Author : Gruzz
Firefox has been downloaded more then half a billion times! Good new for Mozilla of course. They are celebrating this by raising 500.000.000 grains of rice in one day (or so was the plan). Whether or not this plan succeeded, we don't know. But you can still help out! These grains of rice will go to the poor and hungry of the world and support the United Nations World Food Program. The good news is, everyone can participate (food 2.0 anyone?). And this offer doesn't count for just one day.
Just go to freerice.com and play the game. You have to click on the answer which defines the word shown best. Each time you give a good answer, 20 grains of rice are donated. At the same time, you are also improving your own knowledge of the English language! During the game, the difficulty increases if you give correct answers. Luckily for some of you, the difficulty goes down if you keep on giving wrong answers as well!
Good luck with this little game. Together we can make this not only a party for Mozilla, but for the whole world!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Wonderful World of Pixel Art - Animated Gifs and Free Emoticons
Author : Paul Nizhinsky
The internet is a huge place. By its very nature it's home to an almost infinite amount of weird and wonderful interests and pursuits that most of us probably don't even now exist. With its sheer size and user-generated content, it's a place full of discovery that panders to every human whim, fancy, and interest. One of these is the wonderful, quirky, and often adorable world of pixel art.
Let's cover the basics: what is pixel art? Pixels are the tiny little squares used to make every image on your computer screen, and can be used to make tiny animations in .gif format. You can make these yourself in programmes like Corel Photo-Paint, or more specific programmes like Jasc's Animation Shop. Many, particularly younger people, will be familiar with some of the uses of pixel art. Emoticons, anikaos, and animated gifs are all examples of basic pixel art used on forums, MySpace, and Windows Live Messenger as a means of aiding expression in an essentially text-based form of communication, as well just simply for fun. Emoticons are perhaps the most widely used and searched for.
A range of emoticons come as standard with Live Messenger and most forums. These tend to be your basic set of emoticons to cover the main emotions and actions expressed while chatting. Many websites however offer more advanced and diverse emoticons in varying sizes and shapes, some even with sound. The latter tend to frequent more on pay-sites. There are though far more user-generated emoticons on the net, and are frequently exchanged between users of Messenger - which allows you to add and save emoticons used by others.
While emoticons are by far the most popular in the west, their eastern counterparts 'anikaos' (pronounced ani-cows, meaning literally 'animated faces' in Japanese) are becoming more and more popular as interest in Japanese popular culture continues to grow. Anikaos are typically floating spherical blobs bobbing up and down with a cute face depicting any number of emotions and actions. They tend to be used more on forums and are incredibly diverse, ranging from generic white blobs to household animals, peas, and characters from anything between Star Wars and Dragonball-Z. The user-generated nature of anikaos, like most pixel art, means their diversity and numbers continue to multiply.
Yet, beyond the world of communication-aiding emoticons and anikaos, the possibilities are even more varied. People can make literally anything they want in miniature using pixel art - and they do. People love to have things made tiny and love to use them on their websites, MySpace pages, and on Messenger.
A very popular form pixel art at the moment is animated gifs of Nintendo and Sega characters from the '80s and '90s such as Mario, Kirby, Link, and Sonic the Hedgehog recreated exactly from the 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit games on which they appeared. The current craze for all things retro, especially in gaming, is certainly adding fuel to this. Particularly with girls, animated gifs of the characters Hello Kitty and Pucca Love are also extremely popular, and can be found on many a MySpace page. Hello Kitty and Pucca Love are very cute characters that are used frequently to personalise web pages and make them more attractive.
The fact that both Hello Kitty and Pucca Love have huge merchandising markets 'offline' easily explains their popularity in this respect. Likewise with both sexes, Pokemon animated gifs are extremely popular, particularly on MySpace and gaming sites. The cuteness of many Pokemon characters and the fact they are already computer game sprites makes them perfectly convertable into animated gifs.
But it doesn't end simply at branded corporate characters, oh no. There is a whole pixel art culture out there with people creating weird and wonderful designs of their own constantly. Witness blinking cheeseburgers, winking cake slices, a strange beige bob running towards you with a chefs for absolutely no reason at all! The possibilities are endless and quite frequently very, very strange. Very aptly, there seems to be a perfect miniature of the boundless lengths of human creativity contained within this little culture.
Mostly, gifs get passed around in networks fairly randomly, but if you're actively on the lookout, my advice would be to specifically refine your search. For example if you're specifically after gaming gifs, try punching in 'nintendo animated gifs' or 'super mario animated gifs'. Many sites with the best gifs don't even have domain names, so it pays to be patient. There are sites out there that endeavor to collect gifs together from around the net, but some are more organised than others and the quality varies from site to site.
A frequent problem is that they just won't be categorised, making your search difficult. If you find yourself falling in love with this kooky little world, then it doesn't even end here. Pixel art is not just animated gifs and emoticons - there are communities out there dedicated to making 'pixel art for pixel art's sake'. These people make incredibly high quality pictures and landscapes of such complexity that it takes your breath away. Pixel Joint is a great little community to get involved in if you find yourself going for this more advanced stuff, whether to appreciate or to create.
The internet is a huge place. By its very nature it's home to an almost infinite amount of weird and wonderful interests and pursuits that most of us probably don't even now exist. With its sheer size and user-generated content, it's a place full of discovery that panders to every human whim, fancy, and interest. One of these is the wonderful, quirky, and often adorable world of pixel art.
Let's cover the basics: what is pixel art? Pixels are the tiny little squares used to make every image on your computer screen, and can be used to make tiny animations in .gif format. You can make these yourself in programmes like Corel Photo-Paint, or more specific programmes like Jasc's Animation Shop. Many, particularly younger people, will be familiar with some of the uses of pixel art. Emoticons, anikaos, and animated gifs are all examples of basic pixel art used on forums, MySpace, and Windows Live Messenger as a means of aiding expression in an essentially text-based form of communication, as well just simply for fun. Emoticons are perhaps the most widely used and searched for.
A range of emoticons come as standard with Live Messenger and most forums. These tend to be your basic set of emoticons to cover the main emotions and actions expressed while chatting. Many websites however offer more advanced and diverse emoticons in varying sizes and shapes, some even with sound. The latter tend to frequent more on pay-sites. There are though far more user-generated emoticons on the net, and are frequently exchanged between users of Messenger - which allows you to add and save emoticons used by others.
While emoticons are by far the most popular in the west, their eastern counterparts 'anikaos' (pronounced ani-cows, meaning literally 'animated faces' in Japanese) are becoming more and more popular as interest in Japanese popular culture continues to grow. Anikaos are typically floating spherical blobs bobbing up and down with a cute face depicting any number of emotions and actions. They tend to be used more on forums and are incredibly diverse, ranging from generic white blobs to household animals, peas, and characters from anything between Star Wars and Dragonball-Z. The user-generated nature of anikaos, like most pixel art, means their diversity and numbers continue to multiply.
Yet, beyond the world of communication-aiding emoticons and anikaos, the possibilities are even more varied. People can make literally anything they want in miniature using pixel art - and they do. People love to have things made tiny and love to use them on their websites, MySpace pages, and on Messenger.
A very popular form pixel art at the moment is animated gifs of Nintendo and Sega characters from the '80s and '90s such as Mario, Kirby, Link, and Sonic the Hedgehog recreated exactly from the 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit games on which they appeared. The current craze for all things retro, especially in gaming, is certainly adding fuel to this. Particularly with girls, animated gifs of the characters Hello Kitty and Pucca Love are also extremely popular, and can be found on many a MySpace page. Hello Kitty and Pucca Love are very cute characters that are used frequently to personalise web pages and make them more attractive.
The fact that both Hello Kitty and Pucca Love have huge merchandising markets 'offline' easily explains their popularity in this respect. Likewise with both sexes, Pokemon animated gifs are extremely popular, particularly on MySpace and gaming sites. The cuteness of many Pokemon characters and the fact they are already computer game sprites makes them perfectly convertable into animated gifs.
