Can't check out a website at work? Check this out

link: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2006/12/21/using-google-to-view-myspace-or-any-restricted-sites.html

Google Translate
Google Translate is a translation service provided by Google to help you translate text or web pages to the language you desire. Some of the languages supported include English, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Japanese, etc.

If you want to translate a page from one language to another, here is the URL format:

http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=en|es&u=www.websiteurl.com

where en|es is the language pair to translate from one language to the other (here it is English to Spanish), and www.websiteurl.com is the site you want to translate.

An interesting workaround to bypass your proxy server is to use Google Translate to translate the page you want to view from English to English, like this:

http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=www.websiteurl.com

Scale of some stuff in the universe

My transparent Linux desktop

Here's my new and improved transparent Linux desktop

Nvidia drivers on Fedora Core 6

$ su root


$ rpm -Uhv http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-6.rpm
$ yum install kmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia
$ yum update kmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia
$ service nvidia-glx restart

Rocky Balboa

Rocky Balboa is back December 25th, 2006

Interesting Optical Illusion

Amazing!

24 Season 6 Prequel

Can't wait for this!

Spider-Man 3 Movie Poster

Wow, can't wait to see this flic!

Adjust mouse scroll speed for Firefox in Fedora Core 6

Running some distribution of Fedora Core 6 (or really any Linux distro for that matter) and Firefox 2.0 and notice that your pages scroll very slow? Well this might not be the answer but it worked for me.

Go to your about:config page from Firefox (type: about:config in the address bar) and then look for the mousewheel.withshiftkey.numlines field. By default, mine was set to 1. I set it to 7 and now pages scroll must faster.

I'm sure glad I moved out of Sunnyvale!

I just saw this story on the news. This is happening exactly where i used to live.

Police: Serial Burglar Hits Sunnyvale

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety is seeking the public's help in solving a series of burglaries that began Nov. 1 in the city's southeast area.

The burglaries generally happen in the early evening hours, typically on a Friday or Saturday, when the burglar enters through open windows or back doors taking money and jewelry, the department reported.

The burglar apparently knows the difference between costume jewelry and valuable items.
Click here to find out more!

No description of the suspect is available. The burglar has been working in residential areas south of Evelyn Avenue and east of Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road and as far south as the Sunnyvale city limit, the department reported.

Sunnyvale public safety officers are asking citizens to report all suspicious activity immediately.

NBC11's George Kiriyama is following this story and will have a live report tonight on NBC11 at 11 p.m.

beta.blogger.com

Well,.. I went ahead and joined the ranks of the beta.blogger.com users. And so far I like this a lot but only one problem -- There doesn't seem to be any way to upload pictures yet. So I guess if I have any pics to upload they will have to wait. Also there doesn't seem to be any way to format text. *sigh*


FROM THE SITE...
The new Blogger version will be available as invitation-only for the moment. "The Blogger in beta program is going to start out small, so only a low percentage of people who log in to Blogger will see the option to switch over. If you're one of them, you'll see a blue box in the sidebar of your dashboard highlighting the new Blogger in beta."

If you want to test the new Blogger by creating a new blog you can do that at beta.blogger.com. Here's a test blog created with the new platform and a tour that shows the new features.

I must say it's much faster to publish posts and upload pictures. Blogger also looks much better and it's more responsive. Although the advantages of the dynamic pages are obvious, it will be interesting to see if they will handle the traffic the same as the static pages. There's one area where I don't see improvements: the comment form is still on a separate page. All in all, the much expected Blogger update is one of the biggest Google news of the year.

Firefox 2.0 on Fedora Core 6

Note: As of today (November 30th 2006), for whatever reason Mozilla is not releasing a version of Firefox 2.0 that is compatible with FC6. That said, they are allowing an untested beta version to be installed. Here's how to get it...

1> Log in as root:

$ su root

2> Download and install it:

$ yum --enablerepo=development install firefox

3> Enjoy. I've been using it and it seems to work fine. Not sure about security issues but it does seem stable enough.

