Mars Sighting

Mars is coming into the cloest distance from the Earth. It rarely (almost never) happened before and it will be hundreds or (maybe thousands) of years until next such sighting will occur again. No one alive today will get another chance to see Mars as closely as they can now do.

According to BBC, the best viewing times are from 10 pm to 2 am on 26, 27 and 28 August. Mars will still be visible until 27 September.

Take some time to take a look at the Mars, the legendary planet.

Until then...

Justin

Goodbye Pluto

How many planets are there in our solar system?

There are 8!

Pluto is now downgraded from the status of a planet after the successfully defining a true planet. Now we have to update textbooks and encyclopedia.

No matter whether we say there are 8 planets or 9, Pluto will still be there turning around the sun. So, for those who are sad to say goodbye to Pluto, don't be so sentimental. It still will be around us.

Until then...

Justin

Security for your computer

When you think of security, it's pretty clear that you should have a firewall and an anti-virus applications on your computer to be on the safe side. Don't think of Norton's products right away; they are way too expensive and EFFECTIVELY slow down your computer. =P

There are a number of firewall applications available. Two I particularly like are Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall and Sygate Personal Firewall, and I'm currently the first one.

As for AntiVirus applications, there are also a number of them available. I particularly like AVG Free Edition. It doesn't CONSUME a lot of your system's resources. I have installed it and haven't found any slow performance yet.

What's more? They are all FREE. If you want to download any of them, just Google them.

Until then...

Justin

Free Download Manager

For those who are looking for a free download manager better than DAP, this should come as a solution to you. It's a totally free software. Performance is considerably good. Try it out here.

Until then...

Justin

Internet Explorer 7 RC1

As can be seen in the title, it can now be downloaded from Microsoft website. Improvements? I don't know. I rarely use IE unless I have to. I simply hate it. :P

Until then...

Justin

Audacity

This is an OpenSource audio editing application. It's quite useful for me to record songs and edit them and then change them into WMA or MP3. Cool.

You can download it here.

Until then...

Justin

Google Talk

Just a few tips about Google Talk.

Much like in Firefox, you can use Ctrl + MouseWheel to increase or decrease the font size.

If you want to center-align your message, Ctrl + E will do. For Left, use Ctrl + (L or J) and for right, Ctrl + R.

Bold your message by putting * before and after the message. To make it italic, put _ underscore).

Call your friend with F11 and Gmail to him/her with F9. Stop the call? Hit F12.

If you know how to run Gtalk from Command Prompt and you want to run multiple instances of Gtalk, start it from Command Proomt with this parameter /nomutex. To check for the latest updates, use /checkupdate. To factory-reset, just put /factoryreset.

Until then...

Justin

Cutie Bunnies

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Until then...

Justin

Paint.NET

This is an OpenSource paint software. Don't mistaken it with Windows Paint. The term Paint doesn't mean it's a small application.

In this application, you can work with many layers and can do editing as powerful as that in Adobe PhotoShop!!!

You can download one here. You'll be amazed!

Until then...

Justin

Advanced Windows Care

This is a freeware which can do advanced settings on your computer. It is a very powerful tool that can help you optimize your computer settings and also remove spyware. You can download one here.

Until then...

Justin

Discount from Google

A piece of good news from Google!!!

Get schooled: "Posted by Dror Shimshowitz, Product Marketing Manager

Summer's almost over, which means it's time to send the kids (or yourself) back to school. Here at Google Checkout , making shopping easier is our prime directive, so we're now featuring dorm furniture, backpacks, tech gear and numerous other products for academia. And to ease your way into back-to-school shopping, we're also offering $10 off every purchase of $30 or more at these participating stores throughout August. So students everywhere -- start your shopping engines."

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Until then...

Justin

Notebook Hardware Control

This is also a cool application for Notebook computers. It can control your CPU speed, optimize your computer's battery usage and also show you your computer's temperature. Also, it can do a lot others. Moreover, it is a freeware!

Download it now.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Notebook, Hardware

Quick Zip

This is a freeware ZIP application that can handle quite a variety of archives. It can even work as well as those high-priced commercial ZIP applications like WinZIP and PowerArchiver.

You can now download it at this site.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Zip, WinZIP, PowerArchiver, QuickZip

Writely is now Open!!!

Yay...Writely is now finally public. It is an online word processor, just like Google's spreadsheet. Writely was acquired by Google months ago, but currently your Writely account and Google Account will be spearate; however, in near future, you will be able to migrate your Writely account to Google Account so you won't have to remember a lot of passwords.