But it doesn't end simply at branded corporate characters, oh no. There is a whole pixel art culture out there with people creating weird and wonderful designs of their own constantly. Witness blinking cheeseburgers, winking cake slices, a strange beige bob running towards you with a chefs for absolutely no reason at all! The possibilities are endless and quite frequently very, very strange. Very aptly, there seems to be a perfect miniature of the boundless lengths of human creativity contained within this little culture.
Mostly, gifs get passed around in networks fairly randomly, but if you're actively on the lookout, my advice would be to specifically refine your search. For example if you're specifically after gaming gifs, try punching in 'nintendo animated gifs' or 'super mario animated gifs'. Many sites with the best gifs don't even have domain names, so it pays to be patient. There are sites out there that endeavor to collect gifs together from around the net, but some are more organised than others and the quality varies from site to site.
A frequent problem is that they just won't be categorised, making your search difficult. If you find yourself falling in love with this kooky little world, then it doesn't even end here. Pixel art is not just animated gifs and emoticons - there are communities out there dedicated to making 'pixel art for pixel art's sake'. These people make incredibly high quality pictures and landscapes of such complexity that it takes your breath away. Pixel Joint is a great little community to get involved in if you find yourself going for this more advanced stuff, whether to appreciate or to create.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Intel Launches New Gaming Platform
Intel has launched a new gaming and high-end computing platform called Skulltrail which includes two quad-core processors and graphic cards.
Skulltrail not only holds eight processors; it also gives users a choice of two multi-card graphics solutions - one from AMD's ATI division and one from nVidia.
"This shows Intel taking the lead in developing and bringing to market cutting-edge PC designs," said Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. "Before, they tended to aim more for the middle-ground mass market and, in doing so, left the high-performance side of the market to others. Now, with this new combination, they've elbowed aside everyone else to take the lead in the PC performance race."
Olds noted that while the new platform will be largely welcomed by gamers, along with 3D animators and high-definition video editors, it also will have its place in corporate IT. "Right now, it's mainly for gamers, but there certainly are some enterprise workloads that will benefit," he added.
Intel also officially unveiled its Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform yesterday at the 2008 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The platform is the latest product to run Intel's 45-nanometre Penryn microprocessors, which hit the market last November.
The new platform's motherboard, Desktop Board D5400XS, is being paired with two Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors.
"For the team creating world-class games here, time is one of our most valuable assets," said Robert A. Duffy, programming director at game maker Id Software. "Having eight powerful Intel cores in a single machine helps our team create and test our latest titles at record speed. We have seen one of our most time-consuming asset-generation processes cut from over four hours to under 20 minutes by utilising all eight cores and threading the generation code."
An interesting part of Intel's announcement is the fact that Intel is supporting graphics technology from ATI, which is owned by Intel rival AMD. Olds called this a smart move for Intel.
"It's a move toward gaining market share and also a hedge," said Olds. "If Intel doesn't support ATI graphics, then they automatically cede that market to AMD. Right now, nVidia owns the high ground in graphics, but that isn't a guarantee that they will forever. If ATI leapfrogs nVidia, Intel will be well positioned by supporting cards from both vendors."
Source : PCWORLD
Skulltrail not only holds eight processors; it also gives users a choice of two multi-card graphics solutions - one from AMD's ATI division and one from nVidia.
"This shows Intel taking the lead in developing and bringing to market cutting-edge PC designs," said Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. "Before, they tended to aim more for the middle-ground mass market and, in doing so, left the high-performance side of the market to others. Now, with this new combination, they've elbowed aside everyone else to take the lead in the PC performance race."
Olds noted that while the new platform will be largely welcomed by gamers, along with 3D animators and high-definition video editors, it also will have its place in corporate IT. "Right now, it's mainly for gamers, but there certainly are some enterprise workloads that will benefit," he added.
Intel also officially unveiled its Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform yesterday at the 2008 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The platform is the latest product to run Intel's 45-nanometre Penryn microprocessors, which hit the market last November.
The new platform's motherboard, Desktop Board D5400XS, is being paired with two Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors.
"For the team creating world-class games here, time is one of our most valuable assets," said Robert A. Duffy, programming director at game maker Id Software. "Having eight powerful Intel cores in a single machine helps our team create and test our latest titles at record speed. We have seen one of our most time-consuming asset-generation processes cut from over four hours to under 20 minutes by utilising all eight cores and threading the generation code."
An interesting part of Intel's announcement is the fact that Intel is supporting graphics technology from ATI, which is owned by Intel rival AMD. Olds called this a smart move for Intel.
"It's a move toward gaining market share and also a hedge," said Olds. "If Intel doesn't support ATI graphics, then they automatically cede that market to AMD. Right now, nVidia owns the high ground in graphics, but that isn't a guarantee that they will forever. If ATI leapfrogs nVidia, Intel will be well positioned by supporting cards from both vendors."
Source : PCWORLD
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Lenovo K200 PC Launched in India
Lenovo launched the K200 desktops in the Indian market.
The Lenovo K200 features IntelCore2 Duo 2.2 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB hard disk, DVD RW, 16 in 1 card reader, Graphics SIS Mirage 3 +Graphics, Ethernet 10/100, optical mouse, built-in modem and Vista Home Basic.
The Lenovo K series desktop incorporates the Lenovo’s vantage technology along with one-key recovery, one-key antivirus, file management and installing drivers and software. The One key recovery function allows users to recover from a mishap by only one touch, thus providing a very stable and efficient rescue system. The One-key Antivirus permits virus scanning and killing even when the OS and the anti-virus software does not work. The K200 desktop is also engineered with an anti-bacterial keyboard which uses special materials on the surface of the keys to restrain bacterial growth.
The Lenovo K200 is available from Rs. 23,050 onwards and come with one year onsite warranty.
Source : PCWORLD
Monday, February 18, 2008
Web 2.0? Or Is It More Like Web 16.0?
Author : Stone Julian
It has become difficult to keep up with the meanings of all the new phrases and terms generated by modern technology. One of the most commonly used phrases on the world wide web (www) today is "Web 2.0." It seems like every web solutions company is using this phrase to sell its stuff. So to the average Joe who's not a geek, what is "Web 2.0"?
Well according to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia…
"[T]he phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies [collaborative tagging schemes] — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly, 'Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.' Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of 'Web 2.0' have existed since the early days of the W!
eb."
There is no doubt the www has advanced significantly since inception, but there really is no new version of the www. It is simply much more useful to the everyday person.
However, if we counted each major innovation as a whole number and each minor revision as a tenth, we would already be into double digits. So why are we calling it "Web 2.0"?
If you have seen the latest Die Hard movie, or ever bought software for your computer, you will understand why we are not in Web 2.0. Even if we call it Die Hard 4.0 or MS Office 2007, it's still basically the same movie or tool. So what we are really experiencing now is more like Web 16.0.
If you have an in-depth, honest conversation with your web designers, they will tell you that Web 2.0 is a myth. So to explain how we got to Web 16.0, here's a history of the most significant events on the www.
WEB 0.1 -- 1958 – SAGE – Radar systems are first networked
WEB 0.2 -- 1960 – Packet switching is first created
WEB 1.0 – EMAIL – "A New Way to Send Unsolicited Mail Is Born"
Although the exact history of Email is a tad murky, it is generally accepted that it appeared in 1965, and was created so that people accessing a mainframe could communicate with each other. This was the first step in the interconnection of people, facilitating almost instant communication at no cost to the user.
WEB 1.1 -- 1967 – Markup language is created
WEB 1.2 -- 1969 – ARPA – A link is established between computers
WEB 1.3 -- 1696 – ARPA Net – First packet-switched network created
WEB 2.0 – WYSIWYG – "What You See Is What You Get (sometimes)"
With the invention of WYSIWYG in 1970, users could now be presented with a basic display of what their finished product would look like, as they were working on it. This removed the need to memorize complex code.
