Solve Problem Windows

>> Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Solutions To Windows Network Connection Problems

Here I will lay out four easy solutions you can try to get your Internet access back. I will give instructions for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Check Your Hosts File

Windows can use the hosts file to set IP addresses to particular domains. This means though that it can be used to redirect or effectively cut off your Internet access.
When I need to troubleshoot an Internet connection, this is usually the first place I look.
To view the file in Windows XP, just open up Notepad and go to File->Open. Then, navigate to your C drive, then to the “Windows” Folder, then “System32” folder, then “drivers” folder, then “etc” folder and finally, open the file named “hosts“.
You may have to change where it says “Text Documents” to “All Files” to see the hosts file.
network connection problems
After you have the file open, it should look something like this:
network connection problems
It should only have the heading stuff and maybe the line designating the localhost. Anything else should be deleted.
The instructions are the same for Vista and Windows 7, only instead of just opening Notepad, you have to right click the Notepad icon and choose to “Run as administrator” to edit the file.

Check Your TCP/IP Settings

Another issue may be that your TCP/IP settings were altered in some way.
For XP, got to Control Panel and then Network Connections.
In Windows Vista/7, go to the Control Panel and then the Network and Sharing Center. In 7, click on “change adapter settings.” In Vista, click on “manage network connections“.
In all versions of Windows, after you get to the places designated above, right click the device giving you trouble, either the Wireless card or Ethernet card. Then select “Properties.”
Something looking like the following window should pop up.
fix windows network connection issues
Click on Internet Protocol Version 6 and then hit “Properties“. You should see something like the following.
fix network connection problems
If either the IP or DNS server address are not set to automatic, set them to be automatic.
Repeat this for Internet Protocol Version 4.

Reset Your TCP/IP Manually

Sometimes, you may just need to reset your TCP/IP. This can easily be done at the command line in Windows.
For Windows XP, go to Start->Run. Type “cmd” and press enter. A command window should pop up. Then type “netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt” and press enter. You will then have to restart your computer.
For Windows Vista/7, you have to run the Command Prompt as an administrator. To do that, just type “cmd” in your start menu’s search bar. Right click the “cmd” icon that should come up and select “Run as administrator.” Then type the same as indicated above, press enter, and restart.

Reset Your Winsock Manually

Winsock, short for Windows Socket API, is how Windows handles network services. A reset of this may fix a network problem.
Resetting your Winsock is similar to resetting TCP/IP. Open a Command Prompt as laid out above for your version of Windows and type “netsh winsock reset“. Then press enter and restart your computer.
Sometimes even these steps will not fix a faulty connection. If that’s the case, you can try googling the exact problem or contacting someone with network experience.
If you know any other quick solutions to fixing network connection problems, please lets us know in the comments below.

Shutdown PC with command prompt

Shutdown Local Machine

This only takes a couple of keystrokes. Type the code below and hit OK:
shutdown -s
“shutdown” tells the computer what command we want to execute and the “-s” switch tells it what to do, which is to shutdown!

Specify Time

shutdown -s -t 60
Now we have added the “-t” switch and a variable, which in this case is “60″. This number is the number of seconds before the computer is shutdown. A dialog will open and display a count down timer!

Give Us Some Info!

shutdown -s -t 120 -c "You better finish, because I shut you down foo!"
The “-c” switch will allow you to give the user some information for the reason of the shutdown.

Shutdown A Remote Computer

shutdown -s -m \\desktop -t 45
I really like this one! The “-m” switch will allow you to shutdown a remote machine, in this case, a computer named “desktop”. For this to work, you must have administrative access to the computer! To see of you do, hit Windows Key + R then type the computer’s name, i.e.:
\\desktop
If you can connect to it, you will be asked to log into the machine with a user name and password. Once confirmed, a window will open displaying the directories available to you. Now you know you can shut it down remotely.

Cancel Shutdown

Let’s say that you need to cancel a shutdown in progress. Go to the computer in question, hit Windows Key + R then type command below:
shutdown -a

