Michael Jackson and the Number7

Soo...What's with it???? and what's behind on it.
We all know of those so called superstitious beliefs we have , like don’t walk under a ladder, don’t cross a black cat are just example of it. And now are you superstitious? But there are still people who are very superstitious that it could really affect in their lives.
According to TMZ, the number 7 has cropped up a lot of times in the King of Pop’s life.

Get ready to have your mind blown. Ready? Here we go ...

Michael Jackson signed his will on 7/7/02.
Michael Jackson's memorial was on 7/7/09 ... exactly 7 years after the will was signed.
Michael Jackson's two biggest hits -- "Black & White" and "Billie Jean" -- were each #1 for 7 weeks.
Michael Jackson's three biggest albums -- "Thriller," "Bad" and "Dangerous" -- each produced 7 top 40 hits.
Michael Jackson was the 7th of 9 children.
Michael Jackson was born in 1958 ... 19 + 58 = 77
Michael Jackson died on the 25th ... 2 + 5 = 7
Michael Jackson has 7 letters in his first and last name.


If you're looking for lottery numbers tonight, we recommend something with the number 7 in it.

Source: TMZ

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Farewell Michael Jackson.

Sad news of the day is that Pop Star Michel Jackson has died at the age of 50 on Thursday after suffering a heart attack at his Holmby Hills home and he has died just after 12:00 pm local time at UCLA Medical Center.

hmmm.. lets have some history about him..

Michael Jackson was born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, USA. Son of Joseph Walter "Joe and Katherine Esther, was an amazing dancer American recording artist, entertainer and businessman.The seventh child of Jackson family. He started to work at age of 11 year.he was legend of Pop music. He produced many albums during his life.

After his heart attack Paramedics were called to his home at that time but when they arrived he had no pulse. Paramedics were tried to revive him but their tries failed and he was declared dead. Numerous reliable news sources are reporting confirmed news that Michael Jackson has passed away. He was an icon of Pop songs and his songs were featured on a number of different movie soundtracks over the years. Michael is survived by three children as Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

I've been one of his fan when I was kid..until now..you will always be in our heart.

GoodBye Idol.

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DirectX Means?

Gaming and multimedia applications are some of the most satisfying programs you can get for your PC yeah.. :D , but getting them to run properly isn’t always as easy as it could be.


First, the PC architecture was never designed as a gaming platform, but instead it was made for office purposes. Second, the wide-ranging nature of the PC means that one person’s machine can be different from another and that's true because your PC specs is purely different from mine.

DirectX...???

Have yo ever wondered what's the enigmatic name means.?

DirectX is an interface designed to make certain programming tasks much easier, for both the game developer and the rest of us who just want to sit down and play the latest blockbuster.

How does DirectX works.?

At the most basic level, DirectX is an interface between the hardware in your PC and Windows itself, part of the Windows API or Application Programming Interface. Let’s look at a practical example. When a game developer wants to play a sound file, it’s simply a case of using the correct library function. When the game runs, this calls the DirectX API, which in turn plays the sound file. The developer doesn’t need to know what type of sound card he’s dealing with, what it’s capable of, or how to talk to it. Microsoft has provided DirectX, and the sound card manufacturer has provided a DirectX-capable driver. He asks for the sound to be played, and it is – whichever machine it runs on.

From our point of view as gamers, DirectX also makes things incredibly easy – at least in theory. You install a new sound card in place of your old one, and it comes with a DirectX driver. Next time you play your favourite game you can still hear sounds and music, and you haven’t had to make any complex configuration changes.

Originally, DirectX began life as a simple toolkit: early hardware was limited and only the most basic graphical functions were required. As hardware and software has evolved in complexity, so has DirectX. It’s now much more than a graphical toolkit, and the term has come to encompass a massive selection of routines which deal with all sorts of hardware communication. For example, the DirectInput routines can deal with all sorts of input devices, from simple two-button mice to complex flight joysticks. Other parts include DirectSound for audio devices and DirectPlay provides a toolkit for online or multiplayer gaming.