WEB 2.1 -- 1970 – ASP – First Application Service Provider (SAAS)
WEB 2.2 -- 1970 – Style sheets are created
WEB 2.3 -- 1971 – @ is created to separate hosts and users
WEB 2.4 -- 1973 – TCP/IP is created to simplify networking
WEB 2.5 -- 1973 – First connection to another country established
WEB 2.6 -- 1974 – The term "Internet" is adopted
WEB 2.7 -- 1976 – X.25 – The first network standard is approved
WEB 2.8 -- 1978 – International packet switching service created
WEB 3.0 – USENET– "The Black Market of the Internet"
Usenet was established in 1980 to offer mail and file transfers as well as give personal users access to news. Usenet is in fact a large network of servers all in communication with each other; a user posts something to the local server and that item is passed along to the other servers. Usenet was a major turning point because users could finally have an open conversation with anyone on the net, without needing to specifically know the user (unlike Email). The downside is that with a sometimes un-policed net capable of file transfers, the Usenet of today is a haven for piracy of all types, where anything you can imagine is accessible.
It has become difficult to keep up with the meanings of all the new phrases and terms generated by modern technology. One of the most commonly used phrases on the world wide web (www) today is "Web 2.0." It seems like every web solutions company is using this phrase to sell its stuff. So to the average Joe who's not a geek, what is "Web 2.0"?
Well according to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia…
"[T]he phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies [collaborative tagging schemes] — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly, 'Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.' Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of 'Web 2.0' have existed since the early days of the W!
eb."
There is no doubt the www has advanced significantly since inception, but there really is no new version of the www. It is simply much more useful to the everyday person.
However, if we counted each major innovation as a whole number and each minor revision as a tenth, we would already be into double digits. So why are we calling it "Web 2.0"?
If you have seen the latest Die Hard movie, or ever bought software for your computer, you will understand why we are not in Web 2.0. Even if we call it Die Hard 4.0 or MS Office 2007, it's still basically the same movie or tool. So what we are really experiencing now is more like Web 16.0.
If you have an in-depth, honest conversation with your web designers, they will tell you that Web 2.0 is a myth. So to explain how we got to Web 16.0, here's a history of the most significant events on the www.
WEB 0.1 -- 1958 – SAGE – Radar systems are first networked
WEB 0.2 -- 1960 – Packet switching is first created
WEB 1.0 – EMAIL – "A New Way to Send Unsolicited Mail Is Born"
Although the exact history of Email is a tad murky, it is generally accepted that it appeared in 1965, and was created so that people accessing a mainframe could communicate with each other. This was the first step in the interconnection of people, facilitating almost instant communication at no cost to the user.
WEB 1.1 -- 1967 – Markup language is created
WEB 1.2 -- 1969 – ARPA – A link is established between computers
WEB 1.3 -- 1696 – ARPA Net – First packet-switched network created
WEB 2.0 – WYSIWYG – "What You See Is What You Get (sometimes)"
With the invention of WYSIWYG in 1970, users could now be presented with a basic display of what their finished product would look like, as they were working on it. This removed the need to memorize complex code.
WEB 2.1 -- 1970 – ASP – First Application Service Provider (SAAS)
WEB 2.2 -- 1970 – Style sheets are created
WEB 2.3 -- 1971 – @ is created to separate hosts and users
WEB 2.4 -- 1973 – TCP/IP is created to simplify networking
WEB 2.5 -- 1973 – First connection to another country established
WEB 2.6 -- 1974 – The term "Internet" is adopted
WEB 2.7 -- 1976 – X.25 – The first network standard is approved
WEB 2.8 -- 1978 – International packet switching service created
WEB 3.0 – USENET– "The Black Market of the Internet"
Usenet was established in 1980 to offer mail and file transfers as well as give personal users access to news. Usenet is in fact a large network of servers all in communication with each other; a user posts something to the local server and that item is passed along to the other servers. Usenet was a major turning point because users could finally have an open conversation with anyone on the net, without needing to specifically know the user (unlike Email). The downside is that with a sometimes un-policed net capable of file transfers, the Usenet of today is a haven for piracy of all types, where anything you can imagine is accessible.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Final Vista SP1 Code Released To Techies
Author : Gregg Keizer
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) release-to-manufacturing (RTM) is set to become available for download by Technet and Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers today, after Microsoft changed the release date for the final version of the update.
IT professionals and developers who are part of TechNet and MSDN pay hundreds of pounds per year for the right to download and test software before it's offered to the general public.
On the TechNet Plus blog, where subscribers had previously denounced Microsoft's decision to delay the final code until early next month - and then in a change announced Monday to a vague "later this month" - one Microsoft blogger confirmed that SP1 would be available to TechNet subscribers on the same day as those who are part of MSDN. "It will become available for both programs at once," said Kathy Dixon of Microsoft. Dixon was responding to a user who noted the availability change for MSDN subscribers.
Although Microsoft did not specify the day, today is the most likely candidate; earlier this week, the company said it would let Volume Licensing customers download the bits on Friday.
On February 4, when the company said it had wrapped up the long-anticipated service pack and shipped it to OEMs for use in new PCs and to duplicators to begin the process of assembling retail packages, it noted that the most current Vista users would not get it until mid-March. Mike Nash, vice president of Windows product management, explained then that the company needed time to identify hardware device drivers that might give some users trouble during an upgrade.
While most subscribers leaving comments on the TechNet Plus blog acknowledged that it made sense to delay SP1's delivery via Windows Update, they questioned the rationale for not making it available to the technical crowd through a manual download from Microsoft's website. Some IT administrators, in fact, admitted that they had downloaded pirated copies to begin testing, while others claimed that the delay would jeopardise their Vista deployment plans or push them into dropping their TechNet subscriptions.
At times, the comments became heated. "Microsoft is currently the only place we can't download it from," said a user identified as 'IDontGetIt' last Saturday on the TechNet Plus blog. "And I feel lied to as well."
After the decision was announced on the MSDN Subscriptions blog on Thursday, users there were upbeat. "This is incredibly good news," said someone using the alias 'Kizzer'.
Vista SP1, which has been in testing since September, includes more than 550 security patches and bug fixes. It also includes a number of reliability and performance improvements and changes to features such as its desktop search and antipiracy technology.
Source : PCWORLD
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) release-to-manufacturing (RTM) is set to become available for download by Technet and Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers today, after Microsoft changed the release date for the final version of the update.
IT professionals and developers who are part of TechNet and MSDN pay hundreds of pounds per year for the right to download and test software before it's offered to the general public.
On the TechNet Plus blog, where subscribers had previously denounced Microsoft's decision to delay the final code until early next month - and then in a change announced Monday to a vague "later this month" - one Microsoft blogger confirmed that SP1 would be available to TechNet subscribers on the same day as those who are part of MSDN. "It will become available for both programs at once," said Kathy Dixon of Microsoft. Dixon was responding to a user who noted the availability change for MSDN subscribers.
Although Microsoft did not specify the day, today is the most likely candidate; earlier this week, the company said it would let Volume Licensing customers download the bits on Friday.
On February 4, when the company said it had wrapped up the long-anticipated service pack and shipped it to OEMs for use in new PCs and to duplicators to begin the process of assembling retail packages, it noted that the most current Vista users would not get it until mid-March. Mike Nash, vice president of Windows product management, explained then that the company needed time to identify hardware device drivers that might give some users trouble during an upgrade.
While most subscribers leaving comments on the TechNet Plus blog acknowledged that it made sense to delay SP1's delivery via Windows Update, they questioned the rationale for not making it available to the technical crowd through a manual download from Microsoft's website. Some IT administrators, in fact, admitted that they had downloaded pirated copies to begin testing, while others claimed that the delay would jeopardise their Vista deployment plans or push them into dropping their TechNet subscriptions.
At times, the comments became heated. "Microsoft is currently the only place we can't download it from," said a user identified as 'IDontGetIt' last Saturday on the TechNet Plus blog. "And I feel lied to as well."
After the decision was announced on the MSDN Subscriptions blog on Thursday, users there were upbeat. "This is incredibly good news," said someone using the alias 'Kizzer'.
