Jul 31, 2008

Apple Finally Patches DNS Bug

Mixed in with 16 other vulnerabilities, Apple has finally issued a patch to fix the infamous Kaminsky DNS bug in their version of BIND in OS X Server.

Apple had been getting some bad press in the last week or so for not issuing the patch when most other vendors did so over 3 weeks ago.

Many of the other vulnerabilities patched in this update are rather serious on their own. CarbonCore has a stack-based overflow in the processing of long-file names. CoreGraphics has two flaws that could lead to code execution. A bounds-checking error in OpenSSL from last September could allow remote code execution; Red Hat patched it in about 2 weeks. 5 different vulnerabilities in PHP are patched all at once.

(full story)

Jul 21, 2008

Useful Tricks and Extensions for Firefox 3.0

Since we all know Mozilla has released the much awaited 3.0 version of Firefox. If you didnt know, then you can download it from following link:
Download Mozilla Firefox 3.0

Or you can download its portable version which doesnt need to install:

Download Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Portable Edition

So lets start it:

Fix Broken Extensions and Make Them Compatible:

When you upgraded to Firefox 3.0, you might have noticed that many of your favorite extensions stopped working and got disabled by Firefox.

Actually it happens because the developer didnt update the extension or the developer failed to code the extension compatibility version properly.

No need to worry. You can follow the steps given in following tutorial to make your broken extensions working again:

Fix Broken Extensions and Make Them Compatible With New Version

Fix Frequent Firefox Crashing Problem in Windows Vista

Many people who use Mozilla Firefox 3.0 in Windows Vista are facing a frequent crashing problem. After 4-5 minutes their Firefox crashes and Windows Vista shows a message, “Data Execution Prevention (DEP) has shut down Firefox to protect the OS.”

If you are also facing this problem, then use following simple steps and your problem will be solved:

Windows Vista Data Execution Prevention (DEP) Crashing Mozilla Firefox

Disable Automatic Virus-Scanning in New Download Manager:

New Firefox built-in download manager scans the downloaded file for virus or spyware upon completion.

Actually this kind of behavior only occurs under Microsoft Windows OS because it uses the antivirus software installed in your Windows to scan the file. If no anti-virus is installed, it’ll not scan the file.

You can disable this automatic virus-scanning using following tutorial:

Disable Automatic Virus Scanning in Built-in Download Manager

Disable OR Adjust URL Suggestions in New Addressbar:

The new addressbar shows a drop-down list of matching URLs as soon as you type something in addressbar. By default it shows 12 suggestions in drop-down list.

Some ppl might feel uncomfortable with this new feature and want to disable it. Some might want to increase / decrease the no. of suggestions in drop-down list.

So here is a simple and small tutorial for adjusting no. of suggestions in addressbar or to completly disable this new feature:

Disable / Adjust URL Suggestions in Addressbar of Mozilla Firefox 3.0

Disable Automatic Image Resizing:

Firefox automatically resizes an image if its larger than the screen area. There is no option available in Firefox Options to disable the Automatic image resizing. Even IE has this option.

So if you want to disable automatic image resizing, then following trick will help you:

Disable Automatic Image Resizing in Mozilla Firefox

Add Vista Aero Interface to Firefox:

Now you can enjoy Windows Vista default Aero interface in Firefox. There is an extension called “Glasser” which can bring the glass borders to Firefox window:

Glasser: An Extension to Add Vista Glass to Firefox 3

Get Opera Speed Dial Feature in Firefox:

“Speed Dial” is a nice and useful feature in Opera browser which lets you to visit your favorite websites easily and quickly by providing their thumbnails in a grid format.

Now there is a good new for Mozilla Firefox users. You can also enjoy this feature in your Firefox now.

You need an extension “Speed Dial” which can add the same functionality to Firefox:

Get Opera Speed Dial Feature in Mozilla Firefox

Enable Windows Media Player File Streaming:

Firefox doesnt stream Windows Media Player files in websites. But there is a way to enable WMP files streaming in Firefox.

