From the Monitor to the Small Screen

The race to connect your TV to your computer and the Internet kicked into high gear when Apple Inc. introduced a slender, wireless set-top box called Apple TV.

This silvery little gadget is designed to play and display on a widescreen family-room TV set all the music, video and photos stored on up to six computers around the house – even if they are far from the TV, and even if they are all Windows PCs rather than Apple’s own Macintosh models. It can also pull a very limited amount of music and video directly off the Internet onto the TV.

Apple TV is tiny, just about eight inches square and an inch high; far smaller than a typical DVD player or cable or satellite box, even though it packs in a 40-gigabyte hard disk, an Intel processor and a modified version of Mac operating system. It has a carefully limited set of functions.

Yet it works great, and it is recommended for people who are yearning for a simple way to show on their big TVs all that stuff trapped in their computers. It works well with various combinations of Windows and Mac computers, with movies, photos, TV shows, video clips and music. And even without the fastest wireless network it can handle, it performs flawlessly. But it won’t work with older TVs unless they can display widescreen formatted content and accept newer types of cables.

Like the iPod before it, Apple TV isn’t the first gadget in its category. Several other companies have made set-top boxes or even TV sets and game consoles that could link the TV to the digital content on computers. But none has found a mass audience for this, mainly because they tend to be hard to set up and confusing to use.

Part of the secret of Apple TV is that, like most of Apple’s products, it doesn’t try to do everything and thus become a mass of complexity. It can’t receive or record cable or satellite TV, so it isn’t meant as a replacement for your cable or satellite box. It can’t play DVDs, so it doesn’t replace your DVD player. Its sole function is to bring to the TV content stored on your computer or drawn from the Internet.

Apple TV isn’t for that small slice of techies who buy a full-blown computer and plug it directly into a TV, or for gamers who prefer to do it all through a game console. And it is not for people who are content to watch downloaded TV shows and movies directly on a computer a screen. Instead, it’s for the much larger group of people who want to keep their home computers where they are and yet enjoy their downloaded media on their widescreen TVs.

Apple TV’s most formidable competitor is the Xbox360 game console from Microsoft, which, in addition to playing games, can also play back content from Windows computers on a TV. And Xbox360 can do something Apple TV can’t do, which is to directly purchase and download movies and TV shows from the Internet. But the Xbox costs 50% more than Apple TV, is much larger and stores only half the material.

It’s a beautifully designed, easy-to-use product that should be very attractive to people with widescreen TV sets and lots of music, videos and photos stored on computers. It has some notable limitations, but you will really like it. It is classic Apple: simple and elegant.

In tests, Apple TV performed perfectly in a house over a standard Wi-Fi wireless network with Pioneer plasma TV and six different computers – three Windows from HP and Dell, and three Apple Macs. Setup was a breeze, the user interface was clean and handsome, and video and audio quality was quite good. Unlike any of its rivals, Apple TV can play the copy-protected music, TV shows and movies purchased from the iTunes online store.

Apple TV’s most important limitation is that it can’t stream much video or audio directly from the Internet – yet. The capability to go directly to the Internet, bypassing the computers in your home, is built in, but is initially being used only to fetch feature film trailers and short preview clips of popular sings, TV shows and movies sold on iTunes store. Apple TV also won’t allow you to buy media directly from the iTunes store. You must first download content from the Internet or iTunes on a computer, and then Apple TV will grab it from the computer and play it on your TV.

Apple refuses to say if or when this direct-to-the-Internet capability will be expanded. But I fully expect Apple to add the capability to stream or download a variety of content directly from the Internet.

Apple TV is a pleasure to use. The setup is stunningly simple – plug the unit in and hook it up to the TV with a single cable (not included). The unit finds and connects with the Wi-Fi network almost instantly. Any song, TV episode, movie or photo you download or otherwise add to that one computer is automatically replicated on the Apple TV’s internal hard disk for playback on your TV. This synchronisation function works perfectly with both a Mac laptop and a Windows Vista desktop.

In addition to your single synchronised computer, you can designate up to five other computers as sources for your Apple TV. On the TV screen, Apple TV presents a simple, handsome list of content for each computer you choose to view. Media is divided into Movies, TV Shows, Music, Podcasts and photos. You can change among your various computers using a menu called Sources.

There are some drawbacks to Apple TV; it won’t work with most of the older TV sets. Also, the tiny, simple Apple remote control can’t control the volume on either Apple TV or your TV set or audio receiver, so you have to keep reaching for the TV or audio receiver remote. But, all in all, Apple TV is a very well-designed product that easily brings the computer and the TV together.

Pop a banner each time Windows Boots

To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user is going to log on, go to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\WinLogon Now create a new string Value in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create yet another new string value and name it: LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to display the company's private policy each time the user logs on to his NT box. It's .reg file would be: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Winlogon] "LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."

Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN MRU

The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Explorer Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes. You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key: HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\Explorer\RunMR U You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU and delete

Deleting System Options from the Start menu

You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start menu by performing a simple registry hack. Again like always Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Explorer Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value. Name it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click the newly create DWORD to edit it's value and enter 1 as its value. This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also disable the default Shortcut key(F3 for Find.) To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the DWORD to 0 or simply Delete the DWORD value.

Great trick Lock your PC yourself

 

lock your PC.. open notepad copy and paste the script below and save it .VBS extension
This will create a shortcut.. run(click) it

set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
set oShellLink = WshShell.CreateShortcut(wshShell.SpecialFolders("D esktop") & "\LockWorkstation.lnk")
oShellLink.TargetPath = "%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe"
oShellLink.Arguments = "user32.dll,LockWorkStation"
oShellLink.Save

Can you Delete Recycle Bin?

One thing is for sure, delete option can be added 2 recycle bin...
the old registry thing will work out.....
* launch d registry...
* open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder
* to add a rename and delete option, change the Dword attribute to 70 01 00 20
* refresh and reboot the system..... you are done.
PS: always backup your data as well as registry b4 attempting 2 work on it if you are a newbie....

To change the icons used for specific drives in explorer

 

Open regedit by typing regedit into start->run
then navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer
now create a key(KEY not VALUE!!) called DriveIcons under Explorer...
now within DriveIcons, create another key with the drive letter you want to change (e.g.,HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Window s\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons\K)...
create another key within the drive letter key called DefaultIcon...
now set the default String value equal to the icon you want to use. if you have a file that has more than one icon in it, such as a DLL file, use the standard
C:\full_path\icon_file.dll,n ) where n is the number of the icon within the file icon_file.dll...

Change drive icons.....

 

first of all copy a icon file to the root of the drive.
example: c:\icon.ico
then create a file called: autorun.inf in c:\autorun.inf
then open that file and type the following:
[autorun]
icon=icon.ico
save and close the file.
now open my computer and refresh.. and woh! icon changed....
you can apply to other drives too.
be careful:
"autorun.inf" and "ico.ico" must be in the root of the drive.
example: c:\autorun.inf and c:\icon.ico.
same on the root.
ENJOY, this works on 98 too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hacking windows SEND TO MENU

I know this is a very simple thing but the problem, as like many other issues, is the ignorance about it.
How often do you copy songs from a CD? Or some photos from a CD?
What do you do? You select the required files and do a CTRL –C. Open the destination folder and do a CTRL-V. Here is something you can benefit time from. customize your SEND TO MENU.
This sounds simple and you can do it in less than sixty seconds.
You can create your own BASKET.
First you’ll need access to hidden files. So change your view settings to make all hidden files visible.
Tools -> folder options -> view (tab) and select the show hidden files and folders.
go to parent drive:/documents and settings/(user name)/send to
Open up my computer and locate your most used folders.
Create a shortcut of the most used folders in SEND TO FOLDER.You can do this in a number of ways.
Right click -> send to desktop(create shortcut) and move the shortcut from the desktop to the SEND TO FOLDER
Copy the most used folder and go to SEND TO FOLDER and right click -> paste shortcut.
Also remember to rename the shortcuts to send to videos or send to photos. We don’t need confusion when we use the same later.
DONE

How to remove the shortcut arrow from the desktop ?

 

Open Regedit and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Shell Icons
Backup the key. More information.
In the right-pane, create a new String value named "29"
Double-click 29 and set its data to:
C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,50 (an empty icon)
Close Registry Editor.
Now,
Right-click Desktop, choose Properties
Click the Appearance Tab.
Click Advanced button.
Choose Icon from the drop-down list
Set it's size to 31 and press OK, OK.
The changes will be applied now. Repeat the above steps and then set the Icon size back to 32 (defaults). The above steps are required to force Windows to redraw the icons

The Invalid File-Name list ! Can you Do it!

Try to create a folder in Windows with either of these names--
"con" or "nul" or "Aux" or "Lpt1".
Windows will not let u create ....
This s coz these refer 2 some well known ports....
-con corresponds to the console
-Lpt1 corresponds to printer and so on....
well that was common but how about this ? Try these more
CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9.

