Quiz

1. Which do you use to comment out a line in the autoexec.bat file?

a) semicolon b) rem

c) xx d) <!-- -- >

2. The Elk Corner which was known as the first Virus was written by?

a) Rich Skrenta b) Bill Gates

c) Paul Allen d) Steve Jous

3. Google got its name from the mathematical figure?

a) googy b) googol

c) googly d) google

4. Which is the best choice for a specification for a video card?

a) PCI bus b) L2 cache

c) Memory d) Sound

5. A type of connector used with a CD-ROM or other disc drive?

a) DB-15 b) Molex

c) PS/2 d) RJ-11

You can send in your answer in the format Question Number <Your Option> e.g. Q1 (a) Q2(b) to conatus.akgec@gmail.com

Answers of Last Edition Quiz

Q1. (a)

Q2. (a)&(c)

Q3. (b)

Q4. (d)

Q5. (a)

Technorati Tags: quiz

F…

Flaming :

Flaming is the act of posting or sending offensive messages over the Internet. These messages, called "flames," may be posted within online discussion forums or newsgroups, or sent via e-mail or instant messaging programs. The most common area where flaming takes place is online discussion forums, which are also called bulletin boards

Flaming often leads to the trading of insults between members within a certain forum. This is an unfortunate result, as it often throws the discussion of a legitimate topic well off track. For example, the topic of a discussion forum may be "Choosing a Mac or a PC." Some Mac user may post a message gloating about the benefits of a Mac, which in turn prompts a response from a PC user explaining why Macs suck and why Windows is obviously the better platform. The Mac user may then post a reply saying that Mac users are, in fact, a more intelligent species who are not as naive as PC users. This kindles a more personal attack from the PC user, which incites an all out flame war..

FPU :

It stands for "Floating Point Unit." The first computer processors were far better at dealing with integers than with real numbers . So a separate FPU processor was developed to handle the floating point calculations. That way, when the CPU encountered a floating-point expression (ie. 1.62 * 0.87359), it would send the calculation to the FPU. Since the FPU is specifically designed to handle floating-point math, it computes expressions involving real numbers more efficiently. While the first floating point units used to be manufactured as individual chips, they are now typically integrated into the CPU.

Flatbed :

A flatbed is a type of scanner or copier that uses a flat, glass surface for scanning documents or other objects. Most flatbed scanners have an adjustable lid that can be raised to allow magazines, books, and other thick objects to be scanned. This is a significant benefit over sheet-fed scanners or copiers (sometimes referred to as automatic document feeders, which can only accept paper documents.
Flatbed scanners and copy machines range in size from standard letter size (8.5"x11") to legal size and beyond. For example, a scanner used to scan architectural blueprints may be the size of several letter-size scanners. Because of their large size capacity and ability to scan thick objects, flatbed scanners are more versatile than sheet-fed scanners. However, they cannot automatically feed pages into the scanner, which means scanning multiple pages can be a time-consuming process. For this reason, some scanners and copy machines include both a flatbed scanning surface for large or thick objects, and an ADF for feeding multiple pages at once.

Firewire :

This high-speed interface has become a hot new standard for connecting peripherals (no pun intended). Created by Apple Computer in the mid-1990's, Firewire can be used to connect devices such as digital video cameras, hard drives, audio interfaces, and MP3 players, such as the Apple iPod, to your computer. A standard Firewire connection can transfer data at 400 Mbps, which is roughly 30 times faster than USB 1.1. This blazing speed allows for quick transfers of large video files, which is great for video-editing professionals. If 400 Mbps is still not fast enough, Apple Computer released new PowerMacs with Firewire 800 ports in early 2003. These ports support data transfer rates of 800 Mbps -- twice the speed of the original Firewire standard.
You may see Firewire referred to by its technical name, IEEE 1394, since it was standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Both terms refer to the same technology. If your computer doesn't have Firewire and you wish it did, fear not. As long as your computer has PCI slots, you can purchase a PCI Firewire card to add Firewire ports to your computer.

FLOPS :

Stands for "Floating Point Operations Per Second." FLOPS are typically used to measure the performance of a computer's processor. While clock speed, which is measured in megahertz, is often seen as an indicator or a processor's speed, it does not define how many calculations a processor can perform per second. Therefore, FLOPS is a more raw method of measuring a processor's processing speed.

