USB 3.0

I was surprised to read on Wired today that’s it been eight years since the last update to the USB standard that is ubiquitous amongst today’s electronic devices. Now it seems is a good time for an update, and that’s where USB 3.0 comes in.
USB 3.0 will allow data exchange of 4.8 Gigabits per second which is ten times faster that USB 2.0! That means you can transfer a bluray movie in approximately one minute!

At a glance:USB 3.0

* Faster: Ten times faster than USB 2.0 and six times faster than FireWire 800
* Greater power efficiency: New interrupt driven protocol optimizes power management.
* Better Power Output: Power output bump to 900 milliamps from 100 milliamps allows more devices to be charged faster via USB.
* Backward Compatible: New Connectors and cables will work with work with devices running the older USB 2.0

Filed under: Geek

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New Plugins for Windows Live Photo Gallery

Yummy! No longer will I have to use the god-forsaken Facebook photo upload tool – thank you Will Duff!!!! http://blogs.msdn.com/pix/pages/Plug_2D00_ins.aspx

Windows Live Photo Gallery (Beta) and Windows Live Movie Maker (Beta) make it simple to add publishing support for 3rd party sharing services. Simply download and install a plug-in and start publishing. Note: plug-ins only work with the new beta versions of Photo Gallery and Movie Maker available here.



LiveUpload to Facebook - Created by Will Duff. LiveUpload to Facebook is a plug-in for Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta that makes it easy for anyone to upload their photos to Facebook. The plug-in takes advantage of the new people tagging feature in Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta to persist your people tags onto Facebook.

LiveUpload to YouTube - Created by Will Duff. LiveUpload to YouTube is a plug-in for Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta and Windows Live Movie Maker Beta that makes it easy for anyone to upload their videos straight to YouTube.

Publish on SmugMug - Created by Omar Shahine. Publish on SmugMug is a plug-in for Photo Gallery & Movie Maker that supports publishing photos and video to the photo sharing site SmugMug.

Publish on Flickr - Created by Windows Live. Did you know Flickr is already supported in Windows Live Photo Gallery? Look on the Publish menu!

Picasa Web Publisher - Created by Mark Steeves. Picasa Web Publisher is a publishing plugin for Photo Gallery. Picasa Web Publisher enables you to publish your photos to your Picasa Web account.

Drupal Publisher - Created by Chris Charabaruk. Drupal Publisher for Photo Gallery provides a quick and easy way to post your photos on a Drupal web site. Some experience with setting up Drupal modules may be required.

... We will be updating this page with links to more great plug-ins as they come available. Keep checking back!


Are you a developer?

Start building your own publish plug-in today using our SDK. Take a look at the resources we've provided at http://dev.live.com/photogallery.

Filed under: Live, Windows Live

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MySpace Puts The Hammer Down On Project Playlist

MySpace is getting back into the business of blocking third party widgets, it seems - today they’ve banned embedded music widgets from the fast growing Project Playlist. But unlike previous 2006 and 2007 blocks of iMeem, Photobucket and many others, this time MySpace is doing it under threat of litigation from the major labels.We first got word from MySpace users that their Playlist widgets are simply vanishing from their MySpace profiles earlier today. When we contacted MySpace they confirmed the ban, noting that they have received infringement notices from “major music companies”:

MySpace is an open platform that welcomes all developers to build rich and legitimate applications for its global community. We take copyright issues very seriously and our goal is to help developers build a substantial business by creating an environment that respects rights holders and protects their content.

MySpace has received notices of infringement about Project Playlist at different times from several of the major music companies currently suing Project Playlist. Per our policy of taking very seriously the requests of rights holders to block access to third party sites that are believed to be infringing, we have evaluated the requests of the major music companies and determined that it is in our best interest not to allow Project Playlist widgets on MySpace, and effective immediately, we will no longer be allowing these widgets within the MySpace platform. Any third party widgets (including any music widgets) are welcome on MySpace so long as they do not include infringing content—we encourage our users to utilize the many legitimate applications found on MySpace and across the Web.

Those major music companies are likely Warner Music, Universal Music Group and EMI, which have been in litigation with Project Playlist since April 2008. This is both a ban and a scrub, meaning users can’t add new widgets and all old widgets are being removed from the site.

Apparently this isn’t the first time the two companies have come to blows. MySpace also blocked Project Playlist earlier this year in March, but the company was able to evade the block with some success.

An industry source also confirms that Facebook has been served with the same notice of infringement. As of now, Playlist is still live on that site.

Project Playlist recently hired former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta as CEO and raised an undisclosed round of financing.

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Facebook Stares Down Labels Over Project Playlist Takedown Demand

Earlier this afternoon MySpace scrubbed all traces of Project Playlist music widgets from the site, and users are unable to embed any further playlists. The scrub was the result of infringement notices from the major labels, all of which are in litigation with Project Playlist.

The labels, sources say, sent the same takedown notices to Facebook, which has 660,000 users with playlists from Project Playlist. But Facebook has refused to comply with those demands, our sources say.

Facebook for their part are refusing to comment, as is Project Playlist. But our music industry sources are calling Facebook’s refusal to comply “irresponsible” and saying that a lawsuit is inevitable if Facebook doesn’t remove the application and widgets.

It’s not clear Facebook is fully aware of what they’re stepping into (although the experience of Mark Zuckerberg’s friend Sean Parker, who is the founding President of Facebook and the cofounder of Napster, with labels should give them some indication). The labels aren’t screwing around, and their fury with Project Playlist, who they say have been stalling on a music licensing deal for months, is unchecked.

Expect users to give Facebook a big thumbs up for staring down the labels. My question is, how far is Facebook willing to go to protect Project Playlist? The potential litigation exposure is massive.

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Scientists Hack Cellphone to Analyze Blood, Detect Disease, Help Developing Nations

LOS ANGELES — A new MacGyver-esque cellphone hack could bring cheap, on-the-spot disease detection to even the most remote villages on the planet. Using only an LED, plastic light filter and some wires, scientists at UCLA have modded a cellphone into a portable blood tester capable of detecting HIV, malaria and other illnesses.Blood tests today require either refrigerator-sized machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or a trained technician who manually identifies and counts cells under a microscope. These systems are slow, expensive and require dedicated labs to function. And soon they could be a thing of the past.

