Saturday, December 29, 2007

Top 5 gadgets for 2008

Making predictions about the future of technology is one of the easiest things to do. Unlike astrology, palmistry, election polling, technical analysis of the stock market and other assorted hocus-pocus, tech punditry doesn't even require the pretense of intelligence


1 Apple iPhone 2.0: Expect a spiffier, 3G-capable iPhone in 2008 that will include some basic features like video recording, group SMSing etc. which were missing earlier, and more importantly allow users to install programmes of their choice. All the major desi operators have reportedly initiated talks with Apple to sell the iPhone. Expect it in India halfway through '08!
2 Google Android: Like the iPhone in '07, Google could change the mobile phone industry in '08. But Google's approach is different. They don't want to make their own handset; just hope to put their software and search onto any device that claims to be a mobile phone. The 'platform' is codenamed Android and will most likely transform the generally poor quality of software on low-end mobile devices.
3 Polymer Screens: Not much point having fancy phones if you have to strain your eyes to peer at those tiny screens, is there? One ingenious solution is the use of flexible screens that fold in and out of handheld devices. They also solve the biggest problem with newer smartphones - battery life. LCD screens are the biggest battery hogs. Replacing them with polymer based displays reduces power consumption. The leading company in this field, Polymer Vision, began manufacturing 'Readius' - a phone with a 5-inch rollable display - earlier this month and Telecom Italia will be the company's first major client in 2008.
4 GPS Cameras: In 2007, online photo sites launched a feature called Geotagging. This allowed users to pinpoint the location where a photo was taken on a map and add it to the photo information. Millions of users were geotagging photos which got camera makers' antennae up. A number of top manufacturers have announced 2008 rollouts of cameras with built-in GPS so that pictures are automatically geotagged.
5 .Wireless HD: For those who've pulled their hair out trying to hook up a 7.1 speaker system into an amplifier, through your PC, under your washing machine and then maybe into your TV, Wireless High Definition audio and video transfer will be the answer. Nearly all the big players in the industry have agreed to work together on a common standard that will enable your DVD player to wirelessly beam full HD audio and video to your amp and your big screen TV respectively
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Thursday, October 25, 2007

World in Conflict



It goes without saying that it's a good thing World War III didn't erupt between the United States and the now-defunct Soviet Union. For many of us who were children during the Cold War, the fear of being annihilated in a nuclear conflict was very real. So it's a bit strange now that we can look back at that era and have the luxury of imagining what could have been. Or we can play World in Conflict, Sierra and Massive Entertainment's incredible new real-time strategy game. This isn't your standard RTS game, as World in Conflict doesn't follow the familiar model of resource gathering, base building, and swarming armies. Instead, it feels almost like an action game masquerading as a strategy game, and it offers up a relentlessly fun and amazing new approach to the genre, one that works in single-player and even more so in multiplayer.
World in Conflict is set in an alternate-history version of 1989. Instead of the Berlin Wall falling and communism collapsing, the Soviet Union launches an assault on Western Europe, and the United States rushes its forces in to aid its Western allies. Four months into the conflict, after the US Navy has been attrited down, the USSR launches a surprise invasion in Seattle and pushes inland. In the 14-mission single-player campaign, you play as a company commander who is part of the meager US defense; there is no campaign from the Soviet perspective, though you can play as the Red Army in multiplayer. However, the campaign twists and weaves, letting you experience a sample of the European conflict, battle in remote areas of the Soviet Union, and bring the fight to New York City.
Then there's the game's excellent resource system. You're given a pool of reinforcement points that you can use to purchase units. Naturally, the powerful units cost a lot more than weaker ones, so you've got to choose quantity over quality. But it goes a bit deeper than that, as different classes of units have different abilities. For instance, light helicopters are some of the best scouts in the game, able to locate enemies from a distance, but they're extremely vulnerable. Medium helicopters are able to shoot down other helicopters with their air-to-air missiles, but they don't do a lot of damage to armor. Heavy helicopters can eat tanks for breakfast, but aren't effective against other helicopters. So while your initial inclination might be to load up on heavy choppers and go after enemy armor, a wise player recognizes that there are many roles to play on the battlefield. If your units are destroyed, their cost is slowly refunded back into your reinforcement pool, so you can order up replacements, although veteran units are more effective, giving you an incentive to keep your experienced units alive as long as possible.



Team coordination can be handled through a built-in menu system or, even better, the built-in voice-over-IP chat system that lets you communicate vocally with your teammates. All you need is a microphone. Playing in a relatively uncoordinated manner is still a blast, but if you play on a good team against another coordinated team, the gameplay elevates to a whole new level. Victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat (or vice versa) in intense matches where both teams are hurling all on the battlefield, from air strikes, artillery, multiple tactical nukes, and more. There's nothing quite more urgent than a team desperately trying to cobble together enough tactical aid points for a last-ditch nuke.

Developer Massive Entertainment has been making real-time strategy games for almost a decade now, but World in Conflict is undoubtedly the studio's masterwork. Everything about this game is top-notch, from the addicting gameplay to the amazing visuals. More importantly, World in Conflict offers up a refreshingly new approach to strategy gaming. So if you're a strategy fan, you should definitely try World in Conflict. And even if you're turned off by standard real-time strategy games, you owe it to yourself to try out what Massive has come up with in this exquisite package.