Still, a FLOPS reading only measures floating point calculations and not integer operations. Therefore, while FLOPS can accurately measure a processor's floating point unit (FPU), it is not a comprehensive measurement of a processor's performance. In order to accurately gauge the processing capabilities of a CPU, multiple types of tests must be run.

Technorati Tags: Computer Dictionary

Having a bad Day?

 

A couple of days ago, I held the door for three or four families before I entered the store I was visiting. They pushed right by and seemed to ignore my very existence. Not a single person said "thank you!"

This was very frustrating for me -- what in the world happened to manners? Anyhow, the funny story below shows that there might just be a solution the next time around such a thing happens to you...! That will give you a way to act as impolite to them as they act to you!

Are You Having a Bad Day?

For all of you, who occasionally have a really bad day when you just need to take it out on someone; don't take that bad day out on someone you know. Instead, take it out on someone unfriendly who you don't know!

Now get this. I was sitting at my desk, when I remembered a phone call I had to make. I found the number and dialled it.
A man answered nicely saying, "Hello?"

I politely said, "This is Patrick Hannifin and could I please speak to Robin Carter?"

Suddenly, the phone was slammed down on me! I couldn't believe that anyone could be that rude.
I tracked down Robin's correct number and called her. I had transposed the last two digits incorrectly. After I hung up with Robin, I spotted the wrong number still lying there on my desk. I decided to call it again.

When the same person once more answered, I yelled "You're a jackass!" and hung up. Next to his phone number I wrote the word "jackass," and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up. He'd answer, and I'd yell, "You're a jackass!" It would always cheer me up.

Later in the year, the phone company introduced caller ID. This was a real disappointment for me; I would have to stop calling the jackass.

Then, one day, I had an idea. I dialled his number, then heard his voice, "Hello." I made up a name. "Hi, this is Mike Smith with the sales office of the telephone company and I'm just calling to see if you're familiar with our caller ID program?"

He went, "No!" and slammed the phone down.

I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're a jackass!"

The reason I took the time to tell you this story is to show you how if there's ever anything really bothering you, you can do something about it -- just dial my good ol' friend, the jackass, at 555-1111.

[Keep reading! It gets better.]

An old lady at the mall really took her time pulling out of the parking place. I didn't think she was ever going to leave.
Finally, she got the car in reverse and she began to move ... very slowly backing out of the slot.

I backed up a little more to give her plenty of room to pull out.

Great, I thought, she's finally leaving.

All of a sudden this black Camaro come flying up the parking aisle in the wrong direction and pulls into her space. I started honking my horn and yelling, "You can't just do that, Buddy. I was here first!"

The guy climbed out of his Camaro completely ignoring me. He walked toward the mall as if he didn't even hear me. I thought to myself, "This guy's a jackass!" There sure a lot of jackasses in this world. Then I noticed he had a "For Sale" sign in the back window of his car. I wrote down the number then hunted for another place to park.

A couple of days later, I'm at home sitting at my desk. I had just gotten off the phone after calling 555-1111 and yelling, "You're a jackass!" (It's really easy to call him now since I have his number on speed dial.)
I noticed the phone number of the guy with the black Camaro lying on my desk and thought I'd better call this guy, too.

After a couple rings, someone answered the phone and said, "Hello."

I said, "Is this the man with the black Camaro for sale?"

"Yes, it is."

"Can you tell me where I can see it?"

"Yes, I live at 1802 West 34th street. It's a yellow house and the car's parked right out front."

I said, "What's your name?"

"My name is Don Hansen."

"When's a good time to catch you, Don?"

"I'm home in the evenings."

"Listen Don, can I tell you something?"

"Yes."

"Don, you're a jackass!" And I slammed the phone down.

After I hung up, I added Don Hansen's number to my speed dialler. For a while, things seemed to be going better for me.

Now, when I had a problem, I had two jackasses to call. Then, after several weeks of calling the jackasses and hanging up on them, it just wasn't as enjoyable as it used to be.

I gave the problem some serious thought and came up with a solution.

First, I had my phone dial Jackass #1.

A man answered nicely saying, "Hello."

I yelled "You're a jackass!", but I didn't hang up.

The jackass said, "Are you still there?"

I said, "Yeah."

He said, "Stop calling me."

I said, "No."

He said, "What's your name, Pal?"

I said, "Don Hansen."

He said "Where do you live?"

"1802 West 34th Street. It's a yellow house and my black Camaro's parked out front."

"I'm coming over right now, Don. You'd better start saying your prayers."