Install Windows XP on Asus Eee PC

Summary
  1. Introduction
  2. What do you need
  3. Creating a bootable USB stick (or hdd)
  4. Installing Windows XP from the USB stick
  5. Installing ASUS Eee PC drivers
  6. ASUS Eee PC Tips and Tricks (hardware & software)
  7. Article references
1. Introduction
In December 2008 i bought online with my credit card (thanks to ePayment) four Asus Eee PCs 4G Surf (two white and two black models) from PCfun. I liked the white ones better so i kept one for myself and the rest i gave them to the family members. Being my first gadget, i was and i'm still very excited about its features. All models come with a friendly linux distro from which you can connect to the Internet very fast. When i got my Eee PC out of the box it took me about 1 to 2 minutes at most to connect to a free wireless network and surf the net. Sweet! I downloaded an MP3 and listened to it just to check the sound and the incorporated speakers from the LCD panel.
I like Linux, but running it as a desktop has no use to me, so i quickly decided to install Windows XP. Let's see how i did it.
PS: most of the tips here might also work with any other desktop or notebook as well.
2. What do you need
  • your desktop computer (this is NOT your ASUS Eee PC)
  • one image or a cd with Windows XP
  • a stick (1Gb is fine) or a USB hdd - make sure you don't have partitions on it or you may loose them in the process
  • USB Multiboot software (choose one of the following download locations: CD Forum download, BootLand download, Siginet download)
  • your ASUS Eee PC later
3. Creating a bootable USB stick or USB hdd
If you are in hurry or know what you are doing but forgot some steps, check out this great video tutorial (go to 02:45 min to skip the chit-chat):
  • Extract USB Multiboot and browse USB_MultiBoot_10/ folder and then run USB_MultiBoot_10.cmd
  • Press any key
  • Type H and press ENTER
  • HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool screen will appear. If this does not find your USB device you can format it manually from Windows and press 'Close' or you can go back and try option P. Check 'Quick format' and press 'Start'
  • In the multiple option screen press 0 and hit enter to toggle between USB Stick and USB harddisk. This is very important because the Windows XP will not install proper if you have a USB harddisk like this one. The 'USB Stick' medium is selected by default.
  • Type 1 and press ENTER and then select the Windows XP source (this is the CD or a path on the HDD where your have your XP installation files)
  • If you get a message about 'winnt.sif' press 'YES'
  • in the 'Unattended Install' screen fill the fields with values (also with your serial). If you fill the fields now you will not need to complete them later in the Windows XP installation screen. When you're done press 'Cancel (no changes)'
  • Type 2 and press ENTER and select your USB device
  • Type 3 and press ENTER, you will see some files copying on the USB drive. During this you might be asked 'Copy XP and extra sources on the USB?' and press 'Yes'. Now wait couple of minutes (this depends on your system and USB drive speed). You will also get the message 'FileCopy to USB-Drive is Ready - OK - Success' and press YES (Make USB-stick in XP Setup to be Preferred Boot Drive U:)
  • All done just press any key
4. Installing Windows XP from the USB stick
  • Connect the USB drive to your ASUS Eee PC
  • Start your netbook and in the first screen press F2 to enter BIOS.
  • In the BIOS screen go to 'Advanced' tab and change 'OS Installation' to 'Start'.
  • Next in the 'Boot' tab under 'Hard Disk Drives' select the USB drive as the 1st Drive
  • Also in the 'Boot' tab but under 'Boot Device Priority' section you should see the USB drive as the 1st Boot Device
  • 'Exit & Save Changes' made in the BIOS.
The netbook will reboot. You wait couple of seconds and see the following screen:
1. Begin TXT Mode Setup Windows XP, Never unplug USB Drive Until Logon
2. and 3. Continue with GUI Mode Setup Windows XP + Start XP from HD 1
4. Start GRUB4DOS Menu - DOS FPY IMAGES + Linux + XP Rec Cons + VISTA Attended Setup XP, Never unplug USB Drive Until After Logon
You will select 1 and press ENTER. This will start the standard Windows XP setup install (format quick NTFS, create partitions etc). After the setup finished to copy all the files needed it will reboot. Now select 2 and 3 (it's a single tab option). This will continue your installation (the classic graphical Windows install). This might take 20 to 40 minutes. When this is done the netbook will reboot (DO NOT UNPLUG THE USB DEVICE YET!), select the 4th option then the last 'Start/Boot Windows XP from HDD'.
5. Installing ASUS Eee PC drivers
Now you are logged in in Windows XP but you can't do anything because you need the Asus EEPC drivers which can be found on your CD that is shipped with your Asus package. If you don't have the CD then download the drivers from the following locations: RapidShare.de , MegaUpload.com . You will need to unrar the archive and copy it to the stick (create a folder like asuseeepc_drivers/). This folder will contain the following subfolders: ACPI, Audio, Chipset, LAN, Touchpad, vga, Wireless. I suggest you first install the ACPI and Chipset drivers and then the rest. Try to locate the .exe that triggers the installation to start.
6. ASUS Eee PC Tips and Tricks
a. Hardware
There is a big difference between the white and the black models of ASUS Eee PC 4G Surf. The black model Eee PC 4G SURF (4GS-PK008) has a hatch (turn it upside down and you will see it) that allows you to comfortable change the RAM. The white model Eee PC 4G SURF (4GS-W010) lacks of this ability and you will have to disassemble the netbook to upgrade it.
My ASUS Eee PC 4G Surf came with 512Mb of RAM memory and i've succesfuly upgraded it to 2Gb. If you want to upgrade it follow this nice video tutorial.
My ASUS Eee PC 4G Surf came with a solid state HDD with the capacity of 4Gb (this is the internal harddisk). After you install Windows XP you will have around 3 to 2.5 GB left. You can use an external USB drive as a secondary partition and install software, play games, etc. It has to be an USB device with resonable access speed.
If you find browsing with the Touch Pad hard, then i may suggest you go buy the following Microsoft Optical Mouse 500 which i tested and it's tiny, it also has a short cable.
b. Software
I recommend using Windows XP on the ASUS Eee PC with the following settings: System Restore OFF, System Properties -> Advanced tab -> Performance -> Settings -> Visual Effects set to 'Adjust for best performance', here also on the Advanced tab -> Virtual memory change 128 Mb and maximum 256 Mb if you HAD a memory upgrade on the netbook!
Go to Start -> Cmd and in the command prompt type sfc.exe /purgecache. This command does magic, i had 780 mb free space, and after this command i had about 1Gb.
To save space go to C:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\i386 and delete all the files. You can do the same with the files and folders from C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations when you're done installing software on your Asus Eee PC. Eg. If you install Dreamweaver 8 you will probabil find there a folder called Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 with the main .exe installer and some other files.
Make sure you disabled the system restore from My Computer -> System Restore tab
I was able to run Heroes3 Complete series directly from an external USB device. In the game you will have a small scroll on the bottom of the screen but that will not bother your on this kind of static games. I also played this game wireless with other ASUS Eee PC (now that's a dream come true!)
I was able to run Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (download here) being installed on C: and running the .vhd (663Mb) and .vmc (12kb) directly from stick. I installed Windows 98SE, mounted Hopkins FBI game and succesfully played it.
I have succesfuly played Starcraft BroodWar on my ASUS Eee PC. I ran it directly from an attached USB stick, also played on BattleNet dozens of games. If already bought Starcraft but want a light version, download this one (100mb) from theabyss.eu.
When you are watching movies on Youtube with Firefox it is recommended to go in Full-Screen mode by pressing F11 or go to 'View' -> 'Full Screen'
If you want to read Word, Excel or Powerpoint files on your Asus Eee PC, download the following free applications from Microsoft's site: Microsoft Word Viewer 2003, Microsoft Excel Viewer 2003, Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 2003. Note that you can only read, not write! For that you need the Microsoft Office CD or iso.
c. General
Never lift the Eee PC by the display panel
Fully charge the battery before first use and whenever it is depleted to prolong battery life. Be aware that it takes much longer to charge the battery when the Eee PC is in use.
On the lower right of your Eee PC keyboard you will see four LED indicators: Power indicator, Battery Charge Indicator, Solid State Disk (SSD) indicator and Wireless indicator. When the Battery Charge Indicator blinks that means that the battery is less than 10% and AC power is not connected.
It is actually not recommended to use your Eee PC on soft surfaces as beds or sofas because it blocks the vents and the bottom of the netbook can get hot. For example if you let it in your bed and you are watching a movie, you might hear a little noise of fans increasing the speed of ventilation - this is normal.
If you want to use you Eee PC with a projector you can use the 15-pin D-sub monitor port, located on the right side, which supports standard VGA devices.
Your Eee Pc has three USB 2.0 slots and 1 memory card slot. This will allow you to attach removable devices such:
  • USB mouse
  • USB external optical disk drive
  • USB external hard disk drive
  • USB flash memory disk
  • MMC (Multimedia Card)
  • MMC Plus
  • RS-MMC (Reduced Size) (with MMC adapter)
  • SD (Secure Digital)
  • MiniSD (with SD adapter)
  • microSD
  • SD adapter
References
  1. Install XP from USB post on BootLand
  2. Installing Windows XP on a Netbook Via USB (Acer Aspire One)
  3. Asus Eee PC 4GB RAM Installation
  4. i64X.com - nLite Windows XP Install on Asus Eee PC