Follow the instructions given in following tutorial and it’ll install WMP plugin for Firefox and your Firefox will start streaming WMP files without any problem:

Enable Windows Media Player Files Streaming in Mozilla Firefox

Hidden Easter Egg in New Version:

Mozilla has included a cool easter egg in new Firefox 3.0. Follow the steps given in following topic to reveal it:

Reveal The Easter Egg in New Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Beta5 and RC1

(story Link)

More problems reported with Apple's MobileMe Mail

Apple continued to have problems with its new MobileMe service over the weekend and into Monday, with several users unable to access their e-mail.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a summary of complaints from its readers up on its site, and I've been hearing from some CNET readers as well about problems accessing e-mail accounts that were once known as .Mac, and now fall into the MobileMe service. Apple's discussion boards are filled with angry MobileMe customers who haven't been able to access their e-mail all weekend.

Apple's MobileMe status page has a note up at the moment that says "1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. We apologize for any inconvenience." It's just the latest in a series of problems that has plagued the launch of MobileMe, a $99-a-year service that lets you access contacts, calendars, and other files from one computer on other Macs or PCs, as well as your iPhone.

Apple provided 30 free days of service as a result of the launch issues that also waylaid Apple's iTunes servers and disrupted the iPhone 3G launch. The company reports its third-quarter earnings later Monday, and it will be interesting to see if analysts push Apple on the problems it seems to have having with its Web infrastructure. (full story Link)

Apple cuts price of MacBook Air by $500

Apple Inc. has quietly reduced the price of its most expensive notebook by $500, cutting the cost of the upper-end MacBook Air to $2,598. The MacBook Air, which Apple launched in January to some fanfare, has been sold in two configurations since then: with a traditional 80GB magnetic platter hard drive and a 1.6-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, or with a 64GB solid-state drive and a 1.8-GHz CPU. Solid-state drives (SSD) are built from flash memory and, unlike hard drives, have no moving parts.


The MacBook Air with the solid-state drive is more expensive than the one with the hard drive, but several Apple-specific Web sites, including AppleInsider, noticed that Apple had dropped the price of the SSD-equipped model by 16% on Thursday, July 3. Prior to the price cut, the solid-state MacBook Air sold for $3,098. The less expensive hard-drive-equipped MacBook Air retained its $1,799 price tag, according to the Apple online store. The price cut came from changes on two of the MacBook Air options. Selecting the SSD now adds $599 to the price of the notebook, compared to $999 earlier. Also lowered was the 1.8-GHz processor option, from $300 extra to $200. (full story Link)

Apple 3Q seen beating expectations on strong Mac sales

Apple Inc.'s third-quarter results should exceed expectations, helped by strong Mac sales and deferred revenue from the earlier version of iPhone, analysts said Monday.

Shares of the computer maker, which will report results after the closing bell, fell 2% to $161.60 in mid-day trading. The shares were hurt by disappointing second-quarter results from Google Inc. (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) and Microsoft Corp. (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) last week.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expect Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) to report a June-quarter profit of $1.08 a share on sales of $7.37 billion. Estimates were raised seven times over the last four weeks.

Apple has beaten Wall Street's expectations in all of the last four quarters.

JPMorgan's Mark Moskowitz backed a neutral rating on Apple's shares, citing 'lingering macro clouds.' He expects Apple to beat its $1.00 a share earnings and $7.2 billion sales guidance.

Noting that Apple typically issues a conservative outlook, the analyst said upside is expected.

Moskowitz raised his third-quarter estimates to $1.08 a share on sales of $7.39 billion, above the mean view. He also lifted his 2008 estimates to $5.19 earnings on sales of $32.69 billion. Wall Street's mean view calls for earnings of $5.21 a share on revenue of $32.77 billion.

'Mac momentum and conversion of deferred revenue related to the iPhone are key drivers in June,' Moskowitz wrote. 'Looking ahead, we are increasingly constructive on the Mac and the 3G iPhone.'