"Yeah, like I'm really scared, Jackass!" and I hung up.

Then I called Jackass #2.

He answered, "Hello."

I said, "Hello, Jackass!"

He said, "If I ever find out who you are..."

"You'll what?"

"I'll kick your butt."

"Well, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now, Jackass!" And I hung up.

Then I picked up the phone and called the police. I told them I was at 1802 West 34th Street and that I was going to kill my brother-in-law as soon as he got home.

I made another quick call to Channel 13 about the gang war going down on West 34th Street.
After that, I climbed into my car and headed over to 34th Street to watch the whole thing.

Glorious! Watching two Jackasses throwing punches and kicking one another in front of 6 squad cars, a police helicopter, and channel 13 news cameras!!!

It was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

Name withheld to protect the guilty.

Technorati Tags: Fun Zone

Cross Fire (Open Beta Launch)

 

Cross Fire entered open beta testing on JAN 30^th. The Cross fire Servers were shut down for 24 hours for the preparation of OPEN BETA and to update the game with the wealth of new features including.

- New Maps

- New Weapons

- Buddy/Friends Lists

- Clan Formation

- General updates and bug fixes

Also all player status and rankings recorded in the Closed Beta test was erased and player accounts were reset. All players would start on equal ground and stats would not be reset again after this date. The open beta was enhanced with GP rate event so that players can purchase new weapons and items quicker.

Further details will be announced at the launch of open beta.

Technorati Tags: games

UFC 2009 Undisputed

 

UFC 2009 Undisputed is an explosive fighting game detailing the action, intensity and attitude of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Featuring an authentic and comprehensive UFC atmosphere, including an extensive roster of the best mixed martial arts fighters in the world, players will push the envelope with a powerful new game engine and put their best fighting disciplines to the test in the world famous Octagon. Take your best shot – UFC 2009 Undisputed is as real as it gets!

Features

AUTHENTIC UFC PERSONALITIES – Explore a deep roster of more than 80 top names in UFC competition across five weight classes and enter the Octagon surrounded by the sport’s popular commentators, announcers, referees, trainers, Octagon girls and more.

PHOTOREALISTIC MODELS AND EFFECTS – Experience the world of UFC as it appears on television with photorealistic fighters who breathe, sweat and move like their real-life counterparts. Players will also view amazing ripple effects across the faces and bodies of their fighters from the impact of devastating punches and kicks.

CONSTANT CONTROL – Gain the upper hand in matchups with a brand new fighting game engine designed specifically for next generation systems. Emphasis on innovative, responsive and easy-to-play controls will give players unparalleled command of their fighters in the Octagon.

FIGHTING DISCIPLINES – Take down opponents and get the submission with a variety of mixed martial arts disciplines, including Judo, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Kickboxing, Boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

CREATE-A-FIGHTER – Jumpstart the career of a future champion by customizing your fighter’s physical appearance, learning new fighting techniques to use in the Octagon and managing the training process through attributes such as strength and cardiovascular health.

CAREER MODE – Develop attributes, perfect moves and fight for entry into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Technorati Tags: Games

Wireless intelligent network (WIN)

 

Wireless intelligent network (WIN) is a concept being developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Standards Committee TR45.2. The WIN standards protocol enables a graceful evolution to an IN without making current network infrastructure obsolete.

Service differentiation and streamlined infrastructure are key factors to winning the battle of competition as customers expand and become more sophisticated and the wireless service becomes more of a commodity. To wireless carriers and service providers, this means leveraging equipment, systems and customer service initiatives across all services and markets. Wireless providers who are first-to-market with customers-oriented services will have an immense advantage in securing dominant market share. One of the vital solutions for this highly competitive and increasingly demanding market is to build a sophisticated Wireless Intelligent Network infrastructure that can flexibly support existing and new services. This approach can reduce the load on the wireless switches.

The Wireless Intelligent Network (WIN) intends to take advantage of the Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) concepts and products developed from wireline communications. However, progress of the AIN deployment has been slow due to the many barriers that exist in the traditional wireline carriers’ deployment procedures and infrastructure. The success of AIN has not been truly demonstrated. The AIN objectives and directions are applicable to the wireless industry although the plans and implementations could be significantly different. In order to succeed, the technology driven AIN concept has to be reinforced by the market driven WIN services. An infrastructure suitable for the WIN contains elements that are foreign to the wireline network.