UCLA researcher Dr. Aydogan Ozcan images thousands of blood cells instantly by placing them on an off-the-shelf camera sensor and lighting them with a filtered-light source (coherent light, for you science buffs). The filtered light exposes distinctive qualities of the cells, which are then interpreted by Ozcan's custom software. By analyzing the cell types present in a much larger sample, a more accurate diagnosis can be made in a matter of minutes. No more sending blood away to a lab and waiting days or weeks for the results.

Click through the gallery for Wired.com's exclusive first look at Ozcan’s hacked cellphone devices.

UP: This off-the-shelf Sony Ericsson cellphone has been modded into a LUCAS imager. LUCAS is a selective acronym for Lensfree Ultrawide-field Cell-monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging.

The bulge on the back is the filtered light source that illuminates the sample. This low-cost hack could revolutionize disease detection in the field.

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1by1 is the player for people that just want to play music located in folders

Overview:

1by1 is a small, fast and handy audio player which is not only small: it provides a smart and versatile environment to handle your file collection and listen to your tracks - with no need for playlists or databases.


Features:

# Directory Player: directly plays your folder contents
# Full Resume play: remembers last track and position
# Supported decoders: ACM (mp3), mpglib (mp2, mp3)
# Winamp input plugin support (ogg, wav, cd..)
# Gapless play · simple crossfading · Audio enhancer
# Folder tree file navigation · Directory finder: plays a whole drive
# File utils: copy, move, rename while play, delete, date change
# Cue sheet support · Playlist support · Favorites · Big title display
# Very small size · Low resource usage · portable
# Folder compare utility


Review:
1by1 is a small, portable and simple music player that focuses on playing music from folders. It can't browse using tags so you will have to do with filenames only. 1by1 supports playlists, favorites , gapless playback and a has an audio enhancer that works with 16 bit output. By default 1by1 only support MP2 and MP3 files however you can install Winamp plugins in order to make 1by1 play OGG, WAV, Etc. files. Even tough 1by1 doesn't have tag browsing it has something called "big display" which is a panel that can show several things like for example: A VU meter, a song IDV3 tag, the current time and album art. It actually looks pretty nice as you can see in the screenshot i took and you can change its' color and font.
Anyway 1by1 is a simple player for playing tracks from folders, just keep in mind that if you want to use it from a pendrive you must extract the installer contents using 7-zip or other file archiver. Available for all versions of Windows.


Get it at http://mpesch3.de1.cc/1by1.html

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Opera@USB makes the super fast Opera browser portable

Overview:

Opera@USB has the same features as a normal desktop version, surf the web, write emails, use IRC while having your contacts, bookmarks and settings with you - anytime and everywhere.


Features:

- there are no unwanted effects on IE or other browsers
- existing Opera versions are not affected
- make no entries to the registry
- works with every Windows PC (company,Internetcafe, friends,..)
- leave no data on the host computer


Review:

Opera@USB attemps to make the Opera browser fully portable with pretty good results in my opinion. All of Opera features along with it's trademark speed are packed into a zip file which can be placed into a pendrive and launched normally. Opera@USB supports a wide variety of languages so if your an international person the chances that your language is supported are very high. The only drawback with this program is that it only works with Windows, that sucks when you think the original Opera browser works with Windows, Linux and MacOSX.
In conclusion Opera@USB is a pretty good way of running Opera from your pendrive oh and if you are looking for a more anonymising alternative then try OperaTor. Available for all Windows versions.

Get it at http://www.opera-usb.com/

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10 Advertising Words to Avoid in 2009

The economy, unemployment, companies folding, people losing their homes--2008 has left consumers wary of businesses. And that lack of consumer confidence requires straightforward, honest advertising messages to regain marketplace security. In 2009, perhaps more than ever, the words you use in your copywriting can determine whether you make a sale or lose a customer.
Here are 10 words to avoid in your 2009 copywriting.

1. Free
Ads that include messages about a free product or service promotions can work well during an economic downturn, but consumers need to see the products perform well. E-mail spam filters are tough on messages that include "free" in the subject line. While it might be tempting to use a subject line that says, "Open now to get your free widget," that's an e-mail spam filter red flag that will send your message to most recipients' spam boxes. When the economy is tough, you can't risk having your e-mails not make it to the intended recipients. Replace "free" with "complimentary" or "gratis" to sneak by spam filters without compromising the effectiveness of your message.

2. Guarantee
Few people believe in guarantees these days. Unless you can prove your guarantee is real, use the valuable real estate space in your ad for a more effective message that consumers are likely to believe and act on.

3. Really
If you want to waste space in your ads, include "really" in your copy. This word does nothing to help your messages. Instead, it slows consumers down, and they are not likely to wait around for the complete message. Don't risk losing them by loading your copy with useless filler words. Make sure every word in your copy is there for a reason.

4. Very
Does a message sound more compelling with "very" in it? Is "When you need very fresh flowers, call ABC Florist," more effective than "When you need fresh flowers, call ABC Florist"? If you answered, yes, reread the last paragraph.

5. That
Once you finish writing copy for your ad or marketing piece, reread it and make note of every time you use "that" in your copy. Chances are, you can delete 90 percent of them because "that" is a filler word that doesn't advance the consumer through the message. Instead, it slows down time-strapped consumers. Deliver the messages your audience is likely to respond to, and deliver them quickly.

6. A Lot
Don't use vague copy with words like "a lot" that do nothing to differentiate your business from your competitors. Instead, quantify your messages. If you offer 20 varieties of roses in your flower shop, say so. If you respond to customer service calls within five minutes, tell people. Which is more compelling: "You can choose from a lot of shoe styles at Sally's Shoe Boutique" or "You can choose from more than 100 shoe styles at Sally's Shoe Boutique?" No doubt, "100 shoe styles" is more intriguing than "a lot of shoe styles". A lot can mean different things to different people. Don't leave room for guesswork in your copy. Make your messages extremely clear with no room for confusion.