Source :--- Gamespot !!!!
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One of the best cameras in the world


There are two types of cameras now days. One is for the professionals and the cameras for them cost very much money. However, there is a type of digital cameras that are cheaper and they are really enough for the people who just like taking pictures and want them look good.

An ordinary man does not really see the difference in the quality of the picture however there is a big difference between the professional and not professional cameras. Now let's talk about the usual digital cameras. One of the newest digital cameras from Canon is the 400 D model which is a really good looking model. It is a full 35 mm camera that takes very good shots.

This gadget has amazing 10.1 mega pixel CMOS which is very high quality for camera. You are able to see the difference when you make a big poster out of you picture. The thing is that when the camera takes a picture it divides it into small squares that are called pixels. The more pixels there are the smaller they are.

So you will not see any squares on you post if you take a picture with a 10.1 mega pixel camera. On the other hand if you make the picture with a 2 mega pixel camera the quality of the poster will be much lower. So having a 10.1 mega pixel camera is a real advantage. To see the picture you have take there is a 2.5 inch LCD display. This is not the only advantage of this gadget. It has a new nine point focus system which a very advanced system. It adjusts the focus using nine points on the picture. It is difficult to explain but this is a very good feature for a camera like this. The DIGIC II processor that this gadget has is one of the best ones in the world. Besides, the creators used some new lenses too. It has the lens (and two new ones: the EF 50 mm f/1.2 l USM and EF 70 – 200 mm f/4 L USM) I am not sure what all this means but it is new high quality technology.

One of the coolest features this wonderful high – tech device has is that it has an ultrasonic dust removal. The pictures it makes are really high quality. Even the pictures of moving objects turn out very good. The thing I like about this camera is that it does not need any special care or anything and it makes very good pictures. Having a camera like this you will be able to make your memories even better. Go grab it
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Friday, July 6, 2007

How iphone Works


In January 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the Apple iPhone during his keynote address at the Macworld Conference and Expo. In its first appearance onscreen and in Jobs's hand, the phone looked like a sleek but inanimate black rectangle.

Then, Jobs touched the screen. Suddenly, the featureless rectangle became an interactive surface. Jobs placed a fingertip on an on-screen arrow and slid it from left to right. When his finger moved, the arrow moved with it, unlocking the phone. To some people, this interaction between a human finger and an on-screen image -- and its effect on the iPhone's behavior -- was more amazing than all of its other features combined.

And those features are plentiful. In some ways, the iPhone is more like a palmtop computer than a cellular phone. As with many smartphones, you can use it to make and receive calls, watch movies, listen to music, browse the Web, and send and receive e-mail and text messages. You can also take pictures with a built-in camera, import photos from your computer and organize them all using the iPhone's software. Although it's not a turn-by-turn GPS receiver, the iPhone also lets you view map and satellite data from Google Maps, including overlays of nearby businesses.
A modified version of the Macintosh OS X operating system, also used on Apple desktop and laptop computers, lets you interact with all of these applications. It displays icons for each application on the iPhone's screen. It also manages battery power and system security. The operating system synchs the phone with your computer, a process that requires a dock much like the one used to synch an iPod. It also lets you multitask and move through multiple open applications, just like you can on a laptop or desktop computer.

But instead of using a mouse or a physical keyboard, the iPhone uses virtual buttons and controls that appear on its screen. This isn't really a new phenomenon -- touch screens have been part of everything from self-checkout kiosks to smartphones for years. But the iPhone's touch-screen is a little different from many of the others currently on the market. When you touch the screen on a PDA or a Nintendo DS, you typically use a slender, pointed stylus. The iPhone, on the other hand, requires you to use your fingers. It can also detect multiple touch points simultaneously, which many existing touch-screens cannot do.

The iPhone Touch-screen
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
Shot at 2007-07-06
Electronic devices can use lots of different methods to detect a person's input on a touch-screen. Most of them use sensors and circuitry to monitor changes in a particular state. Many, including the iPhone, monitor changes in electrical current. Others monitor changes in the reflection of waves. These can be sound waves or beams of near-infrared light. A few systems use transducers to measure changes in vibration caused when your finger hits the screen's surface or cameras to monitor changes in light and shadow.
The basic idea is pretty simple -- when you place your finger or a stylus on the screen, it changes the state that the device is monitoring. In screens that rely on sound or light waves, your finger physically blocks or reflects some of the waves. Capacitive touch-screens use a layer of capacitive material to hold an electrical charge; touching the screen changes the amount of charge at a specific point of contact. In resistive screens, the pressure from your finger causes conductive and resistive layers of circuitry to touch each other, changing the circuits' resistance.


iPhone Features and Applications
The front surface of the Apple iPhone has only one button -- the Home button. Pressing the Home button takes you to the main screen of the iPhone's graphical user interface. There, you can choose from the device's four primary functions using icons at the bottom of the phone:
Phone: GSM or EDGE cellular phone service as well as a visual voice mail menu
Mail: POP and IMAP e-mail access, including in-line pictures, HTML capabilities and push e-mail from Yahoo mail
Web: Safari Web browser
iPod: Music and videos