16 Hidden Windows XP Goodies

1. Installer music
Start > Run > "C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma" > Ok

2. Hibernate
Start > Turn Off Computer... > press Shift key to change the "Stand By" button to "Hibernate"

3. Hidden Devices
Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > select "View" and Show hidden devices

4. Character Map
Start > Run > "charmap.exe" > Ok

5. Clipboard Viewer
Start > Run > "clipbrd.exe" > Ok

6. Dr Watson
Start > Run > "drwtsn32.exe" > Ok

7. IExpress Wizard
Start > Run > "iexpress.exe" > Ok

8. Old Windows Media Player 5.1
Start > Run > "mplay32.exe" > Ok

9. ODBC Data Source Administrator
Start > Run > "odbcad32.exe" > Ok

10. Object Packager
Start > Run > "packager.exe" > Ok

11. System Monitor
Start > Run > "perfmon.exe" > Ok

12. Network shared folder wizard
Start > Run > "shrpubw.exe" > Ok

13. File siganture verification tool
Start > Run > "sigverif.exe" > Ok

14. System Configuration Editor
Start > Run > "sysedit.exe" > Ok

15. Driver Verifier Manager
Start > Run > "verifier.exe" > Ok

16. Windows for Workgroups Chat
Start > Run > "winchat.exe" > Ok

Things are starting to look good

So today I got my midterm grade back. I only got a C but that's fine with me because I thought I did much worse. The class is UNIX Shell Programming. Anyway, at the time I think I just studied way too much and burnt out my brain cells. But over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to have a more relaxed approach to my studies and figured out a lot of things I wasn't really getting before. Anyway, hopefully I can get a B in the class as long as I do well on the final. Well,.. time to go get some sleep now because starting tomorrow I will begin my final 2 week stretch to finish this class and I must master this stuff before the final exam.

Hidden Program In Windows XP

Hidden Program In Windows XP
Go to Start>Run. Type in eudcedit - this will open up a font editor - allowing you to design your own custom fonts and characters to be used in things like MS Word.

Common 'nix vi commands

These are some commonly used commands that can be used from within the vi editor in any UNIX or Linux based operating environment. Sorry for the jpg, but if people want to use these commands, I'd rather see them type the commands in then just copy/paste from here. :)

Moving pictures or images in Word

This tutorial covers documents that are already made with pictures and assumes you would like to replace an image with another image.

1. Click on the image you are replacing and delete it.
2. Go to the menu and.. Insert>Picture>From File...
3. Select your new picture and insert it.
4. Once the new picture lands on the page, resize it if you like. Make sure you don't deselect the image by accident. If you do then you will probably have to do these steps again.
   
5. Go to the menu and.. Format>Picture... then select the 'layout' tab.
   
6. Select the 'tight' option and click on the 'advanced...' button.
7. Deselect all checkboxes under the 'Options' section and click ok.
8. You should now be able to move the picture to anywhere on the page.
   

My new and improved XBox

Not sure exactly what was wrong with it, but something funny was going on with the power. I'd plug it in and it would go on and off in a sort of timed fashion. Could see the fans go, the led's light up, but the drives weren't getting any power. So I removed everything from the case, laid it out flat and connected it all together and it works. So since it's nearly impossible to reassemble it back into the xbox case, I just laid it out in cardboard box. A cut here and there and some tape and I Macgyvered it back to life.

Ubuntu to OS X

Fantastic Four movie (1994)

The Fantastic Four 1 of 2 (version 1994)
Uploaded by dj-T-goth

Firefox doesn't know how to communicate with server

Problem:
Unexpected response from server
Firefox doesn't know how to communicate with server

• Check to make sure your system has Personal Security Manager installed.
• This might be due to a non-standard configuration on the server.

Why?
When you upgrade Firefox from an older version to version 1.5.0.7 this might happen.

How to fix it?
Open up a terminal and ...
$ yum update nss
$ yum remove firefox
$ yum -y install firefox

PI

Guy Browning offers 20 top tips for surviving life in the workplace

Wednesday October 18, 2006
The Guardian

1. Never offer to make coffee
   In an open plan office there is a ritual where everyone waits hours for the first person to say: "Who wants a coffee?" That person then finds themselves in the kitchen for the rest of the day working as a junior catering manager. Also remember that nobody ever gets to the top of an organisation by drinking stinky teas. No one wants to have a serious meeting in a room that smells of peppermint/rhubarb/aloe vera.
   
2. Ignore all emails
   Working in the post room is not generally a career choice for most people. Yet with the epidemic of email most people spend half their working lives slaving away in their own personal computer post room. Most emails are biodegradable, however. If you let them sink to the bottom of the pile and go unanswered they will eventually become irrelevant. To some people, doing this might seem like just about the most daring and suicidal thing you could possibly do in an office but, if something really matters, the person who sent it will eventually call you to ask you about it.
   
3. Get yourself noticed
   Getting ahead in business means getting noticed, but working hard makes you almost invisible. Therefore it's a lot better to work hard at getting yourself noticed. What senior management likes more than anything else is junior managers who show signs of initiative and volunteer to do things. Most of the reason for this is that the more junior managers volunteer to do, the less senior managers will have to do themselves. Of course, volunteering for things and doing things are two different matters. Once you have got the credit for volunteering for a project, it's best to get as far away as possible from the project before the work kicks in. The best way to do that is to volunteer for another project.
   
4. Remember that less is more
   You would think that lazy people would form an inert mass at the bottom of an organisation. On the contrary they are found at all levels in business, right up to chair person. The reason for this is simple: when something goes wrong in business it's generally because someone somewhere has tried to do something. Obviously, if you don't do anything, you can't be blamed when it goes wrong. People who sit all day like a lemon, busily straightening paperclips, are therefore the only people with a 100% record of success, and with that sort of record, promotion is inevitable.
   