Vista SP1, which has been in testing since September, includes more than 550 security patches and bug fixes. It also includes a number of reliability and performance improvements and changes to features such as its desktop search and antipiracy technology.
Source : PCWORLD
Apple Launches 16GB iPhone, 32GB iPod Touch
Author : Gregg Keizer
Apple added new iPhone and iPod Touch models to its lineup of phones and music players Tuesday by doubling the maximum amount of storage space in each to 16GB.
The new top-of-the-line iPhone is priced at $499, Apple said. This is the first time since September, when Apple dropped the 4GB iPhone from its sales sheet, that the smart phone family has had multiple models. Apple continues to sell the 8GB iPhone for $399.
The iPod Touch -- for all intents and purposes an iPhone that cannot make or take calls -- now sports a 32GB model, also priced at $499, as a third option. Older models, including the $299 8GB and the $399 16GB configurations, remain available.
"This is just a bigger, faster kind of announcement," said Ezra Gottheil, analyst with Technology Business Research Inc., speculating that the timing was in part driven by an attempt to pump iPhone sales during a traditionally slow period. "Mobile phone [sales] aren't as seasonal as iPods, but they are seasonal."
Gottheil said he still expects Apple to make major changes to the iPhone in 2008, adding 3G capability and perhaps even true GPS functionality. "I'd put that around the middle of the year," he said today.
The larger-capacity iPhone and iPod Touch are available immediately at Apple's own retail stores, its online outlet and at resellers in the U.S.
The new iPhone's price tag is the same as the 4GB model's when the latter debuted in June 2007. Just over two months later, however, Apple CEO Steve Jobs ditched that model and slashed the price of the 8GB smartphone by $200, to $399.
Several users who said that they had recently bought 8GB iPhones asked on Apple's support forum whether they would be allowed to swap their purchase for the larger-sized model. Apple's policy is to accept returns within 14 days, although a 10% restocking fee applies if the iPhone box has been opened.
Other recent customers complained of the bump in storage. "I brought my iPhone about a month ago so I have no way of exchanging my phone," said a user pegged as SimonLee. "But Apple don't [sic] care about that because they just want me to go and buy a new one."
That kind of comment got little love on the forum. "Blah blah blah, go cry somewhere else," said Goshia on the same thread.
"Maybe the solution is to never bring out a new product. Oh, but then you'd complain too," said Simon Taylor. "So Apple, please stop developing new products or improving the ones you have. You are upsetting your customers. They would obviously prefer to use the original Apple II."
Source : PCWORLD
Apple added new iPhone and iPod Touch models to its lineup of phones and music players Tuesday by doubling the maximum amount of storage space in each to 16GB.
The new top-of-the-line iPhone is priced at $499, Apple said. This is the first time since September, when Apple dropped the 4GB iPhone from its sales sheet, that the smart phone family has had multiple models. Apple continues to sell the 8GB iPhone for $399.
The iPod Touch -- for all intents and purposes an iPhone that cannot make or take calls -- now sports a 32GB model, also priced at $499, as a third option. Older models, including the $299 8GB and the $399 16GB configurations, remain available.
"This is just a bigger, faster kind of announcement," said Ezra Gottheil, analyst with Technology Business Research Inc., speculating that the timing was in part driven by an attempt to pump iPhone sales during a traditionally slow period. "Mobile phone [sales] aren't as seasonal as iPods, but they are seasonal."
Gottheil said he still expects Apple to make major changes to the iPhone in 2008, adding 3G capability and perhaps even true GPS functionality. "I'd put that around the middle of the year," he said today.
The larger-capacity iPhone and iPod Touch are available immediately at Apple's own retail stores, its online outlet and at resellers in the U.S.
The new iPhone's price tag is the same as the 4GB model's when the latter debuted in June 2007. Just over two months later, however, Apple CEO Steve Jobs ditched that model and slashed the price of the 8GB smartphone by $200, to $399.
Several users who said that they had recently bought 8GB iPhones asked on Apple's support forum whether they would be allowed to swap their purchase for the larger-sized model. Apple's policy is to accept returns within 14 days, although a 10% restocking fee applies if the iPhone box has been opened.
Other recent customers complained of the bump in storage. "I brought my iPhone about a month ago so I have no way of exchanging my phone," said a user pegged as SimonLee. "But Apple don't [sic] care about that because they just want me to go and buy a new one."
That kind of comment got little love on the forum. "Blah blah blah, go cry somewhere else," said Goshia on the same thread.
"Maybe the solution is to never bring out a new product. Oh, but then you'd complain too," said Simon Taylor. "So Apple, please stop developing new products or improving the ones you have. You are upsetting your customers. They would obviously prefer to use the original Apple II."
Source : PCWORLD
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Terrorism organizational and communication strategies
Author : Lt. Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
Intelligence gathering is the first line of defense against terrorism. Through use of intelligence, law enforcement and military operations can be designed to disrupt terrorist organizations and preempt their operations.
Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, most state and local law enforcement agencies viewed intelligence gathering on global terrorist groups as the purview of the federal government. Except for large cities like Los Angeles and New York, if state or local agencies gathered intelligence, it tended to be on domestic subversive groups. We have since realized that some terrorist organizations have a global reach, and that state and local law enforcement officials must broaden their view.
While it is not likely that your agency will send someone to participate in an intelligence operation against the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front in Chile or the Revolutionary Nuclei in Greece, it is likely that you will read and act upon distilled intelligence. In other words, you are very likely to receive an intelligence report that gives you information and there is an expectation that you act.
Knowing some of the methods by which terrorists organize and communicate may put you in a better position to judge that information and plan for your community. Moreover, while our focus is on international terrorist organizations, there are many domestic groups that use similar methods of organizing and communicating. Understanding some of their organization and communication methods may help you see evidence, information and intelligence you might have overlooked otherwise.
Single-Cell Organisms
Terrorist organizations are often described and constructed using the biological analogy of a cell. Biologically, a cell is the basic unit of life. While most of the organisms with which we are familiar are multi-cell units, there are many single-cell organisms.
In the realm of terrorism, the single-cell organism is referred to as the "Lone Wolf terrorist" or "leaderless resistance." This can be a critical concept in understanding the development of terrorist organizations. The Lone Wolf terrorist does not receive direct instructions from a central organization. Rather, he or she receives inspiration from an idea or perhaps a remote subversive political figure.
Domestically, Lone Wolf terrorists have included Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City Bomber), Eric Rudolph (Olympic Park Bomber) and Buford Furrow (firearm attack on a Jewish Daycare center in Los Angeles and murder of a Postal Carrier). Internationally, there is strong evidence to suggest that some terrorist acts attributed to Al Qaeda were inspired by the group rather than committed by the group .
Furthermore, domestic terrorist groups such as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) are probably best categorized as "leaderless resistance" rather than a cellular organization. This means that small cells or individual terrorists are motivated by the group's overarching goals but are not coordinated by or in direct communication with the larger group itself.
Single-cell or disconnected cellular groups have the benefit of maximum operational security because communication is limited or non-existent. There are few, if any, opportunities for an intelligence service to intercept communications or penetrate the group. On the other hand, single-cell or disconnected cellular groups also are limited in their ability to carry out operations. While McVeigh, Rudolf and Furrow were able to commit horrendous acts of terrorism, their status as Lone Wolves meant they left a long trail of evidence, because they had to make all purchases, conduct all reconnaissance, prepare all equipment and conduct the operation.
Like any mass murder or serial killer, these terrorists did not have the benefit of cellular specialization to mask their trail. Moreover, Lone Wolves are limited in their ability to sustain long-term terrorist campaigns because the evidence they leave ultimately will lead to their arrest. It takes a much more complex organization to continue terrorist operations over the long term.
In the instance of Lone Wolves, state and local law enforcement officials should be aware of the purchase of certain materials, monitor suspicious actions of individuals and devise ways to share seemingly low-level suspicious activities with other jurisdictions.