Well, Writely is not supposed to replace Microsoft Word. But, it just provide a new way for writers to collaborate on a single document, which, for me, is very convenient as I am working with my group in the lab and our group has to submit lab reports, which means there should be a way among us to share the lab reports and edit the document. This sharing purpose is more or less the same as that of Google Spreadsheet.

What's more? You can now publish your documents online; for each document you publish, you will get a URL for that document. Also, you can write your blog posts, if you have one, using Writely and publish to your blog; the default is Blogger.

There's one more good thing about Writely. You can save your document in a lot of formats, HTML, Word, OpenOffice and even PDF. If you are disappointed by the news that Microsoft is going to cut down the "Save As PDF" feature, which is currently present in Word 2007 Beta 2, in the final version, you can now upload your Word file and save it as PDF, with Writely acting as a PDF creator.

If you like Writely, now is the time for you to sign up an account and try it.

Until then...

Justin

Google Music Trend

Google trend (http://www.google.com/trends) has been pretty useful for me to check the popular searches on Google. Now, with the introduction of Music Status Sharing on Google Talk, Google has now expanded the Trends into Music world as well. You can now go to Google Music Trends (http://www.google.com/trends/music) to see the US top 20 songs by Genre. Currently only US is available. As time goes on, I believe the number of countries will increase.

What's more? You can click on the music title or artist name to search the music!

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Google, Gtalk, Music

Joke for 17 Aug

Why did Microsoft give the name "Windows" to its operating software?

If you had so many bugs, you would throw it out the window too!

==========================
Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Joke

Yahoo! Mail Beta Now for You!!!

Yahoo! Mail user? Heard of Yahoo! Mail Beta? Already signed up for it? Still desperately waiting for invitation?

No more waiting now! I don't mean that Yahoo! Mail Beta is now public. There is just a little trick to play to get it.

Here's how: Sign in to your Yahoo! Mail > Go to Options > Account Information. Type in your password. Click Edit on the right of Member Information. Go down to General Preferences > click on Preferred Content. Change it to Germany, France or UK. Click all those Finished.

Now click on Mail tab and...Bingo!!!...you will be asked whether you want to join the Beta or not. Just join the Beta and there is the Yahoo! Mail Beta for you.

You can later change your Preferred Content back to your original content.

I hope this trick works.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Yahoo+Mail+Beta

PS: Thanks to a friend of mine who told me this trick.

Change the Default Wallpaper

When you create a new user account on your WinXP computer, you will see the default wallpaper which is a grassland landscape. But, if you are in a society or an organization and you control the computers, you would want to change the default wallpaper to your society- or organization-specific one.

You can use some other applications to accomplish this. But, the easiest way is for you to replace a file in the wallpaper directory. To do this, you need your particular wallpaper in BMP format; JPG format will not do this trick. Name your wallpaper file as Bliss.bmp (you won't probably have to type the .bmp unless you are prompted to do so).

Now, navigate to C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper. There you will find a file with the name "Bliss." As you know, that file is the WinXp default wallpaper. If you want to later retrieve back that default wallpaper, just rename it to whatever you want. Now, copy your Bliss.bmp into that folder.

It's now done. When you create a new user account, you will see the new wallpaper instead of the default landscape picture.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Wallpaper, Windows+XP

Cosmetics Saves Life

Ironic, isn't it?

Breast implants save woman's life? | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli woman's breast implants saved her life when she was wounded in a Hizbollah rocket attack during Israel's war with the Lebanese group, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday.

Doctors found shrapnel embedded in the silicone implants, just inches from the 24-year-old's heart.

"She was saved from death," said a spokesman for Nahariya Hospital in northern Israel. The woman has been released from hospital.

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Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Cosmetics, Implant, Rocket, Breast Implant

New Blogger

Wow...Just after Live Writer, there comes news about Blogging again. Blogger, a blogging service run by Google and which is my favorite blogging service too, has now just gone through a lot of changes. Until now, Blogger doesn't have Category, but now it has given the bloggers to put labels to their posts. Labels are Google's way of cetegorizing the posts.

Also Blogger now lets users to add new Page Elements and move them around freely using the mouse. This improvement will be a great news for those new bloggers who just want to write something online but are not interested in learning or editing the HTML. There's more: You can now access-control your blog so that only those allowed will be able to read your blogs.

Another thing is that Blogger account and Google account will be combined: the Blogger account will be migrated to Google account. This makes it easier for us to just log in once and get all the services.

You can now have your New Blogger account at http://beta.blogger.com. But, unfortunately for those old users of Bloggers, the New Blogger will be available only to a limited users currently. Sooner or later, all of us will enjoy the New Blogger improvements. In the mean time, please take a tour of the new features.