Removing Services Dependencies

This will allow you to disable a service or uninstall it from your system without effecting another service that depends on it. Here's how you do it
1. After you have set your services the way you want them and you have disabled/uninstalled something that another services depends on, run "Regedit"
2. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\find the service that will not function, do to another service being disabled/uninstall (found in ControlSet001\Services, ControlSet002\Services, and CurrentControlSet\Services)
3. Once you have found the service right-click on the string value, "DependOnService,"and modify
4. You should now see a list of services that it is dependent on. Simply delete the service that you have disabled/uninstalled
5. Restart your computer and your ready to go Disclaimer REMEMBER TO BACKUP YOU REGISTRY FIRST I'm not totally sure if this will have any negative effects on your system. I used this method after uninstalling "Netbios over Tcpip" from my system completely, so that my Dhcp service would function and I have had NO negative effects on my system.

Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer

This is yet another trick you can play on your geek friend. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer go to : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives. Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item. It's .reg file is as follows: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explore r] "NoDrives"=dword:03ffffff

Shortcut to restarting/shut down XP..

 

You can restart a Windows XP Pro and home machine easily by creating a shortcut with following path. (Assume you installed Windows XP on your C: Partition) "c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -r -f -t 00" -r is for restarting the computer. -f is to force close all programs without saving. -t 00 is used to restart in zero seconds. i.e. as soon as you D.Click on the shortcut. You can log off from a Windows XP Professional or home edition by running "C:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -l -f -t 00". Also you can shutdown a Windows XP home or Professional edition by running "c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 00". You always have to turn from the CPU after running this command. (Same with AT and ATX powered machines.) If you want to turn down power of ATX machine automatically, run "c:\windows\system32\tsshutdn.exe 00 /POWERDOWN /DELAY:00" This is used to turn off a server. Even though your computer will be shutdown completely, this whole operation will take 30 seconds to finish. Even though you don't have networked computers attached to your computer, this works.

A Full Tuturial of Making a Beginner level virus

Index
1. Tools
2. What makes a virus a virus
3. Making your first batch file
4. Making a batch virus
5. Destructive commands
6. Most common tricks used to make someone open the file


1. Tools
To make a batch program you will need a text program (ex. Word,notepad,wordpad etc…) A keyboard if you don’t have one you can use the ON-screen keyboard
To get to the on-screen keyboard start>all programs>accessories>accessibility


2. What makes a virus a virus
When people think of a virus they think of a computer virus but the word virus came from a virus that’s in your body. They also think a virus is meant to delete or destroy things. They normally do but a virus is called a virus because, it copies itself. Like a virus in your body it copies it self to other cells cause it can’t live with out a host. Same with a computer virus with out a file or a program a virus can’t be made.
So all a computer virus is: a program that copies it self ,but some people put destructive code in it.

3. Making a Batch file
I’m going to use notepad you can use what ever you want

We are also going to make a “Hello World” Application that is the first program you make in any language

When making a batch file you are always going to use this line first

@echo off

You can turn it on if you like. All that does is telling the program not to tell its location. If you turn it on then the program will tell were it is at on the computer.
You can experiment a little if you want.

Now we are going to make it say Hello World

To do this we need a echo command which looks like this
echo

This tells the program to write something since we want it to say Hello World we are going to type Hello World next to echo to make it look like this

echo Hello World

so at this point you should have

@echo off
echo Hello World

now go to file save and name it test.bat ( you can name it whatever you want as long as it has .bat at the end.)
Save it to the desktop so you can get to it faster.

Then run it



You should of have a black box open and close really fast

To fix this we need a pause command and we will also need a goto command

The goto command is the most importent command

If you dont know the goto command tell it were to go to next.

since we need a pause command we want it to go to pause so we need to write goto pause like this

goto pause

now u should have

@echo off
echo Hello World
goto pause

now we need a subsection name pause

you make a sub section by putting a : by the first word like this

:start

or

:end

,but we said go to pause so we need one name pause like this

ause

then under that we are goin to write pause

ause
pause

this just makes it were it will keep the box open till you press a key

Optionl

At the end you can put a exit at the end of pause were the goto command should go ,but you dont have to.

save at run it now.You should be able to read your text now

4. Making a Batch file into a virus

This is alot easier then some people think.

To make a virus you just need the copy command which looks like this

copy

so lets make a new one by reading section 3 you should know you need the @echo off

@echo off
copy

allright we are going to name this file first

and we are going to make it copy itself to C:\WINDOWS just because no one looks in their

this is what it looks like (i will explain it)

@echo off
copy first C:\WINDOWS

copy-tells it to copy
first-is just the name of the file we want to copy
C:\WINDOWS- is the place you want to copy to

that is a virus

5. Destructive commands

If you get pissed at someone you might want to send him someting to mess with him. Here are some commands to add to the virus.

del -this del files

del file name
del (.txt*)

the (.txt*) would delete all txt files on the computer the * at the end just means all instead of a file called .txt

deltree- this deletes the whole folder

you can remeber it like this

Think of a tree if you type del you are only deleting a part of the tree ,but if you type deltree you are deleting the whole tree

format- this deltes everything

format c:

this delets everything in the c drive

open

this is just fun to use to scare some one but not do damage to something

open name of file

like to open notepad type

open notepad

to open microsoft paint type

open mspaint

just put ta crap load in their

also the next one that can be very usefull is looping

this will make the file repet it self til it is shut off

say your first sub section is called start

you would just make the goto command to go to start like

@echo off
:start
start notepad
goto start

that will open notepad over and over and if they dont close it it can crash their computer

to open the command window you have to use var. like %% (not going to explain var. it would be confusing)

@echo off
:whatever
start %0
goto whatever

this will open the black box over and over

6. Most command tricks

people will put it in a folder with a couple read me doc. and call it a game

people will say check this out it is so cool

people will say check out this hack or cheat i found for this game

to check if the are good do this

tell them to put it in a zip folder and send it

unzip and right click on the program(dont open it)

and press edit

that will show the sorce code and if you see something you dont like then delete it

Examples

for just a simp msg its

@echo off
echo *insert MSG here*
goto pause
ause
pause

for the a rapid command propt type screen its

@echo off
:whatever
start %0
goto whatever

for rapid note pad its


@echo off
:start
start notepad
goto start

for rapid ms paint its


@echo off
:start
start ms paint
goto start

Quite Long but good to try...

Some Useful Commands for RUN

RUN COMMANDS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! !
Useful RUN Commands

To Access?. - Run Command

1. Accessibility Controls - access.cpl
2. Add Hardware Wizard - hdwwiz.cpl
3. Add/Remove Programs - appwiz.cpl
4. Administrative Tools - control admintools
5. Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl
6. Bluetooth Transfer Wizard - fsquirt
7. Calculator - calc
8. Certificate Manager - certmgr.msc
9. Character Map - charmap
10. Check Disk Utility - chkdsk
11. Clipboard Viewer - clipbrd
12. Command Prompt - cmd
13. Component Services - dcomcnfg
14. Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
15. Date and Time Properties - timedate.cpl
16. DDE Shares - ddeshare
17. Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
18. Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* - directx.cpl
19. Direct X Troubleshooter - dxdiag
20. Disk Cleanup Utility - cleanmgr
21. Disk Defragment - dfrg.msc
22. Disk Management - diskmgmt.msc
23. Disk Partition Manager - diskpart
24. Display Properties - control desktop
25. Display Properties - desk.cpl
26. Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) - control color
27. Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility - drwtsn32
28. Driver Verifier Utility - verifier
29. Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
30. File Signature Verification Tool - sigverif
31. Findfast - findfast.cpl
32. Folders Properties - control folders
33. Fonts - control fonts
34. Fonts Folder - fonts
35. Free Cell Card Game - freecell
36. Game Controllers - joy.cpl
37. Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) - gpedit.msc
38. Hearts Card Game - mshearts

· Useful Run Commands - II

1. Iexpress Wizard - iexpress
2. Indexing Service - ciadv.msc
3. Internet Properties - inetcpl.cpl
4. IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) - ipconfig /all
5. IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /displaydns
6. IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /flushdns
7. IP Configuration (Release All Connections) - ipconfig /release
8. IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) - ipconfig /renew
9. IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re - Registers DNS) -
10. ipconfig /registerdns
11. IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /showclassid
12. IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID)

Useful RUN commands - III

1. IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /showclassid
2. IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /setclassid
3. Java Control Panel (If Installed) - jpicpl32.cpl
4. Java Control Panel (If Installed) - javaws
5. Keyboard Properties - control keyboard
6. Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
7. Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
8. Logs You Out Of Windows - logoff
9. Microsoft Chat - winchat
10. Minesweeper Game - winmine
11. Mouse Properties - control mouse
12. Mouse Properties - main.cpl
13. Network Connections - control netconnections
14. Network Connections - ncpa.cpl
15. Network Setup Wizard - netsetup.cpl
16. Notepad - notepad
17. Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) - nvtuicpl.cpl
18. Object Packager - packager
19. ODBC Data Source Administrator - odbccp32.cpl
20. On Screen Keyboard - osk
21. Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) - ac3filter.cpl
22. Password Properties - password.cpl
23. Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
24. Performance Monitor - perfmon
25. Phone and Modem Options - telephon.cpl
26. Power Configuration - powercfg.cpl
27. Printers and Faxes - control printers
28. Printers Folder - printers
29. Private Character Editor - eudcedit
30. Quicktime (If Installed) - QuickTime.cpl
31. Regional Settings - intl.cpl
32. Registry Editor - regedit
33. Registry Editor - regedit32
34. Remote Desktop - mstsc
35. Removable Storage - ntmsmgr.msc
36. Removable Storage Operator Requests - ntmsoprq.msc
37. Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) - rsop.msc

Useful RUN Commands - IV

1. Scanners and Cameras - sticpl.cpl
2. Scheduled Tasks - control schedtasks
3. Security Center - wscui.cpl
4. Services - services.msc
5. Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
6. Shuts Down Windows - shutdown
7. Sounds and Audio - mmsys.cpl
8. Spider Solitare Card Game - spider
9. SQL Client Configuration - cliconfg
10. System Configuration Editor - sysedit
11. System Configuration Utility - msconfig
12. System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) - sfc /scannow
13. System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) - sfc /scanonce
14. System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) - sfc /scanbo

Set video as your Wallpaper ( & i'm not talking about DreamScene of Vista)

Just follow the steps given below:

1.Download VLC Media Player and install it from http://www.videolan.org.