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky expects Apple to do it again, with $1.13 earnings on sales of $7.5 billion, thanks to back-to-school promotions and strong Mac computer sales. He backed an outperform rating and $220 price target on the stock.

Citing RBC's proprietary IQ/Changewave survey data, Abramsky sees 2.4 million Mac units sold during the third quarter, up 37% from the year-earlier period and up 5% from the second-quarter. He pegs Mac revenue for the June quarter at $3.6 billion, up 43% from 2007.

'Second-quarter Mac momentum is expected to benefit from back-to-school promotions, stimulus cheques, continued BestBuy rollout and tight inventory,' the analyst wrote to clients earlier.

Abramsky expects Apple to issue its typical below-Street guidance for the upcoming quarter, with its fourth-quarter views bracketing the mean $1.24 earnings and $8.3 billion sales estimates.

'While we expect ongoing strong iPhones/Mac momentum, Apple may face near-term valuation risk as revenue guidance next 1-2 quarters may be impacted

by higher iPhone mix (lower upfront revenue) and iPod attrition, pending iPod Nano refresh in fall.'

During Apple's conference call, Abramsky will be listening for the company's plans to expand its international sales and increase market share, where it is seeing demand for Mac and how market share gain drivers have changed for the Mac. (full story Link)

Apple's iPhone 3G availability rebounds

About a quarter of Apple's stores now say they have phones in stock.

Apple Inc. today said that iPhone inventory at its retail stores had rebounded from weekend lows, when nearly every outlet reported that it was out of stock.

As of 11:30 a.m. EDT, 44 of Apple's U.S. retail stores, or 23% of the 188 total, showed iPhone 3GApple's own stock-checking tool listed just 16 stores, or 8.5% of the total, as having any to sell. phones available. On Sunday morning,

On Sunday night, the inventory tool reported even lower numbers. At that point, only three, or fewer than 2% of all those in the U.S., listed iPhones on hand and ready to sell the next day.

Monday's inventories were similar, if slightly lower than, those posted by Apple last Wednesday and Thursday, when it claimed 26% and 27% of its U.S. stores, respectively, had at least one of the three iPhone models in stock.

A dozen stores noted today that they had all three iPhone 3G models for sale — the 8GB version in black, and the 16GB version in both white and black — up from zero the day before and from nine on Thursday.

However, one of Apple's flagship stores, located on Fifth Avenue in New York, was completely out of the iPhone 3G, as were other prominent locales, such as those in downtown San Francisco and Chicago.

The hardest-to-find iPhone 3G today will be the $299 white 16GB model, available in 25 stores, or 13.3% of the outlets. Supplies of the $199 8GB iPhone 3G and the $299 16GB black model also showed large increases from Sunday, according to Apple. Twenty-nine reported that the 8GB is available today (15.4% of the U.S. stores) compared with 10 stores that reported that Sunday (5.3%); 27 stores (14.4%) claimed stock of the 16GB black iPhone 3G, up from six stores (3.2%) that had it yesterday. (full story Link)

If Google should falter, how many others will follow?

Nothing says "recession" like a bit of a dip in the rate of growth of Google's profits, which is what we saw this week. The search engine company has built up such a mythical presence in the minds of the old media, most spend their evenings behind the sofa shivering with primal fear, waiting to be disaggregated by the jolly primary coloured beast. But there are a couple of things to remember - Google's results this quarter represented a slowing in the rate of growth rather than a full-throttle reversal of fortune, and it were slightly impaired by the effect of interest payments on its purchase of DoubleClick's online advertising business. At more or less the same time as spotty youths on Wall Street were signalling sell on Google, Microsoft (which also took a bit of a market battering last week) was waving the worried flag over Google's potential dominance of a search advertising market. The irony of the situation is acute.