RAID/SATA SETUP WITH WINXP

There is 3 part of the guide :
Slipsteam the RAID/SATA drivers to the XP Setup and create an updated driver setup disc

! I would recommend that if possible use a CD-RW for your work unless of course you don't mind throwing a CD in case something mess up !

! As to simplify most of the errors that i get through PM, I recommend you to use the vanilla version of Windows XP aka clean setup itself without slipstreams. Avoid any "D3vil SP3 Edition" or such. This is due to the fact that some of these CD might have already been slipstreamed with drivers before and the tools listed here might not recognise the previous slipstreamer and mess up the CD. !

There is an increasing amount of thread on the matter and wish that i could be of some help and solve it easy way. I dare not put this in the Guide section so hopefully if its not appropriate here too, Mods please delete the thread or move it elsewhere. Thanks.

Opening :
Even with the existance of Windows Vista, XP nonetheless is still the choice of OS for a lot of people for now. But because of how old XP is to date and with the emerging of new technologies, the original drivers that came with the XP Setup itself is almost obsolete.

To cut the crap short, laptop doesn't have a floppy drive and XP is unable to load SATA/RAID drivers from another location besides floppy. Of course, not all laptop BIOSes can enable native SATA to emulate PATA hence the existance of this guide. So the only ways to install XP on your ub3r new laptop that runs SATA HDD would be to update the driver database in XP Setup itself.

Tools needed :
  • Windows XP Setup CD
  • DriverPack
  • CDIMAGE GUI (http://unattended.msfn.org/files/global/CDIMAGE_GUI.EXE)(Copy and paste link in new window)
  • CD/DVD Burner to burn CD
How-to :
First of all, copy the contents of your CD to a working path, in this case i'll use C:\WINXP

Download DriverPack BASE from the link above as well as DriverPack MassStorage. Extract the BASE pack into a new folder and put the MassStorage pack you downloaded into the DriverPacks folder.