7. Opportunity
You're not helping anyone when you offer "opportunities" in your copy. Consumers don't want opportunities. They want to feel confident handing over their hard-earned money. They want to know they'll get the results they want and need, not the opportunity to perhaps get those results. Don't let them wonder what they'll get when they pull out their wallets. Tell them.

8. To Be (or Not To Be, For That Matter)
Write your advertising and marketing messages in the active voice, not the passive voice. If any form of "to be," "has been" or anything similar appears in your copy, rewrite it. Writing in the passive voice doesn't command action. Writing in the active voice does.

9. Synergy
This overused piece of jargon has had a long life, but it's time to move on. Leave jargon and 10-dollar words out of your advertising messages. There's no room in copywriting for buzz words and words that consumers need a dictionary to understand. Consumers don't care about your "unique value proposition." They care that when they pay for your product or service, it will deliver the results they expect. Naturally, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as B2B copywriting, where jargon might be expected. In most copywriting, however, keep it simple.

10. Drinkability
Budweiser is already using "drinkability" in its ads. Seriously though, the point is valid--don't copy your competition. Instead, differentiate your product and business with unique copy and messages that your target audience is likely to respond to.

The rules of successful copywriting don't change from one year to the next, but as the marketplace and environment change, so must your messages. Use the list above as a guideline to writing great advertising copy in 2009.

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Shopping Comparison Engines Will Boost Sales

Customers viewing results on a comparison shopping engine are twice as likely to convert into sales. That means if you haven't already submitted your site and products to the web's top shopping comparison sites, you're missing out on a ton of high-converting traffic.
Essentially, shopping sites are mini search engines that put shoppers in touch with a wide variety of products. Shoppers can search by product category or keyword to bring up a list of products from a variety of merchants. Many shopping engines allow searchers to compare characteristics such as price, product ratings or customer reviews.

Chances are you've landed on one of these sites before, if only by accident. In fact, a majority of shoppers find shopping engine listings while searching on regular search engines such as Google.

The big search engines love these shopping portals because they're:

* Loaded with millions of frequently updated product listings
* Chock-full of keywords
* Valuable to visitors because of their comparison and review features

Because shopping-engine listings rise to the top of the general search engine rankings so quickly, a shopping site can be your pipeline to a top ranking for your top keywords and products--without doing any of the extensive optimization work yourself.

However, it's not enough to submit your products blindly to each site. According to Shopping.com, the top three listed merchants get 50 percent of all clicks, so the higher in the appropriate listings your website appears, the better.

So how do you get your products to the top? Well, each shopping site uses a different set of criteria to list products, so you'll need a unique strategy for each one. The good news is there's only a handful of strategies to learn.

Let's take a look at your top shopping strategies:

* Pay for an enhanced listing. Some shopping engines, such as Nextag.com, will allow you to pay your way to a top listing. The ones that charge you based on the cost per click usually give you the option of paying more for each click to appear higher in the results. Others will allow you to pay a flat fee for top billing or to display an advertisement for your products across their networks.

* Compete on price. On shopping sites such as PriceGrabber, Shopping.com and Shopzilla, the products with the lowest prices appear at the top by default. Other sites allow users to sort listings by price even if that's not the default. So in a highly competitive area, you may want to discount your product to attract shoppers. These lowest-price shopping engines work best if you're selling collectibles or hard-to-find items; otherwise you're competing against the likes of Walmart, Sony and Office Depot.

* Boost your merchant/user rating. At sites such as Yahoo Shopping and Shopping.com, your merchant rating increases as you attract more customers and get glowing customer reviews for your site and products. The higher your merchant rating, the higher you'll appear in the listings. So encourage your customers to review your products and website for you. If that doesn't work, offer an incentive.

* Optimize your product listings for relevant keywords. Shopping engines such as Google Base and MSN Live Product Search display listings based on their relevance to keyword searches. You upload your product listings to shopping sites through data feeds. These provide fields for you to describe your product in detail. It's essential to optimize your data feeds if you want your listing to appear when someone searches for what you offer.



Home > Online Business > E-Business Columnist > Shopping Comparison Engines Will Boost Sales
Derek Gehl: E-Business
Shopping Comparison Engines Will Boost Sales
Get your products to the top of search-engine listings with the help of these portal sites.
By Derek Gehl | December 12, 2008
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Customers viewing results on a comparison shopping engine are twice as likely to convert into sales. That means if you haven't already submitted your site and products to the web's top shopping comparison sites, you're missing out on a ton of high-converting traffic.

Essentially, shopping sites are mini search engines that put shoppers in touch with a wide variety of products. Shoppers can search by product category or keyword to bring up a list of products from a variety of merchants. Many shopping engines allow searchers to compare characteristics such as price, product ratings or customer reviews.

Chances are you've landed on one of these sites before, if only by accident. In fact, a majority of shoppers find shopping engine listings while searching on regular search engines such as Google.

The big search engines love these shopping portals because they're:

* Loaded with millions of frequently updated product listings
* Chock-full of keywords
* Valuable to visitors because of their comparison and review features

Because shopping-engine listings rise to the top of the general search engine rankings so quickly, a shopping site can be your pipeline to a top ranking for your top keywords and products--without doing any of the extensive optimization work yourself.

However, it's not enough to submit your products blindly to each site. According to Shopping.com, the top three listed merchants get 50 percent of all clicks, so the higher in the appropriate listings your website appears, the better.

So how do you get your products to the top? Well, each shopping site uses a different set of criteria to list products, so you'll need a unique strategy for each one. The good news is there's only a handful of strategies to learn.

Let's take a look at your top shopping strategies:

* Pay for an enhanced listing. Some shopping engines, such as Nextag.com, will allow you to pay your way to a top listing. The ones that charge you based on the cost per click usually give you the option of paying more for each click to appear higher in the results. Others will allow you to pay a flat fee for top billing or to display an advertisement for your products across their networks.
* Compete on price. On shopping sites such as PriceGrabber, Shopping.com and Shopzilla, the products with the lowest prices appear at the top by default. Other sites allow users to sort listings by price even if that's not the default. So in a highly competitive area, you may want to discount your product to attract shoppers. These lowest-price shopping engines work best if you're selling collectibles or hard-to-find items; otherwise you're competing against the likes of Walmart, Sony and Office Depot.
* Boost your merchant/user rating. At sites such as Yahoo Shopping and Shopping.com, your merchant rating increases as you attract more customers and get glowing customer reviews for your site and products. The higher your merchant rating, the higher you'll appear in the listings. So encourage your customers to review your products and website for you. If that doesn't work, offer an incentive.
* Optimize your product listings for relevant keywords. Shopping engines such as Google Base and MSN Live Product Search display listings based on their relevance to keyword searches. You upload your product listings to shopping sites through data feeds. These provide fields for you to describe your product in detail. It's essential to optimize your data feeds if you want your listing to appear when someone searches for what you offer.