And if proof were needed that Google is not in trouble, it came last Friday when the US research company Efficient Frontier put out a report saying that Google took 77.4% of all search ad spending in the second quarter (April-June). In fact Efficient Frontier did the maths and came to the conclusion that Google actually now takes $1.10 for every dollar spent in search advertising. This is not some wonky Sats marking, it means that both Microsoft and Yahoo! were losing search advertising money in that quarter - to Google. (full story Link)

Nintendo, Microsoft stumble while Sony cruises

UNCONVENTIONAL: If you attended the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, along with about 60,000 other people, you were probably blown away by the massive audiovisual bombast. If you returned for this year's E3 Media & Business Summit, which only 5,000 attended, you might think the entire video-game industry had collapsed.

The Entertainment Software Association's deliberate downsizing of E3 has gotten mixed results. On the one hand, it's a lot easier to get work done, since you don't have to fight through scrums of attendees gawking at scantily clad models that companies hired to demonstrate their wares. And you can buy a cup of coffee at the Los Angeles Convention Center food court without waiting in line for an hour.

On the other hand, some of those present this year missed the old spectacle.

"Now it's like a pipe-fitters' show in the basement," Ubisoft North America president Laurent Detoc told The San Francisco Chronicle. Also, many of the games expected for the holiday season were announced weeks ago, so E3 surprises were rare.

Of the three major console manufacturers, Microsoft probably gave its fans the most to look forward to. Sony was a close second, but Nintendo delivered a lackluster presentation that left a lot of observers scratching their heads.

ANIMAL ATTRACTION: Nintendo's E3 press conference focused on three new Wii titles. One, "Animal Crossing: City Folk," was widely expected; it doesn't appear to break much new ground, but fans of the DS and GameCube versions should be happy. The second was "Wii Sports Resort," which will be packaged with the Wii MotionPlus, an accessory that boosts the accuracy of the console's controller.

The wild card was "Wii Music," the long-brewing project from Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto. In essence, it's an air-instrument game, in which you mime playing a guitar, a saxophone, drums or 60-some other instruments by waggling the Wii controllers. It's so simple that it's either brilliant or stupid. Asked if it isn't really a toy rather than a game, Miyamoto responded, "It's more interesting than a game."

None of these titles got the kind of response that greeted the announcement of Rockstar Games'"Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" for the portable DS. And gamers can at least take heart in the knowledge that Nintendo's Mario and Zelda teams are developing new projects.

BLANK SPACE: The Xbox 360 lineup for the rest of 2008 is much more varied, featuring previously announced titles like "Gears of War 2,""Fable II,""Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts" and "Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise." Microsoft's E3 event introduced two new party starters: the karaoke game "Lips" and the trivia challenge "Scene It? Box Office Smash!"

Microsoft wrapped up its show with the fairly surprising news that Square Enix's "Final Fantasy XIII" will be published on the 360 (rather than just the PlayStation 3, as everyone had assumed). But once the spotlight faded, buzz began to build around a product Microsoft didn't announce: a new "Halo" adventure from Bungie.

The day after the press conference, a message on the Bungie Web site revealed that the developer had planned to announce a new game during E3. "However, those plans were just changed by our publisher," Bungie president Harold Ryan wrote.

Why would Microsoft bury news about the Xbox's biggest franchise? "We had an embarrassment of riches," Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft's Xbox division, told The Los Angeles Times. (full story Link)

Batman’s ‘Dark Knight’ Sets Weekend Record

LOS ANGELES — Fevered fans pushed “The Dark Knight,” the sixth in Warner Brothers’ series of “Batman” movies, to record three-day ticket sales of $155.3 million over the weekend, shoring up what so far had been a wobbly year at the movie box office.

By Warner’s estimate, the film narrowly eclipsed opening-weekend ticket sales last year of $151.1 million for Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man 3,” the previous record holder.

Including a solid $27.6 million for the musical “Mamma Mia!” from Universal, the weekend’s top 12 films took in about $249.6 million, according to the box office consultant Media By Numbers. That lifted the domestic box office total for the year so far to $5.36 billion.