2.Run VLC media player,go to Settings->preferences->Interface->Main interfaces,then click on wxWidgets.Remove the tick on "Taskbar" and put a tick on "Systray icon".

3.Now go to Video->Output Modules->DirectX.On the bottom right put a tick on advanced options check box.You will now see some options.Put a tick on "Enable Wallpaper Mode ".

4.Now,select playlist and put a check or tick on "Repeat current item ".

5.Press the Save button.Now close the Vlc player and run it again(to save the settings permanently).

6.Now play any video you would like to set as Wallpaper.Right click on the video and click on "Wallpaper".The video would be set as your wallpaper!!!!



Since you have checked the option "repeat current item ",the selected video will play on continuously.It will start again when finished.VLC player will remain in your system tray.If you wish to remove the wallpaper simply close the player and you will get back your original wallpaper.

(In case you want to undo all the setting changes and go back to VLC default setting just press the reset all" button......)

It seems to work for me so i thought u people would like it too.......

Shutdown Opponent's's Computer

ok guys EXCELLENT TRICK !!!!!!
with this trick u can make ur OPPONENT'S PC SHUTDOWN.
read CAREFULLLY its very easy and excellent.


SHUTDOWN OPPONENT'S PC FORCEFULLY.

how it runs- you make a shutdown exe and make ur enemy run.

and it happen in 4 EASY STEPS---->>

*************** START ****************


1)OPEN NOTEPAD

2)WRITE SHUTDOWN -S (SHUTDOWN(SPACEBAR)-S)

3)SAVE IT WITH NAME [name goes here].BAT (BAT STANDS FOR BATCH FILE--NEED NOT TO GET INTO THIS CRAP JUST DO AS I ASK)

4)SEND THE SAVED FILE TO UR FRIEND AND ASK HIM TO RUN IT.(VIA ANY MASSENGER(YAHOO,MSN,IRC,EYEBALL,ETC ETC ETC ANYYYYY)OR EMAIL HIM THIS SAVED .BAT FILE.

***************THATS IT.***************


OK NOW AS SOON AS UR FRIEND OR ENEMY WILL RUN IT HIS PC WILL SHUTDOWN,WITH THE COUNTDOWN STARTING FROM 30 SEC

I made My Windows Myself!!!

open notepad dump the following lines into it and save it with the name OEMINFO.INI in the c:\windows\system32 directory:

[General]
Manufacturer=Your Name Here
Model=Your Model Here
[Support Information]
Line1=Your Name Here
Line2=Your Address Here
Line3=Your Email Address Here


Save the file, then make a right click on my computer select properties, in the general tab a button will be highlighted (support information) make a click on it, you will be able to see the changes.
Now if you want to display some more information then simply increase the line in the file.
ex: Line4=Your Working Hours Here

Who controls notepad?

A funny trick You can do using Notepad in Windows XP.

Open Notepad.
Type the words as follows:
Bush hid the facts

Now save the file (give it any name you like), close the notepad.
open it again. u will se Square characters (or) Chinese letters instead of the words you had written.

Same with "this app can break"
It Works Only with XP.

A MS-Word Trick!!!

Open Microsoft Word and type:
=rand (200, 99)

And press Enter and you will involuntarily speak up "Awesome"

Just Say No

All computer upgrades are not created equal

In the computer world, you may buy something expecting it to be the perfect fix or upgrade, only to find it’s the equivalent of warm milk. You can drink it, but it’s not very satisfying. Knowing when that might be the case can prevent disappointment and save you money. Let’s look at some risk areas:

RAM – Especially with the arrival of Windows Vista, you’ll see the benefit of having upto 2GB of RAM. But if you still have XP, 1GB does nicely for most uses. While adding more RAM than this may speed up a computer slightly, you run into the law of diminishing returns. In most cases, adding still more RAM is a waste of money.

Hard Disks – My friend’s 200GB hard disk has about 115GB free. Replacing that disk with a larger one would offer no benefit at all. If your hard disk is less than half full, there’s no point replacing it. Instead, if you have the cash on hand, consider adding a second external hard disk. That will give you room to grow as well as providing a handy way to store backup copies of your data.

Computer Monitors – I love the way flat-panel LCD monitors look. They take up less space on a desk than a tube monitor, and prices have come way down. But if you have the wrong expectations, they can be a waste of money. Sure, there’s plenty to recommend about them these days- the response time is vastly improved from the first generation of these monitors. In the early days, LCD had trouble handling fast action, such as video or video games. But if you have a top- notch tube- type monitor, don’t expect even the best LCD monitors to offer better colour or sharper images. Replace your monitor if you want a more modern look, or think a wide-screen flat panel would make life easier. Otherwise, avoid the expense and disappointment.

Routers – Humans have always been fascinated by speed. Me too – I still remember the way the early Pontiac GTOs pushed you back in your seat when you pressed hard on the accelerator. To take advantage of this craving, you’ll see all sorts of speed claims on the packaging for both wired and wireless routers. I expect those claims are true. But even the slowest router is faster than your Internet connection. So, if you expect to get faster response on the Net based on your router, you are heading for a disappointment.

PC tune- up programs – They promise to fix problems, speed up your computer – if you believe the ads, they’ll do almost everything, but cook scrambled eggs for your breakfast. I’ve found these programs to do only a so-so job of fixing problems. And they seem so eager to find and report problems that I suspect they end up fixing things that aren’t really broken at times – a dangerous habit. My advice: Use one when – and only when – a problem is hurting the performance of your computer. Don’t use them on a computer that is working just fine. Ironically, my favourite of these tools is free for the download. Unlike some of the commercial products, CCleaner is very simple and has no annoying pop-ups.

New PCS – When you spend several hundred or even thousand dollars on anew computer, you expect to experience a real difference. But if you have a relatively modern PC – with processor rated at 2GHz or higher, XP installed and 1GB of RAM – replacing it with a new computer with Vista installed isn’t going to be life-changing experience. That’s especially true if most of your computing involves surfing the Web, using e-mail, writing some documents and doing some spreadsheets. Even a hot new PC using a chip with multiple processors won’t give you much – if any – noticeable improvement. Sure, it’ll be faster, but not in ways the average user would notice.

I hope I’ve saved some of you a few bucks by steering you towards a cool drink of water.

The Sound of Music

One of the most asked for guides has been on the audio world. Unfortunately, this is such a vast domain that covering most aspects would take up pretty much time. Here is the shore, concise and very precise guide to assembling your own audio system. Now, I take on the source and the amplification. Next time will be the big daddy component – the Definitive Loudspeaker buying guide.

The Big Myth

The big myth here is that you should always buy an integrated all-in-one music system. Nothing could be further away from the truth. It’s almost impossible for a single company to make every single component of the audio system perfectly.

Each component needs its own expertise, skill and proficiency. For instance, those who make a state of the art CD player may not be able to make the best loudspeakers. The all-in-one music-system has its own place when it comes to bedroom audio, space constraints or convenience but cannot suffice when the audio system you are planning to build has to be a soul stirring work of passion.

The good news is that it’s not as complicated as most people will have you believe. Break it into simple steps, keep to the basics, avoid the jargons, be aware of the gimmicks and trust your own judgment.

The Source

In a domain where we are all about to move to Blu-Ray and HD-DVD this is now getting to be very confusing decision. Still, the way to go right now is to choose a dedicated, stand-alone CD player. DVD players that also play CD’s may not be able to give you the same performance. Look for an easy interface, ability to play CD-R’s and a robust build. Play a CD on it and firmly tap around the player with two fingers. If it skips then it should be off your buy list. It should also be able to play scratched CD’s easily. If you are buying a high-end audiophile level CD player then look for DVD audio and/or SACD multi-channel capability and make sure it has an output to feed an external Digital-to-analog converter. It should have an S/P-DIF output, usually marked as ‘Digital Out’.

Most importantly listen to the source player by disabling all features and carry a CD with music you are familiar with.

