Monday 21 May 2007

http://waponline.sina.com.cn/waponline/index.php

From:http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=252

BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) is a nifty little file transfer service built in to Windows which enables file transfers to take place in the background without having any impact on the network bandwidth available to other processes. This is the service used by Windows Update to silently bring down patches without diminishing the users overall experience. BITS has some interesting features:...

Sunday 20 May 2007

Saturday 19 May 2007

The New Blizzard Game is Starcraft 2

From:http://www.hardcoreware.net/the-new-blizzard-game-is-starcraft-2/



It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for those of us anticipating the new Blizzard game but minutes ago, Mike Morhaime took the stage in South Korea and announced that the new Blizzard game will indeed be Starcraft 2...

Microsoft's Popfly: Mashup creation for the masses

From:http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9720583-2.html?tag=blog




Microsoft on Friday morning launched Popfly, a service for creating mashup applications specifically designed for people who don't know how, or want to, write developer code.
The free service, which is now in private alpha, provides a visual way for constructing mashup applications and widgets which can be embedded in blogs or personal pages. Once a project is written, people can share and modify other people's mashups.
People can...

Monday 14 May 2007

LED Tetris: Better Than Plain Tetris

From:http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/spark-fun-electronics/led-tetris-better-than-plain-tetris-260033.php




Sparkfun's LED Tetris is the first creative incarnation of the game that we've seen in a long time. It's completely hands-on, with each of the 240 spots on the grid acting as both a light and a button. If you want the piece to move, you click to the left or right of it on the grid. And somehow Tetris becomes even more intuitive...

Microsoft takes on the free world

From:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm?section=money_latest

Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe. Fortune's Roger Parloff reports...

Thursday 10 May 2007

Replace Windows Explorer with Xplorer2

From:http://lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/replace-windows-explorer-with-xplorer2-258730.php



Let's face it: for advanced file manipulation, Windows File Explorer stinks. But like Firefox is a must-have replacement for Internet Explorer, a file manager called Xplorer2 blows Windows Explorer out of the water for anyone who browses multiple folders, copies, pastes, moves and searches the PC filesystem frequently.
Using Xplorer2's tabbed, dual pane interface, keyboard shortcuts and killer advanced features, you're in total control of your PC's files. Let's take a look...

Installing Virtualbox and Windows in Ubuntu

From:http://www.blog.arun-prabha.com/2007/05/07/installing-virtualbox-and-windows-using-virtualbox-in-ubuntu/

How to install Virtualbox in Ubuntu Feisty Fawn:...

Wednesday 9 May 2007

Red Hat to build 'Global Desktop'

From:http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2189541/red-hat-build-online-desktop

Red Hat is preparing to release a new "Red Hat Global Desktop" that over time will grow into an online desktop that integrates online services into a client desktop platform. The platform will allow users to access online and local data in a unified way.
Red Hat has teamed up with Intel for the platform. Local PC manufacturers will build the actual systems. The compuers will target small businesses and governments in emerging economies, and the software will be made available on Intel's Classmate PC, a low cost notebook computer for students...

Microsoft releases 'critical' updates for new programs



The company published seven security bulletins as part of its monthly patch cycle. All are tagged "critical," its highest rating. Critical vulnerabilities typically allow an attacker to gain full control of an affected system with very little, if any, action by the user...

Tuesday 8 May 2007

Windows Vista: Beta 2, RC1 and RC2 set to expire

From: http://www.techlog.org/archive/2007/05/07/windows_vista_beta_2_rc1_and_r


For those of you out there still running a beta version of Windows Vista (Beta 2, RC1 and RC2) they will be expiring on May 31st 2007. So if you are on one of these versions then you will need to upgrade to the final release.For more information check out...

20 Free RSS Readers Reviewed

Now that almost everyone knows what RSS is, I figured I’d review a few of the ways you can read RSS feeds. With a heavy emphasis on cross-platform and/or open source, here are 20 (albeit somewhat brief) reviews of the free RSS readers available. Links to download, screenshots and system requirements are included with every review...