5. Treat appraisals as auditions for panto
   An appraisal is where you have an exchange of opinion with your boss. It's called an exchange of opinion because you go in with your opinion and leave with their opinion. When you have had a bad year, the best approach is a balance between cringeing apology and grovelling sycophancy, something like: "My respect for you is so intense that it sometimes distracted me, thereby causing the continual string of major cock-ups that have been the main feature of my performance this year." Interestingly, giving appraisals is actually as hard as getting them. The secret is to mix criticism with recognition. For example: "You've made a number of mistakes Martin, but we recognise you made them because you are a total idiot."
   
6. Get up to speed with the jargon
   What differentiates a business thought from a normal thought is that business thoughts have a "going forward" at the end of them going forward. It's also vital that you know that for the envelope to be pushed out of the box and through the window of opportunity, customers should first become stakeholders and then delighted beyond their expectations. In order to do this, top executives will go forward the extra mile while wearing the shoes of the customer. And remember, the customer is king (unless she is a woman).
   
7. Be nice to PA's
   If you put all the country's chief executives in one room, all they would produce would be a range of jammy share options for themselves and some meaningless corporate waffle for the City. Give them one good PA and they might get some useful work done. That's why it's very difficult for PAs to become managers. It's not that PAs couldn't do management jobs, it's because management couldn't do management jobs without PAs. Remember that for every senior executive on the golf course, there is a PA running the business back in the office.
   
8. Try not to upset anyone
   Think how easy it is to upset someone at home and then triple it: that is how easy it is to upset someone at work. Upsetting your boss is the easiest thing to do in the office (apart from their job that is). All you have to do is turn up and you've got yourself well and truly in their bad books. Keeping on the right side of them is simply a matter of anticipating their every whim, completing work before they decide it's needed and laughing at their pathetic jokes rather than their pathetic dress sense. People at the bottom of the office pile are equally easy to upset. If your job is to push a button you are not going to take kindly to anyone who tells you where, when and how to push it. Only those people who respect your absolute mastery of button-pushing will be allowed to benefit from a display of the aforesaid mastery.
   
9. Manage without bosses
   The difference between a boss and a high street bank is that a bank sometimes gives you credit for things. Bosses give you things to do and then blame you for doing them. What they never understand is that if they didn't give you things to do in the first place, you wouldn't make so many spectacular foul-ups. Naturally there are good bosses and bad bosses. Some take the trouble to get interested in what you are doing, encourage your personal development and generally provide you with a stimulating and challenging environment in which to work. There are also good bosses who lock themselves in their rooms, have five-hour lunches and leave you completely alone.
   
10. Steer clear of paper
    Steer clear of all paper as the thing it's most likely to have on it is work. There is a saying that a job is not finished until the paperwork is done. It's a saying that is not used much these days because most people's entire job is paperwork. It would be like saying to a shipbuilder: "The job's not over until the ship is built," which is blindingly obvious and might get you a rivet in the forehead. There is, however, a slight difference in that you can launch a ship and it will disappear over the horizon, whereas you can finish your paperwork and it will have multiplied and be back on your desk by the following day.
    
11. Don't drink under the influence of work
    Alcohol and business don't mix, which is why you really shouldn't bother with work if you like a drink. Excessive drinking at work makes you feel sociable, light-headed and confident. In other words, it makes you feel like you work in sales. The day after, when you feel like the whole world is a grim, head-crushing torture chamber, it makes you feel like you work in IT. It's an absolute rule that the person who earns least in the office will be the first person to buy a round after work. He is also the first to get absolutely hammered and say something so offensive that he gets passed over for a raise for the seventh year running.
    
12. Dress up not down
    Since the collapse of communism, dress-down Fridays have done more than anything else to impair the smooth running of capitalism. Business suits are for doing business in. If you are wearing a welder's helmet people expect rivets, if you are wearing a suit people expect business. But if you are wearing shorts and sandals, people expect you to be on your way to San Francisco with flowers in your hair. On the other hand, never look too businesslike. This marks you out as someone who works in organised crime or as an undertaker, if not both.
    
13. Never answer a phone
    Answering a phone in an office generally means speaking to a customer or your boss. As neither will call unless they want something, answering the phone will probably mean doing work. Don't pick up a phone unless you know it's a social call. As you will never know whether an incoming call is social or not, it's best to make a lot of pre-emptive outgoing social calls. Managers always get terribly upset about unanswered calls and pretend it could have been someone offering millions of pounds of new business. You know that is very unlikely because you have just had someone on the phone offering millions of pounds of new business and been so rude to him that he rang off.
    
14. Cycle to work
    Office car parks are all built to a rigid standard which requires that they have 30% fewer spaces than cars. The reason why bosses get to work first is because they have such huge cars that they can only park them if they arrive first and can drive straight in without any reversing and manoeuvring. It's left to the Micra-driving minions to squeeze into the tiny little gaps senior management leaves behind. If you use reverse gear more than 18 times to get into a space, you probably shouldn't be parking there. Remember, it's no good sitting there in the world's smallest gap feeling all pleased with yourself if you can't open the door.
    