You can open the iPhone's other applications from the upper portion of the Home screen. These include a calendar, calculator, notepad, and widgets, or mini-applications made specifically for the iPhone. You can also use an iPhone to check weather reports and stock quotes. Even though the iPhone doesn't support Flash, which the YouTube site relies on, you can watch YouTube videos using the corresponding application. The keys and buttons you need to navigate each application appear only when you need them.
The shape of the screen changes when you need it to as well -- you can shift the perspective from vertical to horizontal by tilting the phone. An accelerometer inside the iPhone lets the operating system know to change the orientation of the image on the screen. This means that you can scroll through long lists of music files on a long, narrow screen, and you can watch movies in a widescreen format.
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Monday, May 28, 2007

SeaLife DC 500


Do you like taking pictures under water? I like taking pictures of creatures under water and I have had a nice but not very high quality camera to do that. However, recently I have found the new SeaLife DC 500 that helps me make pictures under water. This new gadget has a new "Shark Mode" which helps you make sharper pictures of moving objects. Besides, it will make the pictures faster then a usual model. This way you will always get sharp images of moving objects. For example if a big fish passes by you will be able to take about ten pictures really quick and then choose one that you like the most. The "Shark Mode" is a very useful thing because all the fishes and the diver himself are in a constant move and having a good camera is one of the main features if you want to get a good result. Besides, making pictures under water is somewhat difficult and the camera helps you in other ways too. This gadget sets the automatic Sea exposure mode which will make the pictures more colorful and the pictures you take will be sharper. The light in the water is different then in the air so the camera adjusts the exposure and makes it shorter. Besides all that, the camera has a really good quality pictures because of its 5 mega pixel CCD. It also works on the surface too. When you make shots on the land the camera readjusts the exposure back to normal and it is ready to take high quality pictures on land. It takes good sport pictures thanks to the "Shark Mode". This camera has auto focus to 6 cm ( 2.3 inches) The good thing about this device is that it has a total zoom of 12 X. Well 3 X optical zoom and 4 X digital zoom. In order to see the pictures it has a big 2 inch LCD display. The main feature of this camera is that it can shoot up to 60 meters below the water surface which is 200 feet. It has lithium rechargeable battery and it will last very long. Having a battery like this you can shoot for hours in a row. You can buy some more accessories to this gadget. You can buy special SeaLife flashes if you are going somewhere very deep or if you want to go into an underwater cave. Moreover, you can buy a Wide Angle Lens that will allow you to make panoramic pictures. Having all that this camera can still amaze you. Guess what? It shoots videos too, and they are with audio. That means that you can make underwater pictures, land pictures and video clips using only one device. I think that it is amazing that one small devise can do all that. After I bought this camera I started liking diving and shooting sea creatures. Now we go to Hawaii every summer to dive and to have fun.


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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Does adding more RAM to your computer make it faster?


Up to a point, adding RAM (random access memory) will normally cause your computer to feel faster on certain types of operations. RAM is important because of an operating system component called the virtual memory manager (VMM).

When you run a program such as a word processor or an Internet browser, the microprocessor in your computer pulls the executable file off the hard disk and loads it into RAM. In the case of a big program like Microsoft Word or Excel, the EXE consumes about 5 megabytes. The microprocessor also pulls in a number of shared DLLs (dynamic link libraries) -- shared pieces of code used by multiple applications. The DLLs might total 20 or 30 megabytes. Then the microprocessor loads in the data files you want to look at, which might total several megabytes if you are looking at several documents or browsing a page with a lot of graphics. So a normal application needs between 10 and 30 megabytes of RAM space to run. On my machine, at any given time I might have the following applications running:

A word processor
A spreadsheet
A DOS prompt
An e-mail program
A drawing program
Three or four browser windows
A fax program
A Telnet session


Besides all of those applications, the operating system itself is taking up a good bit of space. Those programs together might need 100 to 150 megabytes of RAM, but my computer only has 64 megabytes of RAM installed.
The extra space is created by the virtual memory manager. The VMM looks at RAM and finds sections of RAM that are not currently needed. It puts these sections of RAM in a place called the swap file on the hard disk. For example, even though I have my e-mail program open, I haven't looked at e-mail in the last 45 minutes. So the VMM moves all of the bytes making up the e-mail program's EXE, DLLs and data out to the hard disk. That is called swapping out the program. The next time I click on the e-mail program, the VMM will swap in all of its bytes from the hard disk, and probably swap something else out in the process. Because the hard disk is slow relative to RAM, the act of swapping things in and out causes a noticeable delay.

If you have a very small amount of RAM (say, 16 megabytes), then the VMM is always swapping things in and out to get anything done. In that case, your computer feels like it is crawling. As you add more RAM, you get to a point where you only notice the swapping when you load a new program or change windows. If you were to put 256 megabytes of RAM in your computer, the VMM would have plenty of room and you would never see it swapping anything. That is as fast as things get. If you then added more RAM, it would have no effect.