Each shopping portal has different allowances when it comes to how much information you can include, so read the fine print.


Now that you know the secrets to landing a top shopping portal ranking, let's take a look at some of the biggest and best shopping sites--and what you can do to land in their top three.

Free to list
Google Base--Optimize your data feed and website product pages.

TheFind.com--Optimize your data feed and your own web pages, paying particular attention to your product pages.


Free, but you can pay for better placement or sponsored listings
Live Product Search--Optimize your data feed and web pages, compete on price, boost your user rating.

PriceRunner.com--Pay for better placement, compete on price.

Nextag--Pay for better placement.

Cost-per click
MyTriggers.com--Optimize your data feed and web pages, compete on price (best if you're selling collectibles or hard-to-find items).

Shopping.com--Pay more per click, compete on price, boost your "trusted store" rating.

Yahoo Shopping--Pay for better placement, compete on price.

Amazon Shopping--Optimize your data feed, pay for better placement.

Pronto--Optimize your data feed, boost your store rating, write product reviews of related products.

Ask Shopping--Pay more per click, boost your rating.

PriceGrabber--Pay for a higher listing, optimize your data feed.

Shopzilla--Pay for better placement, optimize your data feed.

Shopping sites are online malls. They attract people who are primed and ready to buy. So they're where you want to be, too.

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DLL Removal

Dynamic Link Libraries, or DLL, were created by Microsoft to run much of the operating system. Some programs contain a lot of different modules and these are all linked together with DLLs, making them run smoothly. When a program is changed-that is, when you download a newer version of one-this means that the entire program doesn't have to be re-coded, just certain modules. Code can be re-used and the programs load more quickly and run faster as well as taking up less space on your hard drive. Since DLL files aren't loaded into random access memory (RAM), you have more memory at your disposal during your computer session.
But sometimes DLL is a distinct disadvantage and even dangerous to the health of your computer. You may only go to sites that you think are safe. You might use your computer only for research and emails. You do everything you can to keep your computer free of viruses but still something goes wrong sometimes. You may even have unwittingly downloaded a worm or virus from a pornography site that you've never heard of or thought about viewing! DLL files are the cause of these woes.

Browser plugins and browser hijackers are both made of DLL files that change your system to let others have access to your computer. Other DLL files aren't malicious but cause trouble because the user didn't properly remove a program or application they no longer wanted on their computer. DLLs that are unwittingly left behind when a program isn't removed correctly can interfere with other files and if the DLL is malicious it can recreated itself when you reboot the computer.

Are you looking for a great resource to use when applying preventative measures or restoring your computer back to health. You can find the right software programs to remove all those DLL files safely and permanently. That way you'll have everything you need in order to safely identify and remove DLL files that may be causing your computer to malfunction, slow down or have trouble navigating the internet.

It is especially important to have DLL protection if you use the internet often. As you surf, doing research or chatting with friends on what you think are safe websites, there are a lot of DLLs floating about that can attach themselves to your computer. Click on the advertisement of a product you're interested in? You may be downloaded a DLL from a pornography site; those types of sites do everything they can to expose themselves to you whether you want them to or not. When chatting with someone or sharing pictures or other files, you may be exposing yourself to a malicious DLL.

You need help avoiding all the trouble and expense of cleaning your computer and help preventing the problem in the first place. Your computer is an integral part of your personal and business life. It's up to you to protect it.

For more information on removing computer programs, visit http://www.dllremoval.com and http://www.hostingprivateserver.com

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How to Re-Calibrate Your Laptop Battery?

It is difficult to predict how long a laptop battery charge will last because each computer user has different habits and needs. The rate at which you use laptop battery power will determine how long you can use the battery of your laptop. You can re-calibrate your laptop battery if the battery's life has gotten shorter over time. Your laptop battery might need a good calibration if it doesn't seem to be getting the mileage that it should. How to re-calibrate laptop battery? The following paragraphs will give you the answer.

First put the laptop computer to sleep by turning off the screensaver and other power management settings of the computer. Then fully charge the computer and allow it to run all the way down until the computer shuts off automatically. Once the laptop battery has fully drained, charge it back up again and restore the screensaver and power management settings.
Re-calibrate your battery every month or so by fully charging, fully discharging, and then fully charging again. Basically to have a chance to re-calibrate your laptop battery is to turn off all power-saving features completely and then fully recharge them. If it doesn't work for the first time then try two more full discharges and recharges.

The above way of re-calibrating the laptop batteries works well with laptops using Ni-MH cells. But not with laptops using Li-Ion batteries because deep discharges will actually decrease the charge capacity and lifespan of Li-Ion cells. Moreover Li-ion batteries irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year from the time of manufacture at a typical 100% charge level at 25deg.C, even when unused. Li-ion batteries irreversibly lose approximately 2%, 4%, 15% at 0deg.C, 25deg.C and 40deg.C respectively, when stored at 40% charge level. That is every deep discharge cycle decreases the capacity of the Li-ion batteries. As the Li-Ion batteries are chemical in nature, charging and recharging is not going to fix the problem once the chemical reactions stop happening. Therefore the best advice for re-calibrating the Li-Ion batteries is to store the battery at 40% charge if it kept unused for any unlimited period of time. Also don't leave the battery in the laptop if you don't use the battery or if you plug the laptop into outlet power.