15. Refuse to go to conferences
    Conferences are the business equivalent of going for a curry, in that everyone thinks having one is a fantastic idea, but you always end up drinking too much, talking rubbish and feeling sick for days afterwards. The biggest fear in the business world is having to make a speech at a conference. This is because you generally have nothing of interest to say and no one in the audience has the slightest interest in anything you have to say anyway. For example, when you are the IT director, it's your job to make sure the IT works. If it does work they know already and if it doesn't, they don't want to hear your pathetic excuses.
    
16. Ignore consultants
    A consultant is someone in business with an ego so large it takes more than one company to support it. At a personal level, consultants work either by trying to inspire fear or trying to be friends. It's in trying to be friends with you that they inspire the most fear. The acid test of a consultant is whether they can say, "Everything's fine, we'll be off then." No real consultant can. Instead they will sell you a project that costs just enough to keep your profits suppressed to a level that requires further remedial consultancy.
    
17. Find the right person
    Everyone in the office is the right person for something. They have the experience, the programme, the form, the docket, the knowledge or the key to make something happen in the easiest manner possible. But when somebody else wants to do this particular thing the last person in the universe they will ask is the right person. Instead they reinvent the wheel, take their driving test and do a couple of horrific crash tests. In this way everyone has to learn to do everything from scratch. That is what they mean when they talk about a learning organisation.
    
18. Leave networking to trawlermen
    The old school tie used to be the fan belt of British manufacturing industry, which explains why we no longer have one. However, in business they still say it's not what you know, it's who you know, which is a bit depressing when you have just completed 15 years of formal education. Networkers give you their card within the first 30 seconds of conversation. After about 20 minutes telling you how brilliant they are, ask whether they would like your card. Then return their own to them and watch them slip it straight back into their pocket.
    
19. Learn to recycle reports
    Reports are the office equivalent of cones in the road. They are not actually work themselves but they are a big, clear sign that real work might be done at some stage. In the meantime, they slow everything down and cause anger and annoyance all round. The quickest and easiest way to write a report is to change the names in the last report. When you do this, be aware that there will always be one name that escapes your changes and that will be in the sentence, "We are committed to personal service to ..." The other thing people always forget to change in reports are the headers and footers which you only notice are completely wrong in the lift on the way to your presentation.
    
20. Steer well clear of all meetings
    Half of every working day is spent in meetings, half of which are not worth having, and of those that are, half the time is wasted. Which means that nearly one third of office life is spent in small rooms with people you don't like, doing things that don't matter. The only reason people have so many meetings is that they are the one time you can get away from your work, your phone and your customers. People say that the secret of a good meeting is preparation. But if people really prepared for meetings, the first thing they would realise is that most are unnecessary. In fact, a tightly run meeting is one of the most frightening things in office life. These are meetings for which you have to prepare, in which you have to work and after which you have to take action. Fortunately, these meetings are as rare as a sense of gay abandon in the finance department.

The difference between UNIX and Windows

The difference between UNIX and Windows
From the perspective of the Operating Environment, licensing and usability

UNIX: A simple toolbox filled with great tools that everyone can share and use freely to build and create really great new things. People can build new tools and modify existing ones. If everyone agrees on a modification or a new tool, then that new edition or modification can be added for everyone else to enjoy.

Windows: A very large complex toolbox made by Microsoft. It is filled with tools that are also made by Microsoft. The toolbox is locked. However if I pay $200, then I can have full access to use the tools. I am not allowed to modify any of those tools in any way nor can I create new ones to add to the toolbox. I have to trust that only the people at Microsoft will make the tools right so that I can use them. Several times a month Microsoft makes changes to the tools and each time they do this, I have to show them visual evidence that I have paid my fee to use the tools. This can be a hassle sometimes but I have no other choice.

54 Geeky Tutorials in one spot

by Gina Trapani

It was a little more than a year ago that we decided to make Lifehacker into something more than just a link blog: a source of original feature articles on software and productivity that you won't find anywhere else. I chose the title "Geek to Live" for my twice-weekly feature post because it embodies what Lifehacker's all about: a tech-centric approach to solving common every day problems. (Oh yeah, and it's the site tagline, too.)

Right now you're reading the 100th installment of Geek to Live, which has spanned every one of my personal nerdy obsessions over the past year: from home networking, Firefox, and data security to personal finance, netiquette and web publishing. A lot happens in the course of a year, so today I've gone back and updated the dustier GTL installments and rounded up a giant look back at the series so far.

check it out: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/geek-to-live-the-100th-installment-203491.php

Changing file permissions in UNIX or Linux

Command: chmod

This guide assumes that you already know a thing or two about UNIX and or Linux and basic computing.

1. The first thing you need to do is determine what permissions the file currently has assigned to it.
   e.g...
   $ ls -l
   total 4
   -rwxr-xr-x 2 owner group size date time filename
   $
   
   From this, you can determine that you are dealing with an ordinary file (-). The permissions are divided into 3 groups: Owner, Group, Other. So in this case the Owner has Read, Write and Execute permissions. The Group has Read and Execute and the Other has Read and Execute.
   
2. The next thing to do is determine what permissions you want the file to have. Let's say we want the Owner to have Read and Write permissions and Group and Other should only have Read permissions.
   