Some applications (things like Photoshop, many compilers, most film editing and animation packages) need tons of RAM to do their job. If you run them on a machine with too little RAM, they swap constantly and run very slowly. You can get a huge speed boost by adding enough RAM to eliminate the swapping. Programs like these may run 10 to 50 times faster once they have enough RAM!

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

Need For Speed Carbon !!!!


After rebooting the franchise with Need for Speed Underground, EA has continued to produce some solid street racers under the Need for Speed banner. Last year's Need for Speed Most Wanted, which featured hilariously over-the-top live-action cutscenes and seriously tense police pursuits, proved to be a high watermark for the franchise. Now it's being followed up by Need for Speed Carbon, which downplays the role of the police chases, introduces some simple team-racing mechanics, and occasionally takes the action off the city streets and into the outlying canyons. The new gameplay doesn't always improve the experience, but the racing can still be quite intense and still has a pronounced sense of style.

You'll make the streets of Palmont City yours over the course of the career mode.
Carbon continues the story where Most Wanted left off. For those just tuning in, Most Wanted ended with you recovering your stolen car and bailing out of the city of Rockport while the overzealous, anti-street-racing Sgt. Cross continued his pursuit. At the start of Carbon, you're making your way to Palmont City when Cross, now a bounty hunter, catches up with you and totals your car during the chase. Before he can collect his bounty on you, though, your old friend Darius steps in and pays off Cross. You are then put to work, taking over the turf of the other rival street-racing crews in Palmont City. It seems that you've got a history in this town that predates the events in Most Wanted. And during the course of the game, you'll learn more about that fateful night you skipped town. Different characters will give their takes on the night you supposedly ran off with a big red duffle bag full of cash. And by the end of the game, you'll not only find out what really happened, but you'll have taken over all of the street-racing territory in Palmont City.

Outside of the actual gameplay, one of the more endearing aspects of Most Wanted was the way it used live actors in CG environments for its story sequences. These sequences invariably featured plenty of actor/model types, trying a little too hard to talk tough and failing spectacularly at it. The technique remains the same in Carbon, though there are more story sequences now and a slightly more self-aware tone. The heavy use of flashbacks is an interesting idea, but the story ends up being kind of muddled. And none of the villains come off as particularly menacing. Although it's hard to really qualify any of it as sincerely good, it's just over-the-top enough that folks who enjoy stuff like The Fast and the Furious, ironically or otherwise, should get some enjoyment out of it.

Most Wanted had you racing to raise your visibility with the police and take on the most notorious street racers in Rockport. In Carbon, it's all about turf. Palmont City is divided into four major territories, each of which is predominantly controlled by a different street-racing crew. Each territory is then further divided into zones, and within each zone, you'll find starting points for a variety of different race events. Winning at least two events in a zone will put it under your control. And once you've taken over all the zones in a given territory, you can take on the head of that crew. As you continue to extend your reach across Palmont City, rival crews will come back and try to retake territory the same way you took it from them, forcing you to accept their challenge if you want to maintain control. Having to go back and rerace events that you've already won is kind of a pain, but the open-world structure is nice and gives you plenty of options to take on races at any given point.

However, you won't be taking on all of these crews by yourself, because Carbon lets you bring along a wingman into many of the races. These computer-controlled companions break down into three different behavior types--blockers, drafters, and scouts. Blockers will run interference for you, spinning out opponents at your command. Drafters let you slipstream behind them, giving you some extra speed from the reduced drag, and from there you can pull aside and slingshot your way past them. Scouts have a knack for finding the many alternate routes and shortcuts that can be found in most races, and they have short neon tracers that follow them, making it easier for you to take advantage. You'll definitely find yourself in races where your wingman's influence is the difference between winning and losing. But often, your wingman's presence is either unnecessary or an actual hindrance. Blockers are only really effective in taking out competitors that are behind you, and even then, they're not very reliable. Drafters work as advertised, but the lengthy straightaway needed to set up a proper draft is rare in Palmont City, which limits their usefulness. Scouts are the least useful of the three because the neon tracers don't seem to get longer as the cars you drive go faster, so eventually, there's just not enough time for you to anticipate an alternate route. If you didn't call on your wingman, you might expect him or her to just hang back. But we found ourselves getting bumped into and boxed in by our wingman on several occasions. It's not ruinous to the experience, but sometimes it makes you wish they would just go away.



Canyon duels are challenging, but their repetitious structure can sometimes make them wearying.
The game relies on some pretty tried-and-true types of races, but it also throws some curves. You'll find plenty of common stuff, such as lap-based circuit races, point-to-point sprints, and checkpoint races. But there are also some unique races, such as the speed-trap race, where your standing is determined by your cumulative MPH as you race through a series of speed traps. Most races take place on the city streets of Palmont, but there are also drift events, which can take place either on a closed racecourse or on the winding canyon roads that surround the city. The goal in the drift events is to score points by making clean drifts around corners. The car-handling changes completely for the drift events and feels much more slippery than in the rest of the game, which recalls the drift events found in Need for Speed Underground 2.

All on All a very cool Game to go for ...............

Even though the wingman mechanics and canyon races don't quite pan out, it's still a stylish and enjoyable street racer.
The Good: More-solid FMV sequences; loads of customization options; solid core gameplay.
The Bad: Frustrating boss battles; underutilizes police chases.