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Difference between Activation and Registration

What's the difference between Product Activation and Product Registration?
[ Madaming nagkakaroon ng misunderstanding sa dalawang ito. So I decided to post something to differetiate these terms. ]

In one short line: Activation is mandatory, registration is optional. Activation is anonymous, registration is not.


Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, retail and OEM products, contain software-based product activation technology, which means you need to activate your copy of Windows XP/2003 in order to use it. Some new PCs purchased with Windows XP/2003 pre-installed will also require activation. If your organization licenses Windows XP through one of Microsoft’s volume licensing agreement programs such as Open License and Select License, you will not be required to activate those Windows XP/2003 licenses.



Product activation is not the same as product registration. Product activation is required and is completely anonymous. Product registration, on the other hand, is completely optional. You may opt to provide personal information, such as your e-mail address, for product registration purposes. Registration entitles you to receive information about product updates and special offers directly from Microsoft. All registration information provided is stored securely and no information is ever loaned or sold to third parties. [So maliwanag na bah..???]

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Make your IE works fast like Firefox

1. click start > run
2. type regedit > enter
3. browse folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\m*cro$oft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\InternetSettings
4. right click @ windows right > New > DWORD
5. type MaxConnectionsPerServer > u can set value (the more higher the no, the more good speed u get, eg : 99)
6. create another DWORD >type MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
7. then put a high value as mentioned above
8. then, restart IE ... ur finished.

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Common Troubleshooting Techniques & Strategies

Here are five common-sense techniques and strategies to solve common computer hardware problems.

(1) Trial-and-error

Personal computers are highly modular by design. The most powerful trouble-shooting technique is to isolate the problem to a specific component by trial-and-error. Swap compatible components and see if the system still works. Try different peripherals on different machines and see if the same problem occurs. Make one change at a time.

(2) "It's the cable, s-----."

More than 70% of all computer problems are related to cabling and connections. Ensure all cables are connected firmly. IDE and floppy ribbon cables and power cables can often go loose. Ensure microprocessor, memory modules, and adapters such as video card and sound card are inserted correctly and didn't "pop-up" during transportation.

(3) Don't be frustrated!

Don't be afraid of computer problems. It is often the best opportunity to learn. Trouble-shooting is part of the fun of owning a computer. Imagine the satisfaction you could get by solving a problem yourself.

Of course the fun could ran out quickly once you are frustrated and have spent too much time on the same problem. If you feel frustrated, it's time to leave it for a while and go back with some new ideas or call someone who can help. Rule of thumb: You shouldn't spend more than three hours on the same problem at one time.

(4) Take notes!

Take notes of what you have done and all the error messages. You may need to use them later. For instance, when you see an unusual blue screen with an error message, copy the entire message onto a piece of paper. In many situations, that message may point to the right direction in getting the problem solved quickly.

(5) Take a look?

It's OK to open a computer case and take a look inside. There is only 5V and 12V DC voltage supplied to the components outside the power supply. Those who have never seen the inside of a computer are often amazed by how simple it looks. Of course, still always power down and unplug the power cord first.

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The Myth Of Refreshing The Desktop

Do you refresh your desktop?". Ask this to any Windows user and 99% of them will reply with a "yes". Of course, there are various needs for refreshing the desktop but the majority of people who does it doesn't even know why he is doing it. Refreshing the desktop is perhaps the biggest computer myth among all Windows users.


Every single person I have met does this or at least used to do it. It's not known who first discovered this remarkably useless trick and what he achieved from it, but it just spread. Most new users learn this trick from other new users without caring to know what it does. Some do it devotedly just because others do it, while some others have various weird explanations for it. A few of them assumes that it refreshes the RAM, while some others believe that doing it will somehow keep their PCs running smooth and easy. I have seen some users obsessed with refreshing the desktop, doing it every 30 seconds or so. They have even learnt the keyboard shortcut - F5 (just to mention, these are the people who never use keyboard shortcuts). They would press the key and wouldn't release it for a long time, sending the desktop into a frenzy of refreshes.