WIN, borrowing the concept of AIN, is viewed to bring competitive edges in terms of:

Holistic approach to service deployment

Mobility services beyond wireline AIN

Reduced time for service deployment

Multiple vendor expertise

Increased customization

Computerized service creation and implementation tools.

Technorati Tags: networking

Organize Multiple Inboxes in Gmail

There's an enhancement available for Google's Gmail service which lets you see multiple views of your inbox on one screen. It's called Multiple Inboxes.

It's important to note that this feature doesn't let you view multiple Gmail accounts or multiple inboxes on one web page. Instead, it shows you multiple views of your inbox on one page. So, you can have one pane show all incoming messages, one pane for starred messages, one pane for messages with a particular label, one for drafts, and so on.

Activating 'Multiple Inboxes'

The feature can be activated on Gmail's Labs page

1. While logged in to Gmail, click on Settings.

2. Go to the "Labs" tab and check the Multiple Inboxes box.

3. Back in your inbox, you will now see the default three-panel view. To make changes to the default view, go into Settings and click on the "Multiple Inboxes" tab, which should now show up.

Altering the Default View

The default view puts two panes (starred and drafts) to the right of your mailbox. However, you can change this default view and set up your multi-panel inbox however you'd like.

Stack' the Inbox Views

The default view minimizes the amount of scrolling needed to see everything, but it also does away with the checkboxes in the smaller panes, meaning you have to leave your split-screen view if you want to archive, delete or bulk process any of the messages in the filtered panes.

In the Multiple Inboxes settings, you can change the configuration so that your filtered panes appear above or below your master inbox. You get the checkboxes back, and your subject lines aren't truncated as sharply, so you can see more information about each message.

Things you can do with Multiple Inboxes

1. Merge other email accounts

You can manage all your email accounts in one place. Set a rule (or “filter” as Gmail calls it) to forward incoming emails to your active Gmail mailbox. Now, set a filter to label these emails (for example: email2) and make them skip the inbox.

2. To-do list

Set a pane to display a label called”to-do”. Whenever you are assigned a task by email, label it as “to-do” and archive it. That way, you can keep your inbox clean without missing any of your tasks or having to transfer them to external to-do list.

3. Separate emails from important senders

Set a filter to assign the label “important” to emails from your most important clients. Create a pane to display that label, and Voila! - Your top clients get top respond time.

4. Separate emails by source

Got a blog or website? Are you an active participant in online forums? Set a filter to label massages people send you through the contact form in your website, comments to your posts, or replies to your questions in forums, and set a pane to display it.

5. Use Gmail as an ubiquitous notepad

Let’s say you want to document an idea you had, but also what it accessible from anywhere. This is what you can do!!! Write it in a new email and save it. After saving a draft in Gmail, you can assign a label to it. Refresh the page and assign the label “notepad” to the draft.

Keep editing and saving that draft. As long as you do not send it to anyone, it’ll keep serving you as a portable notepad.

6. Turn Gmail into a mini playlist

People send you songs by email? Set a separate pane and enjoy your songs every time you open your inbox:

Technorati Tags: information

Virtual Network Computing

 

Virtual network computing (V.N.C) is a process of controlling a computer by sitting kilometres away through internet. Here we can control a server computer, which is situated kilometres away by sitting in front of a viewer computer. An image of the desktop of the server is brought to our computer and making events in viewer computer we can any work in the server computer. Here internet is used as the communication between the server and the viewer’s computer.

As the operating system is graphical user interface the controlling is made by mouse events. When we bring the server’s desktop to viewer’s computer the screen resolution of the server and viewers must be same (eg: 800*600). So when a mouse event is happening on a particular pixel (say 300,200), that particular pixel send to the server from the viewer and the change is brought to the viewer. So the user will not feel that two computers are working here. He will get feeling that he is using the server itself.

The V.N.C technique has got a good future in the world of computer communication, since the V.N.C is easy to use, support platform independency and multi-user. It is a remote display system which allows you to view a computing ‘desktop’ environment not only on the machine where it is running, but from anywhere on the Internet and from a wide variety of machine architectures.VNC consists of two types of component. A server, which generates a display, and. a viewer, which actually draws the display on your screen

To get started with VNC you need to run a server, and then connect to it with a viewer. Get the packages for the platforms you use from the web and install them. The current VNC software requires a TCP/IP connection between the server and the viewer.