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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

2007 Hayabusa 1300 (Thats the Perfect Machine)

2007 HayabusaTM 1300
As they say, it ain't bragging if it's true. So when Suzuki claims that the Hayabusa GSX1300R is the fastest production bike on the planet, they are merely stating the facts. It is, pure and simple, an engineering masterpiece that turns advanced technology and aerodynamic design into unmatched performance. But that's not all, in addition to the incredible performance you get from the Hayabusa, you also get an extra large serving of style. The sleek, long, low look of the Hayabusa is unique in the motorcycling world and is sure to turn heads wherever you choose to ride.
The Hayabusa's engine performance is incredible, offering awesome acceleration the instant you twist the throttle, providing performance you have to experience to truly appreciate. Its secret? Nothing short of Suzuki's most sophisticated technology. Including digital electronic fuel injection for crisp, instantaneous throttle response. And a unique version of Suzuki Ram Air DirectTM (SRAD) induction, with pressurized air ducted into a large-capacity airbox and forced into the engine through straight, downdraft intake tracts.
That kind of performance demands world-class handling, and the Hayabusa delivers. Its solid chassis was developed using the latest lessons learned on the race track. And with fully adjustable, titanium-nitride/coated 43mm inverted front forks and a state-of-the-art rear suspension system, it offers precise responsiveness in tight corners and solid performance in sweeping turns - matched by a plush ride on the highway.
The 2007 Hayabusa GSX1300R. Experience


Engine Features
Compact 4-stroke, four-cylinder liquid-cooled engine with DOHC, 16-valves, Twin Swirl Combustion Chambers, plus gear-driven counterbalancer for smooth operation
Electronic fuel injection system, fed by 46mm throttle bodies and ram air intake with large volume airbox
Lightweight shim-under-bucket valve train with narrow 14 degree valve angle for high combustion chamber efficiency
High efficiency liquid cooling system for optimum engine operating temperature, including compact air-cooled oil cooler and oil-jet piston cooling
SCEM (Suzuki Composite Electro-chemical Material) plated cylinders minimize cylinder size and improve heat dissipation
6-speed transmission with high-capacity clutch featuring back-torque limiter system for smooth downshifts and scissors-type primary gear for reduced gear noise
Large volume 4-into-2 exhaust system with stainless steel head pipes and lightweight aluminum silencers
Digital direct-ignition system combines an ignition coil with each spark plug cap for reduced weight and stronger spark
Chassis Features
Turn signal lens color are white for a modern appearance
Aerodynamic fairing design with low drag coefficient - all fairing components have been designed for reduced drag and turbulence
Full instrumentation with ultra-thin step-motor construction. Includes fuel gauge, clock, temperature gauge, LCD odometer and twin tripmeters with fuel mileage indicator
Unique, vertically mounted dual headlight provides a bright, wide beam with a 60W projector-type high-beam and a 55W low-beam halogen bulb
Rigid twin-spar aluminum frame minimizes weight while maintaining high torsional strength
Large diameter (43mm) inverted front forks with titanium-nitride-coated inner fork tubes and fully adjustable compression & rebound damping and spring preload, plus steering damper
Proven link-type rear suspension with remote reservoir shock absorber - rear suspension features fully adjustable rebound damping and compression damping and spring preload
Bridge-type swingarm with large diameter swingarm pivot shaft provides high swingarm rigidity
Powerful front disc brakes with large 320mm discs and gold-colored 6-piston calipers
Rear disc brake with 240mm disc and 2-piston caliper
Radial tires mounted on lightweight 3-spoke aluminum wheels - wide 190-size rear tire is mounted on 6" wide rim
Hinged fuel tank simplifies maintenance and provides easy access to the airbox and air filter
Utility/Convenience Features
Headlight switches off during startup to reduce load on battery
Specifications and features are subject to change.


2007 Hayabusa 1300 MSRP: $11,149.00


So Guys Get ready to groove into Action.

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Monday, February 19, 2007

Some Tricks on Windows XP


Don't just maximize your windows—go full screen


When you need a really big window, don't just maximize it: go full screen! To view a window full screen, hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the window's title bar—or when the window is active, press the F11 key at the top of your keyboard—to get the biggest window possible.

Add the Links toolbar to My Computer


You know what would make a great toolbar? One where you could put your favorite applications and documents so that you could open them from any window at any time. Guess what? You can and here's how: click Start, then My Computer. Now right-click the toolbar and then click Links. You now have the Links toolbar on your windows, just like in Internet Explorer. Note: Make sure that Lock the Toolbars is not checked. Click on it to deselect it if it is.
The really cool thing about the Links toolbar is that it's completely customizable. Try this: Navigate to your favorite application and drag and drop its icon to the Links toolbar. You just created a shortcut. Do this again and again for as many applications as you want to appear on the toolbar.

Arranging windows on your desktop
You can display any two windows side by side on the desktop by first clicking a window's button on the Taskbar. Next, press and hold the Ctrl key and right-click the second window that you want to open, then click Tile Vertically. This works great when you want to view two Word or Internet Explorer windows at the same time.