The Boosters

A basic receiver is an all-in-one box component with an integrated preamp, tuner and preamp. These receivers have everything a basic amplifier has with an added processor to decode formats and sound encoding like Dolby Digital and DTS. They also have multi channel power amplifiers, DSP processing and plenty of Audio/Video inputs/outputs. You need to figure out whether your usage is purely for audio or combined with some video too.

Look at the rating of the power supply, the build quality, the sound, the bass management and match the impedance to your speakers. Be very careful when choosing this product as some receivers with wiz-bang feature lists and nice lights suffer from a common problem – terrible preamp/processor sections. Once gain, take some familiar source material with you and leave the final judgment to your ears.

Next time, we move to the world of Loudspeakers. This admittedly is where some complexity comes in. The Big Payoff is that the speaker is easily the most important piece of audio equipment you will ever buy. Get it right and the audio performance will take you to places you have never been before.

Installing Windows

How to Install Windows Using a CD

Microsoft Windows is a user-friendly, GUI (Graphical User Interface) operating system, used by around 90% of the PCs in the world. Nowadays, many applications in market tend to support Windows. Follow the steps below, and install this operating system by yourself, without calling a highly-paid computer technician at your home.
Steps

1. Buy a Microsoft Windows OS CD from your local CD center, or order for it. If you have one already, then proceed to next step.
2. Open your CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-ROM/DVD-RW (Any of these drives) and insert the Microsoft Windows Setup CD.
3. Restart your Computer.
4. Soon after restarting your computer, Hold on F2 to start BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) Settings. If nothing happens try restarting your computer again and press DEL key this time.
5. After BIOS loads completely (usually blue screen). Go to 'Boot', by pressing the Number Keys.
6. After the [Boot] Settings Appear, search an item named as [Boot Priority] or [Boot Order] etc, or with the same meaning, and Press Enter.
7. Then see if your CD-ROM is set to 'First Boot Device', it would have been named as [ATAPI CD-ROM], either by its Manufacturer, or simply [CD-ROM]. If it is not, then set is using the keys usually Page Up and Page Down. If not, then take help from the Legend which appears at the right portion of the screen.
8. After setting CD-ROM as the 'First Boot Device', press F10, the BIOS will ask you whether to 'Save Changes and Exit', select 'Yes'. The BIOS will automatically restart your Computer.
9. Now after your computer Re-Boots, A Black screen will appear showing the message 'Press any key to Boot from CD...', press any key.
10. Wait for 2-10 Seconds (depending on your System Speed), a Blue Screen will appear with a Title Windows Setup.
11. Follow the On-Screen Instructions to Install the Windows, your computer might be restarted a number of times by the Windows Setup during the Installation.
12. After the Windows is Installed successfully, you are greeted with Welcome.
13. You are done with installing Windows, now take a Quick Tour, as Windows will pop-up a message for it.

 

Tips

• Set the Partition Size to Maximum, if you don't want any Partition of your Hard Disk (For Low-Storage Hard Disks else making Partitions is Recommended).
• Windows can be upgraded if you already have the earlier version of Windows running: Simply Insert the CD in the CD-ROM and follow the instructions.
• If Windows doesn't recognize some of your hardware, check the vendor's website for drivers.
• To validate your Windows (To confirm whether it is not Pirated or not), Go to Microsoft's Official Website provided in External Links Section in this Article, and download any of the Microsoft Product available for free except Windows Live Messenger. The Website will ask you to download a tiny program, which provides you with a code named under [Validation Code], when executed, and you have to Enter or simply Copy-Paste that code into the Field of Validation Code on Microsoft's Website, which appears when you are going to download something from it.
• If you have any questions regarding Windows Installation or this article, please Discuss them with us by Clicking on the Link [Discuss This Page], which appears at both Top and Bottom of the Page.
• If you encounter any difficulties installing, Windows Setup will give you technical information about the error, which can help determine its cause. Check the troubleshooter on Microsoft Official Website for assistance with common installation problems.
• Don't forget to set your boot priority in your BIOS. Most of the time, BIOS is set to read Floppy, HDD, and THEN CD-ROM. You will need to set your boot priority to load the CD-ROM before Floppy and HDD.
• Make sure you Keyboard is connected to your computer properly, as it does all of the job, until the installation is complete.

 

Warnings

• If you are re-installing Windows make sure you Back-up (Keep the Copies of Important documents, music, applications in a Safe Place such as in Removable Storage Devices such as USB, CD, Floppy).
• Also make sure you have all the driver Cds for all your Hardware (Printers, Ethernet Adapters, Modem, Video Cards etc).
• Reformatting a Hard-Drive will erase everything from it. Backup your important programs before you begin.
• This Procedure for Windows Installation is same except Windows 95 and Previous Versions.
• Do not install Windows multiple times on the same Partition, or on the same partition as another operating system.
• Do not attempt to install Windows on a system that does not meet the minimum requirements.
• Be sure to Activate Windows within 30 days of installation, otherwise the system will not allow you to log on until Activation is complete.

 

Things You'll Need

1. A Microsoft Windows Setup CD to Install Windows.
2. A CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-ROM/DVD-RW.
3. A Removable Storage Device to store your Back-up.
4. An Internet Connection to Update Windows.
5. 300 Mhz Intel or AMD CPU
6. 128 Megabytes of system RAM
7. 1.5 Gigabytes of available drive space
8. Super VGA 800x600 Display Adapter
9. CD or DVD-ROM
10. Keyboard and mouse, or other pointing devices
11. Network Interface Adapter required for Internet and Network Connectivity

Married to the Mobile

Powerful new phone devices are rewriting the rules of the social networking game

While Walter Zai was in South Africa watching wild animals recently, people around the world were watching him. Zai, a 37-year old Swiss engineer, used his mobile phone to send out constant updates and images from his safari for an online audience.

“You feel like you are instantly broadcasting your own life and experiences to your friends at home, and to anyone in the world who wants to join,” said Zai, who used a new online service called Kyte to create his digital diary.

The social networking phenomenWhen on is leaving the confines of PC. Powerful new mobile devices are allowing people to send round-the-clock updates about their vacations, moods or even their latest haircut.

New online services, with names such as Twitter, Radar, Zaiku, hope people will use their ever-present gadget to share (or, inevitably, to over-share) the details of their lives in the same way they have accustomed to doing on websites such as MySpace.

Unlike the old networking sites, which are still largely used on PCs, these new phone-oriented services are bringing the burgeoning culture of exhibitionism to more exotic and more personal locations. They are also contributing to the general barrage of white noise and information overload – something that even some participants say they feel ambivalent about.

But such services have the same addictive appeal for young people as Blackberry’s do for busy professionals, said Howard Hartenbaum, a partner at the venture capital firm Draper Richards, an investor in Kyte. “Kids want to be connected to their friends at all times,” Hartenbaum said. “They can’t do that when you turn off the computer.”

Central to the technology of Kyte and similar services is the marriage of the mobile phones and the Net. Users download Kyte software for their phones at www.kyte.tv and can send their photos and videos- however grainy- form the phone to their online Kyte ‘channel’.

Viewers can tune in to the programming on their own phones or on the Kyte site or they can have the channel show up on their own website or social network page. In some cases, the video stream can be watched live. Those who are watching the same channel can swap messages with each other and the channel’s creator, even if he or she is silently stalking wild animals.

Daniel Graf, Kyte’s 32-year old co-founder, sees each of the world’s hundreds of millions of camera-phone owners as a potential television broadcaster. “To run a television network used to require expensive cameras, a satellite connection and studios,” Graf said. “But the production costs have gone down to zero. Now you can share your life over a mobile phone, and someone is always connected, watching.”

Another company proving the potency of the sharing impulse is Twitter, which is also based in San Francisco and has lately captured the enthusiasm of bloggers and tech insiders. Twitter, spun off this month from a company called Obvious, lets people broadcast short text messages from their phones and computers to those of friends and strangers.

For many Twitter users, text messages have become a form of self-expression and public performance. They are flinging messages that would seem to be of slight interest to anyone: notifications that they are online or listening to music, or going shopping, or even performing activities of in historically move discreet nature.

Twitter’s fans include some high-profile technology pundits and even John Edwards, the former senator who uses it to inform followers of his whereabouts on the presidential campaign trail.

Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of twitter, said high-speed social networking can become a money-maker. “I believe it can be profitable,” Dorsey said. But it is not entirely clear how, and how soon,” he added. Twitter, which says, it has several hundred thousand users, could ultimately consider displaying advertisements, or charging frequent users especially those who send out promotional messages. Social networking sites such as Facebook are largely supported by advertising.

Mobile-phone companies themselves are trying to get into mobile networking game. Chief among them is Helio, a year-old mobile phone carrier aimed at young people. A joint venture of Earthlink and SK Telecom of South-Korea and based in Los Angeles, is making social networking a central part of its business and is betting it will be fundamental to attracting new subscribers.

Helio has an exclusive deal to offer MySpace features on its phones, which tend to be slicker and more multimedia-focused than those from more mainstream cellphone companies. At the end of 2006 (the last time Helio publicized its public figures), 70% of its 70,000 members used MySpace, said Michael Grossi, senior vice-president of strategy and business development at Helio.

To further capitalize on the trend, Helio plans to introduce a handset that has a fold-out Standard keyboard for easier typing and socializing.