That is still down about 1 percent from last year, and the number of theatergoers is down 3.7 percent. But the weekend performance gave studios and theater owners alike reason to take heart, as it proved that even a familiar franchise like the “Batman” series can still bring surprises.

“It just took on a life of its own,” said Dan Fellman, Warner’s president for theatrical distribution. “You never expect anything like this.”

Unusual excitement began to build weeks ago around “The Dark Knight,” much of it fed by anticipation of a performance as the villainous Joker by Heath Ledger, the Australian actor who died in January.

Theaters began adding midnight and early morning screenings of the film, as fans scooped up advance tickets from the online ticket services Fandango.com and Movietickets.com. At sellout shows around the country, audiences — including more than a few viewers who came made up to resemble Mr. Ledger’s evil clown character — pushed Friday ticket sales to an estimated $66.4 million, including an extraordinary $18.5 million from the midnight showings.

That the film’s opening took on an event status that previous “Batman” movies never quite achieved apparently owed something to its strong presence in the outsized Imax format.

The film —directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale — was filmed partly using Imax cameras, and opened on nearly 100 Imax screens in the United States. That meant a boost at the box office because Imax tickets cost an average of $12.80, about 75 percent more than the overall average ticket price of $7.08, as estimated by Media By Numbers.

Imax screenings contributed $6.2 million to the “Dark Knight” box office, beating its previous record, for “Spider-Man 3,” by more than 30 percent, said Greg Foster, the president of filmed entertainment for Imax Corp.

To date, the summer box office had been solid, but not spectacular, with ticket for the season up slightly at $2.76 billion, thanks to price inflation, and attendance down about 2 percent. Films like “Iron Man” from Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios, and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” from Paramount and LucasFilm, topped the $300 million mark.

But “Hancock,” an off-center superhero movie from Sony Pictures and the star Will Smith, came up short of last year’s “Transformers” over the July Fourth holiday, and several pictures, including “Meet Dave” from Eddie Murphy and 20th Century Fox fell flat. (full story Link)

Jul 19, 2008

Adobe Creative Suite 4

Adobe Creative Suite 4 (CS4) is the planned successor to Adobe Creative Suite 3. It is currently being developed by Adobe Systems. Public betas of some applications (Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Soundbooth) were released on May 27, 2008.

Currently, little is known about the development of CS4. New versions of Photoshop and Flash are known to be in development, and have been released to select beta testers. Other applications from previous versions of Adobe Creative Suite are also assumed to be in development. CS4 will be available as both 32-bit and 64-bit applications for Windows, but only 32-bit for OS X.

There is currently no public release date or pricing information for Adobe CS4, although there is speculation of a release date in late 2008 or early 2009.




Confirmed-applications

So far, only a limited number of applications from previous versions of Creative Suite have been confirmed to be in development. These are:

It is assumed that other popular applications from previous versions of Creative Suite, including Bridge, Illustrator, and Premiere will be updated and included with CS4. Some new applications, including Thermo, may also be included. Additionally, it is possible that existing applications will be removed or merged together, given the several overlaps in Adobe's product line since acquiring Macromedia, and comparable feature consolidation from CS3.


New features

Although Adobe has not made any formal announcement about the new features to be introduced in CS4, some new features have been shown in beta tests and demonstrations. Visually, the suite is undergoing a new UI overhaul that does not following typical consistencies, similar to how Office 2007 uses a non-standard interface).