You can also re-calibrate your laptop battery using IBM Thinkpad Battery Maximizer in order to maximize your laptop battery's life. If your laptop has IBM ThinkPad Battery MaxiMiser and Power Management features installed, you can verify the condition of the laptop battery. You can check the status of your battery using the Battery MaxiMiser Gauge in the taskbar tray. The ThinkPad's Lithium Ion battery pack that seems to be an intelligent battery uses a microprocessor to monitor its capacity. Then the microprocessor of the battery pack passes the information about the remaining battery capacity to the laptop. The laptop indicates the capacity with high accuracy.

Using the HP Laptop Battery Learning Utility, a modified version of a Win98 boot floppy, can also help you. Just place it in the floppy drive, and then turn on the computer. The re-calibration process is automated and takes about six hours to finish. This utility is available in different versions for different models. You can run the utility every two months.

If the laptop battery is still bad then it must have developed a memory that cannot be erased easily. If calibration doesn't help, then it is the right time to purchase another battery.

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The Science of Getting Repeated Website Visitors

The visitors that once came across your website or your blog might never ever return. Or there is a possibility of them returning back to your blog. Just imagine, if you get 1000 visitors on a day and then on the second day you get 1000 new visitors and the 1000 that came yesterday. Ya, on the second day you will get 2000 visitors and if the trend follows, your website hits will increase in geometric progression. Doesn’t it seem awesome? Ya, it is. Now, an important question.

What decides return visits?

Think of going to a shop. The goods you see there are available at many other stores too. Then, what makes a shop your favourite? It is the way the seller speaks to you, the surrounding ambience, the convinient location, the quality of the goods and of course, affordable and cheaper items.

These all are what your blog or your website demands. Of course, some little modifications are necessary to the statement. Your blog demands “to-the-topic content”, easy to understand language, good layout and last but not the least, concern for your visitors. You can show this concern by replying to the comments of your visitors. Giving them help they need with your “niche” and allow them comment their freaking minds. Of course, please do moderate spams.

A great web development project or a niche blog development requires repeated visiotrs if you want to sustain the competitions in your niche. I have often dropped plans of websites because I wasn’t able to figure out my jobs in order to get reapeated visitors and sustain the web-idea.

Your competitos always survive for a reason and that reason must be found out. You must know why people trust their brands or go to their site. Everything that your competitior has achieved is your bare minimum. You must further overcome your competitors in getting repeated visiotrs if you want them to beat in their own game.

Here is five questions that you must seek answers to:

1. Is your blog theme competent to your content?
2. Is your blog full of ads?
3. Do you conduct polls or open discussions with your readers?
4. Do you provide them freedom to express their comments?
5. Do you reply to the comments and queries made by your readers?

And, last Does yourblog fulfill its mission statement or promise to the public?

Once you have answered all these questions successfully, you will be able to understand your mistakes and would attract repeated visitors, increased traffic and (if you own an e-commerce website) an increase in sales.

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Speed PC in Seconds

The most common problems "slowing down" issue that facing most PC users. Windows PCs had long tradition when not managing well with interrupted files and programs scattered around the hard drive. Most times, large number of unnecessary background programs likely to slow your computer to a crawling speed without any valid reasons.
Sometimes the best way to optimize the PC using all-in-one offer full utilities reliable formula. You're not all alone, but don't worry - I'll show you e-book how you can eliminate most of the problems without spending money for upgrading or buying a new computer.

Let's not be worry about the e-book report. If you're not a technically-challenge type of person. The author of PC Secret Formula simplified the report with video tutorial easy to understand. Anyone with knowledge to watch the video to follow the steps to apply the PC Secret Formula. These report is not complicated jargon but with step by step screenshots provided for application.

The techniques providing full description tips for tweaking without any harmful or files deletion. All files are remain intact. You are experiencing a new advanced D I Y techniques to speed up PC that most people don't know or have any clues about. With PC Secret Formula report/video tutorial tips, you are able to improve the computer performance. For sure, you be willingly to share this skill knowledge with friends.

PC Secret Formula is an INCREDIBLE STRATEGIES and TACTICS the author had formulated to improve computer performance.

1. The amazing First 5 Steps to Blazing PC. The author exact techniques used for his clients and even his

own to achieve ultimate results.

2. For security- you will love this part - the author 3 modes of Personal Defense Strategy to protect and

secure your PC for external defense. I think you have no clues about it.

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Microsoft's best kept hidden secret - these tweaking will greatly turn your PC into speedy gonzales.

4. Slice Up Boot time - you learn the techniques tips to free those unwanted programs to create precious

resources. Thus enable the PC have more breathing space. So to speak.

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to maintain and restore perform on weekly used.

Let's look at the value of PC Secret Formula - this revealed how effectively this formula that showed reliability from the techniques report/video tutorial guide. You don't need any technical jargons in order to use the tips. To me, this 27 pages report you can apply on any old and new computers and even for future used. Therefore my rating 10 out of 10 without any single doubt and I consider is a good investment with value for your money.

This formula is much more effectively that able to boast your PC speed faster. It is also applicable on old PCs too. You are getting more value in term of your investment on this formula system other than online soft-wares.

For your information click the site here - http://hubpages.com/hub/Powerful-E-Formula-Whip-PC-Speed-In-Seconds

If you want to save time and money - PC Secret Formula is the answer for you. You can check on site and compare on other software.

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Making YouTube Work for Your Business

Keep it short
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley says the average viewing time for a clip on the site is 2.5 minutes. That should tell you something. Viewers do not visit YouTube for an hour-long discourse. Newsom's series was broken into 10 segments that lasted approximately 45 minutes apiece. However, his introduction, which lasted less than a minute and a half, garnered 12,000 views in the first week. The longer segments only attracted 100 views during that time period. People simply don't have the time, nor, in most cases, the inclination to watch anyone for more than 10 minutes, even in person. Research shows that people watching a presentation tend to tune out after approximately 10 minutes. Attention spans are even shorter online. Keep your YouTube clips under three minutes. If your presentation is longer, edit the segments, and upload them as shorter clips.

Make it loud and clear
When I worked as a CNN correspondent, my videographers would spend a lot of time setting up audio for interviews. They would tell me viewers will forgive bad video but not bad audio. However, very few video clips on YouTube make use of an external microphone. Most users simply use the built-in microphone on the camera, which results in very poor audio quality, and is sometimes completely unintelligible. Always use an external microphone. You can buy an unobtrusive clip-on microphone from Radio Shack (RSH) or Best Buy (BBY) for $20 to $50. You might even consider spending a little more for a wireless microphone and transmitter. To his credit, Newsom delivered his presentation with a microphone clipped on to his suit lapel. The length may have been too long, but his voice was loud and clear.