Tiny Pictures, a San Francisco startup company, is taking a slightly different approach. Its service, Radar, is similar to Kyte in that users send their camera-phone photos to the internet or to the phones of other Radar members. But users share their pictures only with friends they have invited to view them.

John Poisson, chief executive of tiny pictures, said the service was explicitly intended to be private because mobile social networking Works best and will be most lucrative if users know the people they are sharing pictures with.

“Exhibitionism will exist as long as there is voyeurism,” he said. “But we are in the business of helping people stay in touch.”

Of course, there is such a thing as being too much in touch. Zai was disconcerted by the instant feedback to his safari photos that popped up on his phone. “Getting all kinds of communication in such a remote place is a bit confusing,” he said. “I kept responding, ‘I don’t really have the time to talk to you now. I have to make photos of these elephants.’”

Over the Air

The problem with really great technology is that sometimes it has no users. It sounds like an oxymoron but unfortunately, it’s true. The gadget graveyard is littered with products that were wonderful but did not gather critical momentum to become world-class bestsellers. Betamax, Minidisk, 3D, Voice recognition – there are multiple examples of really astonishing technologies that did not take off.

It is that famous ‘tipping point’ problem where every new product or innovation needs a certain number of users to embrace it before it becomes the de-facto standard in its sphere. Sometimes it needs a different kind of company with certain marketing skills to get the point across. Apple has done that before with the iPod – and they are attempting it again with the media streamers.

Apple with its iPod didn’t invent the portable music player, nor did it bring about the revolution of the MP3 format. All it did was to see the potential of an existing product, simplified the usage, made the device really sleek and shiny and unleashed it onto the unsuspecting consumers with dramatic marketing. The rest is history. Pretty much the same thing is happening in the world of media streamers. A number of companies make multiple versions of it and Apple is entering the market with its own version – the simple, smooth and sleek Apple TV.

Collectors

Media streamers at their most basic level are pure collectors. Today, most homes have multiple devices on which we keep many things. We have music collections, photos, movies, audio files, recorded TV shows, podcasts, video clips – but they are strewn all over the place. Most of them reside on a computer, a laptop or portable media player. Yet, most of our real viewing is done on a TV with a DVD player and a cable connection jammed into it. What if all of this could be centralized – where you could listen to a song, tune into an Internet radio station, fire up a movie or a video clip, listen to podcasts or browse an entire photo album – anywhere in the house. With no wires, no cables and a simple setup – that’s what a media streamer would do for you. Fundamentally a media streaming device will access files from multiple sources and play it anywhere you want – your bedroom, the living room or your home theatre.

Diversity

You can achieve this with an Xbox360 and Dlink, Netgear have their own versions. Microsoft media center can do this with media extenders, some companies have built this capability into a DVD player and now we have the Apple TV. Once again form takes precedence over function as this pizza box appliance is just about an inch thick, yet surprisingly heavy. Typically it is devoid of any unnecessary buttons (not even power-up); all the connections are at the back and the famous Apple branding takes its pride of place on top. It comes with a 40 GB hard drive inside and works on 802.11g and 802.11n wireless. I was up and about and running in less than 3 steps and was able to access and play most of my media files from three different computers.

However

It is not all good. The Apple TV is fairly typical of most products from the company – big on build up, huge on design, simplified to idiot-proof levels but short on functionality. Let’s save that for a detailed review of the Apple TV, the Hava and also do a comparison of the best Media Streamers in the market. Streamers will eventually be commonplace. It’s a natural evolution of home entertainment devices and is going to be a critical component of the wireless home, basically an idea whose time has come.

Which OS are you?

Windows Vista requires major hardware upgrades, yet there are good reasons to stay with it. Mac OSX has stabilized a great deal more than Vista. Plus it looks great. So, which Operating System (OS) is for you?

It is always difficult to get used to completely different way of life. This holds true for absolutely everything including Computers Operating system (OS). Solo readers you will have to decide: when should you switch to Microsoft Windows Vista? Should you?

According to several users and experts, Vista is not too different from its predecessors and the learning curve isn’t as much as was expected. But the changes to the user interface mean that there will be the number of new things to learn and a number of old ones to unlearn.

This is what you decision will hinge on. Would you rather learn a new system that is buggy and still unstable or one that has long been acknowledged as the best, but has only recently come around to having a large enough third party software support base to appeal to everyday users? Of course, we are referring to the Apple Mac OS X.

But this is tricky, certainly not easy. Both OSes have their pluses and minuses. Windows has a very large pool community that is taking the torch ahead and there are plenty of third-party vendors who have created and continue to create newer and better programmes for the windows platform. On the other hand, it is an extremely unstable operating system and one that is prone to virus attacks and crashes more often than Mac.

But the real deciding factor would be your usage pattern. Before we start comparing some specific packages for the users, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both OSes.

UI and ease of use

If Windows XP was the ugly duckling, Windows Vista is supposed to be the swan. A major facelift It has ensured that Vista is now far better looking and more intuitive than previous versions of Windows. Whether this is true or not, only time will tell. One of the things that Macs have always boasted of is a good UI and ease of use. If you are switching from Windows, It could take time to get used to.

A Mac keyboard layout is not identical to that of a Windows computer’s. We are not referring to the different positions of the Page Up or the Delete keys. There are new keys here such as Command and Function that do more than tertiary application launches. Unlike on a windows computer, there is no Start button either. The Apple logo to the top-left takes care of most system-related functions like Recent Programmes, Shut Down and Restart. Also, most Mac programmes can be left running in the background without their taking up screen space. Only the active programme’s toolbar will be visible on screen. At times, when no document or file is open for that programme, you may not even know that the programme is open. That’s when the dock is handy. Every program is highlighted on the dock with a small arrow under it. Clicking on the icon will bring the programme to the front and offer access to toolbar and all other functions you want to use. Once you are past this (and this will take a little while to get comfortable with it), using the Mac is a breeze. There are some advantages that a Windows offers over this, however. For one, your active programmes are visible in the form of windows on your taskbar. Convenient, but in case of smaller screens (even 15-inch ones), it can be a challenge to not have too many windows open and lose sight of unnecessary ones that hog processing power.

Security has long been a major concern for most Windows users. With a large number of viruses doing the rounds, anti-virus software is a must. And that costs a neat sum, as it does with a Mac. The real difference is that a Mac is perceived to be much safer and prone to fewer virus attacks. I am not saying that it is virus free, but it’s not as problematic as a Windows machine would be. With Vista, this is set to change. Improved firewall features and better encryption promise safer ride. Heading over to actual functions and programmes that one uses, here’s comparison of the various features of both OSes.

Range of software available

If the Mac has one Achilles’ heel, this would it. There just isn’t enough third party software for a Mac compared with a Windows computer. While all essentials are available, it’s the smaller and more specialized ones that can be tough to find. And it’s not just about software. If you are a gamer, you may just have a tough time finding (or waiting) for a Mac version. Once available, though, it’ll be miles ahead of anything you could imagine in terms of performance and looks.

For most users, a word processor, a spreadsheet processor and a mail client are important. And if MS office is your holy grail, don’t worry. Office for Mac takes care of that. The familiar Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook are all available in Mac versions. (The outlook parallel for Mac is called Entourage and it works just as well). Without getting too much into the specifics, let us say that these are identical to the Windows programmes and just as robust. Entourage may, in fact, be a bit better than Outlook, with features such as Project Center that allow you to view all activity around a particular project in one area. Of course, you have to set it up, but it is a useful tool. For the publishing industry or the graphic artists, Mac has been the computer of choice for long, thanks to superior graphics and better performance and there is no changing this.

With the introduction of Intel-based Macs, there is greater expandability thanks to the fact that you can run both Windows and OSX on the same computer. All you need is software like Parallels Desktop. Ensure, however, that you have the requisite hardware to run a dual-boot computer.

Wireless connectivity

AirPort Extreme sounds like a fast bus to the Airport. It is in fact, Apple’s Wi-Fi adapter. Now, it’s built into most new machines. User experience says that it works a lot better than any Wi-Fi adapter seen on Windows machine did. Logging on to a wireless network is a piece of cake and a Mac brings back more networks than a Windows machine does.

Spotlight

Windows XP had Find and Vista has search, But OSX has spotlight. It’s the desktop search tool that indexes everything on your computer. The search is so fast that by the time you have finished typing your keyword, the results have started appearing. And you can choose how you want to sort them. It sounds basic and it is. But it is powerful enough to be considered intuitive and necessary. Quite addictive, really.

iLife, iWork, .Mac

These are some of the productivity and fun software suites available with Mac ( all need to be bought separately).The .Mac is an online service that gives you an e-mail address and web space to backup data and host your own site. Why would you do that? Because everything then becomes simpler since the user-end integration has already been done on your Mac. . Mac members can create private, ad-free online communities for family, friends and closed-user groups to share, coordinate and communicate. The entire group can post files and other data to iDisk, publish web pages and post links to other sites. The integration extends to sharing dates and events with others using iCal calendar.

iLife and iWork are productivity tools that include a photo viewer, a DVD viewer and even a website creator. Perhaps the most interesting is the Garage Band that lets you create your own audio, including Podcasts. Yes, all this is also possible on a Windows machine and you have specialized free software to facilitate this. But the free software is not always upto the mark and you do need to know a lot about a lot to do some things well.