Run DriverPack...

user posted image

Select "disc" and choose "Browse". Browse the folder which you copied from the CD earlier and in this case it would be my C:\WINXP.

If the setting is grey out like the image below :

user posted image

The solution : DO NOT extract the downloaded files into DriverPacks folder. Leave intact as is (i.e. copy that archive into DriverPacks folder). The DPs_BASE will automatically do the extraction. See the image below :

QUOTE(SubKi||er)
..put the MassStorage pack you downloaded into the DriverPacks folder.


user posted image

If you do it right, you can have the selection as below rclxms.gif :

user posted image

Credits: keyz

Execute DPs_BASE.exe and use the installation platform selected to disc. Browse to the XP working directory you copied from the CD just now, in my case C:\WINXP earlier. Select the DriverPacks list that will appear after loading the working directory and put a check mark on DriverPack MassStorage. Put a tick in the box which says "DriverPack MassStorage text mode". Leave all the other settings as it is if you don't know what is it for.

user posted image

After you're done with everything, hit the SlipStream! button and wait for the process to finish. The process should finish in around 10 minutes. After the slipstream process is finish, proceed by downloading CDIMAGE GUI. Extract and run the application, only change the "Root DIR" to your working directory in my case C:\WINXP and the "Iso file Path" to where you want to save the ISO file generated.

user posted image

Select the boot.img file to load the bootable image into the ISO file.

user posted image

Leave all other settings intact as it should unless you know what its doing. (Thanks Sk8teR)

After the ISO file is generated, burn it with any burning software to a CD and proceed with booting the setup. Your SATA hard drive should be recognised now without the need to press F6 and load drivers.

The DriverPack should contain most SATA/RAID device drivers so it should work on most computers.

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Free antivirus protection for computer - does it worth a use?

>> Thursday, December 9, 2010

Free antivirus protection for computer was designed to protect you using minimal protection. If you want a better protection, the all-in-one paid software is the one I highly suggest you to buy. Some free antivirus is good too.




Example of good antivirus software is AVG antivirus 2011, Avast 5 and Avira AntiVir Personal. These antivirus are not just free, they are full of tools to protect you from virus threats.

When you install this antivirus, it will automatically detect malwares and viruses on your computer. The malwares and viruses can enter into your computer system and corrupt all the files. When the files and programs are corrupted virus, they won't be usable anymore.

If you have the money, buy a paid software, install it and use. But, most of paid antivirus are haeavy. It makes your computer loads up slowly.

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Research and Markets: Philippines Information Technology Report Q4 2010 Forecasts Philippine Computer Hardware Spending To Rise To US$2.7bn By 2014

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets


Philippines Information Technology Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, information technology associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the Philippines' information technology industry.

Market Overview

BMI expects the Philippine IT market to resume growth in 2010 and achieve regional outperformer status, growing from a projected US$2.6bn in 2010 to around US$4.3bn in 2014. The Philippines has lower PC penetration than many other Asian countries, and thus offers correspondingly high growth potential over the forecast period, particularly with support from government ICT programmes.

Wage rises for civil servants in the 2010 budget should support consumer spending, already boosted by strong remittances, while enterprise spending should benefit from upgrades delayed from 2009. The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which accounts for around 30% of IT spending, continues to grow. Surveys in 2009 indicated many of the Philippines' business process outsourcing (BPO) executives felt the impact of the global economic crisis had not significantly slowed expansion.

The Philippines market appears better placed than others in the region for recovery, as consumer spending remains strong and the key BPO industry continues to grow. BMI estimates the IT spending CAGR at 14% for 2010-2014, driven by rising incomes and PC penetration. Per capita IT spend was estimated at just US$26 in 2009, far lower than in other Asian countries such as Malaysia and China.

Industry Developments

In Q110, the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) continued to expand its Personal Computers for Public Schools (PCPS) programme, with a project to provide 425 public schools in Mindanao with desktop computers. So far, the PCPS project has provided 3,714 public high schools with 47,100 computer packages. According to government figures, this has reduced the deficit in computers in public high schools from 75% to 37%.

In 2009, despite the economic crisis, various government organisations proceeded with projects designed to facilitate delivery of e-services. The Bureau of Customs announced in September 2009 that its Electronic-to-Mobile (e2m) project to introduce paperless transactions for processing imports documents will have been implemented in nine ports by the end of the year. The e2m project is just one part of the PHP500mn computerisation programme being undertaken by the bureau, which accounts for 25% of the government's tax revenues.

Company News

Multinational PC vendors in the Philippine market are looking to drive growth through expansion outside Metropolitan Manila. In 2010, Lenovo Philippines announced it was going to launch a more aggressive marketing campaign in Cebu, based around its latest Idea laptops and all-in-one desktop. HP is also expanding in Mindanao, which is home to a large number of manufacturing plants and SMEs, and has targeted the Davao region. Meanwhile, Japanese company Toshiba has also recently opened its first concept store in Cebu.