Organize your files into groups
Organize your files by grouping them. Try this: Open a folder containing several different subfolders and file types. Right-click any empty space on the window's contents pane, click Arrange Icons By, and then click Show in Groups. To arrange the window's contents, right-click again in any empty space on the window's contents pane, point to Arrange Icons By, and click Name, Size, Type, or Modified.

Make your own icons

It's shockingly easy to create your own icons in Windows XP. Let's do it: Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Paint. On the Image menu, click Attributes. Type 32 for both the Width and Height of the document, and make sure that Pixels is selected under Units. Click OK to create a new 32x32-pixel document: the size of an icon.
Now add type, color, or do whatever you'd like to your image. I like to shrink photos (headshots work best) to 32x32 and simply paste them into my Paint document. When you're finished, open the File menu and click Save As. Use the dialog box to choose where you want to save your file, then give it a name followed by ".ico" (without the quotes), and click Save. (The extension ".ico" tells Windows that it's an icon file.) You just created an icon! Now you can change any shortcut or folder to your own icon—just browse to it on your hard drive.

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Saturday, February 17, 2007

How to Create custom soundtracks for your Xbox games


It's amazing how great music can enhance any game, particularly action games. As the movie industry has known for about a century, music can make a bad video experience seem a lot better. Xbox is the only video game device that lets you add your own custom soundtracks to your favorite games.
Here's how:

1.Insert an audio CD into the Xbox optical drive.
2.Access the Music menu from the Xbox dashboard display.
3.Select Music > Audio CD > Copy, then choose the Copy menu.
4.Select the tracks you want, using Play or Pause commands to audition songs.
5.Choose Copy, and Xbox will store the songs on the hard disk. Then insert your game disc and load the songs using the game's setup menu.

Not all Xbox games support the custom soundtrack features, but many of the most popular ones do.So Sit BAck and Njoy your Custom Music.

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Maharashtra(The Great Nation)


Maharashtra is India's largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. It is bordered by the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The Arabian Sea makes up the state's western coast. Mumbai, India's largest city, is the capital of Maharashtra where as Nagpur serves as the second capital or winter capital of the state.
Maharashtra was known as Rashtra in the Rig Veda, Rashtrik in Ashoka's inscriptions, and Maha rashtra afterwards, as attested by Huein-Tsang and other travellers. The name appears to have been derived from Maharashtri, in an old form of Prakrit, an ancient Indian language.
However, there are other theories put forward by different schools of thought. One possible derivation is believed to be the corruption of the term Maha Kantara, which means "Great Forest". Both these theories did not carry much weight, as can be seen from the name of Maharashtra.

Medieval history and Islamic rule
Not much is known about Maharashtra's early history, and its recorded history dates back to the 3rd century BC, with the use the Maharastri language, a Prakrit corruption of Sanskrit. Maharashtra was known as Dandakaranya, i.e. the jungle (aranya) which bound by rules (dandakas). Later, Maharashtra became a part of the Magadha empire, ruled by the Buddhist emperor Ashoka. The port town of Sopara, just north of present day Mumbai, was the centre of ancient India's commerce, with links to Eastern Africa, Mesopotamia, Aden and Cochin. With the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire, a local dynasty called Satavahanas came into prominence in Maharashtra between 230 BC and AD 225. The peroid saw the biggest cultural development of Maharashtra. The Satavahana's official language was Maharashtri, which later developed into Marathi. The great ruler Gautamiputra Satkarni (also known as "Shalivahan") ruled around 78 AD. He started the Shalivahana era, a new calendar, still used by Maharashtrian populace. The empire gradually disintegrated in the third century.
During the reign of the Vakatakas (AD 250–525), Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra, come under their rule. During this period, development of arts, religion and technology flourished. By the 6th century, Maharashtra came under the reign of the Chalukyas from Badami. Later, in 753, the region was governed by Rashtrakutas, an empire that spread over most of peninsula India. In 973, the Chalukayas of Badami expelled the Rashtrakutas, and ruled parts of Maharashtra until 1189 when the region came under the hands of the Yadavas of Deogiri.

Maharashtra came under Islamic influence for the first time after the Delhi Sultanate rulers Ala-ud-din Khalji, and later Muhammad bin Tughluq appropriated parts of the Deccan in the 13th century. After the collapse of the Tughlaqs in 1347, the Bahmani Sultanate of Bijapur took over, governing the region for the next 150 years. By the 16th century, central Maharashtra was ruled by numerous autonomous Islamic kingdoms that owed allegiance to the Mughals, while coastal region was annexed by the Portuguese, in their quest to seize control of the spice trade.

Marathas and Peshwas

By the early seventeenth century the Maratha Empire began to take root. The Marathas, native to western Maharashtra, were led by Chhatrapati Raje Shivaji Bhosale, who was crowned king in 1674. Shivaji Maharaj (as he was referred to by his subjects) fought many battles with Mughal empire which was then ruled by Aurangzeb. He also fought several battles with King of Vijapur, Adilshah. Later he was engaged in few small battles with British army who were then in the early stages of their long and exhaustive control over Maharsahtra. Shivaji Raje was the most able, successful, popular and respected king Maharashtra ever had.
Shivaji's son and successor, Sambhaji Bhosale was captured and executed by Aurangzeb, the Mughal in the late 1680s. The Mughals forced Sambhaji's younger brother, Rajaram Bhosale to flee into the Tamil-speaking countryside. He retreated to the great fortress of Jinji (sometimes anglicised to Ginjee) to barely recover in the early 18th century, in somewhat changed circumstances.