OSX Panther

The current version of OSX is the Tiger. The next version (expected by October 2007) is called Panther. Panther has new features like Time Machine, an automated system that backs up everything such as music, photos, movies and documents. Time Machine has the ability to take you back in time to restore your system in case of a crash, and, at least, be at a point close to the crash. Additionally, there are expected to be improved versions of Spotlight and additional features like Spaces that let you organize your windows into different groups on the screen.

There are, however, plenty of reasons to stay with Windows, including the cost. While a Windows machine that has Vista on it may cost about Rs.60000 (varying with the configuration and the manufacturer), a Mac with similar specs would cost about 30% more. And despite all arguments about having to relearn a new OS, Vista will offer some familiarity if you upgrade. It really is a choice.

The Big Picture

Recreating the magic of movies in your own home is no longer a dream. Here are some options to help you do this

While you can’t help how a movie turns out, you can surely tailor the experience, especially when you are trying to recreate the magic of the movies in your own home.

Where to start?

Today, there are many options for setting up a home-theatre system. If you are very particular about how every component will look and what its exact function will be, you can opt for a custom-assembled system. This will take some researching since the variables involved are plenty. If you were to find a good Bose, Sonodyne or such signature store, you could easily get help from them. It would still be recommended that you do your research beforehand.

There are also out-of-the-box systems available from leading manufacturers that you can hook up, and these certainly cost a whole lot less. Of course, the quality you get is only as good. Most of the out-of-the-box systems do not bother much with the size of your room when putting together the components, thus rendering some of the speakers inadequate. The wiring, which is also an important part of the set-up, is often not as good as when you have gone out and assembled your own components. But if time and budget are constraints, the ready-to-use ones are a good option.

Something Point One

2.1 ch (channel), 3.1 ch, 5.1 ch and, now even 7.1 ch, these are the buzzwords you will hear when shopping for a home theatre system. Simply put, the format consists of three speakers across the front and two speakers in the rear. The .1 is a sixth channel called an LFE that is sent to a subwoofer.

So, in a 3.1 or a 7.1, the .1 remains constant but the 3 or 7 defines how many speakers there are in the system and how they are to be distributed. The wiring for these needs to go all around the room and when setting up the speakers, it is important to know the size of your room and choose the speakers that have the best reach. To really make your sound system work, you would also need to worry about things like thick concrete walls with no windows, solid-core doors with yards of weather-stripping and sound absorbing baffles on the walls and ceiling. Chances are that most of us won’t have the time, inclination or budget required to do this. Hence, we make do with five speakers arranged at the right places.

Key Components

A TV set, a DVD player, five speakers (we’ll use 5.1 as the norm), receiver and the right cabling are what will be needed. Instead of a PLASMA/LCD set, you could also use a projector that is hooked up to your DVD player and a wall-mounted screen to make the effect bigger. But the components for this are costlier because High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) output will be required. HDMI is a direct digital connection that can carry digital high-definition video as well as digital multi-channel audio. By eliminating the conversion to analogue signals, it delivers perfect picture and sound quality, completely free from noise (distortion).

While the experience will be greatly enhanced if you used a projector set-up, getting the right projector itself could run into more than Rs. 1 lakh. Unless you are a certified movie buff, it’s not recommended. Commonly referred to as front-projection systems, these are for the connoisseur with deep pockets. If you are on a budget, a large-screen TV set or Plasma screen should do just fine.

Once you have the components in place, it is important to check whether your room is right for this. If you have a choice, go for a rectangular one with as few doors and windows as possible. Or you could place your components in such a way that they form a rectangle with you at the centre on the shorter side, opposite the TV set (or whatever display you are using). Now, it’s time to hit the shops and get your rig. Before this, though get a fix on your upper-limit budget, and stick to it. It’s easy to succumb to temptation.

For example, a salesman once told me that I should try out the new Monster cables that would greatly improve the sound and picture quality because they carry digital signal from the DVD player, priced at about Rs.6000 for a set of two cables.

Remember that the reason you are doing all this is to get a fee of theatre in your house. It’s important to get as many aspects right as possible. Bare tiles, marble or any wooden flooring will reflect sound, causing a loss in quality of the audio. It’s advisable that you place a carpet, or at least a large rug to fill as much of the room as possible. It is also a good idea to have some paintings or décor items in the room to absorb unwanted noise. Hang thick curtains to keep out the light and reduce glares from the screen. But if the room is pitch dark, watching a long movie can strain the eyes. To correct this, you could buy dimmers for lights and reach a middle point. We never said this was going to be easy, did we?

Check These Out

• Bose is one of the preferred brands, and not without reason. Of all their systems, it is worth checking out the new GSX Home Entertainment System. It can store upto 200 hours of data digitally and new Gemstone speaker system makes the pieces smaller, yet retains the output. It comes with acoustimass module, a media centre, two speakers and 3.2.1 universal remote control. Although the system does not have five speakers, it claims to deliver the same effect. The media centre combines a progressive scan DVD/CD player, FM tuner and offers inputs for three other sources. All this for a nifty price tag of approx. Rs. 94900 (taxes & levies extra).
• Pioneer is another manufacturer that is not often considered when looking for a home theatre system. They have some great components on offer; including 42 and 50 inch plasma TV sets that bring a 5.1 ch home theatre system wit it free. Although prohibitive for some buyers, the cost of Rs. 1.6 lakh for the 50-inch TV set and Rs. 1.3 lakh for the 42-inch TV set do make a good deal. The screens can be wall-mounted as well as kept on a tabletop. The set-up includes five 60-watt speakers (four towers and a subwoofer) in addition to an HDMI-ready DVD player. The cost of this set-up is otherwise approximately Rs. 30000 but free when you buy the TV set!
• For a high-end system, you could also visit Yamaha and the Bang & Olufsen (B&O) shops. They will be able to offer customized solutions based on your room set-up and size. Most homes do not have good acoustics in their rooms. That’s where the solutions from Yamaha or B&O will help. These solutions, however good they may be, are not cheap and start at around Rs. 1.5 lakh for a great set-up that includes speakers, amplifier and a good player. The TV set is your own.
• If the Bose, Pioneer or Yamaha systems are beyond your budget, you can try the Sonodyne genie 2 HTS that has a receiver with seven analogue, one optical and two digital inputs. Simply put, you can plug everything you have into this and use the speakers to output it. Priced at approximately Rs. 62000 (all inclusive), it includes five satellite speakers and one main speaker with the universal remote. Best suited for small or medium-sized rooms (upto 300 sq. ft.), it delivers great audio. The video quality would depend on your DVD player and your TV set. These are not included in Rs. 62k!
• And if this, too, is out of your budget, you could opt for one of the many out-of-the-box solutions offered by manufacturers such as Sony or Philips. While both these manufacturers also offer high-end solutions, it is their low-end ones that attract their budget buyers. The Cineos HTS9800W/55 from Philips is a brilliant HD-capable set-up priced at about Rs. 60k. It includes wireless rear speakers. Among some of the better budget offerings is Sony’s DAV DZ720, which comes with five speakers, including four tall ones (so you don’t do any permanent fixtures on your walls), a DVD player and a woofer. All this comes for just about Rs. 30k – not a bad deal for a 5.1 ch system, which requires no installation time.

In most cases, the installation will be handled by the manufacturer and they will bring around three metres of cable (variable depending on your deal), but will not be helpful if you need to get casing done to conceal the wires.

The list is endless. But with these basics, you have a starting point. You could also start with a small system and build up to a big one. Collect your components and learn from your mistakes. And let me know about these mistakes.

The Power of W i d e

Nineteen inches of real estate on your desk to view all the stuff on your computer; could anyone ask for more?

Hands on Asus VW192 Monitor

The ASUS VW192, one of the newest 19- inch flatscreen monitors in the market, is a good companion for most multimedia needs. A 19- inch monitor is not really necessary for normal use, but for multimedia needs like image or video editing, the extra space a 19-inch offers over a 15-inch or even 17-inch is considerable.

In case of the VW192, there are a few more features to entice the user such as the auto adjust facility that starts as soon as you power up the monitor. Taking in the ambient light conditions and the inherent settings on your computer, the monitor powers up to give you the best colour and resolution settings. This saves you time if you have a computer that maxes out the resolution at more than 1440 x 900.

You can use the VW192 using a direct serial connector on a Windows XP machine or a DVI to VGA adapter on a Mac. The colour rendition on the Windows machine is superior to the Mac and to even fit in the higher-resolution Mac, it took some time and adjustment. The monitor also implements ‘Splendid Video Intelligence Technology’ that fine-tines the colour, brightness, contrast and sharpness of images in different video applications, and offers five preset video selection modes via a hotkey and three skin-tone options providing video quality comparable to the best TV sets.

The VW192 is a widescreen monitor with a 16:10 golden ratio and offers a wider viewing angle than most other monitors, making it well-suited for a variety of uses. The monitor also offers 5 milliseconds of response time, making it great for video viewing.