What does a desktop refresh actually do? Refreshing the desktop simply redraws the icons on the desktop. That's it! It doesn't refreshes the RAM. It doesn't clean your PC. It doesn't refreshes your computer the way it does to you when you wake up from a nap. Refreshing the desktop has absolutely no effect on the working or performance of the computer. So why is the tool there? As I said, refresh is used to re-display or redraw the icons on the desktop. Sometimes when you bring some changes to the desktop icons, the change doesn't get reflected instantly. In such cases, refreshing the desktop becomes necessary to bring the change to effect. Say, you have the desktop icons set to arrange themselves alphabetically on your desktop. When you add a new item to the desktop, this item wouldn't get arranged alphabetically, instead it would appear at the bottom of icon list on the desktop, irrespective of it's name. Now if you refresh the desktop, all the icons would be once more arranged alphabetically and the newly added item would go to it's appropriate position. This is what refresh is for. It is to re-display the desktop. Refresh has the same function when done in explorer. Also Refresh is basically the command used to refresh/reload the video buffer(VGA memory). Sometimes the changes made in the VGA memory are not reflected to the screen properly...Refresh just corrects the prob...

So, if you are in the habit of refreshing the desktop, stop it. You are just wasting your time and effort. And the next time you see a person doing it, don't forget to explain to him the futility of this action

Also, during the times of windows 3.1 - win 95 it was normal for PCs to hang, crash n be restarted every now n then ! It looks like even knowledgeable ppl used the desktop refresh just to get an assurence that the OS is working n not freezed from the resulting flicker of icons.

Today PCs are very stable n crash only once in a blue moon but the habit still continues, and I think for same reason , even I do it sometimes

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The most worst computer viruses of all time

If you haven't experienced a computer virus yet, just wait -- you probably will.

Fortunately, you missed the real heyday of computer viruses when anti-virus software wasn't very widely used, and virus attacks caused millions of dollars in damages overnight. Today's viruses can still be nightmarish, but for the average user, cleanup is considerably easier than it was just a few years ago, when the only solution in many cases was reformatting your hard drive and starting from scratch (and even that didn't do the trick sometimes).

So join me on a trip down memory lane as we revisit some of the worst viruses of all time and count our blessings that our computers are still up and running despite it all. (Though, please note, "worst" is a matter of considerable debate in the security industry, as the number of infected machines and amount of financial loss is always estimated. If you think another virus was worse than these, please post it in the comments to remind us!)

The worst viruses of all time


Brain, 1986
It all started here: Brain was the first "real" virus ever discovered, back in 1986. Brain didn't really hurt your PC, but it launched the malware industry with a bang and gave bad ideas to over 100,000 virus creators for the next 2 decades.

Michelangelo, 1991
The worst MS-DOS virus ever, Michelangelo attacked the boot sector of your hard drive and any floppy drive inserted into the computer, which caused the virus to spread rapidly. After spreading quietly for months, the virus "activated" on March 6, and promptly started destroying data on tens of thousands of computers.

Melissa, 1999
Technically a worm, Melissa (named after a stripper) collapsed entire email systems by causing computers to send mountains of messages to each other. The author of the virus was eventually caught and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

ILOVEYOU, 2000
This was notable for being one of the first viruses to trick users into opening a file, which in this case claimed to be a love letter sent to the recipient. In reality, the file was a VBS script that sent mountains of junk mail and deleted thousands of files. The results were terribly devastating- one estimate holds that 10 percent of all computers were affected, to a cost of $5.5 billion. It remains perhaps the worst worm of all time.

Code Red, 2001
An early "blended threat" attack, Code Red targeted Web servers instead of user machines, defacing websites and later launching denial-of-service attacks on a host of IP addresses, including those of the White House.

Nimda, 2001
Built on Code Red's attack system of finding multiple avenues into machines (email, websites, network connections, and others), Nimda infected both Web servers and user machines. It found paths into computers so effectively that, 22 minutes after it was released, it became the Internet's most widespread virus at the time.

Klez, 2001
An email virus, Klez pioneered spoofing the "From" field in email messages it sent, making it impossible to tell if Bill Gates did or did not really send you that information about getting free money.

Slammer, 2003
Another fast spreader, this worm infected about 75,000 systems in just 10 minutes, slowing the Internet to a crawl (much like Code Red) and shutting down thousands of websites.