  • Dreamweaver - Many new features aimed towards improving workflow and ease of use:
    • Live View - The ability to view a web page under standards-based browser conditions, while still retaining direct access to the code
    • Related Files - Manage related files more easily; all files related to the currently displayed page will be displayed in a toolbar
    • Code Navigator - Displays all code sources that affect the current selection in a window
    • CSS - Help information to be displayed to the user while editing CSS
    • Code hinting for Ajax and Javascript
    • Improved spry widgets and HTML datasets
    • Increased compatibility with Photoshop
  • Fireworks - There are several new features included in the Fireworks beta:
    • Increased compatibility with Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash
    • Web design and CSS export - allows graphical design of web pages, which can then be exported with standards-compliant CSS sheets created automatically
    • PDF export ability
    • Live style updates - when a style is updated, all elements using the style are also updated
    • Adobe Type Engine - enhanced typesetting abilities, similar to that already seen in current versions of Photoshop and Illustrator
    • Live gradients
  • Flash - It is believed that Adobe will be performing a substantial overhaul of Flash for CS4. Possible changes include:
    • Pixel Bender
    • Removal of keyframes
    • Inverse kinematics
    • "Mobile Convergence", making it easier to make Flash content for mobile devices
    • Object-based tween modeling
    • 3D rotation
  • Soundbooth - According to Adobe Labs, several new features are available in the beta release:
    • Arranging audio files on multiple tracks
    • Making quick edits and applying fades
    • Matching volume levels with a single command
    • Removing unwanted noises and background sounds
    • Adjusting tempo and pitch
    • Recording and polishing voice-overs
    • Adding effects and filters
    • Previewing MP3 compression quality.
(Source Link)

About iPhone

The iPhone is an Internet enabled multimedia mobile phone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It has a multi touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons, but a minimal amount of hardware input. The iPhones functions include those of a camera phone and portable media player (equivalent to the iPod) in addition to text messaging and visual voice mail. It also offers Internet services including email, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. The first generation phone hardware was quad band GSM with EDGE; the second generation uses UMTS and HSDPA.

Apple announced the iPhone on 9 January 2007. The announcement was preceded by rumors and speculations that circulated for several months. The iPhone was initially introduced in the United States on 29 June 2007 and is in the process of being introduced worldwide. It was named Time On 11 July 2008, the iPhone 3G was released and supported faster 3G data speeds and Assisted GPS.
magazine's Invention of the Year in 2007.

(Source Link)

Mac OS X v10.5

Mac OS X version 10.5 “Leopard” is the sixth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers, and is the successor to Mac OS X v10.426 October 2007, and is available in two variants: a desktopfor personal computers, and a server version, Mac OS X Server. Apple offers a reduced-cost upgrade to people that purchased new Apple computers after 1 October 2007 that do not already have Mac OS X v10.5 pre-installed or a Leopard upgrade DVD included. Steve Jobs stated at MacWorld 2008 that over 20% of Macs use Leopard as their operating system.Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard", which is expected to ship in the latter half of 2009.

"Tiger". Leopard was released on version suitable Leopard will be superseded by

According to Apple, Leopard contains over 300 changes and enhancements, covering core operating system components as well as included applications and developer tools. Leopard introduces a significantly revised desktop, with a redesigned Dock, Stacks, a semitransparent menu bar, and an updated Finder that incorporates the Cover Flow visual navigation interface first seen in iTunes. Other notable features include support for writing 64-bit graphical user interface applications, an automated backup utility called Time Machine, support for Spotlight searches across multiple machines, and the inclusion of Front Row and Photo Booth, which were previously only included with some Mac models.

Apple missed Mac OS X v10.5’s release time frame as originally announced by Apple's CEO Steve Jobs. When first discussed in June 2005, Jobs had stated that Apple intended to release Leopard at the end of 2006 or early 2007. A year later, this was amended to "Spring 2007"; however on 12 April 2007, Apple issued a statement that its release would be delayed until October 2007 because of the development of the iPhone.