Microsoft reported its H110 market revenues growth for the Philippines surpassed that of the same period of the previous year. Microsoft Philippines' 2009 revenues were estimated at US$99mn. The company has said it continues to see growth in the Philippines market, particularly through cooperation with local original equipment manufacturers, which bundle Windows 7 and other Microsoft products together with their PCs.

Vendors in the Philippines market are increasingly focused on the cloud computing opportunity. In August 2010, leading local telecom PLDT launched what were promoted as the first cloud computing services in the Philippines under its AppFarm brand. The company will offer its customers services such as document management, with relevant documents and files being secured in the cloud. Web security is another application where cloud solutions could prove popular.

Computer Sales

BMI forecasts 2010 Philippine computer hardware spending of around US$1.7bn, which is expected to rise to US$2.7bn by 2014. Spending on computer hardware is forecast to grow 16% in 2010, with a boost in the second half of the year from procurements delayed from 2009.

Jobs in the IT industry, particularly the BPO sector, are projected to grow by 20-25%, driving demand for hardware. Government procurements are also providing relief with e-government and public sector computerisation programmes. Education initiatives such as the department of education's Laptop for Teachers programme will help to sustain spending in this segment.

Software

BMI estimates the addressable Philippine software market will increase to US$284mn in 2010. Growth should be maintained over the next few years, as BMI projects a CAGR for the software sector over 2010-2014 of 13%. Software accounted for about 11% of IT spending in 2009 by BMI estimates, and sales will grow as higher PC ownership and internet penetration fuel demand for software.

Vendors are exploring new channels to reach the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment, such as Saleforce.com and Intel's current cooperation with telecoms company PLDT. Much will depend on success in combating the software piracy rate, which was estimated by the Business Software Alliance at 69% in 2009. Open-source software is on the rise and is being pre-installed in PCs to be sold under the PC4ALL programme.

Services

Growth in the IT services sector continues to be driven by the IT-enabled services sector, particularly BPO and call centre services. BMI forecasts a value of US$681mn in 2010, up from US$631mn in 2009. Due to evolving demand, vendors have to pay more attention to value-added services such as technical support and product troubleshooting, or basic IT and hardware consulting.

Call centres are, unsurprisingly, projected to be the biggest single source of earnings for IT service providers, accounting for around 25% of revenues. After call centres, telecommunications, financial services and manufacturing are the next most important sectors.

E-Readiness

The overall number of local internet users has grown steadily over the last five years. Falling prices of PCs and internet subscription rates, partly as a result of greater market competition, have driven this growth. However, low PC and internet penetration rates, along with low telephone density and security concerns, still hold back the development of e-commerce.

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Musicians vie for fan devotion at new My YouTube pages

Musicians vie for fan devotion at new My YouTube pages


Musicians both famous and obscure began vying on Wednesday for the crown of most-loved artist at YouTube as the world's top video-sharing website launched new personalized home pages for users.






Musicians vie for fan devotion at new My YouTube pages

A "My YouTube" competition at youtube.com/myyoutube will last two months and end with status for the winning musical act and prizes for users active in the contest.



Artists that took part in the launch included Rihanna, Michael Franti, Justin Bieber, Shakira and Maroon 5.



Musicians earn popularity points when fans do things such as subscribe to their YouTube channels or share likes for groups at social networking venues such as Facebook and Twitter.



"And did we mention all the prizes?" YouTube asked rhetorically in a release about the My YouTube competition. "Every artist is giving out five prizes to users who score points for them in the contest."



Prizes range from T-shirts and music compact disks to concert tickets and iPod shuffles loaded with tunes, according to YouTube. The top five artists will be announced when the competition ends February 5, 2011.



My YouTube lets users tailor pages to their tastes in video at the website.

Read more...

Facebook's bid to rule the web as it goes social

>> Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Facebook set out its stall to unseat Google and be at the heart of the web experience as it becomes more social.
The world's largest social network unveiled a series of products at its developer conference F8 aimed at helping the company achieve that goal.
These tools will make it easier for users to take their friends with them as they browse the web.
"We are building toward a web where the default is social," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder.
"If you look back a few years ago and even as recently as today, in most cases the web isn't designed to use your friends. They don't assume you have a real identity but we are seeing that seep in more and more.
"We want to be one of the things that empowers that and right now most users are using Facebook and we hope we can be a good force in driving that forward," Mr Zuckerberg told the BBC during a news conference.
FACEBOOK FACTS
More than 400 million active users
Average user has 130 friends
70% of users outside the US