Rajaram's nephew & Sambhaji's son, Shahu Bhosale considered himself to be the legitimate heir to the Bhosale throne. In 1714, Shahu's Peshwa (chief minister) Balaji Vishwanath, helped him seize the Maratha throne in 1708, with some acrimony from Rajaram's widow, Tara Bai.
In the following four decades, the Peshwas virtually took over central authority in the Maratha state, reducing Shivaji's Bhosale dynasty to figureheads. After defeating the Mughals, the Peshwas became the dominant rulers of India. Peshwas not only ruled Maharashtra, but their empire was also covering Delhi (Panipat)- Gujarat ( Mehsana) - Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior, Indore) and to south till Thanjaur.
The Peshwas, Balaji Vishwanath and his son, Baji Rao I, bureaucratized the Maratha state. They systematized the practice of tribute gathering from Mughal territories, under the heads of sardesmukhi and chauth (the two terms corresponding to the proportion of revenue collected). They also consolidated Mughal-derived methods of assessment and collection of land revenue and other taxes. Much of the revenue terminology used in Peshwa documents derives from Persian, suggesting a far greater continuity between Mughal and Maratha revenue practice than may be politically palatable in the present day.
The years under Peshwa rule, saw the development of sophisticated networks of trade, banking, and finance; the rise of substantial banking houses based at Pune, with branches extending into Gujarat, the Ganges Valley, and the south; and an expansion of the agricultural frontier.
At the same time, Balaji Vishwanath cultivated the maritime Angre clan, which controlled a fleet of vessels based in Kolaba and other centres of the west coast. These ships posed a threat not only to the new English settlement of Bombay, but to the Portuguese at Goa, Bassein, and Daman.
On the other hand, there also emerged a far larger domain of activity away from the original heartland of the Marathas, which was given over to subordinate chiefs as fiefs. Gwalior was given to Scindia, Indore to Holkar, Baroda to Gaekwad and Dhar to Pawar.


Geography


Maharashtra encompasses an area of 308,000 km² . Maharashtra is bordered by the states of Madhya Pradesh to the north, Chhattisgarh to the east, Andhra Pradesh to the southeast, Karnataka to the south, and Goa to the southwest. The state of Gujarat lies to the northwest, with the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli sandwiched in between. The Arabian Sea makes up Maharashtra's west coast.
The Western Ghats are a hilly range running parallel to the coast, at an average elevation of 1,200 metres. To the west of these hills lie the Konkan coastal plains, which is 50 – 80 kilometres in width. To the east of the Ghats lies the flat Deccan Plateau. The Western Ghats form one of the three watersheds of India, from which many South Indian rivers originate. To the north of the state, near the Madhya Pradesh border, lies the Satpura Range. The various sections of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra are Tamhini Ghat, Varandha Ghat and Sawantwadi Ghat.
The Western Ghats form the source of several major rivers of Maharashtra, notable among them being Godavari River and the Krishna River. The rivers, along with their tributaries, flow eastwards into the Bay of Bengal, irrigating most of central and eastern Maharashtra.

Culture

Hindus form the majority of Maharashtra population & the culture of Maharashtra reflects that. There are many temples in Maharashtra some of them being hundreds of years old. These temples are constructed in a fusion of architectural styles from borrowed from North and South India. The temples also blend themes from Hindu, Buddhist and Jain cultures. The temple of Vitthala at Pandharpur may be considered the most important to the Maharashtrian Hindu population. Many of the temples are tourist attractions with the most famous amongst them being the Ajanta and Ellora Caves near Aurangabad. A famous example of Mughal architecture is the tomb of the wife of Aurangzeb called Bibi Ka Maqbara also located at Aurangabad. The landscape of Maharashtra is dotted with many forts, like Raigad and Pratapgad which played an extremely important part in the establishment of the Maratha empire and also sea forts like the one at Sindhudurg.
The folk music of Maharashtra is of various types viz. Gondhal, Lavani, Bharud, Powada, etc.


Thats Not all About Maharashtra i will be Saying more in next blog


**Data Taken from Wikipedia **

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The History of Valentine's Day


The History of Valentine's Day

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

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Sunday, February 11, 2007

WIndows Vista (WOW)


New year, new software: Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, has finally hit consumer desks. This Year Windows Finally launched it's much awiated Operating Sysytem in the market .

With Some Outstanding Features and Softwares inbuilt Windows vista is going to rock the market Microsoft's Think tank think this . But is it really that Wow ? i m going to upgrade to vista very soon and gathered very much info about it through some websites and according to them although some features are really cool some lag behind by other softwares .

Microsoft has released Windows Vista to consumers, but your decision about whether to upgrade is not a simple yes or no; you have four flavors of Vista to choose among: Windows Vista Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, or Windows Vista Ultimate.