Most people will be running either a Unix server or a Windows server, though similar principles will apply to other platforms. The technology underlying the VNC system is a simple protocol for remote access to graphical user interfaces. It works at the frame buffer level and therefore applies to all operating systems, windowing systems, and applications—indeed to any device with some form of communications link. The protocol will operate over any reliable transport such as TCP/IP. The endpoint with which the user interacts (that is, the display and/or input devices) is called the VNC client or viewer. The endpoint where changes to the frame buffer originate (that is, the windowing system and applications) is known as the VNC server .VNC is truly a “thin-client” system. Its design makes very few requirements of the client, and therefore simplifies the task of creating clients to run on a wide range of hardware.

Technorati Tags: Networking

2008’s biggest tech crime stories

 

Here is the collection of biggest 2008 tech crime stories, grilled out from the darkest corners of the internet…

Read the self-confessions of hackers below and feel the chills running through your spine.

1. The spam King

In a boon for email users everywhere, the man whom prosecutors had dubbed "The Spam King" was sentenced to 47 months in prison earlier this year after he pleaded guilty to fraud, spamming and tax evasion in July. Described as one of the world's 10 worst spammers at the time of his arrest by a Microsoft attorney, Soloway, 28, was first sued for spamming by Microsoft in 2003. Despite losing a $7 million civil judgment to Microsoft back in 2005, Soloway continued to send out massive spam up until his arrest in May 2007. In addition to being sentenced to nearly four years in jail, Soloway will also have to serve three years of probation and perform 200 hours of community service.

2. 40 million credit card numbers stolen using SQL Injection

The US Department of Justice revealed this summer that a group of hackers used a combination of wardriving(act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless in a moving vehicle using a laptop or PDA), sniffer software and SQL injection attacks to steal over 40 million credit and debit card numbers from TJX, OfficeMax, Barnes & Noble and other companies and store them on underground server systems in the US, Latvia and the Ukraine. The DOJ(Department of Justice) has indicted 11 alleged hackers on charges of computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft. So far only one of the 11 people charged by the DOJ has pleaded guilty.

3. Alcatel official pays $2.5 Million in bribes to Costa Rican Officials

Facing an increasingly competitive telecom market, former Alcatel official Christian Sapsizian decided to secure lucrative telecom contracts the old fashioned way: through bribes. Sapsizian, who worked as Alcatel's deputy vice president for the Latin American region from 2000 to 2004, was convicted in September of paying out $2.5 million in bribes to Costa Rican officials over a four-year period to help Alcatel nail down a $149 million cellular network deal. As punishment, Sapsizian, 62, will have to pay a $261,500 fine and serve three years of supervised release.

4. Thousands of company computers transformed to botnets

Robert Matthew Bentley needed a large network of computers to help him distribute adware. To this end, he hacked into the computer system at Newell Rubbermaid, the plastic-ware company that makes Sharpie markets, and transformed hundreds of its computers into a botnet(A botnet is a network of zombie computers under the remote control of a master). From there, the network was used to infect computers throughout the world with adware on behalf of DollarRevenue, a notorious adware producer that was fined over $1.5 million by the Dutch government for distributing adware in 2007. Bentley, a 21-year-old hacker based in Florida, was paid 0.15 Euros for each European computer he infected with adware and $0.25 for every US PC he infected with adware, investigators said. Bentley pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud. He was sentenced to 41 months in prison and must pay $65,000 restitution.

5. Fraud with internet kiosks

Lillian Glaubman's business propositions were akin to the business plan of South Park's legendary Underpants Gnomes. In other words:

Step 1: Set up Internet kiosks

Step 2: ?????

Step 3: Profit!

This Miami woman was the administrator for Internet kiosk vendor Pantheon Holdings. According to investigators, Pantheon sold businesses Internet kiosks for $18,000 a pop by persuading them that they would reap substantial rewards from both Internet connection access and for advertisements that would appear on the kiosks. Additionally, Pantheon promised to find high-traffic areas for the kiosks and to get advertisers to place ads on the screens.

Predictably, Pantheon never did any work to attract advertisers and the kiosks were more likely to be placed in tumbleweed farms than in well-trafficked zones. In addition to serving jail time, Glaubman was also ordered to pay a whopping $18.2 million in restitution.