Until then...

Justin

PS: Source

Technorati Tags: Blogger, Google

Laugh Out Loud

This is damn funny clip which will make you laugh all along the video. Just DO NOT FORGET to turn on your speaker. Without speaker, the clip will not turn out to be funny. Trust me...it's not a scary clip that will frighten you to death at the end. I laughed a lot while watching it and would like you all to laugh to the highest extent possible.

Watch the clip below:

Thanks to a friend of mine, code-named, "BabyAngel"

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Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Joke, Funny, Laugh, Metacafe

Build Your Own Xbox Game

BetaNews | Microsoft: Build Your Own Xbox Game

Microsoft plans to open up its Xbox 360 game development platform to the masses with the launch of XNA Game Studio Express, due out during the holiday season. The Redmond company says such an offering would benefit the entire gaming industry by nurturing the ideas of new development talent and providing beneficial experience in game creation.

Anyone with a Windows XP computer would be able to use the software, available for an annual $99 fee. This fee would permit users to build, test and share their games on Xbox 360 consoles, as well as gain access to development resources.

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Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Xbox, Microsoft

Microsoft Live Writer

After being away from my computer for quite a few days on an unplanned trip to KL, I finally got back to my laptop again. I now understand how hurt it is to be separated from the online world, being restricted to around 1 hour each day online during the vacation. :(

But, as soon as I got back, I got a good news for myself and for other bloggers!!! Microsoft is testing a new blogging application called "Live Writer" which will compete with Performancing. What is better is Live Writer is that it can download the template of your blog and you can write your blog entries as Live preview. You can actually view the Web Preview which will let you view your blog entry as it will appear on your blog page.

For other blogging services than Blogger.com, it can also post images directly to the blog. As a Blogger user, I dislike the inability to attach images to my posts. It's very bad!

You can download a beta here. You might also want to visit the Live Writer blog page at this site.

Until then...

Justin

UK's Top Universities 2007

This is just a ranking of UK universities, which I come across while reading online. The ranking is prepared by TimesOnline. I just post this on my blog for those students who wish to study in UK and are deciding which universities to apply for.

As usual, it's Oxford at the top. Please see the full listing by following the link below.

The Times Good University Guide 2007- Top Universities 2007 League Table

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Until then...

Justin



Technorati Tags: UK, University, Ranking

Google Checkout Deal

Wow...Google is good at free stuffs. Now, they are promoting their Google Checkout service by offering free T-shirts to those who spend $20 or more on 10 Aug (yes, in US). If you are a Google Checkout user and if there is something you are considering buying online, now it's time to buy it for the free Google T-shirt.

The official offering from Google below:

Thanks for checking out Google Checkout: "Posted by Dror Shimsowitz, Product Marketing Manager

People always ask, what makes Google tick? There are two key elements: our ongoing commitment to building great technology that empowers people like you -- and of course our passion for free T-shirts. Today, to thank everyone using Google Checkout to buy stuff online, we thought we'd combine the two. Everyone who buys something for $20 or more through Google Checkout all day today gets a free T-shirt. So find something you want to buy, enjoy faster checkout online -- and make room in the drawer for your new apparel."

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Until then...

Justin

Sony Mylo

I recently wrote a post saying Google Talk will be on Sony Mylo. Now for those who want to have a glance at Mylo, here is a video from YouTube. Enjoy it.

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Until then...

Justin

University of California libraries join Library Project

A good piece of news I read in Google. I am very glad that UC has gone with Google to provide its collection of books on Book Search, and I am optimistic about having to get access to their collections, even if it's not in the public domain. Saying so, I also wish my university also joined with Google so that I can search faster and will be able to read snippets of the books to make sure that they are what I really need.

Below is the news from Google:

University of California libraries join Library Project: "Posted by Laura DeBonis, Library Partnerships Director

I'm very happy to share some tremendous news: today we announced our partnership with the University of California libraries to digitize books in their collections and make them discoverable in Google Book Search (see the welcome message by the University of Michigan's John Wilkin on the main Google blog). This partnership is especially exciting because the UC system comprises more than 100 extraordinary research libraries housed at 10 campuses, representing a treasure trove of human knowledge that people everywhere will be able to search.

We're honored to welcome the University of California libraries to the Google Books Library Project. For more details on the partnership, you can read the UC press release, the UC Statement of Use and a brief statement on our Library Partners page explaining the UC libraries' vision and reasons for joining the project."

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Until then...