He added that the "web was at a turning point" and that the way forward was to have friends, or what Mr Zuckerberg called "your social graph", to guide you online.
"One of the points Mr Zuckerberg was making was that the web has become a lot less anonymous and Facebook is definitely positioning itself as wanting to be the owner of that information," said Maya Baratz of the Huffington Post.
Personalisation
At the F8 conference in San Francisco, Mr Zuckerberg unveiled a number of products aimed at putting users and their friends at the "centre of the web".
The most significant was an open graph protocol to let publishers tag their content by type along with a "Like" button that partner sites put on their webpage. This allows users to indicate what they like on a website, be it from photographs to news items and from clothes to music.
the world like and a thumbs up icon
Facebook says it will serve 1 billion "Likes" on the web in 24 hours
That information will then be stored by Facebook the way it already stores connections between people. At the same time any website will be able to take those individual preferences and use them to tailor a more "personalised online experience" for the user and their friends.
Facebook said this means its members will see a web that caters to their individual tastes.
Crucially all this can only happen when users are logged into Facebook and "makes it easy to make any page (on the internet) a Facebook page," said Bret Taylor, Facebook's director of platform.
Business opportunity
Mr Zuckerberg described the features he presented at the conference as "the most transformative thing we've ever done for the web".
Justin Smith, founder of InsideFacebook.com said there are a lot of business upsides to this product.
Logo
Facebook has overtaken Google as the most visited US website
"When someone "likes" your page, that is a valuable action because it means you will be able to publish updates directly to them in the future which could be used for a variety of purposes like promoting traffic to your website or advertising anything you want."
Some of the early adoptees of the "Like" button include CNN, the movie site IMDb.com, ESPN and Levi's.
Levi's will integrate the "Like" function on its e-commerce site as well as build a "friend" store where consumers logged into Facebook will be able to see a list of their friend's favourite products and shop online with them.
"We're creating a new shopping experience that will change the way people shop online," said Jodi Bricker, vice president of digital at Levi's.
'Audacious and a bit scary'
So what does this mean for Google, the world's most powerful internet company with billions of users who access the web using hyperlinks?
"People are discovering information not just through links to web pages but also from the people and the things they care about," Mr Zuckerberg told a conference hall of around 1,500 developers.
Facebook privacy page, AP
Facebook has more than 400 million users who share 25 billion things a month
Om Malik, founder and editor of the technology blog GigaOM.com told BBC news "even a blind man can see this is a Facebook versus Google battle and in many ways if the web is going to be more social then that plays to Facebook's strengths."
Damon Cortesi, founder of social media company UntitledStartup, agreed.
"Facebook has won the internet," he told technology blog ZDnet.com
"Facebook has always been social, but in terms of dominating the web over Google they have made strides today."
But Mr Malik sounded a note of caution.
"The whole idea to socialise the whole web is fairly impressive, audacious and a bit scary. I am very scared about the privacy issues around this initiative. They haven't really been very clear as to how consumers will have more control over the things they do on the web."
The issue of privacy has been something of a thorn in Facebook's side. It has suffered backlashes in the past over moves to change users privacy settings.
"Nothing we have released changes any of the privacy protections we have," said Elliot Schrage, the company's vice president of public policy and communications.
"We're providing new opportunities for people to have a social experience if they want it."

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ICT in the news

Microsoft issues 'critical' patch for shortcut bug

Power station, PA The first attacks via the flaw were aimed at power station control systems
Microsoft has issued a "critical" security update to fix a flaw in the way Windows handles shortcuts.
The bug allowed attackers to craft booby-trapped shortcuts that allow them to take over a target computer.
Many users set up shortcuts to get to programs and places in Windows that they use regularly.
Microsoft said it released the patch because it had seen an increase in the number of attacks on the vulnerability.
The fix will be sent out to those that automatically update their machines. It will also be available via the Windows Update site.

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The flaw was found in mid-July and allows malicious hackers to embed commands in shortcuts that are executed when that quick link is used or viewed. Every version of Windows is vulnerable to the flaw.
The first exploits of the flaw were seeded via infected USB drives and network connections. While exploitation of the flaw was limited initially, the tempo of attacks via the bug has escalated since it was discovered and publicised.
Early attacks using the bug were aimed at the software control systems for critical infrastructure such as power stations.
Microsoft signalled the severity of the problem by releasing an update outside its usual patch cycle. Security fixes are usually issued on the second Tuesday of every month.
Christopher Budd, senior security response manager at Microsoft, wrote on the company's security blog: "We're able to confirm that, in the past few days, we've seen an increase in attempts to exploit the vulnerability"


Poole council loses school catchment 'spying' tribunal

Tim Joyce and Jenny Paton: "The surveillance was unlawful on all counts"
A council in Dorset which spied on a family to see if they lived in the right school catchment area has lost a landmark ruling over its actions.
Jenny Paton took Poole Borough Council to a tribunal after it used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) to spy on her family 21 times.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled it was not a proper purpose and not necessary to use surveillance powers.
Miss Paton said she was delighted. The council said it accepted the ruling.

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It is the first time these powers have been challenged at an open hearing before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT).
Over-subscribed
The IPT also found that the surveillance breached the family's right to privacy under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, when it ruled on Friday.
The council had argued that the covert surveillance, which took place between 10 February and 3 March 2008, was lawful under Ripa for the over-subscribed and successful Lilliput First School.
Two phone calls to the council were made by members of the public making formal complaints, alleging that the family was not living at the property in the catchment area.
The second caller said Miss Paton had boasted about pretending to live in the property.