Adding to the package is the presence of two 1-watt speakers. Not much would you say, but in a monitor this sleek, they are barely noticeable. You will have to really follow directions in the manual to find them. They are not for the audiophile, but they well for the alerts and basic purposes, eliminating the need for external speakers. So, you have already freed up space with a slim TFT monitor and, now, some more because the speakers are bundled. Not a bad deal!

The VW192 not only works well, but also looks good. It has a sleek black finish with the buttons so well placed below the screen that they can be a little tough to find at times.

A small but important addition to the monitor is the cable holder to get rid of tangling wires and cables and keep desks neat. The monitor also sports a cover at the back that helps keep the cables and connections hidden from the naked eye. It may not seem important, but even when you adjust the view of the monitor, which can happen quite often, it’s a bonus not to entangle yourself in wires.

If you happen to be looking for a flatscreen, TFT widescreen monitor, the VW192 is definitely worth considering. There are many options, but the quality that this one displays is simply a cut above the rest.

Price: about Rs. 13,000 (plus tax).

Keep Spam out of your Inbox

Do you know that nine out of every ten e-mails delivered over the internet is spam? Gmail, Yahoo and other such portals are continuously improving their anti-spam algorithms but the problem is far from getting over.

And spammers are finding more innovative ways to deliver spam – they now hide the advertisement text inside the image attachments which sometimes trick the spam filters of the e-mail program.

Junk e-mail messages hurt the productivity. The only foolproof method to prevent e-mail spam is to never ever share your e-mail address with anyone, even your wife. If that sounds a bit too impractical, here are some other ‘practical’ suggestions:

Don’t share your personal e-mail address on the Internet mailing lists and discussion boards. These are the favourite hunting grounds for spam-bots and e-mail harvesters. Always create a separate ID for places where you expect to get spammed.

Some websites require visitors to register with their e-mail address before letting them in. you type in your e-mail address, they send you an e-mail to confirm the address and then allow you in.

Would you share your personal e-mail address with a third-party website just to view their webpage? This may sometimes lead to unsolicited marketing e-mails entering your inbox. Luckily, we have a neat solution here – use a disposable e-mail address.

A service called 10MinuteMail.com creates a temporary e-mail address for you which expire after, as the name suggests, exactly ten minutes. You can successfully register on websites using this use-n-throw e-mail address and keep your private e-mail inbox safe and clean. All the junk mails sent to this disposable e-mail address, after it has expired, will bounce back to the spammer.

In situations where you want people to reach you over e-mail but are still wary of sharing your address with them, a clever alternative is Contactify.com that turns your e-mail address into a web contact form. Contactify creates a special webpage for your e-mail address. Anyone can contact you via e-mail through this webpage but your actual address remains hidden. You can share this webpage URL in message boards, mailing lists or e-mail footers without worrying about spam.

Real Picture

LCD or Plasma

Choosing a television set can be quite a daunting task especially if you are looking for an LCD or Plasma. Choices abound and there are some myths about the technologies, too. Unlike what many believe, there are major differences between the two types and you can't substitute one type for the other merely on their looks.

What’s under the hood?

To be honest, there isn’t much of a hood to look under. But inside the sleek and thin exterior, plasma TVs employ a matrix of tiny plasma gas cells that are charged by precise electrical voltage to create a picture. In the case of LCD panels, liquid crystal display make up the screen. Imagine liquid crystal pressed between two glass plates to which varying electrical charge is applied to create an image. That’s an LCD television. Despite the advances made in LCD and plasma technology, however, there are experts and gamers (they really do use TVs a lot) maintain that CRT (cathode ray tube i.e. our regular TV) still offers the best quality. To the layman, however, it’s not the technology and how it works that matters too much. It is the quality of the TV that he is worried about. Both LCD and plasma TVs offer excellent picture quality. But obviously both have their pros and cons.

What’s best for you?

You can try to make decision based on the following aspects:-

Screen Size

Currently, plasma is king in terms of size. It’s just easier and more economical to produce plasma panels in sizes larger than 50 inches. Plasma has always led in the size to price ratio game and will continue to do so for some time. While, LCD is catching up, it’s still prohibitively expensive for consumers to buy very large LCD screens. This may change after a joint venture between Samsung, LG and Sony.

Picture

The final frontier and the reason you buy a flat panel is to get brilliant picture quality. A plasma panel currently has a better picture. It has higher contrast ratios, a more vivid image and shows blacker blacks. LCD on the other hand, can sometimes wash out colours and make dark blacks more like grey. LCD may look brighter but in terms of a pure stunning picture – plasma currently wins. Improvements are happening all the time and in due course, this should be rectified, but by then, plasma may have become the predominant choice. In addition to this, one of the major factors in favour of plasma TVs is their viewing angle. This allows viewers to sit at acute angles and still get a clear picture. But it’s not all bad for LCD TVs. LCD TVs have higher native resolutions than plasma TVs of the same size. What it means is there are more pixels on the screen and if you are one of those who like to see every minute detail, an LCD may offer more. Of course, this also depends on the source and an ordinary cable TV connection won’t let you notice the difference.

Durability

This is a no contest. An LCD panel is more robust, easier to transport and much easier to install. Whereas a plasma panel is heavier, more fragile and is mostly is mostly shipped by specialty carriers that know how to handle such delicate technology. Even installation of plasmas is trickier and best handled by professionals while most consumers can set up LCD’s themselves.

Burn- In

The biggest nemesis of Plasma continues to rear its ugly head even now. After extended periods, stationary images (say you paused a movie) ‘burn-in’ and produce an after-image ghost which remains permanently on the screen which means that even if you turn it off, a faded image of this will be visible. With new technologies such as ‘pixel shift’ and ‘wipes’ the current generation of plasmas have addressed the burn-in significantly. And if you are wondering about TV channel logos, they are translucent and don't leave the same sort of ghost behond. LCD’s have no such problem.

Screen Refresh

This is the arch-enemy of the LCD camp. In high contrast, fast motion video or when watching sports (more noticeable when watching a car race as opposed to cricket or snooker!) – you may see a blurred shadow following the action on screen. This is due to refresh rates on LCD being too slow to keep up with the fast pace of video. The current generation of LCD with refresh rates as low as 4ms have almost eradicated these artefacts but do keep in mind that it is negligible and not perfection. Plasmas have no refresh issues.

Half-Life

Half-Life is the time it takes the backlight within the TV to fade to half its original brightness. When you are looking at plasma or LCD TVs, you may come across a piece of information that says “60,000 hours” or some such number which denotes that TV’s Half-Life. In case of Plasma TVs, the accepted duration ranges between 30,000 and 60,000 hours while in case of LCD TVs, it is virtually guaranteed for 60,000 hours. If you actually convert this to days, it works out to about 2,500 days or about seven years of continuous viewing. Well, that means if you watch a movie everyday, it goes on for a whopping sixty years…

What else

Wait a little more! The running cost of a TV is something that many don’t consider. With increasing screen sizes, the power consumption will also increase and in this regard, LCD TVs outscore plasma TVs once again. LCD TVs are said to consume upto 30% less power than plasma TVs.

Also make sure that the TV you buy has HDMI in (multiple is better), true HD resolution and has good speakers built right in.

If you ask me, I will a wait a little more so that the story of the Real Picture becomes a Clear Picture!

Some approximate prices:

 

	LCD	PLASMA
SAMSUNG	Size Range: 20 to 42 inches Price: Rs.37500- Rs.360000 The smallest from the Samsung stable, the 26-inch Bordeaux, comes with a price tag of Rs.37500. The largest, the 52-inch Full HD Mosel incorporates a full hi-definition 1080 pixel screen with 12.8 billion colours and even a memory card slot, and costs Rs.360000 (46-inch one costs Rs.185000).	Size Range: 42 to 63 inches Price: Rs.85000- Rs.540000 Samsung’s 50-inch offering retails at Rs.170000 and the largest, the 63-inch LCD TV is available Rs.540000. all these TVs come with all the frills, including 60000-hour life expectancy, HDMI and HD readiness.
LG	Size Range: 20 to 40 inches Price: Rs.29000- Rs.140000 With an in-built 80GB hard drive, LG’s Time machine LCD/plasma TVs do more than just show moving images. The 42-inch LCD version, with a wide viewing angle (178/178) costs Rs.140000.	Size Range: 42 to 71 inches Price: Rs.94000- Rs.3299900 Supposedly India’s biggest Plasma TV, LG’s 71-inch plasma, with HDMI, HD readiness, 1920x1080P resolution with a viewing angle of 160°, costs rs.3299900. Smaller screens are available at Rs.94000 for the 42-inch model and Rs.460000 for a 60-inch Plasma.
SONY	Size Range: 23 to 52 inches Price: Rs.54990- Rs.499900 Sony’s 40-inch KL-40x200A with 1920x1080 resolution (full HD) and a 178° viewing angle, costs Rs.199900. The larger screen size variants cost Rs.169900 for 46-inches and Rs.499900 for 52-inch. The smallest (23-inch) LCD TV comes at price tag of Rs.54990

Today the plasma wins by a whisker – tomorrow is anybody’s game…

Sledging Sludge

Freeware to sanitize your personal computer of scrap and other sediments

Initially I will tell you where to find some free brooms to clean out the sewage. Yeah…sewage. Windows registry’s refuse, software detritus, Internet debris, fragmented data, skulking spyware/malware and other ghosts which are always heavy on the viscera of Windows PCs.