Justin

DesktopTwo

Visit DesktopTwo website! It's a virtual desktop for you and you can access it from any place where you have an internet connection. They give you a 1 GB storage. So, even if you don't want to use that desktop, you can still use it as a file storage. :D

I haven't used it enough and I still don't know whether it has bandwidth limit and file size limit. But, I like the service. It also has a blog, email application, and address book too. Cool.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: DesktopTwo

Google Talk on the mylo

Sony is going to release a new product called "mylo" which stands for My Life Online. It features a number of online activities including email and IM, using the WiFi network. It's handy for those who are always on the go and need to go email and IM. Good news is that it's coming out soon in September. The price? I don't know yet.

Below is a blog from Google saying that Google Talk will be featured on "mylo" as a built-in IM!!!

Google Talk on the mylo: "For the past several months we've been working with partners who are leveraging the tools of Google Talk's open platform. Sony has just announced that its new WiFi device will feature Google Talk. The mylo communicator will be hitting stores in September.

The Sony mylo (short for 'my life online') is a sleek handheld device that allows you to access a fun set of features from a WiFi network. With 1GB of memory you can store music and photos, browse the web, or use email and IM (the QWERTY keyboard comes in handy here). The mylo comes with built-in Google Talk IM support so you can see who's online and available, manage your contacts, and hold multiple chat conversations at once. It also features quick access to Gmail.

Look for the mylo in September. I can't wait to get my hands on one! When they are available in a few weeks, I'll head to the Sony Store at the Metreon on my street to get an update.

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Until then...

Justin

Tune your FireFox

Firefox is good to use. But, it was designed for general audience. How about tuning your FireFox to meet your system and internet connection? That would be nicer, wouldn't it?

You just go there and download the FireTune to tune your Fox. Don't forget to backup your Fox's configurations (included in FireTune)!!!

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Mozilla, Firefox, FireTune

Charlie Chaplin

Wow...the first ever time I saw Charlie Chaplin to speak that seriously since I ever heard of him. The speech was good-intentioned, I believe. But what happened to him after that...is obscure to me. Watch the video at Google or at YouTube.

It's ironic that Hitlar and Charlie Chaplin were born in the same month of a single year!! One was born on 20 Apr and the other on 16 Apr of 1889. I'm quite sure they have the same zodiac sign of Aries, yet have two opposing personalities.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Charlie Chaplin

No Google Music Store Soon

Much to my dismay, Google announced that they are not selling music on the net. I was hoping that since Google has already been selling videos through its Google Video, they will also soon launch a Google Music Search and through it, they are gonna sell music, which will be a lot (I hope) better and easier to find a particular song. But, the dream is stopped.

The Internet search giant used a keynote slot at the annual NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) conference to quash rumors of a so-called "Gtunes" store--much to the delight of retailers attending the confab.

"We are not going to be selling music," Chris Sacca, head of business development for Google, said in a Thursday address to music merchants and distributors during the August 2-5 event in Kissimmee, Fla.

Talk of a Google digital music solution has been swirling for more than a year. A Bear Stearns analyst predicted in January that a Google rival to Apple's iTunes Music Store could come in as little as six months. And speculation intensified as the company branched into selling music videos from Sony BMG via Google Video, and offering a new dedicated music search function.

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Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Google, Music, Gtune

Google to Block Malicious Sites

This is a good news I heard from the net. Google is going to show a warning message to its users before entering the malicious sites. That would be useful for those unsuspecting users. Below is the news:

Google officially launched a feature Friday that will alert users of its search engine when they visit a site suspected of distributing badware. The service is a partnership between Google and StopBadware.org, an organization aimed at stopping the spread of malicious software.

Before accessing the offending page, a page will list what issues StopBadware had uncovered in its own investigation of the page. Additionally, the page will offer the owners of the page suggestions on how to have the page removed from the organizations list.

The group is continuing its research, so not all pages will include detailed information just yet, it said. "But as we finish researching sites, we'll replace the general page with one of our individual website reports," of which it provided an example.

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Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Google, Malicious

Joke for 6 Aug

How do you call a positively charged pussy cat?

A CATion.

=======================
Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Joke

Click here for CLICK

This is a very good movie!!! I haven't thought before I watched it, it would have given me two opposite senses by the end of the showtime. Walkaholics should really watch this movie and it's now time for them to change their life style. You think it's awfully non-sense but just funny? No way! That's a good teaching movie. Watch the trailer here.

It's now in cinema in SG although it's been released since June.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Click, Movie, Comedy

Water Balloon

A water balloon blown in slow motion!!! You can see a body of water forming the shape of a balloon!!! Spectacular shot by an awesome camera!!!

Watch here.

Until then...