Multi-cell Organisms
As biological organizations become more complex, their cells tend to specialize. For example, humans have nerve cells, muscle cells and bone cells. Each of these cells has developed a particular specialization so that the larger organism can be more efficient. However, for these specialized cells to work together in the larger organism, they must communicate. With terrorist organizations, the purpose of a true cellular organization is to increase the operational security of the larger group and to capitalize on specialization.
It is a mistake to believe that one member of the cell necessarily leads to other cells. Rather, operational security is enhanced because most of the members of the cell do not know anyone in the organization outside of the cell. This lack of knowledge of the larger organization is like the cellular membrane that defines and protects the cell.
If the cell is compromised through member arrest or intelligence penetration, only the cell is damaged and not the larger organization. For maximum operational security there may be only blind communication between cells. In other words, the leader of the cell may simply receive instructions through some blind form of communications and not in any face-to-face meeting. A blind communication may be the use of an intermediary person or location that separates the two parties. For instance, a cell leader could send information to a post office box. Without a return address there is no way to know where the communication came from.
In cellular terrorist organizations, there tend to be two types of cells - operational and support. An operational cell is a self-contained, often single-mission entity designed to carry out an operation and then likely be killed or captured. The 9/11 terrorists comprised a single-mission operational cell.
Many terrorist organizations also have support cells. These cells are designed to support long-term, sustained, terrorist operations. A homicide bomber who is part of a larger, sustained terror campaign can be aided by many types of support cells. For a homicide bomber there could be a recruitment cell, minder cell, reconnaissance cell, bomb-making cell and a delivery cell.
Additionally, there are likely planning and coordination cells assisting the other supportive cells. Sustained terror campaigns like those conducted in the Middle East require this type of specialization. Consider that bomb makers are a terrorist resource that is not easy to replace. Because they are so difficult to replace, the bomb maker is often insulated from operations in their own, tightly controlled support cell. Bomb makers rarely deliver or detonate their own devices. They don't recruit the bomber, survey the target or take on the role of a minder (the person(s) who monitor(s) the bomber between the period of recruitment and employment). Bomb makers may not even procure their own components.
Complexity and Chatter
As a terrorist organization becomes more specialized and cellular, its communications scheme becomes more complex. Think about a law enforcement operation planned in advance. Perhaps a major convention comes to your community. Six months prior to the event, there are telephone calls, memos and meetings to begin the planning process. As the convention nears, the communications between participants likely increases in frequency and intensity. Then, the communications likely peak the day or so before the convention, and operational communications began. There is a natural build-up, peak and then operational drop in communications.
Intelligence reports that speak of an increase in "chatter" are reflecting the same build-up, peak and then drop. In the intelligence world, this is referred to as "signals intelligence" or "SIGNIT." Because of the natural cycle of pre-operational communications, SIGNIT does not necessarily have to understand the signals. As a predictor, SIGNIT doesn't necessarily have to know what is being said, only that a predictable pattern of communications is increasing. Moreover, because the location of likely command and control, support and operational cells is known or can be presumed, the increasing cycle and the flow of communications between geographic regions provides additional evidence that a terrorist operation likely is being planned.
They Know What We Know
Like many complex, multi-cell organisms, terrorist organizations are learning organizations. Indeed, to survive over the long-term they must adapt their methods, and there is some evidence to suggest that they modify their message as they age and change. As learning organizations, they know about the predictive value of chatter and likely develop new methods of communication that reduces the raw "SIGNIT" value. One way to reduce the susceptibility of their communications to interception and interpretation is to disguise their communications.
In the last few years, there has been talk about the use of Steganography as a means of disguising communications. Steganography is the hiding of a message, particularly an image, within another message or image. In the digital world, a photograph is transmitted by reducing it to a computer code. You have seen this computer code in files of photographs - JPEG, GIF, etc. At its simplest, inside those files there is room to insert other lines of code which could contain a message. However, there have been no public reports of terrorists using this technique - to date.
The terrorists are well aware of the United States' capability to intercept cellular telephone traffic. In addition to reducing their use of this mode of communications, they likely are taking advantage of pre-paid cellular telephones. This allows greater anonymity and the flexibility to change cellular numbers and service providers easily.
While there have been no confirmed reports of terrorists using pre-paid cellular phones, there is significant information to suggest that other criminal organizations, like gangs and narcotics traffickers, are taking advantage of this technology. Law enforcement officials should be sensitive to any reports of suspicious or large purchases of pre-paid cellular telephones.
- Note:
An interesting place to see how terrorists are using the Internet is the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Institute Web site. This organization monitors terrorist Web sites and communications.
The Internet provides instantaneous, global communications. There has been quite a bit of news about how the government can monitor Internet communications. If you sent an e-mail with certain key words, you could expect the message to be flagged for human review. Indeed, it is very likely that if you send an e-mail from certain geographic regions, through certain Internet Service Providers, that contains certain key words, it will be monitored.
Terrorists have tried to mask or disguise their use of e-mail by having relatively anonymous accounts provided free by various services. But, any message you send over the e-mail account is susceptible to interception. Terrorists devised a way to minimize detection by using anonymous e-mail accounts not for transmission, but as holding files.
As an example, Terrorist A wants to send a message to Terrorist Cell B. Terrorist A logs onto an e-mail account, drafts a message and saves it as a draft. Terrorist Cell B is told through some other means that an e-mail account and password will be established. Terrorist Cell B periodically logs onto the same account and reads the drafts and changes them with a confirmation message. The draft is saved and never sent. This logging on and drafting prevents interception because the message is never sent. It remains one of millions of unsent messages.
While terrorists are using technology to communicate, it is likely that they mostly are relying on time-tested spy "tradecraft" like dead drops. A dead drop is a pre-determined location where messages or materials are left so that cell members do not have to meet face to face. Or, in areas where there is significant social support for their movements, face-to-face meetings.
Whatever their means of communication, as the complexity of their cellular structure grows, so does the complexity of their communication schemes and the likelihood of interception. As learning organizations, we can expect terrorist cellular groups to learn how law enforcement discovers them and then devise new means of covert, secure communications.
Source : http://www.policeone.com/
What's new in Language Environment for z/OS Version 1 Release 4
For z/OS Version 1 Release 4, Language Environment provides the following:
* Support of Debug Tool for DB2 Stored Procedures
Language Environment is enhanced to significantly improve debugging of DB2 stored procedures, regardless of language. Two new debugger event codes are provided for DB2 and the Debug Tool to debug the stored procedure repeatedly without having to recycle the stored procedure (SP) address.
* CICS trace of an application domain
A new CICS trace allows users to monitor and determine the activity of a CICS transaction. This gives users the ability to trace key events in Language Environment while running CICS transactions. Every time CICS calls Language Environment, the feature trace is activated under the Extended Run-Time Library Interface (ERTLI). The CICS trace requires AP level 2 tracing to be active. By activating the feature trace records, trace points are added at strategic points.
* Enhanced pthread_quiesce_and_get_np()
Enhancements are made within pthread_quiesce_and_get_np() to improve reliability and performance.
What's New in C/C++ for z/OS Version 1 Release 4
This run-time library is shipped with Language Environment. For z/OS Version 1 Release 4, the C/C++ run-time library includes the following enhancements:
* IPv6
Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is the base technology of the next generation Internet. z/OS provides IPv6 support in V1R4. Language Environment provides support for Communications Server through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and the C/C++ run-time library provides enhanced functions.
Language Environment headers are also updated to meet IPv6 standards. z/OS UNIX support is also provided.
* Transport Layer Security (TLS) Certificate Support
The __certificate() function is updated to allow authentication of digital certificates. This enables better password support for File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
* iconv() support for code page IBM-5488
Support has been added to allow conversions with code page IBM-5488.
* G11N White Paper Currency Support
This support provides additional country support by locales.
Source : IBM
* Support of Debug Tool for DB2 Stored Procedures
Language Environment is enhanced to significantly improve debugging of DB2 stored procedures, regardless of language. Two new debugger event codes are provided for DB2 and the Debug Tool to debug the stored procedure repeatedly without having to recycle the stored procedure (SP) address.