MyDoom, 2004
Notable as the fastest-spreading email virus of all time, MyDoom infected computers so they would, in turn, send even more junk mail. In a strange twist, MyDoom was also used to attack the website of SCO Group, a very unpopular company that was suing other companies over its code being used in Linux distributions.

Storm, 2007
The worst recent virus, Storm spread via email spam with a fake attachment and ultimately infected up to 10 million computers, causing them to join its zombie botnet.

Thanks to Symantec for helping to compile this list.

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Top 20 Antivirus rankings. Tested using 174,770 virus sample

What is the the best Antivirus program ?

The latest test from virus.gr includes 52 different antivirus applications. They were rigorously tested using 174,770 virus samples, and the settings of each application were tweaked to ensure that they all caught maximum number of viruses (despite increasing the possibility that the the software would be more likely to return a false positive).

This is the list of the top 20 antivirus applications


1. Kaspersky version 7.0.0.43 beta - 99.23%
2. Kaspersky version 6.0.2.614 - 99.13%
3. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.308 - 99.13%
4. ZoneAlarm with KAV Antivirus version 7.0.337.000 - 99.13%
5. F-Secure 2007 version 7.01.128 - 98.56%
6. BitDefender Professional version 10 - 97.70%
7. BullGuard version 7.0.0.23 - 96.59%
8. Ashampoo version 1.30 - 95.80%
9. eScan version 8.0.671.1 - 94.43%
10. Nod32 version 2.70.32 - 94.00%
11. CyberScrub version 1.0 - 93.27%
12. Avast Professional version 4.7.986 - 92.82%
13. AVG Anti-Malware version 7.5.465 - 92.14%
14. F-Prot version 6.0.6.4 - 91.35%
15. McAfee Enterprise version 8.5.0i+AntiSpyware module - 90.65%
16. Panda 2007 version 2.01.00 - 90.06%
17. Norman version 5.90.37 - 88.47%
18. ArcaVir 2007 - 88.24%
19. McAfee version 11.0.213 - 86.13%
20. Norton Professional 2007 - 86.08%

Followed by:
21. Rising AV version 19.19.42 - 85.46%
22. Dr. Web version 4.33.2 - 85.09%
23. PC-Cillin 2007 version 15.00.1450 - 84.96%
24. Iolo version 1.1.8 - 83.35%
25. Virus Chaser version 5.0a - 79.51%
26. VBA32 version 3.11.4 - 77.66%
27. Sophos Sweep version 6.5.1 - 69.79%
28. ViRobot Expert version 5.0 - 69.53%
29. Antiy Ghostbusters version 5.2.1 - 65.95%
30. Zondex Guard version 5.4.2 - 63.79%
31. Vexira 2006 version 5.002.62 - 60.07%
32. V3 Internet Security version 2007.04.21.00 - 55.09%
33. Comodo version 2.0.12.47 beta - 53.94%
34. Comodo version 1.1.0.3 - 53.39%
35. A-Squared Anti-Malware version 2.1 - 52.69%
36. Ikarus version 5.19 - 50.56%
37. Digital Patrol version 5.00.37 - 49.80%
38. ClamWin version 0.90.1 - 47.95%
39. Quick Heal version 9.00 - 38.64%
40. Solo version 5.1 build 5.7.3 - 34.52%
41. Protector Plus version 8.0.A02 - 33.13%
42. PcClear version 1.0.4.3 - 27.14%
43. AntiTrojan Shield version 2.1.0.14 - 20.25%
44. PC Door Guard version 4.2.0.35- 19.95%
45. Trojan Hunter version 4.6.930 - 19.20%
46. VirIT version 6.1.75 - 18.78%
47. E-Trust PestPatrol version 8.0.0.6 - 11.80%
48. Trojan Remover version 6.6.0 - 10.44%
49. The Cleaner version 4.2.4319 - 7.26%
50. True Sword version 4.2 - 2.20%
51. Hacker Eliminator version 1.2 - 1.43%
52. Abacre version 1.4 - 0.00%


*The test was made on 23 April-10 May 2008, using Windows XP Professional SP2 on a P4 3000 Mhz, 1024MB DDRAM.