Start Quote

The sinister treatment of Jenny and her kids proves that these powers need to be far more tightly restricted and supervised”
End Quote Corinna Ferguson, Liberty
The family also owned two flats in another property out of the catchment area and both addresses were kept under surveillance.
Miss Paton, from Poole, only found out she had been under surveillance when it was revealed during a meeting with council officials to discuss their school application.
They were tailed round the clock, spied on at home and their movements were recorded in detailed surveillance forms. Their car was also described as a "target vehicle".
After the tribunal ruling, Miss Paton told BBC News: "It is absolutely brilliant. We are hopeful our case will highlight local authorities' misuse of Ripa [powers].
"The highest legal minds have found Poole Borough Council was wrong even when it was adamant it was right.
"It is a damning indictment into how they behave - paying no attention to considering the impact of putting children under surveillance."
Ben Hooper, representing the local authority, had told the tribunal the surveillance "was minimally invasive of privacy".
'Nothing to fear'
But in statement the council said: "The council accepts fully the ruling of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and would like to apologise to Miss Paton and her family for any distress caused as a result of its actions in this case.
"The council listened to public concerns about this case and subsequently decided that Ripa powers were no longer an appropriate means of investigating potentially fraudulent applications for school places."
Corinna Ferguson, legal officer for Liberty, said: "Intrusive surveillance is vital to fighting terrorism and serious crime but weak legal protections and petty abuses of power bring it into disrepute.
"Former ministers claimed that the innocent had nothing to fear but the sinister treatment of Jenny and her kids proves that these powers need to be far more tightly restricted and supervised."
A Local Government Association spokesman said councils needed the powers "to target serious criminals such as fly tippers, rogue traders and benefit fraudsters", but agreed they should be used "proportionally" and in a way that ensured public confidence.
The government is reviewing the use of Ripa powers - which cover all types of serious crime - by local authorities as part of the Counter Terror Review announced by Home Secretary Theresa May last month.









Can you believe your eyes in the digital world?

Image manipulation expert Ric Bradley airbrushes Zoe Kleinman
Whether it's Obama on the beach or the impossibly flawless skin of this month's glossy cover girl, any picture can now be digitally altered to tell an entirely different story. In the age of the airbrush, can we ever really believe our eyes?
One man who can is Professor Hany Farid, a computer scientist and digital forensics expert who is a professional spotter of faked images - although he does not like the term.

Technology and culture

This is the first of a five part series exploring the intersection between technology and culture
"Fakery is a loaded word - I prefer alteration or manipulation," he said. "It's not always intended to be malicious."
His website features a large gallery of published images that aren't quite what they seem.
The oldest has been around for an astonishing 150 years - a portrait of Abraham Lincoln dated 1860 that is in fact Mr Lincoln's head on the body of another.
"It has happened throughout history," said Prof Farid. "The compositing of two people together is common - we see this over and over."
Light and shade A magazine cover showing Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the beach together was actually a composite of two individual shots taken almost six months apart, he said.
"A lot of people think it's easy to spot because they often see bad fakes. But of course if you only see the bad ones you think it's easy," said Professor Farid.

How to spot common alterations

  • Cloning: Part of image subtly duplicated, eg to make smoke cloud look bigger - a computer can analyse pixel colours in different areas and compare them for similarity
  • Re-touching: To sharpen blurred or underlit detail - proportions of basic colours in sequences of pixels are often not balanced after a re-touch.
  • Lighting: By analysing all shadows in an image, scientists can tell whether a shot had a single light source.
His team uses scientific equations and mathematical algorithms to analyse photos looking for statistical anomalies in their composition.
Very subtle differences in shadowing are often a give-away. Identifying exactly where the shadows fall on an image reveals where the light source must have been to have created that shade.
If there is more than one source, then the image is likely composed of more than one picture.
"When you take a picture of people in two different settings the lighting is always different," he said.
"Your brain isn't sensitive to noticing it unless they are dramatically different - we are developing forensic tools to identify it."
Matter of fact It may not be the end of the world that two movie stars were not really sunning themselves at the same time.
But the composition trick takes a more sinister turn when it is used to dramatise or even alter the recording of serious or sensitive events.
Image manipulation, by Ric Bradley Spot the difference - Zoe Kleinman gets photoshopped.
In 2003, while actress Kate Winslet was busy hitting the headlines for complaining that she had been overly airbrushed after a magazine cover shoot, a bigger scandal was brewing.
That same year photographer Brian Walski was sacked from the LA Times after he admitted to compositing two photographs of conflict in Basra.
The two images both showed a soldier directing civilians but the second featured a man carrying a child in the background. They were composited so that the soldier appeared to be holding his hand out to stop the man.
Afterwards Mr Walski said he had not considered the consequences of his actions at the time.
"When I put the pictures together, I knew what I was doing. It looked good. It looked better than what I had, and I said 'wow'," he told photo website PDN online soon afterwards.