Monday 7 May 2007

Ubuntu announces mobile and embedded edition

From:http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070507-ubuntu-announces-mobile-and-embedded-edition.html

Ubuntu CTO Matt Zimmerman has announced plans for a mobile edition of the increasingly popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. The Ubuntu development community will be collaborating with Intel to make Ubuntu a viable platform for net-enabled mobile and embedded hardware devices. According to Zimmerman, detailed planning for the Ubuntu mobile edition will begin at the upcoming Ubuntu Developer Summit, and an initial release is planned for October, to coincide with the release of Ubuntu 7.10, codenamed Gutsy Gibbon. Canonical, the company that supports Ubuntu development, is looking for mobile developers to work on the project...

Introduction to UML

From:http://www.itmanagersjournal.com/feature/22695

When you're designing and developing new software systems, it is often hard to see how all the pieces are suppose to fit together. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is one tool that allow developers and architects to ease the process and create a big picture before committing to a particular technology.UML is simply a language, as its name suggests. It can be used, along with a...

12 Ruby Mashup Resources

Fromhttp://blog.programmableweb.com/2007/05/07/12-useful-ruby-mashup-resources/

Want to build a mashup using Ruby? To help you get started we’ve rounded-up a dozen Ruby libraries for open web APIs that can help you get a head start. Most of these are Ruby wrappers — often as gems — that simplify coding for specific APIs and sometimes across APIs...

Sunday 6 May 2007

Top 10 List: Why Microsoft and Yahoo Couldn't Marry

From:http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/corporate/top_10_list_why_microsoft_and_yahoo_couldnt_marry.html

The Microsoft-Yahoo rocky relationship started Friday with rumors of a merger and ended with word there would be no union. Why couldn't the companies pair up? We propose some reasons.
10. On Monday, Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's incoming chief software architect, declared that AJAX was dead. Long live Silverlight.
9. Yahoo CEO Terry Semel is a foreign car kind of guy, while Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is strictly Detroit.
8. Steve Case, architect of the AOL Time Warner merger, made repeated "Boo Hoo!" crank calls to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates...

Twitbin - use Twitter in a Firefox sidebar


Tools for Twitter are cropping up all over the place to help you get your Twitter addiction game on. Twitbin is one of those enablers tools. As an extension in your Firefox browser, it allows you to post Twitter messages (or tweets as they are called) within the browser and receive tweets as well.
Once you download the extension, the Twitbin icon shows up in your browser. When you click on it, Twitbin opens as a sidebar and displays a toolbar. The gear icon allows you to set your preferences, either public or friend streams, and auto refresh settings...

Saturday 5 May 2007

Download YouTube Videos: 23 Ways



Google has a solid amount of cash in its pockets, but with all the recent lawsuits against YouTube one has to wonder if it’s time to salvage whatever videos you like from the service and save them somewhere where evil attorneys won’t look – your hard drive. Luckily, there are literally dozens of tools for downloading videos from YouTube and/or converting those YouTube videos to some format other than .flv. It’s hard to pick the best one, as they all have pluses and minuses. Thus, we’ve chosen 23 YouTube downloader tools we’ve found to be actually working. Here they are, categorized according to the platform they work on:...

Flip4Mac WMV 2.1.1 for Mac OS X now available; adds WMA 9 support

From:http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/13512/

Telestream has announced availability of Flip4Mac WMV version 2.1.1 software. The update adds new features and enhancements to the company’s Windows Media Components for QuickTime. A major new feature is playback support for Windows Media 9 Advanced Profile, also known as the VC-1 Advanced Profile. Enhancements include improved 2-pass VBR encoding and MPEG-4 playback.Until now, Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro & Pro HD enabled users to create Windows Media 9 Advanced profiles. Version 2.1.1 adds the ability to playback the advanced profiles users create or import. Two-pass VBR encoding enhancements provide improved output results and remove an intermittent green flash issue. Improved MPEG-4 playback enhances WMV support for highly compressed media applications like digital cameras. Additional enhancements include improved ASX handling, improved installation support when using Apple Remote Desktop, and support for reclaiming file types assumed by other applications. The free version 2.1.1 update is available for download via:...