Avoid bulleted PowerPoints
What works in person doesn't necessarily work on YouTube. Newsom stood in front of a monitor and advanced traditional PowerPoint slides in the background. Bullet points on slides are hard enough to see in person on a large screen; slides on YouTube are impossible to see. I don't believe in using bullet points anyway, and in this case, the slides were a real distraction. All one could make out were blurry words behind Newsom. The fact is, most presentations do not translate well on YouTube. If you're going to share a presentation that you delivered, use a program to edit your presentation into shorter segments first, insert full-screen slides, and then upload the talk.

YouTube is a great potential resource for your business. It can jump-start your marketing by creating a more personal, direct connection between you and your customers. But try to understand what works and what doesn't before you jump in. People will forgive bad lighting and audio at your daughter's school play, but they expect more from your business.

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Google's Android Gains More Powerful Followers

Today is a dark day for Nokia and Microsoft: Telco Vodafone, equipment maker Ericsson and handset maker Sony Ericsson have joined Google’s camp in making rival cell-phone software.

Today, Open Handset Alliance (OHA), a Google-led consortium of companies developing mobile-phone software Android, announced 14 new members, these three huge companies among them. Other impressive additions include AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Teleca AB and Toshiba Corporation.

What does it all mean? One, that sales of the first Android-based phone, the T-Mobile G1, must be going very well. Only available for sale since this fall, the iPhone-like device made by long-time OHA member HTC is expected to sell around 500,000 units this year. Now, handset makers like new member Ericsson, which plans to release its Android device in mid-2009, want in on the action — particularly since the cost of Android-based handsets is lower than that of phones made with operating systems from Nokia and Microsoft, according to researcher NPD Group. Motorola recently announced it’s going to focus on Android come next year as well.

Second, and most important, carriers and handset makers who’ve just joined the Alliance are, in effect, expressing their dissatisfaction with Android’s long-established rivals, Nokia’s Symbian and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software. And no wonder. Symbian is going through a major restructuring, and it’s unclear exactly what it will look like come next year. Microsoft has been losing developer interest, sources tell me.

The bottom line: Until today, Android’s future looked uncertain. Only a minor handset maker, HTC, was making Android-based phones. T-Mobile was the only carrier globally to offer G1, and only in a few markets, including the U.S. Motorola’s support helped but not that much, as the company is in a fragile financial state, and its own future is unclear. That’s why today’s announcement is so important. Vodafone’s support is huge. The carrier has 280 million customers worldwide. Sony Ericsson’s involvement is important as well (larger handset makers like LG are already part of the Alliance). Clearly, big guns are joining this game, and lining up their pawns on Google’s side.

A side note: I find it interesting to see Austek and Toshiba in the new members list. It’s long been expected that Android will be used not only in phones but also in netbooks, which are tiny laptops with screens of less than 10.2 inches. Austek is the largest player in the netbooks category, and today’s announcement could indicate that Android-based netbooks may be coming out, and soon.

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Sony Launches PlayStation Home

After pushing back the launch date by more than a year, Sony's (SNE) video game division plans to release PlayStation Home, an online 3-D social networking service, on Dec. 11. Like Linden Labs' Second Life, Home will let users interact with others through their own computer-generated characters in a virtual setting.

Sony is counting on Home to improve the fortunes of its struggling video games unit. Home's launch comes two days after Sony announced 16,000 layoffs and other moves to cut spending as the global recession hurts demand for consumer electronics. The unit, which is in charge of the PlayStation 3 business, has been a huge drag on earnings, losing roughly $3.8 billion over the past two years. Credit Suisse (CS) has predicted that Sony's gaming unit could eke out a profit this year, but that's less than certain in the face of a long recession and an unfavorably strong Japanese yen.

Sony officials say they don't expect an immediate payoff from Home. Their plan is to offer it as a free software download to all PS3 users and to charge gaming companies and other brands to create shops, sell goods, host events, and advertise. "We think that Home will increase the opportunities for gamers to find each other," says Ryoji Akagawa, Home senior producer. "That, in turn, will increase the total number of people playing games, which is a key mission for us."

Behind the Competition
Home marks the latest phase of a rollout of online services for the PlayStation 3. Recently, Sony added video downloads to the PlayStation Network, an online smorgasbord of stuff—including games, music, movies, TV shows, and trailers—which, according to Sony, has attracted 15 million subscribers worldwide. But rival Microsoft (MSFT) still has the lead in offering a full range of online gaming and video-download services, and Nintendo (7974.T) is ahead in game console sales. In October market researcher NPD said Sony sold just 190,000 PS3s in the U.S., compared with 803,210 Nintendo Wii consoles and 371,000 Microsoft Xbox machines. (Since the PS3's release in November 2006, Sony has sold more than 16.8 million units globally. Nintendo launched its Wii that same month but has sold 34.5 million units.)

It's unclear what impact the delays will have on Home. The original plan was to have Home ready by autumn 2007. Sony Computer Entertainment chief Kaz Hirai announced the first delay in October 2007. The company had expected Home to be ready by April of this year, but instead announced another delay. In late August, the company started inviting a limited number of users worldwide to try out a working version of the service known as a "closed beta."

Sony asked for feedback to fine-tune the service before making it available to a broader audience. Among the things programmers learned: Japanese users complained that the virtual characters, or avatars, looked too Western. Home's programmers also changed the appearance of options menus and added voice-chat features. And they built in security measures so parents could prevent their children from visiting certain areas and gamers could report cyberstalkers.

No Global Interaction for U.S. Users
The beauty of Home is that it's constantly evolving. Sony officials are already considering new features that will make Home more similar to social networks like Facebook and MySpace (NWS). In time, Home users will be able to post links to outside Web sites or upload photos for others to see. Want your avatar to eat or drink? That's not possible now but it might get programmed in later, says Sony's Akagawa. With so many features, though, could Home distract gamers from playing games? "We don't really worry about that," says Shoda.