   That means we want it to look like this:
   -rw-r--r-- 2 owner group size date time filename
   
3. The command used to change permissions is "chmod". Here's some sample syntax:
   
   $ chmod a+rwx filename
   
   This means we want to add Read, Right and Execute permissions to "All" (All refers to Owner, Group and Other). a=all, g=group, u=owner, o=other, +=add permissions, -= remove permissions. Also for permissions r=read, w=write, x=execute. There are also many files types: -=ordinary, d=directory, p=pipe, etc. Here's another example...
   
   $ chmod g=rw filename
   
   This example removes Read and Write permissions on the file. Try some for yourself.
   
4. There is an easier way to do this. It involves converting the permissions to a binary format and then to a numeric format. To understand more about binary, check out wikipedia.org.
   
   Consider these permissions: -rwxr--r--
   Broken down: The first character is a (-) which indicates that it is an ordinary file. We will skip that part for now and focus on the remaining 9 characters (rwxr--r--). Now taking the remaining 9 charcters we can assume that if it has a number it gets a 1 and if it has a (-) then it gets a zero. This is how we translate the rwx values to binary:
   
   rwx r-- r-- (Break the characters up into three groups)
   111 100 100 (Assign a 1 or a 0)
   
5. So now you've got the binary values and need to translate that to numeric. So you simply replace the binary values with their numeric equivalents
   
   111 100 100
   7 4 4
   
6. Now the syntax works like this. You can assign the exact permissions for each type with one 3 digit numeric value. Let's say we want to assign rxw for Owner, r only for Group and r only for other. How can we do that only using numeric values?
   
   $ chmod 744 filename
   
7. And that's pretty much it. Try it yourself to see.

Binary Finger Counting

Install Hamachi 0.9.9.9-20 on Fedora Core 5: Part 1 of 2

If you are anything like me, then you are new to Linux and might be a bit lost. So I will be posting help as I learn new things. Here is an example of how to install Hamachi on FC5. This tutorial will teach you several things such as running commands from the terminal, uncompressing and unpacking files from the command prompt and how to download and install components for FC5 (in this case, GCC or GNU Compiler Collection).

Step one: Download Hamachi and save it to your home directory
Get it from here: http://www.hamachi.cc/download/

Step two: Uncompress and unpack the file

# tar -zxvf hamachi-0.9.9.9-20.tar.gz

Step three: Try to install it. CD to the unpacked hamachi directory and...

# make install

Step four: If you have no errors go to step 5. If you have an error saying that it won't install, then try the following. Install the GCC component.

# yum install gcc

Just answer 'yes' to any prompts that come up. Make sure you are connected to the internets. If you don't have the internets, then it should be available on the installation disc too.

Step five: After running a successful 'make install' then proceed,

# tuncfg

Step six: Then...

# hamachi-init

I'll post more details to this in Part 2 of 2. For now this should get you started.

Note: Hamachi ReadMe file located here: http://files.hamachi.cc/linux/README

Stephen Colbert has a bridge named after him

He did it. Stephen Colbert has had a bridge named after him.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert

On September 14, 2006, the Hungarian ambassador to the U.S. gave Colbert a Hungarian passport, Hungarian forint (equivalent to approximately $50 U.S.), and announced that a bridge in Hungary would likely be named after him. Stipulations presented by the Hungarian ambassador, however, included that Colbert must be fluent in Hungarian and must also be deceased.

Hack to Change Windows XP Home to Windows XP Professional

Originally posted here: http://www.technipages.com/article114.html

Enable the features found in Windows XP Professional on your Windows XP Home Edition installation with this hack. It will allow you to turn your Windows XP Home CD into a Windows XP Professional CD.

Note: If your Windows XP CD does not contain Service Pack 2, you might want to Slipstream Your Windows XP CD first as you will not be able to upgrade an installation after using the CD.

1. Copy the root directory and the i386 directory of the WindowsXP CD to your hard drive.
   
2. Extract the Bootsector of your Windows XP CD. You can use BBIE to do this.
   
3. Click START-->RUN-->REGEDIT
   
4. Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   
5. Click FILE-->LOAD HIVE and select the Setupreg.hiv file.
   This file is located in the i386 folder. Use the one you extracted to your hard drive from your Windows XP CD.
   
6. Locate the following registry key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd
   
7. Edit the DEFAULT key and change the following values:
   
   01 to 00
   02 to 00
   
8. Change the name to the value HOMEKEY to anything.
   
9. Locate the following registry key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd
   
   Edit the DEFAULT key and change the following values:
   
   01 to 00
   02 to 00
   
10. Highlight HOMEKEY and select FILE-->UNLOAD HIVE
    

You can now burn the data on your hard drive to a CD to make a new Windows XP CD. Then use the CD to install Windows XP. Be sure to make the CD bootable. You can use the instructions here to help you do that.Disclaimer: Technipages and it's owners provide this information without warranty. We are not to be held responsible for any damage that occurs by following these steps.