* CICS trace of an application domain
A new CICS trace allows users to monitor and determine the activity of a CICS transaction. This gives users the ability to trace key events in Language Environment while running CICS transactions. Every time CICS calls Language Environment, the feature trace is activated under the Extended Run-Time Library Interface (ERTLI). The CICS trace requires AP level 2 tracing to be active. By activating the feature trace records, trace points are added at strategic points.
* Enhanced pthread_quiesce_and_get_np()
Enhancements are made within pthread_quiesce_and_get_np() to improve reliability and performance.
What's New in C/C++ for z/OS Version 1 Release 4
This run-time library is shipped with Language Environment. For z/OS Version 1 Release 4, the C/C++ run-time library includes the following enhancements:
* IPv6
Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is the base technology of the next generation Internet. z/OS provides IPv6 support in V1R4. Language Environment provides support for Communications Server through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and the C/C++ run-time library provides enhanced functions.
Language Environment headers are also updated to meet IPv6 standards. z/OS UNIX support is also provided.
* Transport Layer Security (TLS) Certificate Support
The __certificate() function is updated to allow authentication of digital certificates. This enables better password support for File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
* iconv() support for code page IBM-5488
Support has been added to allow conversions with code page IBM-5488.
* G11N White Paper Currency Support
This support provides additional country support by locales.
Source : IBM
Windows Home Server
Author : Alex
It's time to brush the digital dust off your captured moments and media—for good. Introducing a simpler, smarter way for families to organize, share and protect photos, videos, music and much more. Windows Home Server brings it all together in a central hub, connecting your home PCs and making it easy to keep and enjoy your family's most important memories. Grandma will love it too.
Do you have multiple PCs with increasingly large amounts of digital photos, music, video, and documents? Is protecting, organizing, and connecting this digital media becoming a seemingly impossible task? The answer to your digital dilemmas has arrived. Take a quick look.
Windows Home Server features at a glance
· Your family's digital memories and media organized in one central hub
· Home PCs backed up daily, automatically
· Simple recovery of lost files or even entire PCs
· Complete access from networked PCs to all your Windows Home Server files
· A personalized Web address for sharing your photos and home videos
· Easy and quick setup
· Expandable storage space for future use
· Innovative third-party applications
Try Windows Home Server for 120 days.
Can't wait to centralize and showcase your family's memories and media? Order the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit today. You're just a few clicks away from a new digital life.
What will you receive?
· Windows Home Server Installation DVD
· Windows Home Server Connector CD
· Home Computer Restore CD
Are you ready?
This software is intended for evaluation purposes only. In order to preserve your existing data, you must backup prior to installation. The setup process for server installation will erase any existing data.
To install the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit, you need:
· Computer with 1 GHz Pentium III (or equivalent) or faster processor
· 512 MB of RAM or more
· 70 GB or larger ATA, SATA, or SCSI hard drive as the primary hard drive and any number of additional hard drives of any size
· DVD drive—your home server must be capable of booting from this drive
· VGA or higher-resolution monitor for software installation
· Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device (needed only during initial home server software installation)
· 100 Mbps or faster Ethernet network interface card
To run Windows Home Server, your home network must meet the following minimum requirements:
· Internet broadband router/firewall device with a 100 Mbps or faster wired Ethernet connection for your home server
· Windows Home Server assumes that your home computers get their IP address from the router/firewall device on your home network
· Broadband connection (fees may apply)
Order your 120-day trial.
Why wait? Order the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit now to protect, connect, and organize your photos, videos, music and more.
Source : www.microsoft.com
It's time to brush the digital dust off your captured moments and media—for good. Introducing a simpler, smarter way for families to organize, share and protect photos, videos, music and much more. Windows Home Server brings it all together in a central hub, connecting your home PCs and making it easy to keep and enjoy your family's most important memories. Grandma will love it too.
Do you have multiple PCs with increasingly large amounts of digital photos, music, video, and documents? Is protecting, organizing, and connecting this digital media becoming a seemingly impossible task? The answer to your digital dilemmas has arrived. Take a quick look.
Windows Home Server features at a glance
· Your family's digital memories and media organized in one central hub
· Home PCs backed up daily, automatically
· Simple recovery of lost files or even entire PCs
· Complete access from networked PCs to all your Windows Home Server files
· A personalized Web address for sharing your photos and home videos
· Easy and quick setup
· Expandable storage space for future use
· Innovative third-party applications
Try Windows Home Server for 120 days.
Can't wait to centralize and showcase your family's memories and media? Order the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit today. You're just a few clicks away from a new digital life.
What will you receive?
· Windows Home Server Installation DVD
· Windows Home Server Connector CD
· Home Computer Restore CD
Are you ready?
This software is intended for evaluation purposes only. In order to preserve your existing data, you must backup prior to installation. The setup process for server installation will erase any existing data.
To install the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit, you need:
· Computer with 1 GHz Pentium III (or equivalent) or faster processor
· 512 MB of RAM or more
· 70 GB or larger ATA, SATA, or SCSI hard drive as the primary hard drive and any number of additional hard drives of any size
· DVD drive—your home server must be capable of booting from this drive
· VGA or higher-resolution monitor for software installation
· Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device (needed only during initial home server software installation)
· 100 Mbps or faster Ethernet network interface card
To run Windows Home Server, your home network must meet the following minimum requirements:
· Internet broadband router/firewall device with a 100 Mbps or faster wired Ethernet connection for your home server
· Windows Home Server assumes that your home computers get their IP address from the router/firewall device on your home network
· Broadband connection (fees may apply)
Order your 120-day trial.
Why wait? Order the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation Kit now to protect, connect, and organize your photos, videos, music and more.
Source : www.microsoft.com
Monday, February 11, 2008
Web Conferencing Server
Author: SabinRossi
As we know server is a computer or device that manages network resources. There are different types of servers like file server, print server, web server, web conferencing server and so many.
Definition of web conferencing server: - Web conferencing server is a real time collaboration server which uses internet to carry out web conferencing.
It serves or shares static content to a web browser or to the participants of the conference by loading a file or application from a disk and servicing it across the network to a user’s web browser or participants of the conference. In this entire the exchange is carried out by the internet and server acts as a central computer.
It helps executives on the move and large project groups to exchange information and stay connected. The server is configured and optimized for this particular application – Web Conferencing and it is beneficial for the market as it has ability to conduct secure, interactive online meeting will help both small and large businesses to significantly increase productivity, agility and responsiveness.
When a Service Provider deploys a web conferencing service, it needs to ensure that the system meshes with other elements of the features it offers to its customers. The web conferencing server is easily integrated with elements like billing, scheduling and authentication, and the interface look-and-feel can be customized for tailored and branded deployments. Data Connection can provide experienced Professional Services engineers to help.
1. Scheduling - Web Conferencing Server uses a reservation less, "on demand" model for conference scheduling. As a result, no integration of scheduling databases is required.
2. Billing - Web Conferencing Server writes billing information to a database. It is simple to configure Web Conferencing Server to write this information into the appropriate fields of an existing, external billing database to combine web and audio conferencing details.
3. Authentication - For security purposes, some deployments require users to be authenticated before joining the conference. Web Conferencing Server uses a simple HTTP request/response interface to authenticate clients with an external web server. No integration of user databases is required.
4. Branding - Web Conferencing Server can be branded to project your own look-and-feel, and internationalized, by simply modifying text-based template files.
Source : http://www.rhubcom.com
As we know server is a computer or device that manages network resources. There are different types of servers like file server, print server, web server, web conferencing server and so many.
Definition of web conferencing server: - Web conferencing server is a real time collaboration server which uses internet to carry out web conferencing.
It serves or shares static content to a web browser or to the participants of the conference by loading a file or application from a disk and servicing it across the network to a user’s web browser or participants of the conference. In this entire the exchange is carried out by the internet and server acts as a central computer.