* All programs tested had the latest versions, upgrades and updates and they were tested using their full scanning capabilities e.g. heuristics, full scan etc.

*The default settings of each program were not used, in order for each program to achieve its maximum detection rate. Because of this, there is a possibility for the tested programs to detect a few false positives.

*All programs were updated on 22 April 2008, between 10.00AM and 13.00PM GMT.

*The 174770 virus samples were chosen using VS2000 according to Kaspersky, F-Prot, Nod32, Dr.Web, BitDefender and McAfee antivirus programs. Each virus sample was unique by virus name, meaning that AT LEAST 1 antivirus program detected it as a new virus.

*ALL virus samples were unpacked and the only samples that were kept were the ones that were packed using external-dos-packers (that means not winzip, winrar, winace etc).

*The virus samples had the correct file extension using a special program (Renexts) and were unique, according to checksum32 filesize.

*Most "fake" virus samples were removed, as well as "garbage" files.

*The programs MKS_VIR , PER and IPArmor were not tested because there was no english demo version available.

*The programs Anti-Hacker Expert , Command , Extendia AVK , GDATA AVK , BOClean , UNA , VET and Freedom were not tested because there was no demo version available.

*Thorough mode was not used in VBA32 due to extremely slow scan process.

*A-Squared Anti-Malware and eTrust PestPatrol are anti-trojan/anti-spyware programs, not antivirus programs

*F-Prot was tested using its command line scanner (options /adware /applications /report /streams /maxdepth=4 /heurlevel=4) because its GUI kept crashing.

*Windows Live OneCare, BKAV, PC Tools kept crashing while scanning the samples.

*TheShield uses the exact same engine as VirobotExpert.

*Avira uses the exact same engine as AntiVir.

*Fire uses the exact same engine as Solo.

*MKS_VIR uses the exact same engine as ArcaVir.

*VirusBuster uses the exact same engine as Vexira.

*BullGuard uses the exact same engine as BitDefender free edition.

*Avast Professional uses the exact same engine as Avast free edition.

*AVG Anti-Malware uses the exact same engine as AVG Antivirus free edition plus the Ewido scan engine, so it has better detection than AVG Antivirus free edition.

*A-squared Anti-Malware Professional uses the exact same engine as A-squared free edition.

* InVircible did not include a "typical" scanner-function and could not be tested.

*V-Catch checks only mail accounts and could not be tested.

*DOS-Based scanners were not tested.

*The following file types were used: SH, ELF, COM, EXE, PL, BAT, PRC, DOC, XLS, BIN, MDB, IMG, PPT, VBS, MSG, VBA, OLE, HTM, INI, SMM, TD0, REG, CLASS, HTA, JS, VI_, URL, PHP, WMF, HLP, XML, SCR, PIF, SHS, WBT, CSC, MAC, DAT, CLS, STI, INF, HQX, XMI, SIT.

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10 New OS

This post is about the desktop operating systems that fly under the radar of most people.
We are definitely not talking about Windows, Mac OS X or Linux, or even BSD or Solaris.
There are much less mainstream options out there for the OS-curious.

These alternative operating systems are usually developed either by enthusiasts or small companies (or both), and there are more of them than you might expect.
There are even more than we have included in this article, though we think this is a good selection of the more interesting ones and we have focused specifically on desktop operating systems.

As you will see, many of them are very different from what you may be used to.
We will discuss the potential of this in the conclusion of this article.

Enough introduction, let’s get started! Here is a look at 10 alternative operating systems, starting with a familiar old name…

AmigaOS 4.1

This month (September 2008) AmigaOS 4.1 was released.
Although AmigaOS is a veteran in the field (many have fond memories of the original Amiga computer), its current version is a fully modern OS.

AmigaOS only runs on specific PowerPC-based hardware platforms.
The company ACube is currently marketing and distributing AmigaOS and is going to bundle the OS with their motherboards.



Source model: Closed source

License: Proprietary

Platform: PowerPC

State: Final

Read a review of AmigaOS 4.1 at Arstechnica


Haiku

Haiku is an open source project aimed at recreating and continuing the development of the BeOS operating system (which Palm Inc. bought and then discontinued).
Haiku was initially known as OpenBeOS but changed its name in 2004.