(Source Link)

Advertising Slogans #3

Mobile and telecommunications

  • Pure Communication
  • Make The Most Of Now/How Are You?
  • New: Happy To Help
  • The Future's Bright; The Future's Orange
  • See what you can do - O²
  • An Idea can change your life
    • Idea Cellular India
  • Express Yourself
    • AirTel Cellular Service India
  • Wherever you go, our network follows
    • Hutch Cellular India
  • Stick together
    • T-Mobile
  • Raising the bar
    • Cingular
  • Can you hear me now? Good.
    • Verizon
  • Outthinking. Outdoing
    • Convergys
  • Connecting You.. No Matter where
    • Platform Integration SA.
  • Switch to tataindicom, experience the difference
    • Tataindicom India
  • Do more, live more
    • Tataindicom India
  • BSNL best hai mere liye
    • BSNL(Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited)
  • Connecting people
    • NOKIA
(source Link)

Advertising Slogans #2

Electronics

  • Sharp Minds, Sharp Products
  • Life's Good
  • The Perfect Experience
  • Connecting people.
    • Nokia, 1992 Ove Strandberg
  • Hello Tosh, gotta Toshiba?
    • Toshiba, 1984, Gold Greenlees Trott
  • It's a Sega Genesis, it's a SegaCD, and it's a Portable CD Player!
    • Sega of America, marketing the Sega CDX console in 1994.
  • It takes AGES to be as good as SEGA
  • Thousands of possibilities. Get yours.
  • PSP. Hells Yeah.
  • Do me a favor, plug me into a Sega
  • The Look and Sound of Perfect
  • The Audience is listening
(source Link)

Advertising Slogans #1

Computing

  • A nerds dream
    • FHM
  • What Do You Want the Internet to Be
  • Enabling Transformation
  • The Way It's Meant To Be Played
  • Powered by Intellect. Driven by Values
  • On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984.
  • Buy Opera today... And make this banner go away
  • e-business solutions
  • on demand
  • Yours Is Here
  • In a world full of Windows, we're handing out rocks
  • [It's] so easy to use, no wonder it's number one
  • So powerful, it's kind of ridiculous
  • sound.vision.soul
  • Where do you want to go today?
  • Your Potential. Our Passion. Microsoft.
  • Your Source of Digital Inspiration.
    • Multimedia InfoCenter
  • Prestigious IT jobs
    • Jobs Consulting
  • The Difference is Dell
  • Simplicity At Work, Better Buy Adobe
  • Where Information Lives
  • We Are Building A New Technology Company
  • Buy it. Sell it. Love it.
  • The World's Online Market Place
  • Experience, Results
  • If you have a reason, we have the job
  • Your Transformation Partner
  • Performance Defined,Results Delivered
  • Releasing Your Potential
(source Link)

Jul 18, 2008

Build an XP SP3 Recovery Disc

Think you can use your original Windows XP disc to restore your PC? Think again.
Odds are your computer came with a recovery disc, a CD with all the programs and drivers that were installed on your PC's hard drive when it was new. And odds are you have absolutely no idea where that disc is.
The good news is that it probably doesn't matter. First of all, the recovery media most PC manufacturers provide is designed for a singular purpose: to restore your computer to the state it was in when you bought it. This process typically involves wiping your hard drive (say bye-bye to your spreadsheets and vacation photos) and then reinstalling Windows and the handful of programs originally included with your system. Unless you're simply preparing the whole kit and caboodle to sell on eBay, this is probably not something you will ever need.
Second, the hardware drivers on your recovery CD are almost certainly out of date, either made obsolete by newer and better versions available online, or simply irrelevant to new hardware you've subsequently installed.
nstead of fretting about the old recovery CD you lost (or perhaps never got), why not take a few minutes and make one of your own?
Ideally, a recovery disc should act as a safety net should anything disagreeable happen to your PC's hard drive or its data. (Think crash, virus, spyware attack, driver corruption, and so on.) A good recovery disc allows you to reinstall Windows to fix a minor problem or rebuild your PC from scratch to recover from a major one.

Here's the problem: Once you upgrade your XP installation to Service Pack 3, Windows won't ever allow you to install an older version (including earlier editions of XP) without either wiping the hard drive clean or installing to a different drive. Even if you do install "fresh," you'll still have to then endure a separate SP3 upgrade. The solution is to create a new hybrid installation disc from whatever installer CD you have and a special version of SP3, using a process known as slipstreaming (etymology: fluid mechanics, or the "Hope and Fear" episode of Star Trek: Voyager.) (full story Link)