6. China made equipments sold as Cisco’s

It's a scam so simple: import a bunch of cheap no-name network equipment from China, pass it off as Cisco gear in the U.S. and walk away with a fortune. Charles Lacy-Thompson, the 52-year-old former owner of the New York-based Coletronic Computer electronics sales company, actually implemented such a scheme over a four-year period from 2003 through 2007. In that time, his company generated sales between $4 million and $5 million per year, and an FBI investigation found that Coletronic possessed more than 3,500 pieces of fake Cisco gear valued at $3.5 million. Despite the best efforts of Lacy-Thompson's lawyer to paint his client as a great guy - say, did you know he's an inspirational youth sports coach and that he volunteers at a local food pantry? - Lacy-Thompson was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He also has agreed to fork over $2.2 million in cash and property to the federal government.

7. Vice-President’s email hacked by a 20-year old lad

In addition to the big convictions for tech-related crime this year, there were several arrests in high-profile cases that are currently awaiting trial. The biggest was that of David Kernell (shown here), a 20-year-old Tennessee man who has been indicted for hacking into former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's email account. He has pleaded not guilty to accessing a protected computer. Other notable arrests include Francis Janosko, a former inmate at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts who was arrested by the FBI for allegedly hacking into his former prison's computer network and stealing prison workers' Social Security numbers; Viktor Savtyrev, a systems administrator from New Jersey who was arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from a company that had recently laid him off; and Biswamohan Pani, a former Intel employee who has been indicted for allegedly stealing $1 billion worth of trade secrets from his former company.

Technorati Tags: Information

Diskeeper 2009 Pro Premier v13.0 Build 835

 

Diskeeper is a fully automatic defragmentation engine that replaces the standard Windows defragmenter which runs only manually, consumes high resources and requires full administrator privileges to operate. Diskeeper constantly monitors and maintains your systems maximum performance, using the fastest defrag engine. According to the National Software Testing Lab (NSTL) it is proven to be 300-500% faster and far more thorough than Windows built-in defragmenters.

The program includes a unique `Set It and Forget It` functionality with Smart Scheduling, that, once set, runs invisibly and fully automatic in the background. In addition, the Frag Guard feature helps prevent fragmentation in your most critical system files. Additional features include boot-time defrag, priority settings as well as the ability to defrag multiple disks automatically and simultaneously while system is in use.

Diskeeper 2009 is the most advanced and most intelligent automatic disk defragmenter ever built. It can bring your computer speed and reliability to levels previously unobtainable, even when your computer was brand new. Without Diskeeper on board, relentless fragmentation will steadily corrupt system performance and generate fragmentation-related problems such as slowdowns, freezes, crashes and more. Make all that a thing of the past.

What's New in Diskeeper 2009?

Titan Defrag Engine is the most powerful defragmentation engine ever built. Starting at 100 GB, it easily handles files fragmented into millions of pieces and volumes up to 20TB and more

InvisiTasking technology enables management-free defragmentation with zero management overhead and zero system overhead. Having to schedule defrag runs is now a thing of the past.

NEW I-FAAST 2.0 (Intelligent File Access Acceleration Sequencing Technology) boosts access speed for the files most frequently used.

MOM integration. Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) allows monitoring and management of computers interconnected by networks. Diskeeper provides MOM with numerous alerts, reports and the ability to manage and control product settings and configurations.

.*Full Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM) support will be available soon.

Powerful, high-end file storage performance (file servers, NAS RAID, SAN) Terabyte Volume Engine 2.0 defragments volumes with hundreds of thousands to millions of files quickly and thoroughly.

100% fail-over support for Windows clustered servers.

Support for native 64-bit operating systems.

Automatic Defrag Management. "Bind" Diskeeper policies in Diskeeper Administrator to select computer groups (such as Active Directory Organizational Units). As you add or remove computers to and from those Active Directory groups, your Diskeeper software, settings and licenses will be automatically applied/returned.
Diskeeper Administrator support 5-10x faster network scans, powerful new search functionality and additional functionality designed for administrators of business networks.

In addition to English, Diskeeper 2009 is available in Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and also in Russian.

For further details visit: www.diskeeper.com/diskeeper/home/premiertrialware.aspx

Technorati Tags: security and recovery

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- Here's the complete solution! Startup Faster! - Make Windows startup faster than ever!

Learn more from or download the trial version from

http://www.ursoftware.com/product/startupfaster/

Technorati Tags: Latest Updates

Download Accelerator Plus 9.1.0.4 Final

Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) is the leading download manager with over 160 million registered users worldwide. DAP leverages patented technology, ease of use and rich features including: multi-connections for the fastest downloads from most responsive servers, auto-recovery from lost connections and errors, Always Resume feature (where server-resume is not supported), scheduling, file management tools, privacy and security features, and much more.