What Google Needs


From:http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/what-google-needs.html

Google has some insanely useful applications, the top of their field in many cases — and by mastering these tools, you can become a productivity ninja. But these apps — Gmail, Gcal, Google Reader, Google Docs, et al — they aren’t perfect.
Don’t get me wrong — I love these apps. They are awesome, and I couldn’t bring myself to use anything else. But although they’ve come out with some minor upgrades recently, Google has been a little slow in upgrading their great apps with much-needed features. Perhaps they just need a little nudge.
Well here it is. Google, here are just a few of the features you need to add, pronto...

Still getting used to IE 7? Better learn quick, before Microsoft releases IE 8

From:http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-news/?p=463

It wasn't that long ago that I downloaded and installed the newest version of Internet Explorer, IE 7. It took a little while for me to adjust to the changes, because once you're used to something, it's difficult training yourself to look in different places for the tools that you need. Needless to say, I was a little shocked this morning when I ran across a news story that discussed Microsoft's plans for IE 8, which is slated to be released in the next two years. Check out the story from CNET Networks' News.com:...

Monday 30 April 2007

How to get bought by Google (or IBM, or Oracle)


From: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/04/30/moes-googlebuy_1.html


May is a month of rebirth and new beginnings. It's a time when flowers are blooming, trees are flowering, and young bucks lock horns in battle over the privilege of choosing a mate. Those kinds of biological imperatives are a bit masked in the super-refined atmosphere of Silicon Valley, but it's safe to say that betrothal is on the minds of many a young company these days. They're complex emotions, to be sure, but they find their truest expression in a question that flits across the mind of many a traveler on Route 101 or, if articulated, is done so only in whispers: "How do we get bought by Google?" ...

Creating .Net Applications on Linux and Mac OS X

From: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=operating_systems&articleId=9016832&taxonomyId=89&intsrc=kc_feat

April 17, 2007 -- This article is excerpted from Windows Developer Power Tools, by James Avery and Jim Holmes, with permission of O'Reilly Media Inc. All rights reserved.
Mono is an open source implementation of the .NET Framework built to run on Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, Windows, and Unix. If you are developing on Windows, you can build Mono applications using Visual Studio as well as SharpDevelop, but neither of those IDEs runs on Linux or Mac OS X. MonoDevelop started out as a port of the SharpDevelop IDE but has since evolved independently into the only Mono IDE available for GNOME-based Linux desktops.
Getting Started
MonoDevelop requires a version of Linux running the GNOME desktop. (Red Hat Fedora Core 5 is used for the examples in this section.) The easiest way to get MonoDevelop up and running is to use the Mono 1.1.15_2 installer available from...

How to install Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn) in OS X using Parallels - a complete walkthrough

From: http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/04/27/how-to-install-ubuntu-feisty-fawn-in-os-x-using-parallels-a-complete-walkthrough/

This tutorial is for anyone with an Intel based Mac who is curious about Linux - specifically Ubuntu, and has about an hour to kill (not including the time it takes to download Ubuntu).
The steps and screenshots used for this tutorial are specific to Parallels Build 3188 running on a MacBook Pro w/ OS X (10.4.9). With that said, they will be nearly identical if you have a Mac Pro, Mac Mini, MacBook or any other Intel based Apple Mac...

Sunday 29 April 2007

New Toys Read Brain Waves

From: http://www.winbeta.org/comments.php?id=7105&catid=1

A convincing twin of Darth Vader stalks the beige cubicles of a Silicon Valley office, complete with ominous black mask, cape and light saber.But this is no chintzy Halloween costume. It’s a prototype, years in the making, of a toy that incorporates brain wave-reading technology.Behind the mask is a...

Saturday 28 April 2007

Dinosaur Sightings: A visual history of Internet Explorer from 1 to 7

From: http://content.zdnet.com/2346-9595_22-63758-1.html

It's a safe bet that most Windows users have used multiple versions of Internet Explorer. After all, it has been around for 12 years now!As each new version comes along, we move right into the new user interface and new features and promptly forget what it was like to use the previous version. As such, after moving to Version 7, it is quite a trip down memory lane to take a look back at the earlier versions...