It helps executives on the move and large project groups to exchange information and stay connected. The server is configured and optimized for this particular application – Web Conferencing and it is beneficial for the market as it has ability to conduct secure, interactive online meeting will help both small and large businesses to significantly increase productivity, agility and responsiveness.
When a Service Provider deploys a web conferencing service, it needs to ensure that the system meshes with other elements of the features it offers to its customers. The web conferencing server is easily integrated with elements like billing, scheduling and authentication, and the interface look-and-feel can be customized for tailored and branded deployments. Data Connection can provide experienced Professional Services engineers to help.
1. Scheduling - Web Conferencing Server uses a reservation less, "on demand" model for conference scheduling. As a result, no integration of scheduling databases is required.
2. Billing - Web Conferencing Server writes billing information to a database. It is simple to configure Web Conferencing Server to write this information into the appropriate fields of an existing, external billing database to combine web and audio conferencing details.
3. Authentication - For security purposes, some deployments require users to be authenticated before joining the conference. Web Conferencing Server uses a simple HTTP request/response interface to authenticate clients with an external web server. No integration of user databases is required.
4. Branding - Web Conferencing Server can be branded to project your own look-and-feel, and internationalized, by simply modifying text-based template files.
Source : http://www.rhubcom.com
Webdesigining Bug
Author : S.Alex
( Click image to enlarge )Latest Bug in website. ( URL : http://www.fonearena.com/motorola-razr-v3i_331.html ) The http://www.fonearena.com website is famous in india. This website upload their site content in 2008-02-07 and thare is a problem accure in this website. Motorola RAZR-V3i model mobile phone price is Rs : 6 but the original cast is Rs. 7295.00 / USD 184.22 ( referance : http://shopping.sify.com/shopping/product_detail.php?pid=35667&prodid=14153650&VSV=02MOBILES01SIFYHP)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
E-learning Solutions Company in India
Author: Tom Desousa
Talking about each country education has become an integral part of their economical growth. Developing countries are spending more on the education and expanding their knowledge base for better future. India being a developing country is not excluded from this. In India e-learning solutions are becoming important day after day as qualified individuals are also growing.
With the help of e-learning solutions large numbers of business firms are able to train their people and students are able to get the higher education in renowned universities by saving their traveling expenses and high fees for tutors. A new trend of blended e-learning is also coming up. The-learning solutions include integrated e-learning content solutions in many languages and multi-interactive formats.
The scope of e-learning solutions in India has increased significantly. With expertise in e-learning solutions, companies are able to communicate the messages we want to be delivered, in the best way and creating a unique and highly interactive user experience as well.. The solutions in India are really cost-effective as compared to the solutions provided by other countries and they possess ISO and CMM standard quality which are well known for their quality.
India is as a result becoming a good option for many people and country as well, to get offshore e-learning solutions. India is developing standard quality, e-learning solutions that are supporting various sectors. And because of this India is growing in importance as the hub for e-learning programs.
E-learning in India has also provided penetration for online learning by providing knowledge in more easy and interactive manner using various teaching methodology. Quality of economy of nation is also improving as many institutions are offering online learning courses at much cheaper rate. Online learning has become an easy way of life for educated class to satisfy their hunger for knowledge.
E-learning helps the people to be more flexible to learn from any place if you have internet access and there are no restrictions for time as well. The only pitfall is that students don’t get chance to interact face to face and the result is poor mutual or team building work.
Talking about each country education has become an integral part of their economical growth. Developing countries are spending more on the education and expanding their knowledge base for better future. India being a developing country is not excluded from this. In India e-learning solutions are becoming important day after day as qualified individuals are also growing.
With the help of e-learning solutions large numbers of business firms are able to train their people and students are able to get the higher education in renowned universities by saving their traveling expenses and high fees for tutors. A new trend of blended e-learning is also coming up. The-learning solutions include integrated e-learning content solutions in many languages and multi-interactive formats.
The scope of e-learning solutions in India has increased significantly. With expertise in e-learning solutions, companies are able to communicate the messages we want to be delivered, in the best way and creating a unique and highly interactive user experience as well.. The solutions in India are really cost-effective as compared to the solutions provided by other countries and they possess ISO and CMM standard quality which are well known for their quality.
India is as a result becoming a good option for many people and country as well, to get offshore e-learning solutions. India is developing standard quality, e-learning solutions that are supporting various sectors. And because of this India is growing in importance as the hub for e-learning programs.
E-learning in India has also provided penetration for online learning by providing knowledge in more easy and interactive manner using various teaching methodology. Quality of economy of nation is also improving as many institutions are offering online learning courses at much cheaper rate. Online learning has become an easy way of life for educated class to satisfy their hunger for knowledge.
E-learning helps the people to be more flexible to learn from any place if you have internet access and there are no restrictions for time as well. The only pitfall is that students don’t get chance to interact face to face and the result is poor mutual or team building work.
Photoshop For All Beginners
Author: David Peters
Wouldn't it be cool to create abstract art? Want to create a mysterious lady that is fire, follow these step by stepy instructions: Start by opening an image of a model in an interesting pose. Create path surrounding her body using pen tool in path mode. Ctrl+Enter the path to get the selection. Hide the image layer. Create a new layer and fill with a solid yellow color. Select gradient tool. Create a gradient. Duplicate the layer. Enable lock transparency pixels form the layer palette. Select multiply as gradient mode from the options bar at top. Apply the gradient several times. Change the layer mode to "Linear Light". Duplicate layer. From "Filter" menu select "Liquify". Select forward warp tool and apply on this layer from down to upwards to create an effect of flames. Change the layer mode to "Pin Light". Select the background layer. Apply the same gradient that we used in the lady silhouette on the background layer. From "Filter" menu select "Render>>Difference Clouds". Reapply this filter a number of times. Press Ctrl+U to open hue/saturation window. Duplicate the layer. Change the layer mode to "Linear Light".
Okay, start out with a picture of a speaker. Now, select the base speaker on the bottom. Now, while you have that selected press Ctrl-c and make a new layer above that then press Ctrl-f and you will have your selection on a new layer, now you need to duplicate that layer two times by pressing Ctrl-j two times, once you have done that select your first duplicated layer (the one right above your original) and name that one Side, do the same for the one above it except name that one Up.Now select the Side layer and apply Filter> Blur> Motion blur and these settings Angle: 0 Distance: 15px Do the same for the Up layer except apply these settings Angle: 90 Distance 15px Now, to switch to imageready you will need push this button at the bottom of this panel in photoshop. Now, in imageready we will open up the animation panel, to do that you need to go into Window> Animation, the animation panel will now be shown. Okay, in the animation panel select the first frame, and at the bottom of the thumbnail you will see a thing like this 0 sec. then a little black arrow pointing down, click once one the 0 sec. dropdown menu, then you will see some stuff like: No delay, o.1, o.2 etc. Select the 0.1 seconds button. Now, in the animation panel push the new frame button, it looks just like the button in your layer panel. You will see it has copied the first frame, now select the second frame and change the speed to: 0.2After you have done that (make sure your on the second frame in the animation panel) hide layer: base speaker and show layers: up and side. Now, hit play on the animation panel to watch your animation.
With photoshop we can reduce the weight of the PDS up to 75%. This is something to think about, if we can reduce so much the information in a PSD it would be because this format is not very optimized, right?. Most people think that's why there are files with compression, TIFF or JPG but they agree that keeping the original files in PSD format is much more comfortable than working with TIFF (i don't think we need to compare it with JPG). Well, how can we do this? Something as simple as hiding the layers before saving the file, if after that you compress it with Winrar or Winzip you will save a lot more. Here you have the information of the experiment: Normal PSD: 49,2 MB PSD saved with the hidden layers: 38,9 MB PSD saved with the hidden layers and zipped: 11,5 MB The new version of Photoshop CS3 is out and we still have the same problem we will have to wait a little more. Now, if you have to send a PSD via ftp or email you have no choice than doing this.