Windows PowerShell RC1 (for .NET Framework 2.0 TRM) x86

Link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2B0BBFCD-0797-4083-A817-5E6A054A85C9&displaylang=en

Brief Description
RC1 refreshWindows PowerShell is a new task-based command line shell and scripting language for system administration that provides comprehensive control and automation for Windows desktops and servers.

OpenVPN

Download it here: http://openvpn.se/download.html

Steps for installation here: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=605499&rl=1

Create a Windows XP boot floppy

wifibot WIFI robot controlled with a PSP with video feedback

Use Gmail Generate Unlimited E-mail Addresses - Modern Day Alchemist

Use Gmail Generate Unlimited E-mail Addresses - Modern Day Alchemist

ScrapeTorrent.com

http://www.scrapetorrent.com

High-Res SIRIUS Stiletto Pictures, Other Details

Link: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/highres-sirius-stiletto-pictures-other-details-197069.php




Check it out, folks. Hot off the virtual blogging presses is finally a high-resolution image of the SIRIUS Stiletto. This was found by the folks at the SSG. Also found via the GSI guys was an official reseller sheet with information about the two Stiletto models, the Starmate4 and Stratus receivers. To see that pretty picture, hit the jump. Eat your heart out, Jason Chen. Your Zune ain't got shit on the Stiletto, yo.

Managing PuTTY settings

On windows, PuTTY settings are stored in the following registry

key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions

To export settings to a file, click Start>Run... and then type the following:
regedit /e putty.reg HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions

To import settings:
regedit /s putty.reg

Note: putty.reg is saved in C:\Documents and Settings\username

Motley Crue - Route of All Evil - New set design photos

AT&T Wireless to make a comeback?

I was just reading up on EV-DO and researching and comparing and learning a few things:

• EV-DO is really fast. I want it but that means I'd have to switch to Verizon Wireless.
• Cingular is the largest wireless phone carrier in the U.S. and claims to have the largest calling area and fewest dropped calls.
• Cingular uses 2.5G data transmission technology (GPRS and/or EDGE). Verizone Wireless uses 3G (EV-DO).
• It has been decided earlier this year that the name "Cingular" would be dropped after AT&T Inc. aquires Bell South. At that point they will rename the wireless division back to "AT&T Wireless". Amazing.
  
  Articles:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Wireless
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cingular
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless

So what does this all mean? And what is the best wireless to get? At this point I really hate to ditch Cingular but that EV-DO looks really tempting to try out.

Maximum Macross

Last Supper (Star Wars)

Original Link here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/printthread.php?t=41365

How to control your iTunes from your toolbar

Originally posted here: http://taylorhayward.org/iTunes_toolbar.html

Step 1

Open up iTunes then right click on the task bar at the bottom of the screen and select Toolbars > iTunes

Step 2

Click on the minimize window icon in the upper right corner of iTunes

Step 3

You can now control your iTunes without showing the iTunes window

Note

You may need to go to the iTunes preferences and uncheck the "Minimize iTunes windows to system tray" checkbox in order for this to function.

Random picture of my dashboard

My encounter with a spider from a few months ago

Vintage Howard Stern photo

Google Writely (Beta)

Yeah, so I started playing around with Googles new "Writely" software. It's pretty neat but I'm still a little thrown off by software that is embedded in a web browser. I'd much rather stick with the download/install to computer format. But this is definitely a fun way to do it. Check it out: http://www.writely.com/

Also, it's free to sign up for an accound and I think you can use this to post to your blogspot.com account. So it all ties together nicely.

Introducing Windows Live Writer

This article originally from: http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/

Welcome to the Windows Live Writer team blog! We are excited to announce that the Beta version of Windows Live Writer is available for download today.

Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts using Windows Live Spaces or your current blog service. 

Blogging has turned the web into a two-way communications medium. Our goal in creating Writer is to help make blogging more powerful, intuitive, and fun for everyone.

Writer has lots of features which we hope make for a better blogging experience. Some of the ones we are most excited about include:

WYSIWYG Authoring

The first thing to notice about Writer is that it enables true WYSIWYG blog authoring. You can now author your post and know exactly what it will look like before you publish it. Writer knows the styles of your blog such as headings, fonts, colors, background images, paragraph spacing, margins and block quotes and enables you to edit your post using these styles. 

Writer also includes other views including HTML source-code editing and web preview mode.

Now you don’t have to waste time going through the process of publishing, refreshing, previewing, and tweaking your post to get it looking the way you want. It’s all right there in Writer as you create your post.

Photo Publishing

Writer makes inserting, customizing, and uploading photos to your blog a snap. You can insert a photo into your post by browsing image thumbnails through the “Insert Picture” dialog or by copying and pasting from a web page.

Once you’ve inserted the picture, Writer provides contextual editing tools to modify size, text wrapping, borders, and apply graphic effects. Writer also allows you specify a smaller thumbnail to that will link to a larger image for detailed viewing.