To see which edition of Windows Vista your current computer can handle, visit the CNET Vista Upgrade Advisor to find specific hardware recommendations so that you don't buy the wrong edition. Most people will find either Windows Vista Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium to be their best choice.

There are almost every element of previous editions of Windows present like Windows Media Player 11 , IE 7 , Windows Mail and many other.

Included within certain editions (and thus also included within the Ultimate edition) are Windows Media Center, Windows Tablet PC, Windows Movie Maker, Windows DVD Maker, Parental Controls, Windows SideShow for remote gadgets, domain join for Windows Small Business Server, Group Policy support, client-side file caching, Roaming User Profiles for remote server access, Windows Fax and Scan, Windows ShadowCopy to create file backups, Windows Rights Management Services to protect documents, Windows BitLocker hard drive encryption, integrated smart card management, and various Windows Ultimate Extras to be named later. Despite many feature changes within Windows Vista, Microsoft has held onto its original marketing promise of providing users with Clear, Confident, and Connected solutions.


Some reviews Are being taken from CNET for help ....


So all in all Windows Vista Upgrade is Right Choice !!
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Secrets to success


Some Nice thoughts i got from a Site so i thought should be posted


SUPERIOR RELATIONS:- No one is independent in life. We depend on others right from our birth till our death. Every person, no matter how big or small he is a stepping stone to our success. Remember, "A single flower does not make a garland.


UNTIRING EFFORTS:- It is a universal law that we cannot get something for nothing. Efforts is the price one has to pay to succeed in life. Abundant supply of energy comes from a healthy body. Denial or excess of any of the three important needs, eating, mating and sleeping affects our health and happiness. Remember "Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration


CREATIVE THINKING:- All of us are gifted with a lot of creative potential. But it lies deep. Just as the sculptor has to chip away some stone with his chisel to release the statue hidden in a block of stone, we have to chip away some of our conventional thinking to release our creative potential. Remember "If you continue to do what you have been doing, you will continue to get only that you have been getting.


CONFIDENT ATTITUDE:- A talented man without confidence is like a powerful car without spark plugs. Confidence is a psychological steroid that boosts our power. Remember, "The man who wins is the man who thinks he can


EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:- Public Speaking is the springboard to effective speech. It gives you a lot of courage and confidence and earns respect and admiration from the society. It makes our speech lively, interesting, and convincing. Remember, Poets are born; Orators are made,"


SELF MOTIVATION:- A 12 year old boy lifter a fallen log from the legs of his father, Four men could barely move it later on. There are many similar cases on record in which unbelievable feats have been accomplished, Once the mind is seeded with a goal, it soars to its magnificent heights to accomplish the goal. Remember, "It is a small seed that grows into a huge tree."


SHARP MEMORY:- Memory is a yardstick to measure the capacity utilisation of our brain. The secret of sharp memory lies in systematic storage that facilitates instant retrieval. Everyone of us can have a sharp memory irrespective of age, education and intelligence. Remember, "If you don’t use it, you will soon lose it"
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Saturday, February 10, 2007

Fifa 07


FIFA 07 (also known as FIFA Soccer 07 and FIFA Football 07) is the latest in Electronic Arts' series of football simulator video games. It is published by Electronic Arts. The game was released on 27 September 2006 on GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.

The next-generation graphics and physics engine used in the Xbox 360 version will be exclusive to the console for a period of 12 months. The tagline for the game is "This is the season". Electronic Arts' fantastic football sim is fast becoming one of the best football sims around the world in competition against Pro Evolution Soccer 6/Winning Eleven 10.
FIFA 07 is the fourteenth game in the FIFA Series.


The following features are in the game:


More than 510 teams in 27 leagues and 20 countries and over 10,000 licensed players.
Interactive Leagues: An interactive online league has been introduced which creates interactive versions of the FA Premier League, French Division 1, Bundesliga and the Mexican League. Tracking the weekly real world fixtures, it matches up fans of one clubs vs the fans of that weeks fixture.
More interactive crowd reactions that reacts to every move during a game. Crowds also sound like the region the player is playing in such as crowds in France sounding French. As well as this is the more groundbreaking feature of the "emotion engine" where home and away fans react differently to different incidents on the pitch, such as a small corner of the stadium cheering the away support
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Hitman Series of Games


Hitman is a video game franchise available on PC and several video game consoles. It revolves around a man known as Agent 47(usually simply referred to as 47), an assassin for hire, whose skills place him in high demand for jobs. The games contain a considerable amount of violence and are rated Mature (17+) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
All four games have centered around third-person, but it is possible to switch back and forth seamlessly to and from first-person in all of the games except the first.
The games were developed by Danish developer IO Interactive, now a division of Eidos Interactive. Four games have been released in the series: Hitman: Codename 47 (2000), Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002), Hitman: Contracts (2004), and Hitman: Blood Money(2006).
A Hitman film adaptation is set to be released in 2007. Timothy Olyphant will play the role of Agent 47.
The games have been noted for their impressive musical scores by Jesper Kyd.
Another installment in the Hitman franchise for the next generation systems (360 and PS3) has been announced by Eidos


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