Start Quote

It's like counterfeit currency - you can't stop it but you can make it more difficult”
End Quote Hany Farid
Fast forward to 2010 and The Economist ran a front cover picture of US President Barack Obama looking alone and thoughtful with an oil rig in the background and the headline "Obama vs BP" - in fact he was on a beach talking to two other people who had been airbrushed out.
Deputy editor Emma Duncan said the changes were made because she "wanted the reader to focus on Obama".
"For news organisations it's not a good idea," said Professor Farid. "It's like changing a quote to make it more aesthetically pleasing."
However he added that it is not common practice in news (celebrity and fashion journalism aside) - and many news photo agencies have strict policies about how their images can be used.
"In the mainstream news it's relatively small - they are serious about photo-journalism," said Prof Farid.
Mixed reception It's not just news editors who frown on doctored images - a manipulated picture is not admissible in court as legal evidence.
But Professor Farid thinks that the judges may be missing a trick.

Tools of the trade

  • Software such as Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) are available free online, but the best known brand is Photoshop
  • Now in its 20th year, the Adobe tool has over 5m registered users worldwide
  • Adobe says Patch Match is Photoshop's most popular feature. If an editor removes part of an image Patch Match fills the gap by pulling in content from other bits of the picture and duplicating it
  • A new device in very early stages at the Adobe research labs is a camera with a matrix of lenses that can take multiple perspectives of the same scene. These could then be synced together to create an image that is almost panoramic in its detail
A composite image showing lots of angles of a crime scene might show up evidence that one might miss by looking at a series of separate pictures, for example.
"In a court of law you cannot introduce a manipulated photo - that is altering evidence," he said.
"I would like to advocate that society starts thinking about the introduction of digital evidence in a court of law. Every year the law gets further behind the technology."
However with the media already saturated with manipulated pictures, many of which can only be identified with the help of complex mathematics, the law is erring on the side of caution for now.
Even Professor Farid admits that as technology advances, the fakes are getting harder to spot, but his methods are also evolving to keep up with the manipulators.
"The ability to tell real from fake is increasingly hard," he said.
"It's like counterfeit currency - you can't stop it but you can make it more difficult."






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Competition Result's ICT SeMAT

>> Wednesday, July 14, 2010

                                         Among the works of the competition result ICT SeMAT in June last year

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Pertandingan Minggu ICT,KOPERASI dan PUSAT SUMBER

>> Wednesday, June 23, 2010

SMK MATANG menganjur beberapa pertandingan sempena Minggu ICT,Koperasi dan Pusat Sumber diantaranya ialah :

1.Pertandingan melukis dan Mewarna Menggunakan Paint- kategori individu menengah rendah(tingkatan1-3)

2.Pertaningan buku skrap multimedia SEMAT BESTARI menggunakan Microsof Power Point- kategori menengah atas(tingkatan 4-5)

3.Pertandingan Bahan P&P Digital Multimedia-kategori guru

4.Pertandingan SEMAT BESTARI Power Director Movie-kategori individu (tingkatan1-6atas)

5. Pertandingan  Membina  Blog tingkatan 6 SEMAT BESTARI (tingkatan 6 rendah & atas)

 Hadiah-hadiah lumayan ditawarkan diantaranya ialah MP3,Software Antivirus,Kamera Digital dan Sound System.

hyperlink untuk pertandingan tersebut:

1.Laman web Blogger >>>> http://www.blogger.com

2. Download Movie Director >>>http://download.cnet.com/windows/3055-20_4-10483012.html?tag=pdl-redir

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MICROSOFT OFFICE 2010

>> Monday, June 21, 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 atau Office seri ke 14 merupakan penerus dari Office versi 2007. Walaupun masih sedikit bocoran mengenai info Microsof Office 2010, pihak Microsoft mengungkapkan bahwa pada Office 2010 ini akan lebih ringan dari pada Microsoft Office versi sebelumnya. Pada Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office akan mendukung dua versi yag terpisah, yaitu versi 32 bit dan versi 64 bit dan Office 2010 akan menjadi pertama yang melakukan dua versi yang berbeda. Berikut beberapa kelebihan dari Office 2010 yang penulis dapatkan dari beberapa sumber :
1. Office 2010 has Screenshot Capture, ituloh fasilitas yang memungkinkan meng capture gambar
2. Fasilitas Removal Background, keren nih..jadi bisa dengan gampang hapus background yg ada di shape, dll
3. Revamped Print Option, kalau yang ini gw kurang tau persis, letaknya ada di Opsional untuk print.
4. Fasilitas Auto Permision yang lebih baik (untuk Sekuriti/keamanan)
5. Tampilan button yang lebih menarik
6. SMArt Templates yang lebih baik
7. Proteksi mode ketika seseorang membuka file dari sebuah situs di internet.

Di dalam MO 2010 tersedia berbagai aplikasi dalam keluarga Office, termasuk Acces 2010, Excel 2010, InfoPath 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Project 2010, Publisher 2010, SharePoint Designer 2010, SharePoint Workspace 2010, Visio 2010,Word 2010,Office Web, SharePoint server 2010, dan Visio 2010. Tidak hanya itu saja, Office 14 ini juga akan ditambahkan PDC, yang membuat inovasi Office ini semakin menarik.

untuk preview silahkan dilihat dibawah ini

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