Photos can be either uploaded directly to your weblog provider (if they support the newMediaObject API) or to an FTP server.
Map Publishing

Whether you are blogging about a vacation or a political conflict, maps are a great help in engaging the imagination of your readers. You can do this using Writer's ability to insert a Windows Live Local map directly into a post.

Even better is that the map can be customized directly within Writer - including changing the view to show road, aerial or bird's eye detail and by adding pushpins (including custom links and/or photos for each pushpin).

When readers click on the map they get a larger view on the Windows Live Local site.

Writer SDK

Already thinking of other cool stuff you want to insert into your blog? Good!

The Windows Live Writer SDK allows developers to extend the capabilities of Writer to publish additional content types. Examples of content types that can be added include:

1. Images from online photo publishing sites
2. Embedded video or audio players
3. Product thumbnails and/or links from e-commerce sites
4. Tags from tagging services

We can't wait to see all the things people cook up with the SDK!  
Compatibility

Writer is a great client for Windows Live Spaces but also works with other weblogs including Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress (and many others).

Writer supports RSD (Really Simple Discoverability), the Metaweblog API, and the Movable Type API.

We want Writer to work well with every blogging service out there. If you can’t get Writer to work with your blog, we want to know.

Stay Tuned

We will continue to post updates and other information on the product to this Space in the coming weeks. Please subscribe to our RSS feed or visit again soon to get the most current information on Windows Live Writer.

J.J. Allaire,
Windows Live Writer

Optical Illusion

Check this out...

Instructions:

• Relax and concentrate on the four small dots in the middle of the picture for about 30-40 seconds.


• Then take a look at a wall near you (any smooth, single colored surface)


• You will see a circle of light developing


• Start blinking your eyes a couple times. You will see a figure emerging...


• What do you see? Moreover, who do you see?

Change your Grub boot order

Change the boot order in Grub

- Open a terminal and login as root
- Edit this file: /boot/grub/grub.conf

Here is a sample:
__________________________________________________
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,5)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=15
splashimage=(hd0,5)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Windows XP Pro
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core (2.6.15-1.2054_FC5)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.15-1.2054_FC5 ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00 rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.15-1.2054_FC5.img
__________________________________________________

One way to do it:
Notice where it says "title". Each of those entries is a different OS. So in this case I am multibooting to Windows XP Pro and Fedora Core 5. The order they boot in depends on the order they appear in this file. So for instance, right now, Windows boots first. But if I cut the Windows XP Pro entry and paste it below the Fedora entry, then Fedora would boot first.

Another way to do it:
Or take a look at the line "default=0". The boot order goes as 0,1,2,.. etc. So 0 = the first title. 1 = the second title. So in this case 0 is saying that Windows XP Pro will boot first. So if I change the default from 0 to 1, then Fedora would boot first.

Get it? Got it? Good!!

HL3 Engine

All the cool kids are posting these pics (right TechZ?) so I might as well too. :)

Link: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1079321

Will this heat ever end?

So here it is, Sunday and it's blazing hot and what am I doing...? sitting at the computer in the inferno that I call home. I don't know if this is a heat wave or just how it's going to be from now on or what but all I know is that I don't like it! Not one bit. Here's my plan for today: Sit in front of a high powered oscillating fan. But only helps a little bit as the fan is just basically blowing around hot air. I can't wait to move into my new apartment. It has air conditioning!! Just one more week to go.

The top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs

Attn: EntrepeneursEveryone knows that if you are going to operate a business in today’s world you need a domain name. It is advisable to look at the domain name selected as other see it and not just as you think it looks. Failure to do this may result in situations such as the following (legitimate) companies who deal in everyday humdrum products and services but clearly didn’t give their domain names enough consideration:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is: www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at: www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at: www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at: www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company at: www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always: www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is: www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at: http://www.gotahoe.com/

Zone Alarm free version

All this time I thought they stopped doing it for free but it turns out it's still free. It's just buried on their site.

Link: http://www.zonelabs.com/free_za_download/

Yet another reason to use Windows XP Pro instead of Home

I just discovered that Home Edition does not have EFS ( Encrypting File System) built in. It's only on Pro. Bummer. In other words, you can right click a file>properties>advanced button then check the encrypt option. The filename turns green, the file is somewhat protected as a certificate is generated for that file and all is good. But stupid Home Edition doesn't have this. Yar!

But all is not lost. Thankfully there is such a thing as open source code. http://axcrypt.axantum.com/

Link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

RSS Icon,.. hehe

This is an rss icon. How exciting.

Internet Explorer 7

I don't know about this one. There are some good and some bad points. So I'm going to attempt to spew this all out in hopefully a somewhat intelligible manner.

The User Interface: First of all, who's brilliant idea was it to shove the back and forward buttons way up in the upper left hand corner? Why couldn't they leave the buttons where they have been for over 10 years now? My eyes and hand keep going for the back and forward button (probably the most used buttons in any browser) but they are not where I expect them to be. Weird. And where did my file menu go? I have been using a file menu (you know,.. tools>options) for how many umpteen years and all of a sudden,.. POOF! Gone just like that. The icons are all in funky places now.