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Windows Mobile : What Microsoft Needs to Fix

In September, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer spent a week traipsing across Europe and parts of the U.S. schmoozing 17 of the world's largest handset makers and wireless carriers. It was Ballmer's longest trip ever aimed at drumming up support for Windows Mobile, the company's software for cell phones. The trip may not have been long enough.
In recent months, Microsoft's (MSFT) mobile strategy has hit a rough patch. In the third quarter, iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) shipped more smartphones than all 56 device makers that make Windows Mobile phones combined, according to research firm Canalys. As a result, Windows Mobile slid from its position as the world's second-most popular mobile operating system a year ago to the No. 4 spot, behind Nokia's (NOK) Symbian, Apple's OS X, and Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry.

Partners Warm to Rivals
The threats don't end there. While Windows Mobile shipments continue to grow, its share could slip if, as expected, Apple begins to sell its iPhone through Wal-Mart (WMT), the world's largest retailer. And T-Mobile G1, a phone based on Android, an operating system backed by Google (GOOG), has met with popular demand. Windows Mobile's share may drop to 11% this year from 12% in 2007, says Chris Ambrosio, an executive director for wireless at research firm Strategy Analytics. "On the important issues, they are chasing the market," Ambrosio says. "And they've got to chase much faster" to ensure continued carrier and handset makers' support, he adds.

That backing is far from assured. Speaking at a conference for Symbian partners and developers on Dec. 4, AT&T (T) executive Roger Smith hinted that his company, which offers seven Windows Mobile devices, would prefer to support one type of mobile software. The remarks were widely interpreted to mean AT&T, the No. 1 U.S. wireless service provider, would eventually focus solely on Symbian. Still, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel more recently said, "Microsoft continues to be an important partner for us."

Whatever approach AT&T takes, other Microsoft Microsoft partners are clearly warming to rival software providers. And in a climate where manufacturers and carriers want to narrow the list of their suppliers to reduce costs, Microsoft may not always win out. On Dec. 9, the Android movement added 14 new converts, including British carrier Vodafone (VOD) and handset maker Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, which released its first Windows Mobile-based phone, the Xperia X1, earlier this year. Cell-phone manufacturer HTC, partly owned by Microsoft, made its first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1, earlier this year.

Some longtime Windows Mobile developers are switching allegiance. Koushik Dutta, who works for a stealth startup funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, now spends as much time on Android as on Windows Mobile projects. "It will be soon mostly Android," says Koushik, who previously worked exclusively on Windows Mobile software. "I like the [Android] phone better. It's mostly a usability issue." He says Windows Mobile phones tend to lose juice fast when running graphics-intensive applications, though that's a concern voiced by some people about the G1 as well. Plus, Windows Mobile is designed for use with stylus vs. a touch interface, which is now all the rage among consumers.

But all is not lost for Microsoft. To keep partners and developers on board, analysts say Microsoft needs to adapt Windows Mobile software for use with touch interface. However, a major update may not hit the market until 2010.

Microsoft also should also follow Google's and Apple's lead in the area of wireless cloud-computing services. The move would shift energy-sapping computing power away from users' cell phones and onto the powerful servers maintained by Microsoft. Rivals are already offering such services. When you purchase an iPhone application from the Apple App Store, the payment is processed on Apple's servers rather than on an individual device. When you ask your G1 to find the nearest sushi joint, it's Google's servers and not your phone that churn out the map. In both cases, your phone doesn't do much legwork. Most of the processing is done on remote servers "in a cloud." So processing typically happens faster and it requires your handheld device to be less sophisticated—and less costly. As cloud computing spreads onto rival software-based devices, Microsoft could lose $850 million in revenue in 2012 alone, according to Bernstein Research—unless it ramps up its own efforts

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CounterPath Launches Bria for Microsoft Outlook integrating VoIP with Outlook Contacts

CounterPath Corporation announced the launch of Bria for Microsoft Outlook, which integrates CounterPath's softphone technology directly into Microsoft Outlook. CounterPath also makes the popular (& free) SIP client called X-Lite.
The toolbar gives users easy access to VoIP call control aling with personal information manager (PIM) info stored within Outlook Contacts. On an inbound or outbound call, it will automatically perform a lookup of your Contacts to find a match so you can see exactly who you are calling or who is calling you. With a minimally invasive GUI that fits right into Outlook, an application that many users "live in" as party of their daily work, Bria for Microsoft Outlook will certainly have some interest.

According to Counterpath, "Appearing as part of Outlook's toolbar, the Bria plug-in provides a non-intrusive VoIP interface that does not infringe on the PIM's traditional three-pane design or workspace real estate - preserving the productivity benefits of Outlook while integrating value-added VoIP services."

"CounterPath is committed to enabling unified communications in a way that employs a user's favored application tools, preferred operating systems and devices, and existing telephone infrastructures," said Donovan Jones, President and CEO for CounterPath. "As Microsoft Outlook is one of the most utilized PC applications in the business market today, integrating our softphone into Outlook was a logical move and positions us to fulfill the strong demand that we are seeing from our existing channel partners as well as the overall market for this type of solution. Our Bria for Microsoft Outlook application is designed to increase productivity while reducing overall costs, making the softphone experience even better."

You can click-to-dial from your Outlook Contacts, but also from a scheduled Calendar meeting. You simply highlight the meeting, then click the toolbar icon and it will display the attendee participants allowing you to select & click-to-dial.


Bria for Microsoft Outlook features include:

* Direct call from email, Calendar and contact list (click-to-dial)
* Multiple simultaneous calls
* Call display
* Call transfer
* Call forwarding
* Redial
* Call Hold
* Call history
* Missed call indicator and display
* Message waiting
* Voice mail access
* Speaker phone and mute

Other features include:
- Screen pops and call handling options such as call hold, forward and
ignore
- Click-to-Dial from any location within Outlook
- Ability to manage multiple simultaneous calls
- Message waiting indicator and one-click access to voicemail

In addition to calling features, Bria for Microsoft Outlook provides support for narrow and wideband codecs, zero touch configuration during installation, auto-updates and NAT traversal using STUN and ICE. Bria for Microsoft Outlook also offers flexible branding options, allowing solution providers to incorporate their brand into the integrated VoIP-to-Outlook user experience.