Haiku is compatible with software written for BeOS.



Source model: Free and open source

License: MIT License

Platform: x86 and PowerPC

State: Pre-Alpha

Read more at the Haiku website


ReactOS

ReactOS is an operating system designed to be compatible with Microsoft Windows software.
The project started in 1998 and today it can run many Windows programs well.
The ReactOS kernel has been written from scratch but the OS makes use of Wine to be able to run Windows applications.



Source model: Free and open source

License: Various free software licenses

Platform: x86 (more under development)

State: Alpha

Read more at the ReactOS website.


Syllable Desktop

Syllable is a free and open source operating system that was forked in 2002 from AtheOS, an AmigaOS clone.
It’s intended as a lightweight and fast OS suitable for home and small office users.



Source model: Free and open source

License: GNU General Public License

Platform: x86

State: Alpha

Read more at the Syllable website.


SkyOS

SkyOS is a closed source project written by Robert Szeleney and volunteers.
It originally started as an experiment in OS design.
It’s intended to be an easy-to-use desktop OS for average computer users.
Well-known applications such as Firefox have been ported to run on SkyOS.



Source model: Closed source

License: Proprietary

Platform: x86

State: Beta

Read more at the SkyOS website.



MorphOS

MorphOS is a lightweight, media-centric OS build to run on PowerPC processors.
It is inspired by AmigaOS and also includes emulation to be able to run Amiga applications.



Source model: Closed source

License: Mixed proprietary and open source

Platform: Pegasos, some Amiga models, EFIKA

Read more at the MorphOS website.



AROS Research Operating System

AROS is a lightweight open source OS designed to be compatible with AmigaOS 3.1 but also improve on it.
The project was started in 1995 and can today be run on both PowerPC and IBM PC compatible hardware.
It also includes an emulator that makes it possible to run old Amiga applications.



Source model: Open source

License: AROS Public License

Platform: x86 and PowerPC

Read more at the AROS website.



MenuetOS

MenuetOS, also known as MeOS, is an operating system written entirely in assembly language which makes it very small and fast.
Even though it includes a graphical desktop, networking and many other features it still fits on a single 1.44 MB floppy disk (for our younger readers, that was the USB stick of the 80s and early 90s ).



Source model: Open source (32-bit version), freeware (64-bit version)

License: Menuet License

Platform: x86

State: Beta

Read more at the MenuetOS website.



DexOS

DexOS is an open source operating system designed to work like the minimalistic ones on gaming consoles, but for PCs.
Its user interface is inspired by video game consoles and the system itself is very small
(supposedly this one also fits on a floppy disk, like MenuetOS) and the OS can be booted from several different devices.
Its creators have tried to make it as fast as possible.



Source model: Free and open source

Platform: x86

Read more at the DexOS website.



Visopsys

Visopsys is a one-man hobby project by programmer Andy McLaughlin.
The development began in 1997 and the OS is both open source and free.
Visopsys stands for VISual Operating SYStem.



Source model: Open source

License: GPL

Platform: x86

State: Final

Read more at the Visopsys website.



The OS future

Even if none of these operating systems ever were to “make it” and become mainstream
(and admittedly, some of them simply are not intended to be mainstream),
the passion behind them is real, and many have the potential to introduce new and fresh ideas.

All this independent development can act as a kind of think tank,
if you choose to look at it that way. It’s quite possible that concepts introduced by a niche OS will later be adopted by a larger player on the OS market.

There are lots of interesting things happening today with the rise of virtualization
and the “always online” nature of today’s computers that opens up incredibly interesting possibilities.
For example, what we have read about Microsoft’s internal research OS Midori (the one that will retire Windows) sounds highly interesting.

Wherever the future operating systems may come from, be it from the already established players
or some kind of newcomer, we are looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for us.
We suspect that there is a significant “jump” in the evolution coming up just around the corner.

Who knows, a couple of years from now maybe all the computers will be running the UltraMagicalSuperVirtualOS version 1.2?

What are your predictions for the future of operating systems?

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