Tabbed browsing: Great,... copy Firefox with the tab thing. But why do the tabs have to be so dang big? Jeesh! The tab is the biggest button on the screen! LOL. Hi, we are Microsoft and now we have tabs too! Look look! Look at our big giant tabs!

Page translation: Um,.. what happened between version 6 and 7? Boy, I thought CSS was messed up before,.. now look at it! LOL. I mean, in general most people won't notice this but I do. What is very is annoying is when a CSS page looks different depending on what browser and what time of day it is. Can't we all just agree on a standard so I can design my page and be done with it? I'm just trying to keep a simple blog here and now my banner is all shoved up into the tab/button bar. But when you view it in Firefox and IE6, it's looks just dandy.

Upgrading: Upon upgrading, it takes 900 years to install (even on a fast, spyware free computer). And when it finally finishes, of course I have to reboot and do that whole thing. Then we have to activate, fill out check boxes, reset my homepage possibly, reenter my passwords for my finger print reader, and on and on and on.

Firefox: I've been a big Internet Explorer user for years and years. I truly believe they had it perfected with version 6.x. All they had to do was leave the interface alone, add the tabs and the new security features (phishing, etc.) and be done with it. But no. We have to try to make it look pretty like Mac, featureful like Mozilla and of course fill in all the empty space with Microsoft bullet pointed, check boxed, pull down menued madness. GARBAGE IN / GARBAGE OUT!! Try again Microsoft. I guess Microsoft is leaving me no choice but to either make Firefox my primary browser or continue using version 6 forever.

That is all...

Red Hot

The cool blue

Evil Eyes Kitty

Asus repair kit

WAWOB Army

I started building an army of minions today. So far I have dozens. One day I will have thousands and then millions and then I will rule the world! Bwhahahahaha!

Best places to live, 2006

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/index.html?cnn=yes

Hijack This log file analysis

http://www.hijackthis.de/

DivX Web Play Code Generator

http://labs.divx.com/WebPlayerCodeGenerator

Superman Returns

I finally watched this movie on Monday night (it was really hot and I needed to get out of the apartment for awhile anyway). I decided I wanted to see it for the first time on the big screen but wanted to wait until after the crowds died down. I knew this was going to be a special movie so I was kinda waiting for the perfect time to see it too (like,.. after dealing with all that stress last couple weeks). I have to say, I am really impressed with this one. I almost feel like Christopher Reeve's soul was in this movie. When you can watch a movie and almost start to believe that a hero like that can truly exist, then they've done their job making the movie great. The special effects were truly outstanding! The way they made Superman fly, etc. was so eloquently done. I am torn between the airplane scene in this movie and the train scene in Spider-Man 2 in terms of which one was more super-heroic. I liked how they paid homage in a very subtle way to Action Comics magazine. There were a couple things I didn't like about the movie (a little long and a tad too romanticalish) but I am looking past those minor details. I think Christopher Reeve would've been proud of this one.

Oh,.. also got the see the teaser trailer for Spider-Man 3 on the big screen which was cool (better than the Apple Quicktime version on the computer). I can't wait for that! Wow! There were a few subtle parts in the trailer that only the die-hard true believer would notice which I thought was kinda cool. Like the .00005 second shot of Gwen Stacy for instance. Good good stuff. Can't wait!

The Internets: A series of tubes

Have you ever been typing things on your computer monitor only to discover that the internets aren't downloading floppies fast enough to your screen? Well if you are anything like me, then I'm sure you have. Turns out most of us have that problem and it turns out it happens quite often. The best way to fix it is to find an experienced computer expert that really knows what he's doing. That's where I come in,.. I'm here to help!

Computers and the internets date all the way back to the mid 90's when Al Gore invented them. Back in those days, computers were connected together using copper wiring. The problem Mr Gore faced however was that the cable was too thin and thus nobody could download keyboards through them very easily. So because of that it was very slow. It is noteworthy to mention that back then they didn't call them "the internets" as they do today,.. but rather they called it, "dialup 56k" referring to the amount of alphabet numbers you could fit into an email screen.

Towards the late 90's and all the way through the early part of the new millenium, scientists began developing a series of tubes that would soon replace the "dialup 56k". This is around the time they started calling it "the internets". The tubes were much faster than the copper wiring. Many people can fit most of their DVD CD's into the tubes and send them to each other. The problem with that though is that the DVD CD's get clogged up into the tubes. Thankfully, Senator Ted Stevens (R - Alaska) has been working day and night sending internets back and forth with his colleagues in an effort to fix this problem. However, fixing the tubes is not an easy task. It's not a dump truck or something where you can just dump all your belongings on it.

Ok, so now we know how the internets work. It is a complex series of tubes! Modern technology truly is amazing. But that still doesn't solve the problem. It's very clear to me and Mr Ted Stevens that the internets are just way too fast anyway. I mean,.. who needs that kind of speed? I certainly don't. My 8 mbps cable tube modem is just too fast for my taste. Hopefully Mr Ted Stevens and friends can find a way to take all the fun out of the internets tubes before it's too late and becomes permanently clogged!!!