then click Next.
Step21
Click Next, and click Finish.
Step22
Click in the left pane the section that says “Server Settings” If you do not see server settings expand each collapsed entry on the left until you do see those words.
Step23
On the right side of the new pane choose SSL and type in 995 for your port, the other options are semi optional.
Step24
Click Get mail, from Thunderbird. Thousands of messages will take you several days to get a complete backup, when it is finally caught up it will be really fast for future emails. You don’t have to leave the computer on just have Thunderbird open for a bit every time you have the computer on to allow the backup, and then close it when you get off.

Tips & Warnings

* If you want to use Thunderbird as a full mail client you can follow the directions here for fully setting up your outgoing server: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=38343 However since this is a tutorial on backup we only intend to show you how to copy your current Gmail inbox. The instructions provided for Gmail to Thunderbird are dated so all screen shots they provide will be slightly off as of this writing.

11 Kind of good food

2009-03-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.” They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,” it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site, which published the original version of the list last year.

In my own house, I only have two of these items — pumpkin seeds, which I often roast and put on salads, and frozen blueberries, which I mix with milk, yogurt and other fruits for morning smoothies. How about you? Have any of these foods found their way into your shopping cart?

No Office 14 until 2010, 'Netbook' Server Planned

2009-03-18T01:55:00.001-07:00

Configuring a DSL Modem

2009-03-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

Manually configuring your own DSL Internet connection is a fairly simple process. However, if you don't do it properly, you will end up with many problems. As long as you know exactly what type of DSL service you have, the process of setting up your modem should go very

Types
The most common type of DSL service is asymmetric DSL (ADSL). ADSL has faster download speeds than upload speeds. This differs from symmetric DSL (SDSL), in which download and upload speeds are equal. There are also many different types of DSL modems. Some come with a built-in firewall or a wireless router. Some have only Ethernet connections, whereas others have a USB port as well. If you're buying your own modem, be sure to contact your service provider to determine which type to get.

Features
Most DSL modems come with a power adapter, a telephone cable, a phone filter and an Ethernet cable. You must have a network card on your computer to connect the Ethernet cable. If you don't have a network card, you may be able to attach your modem by USB. Follow the modem manufacturer's instructions for physical installation of the modem before attempting to configure it. Also speak to your service provider in advance to determine which type of connection you have and to get your username and password. In Windows, click Start > Control Panel. Select "Network and Internet Connections." Then select "Network Connections." Under "Network Tasks," click "Create a New Connection." The "New Connection Wizard" will open. Click "Next." Under "Network Connection Type" select "Connect to the Internet." Click "Next" again. In the next screen, select "Set up my connection manually." Continue to the next screen. Select whether or not your connection uses a username and password. Enter the name of your connection, username and password in the next two screens if necessary.
Function
DSL operates on frequencies that are unused in telephone transmissions. Make sure that you install the phone filters not only on the telephone line that you use to connect to your modem, but also on all other phone outlets in your home or office. A common type of DSL connection, Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE), uses a username and password to log you onto the Internet.

Benefits
If you don't want to install the software that came with your Internet service, configuring your DSL manually is a must. If the service provider's software is causing serious problems on your computer, you can completely uninstall it without losing your connection. This will free up your memory to run other applications, since the ISP's software will no longer be loaded every time you start your computer.

Considerations
Even though you log in to your connection with PPPoE, it will probably be on all the time. For this reason, you should make sure that your firewall is active at all times and that you have current anti-virus software installed. Also, if you plan to install a local area network (LAN) you will have to re-route your Ethernet connection. Properly connected, the DSL modem will connect to your network router, which will attach directly to the Ethernet port of your computer.

Facebook and Yahoo: Power to the People

2009-03-18T01:46:00.000-07:00

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Yahoo's Carol Bartz are pioneering a new era in business, one that puts you in charge.

In the space of a few hours, Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and Yahoo's new CEO, Carol Bartz, each announced new ways for their users to steer the policies and directions of their respective companies, treating customers not like passive consumers but active stakeholders. When did the people get so powerful?

Clearly, we've entered a new era of business and corporate policy. I'd call it the democratization of business. Zuckerberg took pains to make clear that his site's new rights and responsibilities document is "about policy and not product." Still, a big part of Facebook's plan includes putting terms of service (TOS) changes to a vote. This would not just be an internal vote. It would include any one of Facebook's 170 million members who took the time to comment on proposed changes.

At Yahoo, the inclusion of the consumer in corporate policy and direction is far less pronounced. The company's new Customer Advocacy group will be tasked with listening to and supporting customers. The fact that Bartz makes mention of it in her first blog post as Chief Executive is telling.

So what's going on here?

For his part, Facebook's Zuckerberg probably felt like he had little choice. The company faced a fusillade of criticism last week when the consumer advocacy blog Consumerist outlined controversial changes to Facebook's existing TOS. In the new version, Facebook indicated that it owned and could use your content, even after you left the site. I haven't read the TOS for every similar social network, but I will say that MySpace's TOS states clearly that it doesn't own or retain rights to anything you post, and once you leave, it gets rid of all your content as soon as possible. Twitter does the same. As you can imagine, the Consumerist's piece set off a firestorm. Facebook's social network did what it does best, and word of the change and outrage over it spread fast. The NYTimes.com reported that Zuckerberg and Facebook initially balked at making changes to the new TOS, but soon after, the company reinstated the original TOS.

Now, however, Facebook wants to run each and every TOS change by every Facebook user. No one has to respond, but everyone can. If enough people comment then Facebook puts the change to a vote. This isn't lip service and, if you believe Zuckerberg, the power afforded consumers is real. "This isn't just a contract we have with individuals on the site," said Zuckerberg, "this is the governing document for the site."

Facebook is a business, right? It has some big investors like Microsoft. How does it feel about this? I cannot imagine Microsoft putting anything it does to consumer vote. Most companies wouldn't consider it because they're businesses not democracies. There is also a fear, a legitimate one I think, that involving members/consumers in site policy making could slow Facebook down as a business. Zuckerberg's assertion that there's a clean separation between site business and the site's Terms of Service does not entirely assuage those concerns. In many meaningful ways, Terms of Service ARE the business.

When I saw Bartz's note, I realized that we're probably right at what author Malcolm Gladwell calls a "tipping point." This is the perfect moment for customers to seize control. Companies are scared, hurting, low on funds, and facing a very difficult 2009. They can no longer afford to tell customers what they should like or dictate the terms of the costumer-business relationship. They need consumers to feel engaged and committed to products and brands—like stakeholders. Membership to a site like Facebook or a destination like Yahoo means you get a seat at the table. It also means you have something to gain or lose if the company changes, succeeds, or fails.

I expect that what Zuckerberg and Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Bartz and Yahoo have started will be repeated in markets and at companies across the Internet and, eventually, around the world.

Power to the people.

Multiple Login id with single Browser (Firefox)

2009-03-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

Download CookieSwap Firefox add-Ons in here :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3255

you'll see this screen

install ( add to firefox ) then restart firefox

after u open firefox again
1. login with id 1

2. Change profile 1 with profilw 2 with CookieSwap
Right Click in the logo CookieSwap (Profile1)

Cookies Profile2 now using by Firefox

then Log Out id to profile 1:

mow Login with id 2:

Cookies id in 2 saved by Firefox

for Profile3 repeat step above
so Profile1= id ke 1 ; Profile2= id ke 2 ; Profile3= id ke 3

if we wanto to switch ID, select Profile CookieSwap we saved .
then press F5 (refresh Page), active ID will be same with profile u choose
nothing more about login and logout