DAP integrates with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape and is compatible with Windows Vista. DAP is available in 10 languages including German, Dutch, French, Chinese (traditional), Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian and Italian.

New features in DAP includes an upgraded download window for faster downloads with ease and simplicity, improved management window, the ability to upload and send large files and the SpeedBit Video Accelerator expansions to reduce buffering problems and video "hiccups" from over 100 video sites!

Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) will accelerate the speed with which you can receive files over the Internet using FTP and HTTP protocols by simultaneously downloading several file segments from the same or different servers.

Download Accelerator Plus enables you to pause and resume downloads, and to recover from a dropped Internet connection. DAP also searches for mirrors and implements the download from the best or most responsive mirrors. It is configured by default to automatically integrate into your Explorer or Netscape browser when it is installed, and to self-activate each time a download is performed.

No further configuration or action is required on your part – simply use your browser to access the desired site, click on the download file, and respond to the self-explanatory DAP dialogs that appear. Advanced options enable you to tailor the operation and responses of the application to your needs. You can choose to trigger specific responses such as messages, queue update, closing the application, and disconnecting after the download is completed or is not available.

DAP is fully integrated into the browser, providing the best possible performance from ANY Internet connection, broadband and narrowband (cable, DSL / ADSL, T1, dial-up etc.).

DAP will allow you to benefit from a faster and more reliable download experience, optimize your download performance, and help you to recover interrupted downloads. DAP is available in two versions: a Free version (in which ads are supported) and a Premium version (with a richer set of features and no ads.).

What’s New?

· Windows 7 Support - Use DAP with the latest Windows OS

· Integration with SpeedBit Video Downloader - Download YouTube and web videos for free

· Download Security powered by SpeedBit Multi Antivirus Analysis –

Improved:
· Installation and setup in Windows Vista

· Stability and performance

· Added security indications to the Firefox style Download list

· Added tooltips for items and icons in the Download list

Fixed issues:

· Performance of the Firefox style Downloads list

· Issues with downloads from sites that do not support the resume feature

· Yahoo webmail attachments display file sizes bigger than the actual size

· Problems opening certain file types and displaying the correct icon

· eMusic downloads are now downloaded by the eMusic Download Manager

· Changed User Agent to DAP 9.0

· Google Chrome integration

Learn more from or download the trial version from

http://www.brothersoft.com/download-accelerator-plus-71682.html

Technorati Tags: Latest Updates

Windows 7 Testers Find 2,000 Bugs: Be Proud You Found One

 

It's been nearly two months since the beta of Windows 7 was officially released, and you will be awestruck hearing this- 2000 unique bugs reported and fixed in windows 7!

This happened because in every Windows 7 program, the title bar has a “Send Feedback” option. So Microsoft is listening to lots of people who are clicking the button!

According to Steve Sinofsky (the sin-of-sky effect is not intentional), senior vice president, Windows live engineering group, Microsoft received over 500,000 reports- that means over 500 reports per developer. During a "peak week in January," they were receiving one report about every fifteen seconds.

Sinofsky goes on to describe what a "bug" really is for a developer. It sounds rather broad, especially with that phrase, "any one of dozens of different ways that the software can behave in a way that isn't expected."

Though, I want to be more exact, a bug is anytime a cosmetic issue, a consistency issue, a crash, a confusing user experience, a compatibility issue, a missing feature, or any one of dozens of different ways that the software can behave in a way that isn't expected!!!

A bug for us is not an emotional term, but just shorthand for an entry that was not made correctly. Nothing to be taken to heart.

Bugs are reported by a human using the various forms of “telemetry” built into Windows 7.

Microsoft has already fixed 2,000 bugs in Windows 7, and I'll bet that there'll be plenty more before this beta is finished in August. Go, go, Windows.

As a side note, don't you think I'm entitled to 1/250,000th of the profits made on 7 for my two Send Feedback items?

Technorati Tags: operating System

Programming on Mac OS X

Technorati Tags: Operating System

Mac OS X is a fertile field for all kinds of programming endeavors, especially if you have a *nix frame of reference. Life is still much better for a developer on Windows than on Mac OS X - no matter what one might think of the usability, etc. of Windows.

Apple has been trying to improve things for developers lately, which is a good sign. This page discusses some programming facilities, frameworks and tools available on Mac OS X.

Application Environments

Since Mac OS X is derived from various sources, it has a multitude of Application Environments.