When you are creating a brush you can save and delete it, heres how: To Save Modified Brush Preset: After you make a modification to you brush shape or brush dynamic, you can save brush by do one of following using Brush Palette. Using Brush Palette Menu and select New Brush Preset. Click New button at bottom Brush Palette. If you use Small Thumbnail or Large Thumbnail you can click at empty area (your cursor will turn to indicate you can click to save the brush). To Delete Brush Preset. You can delete unwant brush by do one of following option: Select brush you want to delete and select Brush Palette Menu and select Delete Brush. Select brush you want to delete and click Trash Button Select brush you want to delete Right Click or Control + Click (for MacOS) and select Delete Brush.
Have you ever tried to make an image black and white? Did you use the desaturate method. Now if i go to Image>adjustments>desaturate and take away the color from the photo... I will be left with a black and white picture. But it doesn't look as good as it could. It seems dull and lacks depth. Heres a better way of making images black and white - Open up the picture you want to use. In the Layers palette go to the button circled in red in the picture below and then go to channel mixer in the drop down menu. Put in settings feel free to experiment. Now I am left with a much nicer black and white picture. You could even add a unsharpen mask (Filter>Sharpen>Unsharpen Mask). Much better that the desaturated image right?
Adding cool effects to photos is quite amusing. A fun one is to split apart a picture like a puzzle. First find an image of Guitar. Then open the saved picture in photoshop. We are going to split the image.Go to Views>Rullers.Or simply press CTRL+R.Then using the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Press Ctrl+J to copy and paste the selected part in a new layer. Repeat these steps until all the parts of guitar is selected.Try drawing different rectangles because we want to add this puzzle effect. Select a layer and choose the blending options. Again apply the stroke effect as needed. Now right click the layer you applied the effects and select Copy layer style. Go to next layer and right click on the layer and choose paste layer style. Paste the layer style to remaining layers. Click Ctrl+T and transform each layer. With some Gradient Effect you can get a better effect.
Folow these instructions to add a contemporary frosted pixel overlay to your photos. Open a picture into Adobe Photoshop. Next, press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer. Change the blending mode to Overlay. Go to Filter> Pixelate> Mosaic and in the Mosaic Photoshop filter settings, set ethe pixels to the size that you want the squares to be. Then, press Ctrl+J to duplicate the top layer and change the blending mode from Overlay to Multiply. Now go to Filter> Stylize> Find Edges. Press Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate the outline so that they don't have any color to it. Go to Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur and add a little gaussian blur to the outline which will add the frosty effect.
Wouldn't it be cool to create abstract art? Want to create a mysterious lady that is fire, follow these step by stepy instructions: Start by opening an image of a model in an interesting pose. Create path surrounding her body using pen tool in path mode. Ctrl+Enter the path to get the selection. Hide the image layer. Create a new layer and fill with a solid yellow color. Select gradient tool. Create a gradient. Duplicate the layer. Enable lock transparency pixels form the layer palette. Select multiply as gradient mode from the options bar at top. Apply the gradient several times. Change the layer mode to "Linear Light". Duplicate layer. From "Filter" menu select "Liquify". Select forward warp tool and apply on this layer from down to upwards to create an effect of flames. Change the layer mode to "Pin Light". Select the background layer. Apply the same gradient that we used in the lady silhouette on the background layer. From "Filter" menu select "Render>>Difference Clouds". Reapply this filter a number of times. Press Ctrl+U to open hue/saturation window. Duplicate the layer. Change the layer mode to "Linear Light".
Okay, start out with a picture of a speaker. Now, select the base speaker on the bottom. Now, while you have that selected press Ctrl-c and make a new layer above that then press Ctrl-f and you will have your selection on a new layer, now you need to duplicate that layer two times by pressing Ctrl-j two times, once you have done that select your first duplicated layer (the one right above your original) and name that one Side, do the same for the one above it except name that one Up.Now select the Side layer and apply Filter> Blur> Motion blur and these settings Angle: 0 Distance: 15px Do the same for the Up layer except apply these settings Angle: 90 Distance 15px Now, to switch to imageready you will need push this button at the bottom of this panel in photoshop. Now, in imageready we will open up the animation panel, to do that you need to go into Window> Animation, the animation panel will now be shown. Okay, in the animation panel select the first frame, and at the bottom of the thumbnail you will see a thing like this 0 sec. then a little black arrow pointing down, click once one the 0 sec. dropdown menu, then you will see some stuff like: No delay, o.1, o.2 etc. Select the 0.1 seconds button. Now, in the animation panel push the new frame button, it looks just like the button in your layer panel. You will see it has copied the first frame, now select the second frame and change the speed to: 0.2After you have done that (make sure your on the second frame in the animation panel) hide layer: base speaker and show layers: up and side. Now, hit play on the animation panel to watch your animation.
With photoshop we can reduce the weight of the PDS up to 75%. This is something to think about, if we can reduce so much the information in a PSD it would be because this format is not very optimized, right?. Most people think that's why there are files with compression, TIFF or JPG but they agree that keeping the original files in PSD format is much more comfortable than working with TIFF (i don't think we need to compare it with JPG). Well, how can we do this? Something as simple as hiding the layers before saving the file, if after that you compress it with Winrar or Winzip you will save a lot more. Here you have the information of the experiment: Normal PSD: 49,2 MB PSD saved with the hidden layers: 38,9 MB PSD saved with the hidden layers and zipped: 11,5 MB The new version of Photoshop CS3 is out and we still have the same problem we will have to wait a little more. Now, if you have to send a PSD via ftp or email you have no choice than doing this.
When you are creating a brush you can save and delete it, heres how: To Save Modified Brush Preset: After you make a modification to you brush shape or brush dynamic, you can save brush by do one of following using Brush Palette. Using Brush Palette Menu and select New Brush Preset. Click New button at bottom Brush Palette. If you use Small Thumbnail or Large Thumbnail you can click at empty area (your cursor will turn to indicate you can click to save the brush). To Delete Brush Preset. You can delete unwant brush by do one of following option: Select brush you want to delete and select Brush Palette Menu and select Delete Brush. Select brush you want to delete and click Trash Button Select brush you want to delete Right Click or Control + Click (for MacOS) and select Delete Brush.
Have you ever tried to make an image black and white? Did you use the desaturate method. Now if i go to Image>adjustments>desaturate and take away the color from the photo... I will be left with a black and white picture. But it doesn't look as good as it could. It seems dull and lacks depth. Heres a better way of making images black and white - Open up the picture you want to use. In the Layers palette go to the button circled in red in the picture below and then go to channel mixer in the drop down menu. Put in settings feel free to experiment. Now I am left with a much nicer black and white picture. You could even add a unsharpen mask (Filter>Sharpen>Unsharpen Mask). Much better that the desaturated image right?
Adding cool effects to photos is quite amusing. A fun one is to split apart a picture like a puzzle. First find an image of Guitar. Then open the saved picture in photoshop. We are going to split the image.Go to Views>Rullers.Or simply press CTRL+R.Then using the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Press Ctrl+J to copy and paste the selected part in a new layer. Repeat these steps until all the parts of guitar is selected.Try drawing different rectangles because we want to add this puzzle effect. Select a layer and choose the blending options. Again apply the stroke effect as needed. Now right click the layer you applied the effects and select Copy layer style. Go to next layer and right click on the layer and choose paste layer style. Paste the layer style to remaining layers. Click Ctrl+T and transform each layer. With some Gradient Effect you can get a better effect.
Folow these instructions to add a contemporary frosted pixel overlay to your photos. Open a picture into Adobe Photoshop. Next, press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer. Change the blending mode to Overlay. Go to Filter> Pixelate> Mosaic and in the Mosaic Photoshop filter settings, set ethe pixels to the size that you want the squares to be. Then, press Ctrl+J to duplicate the top layer and change the blending mode from Overlay to Multiply. Now go to Filter> Stylize> Find Edges. Press Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate the outline so that they don't have any color to it. Go to Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur and add a little gaussian blur to the outline which will add the frosty effect.
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