We start with the Windows registry. The registry is a database of the OS’s settings and options. It keeps track of the settings for all your PC’s hardware, software, users, and associated preferences. Whenever you alter the Control panel parameters, install software, change file associations, or rework system policies, the amendments are stored in the registry. Therefore, tuning and tampering with it can have a major impact on the workings of your PC. A clean registry makes a PC boot faster, run quicker and stay more stable. That is why umpteen registry cleansers are born unto this universe. Here are some good ones; but beware, tamper testily. Then, some cool tools to monitor hot-headed PCs.

CCleaner

OS: Windows XP

It’s a Freeware system optimization and privacy tool. Removes unused and invalid gunk from the registry (entries, file extensions, ActiveX controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, uninstallers, shared DLLs, fonts, help files, application paths, icons, shortcuts) to help PCs run faster. And free disk space. Also swabs traces of your online activities (temporary files, URL history, cookies, auto-complete form history and index.dat). Comprehensive backup feature.

EasyCleaner

OS: Windows XP, NT, 2000, 9.x

A very tidy multilingual proggie, that sifts through the registry for entries pointing nowhere and bogging down your system’s speed. It finds unnecessary temp files, duplicates and backups to help create disk space. The good part is that it lists everything… The choice to axe or annex is always yours. EC can tweak startup programs, gouge out invalid shortcuts, add/remove software, and devour IE’s temporary Internet files, history and cookies with it.

Eusing Free Registry Cleaner

OS: Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT, 98

It is a decent alternative, newly refurbished, with Vista-ready claims. Advantage: An easy-to-use backup and recovery feature.

RegSeeker

OS: Windows XP, 2000, NT, 98

It combines registry cleaning with some degree of registry management. It can get dicey if you don’t know your fundas. So newbies, stay away!

Expired Cookies Cleaner

OS: Windows XP, 2000

The more you browse the web, the more cookies you collect. Each cookie has a set lifetime – from a few seconds to several years. IE hoards these cookies in various files on a hard disk, and never tries to get rid of them even after they have expired. So a disk can end up accumulating hundreds of useless cookies. ECC eradicates these expired cookie accrual – and thereby speeds things up somewhat (or a lot, depending on how much muck it trims). To keep things shipshape, use this Ute twice weekly or more.

CPU-Z

OS: Windows XP

Now some system info. CPU-Z’s a tell-all freeware that collates information on the primary devices in your PC. From the CPU’s name and number, core stepping, processes, core voltage, internal/external clocks, clock multiplier, supported instruction sets to cache information – it spells it all. Likewise for the main-board, it harvests vendor info, model and revision, BIOS model and date, chipset and sensor. Memory frequency and timings, module specifications etc. are also spelled out.

Intel Active Monitor

OS: Windows XP

More system info. As PC’s pep-up performance and shrink in size, the need to be in the know and monitor overall system health becomes imperative. This alerting utility for Intel boards works with specialized sensors on Intel boards to constantly monitor system temperatures, power supply voltages and fan speeds. You are notified the moment temperatures get too high or a fan or power supply fails.

SpeedFan

OS: Windows Vista, XP, NT, 2000, Me, 9.x

It is another tool to monitor voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in PCs with hardware monitor chips. It supports Intel Core Duo, Windows Vista 64 bit, SCSI disks and a host of other state-of-the-art silicon stud-ware. It has the ability to change fan speeds (depending on the capabilities of your sensors) according to the temperatures inside your PC, thus reducing noise. A must-download for over-clocking geeks as it lets you over-clock PCs but ensures chips do not fry.

Founders' List

We are all using the products of different companies but most of us don't know who are the people behind its formation. a few of them are as under along with the name of their CEO's as in April'06:

• MICROSOFT founded byBill Gates & Paul Allen
  CEO – Steve Ballmer
• APPLE founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Woznaik
  CEO – Steve Jobs
• HP founded by Bill Hewitt & Dave Packard
  CEO – Mark Hurd
• IBM founded by Thomas Watson Sr
  CEO – Samuel Palmisano
• INTEL founded by Robert Noyce & Gordon Moore
  CEO – Paul Otenello
• GOOGLE founded by Larry Page & Sergey Brin
  CEO – Eric Schmidt
• ORACLE founded by Larry Ellison (CEO too)
• DELL founded by Michael Dell
  CEO – Kevin Rollins
• ADOBE founded by John Warnock & Charles Geshke
  CEO – Bruce Chizen
• SUN MICROSYSTEMS founded by Vinod Khosla, Bill Joy, Andy Bechtolsheim and Scott McNealy
  CEO – Scott McNealy

Amazing Facts

Some amazing fatcs of the computing world:

• The C language was created by Dennis Ritchie. It was codenamed “Cool” and is the root of the most popular programming languages.
• A Vulcan Nerve Pinch is any uncomfortable key combination like Ctrl- Alt- Delete. Ctrl-Alt-Delete is also referred to as the three finger salute.
• Apache web server’s name has originated from “A patchy” Server.
• Email address or the @ sign was invented by Ray Tomlinson. His Email address was tomlinsen@bbc-tenexa.com.
• News.google.com was developed by an Indian called Krishna Bharat.
• A nibble is 4 bits.
• Microsoft licensed the Quick and Dirty Operating System from Tim Paterson’s Seattle Computer Products in order to sell it to IBM as the standard Operating System for the IBM PC.
• Co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, before founding Apple worked at Hewlett-Packard and designed video games for Atari.
• Co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen, owns his own basketball team called Portland Trailblazers although he doesn’t have any current post at Microsoft.
• AT&T stand for American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation and was founded by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce.
• Azim Premji’s company WIPRO stands for Western India Vegetable Products Limited.
• The first killer application was the Visicalc.
• NCSA Mosaic was the first Graphical Web Browser.
• Unit of mouse movement is called Mickey.
• Peter Norton’s (of Norton antivirus fame) Programmer’s Guide to the IBM PC is also known as the Pink Shirt book as Norton is wearing a pink shirt on its cover.
• Silicon Graphics International has created the special effects for movies such as Forrest Gump, The Flintstones and The Mask.
• The four ghosts in the game Pacman are called Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde.
• Bob Metcalfe is the inventor of Ethernet and the founder of 3com.
• The program that is always running on an Operating System is called the Kernel.
• Kevin Mitnick, who is a very famous hacker, has founded the company Defensive Thinking.
• The term Artificial Intelligence was coined by John McCarthy.
• The @ sign is referred to as the little mouse by the Chinese, an elephant’s trunk by the Danes and Swedes, a spider monkey by the Germans, a snail by the Italians and is pronounced as strudels by the Israelis.
• The game Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov.
• UNIX was created by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie and is a pun on Multics.
• Visicalc was created by Dan Bricklin and Rob Frankston.
• Raphael, Gabriel and Michael are the names of the Vatican city servers.
• Windows 95 was released under the sea in a submarine to show how life would be without “windows”.
• Ridley Scott directed the Apple ad “1984” which was based on the novel of the same name by George Orwell.
• Amazon’s search engine is A9.
• Amazon.com was started by Jeff Bezos whose surname is Spanish for “kisses”.
• Pyra Labs created Blogger.com which was bought by Google.
• SUN as in Sun Microsystems stands for Stanford University Network.
• Cisco’s logo has been taken from the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco.
• IBM’s PC division was taken over by Lenovo, which is called “The Great Wall of China”.
• Hotmail was coined by inserting vowels between HTML.
• GNU is recursive for GNU’s Not Unix.
• Linus Torvalds works in OSDL (Open Source Developer’s Lab).
• Nintendo means “leave luck to heaven” in Japanese.
• In 1982, the computer was Time’s Magazine’s Man of the Year.
• Microsoft’s building is called Outlook.
• Vinod Dham is the father of Pentium.
• Toy Story was the first full-length computer animated movie.
• IEEE 1394 is codename for Fire wire.
• Nero is named after the king Nero who was playing the fiddle while Rome was burning.
• “Robot” word was coined from the Czech word for “drudgery”.
• The mascot for Linux is a penguin called Tux.
• An “Angry Fruit Salad” refers to a badly designed GUI.
• Symbolics.com was the first domain name.
• Yahoo stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle and was earlier called “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web”.
• PS3’s chip is called “Cell”.
• The iPod was designed by Jonathan Ive.
• Al Gore is the self-proclaimed “Father of the Internet”.
• The Windows 95 theme song was the Rolling Stone’s “Start me up”.
• Brian Eno composed the startup tune for Windows.
• Larry Ellison, who is the creator of Oracle owns a yacht called “Sayonara”.
• It was rumored that Microsoft was going to buy out the Roman Catholic Church.
• “Chicago” was the codename of Windows 95, “Memphis” was the codename of Windows 98, “Whistler” was the codename of Windows XP and now “Longhorn” i.e. Windows Vista.