Carbon

This is a set of procedural C-based APIs for Mac OS X that is based on the old Mac OS 9 API (actually dating back as far back as Mac OS 8.1). Carbon was originally designed to provide an easy development migration path from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X. The Carbon APIs are all-encompassing (they include legacy interfaces), covering most things that you are likely to do programmatically on Mac OS X. Carbon specific code is not portable to other platforms.

Classic

Mac OS X includes a Classic (Mac OS 9) emulator that executes in a protected memory environment so as to let users run programs written for Mac OS 9. Apple does not encourage to actually develop for this environment.

Cocoa

This is an object-oriented Objective-C based API and that's the preferred way of doing things in Mac OS X (if what you want to do can be done through Cocoa); particularly because of how well it is supported by Apple's Rapid Development tools. However, there are many parts of Mac OS X, and applications from 3rd party vendors, that have not converted to Cocoa completely, or at all. A Cocoa application can call the Carbon API when necessary. Cocoa is largely based on the Open Step frameworks, and consists of primarily two parts: the Foundation (fundamental classes) and the Application Kit (classes for GUI elements).

Java

Mac OS X includes a complete J2SE implementation. The Swing implementation generates native OS X GUI elements for a uniform look and feel. JAR files are treated as shared libraries. Note that Cocoa includes Java packages that let you create a Cocoa application using Java as the programming language.

Bundles and Frameworks

Mac OS X uses a few concepts not found on many traditional BSD, Linux, Solaris etc. systems.

Bundle

Bundle is a directory that stores executable code and the software resources (icons, splash images, sounds, localized character strings, interface builder "nib" files, .rsrc resource files, etc.) related to that code. Although a bundle is a directory containing potentially numerous subdirectories and files, it is treated as a single entity for various purposes.

Mac OS X can have different kinds of bundles:

• An "Application" bundle (such as Foo.app) contains everything (except frameworks/libraries coming from elsewhere) needed to run the Foo application. It is possible to simply drag Foo.app to any location and it will work as expected (you do not even have to do anything to its Dock icon, if any - courtesy the fact that "aliases" on HFS+ do not break if you move a file without replacing it). The /Applications directory contains many such bundles.
• A "Framework" (such as Bar.framework) is a versioned bundle containing resources such as headers, documentation, etc. The /System/Library/Frameworks directory contains numerous frameworks (such as for Kerberos, Python, QuickTime, ScreenSaver, and so on).
• A "Loadable" bundle can be a kernel extension (a .kext, similar to a loadable kernel module on Linux, say), many of which exist in /System/Library/Extensions, a Plug-in or a Palette.

One of the Finder flags is kHasBundle, which, if set, makes the bundle appear as a file package (a single opaque entity), with exceptions and specific behavior for different bundle types.

The various bundle extensions referred to above are only conventions - a bundle can have any extension. For example, instead of a .app, you can have a .debug or .profile to imply debug or profile code, respectively.

Framework

Framework, as stated above, is a type of a bundle that contains shared resources such as dynamic shared libraries, header files, icons and images, documentation, etc. Moreover, frameworks are versioned. Major versions are incompatible while minor versions are compatible. One framework can have multiple major versions.

Consider an example:

# ls -lF /System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework

total 32

lrwxr-xr-x ... Headers@ -> Versions/Current/Headers

lrwxr-xr-x ... Libraries@ -> Versions/Current/Libraries

lrwxr-xr-x ... OpenGL@ -> Versions/Current/OpenGL

lrwxr-xr-x ... Resources@ -> Versions/Current/Resources

drwxr-xr-x ... Versions/

Except Versions/, everything else is a symbolic link (to entities from the current major version). The fileOpenGL is the dynamic shared library:

# file -L OpenGL

OpenGL: Mach-O dynamically linked shared library ppc

The default path for searching frameworks (as used by the dynamic link editor) is:

$(HOME)/Library/Frameworks

/Library/Frameworks

/Network/Library/Frameworks

/System/Library/Frameworks

As we have seen, Mac OS X has complex entities (like a .app directory tree) exposed as a single, click-able entity through the Finder. The same effect as double-clicking on an entity's icon can be achieved on the command line through the open utility. It opens a file, folder, or a URL, in an appropriate manner. For example, opening a .app folder would launch that application, opening a URL would launch an instance of the default web browser with that URL, opening an MP3 file would open it in the default MP3 player, etc.