Bria for Microsoft Outlook will be available for purchase at the CounterPath website beginning December 9, 2008. To learn more, head to http://counterpath.com/bria-for-microsoft-outlook.html.

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FileHippo.com Update Checker can let you know if your programs have updates available

Overview:
The Update Checker will scan your computer for installed software, check the versions and then send this information to FileHippo.com to see if there are any newer releases. These are then neatly displayed in your browser for you to download.

Review:

FileHippo.com is a great place to find free programs (some of the programs featured in this blog have come from there) so if you have programs that you download from there then FileHippo.com Update Checker is a pretty good way to keep them up to date. Just download the installer or the portable version and run it so that it can check your installed programs, a browser window will be opened with direct links to download the newest versions of your software. Unfortunately FileHippo.com Update Checker can only check programs that are added to the website so if you have programs that are not there you are out of luck. You could try Updatestar tough which is another software update utility with a larger software database but it's not portable.
In conclusion if you only have programs that are on the FileHippo.com website then this update checker is a good way to keep them up to date. Available for Windows 98/ME/2004/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

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FileASSASSIN : Unlock and delete hard to remove files

Overview:
FileASSASSIN is an application that can delete any type of locked files that are on your computer. Whether the files are from a malware infection or just a particular file that will not delete - FileASSASSIN can remove it. The program uses advanced programming techniques to unload modules, close remote handles, and terminate processes to remove the particular locked file. Please use with caution as deleting critical system files may cause system errors.

Review:

FileASSASSIN is a file unlocker tool that can be used to remove hard to delete files that can't be erased because Windows gives an error. All you have to do is to select a file and FileASSASIN will try to unlock it and optionally delete it either right away or on reboot. FileASSASSIN is pretty similar to the previously reviewed Unlocker however FileASSASSIN is portable so i would go with this program if you like your apps on the go. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php

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RightLoad : Upload stuff to online FTP servers and some file sharing sites

Overview:

Rightload is a small program that allows you to quickly upload files directly from a Windows folder to your server. Instead of using complicated software just to upload a few pictures, you just right-click on the files, select the server and target folder and Rightload will do the rest for you.

Features:

* Automatic thumbnail creation
* Creating a list of uploaded files in BB-Code or HTML to paste into forums or websites
* Support for HTTP upload sites like ImageShack


Review:

RightLoad is a small program that adds a new context menu entry in where you can upload files to several online FTP servers. You can import several pre-defined HTTP upload servers for popular file sharing and image sites like rapidshare,imageshack,tinypic,Etc. Of course you can create your own custom ones if you like. After uploading files RightLoad will create a list with links to these files with optional forum tags which is very handy. Finally RightLoad can create thumbnails when you upload images.
RightLoad is very simple and works well, so if you are a serial uploader then you might wanna give it a look. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.

Get it at http://rightload.org/

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8start Launcher : Launch your apps and do some note

Overview:
8start Launcher is a free portable application launcher.



Features:
- Organize shortcuts into groups and categories
- Accessed by system tray, hotkey and middle mouse
- Create and manage buttons fast and easy. Shortcuts, url favorites, files, folder, and application link can be defined easily
- Launch applications and files fast and intuitive
- Keeps the desktop clean, no more shortcuts block the view of your wallpaper


- Portable with relative path defined supported, can be run in flash drive or install in harddisk.
- Show program name / description when mouse over the icon
- Quick access to the drive content by click the drive letter
- Changable skin with transpancy png format supported, 30+ beautiful skins available for download
- Able to use picture files .jpg, .png, .ico, .bmp, .gif as button icon
- Individual customizable button style. Link to the application, favorite documents, music files, folders.... intuitively by apply the most suitable style
- Auto download website favicon to local for url type button. Url icon still available if the internet cached have been deleted.
- Launcher auto shrink to fit number of icons
- Whole new concept of launching your applications and files

Review:

I'm kinda torn about 8start Launcher on one hand is a pretty awesome application launcher but on the other i experienced several little annoyances that turned me off. But let's get to the bad parts later. 8start Launcher works by using three concepts: buttons, groups and categories. Buttons are like shortcuts from everything to apps, files,URLs and folders. Groups are a bunch of buttons placed together. Finally categories are like tabs and can contain several groups. With these concepts you can create many types of layouts and along with the icon customization options available make 8start Launcher a very versatile tool in the looks department. Besides launching stuff you can make some notes but i found the interface for that rather clumsy so i didn't use it that much. Also 8start is portable so you can run it from your pendrive.
Now for the bad part there were a couple of things about 8start Launcher that i didn't like. For starters it takes between 10 to 15 minutes to understand how 8start works. I specifically refer to how to place apps, files and folder into 8start. It was very frustating at first but i got the hang of it eventually. Also 8start Launcher has a problem when being called with the mouse. If you have 8start opened in the desktop and put a Window on top of it you can't call it with the mouse, actually you can call it it's just that 8start will appear on the back of the window instead of the front. The only way to "fix" this is first hide 8start with the hide button and then call it again but that only works one time and then you are back where you started, thankfully the hot-key support works just fine.
If you can get pass the annoyances that i just listed then give 8start Launcher a chance, i found it to be an interesting program but it needs some work in my opinion. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.

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Network Notepad : Draw diagrams of networks

Review:

If for whatever reason you need to draw a network then Network Notepad is a compelling choice. Using a simple drag and drop interface you can create detailed network diagrams complete with IP, hostname and more. Network Notepad also lets you quickly use Windows functions with IPs like ping, telnet, explore with internet explorer and finally copy the IP to the clipboard. Network Notepad is simple and lightweight and just works. Available for Windows 9x/NT/2K/XP/Vista.

Features:

# Runs on Microsoft Windows 9x, NT, 2K, XP, Vista
# Point-and-Click Telnet/ Browse/ User-definable Network Management.
# Simple Drag and Drop interface.
# Open, Text Based File Format.
# Printing.
# Linked Diagrams.
# Flow Charts.

Get it at http://www.networknotepad.com/

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