Justin

Funny jokes about Myanmar Moives

I got this joke from a friend of mine (mmhan). It's so funny that I feel like posting it up. You can read the whole 100 jokes here which I directly link from mmhan blog.

Until then...

Justin

PS - Language: Burmese

Technorati Tags: Joke, Myanmar Movies

Joke for 2 Aug

Thanks to a friend of mine from NTU. This joke comes from his email. To enjoy the joke, you need to be familiar with C programming language though.

Software Engineer at Birth

The teacher asked a student to write an imposition for 500 times of "I will not throw paper airplanes in the class."

The student wrote:

#include
int main()
{
int count;
for(count=1; count<=500; count++)
printf("I will not thrwo paper airplanes in the class. \n");
return 0;
}

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Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Joke

Photosynth

Microsoft is planning to change your 2D images into a 3D world!!! According to its lab, they are developing a new application called Photosynth that can analyze multiple 2D images and then turn them into 3D. Microsoft has long been doing analysis of 2D images and stitch them together to generate a wider or panoramic view of a scene. Now, they have taken a step further to even move into 3D world. How are they going to accomplish it? In my guess, it will be a great work for them and the application will not be ready until after next year.

In the meanwhile, if you want to take a look at the video tour of the future product, you can watch it here.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Photosynth, Live Lab

IE 7 is going to be a MUST

Because I like tabbed browsing, I use IE as well as Firefox. I have like IE 7 since its beta 2. But the beta 3 caused me some kind of disappointment in that it doesn't close the tabs as quickly as Firefox does, and the performance seems to be inferior to Firefox's. IE 7 is going to be a final release sooner or later.

You might be using IE 7 betas or you might not like it. But, you have no choice once IE 7 makes into a final release. Microsoft is going to distribute the final version of IE 7 via Automatic Updates since they consider that the security features in IE 7 are necessary and thus upgrading to IE 7 is a MUST.

But, if you really hate those upgrades and don't want to be forced to install IE 7, you can block it by setting your Automatic Update to "download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them". To change that setting, right-click on My Computer (it is on the desktop or on your start menu), and then click Properties. After that, choose the Automatic Update tab in the window that appears.

For those who don't want to use IE 7 but like tabbed browsing, you can opt to download Firefox which is completely a freeware and works as well as or even better than IE 7. Also Google recommends Firefox for safer browsing although it might be due to advertising purposes between the two parties. Anyway, if you plan to download firefox, I have some good extensions, adds-on to extend the functionality of Firefox. First, you need to install an extension called FEBE and you can click Tools > FEBE > Restore > Restore Extensiions, and choose the file you donwloaded.

Until then...

Justin



Technorati Tags: IE 7, Automatic Update, Firefox

Office 2007 Beta Fee!!

A few months ago, I mentioned about Office 2007 Beta download. Now Microsoft is going to charge $1.5 for each download, starting from yesterday. Too bad! But, I was lucky enough to have saved the Setup files and the serial keys. For those who just came to know Office 2007 and plan to download the beta soon, that would be a distressing news, but there's no choice unless you can copy the Setup file and some spare serial keys.

Until then...

Justin

Flip 3D

Windows Vista has a new Flip 3D functionality which allows you to see live preview of your open windows in a tilted 3D style. You can watch a video here. If you want this emulation on your Windows XP computer, you can take a look at this application. I haven't tested it yet and I don't think I want this "so-called cute" Flip 3D even on my Windows Vista computer; it just takes up extra memory. But, if you are like those cute effects on your computer, then Flip 3D might be for you.

Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Flip 3D, TopDesk

Fake Spyware Wallpaper

This is a Q&A from a magazine I read recently. I find it interesting as the attack tries to change your wallpaper and replace with theirs with a fake message that your computer is infected with Spyware.

Below is the copy from the magazine.

==============================

How do I get rid of Raze wallpaper hijacker?

QUESTION
My desktop background has been replaced by a red background with a black rectangle in the center. A message that flashes says " DANGER SPYWARE". There is a link that says RazeSpyware starting at $49.99. How do I get rid of this background?? Thank you. - Larry H.

ANSWER:
Raze is one of those products that purports to be a legit anti-spyware tool but uses scummy tactics of its own, in this case by holding your desktop wallpaper hostage until you buy their program. It works like this: Raze infects your computer with a Trojan that adds an HTML page in your Windows directory as index.html and installs it as your wallpaper. The page contains messages saying your computer is infected and prompts you to download Raze to protect yourself. The program has NOT checked your computer and the messages that you're infected are fake.

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Until then...

Justin



Technorati Tags: Spyware

Joke for 1 Aug

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."

=========================
Until then...

Justin

Technorati Tags: Joke